Power & Sex, And... 83
Jeong Sang-won, the supreme committee member, couldn't hide his panic at my coldly resolute ultimatum and floundered desperately to salvage the situation. In truth, he had no way out of the election strategy headquarters now. By this point, reporters would be churning out articles about the launch ceremony, so if he tried to back out and run independently or simply withdraw from the supreme committee race, they'd dig into the backstory—and it wouldn't end well for him.
After fumbling for a while to smooth things over, Jeong ultimately bent to me once more.
"Assemblyman Park, I'm not trying to pull out. I just think we need to clarify the money issue."
"Let me lay it all out plainly. I was planning to refund you after setting the contribution amounts anyway. This works out perfectly."
I called in Chief Kim and asked him to bring 10 million won. When he returned with it in an envelope, I slid the money across to Assemblyman Han Seong-su.
"Assemblyman Han, please put that money back."
"Since it's already out, just use it for campaign expenses."
"No. All the candidates need to contribute equally. Apart from that, you and Assemblyman Seong Chang-gi who came with you—plus the other three—have already donated 20 million won combined."
I forced the 10 million back on Assemblyman Han and turned to Jeong again.
"Supreme Member Jeong. I don't know how much you spent to get elected supreme committee member at the last party convention, but excluding the deposit fee, it must have been at least tens of millions."
At my words, Supreme Member Kim Seong-gap nodded in agreement, and Assemblymen Han Seong-su and Park Seong-hwan did the same.
"I proposed the joint election strategy headquarters not just to cut costs, but also to demonstrate our faction's strength. Naturally, expenses will be far lower than running separate campaigns, making everything more efficient."
I paused briefly before continuing.
"I don't know what you think, Supreme Member Jeong, but I've already poured a fair amount of my own money into this office. Ask your own staff—they know. We've been covering lunch, dinner, and even snacks here every day. That's probably over 10 million won in unreceipted expenses on my end just for your primaries. Maybe that's why, starting this morning, Assemblyman Han and the others showed up: Han put in 20 million, the four who came with him gave 5 million each for 20 million total, Supreme Member Kim added 20 million, and Assemblyman Park Seong-hwan already gave 10 million for expenses."
"……."
"That's why I asked you for just 10 million, in line with that. If we hadn't raised so much today, your share would have been higher, but luckily we did, so I could refund Assemblyman Han his 10 million."
Supreme Member Kim Seong-gap and Assemblyman Park Seong-hwan shot surprised looks at Han, while Jeong Sang-won's head drooped lower. Honestly, who knew what would happen after the convention, but during it, I needed to stoke a loyalty competition among them. That's why I revealed not just what Han had passed to me, but the full breakdown of contributions from him and his group.
Once it came out that Han had given 20 million only to get 10 back, the grim-faced Supreme Member Kim Seong-gap finally spoke.
"Looks like I was short-sighted. I was planning to spend 100 million on this primary anyway. I'll send all my staff to the camp like Han did, and as a leadership candidate, I'll add 30 million more by tomorrow."
"No, Supreme Member Kim—that's plenty."
"Nonsense. The camp will grow, expenses will rise, and you can't run an election without money. Even 30 million more is only half my budget, so you've saved me money, Assemblyman Park."
As Kim finished, Park Seong-hwan jumped in with 20 million more to match, earning a wry smile from Han. Jeong, predictably, looked like he'd eaten shit. Now it was time for me to wrap it up.
"I appreciate all your intentions, Assemblymen. But we don't need that much operating capital right now. If we're short later, I'll bill then."
Even after I spoke, Supreme Member Kim Seong-gap stubbornly insisted for a bit before standing. Once they left, I called in Chief Kim and sat down alone with him. We still needed to map out routes for touring the national organization with our current headcount and assign personnel.
"Won't we be short on manpower?"
"Even if each candidate campaigns separately, one team per candidate has to cover the whole country—we could do three full tours with what we have. It's tight, but doable with the current lineup."
"Supreme Member Kim says he'll send a few more tomorrow."
"That'll give us plenty of flexibility. We need eight teams for Honam, Yeongnam, Jeju, Chungcheong, Gangwon, and the capital area. That's at least 16 people minimum, so I was thinking of pulling in our own folks."
"See how many come tomorrow and decide. Ideally, put one person from each candidate's camp per team."
"Four per team—that's a lot of expense burden."
"But it'll prevent complaints between camps. And map out routes for me and the assemblymen too."
Starting tomorrow, the grueling march began: touring nearly 250 districts nationwide to persuade local chairs and delegates, pulling them to our side. With only a month, the assemblymen couldn't hit every district themselves, so aides would scout first—sorting solid votes from waverers worth the effort—then the assemblymen would follow up for final commitments.
Our dispatched agents were already swamped, and we'd barely see them for the next month, so tonight we'd dine together to build unity. I notified the assemblymen too, asking them to drop by the morale-boosting dinner if possible.
At 7 p.m., we shut off the strategy HQ lights and headed to the restaurant. Chief Kim had reserved for 30, so we had the whole second floor. Soon after we arrived, Assemblymen Han Seong-su and Park Seong-hwan showed, followed by Supreme Members Kim Seong-gap and Jeong Sang-won. Kim and Park merged their aides into the group, promising to dispatch them starting tomorrow and asking Chief Kim to look after them. Jeong, as always, was playing catch-up.
"Let's start with opening remarks from Assemblyman Park Maru, who arranged this gathering."
With aides watching, Supreme Member Kim stood and called on me.
"Aigoo, what are you saying? As the senior multi-term supreme member and leadership candidate, you should go first."
"Nonsense. Without you, Assemblyman Park, we wouldn't be this relaxed. We've handed the whole convention election to you—it's like you hold our leashes."
After a few rounds of polite refusal, I stood.
"No long speeches. We all share one goal: elect Supreme Member Kim Jeong-gap as party leader; Supreme Member Jeong Sang-won, Assemblyman Park Seong-hwan, and Assemblyman Han Seong-su as supreme committee members. Forward march toward that!"
"Forward march!"
Everyone shouted "Forward march!" in booming voices, clinking glasses. The candidates, led by Supreme Member Kim Seong-gap, circulated, toasting the staff. The strategy HQ unity dinner heated up.
Party boards and portal sites overflowed with convention posts. Proposals to weight polls toward mainstream figures like Assemblyman Moon and Assemblyman Sin sparked debates: "Hand the party's future to non-members?" versus "Parties exist with the people." Party boards trended toward respecting full members' voices; portals showed sharp divides.
I sensed my moment to weigh in. On the party board, I posted a lengthy piece critiquing the mainstream-backed, interim committee-approved 5:5 on-site vote/poll split for eroding identity and risking enemy reverse-engineering—yet respecting it as the top decision body's outcome.
Win or lose, splitting the party now was unwise; conceding their way and triumphing would hit them harder. No need to criticize and bear the "division instigator" label. This gave me perfect moral high ground.
Once my post went up, Jeong-ah and the online team blasted it via their networks to portals, boosting views and best rankings for max exposure.
Comments poured in on party and portal boards alike, cementing "Park Maru = handsome guy" as fact. Criticism of the 5:5 format dominated, spiking support for my candidates as a bonus.
"Assemblyman Park, what the hell is going on?"
"Pardon? What's this about suddenly?"
"I'm number one in the polls."
It was Assemblyman Han Seong-su. The party's internal poll had Supreme Member Kim Seong-gap leading leadership race 6:4; supreme committee race went Han first, Park second, Jeong third—great news.
"Must be your hard work, sir. But it's just the start."
"What work have I done? Anyway, I'll keep at it."
After hanging up with Han, Chief Kim said Supreme Member Kim Seong-gap had called; I picked up. He was thrilled too. Assemblyman Park Seong-hwan just showed up at my office.