The Congressman Bows Low

With the dedication of a monk carving scriptures, he calmly copied each page of the documents, one by one.

As if responding to his spirit, the old-fashioned copy machine did its best, releasing waves of heat and spitting out copies of the documents one by one.

In the midst of their focused copying,

*Thunk, thunk*

The sound of footsteps approached.

Goo Young-jin’s ears twitched.

[Hey, someone’s coming. Hide the papers!]

In an instant, Cha Jae-rim felt his blood run cold.

He quickly grabbed the pile of documents and hid them under the partition of his cubicle.

The footsteps grew louder, and soon the owner of the footsteps appeared.

“Oh… Manager Seong.”

“Hmm, what is this? You haven’t left work yet, Mr. Jae-rim?”

“Yes, haha. I had some more work to do.”

“What kind of work? Who’s going to know if you work hard or not?”

“I’m still new, so there are some things I haven’t been able to finish up during work hours. Why are you here, Manager Seong?”

Manager Seong chuckled at Cha Jae-rim’s question.

“Why? Because of what else. I’m here to clock in overtime.”

Manager Seong went to his desk to enter his overtime hours and then got ready to leave again.

He glanced at Cha Jae-rim as he said,

“If you’re going to be here this late again, let me know. I have something I want to ask you to do. It would be a waste for me to come all the way here for nothing.”

“Understood. I’ll let you know next time.”

“Oh, alright. Thanks.”

Manager Seong waved goodbye perfunctorily and left the office again.

Only then did Cha Jae-rim let out a sigh of relief.

A bead of sweat trickled down his temple.

“Maybe I’m not cut out to be a thief. My heart’s pounding like this over something like this.”

[Of course it is. Unlike you, the thief named Seong steals taxes without batting an eye.]

“Haha…”

[This is a problem. A politician needs to be able to do these things without hesitation.]

“Even at a time like this, you’re still thinking about that?”

[Hurry up and finish copying. Another thief might come barging in.]

Cha Jae-rim increased his pace and copied diligently.

Once the copying was finished, the documents were returned to their original place in the archive.

“This is going to be a pain to carry around.”

[For someone your age, this much should be a piece of cake. Now, let’s go. It’s time for the news.]

Cha Jae-rim left the district office with an armful of documents.

Goo Young-jin gazed contentedly at the documents cradled in his arms.

These would serve as both a protective talisman for Cha Jae-rim and a silver bullet to shoot through Manager Kang’s heart.

The corruption that Cha Jae-rim had discovered just by searching Kang’s desk amounted to tens of millions of won.

And that was just what he had eaten with Taeyoungsa.

Manager Kang and Manager Park were in charge of executing the entire district office budget and external contracts.

This was just the tip of the iceberg.

However, it would be difficult for Cha Jae-rim to expose all of their corruption by himself.

‘Even so, this much should definitely be effective.’

Back home, Cha Jae-rim carefully stored the copies in a corner of his room and said to Goo Young-jin,

“By the way, what are you going to do with all this?”

[What do you mean, what am I going to do? Kang is going to try to harm you, so this will be your weapon when you fight back.]

Cha Jae-rim’s eyebrows twitched.

“Manager Kang is going to harm me?”

[Right.]

“Well, he seems suspicious, but surely he wouldn’t go that far.”

[People always say ‘surely not’ just before things go bad. You’re in danger right now.]

“What are you… ?”

Cha Jae-rim was bewildered.

His relationship with Manager Kang wasn’t good.

But there aren’t many people who would resort to harming their coworkers just because of a bad relationship.

“Manager Kang isn’t crazy…”

[People lose their minds easily.]

“But… when and how is he going to harm me?”

The voice that had been so calm up until now wavered.

Goo Young-jin’s answer was relaxed.

[When is he going to harm you, you ask? Probably tomorrow or the day after.]

“Tomorrow? But Manager Kang is on vacation right now…”

[And as for how he’s going to harm you, I guess you’ll find out when it happens.]

“Elder!”

[Don’t worry, you won’t die. Now go to sleep. You must be very tired.]

“How can I sleep after hearing that?”

[If you don’t sleep, it’ll only be worse for you.]

Cha Jae-rim’s pupils trembled violently as he looked at Goo Young-jin.

And then, two days later.

A storm arrived.

As the employees lazily stretched after lunch, as they always did, a group of suited men barged in.

At the head of the suited men stood a middle-aged man with a stern expression.

Recognizing him, Manager Park from the Expenditure Division acted as if he knew what was going on.

“Oh, look who it is, Secretary Choi!”

Manager Park had always been envious of his quick promotion, as he had risen rapidly through the ranks while working at the main office.

But today, for the first time, he wanted to kiss Choi’s cheek.

Secretary Choi looked at Manager Park with a smile.

“You’ve been well?”

“Of course, of course. Why? What’s going on?”

Manager Park pretended to be ignorant, even though he knew very well what was going on.

Instead of replying to him, Secretary Choi bowed to the finance department head.

“Department head, hello. I’m from the audit office of the main office.”

“Oh my, audit office? What’s going on?”

“There was a report of wrongdoing, so we’ve come to investigate.”

“Wro, wrongdoing?”

The finance department head also turned pale at the mention of “wrongdoing” because he had plenty of his own skeletons in the closet.

Secretary Choi immediately addressed his target as if to reassure him.

“Contracts division employee Cha Jae-rim. Is he here?”

“C, Cha Jae-rim?”

At those words, Goo Young-jin tapped Cha Jae-rim on the shoulder and said,

[It’s starting now. Don’t panic.]

Cha Jae-rim swallowed his saliva and quietly rose from his seat.

“I’m Cha Jae-rim.”

“Oh, we’ve received a report, so we’d like you to come with us for questioning.”

“What kind of report are you referring to…?”

“For now, you’ll have to come with us to the main office.”

“…”

Cha Jae-rim obediently followed the audit office employees out to the main office.

Manager Park saw Cha Jae-rim being taken away and quietly slipped out to call Manager Kang.

Manager Kang, who was on ‘vacation’, was waiting at home with his ears perked up.

He answered the phone from Manager Park right away.

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

– The main office audit office came and went.

“Really? Did they take Cha Jae-rim with them?”

– Oh, they took him away without a hitch.

Manager Kang pumped his fist and let out a silent cheer.

“Okay, so we don’t have to worry about anything now?”

– It would have been perfect if that punk had submitted the supply contract.

“What the heck? That bastard didn’t submit the contract for approval? Did he suspect something?”

– What if he did? Once he’s in the audit office, the game is over anyway.

“That’s true, but… Anyway, thank you for your hard work. For now, we just have to keep our heads down until the storm passes, right?”

– Yeah, for now, let’s just keep a low profile and put our side businesses on hold.

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

Manager Kang smiled with relief as he hung up the phone.

***

Cha Jae-rim was escorted to the main office.

Secretary Choi placed Cha Jae-rim in a small, empty room.

“You’ll stay here for a while.”

His tone had changed to informal speech.

Leaving Cha Jae-rim in the room, the audit office didn’t take any action for quite some time.

They didn’t even offer him a glass of water, and the only chair was an uncomfortable one with no backrest.

Goo Young-jin crossed his arms and perched his bottom on the radiator.

[They’re doing this to intimidate you.]

“What should I do now?”

[What should you do? You just stay here.]

“They’re being so bold at the audit office because they’re confident they can grill me, aren’t they?”

[Probably.]

“If I expose the corruption between Manager Kang and Taeyoungsa here, will I survive?”

In response to Cha Jae-rim’s words, Goo Young-jin chuckled.

[Of course not. That Staff Officer Choi who brought you here is as thick as thieves with Manager Park. Even if you expose it, he’ll just pretend not to see it.]

Cha Jae-rim’s temples throbbed at those words.

“Then what do we do?”

[I know how to save you.]

“What is it? Tell me quickly.”

[First, you have to make me a promise.]

“…What is it?”

[Promise me that you’ll go into politics.]

“Elder! In this situation, right now…!”

Cha Jae-rim was exasperated by Goo Young-jin, who was talking about politics even in this life-threatening situation.

However, Goo Young-jin didn’t bat an eyelid.

He said, his expression cold,

[Promise me. Say you’ll do it.]

“What if I don’t?”

[Then you’ll be branded a corrupt civil servant and have your life ruined prematurely.]

“I’ve only followed you this far because I trusted you. How can you do this to me?”

[Your life was going to be ruined regardless. Do you think I orchestrated Kang and Park’s actions against you? I don’t have the power to do that, as you can see, I’m just a ghost that’s only visible to you.]

“Elder!”

Goo Young-jin got up and slowly approached Cha Jae-rim.

[Promise me. Promise to go into politics.]

“…”

[It’s no use pretending to hesitate. It’s a question with only one answer. Without my help, you will never overcome this situation.]

“If the audit office doesn’t listen to me, I’ll expose Kang’s and Taeyoungsa’s corruption to the police. That’ll work, right?”

[Do you really think the police will listen to you? Wake up and drink some coffee.]

“But it’s worth a try, isn’t it?”

Silence. Goo Young-jin’s gaze was like that of a tiger looking at a helpless puppy.

[Feel free to try it. Even if, by some miracle, your claims are accepted, it will only be a small victory over Kang. It won’t stop you from being branded a corrupt civil servant.]

“…”

Cha Jae-rim gulped.

[Promise me. Promise to go into politics. I’ll save you then.]

Cha Jae-rim clenched his fists and then opened them again.

He had no choice.

He slowly nodded.

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

[Good! You’ve been going the easy way for too long.]

“Stop messing with me. If you keep playing around with me, I won’t let you get away with it. I will make you disappear.”

[Oh my, how scary. Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on it.]

“Tell me how to do it.”

[For now, just get through today without any problems. They’re going to raise a fuss, but you have to go out there with the attitude of “I don’t care what you say, I’m not going to talk.”]

“You mean I should exercise my right to remain silent?”

[Not exactly your right to remain silent. Just don’t give them the satisfaction of getting a rise out of you.]

“Can you be more specific…!”

The moment Cha Jae-rim asked for more specific instructions, the door to the small room opened.

And employees from the audit office entered the room.

At their head was Secretary Choi again.

He tossed a file folder onto the table and then sat down heavily into his chair.

Then he said to the subordinates who had entered with him,

“Go outside for a minute. I’ll handle the questioning.”

“We can help you, too.”

“No, go.”

Secretary Choi waved his subordinates away and was alone with Cha Jae-rim.

He looked directly at Cha Jae-rim.

“I believe your name is Cha Jae-rim?”

“Yes, Cha Jae-rim.”

“I’m quite senior to you, so I’ll drop the formalities. Why do you think you were dragged here?”

“I don’t know.”

Secretary Choi didn’t seem to have expected much of an answer. He opened the file folder.

There was a densely written sheet of paper inside.

“We received a report.”

“Who sent the report?”

“President Kim Tae-woo of Wonjin Office Supplies. Do you know him?”

“Yes.”

“The report states that you demanded entertainment and even a commission on the contract.”

Cha Jae-rim’s eyes flashed.

“That’s ridiculous…!”

As he grew agitated, Goo Young-jin gently placed his hand on his shoulder.

[Don’t rise to the bait.]

At Goo Young-jin’s words, Cha Jae-rim gritted his teeth and lowered his voice.

“That’s completely untrue.”