Chapter 66.1: I’m Being Sincere (2)

It was already past 10 am by the time Kang Chan parted ways with Oh Gwang-Taek in the hotel. As he left the hotel to go to school, he got a call from Kang Dae-Kyung.

- Got a moment?

“Yes. How can I help you?”

- Just a moment ago, the secretary for national affairs from the prime minister’s office called us and said they’re going to help make the foundation under your mom’s name. They also said the government could support a part of the foundation.”

That old man has really crossed the line!

- They asked if we could go to the prime minister’s office tomorrow, which has made your mom extremely worried. What happened?

“Should I come home?”

- Can you?

It was just his son, so why was he so uncomfortable talking to him?

“Sure. I’m on my way.”

Kang Chan immediately took a taxi home and saved the phone numbers that he had received so far while on the road. As soon as he arrived, he quickly made his way to their apartment.

“Channy!” exclaimed Yoo Hye-Sook.

“Welcome home,” Kang Dae-Kyung greeted.

Yoo Hye-Sook looked like a middle schooler who went to the first day of school after a break without doing her homework. When Kang Chan smiled and said, “Oh no, mom is scared!” her nervousness appeared to dissipate.

The three of them sat at the table.

“Do you two remember Ambassador Lanok?” Kang Chan asked.

“Lanok?”

“Yes. The French ambassador you two saw at the presentation for Gong Te automobile.”

“Ah! Yes! What about him?” asked Yoo Hye-Sook.

Unlike Yoo Hye-Sook, who was getting into Kang Chan’s story, Kang Dae-Kyung looked doubtful, as if he was asking, ‘

Is this true?’

“He has something that could help South Korea. Unfortunately, he's stubborn and insisted on speaking French. This made things go awry. Thankfully, though, it seems like Mr. Kim Tae-Jin, the Yoo Bi-Corp president, was there with a couple of government officials and they complied with Lanok's request. Personally, I'm very confused as well with how things are working out so easily these days.”

While Yoo Hye-Sook was trying hard to accept what Kang Chan said, Kang Dae-Kyung looked at Kang Chan with a strange smile.

“I’ll cancel the request for you two to go to the prime minister’s office tomorrow,” Kang Chan continued.

“No, that’s not what we meant.” Surprised, Yoo Hye-Sook glossed over her answer, and Kang Dae-Kyung shook his head and gestured at Kang Chan with his eyes.

What on earth is going on here?

For the time being, he just followed the gesture that was thrown at him.

“If it’s alright for you to go, then please do. It’s for the orphans,” Kang Chan said.

“Would it be alright if I do that?” asked Yoo Hye-Sook.

“Of course. I’m proud of you for working so hard for kids in difficult situations.”

Kang Dae-Kyung nodded.

“Mother, can I ask you a favor?”

“Yeah?”

“Please go to the department store with me. I want to buy you an outfit for tomorrow. This has been on my mind since I bought father a shirt last time.”

“It’s fine, Channy.”

“Please come with me. I just got my payment from Yoo Bi-Corp and D.I., and I heard that children are supposed to buy clothes for their parents with their first salary. Do you have time as well, father?”

“Of course.”

Kang Dae-Kyung gave a straight answer, which made Yoo Hye-Sook look confused.

“Come with us, mother.”

“Let’s go, honey. Our son said that he got his first salary. We should enjoy the rewards of raising a good son.”

“Will that really be alright?”

With Kang Chan and Kang Dae-Kyung working together, they managed to convince Yoo Hye-Sook to come with them. They left the house right after.

“Father, where’s the closest department store?” asked Kang Chan.

“There’s one right in front of our apartment. Let's go there.”

They got in the car in the basement parking lot and immediately got out of the apartment complex.

***

Go Gun-Woo sighed while pursing his lips. “Mr. President, I’ll step down.”

“They’ll say that won’t be enough. What they want is for us to hand over the position of the Director of the National Intelligence Service.”

“If that happens, then South Korea won’t ever be able to link up with project ‘Unicorn.’ You know that, right?”

President Moon Jae-Hyun took out a cigarette, bit down on it, and lit it up.

“Whoo… If it’s a crime that a President came from their opposition party in twenty years, then it’s probably a crime. After all, if we announce the ‘Unicorn’, then it’ll become difficult for them to come into power again.”

“We can never hand over the position of the Director of the National Intelligence Service,” Go Gun-Woo told the President.

“Isn’t that why we’re doing this in the first place? This is the only option we have, considering they also have the majority of the National Assembly. If need be, they're going to try impeaching me.”

Go Gun-Woo sighed deeply. They didn’t have any answers to this predicament.

.

“Japan is fully supporting them. They’re even distorting the fact that we went to North Korea to connect the ‘Unicorn.’ And they’d likely assassinate me as well if they ever get the opportunity.”

“We should destroy a conglomerate and make an example out of it,” said Go Gun-Woo.

Moon Jae-Hyun smiled bitterly.

“If we do that, then they’ll openly unite, and to make matters worse, they’re already angry about the plutocracy control. Plus, as long as they have the press in their hands, they’ll rise up while simultaneously executing political retaliation.”

“Mr. President! For the country’s sake, get the media under your control just this once.”

Moon Jae-Hyun exhaled cigarette smoke with a smile.

“It doesn’t matter how much we claim our purpose is fair if our methods to realize that purpose are unfair. We’d just be doing what the regime we’ve been criticizing thus far. I don’t think our citizens are that foolish, considering they’re the ones that entrusted us to lead them after the last regime’s twenty years in power. This won’t succeed if we betray and disregard them.”

Moon Jae-Hyun shook his head, then continued, “If stepping down from my position as the president and handing over the regime to them is the price I have to pay to make the ‘Unicorn’ project succeed, then I’d gladly do that.”

Go Gun-Woo looked at Moon Jae-Hyun, his eyes showing how sorry he felt for him.

The press had been saying whatever they wanted about him and was making him walk on the blade of a dagger simply because he couldn’t tell them about the purpose of his visit to North Korea.

The President proposed to give the support North Korea was requesting, along with resolving the dispute about the ceasefire line, if they were to connect the ‘Unicorn’ to South Korea. But the press maliciously distorted the facts and only talked about the ‘ceasefire line’ part of the proposal.

If they just announced the ‘Unicorn’ instead and revealed that the current opposition party had vested interest and was deceiving the citizens…

Moon Jae-Hyun would never give up the ‘Unicorn.’ He was so intransigent he would willingly give up his position just to connect the rail to South Korea.

“Mr. Prime Minister.”

“Please go ahead, Mr. President.”

“I would like to meet the student named Kang Chan.”

“That would be difficult to do officially.”

Moon Jae-Hyun smiled bitterly.

“But it should be fine if you just coincidentally run into him while you’re going through your schedule,” Go Gun-Woo continued.

Go Gun-Woo wished that Kang Chan was a bit older and had a high-ranking position in the government. He thought it would be great to have someone that would voluntarily beat people up to their heart’s content in situations like this.

“Your Excellency, do you play golf?” asked Go Gun-Woo.

“Haha, don’t you know better than anyone else that I don’t have a talent for sports?”

“Wouldn’t it be alright to do it just this once?”

“People already call me an unqualified President just for watching a performance the day before a typhoon hit South Korea, and you want me to play golf?” asked Moon Jae-Hyun.

Something crossed Go Gun-Woo’s mind as he looked at Moon Jae-Hyun, who had burst into laughter.

***

“Madam, you look really great in that!” The clerk didn’t seem to be lying.

It was Kang Chan’s first time seeing Kang Dae-Kyung smile this satisfactorily.

She was beautiful.

Though Yoo Hye-Sook did say she preferred using money to help kids instead of buying clothes, her current outfit still made her stand out.

Yoo Hye-Sook was standing in front of a mirror when Kang Chan approached her from the back and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Mother, why don’t you go with this? You look really, really pretty.”

“Can I really wear this? Isn’t this too expensive?” Yoo Hye-Sook was couldn’t take her eyes away from the mirror.

“It’s my first salary, so please don’t hesitate to choose what you want,” Kang Chan continued.

“I’m sorry, Channy.”

“Why are you saying sorry?” Kang Chan smiled and looked closely at Yoo Hye-Sook. Tears had welled up in her eyes again.

“Mom’s really pretty, isn’t she, father?”

The employees made a fuss in front of Kang Dae-Kyung, who was smiling like a fool.

Yoo Hye-Sook accepted Kang Chan’s wish in the end.

After Kang Chan paid for the clothes, he also bought shoes for Yoo Hye-Sook.

Now carrying a sparkling shopping bag, Kang Chan then grinned at Kang Dae-Kyung.

“Father, you should buy a suit.”

“Me?”

Yoo Hye-Sook was surprised but soon looked like she was secretly looking forward to it.

“You should at least have a suit that matches the occasion since you’ll be accompanying her tomorrow. You’re the president of Kang Yoo Motors, too.”

Kang Chan persuaded Kang Dae-Kyung, who felt awkward. He bought the latter a suit, shoes and a belt as a present.

“We shouldn’t be the only ones with new clothes. I’ll buy you a suit,” Kang Dae-Kyung told Kang Chan.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“I bought these clothes this morning. It’s from a fairly expensive brand.”

Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook no longer managed to insist on it after noticing Kang Chan’s outfit. Their dismayed faces weighed on his mind, though.

“Please buy me a delicious lunch instead,” He said, and the three of them left the department store.