Deathbed Confession
Choi Son-hwan, the former assemblyman, lay there utterly drained, his body shriveled to the bone without even the strength to move. Gu Eun-chae had endured day after day fueled solely by her vow to find her mother's killer and exact revenge. Now, fate had brought them face-to-face in the same room. Overwhelmed by rage she could scarcely contain, Eun-chae's hands trembled violently. She glared at him with murderous intent, saying nothing.
The old man's ribs protruded starkly; he looked as if closing his eyes forever wouldn't be surprising at all. It was as though tomorrow didn't exist for him. In the heavy silence, Min-ho finally spoke up.
"This is former Assemblyman Choi Son-hwan. His lung cancer has metastasized throughout his body."
"How much time does he have left?"
"The doctor's prognosis was a week ago. That's why I rushed to bring him here."
"Is this what you meant by time running out?"
"If not now, there's no way to learn the truth. I'm sorry, but set your anger aside for a moment and ask him about the incident. He's the only one who knows."
Once the party leader who had shaken Yeouido as a top presidential contender, he was now just a man on the brink of death. Eun-chae wiped her tears with her sleeve and clenched her trembling fists tight. With the ferocity of someone about to kill, she thrust her arm toward the old man's throat. Barely able to resist, he struggled to open his mouth.
"Do you... really think killing me now... will change anything?"
"At the very least, it'll repay the years I spent searching for you."
"I'll die soon enough anyway. No need... to stain your hands with blood. Wouldn't it be better... to hear my story first?"
As the old man said, killing him wouldn't alter a thing. If anything, considering the punishment Eun-chae might face, it would be like condemning herself. Min-ho grabbed her arm and said,
"I know it's hard, but hear him out first. If he dies, no one in the world will know the truth."
She nodded and lowered her arm. The old man's cracked lips, split like parched summer earth, parted painfully.
"Yoon Gwi-young's daughter... Eun-chae... Of course... I knew you'd find me someday..."
"Why did you kill my mom? Just answer that. That's all I need."
"If I'd known it would end this futilely... I never should have... It was all my greed..."
After a long, weary sigh, the old man answered.
"It was when I was party leader... Kim Dong-il, now in the Blue House, was in the same party."
"Is it true you planned to kill him?"
"If only that bastard weren't in the way... I thought I could run for president and seize power... Looking back, it was a foolish decision..."
"And you made that decision at Soseonjae, of all places?"
"Yes. It was a drizzly day. We thought we'd finished our quiet talk... But then... your mother had overheard everything from the next room..."
"You killed my mom over something that trivial?"
Breathing heavily as if even speaking was a struggle, he continued.
"Of course not... Your mother, Yoon Gwi-young, was no ordinary skirt-chaser's fancy... Someone like that was useful... No need to kill her."
"Then why did you?"
"At the time, unlike other assemblymen, I had two chief secretaries. I told one of them, a guy named Jeong-hun..."
"What did you tell him?"
"That Yoon Gwi-young shouldn't let our Soseonjae conversation leak out... I asked him to handle it, then went home that day..."
It was true. Former Assemblyman Choi had no intention of killing Yoon Gwi-young. He planned to leverage her in various ways instead.
"Are you saying that secretary misunderstood?"
"If I ran for the presidency, I had to hand my district to one of the two... The guy named Jeong-hun must've thought he needed to impress me... and he misinterpreted my words..."
Two chief secretaries. One district seat. The starting point of a horrific tragedy.
The secretary's ultimate goal was a National Assembly badge. For Shin Jeong-hun, whose position was already shaky, it seemed like a golden opportunity. If he handled this perfectly, running in the district was a given.
Blinded by excessive loyalty and misguided ambition, the secretary twisted his boss's orders and triggered an irreversible incident.
"He probably thought he'd pulled it off flawlessly. With the rain and no witnesses..."
"Then why not just report it? Where's Secretary Shin Jeong-hun now? What’s he doing?"
"If the incident blew up, our plan would be exposed to the world... I was terrified too... I..."
"Don't tell me... you killed him?"
He nodded slowly.
"To cover one murder, I committed another... With my own hands, on Jeong-hun..."
"How can I believe that?"
"What's the point of lying now...? If you doubt me... dig up the bottom of the Namgwang Reservoir in Daejeon's Bang-dong. You'll find a drum..."
"And the secretary's inside it?"
"Yes... Jeong-hun haunts my dreams sometimes... Torments me viciously..."
Twisted desires, flawed plans, and unforeseen events had woven the worst possible tragedy.
"How did you cover up the incident?"
"When it happened... I panicked... After agonizing, I confessed to my son-in-law, who was National Intelligence Service director at the time..."
"People like you never move without profit. What did you offer him?"
A fit of coughing wracked his frail body so hard blood poured from his mouth in handfuls. Even a layman could sense he had little time left. Was this his attempt to salvage a shred of conscience with a deathbed truth? No one could know his heart.
Min-ho wiped the blood from his lips, and he pressed on.
"With Yoon Gwi-young and Jeong-hun dead, if we just dealt with Kim Dong-il... the presidency was mine... I made some tempting offers, and he agreed eagerly..."
"So that's how you silenced former Chief Prosecutor Yu Jae-yong and closed the case quickly?"
"Yu Jae-yong dug in fiercely... After murders to hide the truth, what was one more prosecutor?"
Finishing his answer, the old man began laughing madly, like a man unhinged. The eerie cackle, unbelievable from someone facing death, filled the room.
"Just when I thought I'd return to normal life... our ancestors were right... You have to live kindly, with a pure heart, now and always."
"What happened to your son-in-law, the NIS director?"
"Not long after... he died of myocardial infarction... I was secretly relieved, like shedding a boil..."
The old man was lost in delusion-fueled desire. It was incomprehensible to ordinary people.
"Even animals wouldn't do that. How could a human?"
"Right as I was about to execute the plan... I started vomiting blood... The hospital said lung cancer. I begged the doctor on my knees to save me... I had so much left to do..."
They say the presidency comes from heaven. A seat granted only by divine fortune. Choi Son-hwan had botched it from the start. Regret now meant nothing.
"After surgeries that carved out chunks of my body... I barely clung to life... But I can't even walk or eat alone..."
He spat another gush of blood and gasped,
"Eun-chae... I'm sorry to you... I had to say this..."
"Seeking forgiveness now?"
"Not at all... I've done unforgivable things... Looking back, my life was worse than a beast's... One last request..."
His coughs worsened, his eyes losing focus. The tether to this world was fraying.
"I'm dying anyway... Don't kill me... And when I die... let me find your mother... and beg forgiveness..."
He could speak no more. Blood surged from his mouth. The caregiver in the hall rushed in with the doctor.
The old man's end was pathetic. He convulsed with violent coughs, blood streaming endlessly.
"Sir! Sir!"
They wiped the blood and checked him frantically, but he'd passed with eyes wide open. All the doctor could do was pronounce him dead.
It felt like a death sentence for Eun-chae, who had lived only for revenge. Her unbearable fury had nowhere to go, wandering aimlessly. Even her target had slipped away before her eyes.
Eun-chae sobbed, shoulders heaving. Time passed, but her grief didn't lessen. If anything, her longing for her mother burned brighter. To the doctor and caregiver, she might look like she mourned the old man. But the tears streaming down her cheeks were pure sorrow and yearning for her departed mother.
After weeping bitterly for a long while, Eun-chae went to the window and drew the curtains tight, blocking the outside view. This was her sole revenge. Staring at the old man, who'd died with eyes open, she said,
"A scum like you doesn't deserve to die seeing the sea. Fall to hell and suffer eternally..."
***
There was nothing more to do or say. Eun-chae's revenge had curtained like this. She still hadn't let go of her mother. Sad, but now she had to.
She wept staring at the sea for ages. Min-ho handed her his handkerchief to wipe the endless tears.
"Thank you... I didn't even say it."
"It wasn't satisfying revenge, but at least you know the truth. Take solace in that."
"It ended a bit anticlimactically, not like me, but I feel a little lighter."
"If we hadn't hurried, the truth would've stayed buried forever."
Leaning silently on Min-ho's shoulder, Eun-chae murmured,
"Money, power—what are they worth, that someone dies for them...?"
"In the face of death, they're nothing. And here I am, scrambling for them too. Speaking of, is our contract still valid? It's not mutual anymore."
"True. One side's done, so it's expired, I guess."
"Already wiping your mouth clean? Isn't that a bit sly?"
Eun-chae slipped her hand into Min-ho's and said,
"We can just sign a new one."
"Until when?"
"Borrowing your grandfather's words... probably a lifetime contract?"
She gazed at him intently.
"Oh, that face. What? You hate it? Then let go."
"I didn't say I hate it. Let's go. Time to head back to Seoul."
The two boarded a plane back to Seoul.
Meanwhile, Kang Du-seong watched Kang Beom-seong's Seoul mayoral inauguration, grinding his teeth. With nothing left, he resolved to play his final card. He picked up the receiver and dialed.
"Meet me for a sec. Quietly. I have something to say..."