Episode 38. Don’t I Have the Right, Too? 8.
The Assembly Members’ Office Building...
After finishing his call with No Hyeoncheol, president of Mancheon Corporation, Assemblyman Lee Haeseong let out a faint laugh.
It was true that things had simply flowed naturally to this point, but when he thought about it, it was too ridiculous not to laugh.
Some ordinary company employee—an assistant manager, no less—had come to him, the head of a ruling-party faction and a leading candidate for the next presidency, tossed him political bait, and even made him engage in political maneuvering against that employee’s own company president.
He had made Lee Haeseong, one of the ruling party’s next presidential hopefuls, do it.
And he was a green young brat without a single wrinkle around his eyes...
‘Well, those who are destined to make it are different from the sprout. In any case, that Kim Byeongjun bastard... I’ll have to keep an eye on him from now on.’
They said that if you wanted to judge a person, you should look at the people he met.
If, at that age, he was already meeting people like himself and President No Hyeoncheol, there was no need to wonder what his future would look like.
‘I should tell Minju to stay close to him, too. There’s nothing more reassuring than having a capable son-in-law. Who knows? A family that devours both politics and business might be born. And if that doesn’t work out, I can bring him into politics and pass my political foundation on to him as it is.’
As he was thinking this, there came a knock, and the door opened.
It was his chief aide.
“It’s almost time for the press conference. I think you should start getting ready.”
Had it already gotten so late?
This was the moment when the prelude to his path to the Blue House would begin.
As Lee Haeseong rose and put on his suit jacket, the chief aide said,
“No, it’s still a little early to go now. You should look over the script one more time...”
“There’s somewhere I need to stop by first. I’ll get there on my own, so Chief Park, get ready and come straight to the waiting room.”
A chief aide had to keep track of every single detail of an assemblyman’s movements.
Where he went, whom he met, what he said, and even what he would not say—all of it.
And an assemblyman chose someone he could rely on to that extent as his chief aide.
“Where are you planning to stop by?”
“To see Ma Gyeongtaek. If I don’t meet him now, I don’t think I’ll have time to see him later.”
Understanding what he meant, the chief aide let out a small laugh.
“Heh, understood, Assemblyman. Still, don’t overdo it. You never know if he might lose his mind and do something crazy.”
“Surely he wouldn’t. He’ll be too busy struggling to survive. Then I’ll see you in a bit.”
Lee Haeseong left the room with a satisfied smile.
Once he was gone, the chief aide jerked his chin at one of the staffers.
It meant to follow him, just in case anything happened.
* * *
Ma Gyeongtaek stood by the window of his office, looking down outside at the fountain in the National Assembly Plaza.
As with everything in the world, even the lawmakers’ offices in the Assembly Members’ Office Building were divided by rank, and the offices considered the highest grade were on the sixth, seventh, and eighth floors—among them, the eighth floor was the best.
And even on the eighth floor, the spots with a view of the Han River or the fountain in the National Assembly Plaza were prime locations, accessible only to power players of at least three terms.
It had taken him over ten years to enter this room.
But strangely enough, once he had struggled so hard to get into this room, he began to want to go to other rooms.
The party leader’s office, the National Assembly speaker’s office, the Seoul mayor’s office, the prime minister’s office, and the Yeomingwan at the Blue House were slowly coming into view.
When he thought about it, his political life had been quite lucky and had followed a smooth, open road.
Among it all, meeting Black Eagle had been the crowning touch.
Just as he turned his gaze away from the National Assembly Plaza fountain, which he had now grown rather tired of, a knock sounded.
“What is it?”
The door opened, and his chief aide entered.
“Um, Assemblyman Lee Haeseong is here.”
“What? Why is he here?”
“He says he has something to tell you.”
What on earth could Lee Haeseong have to say that made him come all the way to his office?
At a thought that suddenly crossed his mind, the corners of his mouth lifted.
‘That’s right. It must be because of the primary. Looks like he wants to make a deal for the primary, heh.’
This was quite welcome news.
In situations like this, the one who proposed a deal first had to give up more.
“Tell him to come in. Prepare coffee.”
“Yes, Assemblyman.”
Lee Haeseong entered, following the chief aide.
“Goodness, Assemblyman Lee. What brings you all the way here? You’ve taken steps you’ve never taken before.”
Lee Haeseong was about to open his mouth when coffee was brought in.
Seeing the coffee, Lee Haeseong chuckled.
“You’re even serving me coffee. I suppose you still haven’t heard.”
“Haven’t heard? Heard what?”
“They’re conducting a search and seizure at Black Eagle’s office right now. That Korean-American bastard named Martin Choi has been dragged off to the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, too.”
Ma Gyeongtaek flinched and asked,
“What are you talking about?”
“What am I talking about?”
Lee Haeseong bared his front teeth and grinned broadly.
“The death knell of your life. Your life is over, so hurry up, get into your coffin, stretch out your legs, and rest.”
After sitting blankly for a moment, Ma Gyeongtaek’s eyes darted rapidly through the air, and he took out his cell phone and called somewhere.
Perhaps no one answered, because he called again and again.
Lee Haeseong watched Ma Gyeongtaek with the corners of his mouth raised, then opened his mouth.
“I told you, he was dragged off...”
Ma Gyeongtaek, thrown into panic, glared at him as if he would kill him and said in a hoarse voice,
“Y-you did this... Y-you planned this, didn’t you?”
Lee Haeseong tilted his head.
“Did I do it? Well, I did do a little. But if you want to find the real cause, it’s that you messed with Mancheon. There’s a monster living there that you never even imagined. And also...”
“...”
“You were too greedy. The moment you raised a hunting dog you couldn’t handle, your fate was already decided like this. Of all things, joining hands with Black Eagle—tsk, tsk... You’ll never recover from this, even if you die. If you didn’t even think about what would happen if you got caught, then it means you were never qualified to climb higher in the first place. And if you knew and still did it, then you were gambling.”
“...”
“Just think of it simply. You were caught dealing from the bottom and got your hand chopped off.”
Lee Haeseong glanced at the coffee placed before him, then turned around.
“Ah, I really can’t drink this. I’d feel too sorry...”
Lee Haeseong left, and only Ma Gyeongtaek remained, already wilted like overboiled greens.
His mind had simply gone blank.
Because he could not see any way out alive.
If he tried to do something on one side, Mancheon would not sit still; if he tried to do something on the other, Lee Haeseong would not sit still.
The media and the opposition party would bite at him like fish that had found water.
And public opinion...
He did not even want to think any further.
Beyond the window behind him, the fountain in the National Assembly Plaza was spraying water beautifully.
* * *
Min Yanghong and No Hyeoncheol were sitting in the sauna room at Min Yanghong’s home.
Min Yanghong wiped the sweat wetting the corners of his eyes with a towel and asked,
“Our Byeongjun really did that?”
“Yes. That boy is no ordinary one. He was so bold...”
“If he’s going to sit at the top of Mancheon, he needs at least that much nerve. It seems I gave birth to a good child.”
“I’ll acknowledge that. You did well with at least that one child. But because of him, the children’s fight is likely to become even more chaotic. A guy with an entirely different identity has appeared.”
“Well, that could happen. Still, don’t worry too much. Just because something is clean doesn’t mean it’s always good. Once you actually sit in the chairman’s seat, there are more fights rolling around in the mud than clean ones. It’s not bad to think of it as practice in advance and let them gain some experience.”
“...”
“Then is this matter all over with now?”
“There’s nothing in particular for us to do. Assemblyman Lee Haeseong is advertising for us as if he were the head of our company’s PR office.”
That was truly the case.
Whenever he had the chance, Lee Haeseong advertised that Mancheon Transport was a socially friendly company.
Of course, he was not actually trying to advertise it. He said it to emphasize that Ma Gyeongtaek and Black Eagle had tried to incite people with malicious media play and devour Mancheon Transport, a socially friendly company.
Entirely for his own political purposes.
But those words of his were more effective than any advertisement.
It was probably the first time a politician had gone on TV and openly sided with a major corporation, even praising it.
After all, politicians were the sort who watched the public mood, then busied themselves jumping on the bandwagon to bash big corporations.
And if they had happened to take money from that corporation, they would simply keep their mouths shut.
“This is truly like blowing your nose without even using your hands, keukeuk. I have no idea how he came up with such a clever little idea.”
He was praising Kim Byeongjun again.
Then again, as an illegitimate son, the boy was especially dear to him, and now that he was showing ability beyond expectations, how could he not be pleased?
“Um, but did you know?”
“What?”
“Byeongjun is in Sales Team 9.”
“Sales Team 9?”
“Yes. The team with that driver’s son.”
Min Yanghong blinked with a blank look on his face.
He did not know exactly what it was, but something felt off, and that was the expression he wore.
“But there’s someone helping Byeongjun. I don’t know who it is.”
“Who is that bastard?”
“I told you, I don’t know. Only…”
Min Yanghong wiped the sweat trickling down near his eyes and looked at No Hyeoncheol.
“Judging by how he dealt with Mancheon Passenger Transport, I think his intelligence-gathering ability is no ordinary thing. Ma Gyeongtaek and Black Eagle must have kept everything tightly hidden while carrying out the job, but somehow he dug up the information. It goes without saying that he’s exceptionally sharp.”
“Hmm… What are the chances he’s inside Sales Team 9?”
No Hyeoncheol narrowed his eyes and glanced sideways.
“Are you perhaps thinking of that guy?”
“Who knows?”
“Come on, surely not…”
“Huh, listen to you. Don’t you know the saying that ‘surely not’ is what gets people killed?”
“…Do you really think ‘surely not’ will get someone killed?”
“I don’t know either. Let’s just keep it in mind. In this world, nothing that happens is strange.”
“…That’s true.”
With that, the matter was brought to a close for the time being.
What remained from this incident was, first, that they had protected Mancheon Passenger Transport, the goose that laid golden eggs, and second, the emergence of Kim Byeongjun as a candidate for the next chairman.
And from Kim Byeongjun’s personal point of view, it had been a splendid debut in which he had clearly earned recognition from Min Yanghong and No Hyeoncheol.
* * *
Kim Byeongjun held out a Milkis to Hyeonu.
“Here.”
“Thank you, Assistant Manager.”
Kim Byeongjun also got himself a latte and took a sip.
“On my way to work today, I felt strangely odd.”
“About what?”
“The front door as I left home, the commute, the company’s underground parking lot, the elevator, the hallway, the office, even my own desk—they all somehow felt unfamiliar.”
Hyeonu looked out toward the horizon and thought for a moment.
In truth, Hyeonu had felt this sort of thing before as well.
It had been like that when his parents died, when his savant syndrome manifested, and even when he had brought his mind under control.
The feeling that spaces he had always seen somehow felt unfamiliar.
With a warm smile forming at the corners of his eyes, Hyeonu said,
“That’s probably because you’ve changed, Assistant Manager.”
“Me?”
“Your point of view must have changed. From Kim Byeongjun to Min Byeongjun.”
“…Is that so?”
A brief silence passed, and Kim Byeongjun opened his mouth.
“What are you going to do now? About me.”
He was asking whether Hyeonu would become his running mate.
Hyeonu took a sip of the smooth, tangy Milkis and answered.
“My goal is to become someone’s running mate and climb to the very top as a company employee. But I haven’t seen anyone other than you, Assistant Manager. Aside from briefly seeing President Min Byeongsu.”
“…”
“For now, I want to improve my skills further, and when I feel the time has come, I want to make a rational judgment. Mancheon’s future and my own future both depend on it.”
“Then…”
“Yes. Right now, I have no intention of becoming your running mate, Assistant Manager.”
Hyeonu knew very well that this ability to hear people’s inner thoughts would be a great strength in the battle for management succession.
But that alone was not enough.
Only with ability and skill as an executive, along with organizational management capability, could he become a true No Hyeoncheol.
Otherwise, in the end, he would be nothing more than a retainer.
For now, the proper order was to simply learn the work silently from where he was.
Until the day he himself was ready.
Until then, he did not want to choose anything.
That was why he had said he had no intention of becoming Kim Byeongjun’s running mate.
Of course, Kim Byeongjun was extremely likable as a person, but business was business and personal feelings were personal feelings.
If there was a sibling better than him, then it was only right that the next chairmanship go to that person.
But that was still a story for the distant future.
Right now, all he wanted was to build his abilities as a company employee, and further, as an executive.
After looking into Hyeonu’s eyes for a moment, Kim Byeongjun let out a sigh.
“Sigh… I was hoping for it deep down…”
Just then, a notification sounded from a cell phone.
Hyeonu took out his phone and looked at it.
“It hit the upper limit…”
“What, you trade stocks?”
“I bought some stocks yesterday. Lee Haeseong theme stocks. Didn’t you buy any, Assistant Manager?”
“…”
“Ah… You have a lot of money, Assistant Manager, so I guess you didn’t really need to.”
“…If I’d thought of it, I would have bought them. I was too out of it to do it. But how much did you buy?”
“There were fourteen Lee Haeseong theme stocks, so I narrowed it down to five and bought 100 million won’s worth of each.”
“As much as 500 million?”
“Yes.”
“How much is it now?”
“620 million won. I made exactly 120 million won in half a day.”
Kim Byeongjun stared blankly at Hyeonu, who was looking at his stock app, then gave a wry laugh.
‘If I’m going to cling to even the hems of your pants, I’ll really have to work hard. Once a little more time passes, it might not be that my siblings and I take you with us, but that you choose one of us.’