Power & Sex, and... 51
Somehow, it seemed like being a congressman meant I was destined to have a lot of dealings with USB drives. I'd handled things with a USB just recently, and now this situation would've been impossible without one, so I asked my junior aide, Dong-hyun, to buy a full hundred of them.
Reporters showing up to the press conference could number anywhere from twenty to fifty, so I made fifty copies just to be safe. I taped the USBs to the press kits, boxed them up, and headed to Jeongron-gwan, the National Assembly press room.
There were way more reporters crammed into the press room than I'd expected. Most of them probably weren't there out of curiosity about what I'd say—they were sharpening their knives, eager to tear into a first-term congressman like me for some shameless scandal.
"Hey? Reporter Seo!"
Seo Dong-beom, the reporter who should have been in Busan, was there at the press conference. I approached him happily, but he looked at me with deep worry in his eyes.
"Congressman, how have you been?"
"But what's someone who should be in Busan doing all the way up in Seoul?"
"I've been reassigned as the Jumin Party's National Assembly beat reporter. But what the hell happened?"
"No need to worry. It'll all come out soon enough—just think of it as a conspiracy."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Only then did Reporter Seo's face relax with relief. I slipped him a USB discreetly, winked, and moved on, shaking hands and greeting the other reporters. With about twenty minutes until the scheduled start, I mingled with them while waiting for my fellow senior congressmen who'd agreed to attend. Naturally, Reporter Seo, now armed with the USB, had slipped away somewhere. I just hoped he wouldn't spill the contents before the conference even began.
Leading the way were Supreme Committee Members Seo Jeong-gap and Jeong Sang-won, followed by a stream of National Assembly Reform Alliance congressmen filing into Jeongron-gwan. I approached Seo Jeong-gap and Jeong Sang-won, bowed deeply in greeting, and expressed my gratitude to the other alliance members with bows as well.
Finally, the press conference time arrived. The reporters were tense, hanging on my every word, but the National Assembly Reform Alliance members on the dais with me—as well as Supreme Committee Members Kim Seong-gap and Jeong Sang-won—were equally on edge, wondering if they'd get splashed with the same shit.
"Respected reporters, and to Supreme Committee Members Kim Seong-gap and Jeong Sang-won, who have joined us here at great personal political risk, and to my fellow first-term congressmen from our party's National Assembly Reform Alliance—I offer my deepest thanks first of all."
The moment I used that formal phrase of offering thanks, murmurs rippled through the reporters. Seo Dong-beom, standing in one corner, caught the implication and smiled faintly. He'd probably already listened to the recording and even drafted his article.
"I stand here today with a heavy heart. I want to ask you all why the leader of our party would try to destroy one of his own members by branding him a criminal—what possible reason could there be for that?"
The reporters erupted in louder murmurs, and once the commotion died down, I continued.
"Today, I lay down my position as chairman of the party's Electronic Party Committee, and from this moment, I declare that I will go into the political wilderness to fight for our party's reform!"
Without explaining the incident itself, I wrapped up the conference in three points: the party leader's smear attempt to kill me off, the fact of it, and my vow to lead the reform from the front lines in sackcloth and ashes. The reporters exchanged baffled looks, then bombarded me with questions about the reasons and details before anyone could stop them.
"The full details of this incident are in the press kits and the USBs attached. Please check them there. This concludes Congressman Park Maru's press conference." With Kim Sil-jang announcing the end over the moderator's mic, the reporters finally dove into their kits, plugging USBs into laptops and scrambling to review the contents.
I spotted Seo Dong-beom with his laptop open too, clearly waiting for the conference to end before filing his story. Holding a press conference meant no one should leak—like he'd done—even a few minutes early; it was against the rules. Favoring one reporter would make enemies of all the rest, and Seo knew that well enough. That's why I'd gifted him those precious few minutes.
"Congressmen, please come to my office."
The attending congressmen followed me to my office, clueless about what was going on. It was the busiest day in my office since I'd gotten it, with aides jumping up to guide everyone.
"Congressman Park, what the hell is going on?"
"This will be a gift to all of you today."
Not something to explain piecemeal, I fired up my laptop and played the recording straight through. There was no better way to convey the incident. Once it finished, the congressmen stared at me in stunned silence.
"How the hell does something like this even happen? This calls for impeaching the party leader."
"Impeaching a leader who's already resigned—what good would that do?"
"We can't just let this slide, though."
The congressmen chimed in haphazardly. Some were genuinely outraged by the party leader's actions, but others saw a chance to highlight their own reformist credentials. In any case, most who attended realized this appearance was a golden opportunity to showcase their stance and started plotting how to capitalize on it for their own gain.
While the congressmen bickered, the real chaos was unfolding on the party bulletin board. The homepage crashed multiple times, and even after emergency measures rerouted it to a separate server, it couldn't handle the torrent of members' fury.
The media covered the scandal relentlessly, rivaling morning news slots, but Seo Dong-beom's piece in Ajung Ilbo stood out for its calm, detailed reporting—staying pinned on portal sites' main pages late into the night. Naturally, my name topped real-time search rankings from morning till midnight.
"Congressman, you need to come out for a moment."
Kim Sil-jang opened the door and led me out, where Jeong-ah stared at me gravely.
"What's up?"
"Fan cafe members are starting a sit-in protest from today until a reform leadership is born."
"That's not all. Party members are gathering at headquarters for their own protest sit-in."
Hearing from Kim Sil-jang and Jeong-ah that not just party members but fan cafe supporters were mobilizing too, I pondered how to handle it. Once the fire was lit, it needed to burn bright—but not burn the whole house down. Timing and intensity control were key.
There was no way to hold a resigned leadership accountable anymore, and demanding expulsion via the party ethics committee would just shrink our seats in the Assembly—a classic dilemma.
And it wasn't just the party leader. The CD from Do Cheol-rak exposed those mid-ranking congressmen flexing their necks; this was my chance to sweep them all out, deepening my worries.
"Congressman Park, what's going on?"
"Oh, ordinary party members are prepping an all-night sit-in outside headquarters."
"How many?"
"Not sure yet. Thinking of heading there this evening."
"Then we'll go together."
Park Seong-hwan suggested joining, and everyone piled on to go as a group. When a typhoon hits, the safest spot is the eye—pure calm.
After seeing off the congressmen, Seo Dong-beom requested an interview. Since it was him, I happily agreed.
"Thanks to you, Congressman, I'm back in Seoul—and looks like I'm not just on the National Assembly beat; I'm your dedicated reporter now."
"Yeah, that last article and the morning one—really grateful."
"You made my day worthwhile too. But how'd you think to record it?"
"Politics is brutal; gotta have an escape route. Without it, my career might've ended today."
"True. With that girl filing charges and the party leader backing her up with testimony, you'd have been pinned as the perp beyond doubt."
"Every paper and station was ripping me apart, but how'd you write what you did?"
"Seeing you living with your wife in Busan, I knew you weren't the type. And honestly, the wife-and-soulmate angle helped."
"Anyway, I'll repay the favor soon. Look forward to it."
"What, you got another big scoop?"
"Later."
The interview took a backseat as curiosity overtook him. But with no decision yet on handling it, I hesitated to tip him off—plus, who knew if my office was bugged? I brushed off his near-pleading.
That morning article confirmed I had a solid ally in a major paper's reporter. To strengthen his position, I needed to feed him Do Cheol-rak's CD scoop as an exclusive.
Lee Hoe-jang's company lawyers and Kim from Busan decided to formally prosecute the bar girl and party leader. Legal channels would leave no escape for him later, no matter what. If you're set on killing, make it thorough so he never rises again—and letting my would-be killer walk would invite more knives later. Best to deter any future threats entirely. I agreed and greenlit the suits.