Free Web NovelA few days after returning from the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, Kim Seonggeun summoned all the faction leaders within the Progressive Party.
Kim Seonggeun sat at the seat of honor. To his left sat Kim Seokjin, the former party chairman who led the largest faction within the Progressive Party. To his right sat Hong Jinwoo, the head of the young reformist bloc made up of first- and second-term lawmakers.
Next to them were the other faction heads—smaller in strength compared to Kim Seokjin and Hong Jinwoo, but still commanding groups of loyal lawmakers.
Kim Seonggeun glanced at Kim Seokjin and Hong Jinwoo.
Those two had reached an agreement and proposed him as Chairman of the Emergency Committee, and he had accepted their offer.
“Thank you all for coming.”
Kim Seonggeun bowed his head slightly in greeting, and everyone followed suit.
Once the greetings were over, the smile that had been on Kim Seonggeun’s face vanished as if it had never been there, and he moved straight to the point in a heavy voice.
“When I accepted this weighty position, I asked for one thing. That you trust me and grant me full authority. And you promised to give me that authority. Is that correct?”
At Kim Seonggeun’s question, Kim Seokjin raised an eyebrow and replied.
“That’s right. We promised you full authority. That’s why even the Emergency Committee members were all selected from outside figures, just as the Chairman wanted, weren’t [N O V E L I G H T] they?”
Originally, Kim Seokjin had intended to give Kim Seonggeun the chairmanship of the Emergency Committee, while filling the committee itself with representatives from each faction.
However, since Kim Seonggeun had firmly rejected that idea, Kim Seokjin found him unpleasant.
“Chairman. You didn’t gather all these people just to talk about something that trivial. Tell us why you summoned everyone. We’re all busy people. Isn’t that right, Assemblyman Hong?”
Hearing the displeased tone in Kim Seokjin’s voice, Hong Jinwoo shook his head lightly.
“The Chairman isn’t someone who summons people without reason. There must be a purpose. What you’re doing right now, Chairman Kim, is challenging the authority of the Emergency Committee Chairman, whose role is to reform the party. Didn’t you yourself dislike it when people challenged your authority back when you were party leader? Please mind your manners.”
“Khmm.”
At Hong Jinwoo’s sharp rebuke, Kim Seokjin cleared his throat and frowned.
His displeasure was obvious, but Hong Jinwoo paid it no mind and smiled as he spoke to Kim Seonggeun.
“As I said, it’s true that we granted you full authority. No matter how you proceed, I will support the Chairman’s reforms. That’s why we went to the trouble of gathering everyone here. I’m sure the others agreed to bring you in as Chairman with the same thoughts. Isn’t that right, everyone?”
The other faction leaders all nodded in agreement. On the surface, the atmosphere could not have been more united.
“So if you have something to say, please speak frankly. There must be a reason you gathered everyone like this.”
At Hong Jinwoo’s words, Kim Seonggeun nodded and opened his mouth again.
“Thank you. Before that, is there anyone here who knows a man named Kim Muhyuk?”
Surprise spread across the faces of everyone except Hong Jinwoo and Kim Seokjin.
Seeing that reaction, Kim Seonggeun’s expression hardened even further.
Looking at the only two who had not reacted, Kim Seonggeun asked again.
“Assemblyman Kim Seokjin and Assemblyman Hong Jinwoo, do you not know him? The businessman named Kim Muhyuk.”
“I know him.”
“I’ve heard the name.”
“......So everyone knows, then.”
Pressing a hand to his forehead, Kim Seonggeun let out a deep sigh and asked,
“Is there anyone here who has received money from him?”
Assemblyman Han Mincheol, known for his hot temper, jumped to his feet and shouted.
“What do you take us for!”
But as if he had expected this reaction, Kim Seonggeun looked up at Han Mincheol and replied coldly.
“Assemblyman Han Mincheol, it seems you did receive money.”
“What did you say, Chairman!”
Han Mincheol bristled and raised his voice. The one who stopped him was Kim Seokjin.
“Assemblyman Han! Sit down at once. What do you think you’re doing!” frёeωebɳovel.com
“No, Chairman. The Emergency Committee Chairman is—”
Kim Seokjin looked at Han Mincheol with icy eyes, as if he couldn’t be bothered to respond. Startled by that gaze, Han Mincheol sat back down.
Still unable to contain his anger, Han Mincheol glared at Kim Seonggeun, breathing hard.
It was only a brief glimpse, but it was enough to understand how the Progressive Party lawmakers treated Kim Seonggeun.
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Kim Seokjin turned to Kim Seonggeun and asked,
“Chairman. I can roughly guess what you’re trying to do...... but wouldn’t it be faster to ask who hasn’t received money from Chairman Kim Muhyuk?”
“Chairman!”
“What are you saying, Chairman!”
Everyone except Hong Jinwoo cried out to Kim Seokjin, but he didn’t stop.
“Unless you’re well-funded like Assemblyman Hong, it’s often difficult to secure the enormous funds needed to run a faction. There are far more people without money than with it. Even those with money end up feeling strapped in politics. That’s reality politics. This is how reality is. Not just us—most politicians in the Centrist Party probably received allowances as well.”
“......Assemblyman Kim Seokjin. Is it right for lawmakers who claim to pursue wealth redistribution to take bribes from the rich?”
That was why clueless bookworms were no good. At Kim Seonggeun’s overly textbook-like question, Kim Seokjin let out a snort.
“Chairman. Are you pretending not to know, or are you just naive? Do you think we wanted to do that? Of course not. We just ended up sinking into a quagmire.”
Having already made a name for himself as a politician, Kim Seokjin had no intention of continuing to take dangerous money.
If it were exposed, his position would obviously be at risk—who would want that?
But the man who came to see him had brought up Cheon Taesan’s ledgers and forced him to take the money.
‘Is he trying to buy me with money? How dare he try to insult me.......’
‘Why would that be? If you see this, I think you’ll change your mind.’
The money the man handed over was far more than Kim Seokjin had received throughout his political career.
Refusing under threat from someone who was obviously dangerous was hard enough—but the amount was simply too large.
Recalling that, Kim Seokjin curled his lips into a smile and asked,
“So, Chairman. Why bring this up all of a sudden?”
Seeing the greed gleaming in Kim Seokjin’s eyes, Kim Seonggeun let out a sigh.
The Progressive Party was far more corrupt than he had thought, and it filled him with despair.
No—this wasn’t just about the Progressive Party. Politics in the Republic of Korea had already rotted to the core.
The party chairman was openly talking about taking bribes.
Steeling his shattered heart, he opened his mouth.
“At the Kaesong Industrial Complex groundbreaking ceremony, I met Chairman Kim Muhyuk. Back when I was teaching at Korea National University, he attended my class for one semester. And he told me this: that real-world politics is a completely different world from what I taught.”
Even as he spoke, the miserable reality of the Progressive Party choked his voice.
To hide the tremor, Kim Seonggeun took a drink of the water in front of him.
“I want to turn the Progressive Party into a party that can keep the monopolizing Centrist Party in check. I believed I could do it. But...... now that I’ve seen reality, I honestly don’t know where to start fixing things anymore.”
Hong Jinwoo tried to soothe him.
“Chairman. I only learned about Chairman Kim Muhyuk recently as well. Not everyone received money from him. In our faction, there are more people who didn’t take his money than those who did. So please don’t dwell on it too much and proceed with the reforms you want. Isn’t that why we brought you in as Chairman?”
After hearing the name Kim Muhyuk, Hong Jinwoo had also looked into him.
And the deeper he dug, the more he realized what a terrifying man he was.
The amount of money he had spread around was staggering. There were even lawmakers among the young reformists who had taken his money.
There was no way to even guess how far his influence extended.
Still, politics was ultimately the domain of politicians. They couldn’t just stand by and let a businessman muddy the waters.
Watching the two of them, Kim Seokjin spoke quietly.
“Don’t think about opposing Chairman Kim Muhyuk.”
Kim Seonggeun and Hong Jinwoo looked at Kim Seokjin at the same time.
“Chairman Kim Muhyuk is far more dangerous than you and Assemblyman Hong think. Honestly, taking bribes from him is safer. That man will use any means necessary to get what he wants. I’m afraid of him. So no matter how you reform the party, don’t even think about opposing him. I’m warning you clearly. That man only cares about protecting what’s his. If you don’t touch him, he won’t bother you at all. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
It was a calm warning, but it was saturated with fear of Kim Muhyuk.
Hong Jinwoo, seeing Kim Seokjin like this for the first time, was simply at a loss.
The Kim Seokjin who had always been confident before anyone was now this frightened.
Kim Seonggeun was no less shocked.
He had thought it was nothing more than an immature former student’s empty threat.
Now, he could feel just how difficult it would be to bring the party under control, just as Kim Muhyuk had said.
“So he said stabilizing the Progressive Party would be difficult. Now I finally understand why Chairman Kim Muhyuk said that to me. Assemblyman Kim Seokjin, you’re afraid of Chairman Kim Muhyuk. And......”
Letting his words trail off, he looked around at the faction leaders seated before him.
Their reactions were no different from Kim Seokjin’s.
“It seems most of you think the same way.”
“Khmm.......”
“Hm, hm!”
A few people cleared their throats and avoided Kim Seonggeun’s gaze.
“But I will not abandon the reforms I intend to carry out because of Chairman Kim Muhyuk. I intend to use all the authority I have to save this party—the Progressive Party. If you don’t like that, then drive me out right now.”
Kim Seonggeun issued a firm declaration of war.
Ever since returning from the Kaesong Industrial Complex groundbreaking ceremony, he had thought long and hard.
And he had reached one conclusion.
If, as Kim Muhyuk said, the party couldn’t be stabilized and only fell into greater chaos, he would step down immediately.
He wasn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty, as Kim Muhyuk had warned. But he was afraid of reform ending in failure.
Having the ideals he had believed in shattered was a blow too great for an aging scholar—so frightening that it already filled him with dread.
“Go ahead and try. Let’s see if it passes.”
With that, Kim Seokjin rose to his feet. Several faction leaders, including Han Mincheol, stood up with him.
“Good luck. I’ll be leaving now.”
Kim Seokjin left, and the others filed out of the chairman’s office one by one.
When they were gone, only Kim Seonggeun and a small number of lawmakers who followed Hong Jinwoo remained.
“Assemblyman Hong Jinwoo, Assemblyman Lee Miyeon, and Assemblyman Pyo Changsu. Can I take it that the three of you intend to support me?”
Kim Seonggeun asked, calling each of their names in turn.
Hong Jinwoo answered first.
“I said it earlier—I trust you, Chairman. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have brought you in. No matter what Chairman Kim Muhyuk does, I will take part in your reforms.”
Lee Miyeon picked up his words.
“I’m not clean either. I’ve taken bribes before. But that doesn’t mean I can keep watching the Progressive Party collapse like this. If Chairman Kim Muhyuk tries to drag me down, I don’t intend to die alone.”
Lee Miyeon was one of the very few female politicians in the Progressive Party.
As a faction leader—and as someone who had survived proudly in a male-dominated political arena—she was filled with ferocity.
“I agree. I took money from Chairman Kim Muhyuk as well, so I’m not clean. But I think the same as Assemblyman Lee Miyeon. We have to save the party first—otherwise, I won’t survive either.”
Aside from Hong Jinwoo, both admitted to having taken money.
Hong Jinwoo looked at Lee Miyeon with disbelief.
“No, Assemblyman Lee Miyeon. I can understand Assemblyman Pyo, but don’t you have plenty of assets yourself? And yet you still took Chairman Kim Muhyuk’s money?”
“......It was too much money to turn down. And I didn’t spend a single won of it. I distributed it all among the lawmakers. Unlike your faction, Assemblyman Hong, there aren’t many well-off lawmakers in ours. There are people whose families are ruined if they lose a single election.”
Not spending the money and distributing it didn’t solve anything.
In the end, it was no different from currying favor with faction members using someone else’s money.
It was effective for securing their support—but it was also a dangerous move that could come back to bite her.
“No, even so......”
“Are you trying to criticize me right now? It was an unavoidable choice. I’m prepared to drench myself in filth to save the party, so please focus on that.”
At Lee Miyeon’s resolute words, Hong Jinwoo could only move his lips, unable to say anything.
In her eyes, once always sharp with wit, there now burned a vicious resolve.
“......Don’t condemn me. I had no choice.”
Repeating that she had no choice, Lee Miyeon clamped her mouth shut.
An awkward silence settled over the chairman’s office.
* * *
“Chairman. It’s been a while.”
When I entered the restaurant, I saw Kim Seokjin already waiting.
“There’s still plenty of time before our appointment. You’re here already? If I’d known, I would’ve come earlier.”
“Spare me the pleasantries. I’m the one who came early. Don’t stand there—your legs must hurt. Sit.”
At Kim Seokjin’s gruff words, I chuckled and sat across from him.
It was lunchtime, but the restaurant was empty.
As if everything had been arranged beforehand, the moment we sat down, a middle-aged man who looked like the owner brought out two bowls of sundae soup in earthenware pots.
The owner greeted Kim Seokjin with his eyes, as if they knew each other. Kim Seokjin responded with a familiar command.
“Go outside and have a cigarette.”
“Yes, Assemblyman. Call me if you need anything.”
Once even the owner left, only Kim Seokjin and I remained in the restaurant.
Kim Seokjin lifted his spoon first and scooped up the sundae soup.
After taking a spoonful of the steaming broth, he exclaimed in satisfaction and proudly urged me,
“This is the taste. You should have a spoonful too.”
At his urging, I took a spoonful and put it in my mouth.
What the hell. I expected something special from his reaction, but it’s worse than what my grandma makes. I’ve ruined my appetite for nothing.
I put my spoon down without eating any more and went straight to the point.
“So, what did you want to see me about?”
