Chapter 11.5
Woojin pulled out the internal investigation files. As the Chief of Staff opened the folder and began leafing through the documents, his face rapidly turned cold. He bit the inside of his cheek. The upright expression vanished, revealing a naked face warped by urgency and an obsessive lust for power.
“Sir, the media will be flooded with your scandals from your time as a lawyer—not tales of virtue. You’ll have to give up the general election, obviously, and this position will soon be vacant as well. Your wife will be attacked too. I know you had no ill intentions, but for a lawyer’s wife, she really doesn’t know the law. It’s not serious enough for prison time, but your current image will be impossible to restore.”
“What’s your reason for doing this? CEO Kim treats you like a son.”
He rubbed his furrowed brow and tossed the file of his own corruption onto the table.
“If the special prosecutor is discussed, you’ll need to persuade the VIP and push it through right away.”
Woojin handed over half of the documents he brought, keeping the other half for himself. The Chief of Staff’s eyes trembled, twitching as he watched the records of his own corruption disappear back into Woojin’s briefcase.
“This isn’t all. HanKyung has material on you too.”
“What?”
“CEO Kim Jung-geun is a businessman. He doesn’t give out money to anyone for nothing.”
“That bastard...”
He clenched his fists, grinding his teeth—not at Woojin, but at the thought of Kim Jung-geun. Woojin had never found it, but he assumed HanKyung’s secret ledgers contained slush fund records tied to political and bureaucratic figures, the Chief of Staff among them.
“If the special prosecutor’s case proceeds, we’ll execute a search and seizure to find that ledger. That’s reason enough to push forward.”