Chapter 6.5

By Monday morning, Su-eon left Seung-jo’s house. Over the weekend, Seung-jo had stayed close by her side, but he had left for work before dawn fully broke. The issue of moving houses had fizzled out after the incident in the sunroom, so Su-eon’s suitcase remained in his guest room for the time being.

Well, there’s no need to rush.

As she exited the National Assembly Station, the scorching sun already heated the ground as though it were summer. Without wandering around the expansive premises, Su-eon headed straight to the Assembly Hall.

“What are you doing here?”

Standing in the hallway outside the assemblywoman’s office, Chief Secretary Park looked at Su-eon, who had a visitor’s badge pinned to her chest, with annoyance.

“It seems you already know why I’m here.”

“You’re certainly arrogant beyond measure. Today is the day of the temporary National Assembly session. The Assemblwoman is busy, so don’t cause any disturbances and just leave.”

Su-eon glanced at the reporters with cameras slung around their necks, bustling through the hallway.

“I’m not here to see the Assemblwoman; I’m here to see you, Chief Secretary Park. But there seem to be quite a lot of reporters today.”

“…”

Chief Secretary Park glared at Su-eon in silence. A few reporters familiar with him glanced at Su-eon’s pretty face, as if drawn to her, silently asking who she was. He loosened his stiff expression and smiled as if it was nothing, then opened the door to the office.

“Keep your mouth shut and come in quietly.”

Once inside, Chief Secretary Park ushered others out of the room.

“While the Assemblywoman is at the standing committee, go have a proper lunch quickly.”

“What? But we decided to just have sandwiches for lunch today…”

“You need to eat properly. Go on. And bring back some coffee while you’re at it.”

Handing his card to the bewildered staff with a smile, Chief Secretary Park turned back to Su-eon with a haughty demeanor.

“We don’t have much time, so get to the point quickly…”

Su-eon brushed past him, cutting off his words, and settled on the sofa, gesturing to the empty seat with her chin.  

“Sit down. I’ll make this quick.”  

“……”  

Chief Secretary Park watched her arrogant attitude with a displeased expression, his eyes narrowing in irritation.  

A short while later.  

Left alone in the empty office, Chief Secretary Park stared at the small envelope sitting amidst the chaotic pile of documents with an annoyed glare.  

“That insolent girl, how dare she.”  

The thought of a mere girl, someone insignificant enough to be knocked down with a single push, bringing something like this to threaten him made Chief Secretary Park seethe with anger. With just this…  

He tore open the envelope with his rough hands. Inside were a medical injury diagnosis from a doctor, a transcript of a recorded conversation, and a formal legal notice drafted based on the evidence. They were all insignificant—barely holding any legal weight, not even enough for the police to take action.  

[Why involve the police? There are plenty of others who’d find this more interesting. Like the Assemblywoman’s rival from the same district who despises her.]

Chief Secretary Park crumpled the papers in his hand.  

The story of an employee the Assemblywoman supposedly treated like a daughter, used for years to build her public image, forced into marriage with the son of her campaign sponsor, and then assaulted by that same son—this was bound to attract a swarm of opposition assemblymen and journalists.  

Especially this photo. This damn photo was particularly bothersome.  

[Don’t make me decide where to send this first. You need to protect the district, don’t you?]  

[This won’t tarnish the Assemblywoman’s reputation. She can just claim she didn’t know what kind of person he was when she introduced him.]  

[But the relationship between you two would certainly be ruined, wouldn’t it?]  

[What?]  

[You must have known that Chief Jung was practically living at my house. But then, you gave him my address so brazenly.]  

At Su-eon’s words, Chief Secretary Park was momentarily at a loss for words.  

[It means that it could have been Chief Jung who encountered that man instead of me.]  

[……Don’t spew such nonsense. That bastard came looking for you. Do you think he would’ve dared to lay a finger on Cho-ah?]  

[Do criminals pick and choose their victims?]  

[……!]  

Recalling the unwavering look in Su-eon’s eyes as she argued without backing down, Chief Secretary Park’s face turned red, and his breathing grew heavier. His anger shifted toward the man who had caused this mess and hounded him all weekend.  

He pulled out his phone and called the man at the top of his call list. After a long wait, the recipient answered, his voice groggy with sleep. Chief Secretary Park’s patience snapped.  

“Hey, you bastard. You told me you only slapped her once, didn’t you? How is choking her neck until she couldn’t breathe considered ‘just one slap’? The doctor issued a four-week injury diagnosis!”  

He shouted, furiously shaking the photos that clearly showed bruises and handprints.  

“Do you have any idea that the Assemblywoman is a standing member of the Women and Family Committee? If this gets framed as dating violence, we’re all going down. It doesn’t matter how many times you got hit! If we can’t protect the district in the next election, your father’s career is over too!”  

Listening to the idiot, who had belatedly come to his senses and started spewing excuses, Chief Secretary Park roughly ruffled his hair. He was a guy who wasn’t even as useful as the toenails of his own parents. There was no way such a fool could handle a fox like Ji Su-eon. As he spat out curses and was about to hang up, he paused.  

“…What? There’s a man?”  

He pressed the phone tightly to his ear. While listening to the other party, who was chattering away fervently, his shrewd eyes darted around.  

“Alright, just stay put for now. Stop spouting nonsense about filing a lawsuit. Even if it’s mutual assault, there’s a recording, so it’s disadvantageous. If you’re not careful, you could end up being charged with attempted r*pe.”  

He warned the idiot before he could cause even more trouble. That cunning Ji Su-eon had not only secretly recorded the conversation but had also prepared a transcript in such a short amount of time. The audio file could be deleted, but the transcript could immediately be used as legal evidence. It was meticulously detailed in the certified document, as if to flaunt it.

Where on earth had that girl learned to do all this?  

Chief Secretary Park’s eyes twisted with irritation as he spoke.  

“Have a drink and forget about her. Don’t go poking a hornet’s nest for no reason.”  

Thinking the idiot would understand, he ended the call. Then, he suddenly frowned and stared at his phone.  

[It means that it could have been Chief Jung who encountered that man instead of me.]  

[Do criminals pick and choose their victims?]  

Surely, he wasn’t that crazy…

Shaking off the thought, he quickly organized the documents Su-eon had left behind.