The Congressman Bows Low

“Weren’t you sharing drinks together? At an expensive Japanese restaurant.”

Upon hearing those words, Cha Jae-rim glanced at Goo Young-jin, who was out of Secretary Choi’s sight.

Goo Young-jin had told him to have a drink first.

If Cha Jae-rim hadn’t met President Kim of Wonjin at all, the situation would have been a bit easier.

It seemed he was lured into making the wrong choice, with the intention of being rescued from a crisis later.

Cha Jae-rim lightly bit his lower lip.

Goo Young-jin looked away, trying to avoid his gaze.

Cha Jae-rim let out a faint sigh and said to Secretary Choi,

“My superior, Manager Kang Oh-seok, suggested the meeting, and I met President Kim of Wonjin Office Supplies right away that day.”

“Are you going to rat out your boss?”

“I’m not ratting him out; it’s the truth.”

“Nevertheless, you did accept entertainment.”

“If receiving an expensive meal is considered entertainment, I wonder how many civil servants would be guiltless.”

At Cha Jae-rim’s calm response, Secretary Choi raised his voice.

“It’s rare to find young civil servants like you without any sense of shame.”

“Secretary Choi, have you never received a meal from a wealthy citizen?”

“Hey! When did this become a supervisory evaluation—!”

Secretary Choi slammed the table.

At that, Goo Young-jin chuckled.

[You’re quite good at provoking people.]

Secretary Choi looked at Cha Jae-rim and growled.

“President Kim of Wonjin Office Supplies is a stakeholder. He’s not just some citizen.”

“Is there any evidence to support that President Kim is a stakeholder?”

“Why not? He’s part of the supply contract, so of course he’s a stakeholder!”

“But I’ve never written a contract?”

“What…”

“Manager Kang Oh-seok instructed me to sign a contract at an inflated price, but I did not follow his order. Look into it. Check if there is a supply contract that I wrote.”

“President Kim made the complaint, and the entertainment you accepted supports the credibility of the complaint.”

“The complaint may provide a clue, but it’s not evidence. Isn’t the reason I’ve been brought here because of favoritism? Then you need to secure evidence to prove that favoritism.”

Secretary Choi clenched the armrest of his chair and spat out his words.

“You seem very confident.”

“I have every reason to be.”

“Yes, you need that much confidence to commit these kinds of corruption without batting an eye in your second year.”

“I’ve never engaged in any corruption.”

Cha Jae-rim, who had been restrained from getting worked up by Goo Young-jin in the beginning, continued to respond indifferently, as if he wouldn’t bleed a drop even if stabbed with a spear.

In the end, Secretary Choi failed to extract anything from Cha Jae-rim.

Cha Jae-rim stood up from his seat without a word as Secretary Choi resorted to nothing more than threats.

“If you have nothing else to ask and are just going to keep getting angry, I’m going to leave.”

“How dare you—!”

“If you intend to detain me, you’ll either need to ask more questions or obtain a warrant.”

Cha Jae-rim took his coat and walked out of the audit room.

Secretary Choi couldn’t find a reason to stop him.

Irritated, he took out his cell phone and called Manager Park.

Manager Park’s voice was cheerful when he answered the phone.

“Oh my, Secretary Choi.”

“What is going on, Manager Park?”

“What? Cha Jae-rim?”

“Yes, that’s what you said, Manager Park. You said that if we provoked him enough, he would either get agitated or intimidated, allowing us to find an excuse to discipline him.”

“Yes, I did. So?”

“He was just mocking me. That little punk.”

Manager Park chuckled at Secretary Choi’s words.

“What’s wrong with the great Choi Young-gil? Why are you letting a subordinate get to you like this?”

“The little punk is acting tough.”

“Oh, in that case, just tie him up with the entertainment issue and bring it to the disciplinary committee. Why are you complaining here?”

Secretary Choi put his hand on his waist and exhaled heavily.

“Even so, I need something to draw with if I’m going to paint a picture. Alright, I understand. I’ll try my best to fabricate something, so please help me out with this, Manager Park.”

“Help you? How?”

“Just casually persuade Cha Jae-rim or coax him into admitting to the entertainment issue.”

“That—why would I go through all the trouble? Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”

Manager Park hung up the phone and mumbled.

“If you don’t have the paints, then bite your fingers and draw with blood. Look at him, venting his anger here when he’s not skilled enough.”

At that, Manager Seong sitting next to him turned his head slightly.

“Excuse me, Manager, but why was Jae-rim taken in?”

“Apparently he received favors from President Kim of Wonjin Office Supplies.”

“What? Jae-rim? But he would never do that kind of thing.”

Manager Park’s mood soured, and he glared at him.

“You don’t know him well enough to be making those kinds of judgments.”

“I suppose. But didn’t he stay late the other day and work overtime? I thought he was a very honest and diligent person.”

At those words, Manager Park’s eyebrows twitched.

“What? He was working overtime?”

“Yes, it was around 8 pm. I went to clock out for overtime, and I saw that he was working diligently on something.”

“With the Chuseok holidays coming up and work being slow, what could he possibly have been working overtime for?”

Manager Seong shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s what I was wondering. He said he had something to do, so I assumed that was it. He seemed to be copying something.”

“Copying?”

“Yes, I saw him working hard at the photocopier when I walked by. The machine was really hot, like a sauna.”

As soon as he heard those words, Manager Park rushed out of his office.

And immediately called Manager Kang.

As soon as Manager Kang answered the phone, Manager Park blurted out his question.

“Cha Jae-rim was apparently making a lot of copies last night?”

“Huh? Copies of what?”

“I don’t know. But don’t you think this kid might have known something and was trying to get ahead of us?”

“Even if he had gotten ahead of us, he wouldn’t have known much. And, even if he did, It’s not like he has any influential connections.”

“But it still makes me nervous.”

“You’re worrying unnecessarily, like a thief complaining about sore feet. Nothing significant will happen. Just wait and see.”

Manager Kang hung up the phone, annoyed.

But as soon as he hung up, Manager Kang’s face hardened.

‘That punk Cha Jae-rim…’

*

Cha Jae-rim left the Central Government Audit Office but did not return to the District Office.

He headed straight to his home in Anam-dong.

On the way, Goo Young-jin chuckled and said,

[You, are you really allowed to be this gutsy?]

“It wasn’t like you told me not to be gutsy. You just told me not to overdo it.”

[I know, but aren’t you scared?]

“He’s a man who’s already determined to frame me anyway. What difference does it make if I’m a little rougher with him?”

Goo Young-jin nodded with a pleased smile.

[Good, you need that kind of guts to go into politics.]

“I can’t say I’m not doing it anymore. It’s already starting to feel suffocating.”

Cha Jae-rim’s face held a faint smile as he spoke.

[Good, that’s a good attitude.]

“But why do you want me to do politics that much? If you had just told me not to accept a meal from President Kim, this wouldn’t have happened. Why are you driving me into such a corner?”

[I thought a meal would be fine. Who could have known it would turn out like this?]

“You must have known it would turn out like this. In any case, you can’t trust what politicians say.”

[Don’t say that. You’ll end up being grateful to me later.]

“Never mind that. What are we going to do now? If I just sit here and do nothing, they’ll find a way to implicate me and turn me into a corrupt official.”

[Well, what can we do…]

The moment Goo Young-jin was about to open his mouth, Cha Jae-rim stopped walking.

They were almost home.

He frowned when he saw someone waiting in front of his house.

“Oh my, Cha Jae-rim.”

“Manager, what brings you here?”

It was Manager Kang.

“Ooh, why is your tone so hostile?”

“As if you don’t know the reason.”

“I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Let’s resolve this issue wisely. Let’s put our heads together.”

As Cha Jae-rim inserted the key into the front door, he said,

“There’s only one way to resolve this.”

“One way?”

“You can go to the Central Government Audit Office and admit that you were the one who suggested I have a meal with President Kim, and that you were the one who told me to inflate the unit price and submit the contract.”

“Hey, we should survive together. Are you asking me to commit suicide?”

“If you’re not going to do that, then stop talking.”

As Cha Jae-rim opened the door wide and was about to go inside, Manager Kang hurriedly grabbed his wrist.

“Chae-rim, you little punk. Just listen to me for a minute.”

“Let go of me.”

“Hey, I didn’t know things would turn out like this. Who would have known that President Kim would be on drugs and suddenly file a complaint?”

Goo Young-jin said with a frown.

[That bastard, he’s trying to save his own skin. Just so you know, Manager Park is the director, and Manager Kang wrote the script.]

“If you keep going like this, your career as a civil servant is really over. You could even go to prison. Do you want that?”

“Even if I die, I won’t die alone. I’ll grab onto your leg and drag you with me.”

“…Do you have something on me?”

This question was the reason he had come to see Cha Jae-rim.

The best-case scenario would be to appease Cha Jae-rim, have him accept a light disciplinary punishment, and end the situation.

Then Cha Jae-rim would take all the blame, and he and Manager Park could avoid the audit’s sharp blade.

However, he knew for sure that this wouldn’t work after seeing Cha Jae-rim’s tough attitude.

Now he had to check if Cha Jae-rim really had anything on him.

If Cha Jae-rim didn’t have anything substantial.

No matter how much Cha Jae-rim struggled, it wouldn’t hurt Manager Kang.

Secretary Choi was the auditor in charge of this audit, so if he stretched the truth a little, Cha Jae-rim was as good as dead.

However, if Cha Jae-rim had a weapon, that would change things.

That’s why Manager Kang carefully watched Cha Jae-rim’s expression.

[Act like you’re flustered.]

Cha Jae-rim swallowed hard. And just as Goo Young-jin had told him, he deliberately trembled his voice, pretending to be flustered.

“D-do you think I’m that easy?”

“No, that’s why I’m asking. If you’re planning to implicate me, you must have something on me, right?”

“…Is there anyone who comes out clean when you start digging into them? Manager, in particular, would fill a whole sack with dirt if we tried.”

“So, is that the dirt you were frantically copying last night?”

“What copying? Oh, that was just….”

“Just what? Was it something trivial?”

“…W-well, it might be important?”

Manager Kang could practically hear the sound of Cha Jae-rim’s eyeballs rolling around in his head.

Anyone could tell it was a crude bluff.

‘As I thought. It’s nothing major. How could Cha Jae-rim have known about it in advance and prepared to deal with it?’

Pak, Manager Kang let go of Cha Jae-rim’s wrist after hearing those words.

Red marks from his strong grip were left on Cha Jae-rim’s wrist.

Manager Kang smiled pleasantly.

“Is that so? Then show me how much dirt you have on me. Please do.”

With that, he nonchalantly left Cha Jae-rim.

Cha Jae-rim watched him go for a while, then turned and went up to the rooftop.

Goo Young-jin chuckled.

[Your acting skills are also outstanding.]

“I’ll make sure to make that guy Kang regret this.”

[Of course! Now, it’s your turn. Finish it with this turn. Get a pen and paper.]

At Goo Young-jin’s command, Cha Jae-rim immediately took out a notepad and opened the cap of a marker with his mouth.

[Write this down. 017-520…]