The Calm Before the Storm (6)
“This is the data Director Eom Jae-deok left behind at the end.”
In a public parking lot near Seocho-dong after the sun had fully set, Prosecutor Jeong Jae-hoon handed over a memory card and documents with trembling hands.
“As you know, Yoon Kyung-yeong started out as a special investigations prosecutor. He wore the mask of a righteous prosecutor leading the charge against corruption and won explosive public support. In the process, he thoroughly stripped his father Yoon Chan's Hwaseong Machinery bare. The real problem starts after that. Hwaseong Machinery, after sending its owner to prison, expanded into a joint venture and rode a steep upward curve, with a liquidity ratio—an indicator of cash mobilization—that hit a whopping 1,200% by the standards of the time. Even after turning an unbelievable black hole of losses in the worst situation into profit, no one noticed anything suspicious. He perfectly blocked not just the media but investors' eyes too.”
“That's not all, though, right?”
“Exactly.”
Jeong Jae-hoon, his face flushed with excitement, flipped to the next page of the documents with an eager voice.
“The profits from Hwaseong Machinery served as Yoon Kyung-yeong's initial seed money, and he used that cash along with his fame to build connections in the political world. The opposition Minhyuk Party had a chronic weakness: no standout star players. The emergence of the iron-blooded prosecutor backed by public popularity created a win-win for both sides. By exposing the moral issues of prominent primary candidate Oh Tae-sik using info he'd gathered during his prosecution days, he made a flashy entry into Yeouido!”
He took a deep breath.
“Up to here, you and I both know the story, but these documents have the behind-the-scenes details. It was all thorough manipulation. If we release this…!”
“It's not time yet.”
Unlike Jeong Jae-hoon’s excited voice, my eyes remained calm as I flipped through the pages.
“...Not yet? What do you mean?”
“The corruption facts listed here seem fatal at first glance, but they're hard to use as direct evidence of his personal involvement. Even if we leak it to the media and hyung jumps into the investigation, if they claim they acted on their own without Yoon Kyung-yeong's orders, we can't land a direct hit.”
“...Like saying it was just overzealous loyalty and Yoon Kyung-yeong had no idea? That's the scenario you're talking about?”
“Precisely.”
“But he can't wriggle out that easily with this many corrupt acts. There are detailed records of his contacts with business figures too.”
“Same thing. The people he met from the business side were all mid-level staff. Only folks who could be sacrificed as scapegoats without backlash. No traces of actual bribes received—just circumstantial evidence.”
Jeong Jae-hoon gripped the documents roughly, his eyes burning red.
“Damn it! So what's our play here? Just sit on our hands and watch?”
“For now, that's the best attack.”
“...Explain it so I get it.”
His eyes narrowed.
“He would've noticed through Director Eom that his data leaked. But in this situation where he doesn't know the extent or who has it, it'll put the brakes on Yoon Kyung-yeong's perfectionist tendencies. His Seoul mayoral run is likely off the table now too. The real offensive starts after that.”
His greatest strength was that drive to corner opponents only after perfect control of the situation. With variables in play, that drive loses power—and that's value enough from this data.
“Right. You couldn't have gotten this without you anyway. Fine-tune the details, Cheol-gu. Oh, and a couple more things to note.”
Still flipping through the pages with lingering regret, Jeong Jae-hoon seemed to steel himself and handed over the memory card and documents in full.
His voice lowered.
“Jeong Sun-gyo, his right-hand man, has been missing for a few days. And yesterday, a guy named Ji Seong-woong entered through Incheon Airport. Yoon Kyung-yeong personally went to greet him, so he's no ordinary player. I'm thinking of mobilizing investigators to dig into his background.”
“No need. I'll handle him, so hyung, stay out of it and don't provoke Yoon Kyung-yeong for a while.”
Ji Seong-woong—a familiar name. If Jeong Sun-gyo was the meticulous strategist, this guy was the brave general who thrived at the front lines of battle. In my past life, he returned in 2016, three years from now. Back as the top executive for Korea at the global investment firm AEC, he snapped up struggling domestic semiconductor companies one after another, staging deliberate backlash as a “black-haired foreigner selling out the country.”
Shunned by the entire nation, Ji Seong-woong then exposed illegal accounting in the companies he'd bought, emphasizing it was an “unavoidable choice” for transparent management. Disillusioned with their own companies' immorality, the public lost focus and wandered. That's when Yoon Kyung-yeong stepped in.
Proclaiming “companies aren't guilty,” he rallied people around saving domestic firms, sparking nationwide donations not seen since the 1997 IMF crisis gold collection drive. It was rigged from the start—like a fixed game of gostop—so Ji Seong-woong slunk away like a defeated soldier, and the public cheered that they'd protected the nation. The profits, laundered several times, became Yoon Kyung-yeong's assets, leaving people disillusioned with the current government and craving new leadership.
Calling in his ace card Ji Seong-woong this early proved Yoon Kyung-yeong was getting desperate too.
The corner of my mouth curved up slightly as I looked at the documents bearing Director Eom's dying wish.
* * *
“So, did Eom Jae-deok leave any last words?”
“No. We checked all his belongings, but nothing noteworthy turned up.”
In Yoon Kyung-yeong's office, Jang Cheon—the man in the mouse-gray suit—bowed at the waist.
Yoon Kyung-yeong clicked his tongue repeatedly, clearly dissatisfied.
Eom Jae-deok had been the brain fully trusted by his father Yoon Chan. A man of that caliber wouldn't meet death without preparation. The data had definitely leaked, and someone had it in hand.
“The guy who came to see Eom Jae-deok was Special Investigations' Jeong Jae-hoon?”
“Yes.”
Did Eom Jae-deok hand data to Jeong Jae-hoon? Yoon Kyung-yeong shook his head. For the current Eom Jae-deok, the two most desperate needs were Yoon Chan's acquittal and his own safety. The most effective card for that was the corruption data he'd siphoned off, and given Eom's usual caution, he wouldn't hand over a hidden ace that easily. Unless in suicidal desperation on death's door.
Doubts kept piling up.
Jeong Jae-hoon was with Special Investigations—the very department Yoon Kyung-yeong had served in as prosecutor. He'd personally crafted every investigation manual there, and no one knew their capabilities better. The current Special Investigations couldn't touch him. So how did Jeong Jae-hoon even approach Eom Jae-deok?
Countless variables rattled his mind.
“...If you want, I can quietly take care of that Jeong Jae-hoon bastard.”
“No need. I'll call if something comes up, so go on now.”
“Yes, sir. Call anytime.”
As Jang Cheon rose, his gaze flicked to the now-empty nameplate on the desk that had lost its owner.
[Aide Jeong Sun-gyo]
Words rose to his throat, but Jang Cheon swallowed them and turned away.
Jeong Sun-gyo had served Yoon Kyung-yeong for ten years. Even he had become a vengeful spirit in the East Sea without a proper funeral. Now wasn't the time to discuss that seat.
“...Seong-woong, what do you think of that guy?”
“Decent as a dog for errands. He's got instincts.”
Ji Seong-woong, who had been reviewing documents at Yoon Kyung-yeong's side, straightened up to reply.
“Good. Have him issue a simple statement on the Seoul mayor thing for now. And...”
Yoon Kyung-yeong's throat bobbed.
“Lee Soo, Jeong Sun-gyo, Eom Jae-deok, Jeong Jae-hoon. None of these people have connections. For unconnected people to get tangled up like this all at once means some force is manipulating them. Find it. Take your time—maximum caution.”
“Yes, sir.”
A battle against an invisible enemy. That must've been how the guys I've faced felt.
Yoon Kyung-yeong gave a bitter smile and leaned deep into his chair.
* * *
“Hyungnim, you see the news? Assemblyman Yoon Kyung-yeong canceled his Seoul mayor bid.”
In the Violent Crimes Team 3 office, Gwang-il shoved his tablet forward with a fuss.
“The guy's not one to look back once he decides—what happened?”
“Right? I caught a bit of his interview; his face looked off too. Think there's pressure from within the party?”
“Makes no sense. Yoon's got more pull than the floor leader.”
“True. Still can't wrap my head around it. He'd win for sure if he ran.”
Gwang-il and Gyu-cheol kept tilting their heads, staring at the news over and over.
Just as expected. For now, he'd hunker down, shore up internals, and brace for the new enemy's emergence. We'd blocked the lightning war from the speed-obsessed bastard.
That was when it happened.
“Everyone's here. Briefing room, now. We've got a case.”
Hwang Woo-sik Team Leader's urgent voice reached my ears as I nodded slowly.
* * *
“...What the hell is this?”
Gwang-il scratched his head while checking the recorded CCTV footage.
“No matter how I look, it's just a normal couple. What's the crime?”
The motel front entrance camera pointed at a man and woman entering arm-in-arm. The woman's lightly smiling face was faintly but clearly captured.
The angle shifted: now a different woman walked beside the same man. Only the woman changed; it was like copy-pasting the exact same scene.
“Adultery or marriage-fraud rape or something? One guy, two women.”
Gyu-cheol tilted his head at Hwang Team Leader, who sighed deeply and shook his head.
“No. Both women on screen have filed sexual assault charges against the man.”
“That make any sense? She looks fully conscious, walking in on her own two feet.”
“That's why it's a total mess right now. First woman: 26-year-old Yoo Hwa-rin, secretary at a mid-sized firm. Man: 33-year-old Woo Cheong-su, successful programmer, no priors.”
His ID photo, already logged as suspect, filled the screen.
“Woo Cheong-su met the first complainant Yoo Hwa-rin at Gangnam's Club October 7th. Her side claims she blacked out after drinks and woke up in the motel. Says her limit's two bottles of soju, so passing out from one champagne doesn't add up—insists Woo Cheong-su spiked it.”
“Did a tox screen? Under 24 hours, traces should've lingered.”
“Of course. But nothing. And look here.”
Hwang Team Leader pointed at her smiling face in the footage.
“She walked in fine, arm-in-arm, grinning. Woo Cheong-su's flipping out, claiming she's a flower snake and threatening to countersue for false accusation. Second complainant Park Sun-young's in the exact same boat—tox clean too.”
“Circumstantially, Woo Cheong-su looks totally framed, right?”
“Yeah. But the complainants' stories match too perfectly. Blackout where they don't remember walking in on their own, extreme fatigue like being beaten all over, and worst, intermittent short-term amnesia where they can't even recall their own names.”
Hwang Team Leader rubbed his neck repeatedly, shaking his head.
“But tox is clean, so no hard evidence.”
“No chance of a new designer drug?”
All eyes turned to me.
“...Are you saying, Inspector Kang, that some novel drug circulating out there evades standard tox screens?”
Hwang Team Leader stared at me in surprise.
“More than possible.”
If Woo Cheong-su used the new aphrodisiac hitting the U.S. market, every puzzle piece fits.