A Dirty Brawl
"By the way, Mayor," Jo Hyeon-seo said on their way back.
"Was it really okay to just give that to Mayor Choi Gwang-seop?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I just thought if we kept it, we could have used it as a weapon during the election."
"Oh?"
Hyeon-seo is offering an opinion on political affairs!
Yun-hyeok was secretly impressed.
Until now, Hyeon-seo had felt like a scheduling bot. It seemed environment really did shape a person. After constantly tagging along to meetings with ministers, governors, and other local government heads, he was finally starting to look like a proper political secretary.
However...
"In the gubernatorial election, the only real threat to me is Governor Han Gi-jeong. I'm not dismissing Mayor Choi Gwang-seop, but I don't need to resort to negative campaigning with that data just to take him down," Yun-hyeok explained.
"I think that material will be much more useful for founding our political party rather than the gubernatorial race itself."
Choi Gwang-seop's underhanded scheming was enough to make the public grimace. On the surface, he had cooperated with Mir City to build the Innovation Lab, but behind the scenes, he had thrown mud at highly popular policies like the baby goods rental program.
With the right framing, Yun-hyeok would be the victim, and Choi Gwang-seop would be the despicable saboteur.
But this raw ingredient could be cooked into a much grander feast.
Namely, the internal party dogfight that would erupt among Seol Jung-ho, Choi Gwang-seop, and Seo I-gyeong.
The snowball would roll quite far, precisely because he had handed it directly to Choi Gwang-seop.
A filthy power struggle among those three would leave party members feeling helpless and induce deep fatigue in the general public.
When that fatigue reached its peak, that was when Yun-hyeok would launch his new party.
And he could drag one more person into this dogfight.
"But Mayor, didn't you say Choi Gwang-seop won't be able to expose it anyway?" Hyeon-seo asked.
"That's right."
The moment Choi brought the issue to light, his own sabotage would be exposed as well.
"Then isn't that the end of it? He just keeps it to himself, and... that's it?"
"I doubt it. The people who have been watching our every move with bated breath will go absolutely wild trying to dig it up."
To drag that specific person into the fray, he only needed to drop a tiny signal. Nothing too blatant.
Yun-hyeok updated his official schedule on his personal channel.
"He did what?!"
Cold sweat broke out on the back of Han Gi-jeong's neck when he received the report.
"It appears Lee Yun-hyeok has made contact with the representative of the Liberty Party!"
His chief of staff was also in a state of extreme tension.
For Han Gi-jeong, who was aiming for reelection as governor, and the Hanmin Party's campaign committee (though not yet officially launched), their biggest concern lately was whether Lee Yun-hyeok would join the Liberty Party.
How had Lee Yun-hyeok become the Mayor of Mir City in last year's by-election?
It was because he had combined his personal popularity with a unified candidacy with the Hanmin Party.
There was no guarantee a reverse scenario wouldn't play out this time.
However, since the Liberty Party hadn't suffered any major political disasters like the Baek Hyeong-guk scandal, they had no justification to suspend their internal nomination process. The only way to create such a justification was to recruit Lee Yun-hyeok.
Fearing that Lee Yun-hyeok might actually join, Han Gi-jeong's office had been keeping a close eye on the movements of both the Liberty Party and Lee Yun-hyeok. That was when they intercepted a crucial piece of information.
"Lee Yun-hyeok posted on his personal channel's schedule that he visited a restaurant called Grandma's Blood Sausage Soup in Eungang-eup, Mir City."
Lee Yun-hyeok was a man who disclosed his schedule with fanatic transparency.
Even so, he didn't usually write down where he ate his everyday meals. But this time, he did.
"And we have records showing that Seol Jung-ho, the representative of the Liberty Party, visited Assemblyman Lim Jun-won's local constituency office in Mir City on the exact same day."
The movements of a national political figure like Seol Jung-ho were much easier to track.
In truth, neither event was exceptionally strange on its own. While Yun-hyeok didn't have any major projects running in Eungang-eup, he could have simply craved blood sausage soup and looked up a local spot. Writing it on his schedule was a bit peculiar, but perhaps with the election approaching, his PTSD from the Hong Gi-beom race had kicked in, making him obsessive about transparency.
Similarly, there was nothing wrong with Party Representative Seol Jung-ho visiting a local constituency office in Mir City ahead of the gubernatorial election. He might have wanted to gauge the opinions of local party officials regarding Yun-hyeok, who was a formidable potential rival.
But the overlapping dates were too much of a coincidence to ignore.
Han Gi-jeong's chief of staff, who had been monitoring them closely, immediately went to the soup restaurant, showed them a photo of Seol Jung-ho, and got confirmation from the staff.
"The restaurant owner already recognized Mayor Lee Yun-hyeok, and when shown the photo of Seol Jung-ho, they confirmed he was there too. Apparently, the two of them had blood sausage soup and shared a bottle of soju."
"We're screwed..."
Han Gi-jeong pulled out his electronic cigarette.
"What was the atmosphere of the meeting like?"
"They said Seol Jung-ho handed some kind of file to Lee Yun-hyeok."
Han Gi-jeong frowned.
"What the hell does that mean? He handed him a file? What kind of file?"
If there was some kind of data transaction between them, it should have been done behind closed doors. But they exchanged it right in front of the restaurant staff?
That meant Seol Jung-ho didn't care if it became public knowledge. But what kind of material could he possibly have to give Lee Yun-hyeok?
"Is it dirt on me?"
"I don't know the contents. But after that, Lee Yun-hyeok..."
The chief of staff revealed one more piece of information he had acquired.
"...visited Seongnam City Hall."
"What?"
"It was also listed on his official schedule."
Again, the man was fanatically obsessed with transparency as a public official.
"And Seongnam City Hall employees confirmed they saw him. It seems he went straight to the mayor's office to meet with Choi Gwang-seop."
"Wait a minute..."
This was bizarre!
Incredibly bizarre!
If Lee Yun-hyeok's entry into the Liberty Party had already been agreed upon, Choi Gwang-seop would naturally harbor immense resentment toward him.
Wasn't Choi Gwang-seop the gubernatorial candidate who had rightfully won the party's primary? If the party representative was pushing for a unified candidacy with Lee Yun-hyeok—a suddenly recruited mercenary—Choi would resist fiercely.
Yet, the moment Yun-hyeok met the party representative, he went straight to see Choi Gwang-seop?
To offer him words of comfort? No matter what he said, wouldn't it feel like teabagging rather than consolation? Why go there when his entry into the party hadn't even been announced yet?
This was almost as if...
"It's as if Lee Yun-hyeok received a file from Seol Jung-ho and delivered it to Choi Gwang-seop."
Han Gi-jeong took a long drag from his electronic cigarette.
"Was there some kind of political deal? What on earth was in that file?"
This was definitely something worth looking into.
"Arrange a meeting with Mayor Choi Gwang-seop. And..."
Whether Yun-hyeok actually joined the party or not, it was best to seize control of the public narrative first.
"Distribute a press release."
Though they would be rivals in a few months, Han Gi-jeong was still the Governor of Gyeonggi Province, making him the head of the superior administrative body over Seongnam City.
Meeting the mayor under the pretext of official inter-agency cooperation was easy.
And once they stepped behind closed doors, it became a battleground of political discourse.
"Is Lee Yun-hyeok joining your party?"
Han Gi-jeong went straight to the point.
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"It's not sudden. I'm sure you know very well."
Han Gi-jeong showed him a few rumors currently circulating among political reporters.
[Is Lee Yun-hyeok's Entry into the Liberty Party Imminent?]
On the 13th, suspicions were raised that Mir City Mayor Lee Yun-hyeok secretly met with Liberty Party Representative Seol Jung-ho at a restaurant on the outskirts of Eungang-eup, Mir City...
In truth, it was an article planted by the Hanmin Party.
"If the party is planning to replace their candidate with Lee Yun-hyeok, I thought there might be room for cooperation between us, Mayor Choi," Han Gi-jeong said.
"Replacing a candidate rightfully elected through a primary with an outside mercenary? That's practically the party leadership throwing you under the bus. Instead of suffering there, why not change your party affiliation to the Hanmin Party?"
"..."
"If you support me, I can secure a solid position for you within the Hanmin Party. And we can take down Lee Yun-hyeok together."
"Hahaha!"
Choi Gwang-seop burst into laughter.
"Governor, the Liberty Party's candidate for Gyeonggi Governor is me."
"..."
"And Lee Yun-hyeok is not joining our party."
Han Gi-jeong took a drag from his electronic cigarette, pondered for a moment, and asked, "What kind of material did you receive from Lee Yun-hyeok?"
"Material?"
Choi Gwang-seop was startled but kept his face blank. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I heard Representative Seol Jung-ho gave some kind of file to Mayor Lee Yun-hyeok. Wasn't it delivered to you, Mayor Choi?"
"...I don't know."
"Well, won't reporters start raising all kinds of suspicions soon?"
Choi Gwang-seop swallowed hard.
He scanned the newspaper articles scattered on the table once more.
• [Growing Possibility of Candidate Replacement for Liberty Party's Gyeonggi Governor Race]
• [Choi Gwang-seop's Dilemma: What Happens Now That the Primaries Are Over?]
• [Guaranteed Defeat with Choi Gwang-seop, but a Fighting Chance with Lee Yun-hyeok?]
Regardless of the risks associated with the files Choi Gwang-seop held, articles like these were the worst possible news for him.
They already took his defeat as a given. Even if conservative voters held the line, moderate voters would abandon him one by one, thinking that if defeat was inevitable anyway, they might as well throw their support behind Lee Yun-hyeok.
"Mayor Choi," Han Gi-jeong said.
"Representative Seol Jung-ho has already abandoned you."
"How can you attack your own party's candidate like this? What on earth are you doing?!"
Seo I-gyeong, the second-in-command of the Liberty Party, burst into the party representative's office in a fit of rage, accompanied by Mayor Choi Gwang-seop.
"Even if we do nothing, Mayor Choi's approval ratings are going to plummet! What were you thinking when you pulled this stunt?"
"Then let me ask you something," Seol Jung-ho replied, having fully anticipated this confrontation.
"Can Mayor Choi actually beat Han Gi-jeong?"
Choi Gwang-seop gritted his teeth, and Seo I-gyeong let out a heavy sigh.
"You never know until the votes are cast, do you?"
"Do you really need to taste fire to know it burns? Assemblywoman Seo, as part of the party leadership, you should focus solely on the goal of seizing power, rather than being swayed by personal feelings. Stop blindly defending someone just because they belong to your faction!"
"What did you say?"
"If we can recruit Lee Yun-hyeok, he becomes a far better card than Mayor Choi, and we'll have a solid chance of defeating Han Gi-jeong. Of course we should be exploring that option!"
"But you didn't recruit him!" Choi Gwang-seop interjected, raising his voice.
"You failed to recruit him, so why did you hand over that data? Besides, the primaries are already over, so why on earth are you doing this now?!"
"I already showed him the data, so I might as well just give it to him. Why keep it?" Seol Jung-ho said dismissively.
"And during the primary, I also thought you had a decent shot, Mayor Choi. But..."
Seol Jung-ho turned his computer monitor to show them the screen.
"What can I do when the polls look like this?"
Since there was still plenty of time left before the election, these numbers didn't carry absolute weight just yet, but Yun-hyeok's growth rate was remarkable.
Following the launch of the baby goods rental program, Lee Yun-hyeok's approval ratings had risen week by week.
To be fair, Choi Gwang-seop had some right to feel wronged.
"With numbers like these, isn't it only natural to consider replacing the candidate?" Seol Jung-ho asked.
"..."
"And as for giving that data to Lee Yun-hyeok... putting him in our debt is the very basis of politics, Mayor Choi."
"Do you honestly believe we can still recruit him?" Seo I-gyeong asked.
"Of course I do."
Lee Yun-hyeok was like a wild stallion, and though Seol Jung-ho had failed to lasso him on the first try, he hadn't given up yet.
He hadn't expected to succeed on his very first attempt anyway. There was still time. And...
"Being the Mayor of Mir City is vastly different from being the Governor of Gyeonggi Province. Lee Yun-hyeok must be feeling that himself. The higher you climb in politics, the less you can do alone. In a city of 490,000 like Mir, a local government head might have the luxury of meeting individual petitioners directly, but Gyeonggi Province is a massive metropolitan government of 14 million people. He's going to need a lot of people to back him up."
"..."
"Besides, after Gyeonggi Province comes the central government. He needs to start building his own faction. How long does he think he can run around as a lone wolf?"
Seol Jung-ho was absolutely certain.
"He must have been contemplating joining a party for a while now. He looked displeased with my offer at first, but it will keep weighing on his mind. Even if he goes to the Hanmin Party, they can't replace Han Gi-jeong because he's a presidential hopeful. So, he'll have no choice but to come to us."
Seo I-gyeong bit her lip.
Staring intently at Seol Jung-ho, she warned, "We will not just sit back and take this. If you do not stop this right now, expect both sides to get severely hurt."
"If you don't like it," Seol Jung-ho dismissed her, "feel free to refer it to the Supreme Council or the Ethics Committee and file a formal complaint."
"Let's go, Mayor Choi."
Seo I-gyeong walked out of the office, taking Choi Gwang-seop with her.
"Things are getting interesting," Seol Jung-ho muttered, leaning back in his Herman Miller chair after they left.
For him, there were only two paths:
1. Recruit Lee Yun-hyeok, seize control of the party alongside him, and win the local elections.
2. If recruitment failed, make sure Choi Gwang-seop suffered a devastating defeat.
There were no flaws in his plan.
Or so Seol Jung-ho thought.
There was less than half a year left until the election.
Seol Jung-ho couldn't have possibly imagined that in that short span of time, someone would pull off the absurd feat of founding an entirely new political party.