The Fall

"Chae-kyung. You've become famous, haven't you?"

Han Chae-kyung had never dreamed she'd become a star.

She'd been fairly well-known among the twenty-five councilors of Annam City.

Young and pretty for a politician. Thanks to her husband's wealth, she'd occasionally been mentioned in the press during asset disclosure season.

But even so, she was just a local councilor.

"You're national now. A national whore."

Every so often, a local councilor would break through the weight class and draw attention beyond their station. The provincial assembly chairman who went on an overseas study tour, got slapped by a local guide, and then brazenly demanded a call girl be summoned. The district councilor who got into a brawl with a colleague over a card game, beat him half to death, and ended up doing prison time.

But their reach was limited.

There was no comparison to the scandal that had exploded a few hours earlier.

The first article dropped at 1:07 p.m.

Without missing a beat, three more exposés with different content followed in quick succession.

That was all her husband Kim Ho-chang's doing.

He seemed to think it was enough. In fact, it was. The media outlets that had latched onto the bait and started writing weren't one or two.

"Chae-kyung. Are you listening? You're national now."

"Don't mock me."

"I'm not mocking you. I'm just cursing you out."

Han Chae-kyung was truly becoming a national figure.

In the first hour alone, twenty online breaking news reports.

Over the next three hours, eighty-seven reports including broadcast networks. And from that point on, they were using her real name.

The hashtags #HanChaeKyung and #SponsorCouncilor had already hit twenty thousand tweets and were still surging.

The communities had been overrun, of course.

How did a whore become a city councilor. Queen of whores. Sponsor whore councilor.Is this real life in Annam City politics? Selling human rights while selling your body. It's not a gender issue, she's just trash.Ugh, chicken coop smell. Why pay to eat old men? Did Annam citizens really vote for that? Sponsor? This is clearly political warfare. I smell a prosecution-media collusion. Looking at the size, is this a passport sponsor gate? Those bastards are definitely going to frame this as misogyny. I'm willing to pay up to 40,000 won per shot, but should I go to Annam City now?

The communities varied in their leanings, but one thing was certain.

Rapid collapse.

Even though it was certain, Han Chae-kyung couldn't bear to face it.

That was why she'd turned off her phone and come to her husband's hospital room.

"Chae-kyung."

A soft voice called her name. The same voice that had been cursing and mocking her this whole time.

She'd been ignoring him, but she lifted her head anyway.

The sight was pitiful. Slightly labored breathing, a belly swollen from bile stasis and hepatic enlargement...

Kim Ho-chang's condition had already been bad, but it had worsened further because he'd ignored the doctor's orders and gone out frequently. A bile drainage tube had been inserted just two hours ago, and he was told to maintain absolute fasting for several more days.

And yet Kim Ho-chang was smiling.

Happily.

"How does it feel? The whole country knows you're a whore now."

"Honey."

"I told you before, didn't I? One more 'honey' and I'd tear you apart and throw you in the sea... But now there's no need for that. I don't have the strength."

"Did it have to go this far?"

"How could I stand it? My wife calling me 'honey' is a whore."

Han Chae-kyung stared blankly at her husband's yellowed face.

She had received her death sentence from her husband less than a day ago.

In that short time, Han Chae-kyung had become a whore councilor.

The phrasing felt a bit awkward. ...She hated to admit it, but she had originally been a former whore, and she had been a councilor. She'd just never been caught from 2018 until now. And she'd believed she never would be.

But now she was being openly branded as a whore.

And that wasn't even all of it.

"You have to keep adding firewood whenever the flames start to die down."

"Firewood... you said firewood?"

"That's right."

Kim Ho-chang said he had plenty of material ready to keep the fire burning.

Backup data from her friend Kwak Min-sun (text message screenshots, photos), the list surrendered by lawyer Im Eun-kyung who had once been her broker, the recording file Han Chae-kyung had foolishly obtained from that bastard Joo Sung-hyun this morning.

As long as Kim Ho-chang threw them in at the right moments, the fire could burn for a week.

Maybe even longer.

It was truly horrific, but Han Chae-kyung knew what reality she was in. She had a rough idea of the future that awaited her.

The problem was why he was going this far.

She understood his rage. His sense of betrayal was natural. But.

"If you do this, you won't come out ahead either."

Wouldn't it be more profitable to hold onto her weakness and use her?

Throwing her out in front of the public would let him vent his anger, but in the end it hurt Kim Ho-chang too. Han Chae-kyung could have genuinely become mayor... If things didn't work out and she had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to run for councilor one more time, she was at the level of chairing the assembly. Even the chair position carried substantial value.

She couldn't believe he'd given all of that up.

Kim Ho-chang looked at her as if she were ridiculous.

"Chae-kyung. Actually, I did the math."

"The math?"

"If I wanted to get you into the mayor's office, it would cost another one billion won. That's thirty billion total with what I've spent so far... It would still be a profitable deal if it worked out. I could pull a hundred billion out during your term."

"But why did you give up...? Because you thought it wouldn't work?"

"More than that, it's meaningless."

Meaningless.

Han Chae-kyung's head was still foggy from suddenly becoming a star, but she could tell what he meant. Her husband had helpfully indicated with a nod of his head — the lower half of his body, which still had the equipment attached but had lost its function.

A eunuch. A eunuch who couldn't impregnate anyone.

"And we don't even have a child."

"Ah..."

"Your whore. Is it worth putting up with it and earning another ten billion?"

Kim Ho-chang's speech was becoming slurred. He said it was a side effect of the slow liver-toxicity treatment.

Even while struggling like that, he was still smiling.

"Honey."

The word "honey" slipped out of Han Chae-kyung's mouth out of habit.

But honestly, Han Chae-kyung didn't have much to say. It wasn't just that she had nothing to say — she didn't even know why she was in her husband's hospital room.

The one who had dragged her into this quagmire was that very husband. And even now, he was holding firewood, waiting for the perfect moment to throw it in.

There was no answer. Let's go.

Han Chae-kyung slowly pushed herself up.

Her husband called out to the back of her head.

"Chae-kyung? Get out of the apartment by today." ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ "What?"

"Don't even think about sneaking into the Dosan officetel. That's my property too. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠You... go to a hotel. Or you could cling to one of the men you used to sell yourself to. If you dress up nicely, you still look decent enough for the fifty-somethings."

"......"

"A lawyer will contact you soon."

Insult wasn't enough — he was even hinting at divorce. Han Chae-kyung couldn't just let that slide, and she opened her mouth to fire back—

But she decided to just give up.

"Get out. Chae-kyung."

Her husband had already wiped his smile away and his face was just twisted. One eye was even glistening with tears.

No matter what she did, there was no way to break that will.

It would be better if he just died from his condition worsening.

Whether from extreme stress or from resentment toward her husband growing too large, an extreme thought surfaced.

But her husband had money, and he was determined to keep going just to watch Han Chae-kyung's downfall.

Han Chae-kyung ended up leaving the hospital room in a hollow daze.

She'd wanted to be quiet for just a moment...

But there were people waiting for her outside the hospital.

Reporters.

"Councilor! There are tips coming in that your past private life suspicions are tied to political patronage — when will you resign?"

"Any intention to leave the party? You'll be expelled anyway, right?"

"We just received word that Annam City Council is forming an ethics special committee..."

Nearly twenty of them. An excessive amount of attention for a single local councilor. Her husband had clearly given them the coordinates.

Han Chae-kyung tried to escape, but it wasn't easy.

Flashes firing in succession, smartphones thrust toward her face, reporters' scrums brushing past her shoulders and bag as if urging answers — Do you admit the suspicions your husband raised? Did you really sell your body?

"Is there really a list of sponsor men? Local prominent figures..."

"Prostitute!!"

"Who just said that?"

"Councilor Han Chae-kyung. Please answer?"

The fame was far too much for Han Chae-kyung to bear.

...

That evening.

Han Chae-kyung finally appeared on the main news preview.

It was true that fewer people watched the news these days. But it had the effect of certifying her as someone who could be freely attacked.

It had been predictable from the moment it first broke.

Han Chae-kyung, temporarily staying at a hotel, let ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the news wash over her.

And she was looking at a screenshot of the profile she had once posted on the internet, on a dating cafe called Evermeeting.

It had been written on March 25, 2007. A long time ago.

The beginning of her whore life had been this humble.

At first, it wasn't even a sponsor arrangement — it was conditional sex. And a one-time thing at that.

Han Chae-kyung had posted the profile just in case, through an introduction from a senior in her department who was already working as a conditional sex worker.

But someone actually contacted her. A man in his late thirties who had been drawn in by the line "It's my first time so I might be clumsy." Of course, she hadn't been a virgin by then either... But being human, she had been nervous.

Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as she'd worried.

The payment was 350,000 won. In the era when minimum wage was 3,480 won per hour, 350,000 won.

Up until the moment she held the envelope of money in her hand, Han Chae-kyung hadn't known.

That not long after, she would evolve into a sponsor whore, meet dozens of men, marry a landowner she'd intended to use as a convenient patron and climb the ladder easily, and just as the success she'd long dreamed of came within reach, a crisis would suddenly strike.

Now she was even being pinned to the main news of all three major networks.

The first-year college student she had been — she really hadn't known.

That the dating cafe profile she'd posted without a second thought would drag her future all the way to this point. If she'd known then what she knew now.

"She wouldn't have started in the first place."

A single tear slowly traced down Han Chae-kyung's right cheek.

But there was no way to turn back time.