Free Web NovelAt the name Kim Hyeonju, Prime Minister Han Dongsik’s hands trembled so visibly that it was obvious even to the naked eye.
“H-how do you know that...?”
The reason I remembered the name Kim Hyeonju was because it would resurface about ten years later.
When he ran for mayor, the opposing candidate was the first to bring up her name.
At first, people thought it was just another common smear tactic.
That was how deeply the name Han Dongsik had been engraved into the public’s mind as a symbol of integrity.
But as time passed, one clear piece of evidence after another emerged, and at last Kim Hyeonju herself appeared in front of the cameras.
—I was... Han Dongsik’s slave.
Her statement threw Korea into utter shock.
Kim Hyeonju added that if he had remained a professor, she never would have stepped forward.
And so Han Dongsik was pelted with stones by the public and crashed all the way to rock bottom.
A man who had spent his entire life chasing fame lost the honor he had built in an instant.
Naturally, it must have felt like losing everything.
In the end, without waiting for the judgment of the law, he took his own life.
Such was the pitiful end of Han Dongsik, once considered a leading presidential contender.
When, in this life, he was appointed much earlier than before as President Yoon Changho’s first prime minister, I searched for Kim Hyeonju.
I couldn’t allow such a risk to explode at the very beginning of the president’s term.
“How much do you know?”
“...”
“I know everything. Your filthy hidden side. Don’t even think about denying it. I know where she is. No—in fact, I was the one who smuggled her out of the country and sent her abroad. No matter how hard you searched, you couldn’t find her, could you?”
I found her a job and a home, and on top of that, I gave her a large sum of money before sending her overseas.
It wasn’t because I wanted to protect trash like him.
Why would I ever willingly protect a man who had committed one of the most unforgivable crimes imaginable?
I simply left him alone because he had not harmed me.
“Why do you think I spent that much money to send her overseas?”
“...”
Han Dongsik could not say a word.
No, he was no longer even capable of collecting himself.
“Don’t do anything unnecessary. Because I cannot tolerate it. Step down quietly, return to academia, and spend your days raising the next generation. If you do that, the name Kim Hyeonju will never appear in this world.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
Did he really not know the reason?
“Didn’t I say you should never touch family? To me, Representative Lee Myungsoo is family.”
“...”
“I clearly warned you, didn’t I? That you would end up facing me. I am nothing like the people you’ve dealt with before.”
“If it comes to that, what do you plan to do with that woman, Kim Hyeonju?”
“She will never return to Korea.”
Han Dongsik nodded with difficulty.
“I understand. I won’t do anything. So I never want to hear that name again.”
There was not even the slightest trace of guilt toward Kim Hyeonju in Han Dongsik’s face.
To him, only his own reputation seemed to matter.
“Do you not feel sorry for Kim Hyeonju?”
Watching him refuse even a token apology, I decided to empty out the last remnants of respect I had once held for him.
Naturally, my voice came out even colder.
“The next time you meet me, you’ll need to worry not about your honor, but your life. Not only yours, but your family’s as well.”
“...”
“And even if you don’t know it, every single person involved in this matter will be judged. Don’t do anything.”
Han Dongsik nodded heavily.
I had heard everything I wanted to hear.
I no longer wanted to look at that revolting face, so I rose without hesitation and turned away.
* * * frёeωebɳovel.com
After crushing Han Dongsik, I set the Board of Audit and Inspection and the prosecution in motion, beginning to clean out everyone involved in the affair.
The news reached Myungsoo as well.
“Hey, Kim Muhyuk! What the hell is going on?”
The moment he heard, Myungsoo came straight to the Myeongdong office without even calling ahead.
“You’re here? Sit.”
After asking Chief Ma for coffee, I looked at Myungsoo.
“What’s going on? Why is the Board of Audit digging through the Sierra Leone mining contract? And I heard the prosecution is already preparing too.”
I let out a deep sigh and looked at him silently.
“What is it? What is it that you’re not saying?”
“That’s a bomb.”
“What? A bomb?”
At the dumbfounded Myungsoo, I told him the truth.
After hearing the entire explanation, he stayed silent for a long time.
Chief Ma placed the coffee in front of him, but Myungsoo did not even glance at it, remaining lost in thought.
I waited quietly.
When he finally managed to speak, he looked utterly shocked.
“So you’re saying that mine was a bomb meant to kill me?”
Instead of answering, I nodded.
Myungsoo’s voice rose sharply.
“No, I looked into it as much as I could. That was something that had been prepared long ago!”
“That’s right. The mining investment itself is something the Mineral Resources Corporation always does. But slipping a few hollow shells in among them would be nothing to them.”
“...If it had gone all the way to the main contract, it would’ve hit me hard?”
“Most likely. And if they started making an issue out of the brokerage fee too, then even if it was standard international practice, you wouldn’t have come out unscathed.”
Letting out a long sigh, Myungsoo grabbed the coffee in front of him and downed it in one gulp.
“Ah, fuck!”
Whether because the coffee was still hot or because his anger had boiled over, he cursed and shot to his feet.
I pushed the bottle of water beside me toward him.
“Hey. You okay?”
Without a word, Myungsoo twisted the cap open and gulped down the water.
“Ha. I almost died.”
“You lunatic.”
“Why would they do that to me? No matter how much I think about it, I just don’t get it.”
“They couldn’t directly attack President Yoon Changho, so they targeted you instead.”
“This is driving me insane. The inspection team already went to Sierra Leone for the main contract.”
“What can you do? You have to scrap it.”
Myungsoo sighed deeply and lifted his head to stare at the ceiling.
“I never knew Prime Minister Han Dongsik was that kind of person.”
“That’s how terrifying power is.”
“Still...”
“You’ve experienced enough yourself. For the sake of power, convictions and principles always come second. Right and wrong don’t matter. Politicians throw themselves at even the smallest scrap of power like moths to a flame. After you stepped down as secretary-general, they still haven’t chosen a new one, right?”
With a troubled expression, Myungsoo nodded.
“The secretary-general is the one who manages the party’s entire household. Because it was you, it was handled transparently, but others won’t be like that. The number of party officials the secretary-general can appoint easily reaches into the dozens. You know better than anyone how valuable that is to a politician.”
Politicians repay loyalty by giving positions to their own people.
When someone becomes president, there are hundreds of seats in public institutions and state-run companies.
Even as party leader, there are still dozens of party posts they can directly appoint.
The floor leader and secretary-general are the same.
Hell, even National Assembly members themselves can keep multiple aides.
That is how people stay attached to politicians.
But because Myungsoo could manage people through my help even without handing out favors, he had appointed party officials fairly.
“After becoming prime minister, Han Dongsik also placed his own people one by one into good positions. But in an instant, he lost everything. So he was probably trying to use you to strike a deal with the president.”
“I really don’t think I can trust people anymore. Vice Minister Seo too. How could he do something like that?”
“He made a choice. He decided Han Dongsik would reward him better than staying by your side.”
“Was I wrong?” freēwebnovel.com
“No. You didn’t do anything wrong. They’re just those kinds of people.”
“I really don’t know anymore.”
A wave of disillusionment seemed to hit Myungsoo as he sighed over and over.
“I’ll clean it up neatly, so don’t worry too much. The mining contract is still only at the MOU stage, so you can just choose a new mine and sign the main contract.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about. That part can be overturned anytime. I’m wondering what I should do now.”
I decided it was finally time to say what I had been thinking for a long time.
“Myungsoo.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t yield anymore. Take the power firmly for yourself. Even if it means making a choice that worsens your relationship with President Yoon Changho.”
“...”
“If you set your mind to it, you can do it, can’t you?”
The dirt I had handed Myungsoo on other politicians was substantial.
If he used it, they would have no choice but to follow him.
But Myungsoo rarely ever tried to use it.
“Power is something you can never truly share. If you do nothing, politicians will simply stand behind someone else. Show them clearly that you can do it. Then no one will dare challenge you.”
“...I’ll think about it.”
“If you need help, say the word anytime. This situation could’ve become a bigger problem if it dragged out, so I stepped in without even telling you first. I hope you’re not upset.”
At my words, Myungsoo let out a short laugh.
Then, as if to say I worried over nothing, he answered lightly.
“What’s there to be upset about? You did it because you were worried about me. Still, I was definitely caught off guard.”
“Want to grab a drink tonight?”
“No. I need to sort out my thoughts alone. Next time. I should get going.”
Myungsoo rose from his seat and walked toward the door.
At the doorway, he turned around and said,
“...Thanks, Muhyuk.”
Before I could even answer, he opened the door and left.
* * *
After meeting Kim Muhyuk, Lee Myungsoo did not leave his house for several days.
“Ah, this is fucking humiliating.”
He had almost been blindsided without knowing a thing.
If not for his friend Kim Muhyuk’s help, he would have taken a devastating hit without ever realizing it.
Lee Myungsoo glared at the old ledgers lying on the table.
After sinking into deep thought for a long time, he finally picked them up.
“Yeah. Fuck it. Let’s do this.”
Lee Myungsoo summoned around twenty lawmakers who followed him.
As they gradually gathered at the meeting place, they chatted among themselves while waiting for him.
“What’s going on? Representative Han, do you know anything? You’re closest to Lee Myungsoo, aren’t you?”
“No idea. He almost never calls all of us together like this.”
The people following Lee Myungsoo did not actually feel a strong sense of factional loyalty.
More than Myungsoo himself, they followed him because of the political funds coming from Kim Muhyuk behind him.
“I thought he’d rest for a while after stepping down as secretary-general because of what happened in Guinea. So what is this?”
At that moment, the door opened and Lee Myungsoo arrived.
Everyone seated immediately rose to greet him.
“Representative Lee, welcome.”
“Come on in, Representative Lee.”
Among everyone gathered here, not a single person was younger than Lee Myungsoo.
The youngest was still at least ten years older than him.
“You’re all here.”
“When you call, of course we come.”
When Kang Junseo, the oldest lawmaker in the room, cracked a joke, the others also laughed and answered.
“Of course.”
Lee Myungsoo naturally walked to the seat of honor and sat down.
“Please, sit.”
Sensing the unusual atmosphere, everyone cautiously took their seats.
“The reason I called all of you ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) here today is simple.”
Without his usual warm smile or casual jokes, Lee Myungsoo got straight to the point.
“I’m going to become floor leader.”
“What?”
“What do you mean by that...?”
The ink on his secretary-general resignation letter had barely even dried.
Yet with that explosive declaration that he intended to seize party leadership, everyone was stunned.
“Can I assume that everyone here supports me?”
It was the first moment Lee Myungsoo truly became ambitious for power.
