Lee Myungsoo secretly contacted the leader of the opposition party.

“Welcome, Representative Lee.”

“Good to see you, Representative Choi.”

After the handshake, Choi Seohyeon spoke first.

“Haha. I was quite surprised when Representative Lee asked to meet me.”

With a gentle smile, Choi Seohyeon sat down and gestured toward Lee Myungsoo.

Lee Myungsoo sat across from him.

“I’ve been watching you for a long time, Representative Lee. Becoming the ruling party’s floor leader at such a young age... truly impressive. When I was your age, I had only just finished judicial training.”

“You flatter me. I’ve long heard stories about you as well, Representative.”

Choi Seohyeon had once been a human rights lawyer. Of course, he hadn’t become famous as one from the beginning.

His life story was dramatic enough to be called a television drama.

Born to a father who fled down from North Korea and a poor mother, he spent his childhood in hardship.

Because of those circumstances, he had no choice but to start thinking about making money from an early age.

Naturally, that led him toward the GED and the bar exam.

Choi Seohyeon studied like a man possessed and eventually passed the exam. He was the very definition of a dragon rising from a stream.

At one point, he had been the kind of lawyer who chased money, but after a certain case, he turned toward human rights law.

Eventually, believing that he could change nothing alone, he entered politics.

But he remained an eternal outsider.

The things he advocated were so radical that even the Progressive Party found them difficult to accept. In the end, the mainstream faction pushed him aside.

General elections, presidential elections, and even this local election. Every campaign ended with him swallowing the bitter taste of defeat.

Under normal circumstances, someone like him would never have become party leader.

“When I attended Korea National University, even the professors talked about you often, Representative.”

“Ah, now that you mention it, you were a prosecutor too, weren’t you? I had forgotten.”

The conversation began in a warm atmosphere.

But when the ruling party and opposition met face to face, that warmth was never going to last forever.

“By the way, Representative Lee, when exactly are you planning to bring up the real reason you asked to see me?”

“There’s a matter regarding Jungwon Development that I’d like us to come to an agreement on.”

“An agreement? Is there really anything between us worth negotiating?”

“Jungwon Development.”

The smile that had remained on Choi Seohyeon’s face instantly disappeared.

“Jungwon Development?”

“Yes. Articles about the suspicions have already gone public, so I assume you know the general outline. In fact, you probably know more than the media does.”

Even if they were the opposition, they were still a party that had once governed the country.

Their intelligence network was nearly on par with the ruling party’s. They must have sensed the direction things were moving in and conducted their own investigations.

“So what’s your point? Are you planning to threaten us with this? If that’s your intention, we won’t stay quiet either.”

Choi Seohyeon already knew who inside the Progressive Party had been implicated.

Two lawmakers from his own faction were members of the mutual aid circle.

But he couldn’t abandon them.

His support base was weak to begin with, and every single lawmaker mattered to him.

“No. This is a good opportunity to cleanly cut away the people who need to be cut away. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Cut away the people who need to be cut away?”

“Yes. This can’t simply be buried. The prosecution already secured the ledgers.”

“......”

“......”

“Public opinion has already made this impossible for the prosecution to cover up. The Special Investigation Division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has already formed an investigative team.”

Choi Seohyeon’s voice naturally sharpened.

“So what exactly are you trying to say? That I should just quietly accept this and step aside?”

“I’m saying both sides should give up what they need to give up. I’ll handle negotiations with the prosecution, so let’s not drag this into pointless political warfare. If we do, we’ll both sink together. You should also be thinking about next year’s presidential election.”

At the mention of the presidential election, the narrow look in Choi Seohyeon’s eyes sharpened.

“At this rate, you’ll never become the Progressive Party’s presidential candidate.”

“......”

Lee Myungsoo pulled a small notebook from his jacket.

He tore out a sheet of paper and placed it face down on the table.

Choi Seohyeon’s gaze immediately locked onto it.

Lee Myungsoo gently slid the paper toward him.

“These are the members of the Progressive Party involved in this incident. There are quite a lot of them. If all of this explodes, the Progressive Party might have to take down its own signboard.”

Choi Seohyeon picked up the paper.

As he read through the names written on it, his eyes widened.

“...All of these people are involved?”

“The names at the very top are people whose spouses joined the mutual aid circle. The rest simply accepted bribes in exchange for favors.”

The hand gripping the paper trembled slightly.

“You should decide for yourself who gets offered up as the sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice?”

“Yes. We already agreed to hand over six people on our side. So if the Progressive Party also shows sincerity, the investigation will stop right there.”

Choi Seohyeon set the paper down and looked at Lee Myungsoo with undisguised suspicion.

“Why are you helping me?”

He asked honestly.

He truly could not understand why Lee Myungsoo would help him.

If this scandal exploded, the Progressive Party could collapse beyond recovery.

From Lee Myungsoo’s perspective, there was absolutely no need to help.

“As I said earlier, my goal is to stop this from turning into political warfare. If both sides tear each other apart, the public will just see them all as the same trash anyway.”

Both the ruling party and opposition were deeply entangled in this massive scandal.

Once it turned political, everything would become far more complicated.

“So you want to avoid turning this into political warfare.”

“Yes. Our party and the Progressive Party should step forward together and demand an unrestricted investigation. If we do that, other political parties, bureaucratic factions, and even the business world won’t be able to interfere recklessly.”

Choi Seohyeon sank into deep thought.

No matter how he looked at it, this card benefited him too much.

Lee Myungsoo was effectively handing him the authority to decide who lived and who died.

“Can I really choose the sacrifices myself?”

“Yes. And if you hold that list in your hands, won’t it become much easier to completely seize control of the party?”

“That’s true, but...”

“In exchange for giving you that card, let’s cooperate this time.”

“And how do you know how I’ll use it?”

Lee Myungsoo shrugged.

“That’s not my concern. You only need to promise one thing. Don’t let the party drag this issue into a political fight. The mainstream faction will probably want to weaponize this.”

The very first name on the list belonged to the leader of the mainstream faction.

“How much time do I have?”

“Two weeks. After that, the prosecution will slowly begin moving.”

“Two weeks...”

Choi Seohyeon frowned.

It was an absurdly short amount of time.

“Can’t you delay it longer?”

“The media has already started asking questions. The longer we stall, the more cornered the prosecution becomes. Someone might even start calling for a special prosecutor.”

A special prosecutor absolutely could not happen.

Choi Seohyeon slowly nodded.

“Yes. We must stop it from reaching that point no matter what.”

“Organize everything within two weeks. Until then, stop the prosecution from making any announcements.”

“Understood. I’m giving you this because I trust you, Representative. But if you stab me in the back...”

Lee Myungsoo didn’t forget to warn him.

The warmth vanished from his gentle-looking face, replaced instantly by something cold.

“We may bleed too, but the Progressive Party and you personally will be carved apart beyond recovery.”

“......”

“Don’t assume this is the only card we’re holding.”

Reading the sincerity in Lee Myungsoo’s eyes, Choi Seohyeon cleared his throat.

“You have my word.”

“And take out the recorder too.”

Choi Seohyeon flinched.

“Someone warned me. They said to be careful of recording devices whenever meeting Representative Choi Seohyeon. Take it out.”

“What are you talking about...”

“Representative. If you start acting like this already, we won’t be able to work together.”

Faced with Lee Myungsoo’s unwavering gaze and certain tone, Choi Seohyeon could no longer pretend ignorance.

He slowly pulled a recorder from the inner pocket of his jacket and placed it on the table.

“That’s the only one?”

Choi Seohyeon nodded.

Lee Myungsoo dropped the recorder onto the floor and crushed it beneath his shoe.

“Then I’ll trust only you and take my leave.”

Lee Myungsoo stood first.

Left alone, Choi Seohyeon picked up the paper once more.

A low groan filled with anguish escaped his lips as he sank deep into thought.

* * *

While conversations continued beneath the surface, the media kept releasing new articles.

The longer the ruling and opposition parties remained silent, the more the suspicions spreading among the public began to sound like undeniable truth.

Time passed.

Then the prosecution finally began to move.

The very first summons they issued was for Ha Eunbin.

— Former Seoul City Chief Secretary Ha Eunbin has been summoned today by the prosecution as a witness regarding the Jungwon Development and Guryong Village redevelopment projects. Our reporter is standing by at the scene.

The television broadcast shifted to a reporter standing in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

— Behind me is the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. Since early this morning—

A car entered the camera frame.

Then Ha Eunbin stepped out.

Her face, caught by the cameras, looked completely vacant.

She had barely even bothered with makeup, and no emotion whatsoever could be read from her expression.

— What allegations is Ha Eunbin facing?

The anchor immediately seized the opportunity and questioned the reporter.

— Ms. Ha is suspected of interfering in the bidding process for the Guryong Village redevelopment project and helping Jungwon Development secure the redevelopment rights.

Ha Eunbin staggered weakly toward the photo line.

— Ms. Ha! Are the allegations true?

No matter what the reporters asked, Ha Eunbin gave no response.

— Ms. Ha! Please say something!

Questions kept flying toward her, but not a single answer came back.

Without uttering a word until the very end, she disappeared inside the building.

The screen returned to the anchor.

— The prosecution states that, based on evidence and the results of a long internal investigation, they plan to question Ms. Ha in detail.

Graphics explaining the Guryong Village redevelopment project and the suspicious portions of the case appeared on screen.

— Public attention is now focused on what kind of explanation Ms. Ha Eunbin will give and what consequences may emerge from today’s investigation. The prosecution has stated that it intends to uncover the full truth through a thorough investigation.

I turned off the television there.

“So it’s finally starting. You made sure Ha Eunbin won’t say anything unnecessary, right?”

“Yes. She’ll probably admit to everything. She’ll say she did it all herself. She’ll follow the script we prepared for her.”

Satisfied with Manager Ma’s answer, I nodded.

“The entire nation is going to be shaken.”

By dawn the next day, Ha Eunbin’s status changed from witness to defendant.

At the same time, the prosecution immediately requested an arrest warrant, and the court approved it.

Rumors began spreading through Seocho-dong that names connected to the scandal had started pouring out of her mouth.

And before long, those rumors reached the media.

[The Jungwon Development Preferential Treatment Scandal Expands Into a Massive Gate]

During questioning at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, former Seoul City Chief Secretary Ha Eunbin made shocking statements regarding the Jungwon Development project.

Former Chief Secretary Ha reportedly named politicians, high-ranking officials, and even prosecutors suspected of covering up the investigation connected to the Jungwon Development project.

This marks the first time specific names have been revealed during the investigation, and the impact of the case is expected to be enormous.

The investigation into Jungwon Development may now deepen dramatically, with judicial inquiries into the individuals named expected to accelerate.

Former Chief Secretary Ha stated, “There are numerous powerful figures deeply involved in this project, and some of them exercised improper influence in order to push the project forward.”

She also claimed, “Certain prosecutors improperly interfered in the investigation process to bury the truth,” even revealing the names of those prosecutors.

An official from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office stated, “All evidence, including Ms. Ha’s testimony, will be thoroughly reviewed,” adding, “We will take every possible measure to uncover the truth.”

The Jungwon Development scandal is expected to send shockwaves through both the political and judicial worlds, and the public is now closely watching to see how the situation unfolds next.