Investigative Reporting (Part 2)

"What... What did you say?"

Upon hearing the shocking news, Team Leader Choi Hui-jae, one of the core pillars of the embezzlement scheme, rushed back to his desk and opened YouTube on his phone.

On the channel Politician Lee Yun-hyeok, a press conference was currently broadcasting live.

"What the fuck..."

That lunatic was broadcasting live in front of an abandoned factory in Durim-myeon. On the monitor set up at the scene, the face of Mir City Mayor Baek Hyeong-guk was clearly displayed.

How did he find out?

On paper, the small business subsidies had been paid directly to small businesses. The bureaucratic paper trail was absolutely flawless. Even if they were to be attacked over this, the criticism should have been directed at the policy's design, not the execution. How on earth did he connect the dots to embezzlement?

Reporter Ju Hye-yeong!

Choi Hui-jae suddenly remembered the reporter who had requested the list of subsidy recipients early on. Had she somehow dug up the truth through some miraculous method and reached this conclusion? But if so, why was this unemployed nobody doing the exposing instead of the reporter?

Wait, information disclosure requests?

As he thought of the reporter, a chilling realization flashed through Choi Hui-jae's mind. He quickly ran through several departments, checking the logs for information disclosure requests.

"Here it is."

The sour, tight-lipped expressions of the Grade 9 to 6 civil servants showing him the screens made it clear how far the rumors had already spread. And now, he finally understood how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that psycho had pulled this off.

He had bypassed Choi Hui-jae entirely. By collecting publicly accessible information from various departments with completely different approval lines, cross-referencing it with the association's data, and piecing it together, he had tracked the trail all the way to Durim-myeon. Once there, he had dug up every single paper company and analyzed their tax reports one by one.

He's a literal psychopath...

No ordinary person would go to such lengths. This wasn't just a political stunt; it was on the level of an episode of PD Notebook or 60 Minutes.

"Mayor!"

Choi Hui-jae bolted from his seat. He took the elevator to the fifth floor and ran up the emergency stairs toward the Mayor's office.

The broadcast was now openly naming names.

Even the City Council Chairman, who had turned a blind eye during the audits to play along, was caught in the net.

"Mayor!"

When Choi Hui-jae burst through the door of the Mayor's office, he found Mayor Baek Hyeong-guk, whose face had gone completely white, and Kim Min-cheol, the Planning and Coordination Director, who was trembling with rage.

"Mayor!"

Kim Min-cheol's roar echoed all the way down the hallway.

"How many times did I warn you?"

In truth, Kim Min-cheol had reached a similar conclusion just a few days ago.

By reviewing internal documents, he had uncovered clear evidence of the Mayor's embezzlement.

But to a career civil servant, loyalty to one's superior was often synonymous with morality.

Kim Min-cheol was not a man who could easily bite the hand that fed him.

Because of that, he had chosen the only alternative he could stomach.

"I told you to return that project budget immediately!"

His plan was to put the money back where it belonged and execute the budget properly before anyone could track it down and blow the whistle.

Kim Min-cheol had tried his best to persuade the Mayor, but he had failed. Mayor Baek Hyeong-guk had simply brushed him off, practically daring him to report it.

'No one hires an aide who bites his own master. You think I'm the only dirty one? Everyone does it. If you blow the lid on this, your political career is over too. Do you really want to end your career as a Grade 4 civil servant?'

Remembering the arguments he had had with Baek Hyeong-guk over the past few days, Kim Min-cheol closed his eyes tightly.

He should have exposed it himself back then.

That would have been the only way to salvage even a shred of dignity for this local government.

"M-Min-cheol... what should I do?"

Looking at the trembling, pathetic figure of Baek Hyeong-guk, Kim Min-cheol swallowed his anger and let out a heavy sigh, turning his head away.

His eyes locked with Choi Hui-jae's.

"And you, you bastard."

Team Leader Choi Hui-jae had been Kim Min-cheol's direct subordinate before Baek Hyeong-guk handpicked him to lead the Small Business Subsidy Task Force.

"Is this how I trained you?"

"I... I'm sorry..."

Choi Hui-jae hung his head in shame.

"Mayor."

Kim Min-cheol reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a letter of resignation.

"I have been carrying this with me since the moment I first discovered your embezzlement."

There was only one reason he hadn't submitted it until now.

"For someone in my position, resigning is not a form of taking responsibility. That is why I held onto it."

"..."

"And the same is true now."

Rip!

Kim Min-cheol tore the resignation letter into shreds and threw the pieces directly into Baek Hyeong-guk's face.

"I will do everything in my power to clean up this mess, even with our depleted budget."

"..."

"As for you, Mayor, I suggest you cooperate fully with the prosecution's investigation."

From Choi Hui-jae's phone, Yun-hyeok's speech continued to play.

Yun-hyeok held up a document, displaying the official rejection form sent to Reporter Ju Hye-yeong's information disclosure request.

Yun-hyeok's voice rang out with powerful conviction.

Kim Min-cheol bit his lip so hard it nearly bled.

"I am..."

Kim Min-cheol fought back tears of pure frustration and rage.

"I am truly ashamed."

"I'll kill those motherfuckers!"

Association President Chu Hyeok-su was on the verge of completely losing his mind.

"Not only did they pocket my cash, but they used my name to cover it up?"

The rage of the small business owners, who had been thoroughly exploited, was boiling over across the entirety of Mir City.

"Shouldn't we march down to City Hall right now and protest?" shouted the young man from Gwangmyeong Fisheries.

"We don't need to play nice with those bastards anymore!" yelled the middle-aged man from Hyonje Merchants.

"Let's go down there and tear the whole place apart!"

"Yeah!"

"Let's tear them limb from limb! Those sons of bitches!" screamed the woman from Happy Rice Cakes and the young man from Gwangmyeong Fisheries.

"Everyone, please calm down for a moment," Yun-hyeok said, attempting to soothe the explosive anger of the association's board members.

"Even if you march to City Hall and protest, you won't get your subsidies back right away. The embezzled funds have likely already been moved to offshore accounts. It will take time for the prosecution to track and recover them."

"I don't care about the money!" Chu Hyeok-su roared. "If I can land just one solid punch on Baek Hyeong-guk's face, I don't need the subsidy! I'll just consider it my settlement money!"

"No..."

If you hit him with those fists, he'll actually die.

Yun-hyeok gently patted the trembling shoulder of the burly butcher.

"No, President. You must get your money. And the ten thousand other small business owners in Mir City who were eligible but didn't receive a single won—they must all be paid."

"Ten thousand people?"

"Yes."

Based on the 560 eligible members who had been excluded from Chu Hyeok-su's association alone, that was the estimated figure, within a five percent margin of error.

Of course, the exact number would only be confirmed once the administrative process was properly executed.

"Sigh. They really gorged themselves, didn't they?"

"They scraped together the two or three million won that was meant for each of you to line their own pockets with billions." Yun-hyeok's voice was steady. "But you must be compensated. They committed the crime, so why should you bear the loss?"

"...But you said they already embezzled it all and there's no money left," Chu Hyeok-su's son pointed out.

"That's true. Since the total amount is over fifteen billion won, the city government can't simply cover it with reserve funds," Yun-hyeok explained.

"And the City Council won't be able to pass an emergency budget easily either. The amount is too large, and with the Council Chairman himself implicated, the entire council is going to be in complete disarray."

"Then what do we do?"

"If we can't get it from Mir City, we'll bring it down from Seoul."

Mir City Mayor Baek Hyeong-guk belonged to the Hanmin Party.

Unlike the President, local government heads were allowed to maintain their party affiliation.

The party leadership in Seoul was undoubtedly holding its breath, watching this disaster unfold from afar.

"I will negotiate with the Hanmin Party's central headquarters, but I need a little help from you. The place you need to protest is not Mir City Hall."

Their destination was Seoul.

More precisely, Yeouido.

Yeouido, Seoul.

Park Dae-man, a three-term lawmaker and a heavyweight of the Hanmin Party, was suddenly struck by a bolt from the blue.

"This is driving me insane."

A crowd of about five hundred citizens had suddenly gathered right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠outside his office to protest.

They were the small business owners of Mir City.

The chants of the merchants, who had spent decades raising their voices to attract customers in busy markets, were loud enough to make the windows of the office rattle.

And their accusation was entirely accurate.

It was Representative Park Dae-man who had nominated Baek Hyeong-guk and pushed him into the Mir City mayoral seat.

"But why the hell is the spear pointed at me?"

Park Dae-man massaged his throbbing temples with his fingers.

This situation was highly unusual.

Logically, those people should have been protesting in front of Mir City Hall. Why had they come all the way here?

Because someone had sent them.

"I raised a tiger cub," Park Dae-man muttered, crossing his arms and scowling.

Knock, knock, knock.

And right on cue, the very tiger cub he spoke of knocked on the door of his office.

"Let him in."

Park Dae-man signaled with his hand, and his secretary opened the door.

"Hello, Representative. It's been a while," Yun-hyeok said, bowing politely as he entered.

"It has. Have a seat. Let's have some coffee."

Park Dae-man sat on the sofa opposite Yun-hyeok. An aide quickly prepared and brought over two cups of Maxim Gold instant coffee.

"Your tastes haven't changed at all, Representative. No matter how popular Americanos became, you always stuck to Maxim Gold. I used to make this for you back in the day."

"It's sweet. And the best part about instant mix is that it tastes exactly the same, no matter who makes it." Park ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dae-man took a sip.

"Though, sometimes I do miss the person I used to share it with. What about you?" Park Dae-man asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I don't think I ever gave you cause to regret having me around."

"Is that so? Even though I used to yell at you and throw files?"

"Are you the kind of man to hold a grudge over something like that?"

"No. But right now, I'm holding a grudge over the Mir City Mayor."

"My secretary showed me your YouTube channel. I watched the whole thing," Park Dae-man said with a dry chuckle.

"It felt like a political thriller. You could sell ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the rights to Netflix. If you ever decide to retire from politics, you should consider becoming a private investigator. I think you'd excel at it."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I should have done whatever it took to keep you as my secretary. You would have been a magnificent weapon to wield against those Liberty Party bastards."

"If I ever get my hands on a good bullet, you'll be the first person I call, Representative."

"I'll hold you to that."

Park Dae-man took another sip of his coffee. He had already finished more than half of the sweet, warm liquid.

"Now, let's cut the small talk and get to the point. What will it take to send those folks outside back home?"

"Not only Baek Hyeong-guk, but also City Councilman Lee Chae-hyeong are members of the Hanmin Party. This is a disaster manufactured by your party. The central party must show that it is willing to take responsibility."

"How?"

"Allocate an emergency budget of 15.3 billion won to Mir City to immediately pay those people what they are owed. Then, recover that money by seizing the assets of Baek Hyeong-guk and the other embezzlers to refill the national treasury."

"So, you want us to pay them first so they don't suffer while we spend months chasing the stolen funds?"

"Exactly."

"But 15.3 billion won is not pocket change. I can't just make that happen on a whim."

"The National Assembly and the central government share the blame for this, which gives you more than enough leverage to persuade the Ministry of Economy and Finance and your fellow lawmakers."

To a judicial body, punishing the embezzlers was the end of the matter. But to a politician, the failure of institutional and administrative oversight that allowed the crime to happen in the first place had to be addressed.

"To begin with, the legal definition of a 'small business' was far too broad, and the central government failed to attach any detailed regulations beyond the simple directive to 'distribute the funds.' They left it to the autonomy of local governments under the excuse that every region is different. And because they failed to monitor how that autonomy was exercised, this is what happened. The central government and the National Assembly, who designed this sloppy system, bear a clear share of the responsibility. Furthermore, the local council of Mir City should have audited Baek Hyeong-guk properly, but since the Council Chairman himself was an accomplice, that was never going to happen. And yet..."

Yun-hyeok looked directly into Park Dae-man's eyes.

"Wasn't Lee Chae-hyeong also a man you personally groomed and supported?"

"I admit I made a mistake in my personnel choices."

"If you agree that you share a portion of the responsibility, then what you lack to secure that 15.3 billion won is not the ability, Representative. It is the will."

The corner of Park Dae-man's mouth twitched.

Having worked under him for so long, Yun-hyeok could read his mind perfectly. He was undoubtedly thinking:

He's gotten incredibly insolent.