The Living Creature (2)
DJ was in the middle of meeting a public official who had requested an audience with him. The individual was none other than Choi Bu-seok, the Superintendent General of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency. Having had his nose broken by JSD last time, he was still wearing a cast on his nose.
"Thank you so much for meeting with me like this," Choi Bu-seok said, bowing his head. DJ nodded with a faint smile.
"Not at all. It is only right that we meet."
Unfortunately, DJ was unaware that Superintendent General Choi Bu-seok was linked to the Manse Welfare Center scandal. JSD had sworn the reporters to silence regarding the fact that he had punched the Superintendent General in the nose, and the reporters, terrified of the ANSP, had not published a single word about it. If there had been a report stating that Superintendent General Choi Bu-seok was present at the scene on the day of the Manse Welfare Center incident, DJ would have surely suspected a connection. In that case, he would never have agreed to meet him now.
"I know you must be busy with the presidential election, so I apologize once again for the intrusion," Choi Bu-seok said, adopting a very humble posture. DJ liked this attitude. In short, the man was lining up to pledge his loyalty. If the lower echelons of the organization didn't listen to you after you took power, it would be a total nightmare. One only had to look at the NM government to see that. Whatever bill they prepared, it was shot down by the opposition. They had trusted the other faction and appointed their man as the Commissioner of the National Police Agency, only to have him bite the hand that fed him. Therefore, if one were preparing for a presidential election, there was no need to be stingy with those who were lining up to support you—provided, of course, that there was a "sense of propriety" involved.
"I am the one who is grateful that you came to see me before any decisions were finalized. Should I assume that the others share your sentiments, Superintendent General?"
At DJ's question, Choi Bu-seok flashed a bright, ugly smile.
"Of course. My subordinates and I are fully prepared to dedicate our bodies and minds solely to you, Congressman."
It was a truly heartwarming atmosphere. However, unlike the room where the two were sitting, a commotion was breaking out just outside the door.
A member of DJ's party, who belonged to the presidential campaign, had received "certain information" over the phone and his face had turned deathly pale.
"U-uh, uhhhhh... uhhhhhhhhh...!"
Unable to even form proper words, the party member rushed off. He reached the area just outside the office where DJ and Choi Bu-seok were talking, right in front of YS, who had been waiting.
"What's going on?" YS asked with a yawn. The pale-faced party member reported the situation in a low voice.
"W-w-w-what? Is that for real?" YS asked back, his face also turning pale with shock. The party member nodded urgently.
"I confirmed it via fax!"
In the mid-80s, the "fax" had finally arrived. The emergence of the fax machine provided solid evidence when conveying facts, and that reinforced evidence was now in YS's hands.
[Superintendent General Choi Bu-seok had a confrontation with JSD at the Manse Welfare Center during the incident. The source is...]
YS felt dizzy and stumbled, bracing himself against the wall. "Did you verify the source of this?"
"Yes? W-well... it was so urgent..."
At the party member's poor response, YS shouted, "What are you doing! You have to check the source first for something like this! Go find out right now! We don't have time!"
YS's shouting was muffled, drifting into the room as mere indistinct yelling.
"My apologies, it seems a bit noisy outside since the election campaign is in full swing," DJ said. Choi Bu-seok wore his characteristic smile again.
"Oh, not at all. I am only sorry that I am the cause of the campaign atmosphere being disrupted. So, I would like to offer some help..."
"Help, you say?"
Choi Bu-seok nodded. "Yes. Running an election campaign requires a lot of manpower, doesn't it? Our police officers and prosecution officials would like to help with your campaign in plain clothes."
"Hoho..."
Election campaigns cost a lot of money, and labor costs make up a very significant portion of that. But what if the auxiliary staff for the campaign increased not through hiring, but through a voluntary format? Furthermore, in this era, high-resolution cameras were not common, so there was little chance of being caught even if they participated in such work under a disguised identity.
However, before DJ could even answer, the door burst open and YS entered. YS strode toward DJ with long, purposeful steps. Excluding any useless pleasantries, YS immediately handed over two sheets of paper.
"This is...?"
As the truth about Choi Bu-seok was revealed through the two documents YS handed over—now with the source and evidence verified by fax—DJ's face twisted in a rare display of anger. "You... get out of here immediately!"
DJ's roar was filled with fury. Choi Bu-seok immediately grasped the situation.
"Congressman, there is no need to refuse. We have a tight grip on Busan. Not taking our hand means losing Busan. Can you really beat N that way?"
"I said get out immediately!" YS stepped in. "Hey! The guest is leaving! Escort him out!"
Then, the campaign's security guards entered and forcibly pulled Choi Bu-seok to his feet.
"A-ah, I'll get up myself." After rising, Choi Bu-seok bowed politely to DJ. "Then, I shall take my leave."
Even after receiving a clear dismissal from DJ, Choi Bu-seok maintained his courtesy toward him until the end. After all, DJ was the only lifeline he could hope to grab. Even if DJ were elected, he might dig into the Manse Welfare Center incident, but Choi Bu-seok had come to see DJ today to prevent exactly that. He had already stuck a sticky bait onto DJ's back. This bait was so sticky that once it attached to DJ, it wouldn't come off.
"My dear fellow citizens, I have absolutely nothing to do with the Manse Welfare Center," DJ's voice trembled slightly during his speech. It was a speech being held at Gwanghwamun, just as N had done. However, unlike N, DJ's face showed his deep sense of injustice.
"It is true that I met with Superintendent General Choi Bu-seok. However, at that time, I was completely unaware that he was involved with the Manse Welfare Center. During our conversation, I received a report from a party member regarding that fact, and I ended the meeting immediately."
The reason DJ was so anxious was that the fact of his meeting with Choi Bu-seok had been made public to the citizens. Was it Yoon-gi? No. Was it N? That wasn't it either. Then, was it JSD? No, not him either. The meeting with Superintendent General Choi Bu-seok, which dealt a fatal blow to DJ's presidential campaign, had been publicized by none other than JP.
The leading candidates for this presidential election were N, DJ, and... if one had to name a third, JP. When Choi Bu-seok visited DJ's camp, he had his subordinates take photos. He was even lucky enough to obtain a photo of himself and DJ laughing and talking. Afterward, Choi Bu-seok naturally handed the photo over to JP, and JP cheered as soon as he got it.
[If the votes going to DJ collapse, there is a possibility that those votes will come to me!]
He wouldn't have run if he didn't have thoughts of becoming president. Through this analysis, JP stabbed DJ in the heart, and the damage was truly immense. Immediately, DJ's approval rating in preliminary polls plummeted by a staggering 7 percent. The unfortunate part was that JP's approval rating only rose by a mere 0.1 percent. The support that fell away from DJ was absorbed entirely by N, and in practical terms, this incident created a gap of nearly 14 percent.
"Actually, it wasn't a case that should have caused such a gap..." YS felt complicated as he watched DJ giving his speech. "Crazy bastards. Because they have a knife to their throats, they've lost their minds and are just acting out."
YS cursed Superintendent General Choi Bu-seok fiercely in his mind. In fact, it was a good thing for YS if DJ lost. So, YS thought this incident was fine, too. But the situation being fine and Choi Bu-seok being a piece of trash were, of course, two different things. Therefore, YS kept cursing Choi Bu-seok, thinking about what he had done after leaving the election camp.
"No, how could anyone do something like that?"
Choi Bu-seok and the other public officials involved in the Manse Welfare Center distributed materials disparaging N throughout Busan, while spreading flyers praising DJ. Furthermore, they threatened citizens that bad things would happen if they voted for N, and instead urged them to vote for DJ. It was an act that no one with a brain should ever commit. However, for Choi Bu-seok and his cronies, who weren't just looking at losing their positions the moment N was elected, but were looking at losing their heads, they were doing the unthinkable without hesitation. And the results of those actions were borne entirely and unfairly by DJ.
[There's no smoke without fire! It's all because DJ ordered it!]
That was the judgment of the enraged public. Yoon-gi, N, and JSD had not intervened in this at all. In fact, N had even tried to launch an investigation into the election interference by Choi Bu-seok's group, as requested by DJ. Of course, he hadn't directed it himself, but had asked the interim president to do so. But... when the heads of the Busan police were actively working to obstruct it, who on earth could arrest them? Moreover, the power of Choi Bu-seok's group, with the strong position of Superintendent General, combined with the prosecution and administrative agencies, was not easily shattered unless Yoon-gi and N stepped in actively.
"A scary guy..." YS clicked his tongue inwardly at the strategy of Yoon-gi, who had induced the situation to reach this point. "No, is it normal to even imagine such a situation?"
From the start, N didn't need to take risks in the presidential election. He had a high chance of beating DJ even with a normal campaign. That was why there was no reason to touch Busan during the election. Wasn't Busan N's stronghold, anyway? A normal presidential candidate would have said, "I will let the Manse Welfare Center matter slide, so please cooperate." But Yoon-gi had instead struck the Manse Welfare Center with an iron hammer. As a result, the power in Busan turned its back on N, but the public sentiment in Busan ultimately turned toward N. What mattered most in an election was public sentiment. Just by targeting the Manse Welfare Center, N had opened up a 14 percent approval gap in an instant.
"A kid who just turned twenty comes up with a scheme like this? No, did Chairman Choi teach him? But even then, the way he spoke was too natural."
When Yoon-gi told YS about the plan, he hadn't shown a single moment of awkwardness. If he had been acting like a parrot following someone else's instructions, he wouldn't have been able to hide it from the wily YS.
"What on earth is his identity? Or is his acting ability truly at a god-like level?"
How could YS possibly know that Yoon-gi's actual age was over 60? In the end, YS could not resolve these questions at all, and the day of the vote arrived with DJ unable to clear the suspicions cast upon him.
The joy of changing the government. So many citizens participated in the vote that a 95 percent turnout was recorded. The turnout in actual history was 89.2 percent. However, in Yoon-gi's history, it boasted a turnout of nearly 100 percent. Now, all that was left was to count the votes starting the next day. The ballot boxes filled with ballots were being safely stored in a designated location. Or rather, they seemed to be stored. Because dozens of men were quietly approaching the building where the ballot boxes were kept.