A Political Bargain
"Yun-hyeok."
Park Dae-man crumpled his paper cup and tossed it into the trash can.
"In politics, resolve isn't born from justice or responsibility. Those are just the wrapping paper. The actual content is utility. Is it politically advantageous to me or not? That is the force that actually moves people."
"..."
"Those folks protesting outside—honestly, I admit they're a headache. You've set up a real nuisance right on my doorstep. But to be frank, things like that are a dime a dozen in front of the offices in Yeouido."
He mimicked a balance scale with his hands.
"The price isn't right," Park Dae-man said.
"If I go around begging the Ministry of Economy and Finance or my fellow lawmakers, it all becomes political debt for me. And that debt looks rather expensive. Do you have anything else to balance the scale?"
"I do."
"What is it?"
"The fact that if I walk out of this office empty-handed, I will head straight to the Hanmin Party's Audit Committee."
"..."
"You were quite close with Baek Hyeong-guk and City Councilman Lee Chae-hyeong, Assemblyman. You were the one who nominated them and backed them. Even when I was a strategist in your campaign, I saw it countless times. The three of you meeting for drinks, going out for rounds of golf..."
Yun-hyeok pulled a photograph from his bag and handed it over.
"Or going to take commemorative photos when someone supposedly started a new business."
The photo showed Park Dae-man smiling alongside Baek Hyeong-guk and Lee Chae-hyeong in front of an office with a sign that read Jeil Metals.
The actual address was an abandoned factory; they had merely set up the office front for a photo op.
Park Dae-man's expression soured further.
"I have nothing to do with that embezzlement."
"I believe you."
In truth, Park Dae-man was indeed unrelated to the embezzlement, even according to Yun-hyeok's memories of the future. But Park Dae-man didn't know that Yun-hyeok knew this.
"I learned that utility is what moves people in politics. The people outside don't want me to stop here, and I need their votes, Assemblyman."
It was a bit unfair to Park Dae-man, but what could he do? Even if he wasn't an accomplice, he had to take responsibility for the disastrous appointments.
"Please make the first move, Assemblyman. Run around, pull out all the stops, and persuade the Ministry of Economy and Finance and your colleagues to help those people. If you do, no one will dare suspect that an assemblyman who cares so deeply about his constituents' livelihoods could possibly be in league with such shameless embezzlers."
This was a critical political window for Park Dae-man. He was aiming to become the floor leader and was currently expanding his faction within the party. (Though actually becoming floor leader was a long way off.)
"I see the picture you're painting," Park Dae-man said.
"At your current standing, the party leadership might even try to recruit you."
As expected of a three-term assemblyman, he was quick on the uptake.
"So, you mean you could get backed by my rivals within the party and become a sniper targeting Park Dae-man? Is that it? Those people outside were just blank rounds to scare me? And the 15.3 billion won isn't the price to appease them, but the price to keep you on my side."
"That wasn't my intention, but that is how it has turned out."
"The timing is incredibly convenient."
Park Dae-man took a deep breath.
"You brought this to me right when I'm preparing to run for floor leader, after sizing up your own weight class and calculating exactly where to position yourself."
He felt a slight sense of unease at this timing. Everything fitted Lee Yun-hyeok's objectives with terrifying precision. Even...
"It's already the end of July. Next week is the deadline for the vacancy."
A vacancy had to occur before the first Wednesday of August for a by-election to be held in October. In other words, Baek Hyeong-guk had to resign before next Wednesday.
Even if Yun-hyeok didn't press the issue, the Hanmin Party would handle this on their own. If they missed that Wednesday deadline, the mayoral seat of Mir City would remain vacant until the next April by-election, and the Hanmin Party would take twice as much public flak.
"If Baek Hyeong-guk resigns and a by-election is held in October, will you run for mayor?"
"Yes."
"Did you calculate that too? Even the strategists in the National Assembly would struggle to align the timing this perfectly."
"It's just a coincidence," Yun-hyeok replied in a humble tone.
"Hmm."
Park Dae-man slowly got up. The scales had tipped.
He walked to the window and looked down at the small business owners protesting outside.
"They look desperate. They must need those few million won immediately. It wouldn't do for them to suffer unfair losses just because of the central government's administrative or legal shortcomings, would it? It breaks my heart. Go out and tell them. Tell them that when you went in to negotiate, Park Dae-man was already on the phone with the Ministry of Economy and Finance."
"Understood. Don't worry, I'll have them pack up right away."
"Yun-hyeok."
"Yes, sir."
"You're a capable man. I recognized that early on and tried to bring you into this office. My eye for talent isn't perfect, but my batting average is at least .300."
"Thank you for the high praise."
"And since you say you're going to stay in politics, let me tell you this: don't trust the citizens."
Park Dae-man said,
"They are people who forget quickly."
"..."
"Even if you treat them well, they'll forget in an instant. Politics based on solidarity and trust with the citizens? Righteous politics? That's the kind of stuff you only see in ethics textbooks. Reality isn't so forgiving."
Park Dae-man drew the curtains.
"I'll look forward to the day you make it to Yeouido. You may go."
"Thank you."
Planning and Coordination Director Kim Min-cheol was in the middle of a desperate operation to secure emergency funds.
He first looked at the general reserve funds set aside for disasters and emergencies. The total amount was 1 billion won.
Subtracting what had already been spent and what was scheduled for the second half of the year, he squeezed out the remainder.
300 million won secured!
Next, he tracked down unused budgets.
He had to gather funds that wouldn't be spent before the end-of-year settlement and reallocate them.
Urban Regeneration Division, Agricultural Administration Division, Environmental Facilities Division, and so on.
Squeezing out 100 to 200 million won from each department.
"We were planning to carry this over to use next year, though?"
Complaints poured in from every department, but...
"We don't have that luxury. We have to do whatever it takes right now."
Kim Min-cheol pushed forward.
If things continued like this, the city hall would lose its very reason for existing. A city hall meant to protect its citizens had instead embezzled their money and hidden behind excuses—it was a maddening, criminal act. Resolving this mess themselves was the only way to restore the citizens' trust.
"Bring me the discretionary consultation budget."
Festival budgets, tourism marketing budgets, public relations budgets. He temporarily suspended them and redirected them to the subsidy pool. He secured 500 million won here.
"Let's adjust the investment projects for public institutions and corporations as well."
These were funds meant for road maintenance. Excluding areas where construction was absolutely urgent, he pulled the maintenance costs from facilities that were functionally fine but scheduled for aesthetic repairs.
"The city council will strongly oppose this."
In principle, pulling and using the budget arbitrarily like this was strictly forbidden.
"I will take responsibility. I will personally persuade them at the next city council plenary session, so just draft the financial allocation for now."
To Director Kim Min-cheol, this was the worst emergency imaginable. It was his fault for not dealing with Baek Hyeong-guk sooner. He had to clean up the mess, even if it meant doing this.
"We have to scrape together the money somehow."
Kim Min-cheol stayed up all night. He brought a sleeping bag to his office, eating and sleeping there as he squeezed every drop out of their meager resources.
The total budget he managed to secure was...
"3,725,000,000 won."
Kim Min-cheol buried his face in his hands at the dismal figure. The final five million won was his own salary.
"Director..."
To make matters worse, the next day, an officer from the Regional Economy Division came to report a grim situation.
"Complaints keep pouring in after people watched Yun-hyeok's broadcast. They're demanding their subsidies..."
"Tell them the city hall is working on a solution."
Kim Min-cheol replied weakly, his face looking as though he had aged a decade in just a few days.
But they still needed another 11.575 billion won.
Where on earth could they find such a massive sum? Who could possibly give them that kind of money?
"Director!"
Two days later, in the morning.
Director Kim Min-cheol received shocking news.
"The National Assembly has allocated an additional 15.3 billion won in budget!"
"What...?"
Cognitive dissonance hit him so hard that he couldn't comprehend the crystal-clear sentence.
"What did you say?"
As an administrative expert, Kim Min-cheol knew better than anyone that this speed was utterly impossible. The budget allocation process was fundamentally complex and slow.
Even a supplementary budget from the central government took months, and sending it to local governments required consultations with ministries like the Ministry of the Interior and Safety or the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
There was absolutely zero chance of it finishing within the year. Perhaps not even by next year.
"What are you talking about?"
Confused, Kim Min-cheol checked the budget calculation data. It was real.
A whopping 15.3 billion won had actually been deposited into Mir City's subsidy account.
"The budget..."
Kim Min-cheol gave orders in a trembling voice.
"Return all the budgets I allocated back to their original places. And let's begin executing this immediately. I will oversee it personally this time."
Inside Association President Chu Hyeok-su's butcher shop, there was a small back room where customers could gather. It was a place the small business owners used as a hideout.
Yun-hyeok was sharing the news of the budget allocation with the association executives there.
"Now that the funds have been released, the city hall will resume distributing the subsidies."
On the outside, he was just an unemployed young man, but on the inside, he was a seasoned five-term assemblyman and a master of politics.
Though he was a civilian with no administrative authority, he had successfully negotiated with the central party to secure the budget.
"The government will track down the embezzlers' overseas accounts and claw back the stolen funds."
In the actual future, this had succeeded. Back then, Park Dae-man had been dragged into the Baek Hyeong-guk risk, got incredibly furious, and thoroughly squeezed the embezzlers to recover the money. Though it had taken eight years.
"It is only just that the embezzlers are punished, the government takes responsibility, and you reclaim your rightful dues."
Chu Hyeok-su and the other association executives shuddered at the thrilling conclusion.
"I never imagined it would be resolved this quickly."
"And what's more..."
Chu Hyeok-su's son showed them another welcome piece of news.
— Declares he will cooperate fully with the prosecution's investigation...
Baek Hyeong-guk resigned on August 2nd.
It was the first Tuesday of the month.
"Aigoo, what a relief!"
"Scumbags like him belong in prison. Yun-hyeok should be the mayor!"
"We'll back you all the way! Yes!"
The 3,400-strong Small Business Association stood firmly behind Yun-hyeok.
Their support was already enthusiastic enough, but Yun-hyeok decided to take it one step further.
"But the subsidies haven't actually landed in your accounts yet."
Yun-hyeok intended to go handle that. This was why he had initially asked Chu Hyeok-su for the members' business registration certificates and income verification documents.
In other words, ever since the exposure, Yun-hyeok had been screening them on behalf of the city hall. He had pre-reviewed the documents of those who hadn't even been able to get screened due to the budget deficit.
He would hand them over to the city hall. By doing so, he would accelerate the administrative process so they could execute the payments immediately after a simple cross-check.
"You've all done your part. I'll take care of the rest myself. Thank you for gathering all the documents and standing with me in the protests."
Yun-hyeok bowed politely to the association president and executives before stepping out.
He called Kim Min-cheol's desk through a city hall contact.
"..."
Watching his retreating figure, Association President Chu Hyeok-su spoke.
"The by-election."
He shrugged, looking around at the executives.
"I'm really looking forward to it. Aren't you?"
"I'm practically itching to cast my vote for him."
"If a man like him doesn't become mayor, who will?"
"Spread the word."
The side-dish shop grandmother said,
"Spread the word all over the city!"