Chapter 835: The Aftermath

As I made my way to the hotel lobby, Woo Young-shik was already there waiting for me.

“Boss Kim.”

Woo Young-shik stopped me as I tried to walk past him and head outside.

“Senior Secretary. Are you still here?”

“Let’s have a chat.”

I had a rough idea of what he wanted to talk about.

To think he’d be so direct. He must have been really anxious.

“It’s not appropriate to talk here. Would you like to have a drink?”

Woo Young-shik nodded, so I took him to the hotel bar.

After being assigned a quiet room, Woo Young-shik and I sat facing each other alone.

“Why did you do that?”

As soon as he sat down, Woo Young-shik questioned me accusingly.

“I told her about your existence out of respect for your daughter.”

“How is that respect? You were trying to manipulate Ye Xiaotong.”

Woo Young-shik raised his voice without hiding his emotions.

“Why are you trying to make decisions for your daughter?”

“What?”

“Whatever choice she makes after knowing about your existence, it’s entirely up to Ye Xiaotong.”

Woo Young-shik’s mouth fell open as if he’d been hit.

Of course, I intended to sway her, but I had no intention of telling Woo Young-shik that.

“Ye Xiaotong is a grown adult. That means she can think and decide for herself. You can’t just assume her feelings and force your will on her, even if you are her parent.”

“······.”

Woo Young-shik seemed deep in thought after hearing me.

A staff member came in with the drinks, momentarily interrupting our conversation.

After the staff member left, I uncorked the whiskey bottle and poured it into two small glasses.

Then, I pushed one of the glasses towards Woo Young-shik and said.

“Let’s have a drink first.”

I downed the whiskey in one gulp. The strong liquor burning down my throat woke me up.

Woo Young-shik followed suit, downing his drink before setting down the glass. The strong liquor narrowed his brows.

“It’s quite strong, right? But it’s good liquor. Shouldn’t we drink something like this when having a conversation with a Senior Secretary?”

Despite my banter, Woo Young-shik stared at his empty glass without saying a word.

I filled a glass full of ice with liquor and asked.

“Is the only reason you waited for me to tell Ye Xiaotong about your existence? If so, I’d be quite disappointed.”

I pushed the filled glass in front of him and looked at Woo Young-shik while pouring whiskey into a new glass.

“Aren’t you curious about what Ye Xiaotong and I talked about?”

Woo Young-shik stared at me blankly.

Looking at him, I chuckled softly and shook my glass, melting the ice.

The sound of ice clinking against the glass echoed clearly.

“Do you think the Ye Xiaotong you know is her true self?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“The Ye Xiaotong you know is just a fraction of who she is. I have a much higher opinion of her than you do.”

After this incident, I completely changed my opinion of Ye Xiaotong.

Not only was she a capable lobbyist, but she also had the ambition of a great kingmaker.

Even though the Shanghai faction was determined to kill me, she presented irrefutable evidence that completely stopped their movements.

That ability alone made me reevaluate her even more highly.

“I had no intention of joining hands with her because of your request. But now I can’t do that.”

“Boss Kim!”

“As I said before, Ye Xiaotong was the one who sought me out first. She must have judged that joining hands with me would help her cause. You have no right or authority to stop her. If you really want to stop her, you should persuade Ye Xiaotong, not me.”

Perhaps it was because I was stating the obvious, but Woo Young-shik bit his lip and glared at me.

“Do you think I’m easy to persuade, but you lack the confidence to persuade your daughter?”

“······I told her to forget about me.”

At those words, I burst into laughter without realizing it.

“Are you mocking me?”

Woo Young-shik narrowed his brows and glared at me. I waved my hand and stopped laughing.

“No. I just laughed because I thought you were being too old-fashioned.”

“Hey, Boss Kim!”

“Do you think it was easy for her to come all the way here? She found out about the existence of a father she didn’t even know existed. She must have had all sorts of thoughts before coming here. Even after arriving, she must have 고민 about contacting you.”

Woo Young-shik didn’t respond.

“Just as it was hard for you to reach out to your daughter, it must have been hard for her to come to you.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Accept her sincerity.”

“I can’t do that. My existence won’t help Xiaotong in any way.”

“I don’t understand why you’re so sure of that. Don’t you think your words could be hurtful? To tell your daughter who came all the way here to forget about you. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Woo Young-shik and Ye Xiaotong needed to become closer.

Only when Woo Young-shik became Ye Xiaotong’s weakness would things work out.

“······I’ll take care of it.”

Woo Young-shik was still stubborn.

Pushing him further would only backfire. I shrugged and took a sip of my drink.

Continuing to push would only have adverse effects. He’ll keep mulling over what I said, so stopping here was enough.

This was also why I deliberately created this atmosphere and shared a drink with Woo Young-shik alone.

“Take care of your daughter’s issue······. Have you thought about the proposal I made the other day?”

I had suggested to Woo Young-shik that he enter politics. He shook his head without a hint of hesitation.

“I have no intention of doing so.”

“Well, I won’t force you. But isn’t it a waste to just step back like this?”

“I’m a man with many sins. For me to enter politics······.”

He really is a stickler. I cut him off, knowing it would drag on forever if I let him.

“I’m telling you to wash away those sins.”

“······.”

“Will stepping down make your sins disappear? I’m telling you to carry those sins on your back and work for the country.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Well.”

Originally, the plan was to change the political system to a parliamentary one.

But no matter how much public opinion was swayed, and even with Yoon Chang-ho’s high approval ratings, there was significant resistance to the parliamentary system.

At this rate, amending the constitution within Yoon Chang-ho’s term was as good as gone, so a successor for Yoon Chang-ho needed to be prepared in advance.

But Myeong-su was too young to be a presidential candidate, and there was no suitable heavyweight among the established politicians.

In the end, I made a decision. Just as I made Yoon Chang-ho president, I could elevate a new person.

Woo Young-shik, with his clear weaknesses, was the right person, but I couldn’t be sure of him yet.

“For now, run in the Jongno by-election in three months.”

“······.”

“If the people choose you, then enter politics. If they don’t, you can give up then.”

Woo Young-shik still didn’t respond.

“I’m giving you a chance. And this is the best way you can atone to President Yoon Chang-ho.”

At the mention of Yoon Chang-ho, Woo Young-shik’s face darkened.

I checked my wristwatch and finished the remaining liquor in my glass.

“I’ll get going now. I hope you seriously consider what we discussed today. About your daughter, and about your future. Contact me when you’ve made up your mind.”

I left Woo Young-shik there and walked out of the room.

***

Several days passed after meeting Ye Xiaotong and Woo Young-shik.

“Ye Xiaotong has returned?”

“Yes. She went back to China on this morning’s flight.”

“What about Woo Young-shik?”

“He went to see her off at the airport.”

I nodded with a satisfied look. It seemed they decided not to cut ties after all. Then he’ll contact me soon.

“Contact the Black Bear intelligence team in China and assign all available personnel to Ye Xiaotong. Tell them to keep digging, and to report any new information immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

This was as good as having a big weakness of Ye Xiaotong’s.

If her influence was greater than I expected, I could simply use her.

“The Jongno by-election candidates are still undecided?”

“Yes. It’s said to be quite noisy.”

The word ‘noisy’ made me laugh. I could only laugh.

With the President’s approval rating nearing 60%, any candidate put forward by the ruling party was bound to win.

So those who hadn’t been able to get a gold badge were all trying to run in the Jongno by-election.

I immediately picked up my phone and called Myeong-su.

“-Oh, Mu-hyeok.”

“Are you busy? If not, let’s meet at the Myeong-dong office.”

Myeong-su grumbled something before hanging up.

He’ll be here soon.

“Why are you always summoning people!”

True to form, Myeong-su soon arrived and entered my office grumbling.

“I just wanted to see your face. Sit down.”

“If you’re going to summon someone, at least buy them a meal.”

“What do you want to eat? Let’s order in.”

“Order in? Well since it’s cold out how about some Jjamppong? I could go for some hot soup.”

“Sure. I’m in the mood for some too since you mentioned it.”

“Order Jajangmyeon too. So we can share.”

At Myeong-su’s request to order Sweet and Sour Pork too, I laughed and called Manager Ma.

While ordering food for the staff, I asked him to get food from the Myeong-dong Hotel’s Chinese restaurant.

“So why did you call me?”

“Because of the Jongno by-election.”

“Ha······.”

As soon as I mentioned Jongno, Myeong-su sighed.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“You have no idea how much they’re pestering me, all of them saying they’ll run.”

“But you must have narrowed down the candidates?”

Despite his scowl, Myeong-su nodded.

“I narrowed it down to three. The problem is, they’re all refusing to yield.”

“Three?”

“One from the Conservative Party, one of my guys, and one former secretary from the Blue House.”

“A Blue House secretary? Did the Blue House give an order?”

Myeong-su shrugged.

“They don’t say it outright. But what else would it mean for him to resign right at the by-election season? They’re asking me to plant him.”

“Did you talk to them?”

“The President told me to handle it.”

“Tell me the names of those three.”

Myeong-su told me the names of the three candidates. I only knew one of them.

“Park Seok, that guy is trying to get back into politics?”

“He’ll probably win if there’s a primary.”

Park Seok was a heavyweight who had been elected four times in Jongno.

After the Conservative Party was dissolved, he declared his retirement from politics and faded from people’s memories.

“I think he’s aiming for the next presidential election.”

As Myeong-su said, he wasn’t the type to return just to become a member of the National Assembly.

“They keep popping up no matter how many times we squash them.”

At my words, Myeong-su sighed and nodded. I had no intention of supporting Park Seok.

“Park Seok is out of the question.”

“I know. But it’s a burden to just plant someone arbitrarily. It would be easier if the Blue House gave an order.”

“Hmm. Let’s just choose someone completely different.”

“What? That’ll cause an uproar.”

As I was about to say something, the staff brought in the Chinese food.

Jajangmyeon, Jjamppong, and Sweet and Sour Pork were arranged on the table.

“Oh, Myeong-dong Hotel does delivery too?”

“It’s not delivery, the staff went and got it. Let’s eat first. We can talk after.”

I scooped some Jajangmyeon into an empty bowl and handed it to Myeong-su.

“Thanks! Want some Jjamppong too?”

“No thanks. You can have it all.”

Myeong-su grinned and picked up some Sweet and Sour Pork with his chopsticks.

We quickly finished our meal and continued our conversation over instant coffee.

“Ah, I’m stuffed.”

Feeling good, Myeong-su leaned back on the sofa with a relaxed smile.

I smiled along with Myeong-su.

“So you’re saying to plant someone else?”

“Yeah. Let’s push in a completely new person.”

“Is there someone who can shut down all the factions?”

“What about Senior Secretary Woo Young-shik?”

“What? That guy is a no-go!”

Myeong-su was so surprised that the coffee in his paper cup overflowed and stained his pants.

Seeing this, I handed him some tissues and chided him.

“You’re so clumsy.”

“Hey, are pants the issue right now? You know what Woo Young-shik did!”

“Still, wouldn’t everyone shut up if it’s Woo Young-shik?”

“That’s true. But no still means no. Even if people don’t know, I know, you know, and the President knows.”

Myeong-su shook his head resolutely. His opposition was stronger than I expected.

“A person who betrays once will betray again. To revive such a person? I’m against it.”

If it were anyone else, I would have just ordered them, but I didn’t want to do that with Myeong-su.

“Hear me out.”

I opened my mouth to persuade Myeong-su.