Free Web NovelTo be honest, I was more curious about why Congressman Heo Tae-min had joined hands with former President Choi Sun-man than about the motion to consent to the arrest of Congressman Jeong Chanseong.
That was the reason I forced this meeting to happen.
“You... what are you talking about.”
“You should know I’m asking because I already know, Representative. It would be better not to pretend otherwise.”
“...”
When I spoke firmly, Heo Tae-min merely stared at me, as if struck speechless.
“No matter how I think about it, I can’t see a reason for you to join forces with that man. You can’t really believe that merging with the Conservative Party will let you defeat the Centrist Party, can you? It has to be either political gain—or some massive leverage they have on you. One of the two...”
I trailed off, closely watching Heo Tae-min’s eyes.
He was more shaken than when I had mentioned Oh Cheol’s bribery or the corruption among his aides.
“You suffered too much to say your ties with the former president were all an act. Don’t tell me... you were involved in the pardons of those two former presidents?”
He didn’t answer, but the tremor in his gaze said enough.
“So, you even meddled in the pardons... there’s definitely something I don’t know.”
I had thought the Cheongpunghoe was finished and Choi Sun-man’s power was gone.
That was why I hadn’t felt much about the former presidents’ pardons.
But could it be that the trials of those two presidents had been planned from the start as a way to grant them absolution?
That thought wouldn’t leave my mind.
“This isn’t something I’ll talk about elsewhere. It’s just simple curiosity. So, Representative, can you satisfy my curiosity?”
Heo Tae-min stayed silent.
I just drank my makgeolli, giving him time to collect his thoughts.
“...I’ve nothing to tell you. But I’ll give you one warning.”
After organizing his thoughts, Heo Tae-min spoke. It wasn’t the answer I’d wanted, and somehow the tension deflated.
“Your arrogance—thinking you know everything—will one day ensnare you and drag you down to the bottom.”
Arrogance, huh... There wasn’t a single person who’d said that to me and met a good end.
I set down my cup and stared quietly at Heo Tae-min.
“You and President Yoon must be closer than people think, for him to tell you that much. But there’s something even President Yoon doesn’t know.”
Heo Tae-min downed his makgeolli in one gulp, as if his throat were parched, and continued.
“Choi Sun-man isn’t a toothless tiger. People might think he’s lost all power, but that’s only because they never truly knew him. You, of all people, should understand what I mean. I just hope you don’t plunge this country into chaos.”
In Heo Tae-min’s eyes, I saw fear.
I didn’t know who that fear was directed toward, but it was clear he felt real terror.
As if he’d said all he could, Heo Tae-min rose from his seat, passed by me, and opened the door.
I remained seated, silently mulling over his words.
“Don’t throw this country into chaos...”
That last remark lingered in my head.
Choi Sun-man had lived a peaceful life and died naturally in my previous life—so what had changed now that the Cheongpunghoe was gone?
Thinking further on it would bring no answer. I shook my head slightly and rose from my seat.
When I opened the door and stepped outside, I saw Oh Cheol kneeling before Heo Tae-min.
Manager Ma, wearing his leather shoes, walked up beside me.
“The atmosphere is brutal.”
“Did your talk go well, sir?”
I nodded at his question.
As I stood and adjusted my coat, Heo Tae-min turned toward me with a frown.
“Get up. Let’s talk.”
“Yes, Representative.”
Oh Cheol quietly followed behind Heo Tae-min, who took the lead. He looked pitiful, like a rat caught in the rain—but he’d brought it all upon himself.
I couldn’t help wondering what the end would be for a man who had used Heo Tae-min’s authority to fill his own pockets.
Heo Tae-min got into his car and left first. I stood there for a while, watching the direction his car had gone, then turned away.
“Let’s go too.”
We left the chicken stew restaurant and headed back to Pyeongchang-dong. It was time to sort out the tangled thoughts in my head.
In my study in Pyeongchang-dong, I went over the day’s events while speaking with Manager Ma.
“I saw fear in Heo Tae-min when he said those words. He’s currently the most likely candidate to become the Progressive Party’s presidential nominee. I thought Choi Sun-man had long since lost all his strings to pull...”
“Boss, there’s definitely something hidden. Judging by how our intelligence team kept running into interference when you ordered the background checks, it must be quite a massive force.” ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Even a toothless tiger still has claws.
I nodded and gave instructions.
“Let’s find out what cards the former president holds. If there’s something we don’t yet know, it could ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) become a variable in making Yoon Chang-ho president. Though it already is a big one.”
Before the presidential race heated up after the World Cup, every variable had to be eliminated.
“Until we leave for Afghanistan, focus entirely on Choi Sun-man.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Go ahead.”
After dismissing Manager Ma, I called Yoon Chang-ho and Myungsoo.
I briefly told them what had happened today and hung up.
Then I made one last call—to Oh Hyunwoo.
“Hyunwoo, file for the warrant.”
— Can you get it approved?
“It’ll go through. But just in case, talk to Koryeo Daily and stir up public opinion.”
— Thanks. I’m going to make sure that bastard rots in jail.
“Hang in there. Call me anytime if you need anything.”
After finishing the call with Oh Hyunwoo, I gazed out the study window.
The sun had already set, and darkness had fallen.
* * *
A dark room without a single light.
From a wide bed, an old man slowly sat up.
He carefully rose so as not to wake the woman sleeping beside him and stepped into the living room, where his butler was waiting.
“Master.”
The old man looked at him quizzically.
“What is it, so early in the morning?”
“Some interesting information has arrived.”
The old man nodded, intrigued. The butler’s face brightened at the positive response.
“Let’s talk over coffee.”
The old man headed to his office with the butler.
Soon, a maid entered with coffee.
Taking the cup from her, the old man savored the aroma and gazed out over the garden through the window.
After a long moment of silence, he spoke without turning around.
“Now, tell me.”
“Yes, Master. It’s about Kim Muhyuk, the owner of Future Investment.”
“Kim Muhyuk? Who... ah, that Oriental man.”
“That’s right. He’s scheduled to enter Afghanistan next week to meet secretly with Ahmad Shah Massoud.”
“Ahmad Shah Massoud?”
“Yes. The current leader of Afghanistan. After the Taliban fell, the Northern Alliance’s Ahmad was appointed head of the interim government.”
Only then did the old man turn around.
“So Hamid was finally pushed aside.”
“The U.S. tried to support Hamid, but Ahmad’s influence in Afghanistan is incomparable. With the U.S. preparing for war in Iraq, they judged that stability in Afghanistan had to take priority.”
The old man’s eyes sharpened, displeased.
“Strange. In all my decades of life, I’ve never seen anything like this... Every time something happens, it somehow tangles up with that man, Kim Muhyuk. Even the recent UN resolution passed only because Russia abstained at his persuasion.”
The butler had no reply.
“So, what’s the reason for their meeting?”
“I’m sorry, Master. We couldn’t find that out.”
“Hmm...”
The old man slowly walked over and sat down, setting his coffee cup on the table.
“What about the Medici family’s movements?”
“No movement yet. They still haven’t recovered from the losses they took.”
“How old is Lorenzo’s son again...?”
“He turns thirty-seven this year.”
The old man pondered briefly, then nodded.
“We have someone inside the Medici family, don’t we?”
“Yes, their butler is our man.”
He drummed his fingers on the desk, lost in thought. The silence stretched as he considered how best to use this card.
The butler waited patiently, head bowed.
“Pass this information to the Taliban—Kim Muhyuk’s movements. Just telling them he’s the owner of Black Bear should be enough; they’ll know what to do.”
“Yes, Master.”
The butler bowed deeply and backed toward the door, but the old man called out before he left.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had drinks with the other family heads. Invite all the patriarchs for the night before Kim Muhyuk arrives in Afghanistan.”
“I’ll see to it.”
After the butler bowed and closed the door, the old man frowned and muttered,
“I don’t like this.”
Xavier von Habsburg-Lothringen, head of the Habsburg family and leader of the nobles’ council Valletze, had begun taking a serious interest in Kim Muhyuk.
It had all started with the East Asian financial crisis. Back then, Muhyuk had been no more than a pesky fly.
He hadn’t thought much of him at first, but the more their paths crossed, the more intolerable that man became.
“Let’s see how you escape this time.”
A cold smile appeared on Xavier’s face.
* * *
Following my call, Oh Hyunwoo swiftly filed for an arrest warrant in court.
All evidence against Jeong Chanseong had already been secured, so the warrant’s approval was only a matter of time.
After internal deliberation, the court submitted a formal request for consent to the government.
The government immediately accepted and sent the request to the National Assembly.
A week after Oh Hyunwoo’s submission, the Assembly finally passed the motion with more than half in favor, and the court issued the arrest warrant.
Every media outlet ran the headline about Congressman Jeong Chanseong’s arrest warrant.
“This is a political conspiracy!”
Jeong Chanseong shouted at reporters as he was dragged to the transport bus in handcuffs and ropes, but no one responded—only camera flashes went off.
While he was being loaded onto the bus, I arrived at Kabul Airport.
It had once burned under U.S. invasion, but as soon as America took the city, they began rebuilding the airport.
Even now, construction was still underway.
“It’s chaotic.”
Kabul Airport was still being used as a U.S. military base.
Civilian aircraft couldn’t land, but I had obtained U.S. clearance to fly directly in.
In the lobby, Igor and the mercenaries from the Russian branch were waiting for me.
“Boss.”
Igor spotted me and hurried over.
“Igor, it’s been a while. I heard from Eric you were being deployed to Afghanistan.”
“So you knew. You’ve come a long way—must’ve been exhausting.”
With no direct route from Korea to Afghanistan, I’d had to fly through Russia, making the trip long.
“The one suffering more than me is you and your men.”
“It’s all right. It’s our job.”
Glancing around the busy terminal, I asked,
“How’s the security in Kabul?”
“Surprisingly stable. Probably because there are two U.S. bases nearby. No sign of Taliban or Al-Qaeda activity.”
Good. So things were more under control than I’d expected.
I nodded with a faint smile, and Igor smiled back.
“Good news for you, then, Igor.”
“Not really. Let me show you the way, Boss.”
Igor led me outside. The surroundings were practically one big construction site.
Looking around at the chaos, I asked,
“Kabul city took heavy damage too, didn’t it?”
“Yes. Partly from U.S. airstrikes, but mostly because the Taliban destroyed key facilities before retreating.”
I clicked my tongue and shook my head. Truly despicable bastards.
“Let’s head out.”
“Yes, Boss.”
My vehicle was an SUV.
Igor opened the door for me.
“It may be a bit uncomfortable, but please bear with it.”
Still as solid and sincere as ever. I patted his shoulder and got in.
I sat in the middle, with Igor on my left and Manager Ma on my right—precautions in case of an ambush.
“We’ll reach the safe zone in about thirty minutes.”
But unfortunately, Igor’s promise of thirty minutes was not kept.
