Free Web NovelOn the way back to the hotel, I asked Baek Cheolsu casually.
“What happened with Deputy Director Lim Dongok?”
Baek Cheolsu turned his body to look at me. There was no expression at all on his face.
“It is a gift for you, President Kim.”
“Afraid of the military, yet still possessing the power to summarily execute the hardliners within it... those words don’t add up.”
“The General fears nothing.”
The firmness of his answer carried an unmistakable loyalty to Kim Jongil.
Well, that was why Kim Jongil kept him close.
That image overlapped with Ma Manager’s, and I let out a small laugh.
When the car stopped in front of the hotel, Baek Cheolsu was the first to get out and look around.
“You may get out now.”
By the time I followed Baek Cheolsu into the Koryo Hotel lobby, the banquet seemed to have ended, and the people from South Korea were gathered in small groups.
Leaving behind those who looked as if they had plenty of questions to ask, I returned to my hotel room.
‘What is the greatest benefit I could gain if I were the one to lead the peace agreement in the U.S.?’
Once the tension drained, everything felt bothersome. I changed clothes roughly and lay down on the bed, going over today’s conversation with Kim Jongil.
My brows furrowed at the thoughts wandering through my head.
‘Will the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Neocons even accept negotiations?’
Should I not support Bush, but instead back the extension of a Democratic administration? The mix of future knowledge and present knowledge churned my thoughts until it was hard to find direction.
Nothing ever went according to plan, but what I was attempting to do now was to alter the very flow of history.
As I was lost in thought, a knock came at the hotel room door.
Knock, knock.
“Who is it?”
“President Kim, it’s Seo Jaehun.”
As if my mind weren’t already crowded with enough, why did this bastard have to come now to annoy me?
Annoyance rose in me, but I couldn’t just chase him off, so I opened the door.
“Let’s have a drink.”
Seo Jaehun stood there grinning, shaking a bottle of whiskey. Beside him stood a soldier assigned to him. Supposedly an escort, but it might as well be a watchdog.
When I cast only a sidelong glance at him, I saw Baek Cheolsu at a distance down the hall, watching us.
“Haven’t you already had quite a bit?”
“Well, would you call this much drinking? President Kim, you also had a drink earlier, but isn’t it still a little lacking? Besides, you and I agreed to share a drink, didn’t we?”
Using the words we’d exchanged earlier as an excuse to visit me, he clearly had something to say. After a moment of hesitation, I nodded.
“Come in.”
I stepped aside slightly, gesturing with my head for him to enter. When Seo Jaehun stepped inside, the soldier moved to follow him.
“You stay outside.”
At Baek Cheolsu’s flat command, the soldier stopped. Thanks to that needless consideration, I was left alone with Seo Jaehun.
“Sit.”
I gestured roughly toward the table and pulled some glasses from the cabinet. Sitting face to face with him felt strange.
In my previous life, I had never once had a private meeting with this man. Truly, many things had changed.
“We could drink in Seoul. Why come all the way here to my room?”
“Haha, in Seoul we can’t sit smiling over drinks, can we?”
He wasn’t wrong, so I nodded.
We weren’t the kind of people to clink glasses and smile together—especially not in Seoul, where eyes were everywhere.
He opened the bottle, poured, and handed me a glass.
I lifted my glass, clinking it lightly against his. Watching his face over the rim of the glass, I saw nothing but a soft smile, with no apparent schemes behind it. That unsettled me even more, so I spoke first.
“...If you’re curious about something, ask. You didn’t come to my room at this late hour for no reason.”
“You’re quicker to the point than I thought. Good. Has Jisoo come to see you?”
Seo Jaehun gave a small laugh, set down his glass, and tossed the question casually.
“Cheon Jisoo? I’ve seen her a few times, but we don’t have a particularly good cousinly relationship...”
“I know well about your family matters, President Kim. Did Jisoo ever ask you to back her, or help her?”
So, Seo Jaehun was concerned about Cheon Jisoo. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
I put down my glass and studied his face.
“Well, even if she had said that, I don’t see why I’d report it to you.”
“I’m telling you so you don’t waste your strength on useless things. My father will never pass Ilseong to Jisoo.”
His face showed no change, even as he said words that would make Cheon Jisoo’s blood boil.
The fact that he’d come all the way here to say this told me how wary he was of her. Interesting, but also puzzling.
Did he think I was pressuring Ilseong to help Cheon Jisoo?
“President Kim, do you have any reason to fight against us? We could simply help one another where needed. There’s no reason to suffer losses.”
“Don’t tell me you really don’t know anything?”
“What do you mean?”
Confusion flickered in Seo Jaehun’s eyes.
Did this bastard truly not know?
“This fight wasn’t started by me. It was Chairman Seo who struck first.”
“And what does that matter? If there’s no reason to fight, then it can be resolved, can it not?”
So the rumors of him being a sociopath were true? He seemed completely devoid of empathy. I considered where to begin explaining, then shook my head.
There was no need.
As if nothing was wrong, he pressed again.
“From what I recall, Chairman Cheon and my grandfather didn’t have a bad relationship. That’s why your aunt married Cheon Sooman. So why must we fight like this?”
“It’s already too late. I have no thought of retreating, and neither does your father.”
When I brought the glass to my lips, his puzzled expression was almost comical.
“If there’s a problem, I can solve it for you.”
“Vice Chairman, I said it’s already too late.”
“Is this all because of Cheon Sooman?”
“Cheon Sooman was the spark, but the one who crossed the line first was Chairman Seo. I have no intention of stopping.”
“That’s disappointing. I thought we could have been good friends.”
Whether he was sincere or not, his face carried regret.
But even aside from Chairman Seo, I had no intention of befriending this man.
“Friends... Do you really think we could be friends? I don’t. Our lives were shaped differently, and the paths we’ll walk are different. It isn’t easy for such people to truly be friends.”
“Mm...”
Seo Jaehun let out an ambiguous laugh.
I was starting to see what kind of man he really was. At the core, he simply could not understand me.
That Seo Chairman’s support for Cheon Sooman was an insult to me, that his use of the media to attack my grandfather carried an unbearable meaning for me—Seo Jaehun could not grasp any of it.
As he rubbed his chin absentmindedly, he suddenly let out an “Ah,” as if struck by a thought.
“Then should I remove Cheon Sooman?”
“...Remove Cheon Sooman?”
He said it like brushing a speck of dust off a jacket.
“If he’s the problem, then eliminate him. I don’t even need my father’s power for that—I can do it myself. In Korea, there is nothing I cannot do.”
His face even carried a sense of pride, as if he thought it a brilliant solution.
Gone was the image of Seo Jaehun I once knew before regression, someone at least adequate as master of a group.
Before me sat nothing but a sociopath.
“Do you not even know why Chairman Seo supports Cheon Sooman?”
“Why? He already divorced my sister, so he has nothing to do with us anymore. Ah, is it because of Chairman Cheon’s inheritance?”
The way he said it so dismissively made me sick.
Seo Yonggeon clearly hadn’t told Seo Jaehun a thing about his dirty mud-slinging fight.
Not stupid—just unable to read the room.
“It’s hard to explain everything, but Chairman Seo’s goal is to use Cheon Sooman to nullify the Ilseong shares I hold. It’s to smooth the way for transferring the chairman’s seat to you, Vice Chairman.”
“Mm... Then it doesn’t need to be Sooman. If President Kim sides with me, won’t that settle it? I don’t know why they make things so complicated.”
I swallowed a sigh.
“There will be no reconciliation with Chairman Seo, and I won’t be siding with you either. And as for Cheon Sooman—I don’t leave him alone because I can’t remove him. I leave him because of my grandfather.”
“Hm, I really don’t understand why you’d care about such a thing.”
I studied his face, wondering if he was faking it. But no—the look was nothing but pure, guileless confusion.
Any further words would be a waste of time.
His whole life, he must have just solved problems by brushing away whatever annoyed him. No matter how much I explained, Seo Jaehun would never understand.
“...I’m tired. I need to rest.”
“If you ever change your mind, just contact me. I’ll handle persuading Father.”
Seo Jaehun left, having only said what he wanted to say. The resemblance to Cheon Jisoo’s stubbornness made me let out a hollow laugh.
Like changing shifts, Baek Cheolsu came in. My head throbbed, and as I pressed hard at my temples, he offered me a cup of water.
“What did you talk about?”
“Oh, this and that. But since you were surely eavesdropping anyway, why bother asking?”
“...”
Baek Cheolsu shut his mouth. He was a stiff man, through and through.
“I don’t intend to complain about the eavesdropping, since I already assumed as much. But don’t expect me to repeat things with my own mouth either. Nothing problematic was said, so don’t worry and just step out. I need to rest now.”
“Then I will see you in the morning.”
Leaving the closing door behind, I went straight to bed.
After enduring Kim Jongil and then Seo Jaehun, an unstoppable wave of sleep crashed down on me.
* * *
Since I had already achieved my purpose in meeting Kim Jongil, I wanted to stay in the hotel. But under others’ watchful eyes, I had no choice but to move along with the schedule.
We toured several factories on the outskirts of Pyongyang, then returned to the city for lunch.
It was just as we arrived at the famous Okryugwan.
“President Kim, you’ll be going separately.”
As I tried to head inside, Baek Cheolsu stopped me. At my puzzled look, he explained.
“You’ll be having a separate meal with Deputy Director Jang Songthaek.”
“Is that so? Then after the meeting, may I follow my own schedule for the afternoon?”
“After that, you may do as you wish.”
I smiled faintly and followed him without hesitation.
I was glad enough just not to have to trail along with the dull schedule any longer.
“We’ve arrived.”
He had led me to a large villa-like house—modern on the outside, but topped with tiled eaves like a traditional mansion.
“Go on in. The food is already prepared. Aside from me, everyone else will wait outside. You two will dine and converse in private.”
He personally opened the front door, then stepped aside to stand at the edge of the garden.
When I stepped in alone, I saw Jang Songthaek already sitting at the large dining table.
“Oh! President Kim, long time no see.”
Rising from his seat, Jang Songthaek approached with his right hand extended. I grasped it lightly in a handshake.
“It’s been a while, Deputy Director Jang.”
“Come, come, let’s sit.”
He had left the head seat open, and sat down to its right. I took the seat opposite him on the left.
“If you come to Pyongyang, you ought to try the cold noodles at Okryugwan, and their galbi too. It must be a pity to miss it, haha.”
I was curious about the famous food, but honestly, tagging along the schedule just to taste it felt more bothersome than worth it.
“No, it’s fine. What matters is who you eat with, not what you eat.”
“I think the same. Still, the taste should be comparable to Okryugwan. The chef here once worked there.”
As he said, the table was already laden with enticing dishes. Some I knew well from South Korea, others I was seeing for the first time.
“Go ahead, let’s eat while we talk.”
Jang Songthaek picked up his chopsticks first, and I followed.
“Did your talk with the General Secretary go well yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“I was informed—you were granted permission for your relatives to go to China? Or rather, to South Korea, to be exact.”
The sudden remark made me pause mid-bite.
“Haha, there’s no bugging here. This is actually the General Secretary’s private villa. Who would dare bug it? You needn’t worry.”
Perhaps reading my thoughts, Jang Songthaek smiled slightly. I laughed inwardly.
Well, who knew how much of that I could believe.
I answered evenly.
“Is that so?”
“Of course, the hotel is bugged. But since you already know, don’t take it too personally. After all, the Republic and the South are enemies, are they not?”
“Yes, I understand.”
I nodded and kept eating.
“And how did you feel meeting the General Secretary?”
“Mm... more ordinary than I expected, perhaps. I thought he would be more frightening.”
“What? Ahahahaha!”
Jang Songthaek laughed so hard he dropped his chopsticks.
“President Kim, you are truly amusing. In the Republic, no one calls the General Secretary that way. He is the Great Leader, the Father of the Nation, the Glorious Commander... that’s how he is addressed.”
Whatever titles North Korea used for Kim Jongil didn’t matter to me.
To me, he was simply another man of flesh and blood.
Someone who feared death, enjoyed liquor, and worried for his own safety—a man like any other.
“To the people of the Republic, perhaps so. But I thought him honest.”
“Honest?”
“Yes.”
Slightly surprised, Jang Songthaek stared at me.
“What did you talk about yesterday that makes you say such a thing?”
His eyes gleamed with sudden interest.
