The Final Struggle
"Hey, you, you—what are you doing?"
At the sight of Kim Ho-hwan, who was pale with shock, his adjutant let out a sigh.
"To think you'd climb onto the back of a wingless tiger and leap off a cliff... you are truly something else."
As the adjutant spoke, agents from the ANSP stormed into the office. Not only them, but special forces units in army fatigues flooded the room as well. JSD did not appear, but Choi Hee-doo did. He was the incumbent Army Chief of Staff, a member of the third-tier faction who had lost all loyalty to JD following the Dae-young Group incident. To be precise, since the current number one was effectively N, Choi could now be considered to have ascended to the rank of second-in-command.
"Ho-hwan, a man must choose his path wisely."
Watching Kim Ho-hwan, who was frozen in his seat, Choi Hee-doo approached the desk. Riiip! Choi peeled something off from under the desk and, with a smirk, held up a recorder for Kim to see.
"If things go on like this, we'll all be left like a bucket with a broken rope. So, we have to raise the army once more. I'm going to occupy the Blue House and the National Assembly and declare martial law. You're going to join me, right?"
JD’s voice flowed from the recorder. Along with it, Kim Ho-hwan’s own voice, agreeing to the plan, was also playing back.
"Ah, ahhh... ah..."
Kim Ho-hwan felt dizzy, his vision turning white. A groan escaped his lips involuntarily. 'Before I even came to report to him, the report had already gone to the Chief of Staff. And the Chief of Staff had already sided with N. They must have installed those things in my office. Ahhhhh...'
There was no escape. Power struggles were inherently devoid of blood or tears. Kim Ho-hwan realized he would face the death penalty, just like those who had failed in past rebellions.
"Do you want to live?"
At that moment, Choi Hee-doo’s subtle voice pierced through his ears. Kim Ho-hwan nodded frantically.
"P-please, spare me, Senior!"
"Why would I be your senior?" Choi Hee-doo asked with a bored expression.
"B-but we were close when we were in the same faction, weren't we? So, p-please..."
At Kim Ho-hwan’s desperate plea, Choi Hee-doo smiled and nodded.
"Well, that’s true. But I can't just pretend this didn't happen. You know that, right? There are too many witnesses here. And I’m a witness myself."
"J-just spare my life. I'll do anything!"
He had to save his life at all costs. Kim Ho-hwan spoke desperately, even dropping to his knees.
"I beg you! Please... please... please...!"
As Kim Ho-hwan teetered on the edge of tears, Choi Hee-doo finally nodded.
"Fine. Then I'll tell you what you need to do. If you do it, I'll make sure to prevent your execution."
Is Kim Ho-hwan, who tried to stage a military coup, the devil? Or is it Choi Hee-doo, who waited with his web already spun? Or perhaps it is Yoon-gi, who orchestrated this entire plan from behind the veil? That depends on the observer's perspective.
The second place JD visited. He had visited the Capital Defense Command first because it was the location from which he could raid the Blue House the fastest, which was why he had sought out Kim Ho-hwan. The second place he visited was none other than the 9th Infantry Division. It was the place where N had been appointed division commander during the 12·12 military coup, and at the same time, it was a vital strategic point—a place where, if the troops left their posts, the capital could collapse in an instant if North Korea launched a surprise attack.
'I must pull the troops out of here. Only then will the other infantry divisions be unable to come to stop the revolutionary army.'
JD was even considering using a secret channel he knew of to inform North Korea of the troop withdrawal. If the 9th Infantry Division left its post to raid the Blue House? A power vacuum would be created at the front-line strategic point, and N would be forced to make a choice. Would he send troops meant to defend against the rebels to the 9th Infantry Division's position, or would he leave that spot empty and defend against the rebels?
'N, he knows better than anyone. He knows what it means for the area defended by the 9th Infantry Division.'
In fact, the reason N had obtained the position of "nominal second-in-command" under JD’s regime was largely because he had led his troops to join JD’s first coup. Because he had joined JD, accepting the risk of execution the moment the coup failed. Therefore, to control N, JD had pre-positioned his own "low-ranking but still a confidant" in the position of the 9th Infantry Division commander, and he was on his way to meet him now.
"Salute!"
The gate officer of the 9th Infantry Division gave a booming salute upon seeing the official vehicle and the military vehicles following behind it.
'Hmm, the gate officer came out to greet me directly, not the military police. Ho-hwan must have contacted them just as I ordered.'
JD had been pressed for time and couldn't make the calls himself. So, he had ordered Kim Ho-hwan to use the Capital Defense Command's most secure secret lines to contact the confidants he had planted. The result of that confirmation was the officer’s greeting. However, the officer did not let JD in immediately.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Ah, I apologize. The division commander is currently arranging a secret meeting, so he asked you to wait for a moment. Since it's not appropriate to wait here, could you please wait in the unit's internal parking lot?"
JD nodded at the plausible story.
"Fine, I'll do that."
For some reason, JD felt good. Even until he was betrayed by JSD and placed under house arrest, he had thought he was surely going to die. The end of a failed dictator is always death.
'As expected, I shouldn't just sit and wait for death. Even if it means killing everyone else.'
JD, who continued to rationalize his actions, was only able to meet Major General Baek Seong-o, the commander of the 9th Infantry Division, after about 30 minutes had passed.
"Your Excellency! I heard the news. That bastard JSD dared to...!"
The division commander's office was not particularly secret. However, JD did not suspect anything at all. Because the very fact that he was meeting Baek Seong-o now was what mattered.
"Seong-o, I misjudged who the true loyalists were. Now, the Hana-hoe faction will be one again. Let's wipe out N's faction and monopolize all the wealth and glory."
"Of course, Your Excellency!"
At Baek Seong-o’s booming shout, JD wore a very confident expression, as if he had gained an army of ten thousand.
"Oh, now that I think of it, there is one thing I would like to ask."
"What is it?"
"If we stage another revolution this time, the reactionaries who caused the February civil unrest will likely rise up again. What do you intend to do about them?"
JD offered a simple answer with a cold, thin smile.
"Kill them all. Even if 10,000, 100,000, or 1 million rise up in rebellion, we just have to kill them all. Although P failed because he couldn't kill 3 million, I will survive even if I have to kill 30 million. That is the life I have lived for."
"As expected, Your Excellency! That manliness of yours is exactly why I pledge my loyalty to you."
"Hahahaha! Yes, hearing you say that makes me feel so secure. Then, I will head to the 50th Infantry Division, so you reorganize your troops and be ready to advance to Seoul at any time."
"Understood!"
"And attach a few vehicles with car phones to my entourage. I obtained a few from the Capital Defense Command, but one can never be too careful."
Car phones. In the late 80s, they were a symbol of wealth, but for JD right now, they were a necessary device. Once he launched the full-scale coup, it didn't matter if his communications were tapped or not. If he could occupy the Blue House and the National Assembly through a surprise attack, declare martial law, and defend those areas, the "revolution he envisioned" would be a success.
"Then, I leave it to you."
"Yes, don't worry!"
Major General Baek Seong-o gave a booming salute. Sure enough, a short while later, Major General Baek Seong-o met a fate similar to Kim Ho-hwan’s. Regimental commanders under his command and ANSP agents opened the door to the office and entered. The only difference was that Baek Seong-o did not have the privilege of "exemption from the death penalty."
"Y-you bastards...!"
Baek Seong-o’s attitude, which had been excessively enthusiastic toward JD, was not an act.
JD visited the confidants he had planted, repeated the same things he had done with Kim Ho-hwan, and finally sounded the signal for the rebellion. It was a phone call via the car phone attached to his vehicle. Having made nearly 20 calls while moving back toward the Capital Defense Command, JD felt as if the gate of the command center looked like the front gate of the Blue House.
'Yes, I will become the absolute ruler of the Blue House again!'
Now, all he had to do was lead the troops of the Capital Defense Command and occupy the National Assembly first. And in less than an hour, the loyal troops of his confidants would surround him, guarding him without a single gap.
Screech-!
As the car stopped in front of the gate, JD leaned his head out of the window with a softer tone.
"You know what to do without me saying it, right?"
JD’s face, wearing a slightly humorous smile, appeared outside the window.
Click-!
"Hmm...?"
In an instant, JD felt the cold sensation of metal pressed against his temple. Click! Click! Click! The sound of firearms filled the air, and countless soldiers, perfectly camouflaged, sprang out from the grass around the gate. Those soldiers were not the mysterious figures who had held pistols to his temple; they were aiming their automatic rifles directly at the vehicle he was riding in.
"W-w-w-what is this!"
JD tried to turn his head to look around, but his head was grabbed from above, robbing him of even that freedom.
"Ah, damn it. Maybe it's because you're a guy with no brains, but it's hard to keep your head steady."
"...!"
A voice that was all too familiar.
"Hey, Director of the ANSP..."
The moment he spoke, JD knew, even without seeing it, that JSD was wearing a cold, white smile.
"Did you enjoy your dream for the night?"
The vehicle JD was riding in, which had wanted to head to the Blue House, was now headed to the Seoul Southern Detention Center.
"JD really made the worst move possible."
Even while saying this, Choi Ki-hyun was smiling as if he were satisfied with the situation.
"Unless a dictator dies because their lifespan has run out, they can never have a peaceful death. Even if they pass power to their son, a dictator is always eventually discarded like a worn-out shoe."
"I suppose that's true."
Choi Ki-hyun had no particular intention of analyzing the situation in depth. Therefore, he decided to go along with Yoon-gi’s lead. Was he uninterested? Of course not. It was just that Yoon-gi had grown so much that he no longer needed to worry about such big things. Moreover, Choi Ki-hyun hadn't been able to stop smiling recently, given that Yoon-gi had forgiven his second son, Choi Cheol-min. No matter how much of a rascal a son might be, as long as he is like a finger, it hurts to cut him off. But Yoon-gi had reattached the finger named Choi Cheol-min to him, and even Choi Cheol-min was no longer a rascal. Of course, Choi Ki-hyun still didn't like Park Gyeong-ja. However, the day before yesterday, the food his son Choi Cheol-min had left in front of the house gate had put Choi Ki-hyun’s mood at its absolute peak.
Father, I cannot make you a retired monarch like Yoon-gi did, but I will at least please your tongue. I am a wayward son, but I wish to show my filial piety even now. Please forgive me for not being able to visit you in person.
Choi Cheol-min, who had significantly improved his cooking skills while working as an assistant at a cafeteria. Choi Ki-hyun had shed tears of joy while eating the food his son had left behind. And now, in the study, the food Choi Cheol-min had left was sitting there.
"How is it? It's delicious, right?"
At Choi Ki-hyun’s question, Yoon-gi smiled and nodded.
"Yes, it’s delicious."
"I wish this kid would at least run a restaurant. Hahahaha!"
Choi Ki-hyun, who kept laughing, ate with Yoon-gi and shared various stories. And how much time had passed? Finally, the story of JD, whose turn had come, came out of Choi Ki-hyun’s mouth.
"Oh, now that I think of it, how do you intend to deal with JD?"
"We must impeach him."
The impeachment of JD, which Jung Woo-ho had proposed to the chaebols when they had gathered in the past. At that time, it was something that not only the chaebols but even YK could not have imagined, but that event was finally about to become reality.