The Price of Pride
Choi Hyeonsook was deeply uncomfortable.
What she had wanted from the start was simple: to step onto the other side’s home turf and force her opponent to bow in front of everyone. What could possibly be more exhilarating than that?
But then her son had suddenly shown up with gifts, and the whole thing had gone sideways.
Before Kwon Mija’s eyes lay a spread of rare luxury brands. The sight of that absurd, almost unbelievable display of spending had left everyone looking stunned. Even Choi Hyeonsook had been taken aback, so there was no need to mention the others.
Could she be in on it with her son, putting on this whole act on purpose?
But looking at the woman’s face, that didn’t seem likely. She herself looked so shocked she hardly knew what to do.
A mother with a daughter asked cautiously, “What does your son do now?”
“He graduated from Korea University’s economics department and now works for a foreign investment firm.”
There was no real need to mention which university he had attended, but the moment Korea University came up, everyone reacted.
“Oh my goodness! Your son went to Korea University?”
“Why didn’t you tell us your son went to Korea University?”
“My kid’s aiming for Korea University too.”
As befit the most affluent apartment complex in the neighborhood, the residents were just as fierce about education. And now the next-door neighbor’s son had gone to Korea University?
To the flood of questions, Han Miru answered politely and with easy courtesy. That alone was enough to make him likable.
The sight only made Choi Hyeonsook more uncomfortable.
She had a son too. Unfortunately, he had taken after someone and was hopeless at studying, barely managing to graduate from any college at all.
At least he had landed a job at a major conglomerate thanks to his father’s connections.
He went to Korea University and now he’s showing off in front of me?
Kwon Mija hadn’t said a single thing about her son, but still... when she compared their children, Choi Hyeonsook could feel her stomach burning.
On the other hand, the reactions from the women around her made Kwon Mija feel secretly pleased.
Han Miru turned to his mother and asked, “So what were you talking about?”
“Oh. Well...”
He took the notice sheet and read it.
“You were talking about the smart security system, I see. Sena already told me about it. Apparently you’re planning to cut twenty percent of the security guards after this goes in.”
Is she planning to drag her son in and oppose it too?
It was obvious what kind of trick this was.
But that was no use.
Choi Hyeonsook spoke at once. “This is a project our apartment has been pushing for a long time, and the residents’ consent has already been completed. If you want to object...”
But before she could finish, Han Miru said, “I’m fully in favor. In a world like this, how can you trust people? Firing the guards and installing CCTV and a security system saves money, and it can make the apartment safer too.”
“...Huh?”
“A luxury apartment needs a smart security system to match. Of course our household agrees.”
At that, Choi Hyeonsook felt her tension ease a little.
What is this? Unlike that stubborn old woman, her son actually makes sense.
“And I think the contractor should be chosen through a direct contract, not open bidding. Open bidding just means you end up hiring the lowest bidder, but what are you supposed to trust about the cheapest company? There’s a reason they say cheap things are cheap. They’ll cut corners on the construction, and in the end it often costs even more. Better to choose a reliable company and sign at a reasonable price. That’s actually the way to save money.”
That made Choi Hyeonsook brighten instantly.
How does he manage to say exactly what I wanted to hear?
The reason was obvious enough. He was probably trying to catch the eye of someone whose father ran a business and whose wife was a lawmaker.
Excited, Choi Hyeonsook clapped her hands. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Yuwon Security is the company that handles the CCTV installation and security management for our apartment. It’s hard to find a company this dependable and this good at its work.”
“That’s a relief. Then the investigation should come back without any problems.”
“...The investigation?”
Han Miru said it as if it were nothing.
“I had a specialist company that digs into corporate corruption and shoddy business practices run a background check on Yuwon Security.”
At that, Choi Hyeonsook jumped in alarm before she could stop herself. “What? Who gave you permission to investigate a company behind its back?”
“Excuse me? Is there something wrong with that?”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant...”
“I heard there are a lot of companies these days that set up figurehead bosses and paper companies, with the real owner hidden somewhere else. If something goes wrong with a company like that later on, people say it’s hard to get proper compensation.”
Choi Hyeonsook forced a smile.
“I-I don’t think there’s any need to go that far, is there? An investigation like that would cost a lot of money too.”
Han Miru waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, come on. This is the company responsible for the smart security system at our luxury Songdo Lumian Parkview complex. A background check is essential. Otherwise the residents could end up getting hurt, couldn’t they?”
“...”
Choi Hyeonsook’s face went blank.
What on earth is he trying to do? He’s not telling me he knows something, is he?
That probably wasn’t possible, but what if the real owner of Yuwon Security was revealed to be her younger brother?
Then it wouldn’t just be her in trouble. The blast radius would reach her husband too.
“F-for now, this matter still isn’t finalized.”
“Really? But haven’t the residents’ consent procedures and the contractor selection already been completed?”
“...”
Just as Choi Hyeonsook was searching for something to say, a ringtone suddenly rang out.
Han Miru took his phone from his pocket. “Ah, sorry. I need to take this. Hello?”
He answered with a smile at first, but his voice gradually grew serious.
“Is that really true? Are you certain? If that information turns out to be wrong, your side will be responsible for it.”
Then he looked at Choi Hyeonsook and stared at her for a moment. Under that gaze, she felt as if her heart had dropped straight through the floor.
“Yes. Understood. I’ll come over there, so let’s go over the materials and talk.”
Han Miru hung up.
Choi Hyeonsook asked in a trembling voice, “W-what is it? What happened?”
Han Miru gave a short laugh and shook his head. “No, it’s just work.”
What? Did he just laugh at me?
Ignoring Choi Hyeonsook, Han Miru turned to his mother. “I should get going.”
“You’re not even going to eat?”
“No. Something urgent came up. I’ll come again next time.”
Han Miru gave everyone a courteous farewell, then left the apartment.
As soon as he was gone, the residents leaned toward Kwon Mija and started asking questions.
“Hey, how old did you say your son was?”
“Is he married?”
“Does he have a girlfriend?”
“You said he went to Korea University?”
“So what exactly does he do?”
The mothers with daughters were especially eager.
Bad rumors floating around the apartment hardly mattered at all. He had graduated from Korea University, he made good money, and he was single—what did any of that nonsense matter?
Everyone was laughing and chatting, but Choi Hyeonsook couldn’t shake the unease in her chest.
He couldn’t possibly have found out, could he? No. There’s no way.
That should be enough to land the blow, shouldn’t it?
As I left the apartment, I called News Trigger reporter Min Hong-soo for the first time in a while.
“Hello.”
“Hello. It’s been a while.”
“How have you been?”
“What brings you to me?”
“I have a tip for you.”
At my words, he asked at once, “What is it?”
“It’s about corruption by our apartment’s resident representative...”
I gave him a brief summary of the situation.
It didn’t seem especially surprising to him, and he answered calmly.
“I see. Honestly, that kind of thing happens all the time.”
“But I dug a little deeper, and it turns out the resident representative’s husband is a lawmaker.”
That caught him by surprise.
“Is that really true? Who is it?”
“Representative Gi Donguk.”
Hanging up, I thought to myself, Which side was going to end up unable to show their face?
For several days after that, Choi Hyeonsook barely slept and lived in a state of constant anxiety.
Did he know? Or didn’t he?
If he had said something right then and there, she could have pushed back hard.
But since he hadn’t said anything, there was nothing she could respond to.
Why on earth would he order a background check on Yuwon Security?
The very fact that he was investigating it suggested he knew something, didn’t it?
But with the residents’ consent already secured, there was no way to back out now and say they weren’t doing it after all.
Maybe that woman knows something?
But there was no way to just go ask.
If she had figured something out, she’d use it as leverage to negotiate.
And yet, since there had been no further word, it had to mean she hadn’t found anything at all.
Choi Hyeonsook forced herself to calm the uneasy feeling in her chest.
Right. I’m probably just worrying over nothing.
(Omitted)
Songdo Lumian Parkview is a massive 2,200-unit apartment complex that is currently pushing ahead with the installation of a smart security system.
In the course of that process, the resident representative selected the contractor through a direct contract, only for it to be revealed that the company’s real owner was the representative’s younger brother.
(Further details omitted)
In addition, resident representative Ms. Choi had the security guards go door to door and collect the residents’ consent themselves.
According to one anonymous guard, “At the resident representative’s orders, I had to carry the paperwork from house to house and get signatures from the residents. It felt like I was being asked to sign my own death warrant. It was miserable and humiliating.”
Our investigation found that most residents had not been aware that the security guards were being laid off.
More startling still, resident representative Ms. Choi is the wife of Representative Gi Donguk of the Our People Party.
Representative Gi Donguk is known to have spoken out against a revision to the Apartment Management Act, which would have required a majority vote of all residents on key matters when a complex outsourced its management. Under competitive bidding, the type of bid, the method of bidding, the award method, and participant qualifications would all have required consent; under direct contract, the choice of contractor and the contract terms would also have had to be approved.
We requested an explanation from Representative Gi Donguk’s office, but have received no response as of press time.
Representative Gi Donguk shouted at his wife, “What a fucking disgrace!”
Choi Hyeonsook looked flustered. “Honey. Calm down.”
“Calm down? You think I can calm down after this humiliation? What the hell do you even do? You can’t help my political career, and now you’re blocking my path instead?”
Choi Hyeonsook had her own answer to that.
“What, did I eat that money by myself? It was all for you doing well, for our family doing well!”
In truth, the fact that this dirt-poor man had become a lawmaker was thanks to his marriage to Choi Hyeonsook, the daughter of a local power broker. Without the support of his in-laws and his wife, he never would have dreamed of entering politics in the first place.
“Then at least don’t get caught!”
It was true that Choi Hyeonsook had used her authority as resident representative to steer work to her younger brother’s company all this time.
But it had only been the sort of rebate everyone else took, nothing especially outrageous, so she could have brushed it off with the right explanation.
The real problem was the smart security system installation she had pushed this time.
If she had been doing it purely for the residents’ benefit, that would have been one thing. But she had tried to fire a whole batch of security guards for her own gain, and public outrage was inevitable.
“Who the hell reported this?”
Choi Hyeonsook recalled the expression and the eyes of that son from the house she had seen that day.
He had said out of his own mouth that he’d ordered a background check.
He must have tipped the media off about it!
Choi Hyeonsook screamed in fury. “This is all because of that family! They’ve been plotting from the very beginning to drive me out as resident representative! Aaaagh!”