Chapter 4
December 1st, 2015 9:00, Cabinet Conference Room in the Blue House at Seoul, Jongro-gu
President Seo Hyun-woo, who was elected in the 19th presidential election of the Republic of Korea, has set the 19th government as a “renovating government.” It would be a revolutionary government that resolves internal problems and friction, a responsive government that communicates both ways, and a hopeful government that gives every citizen equal opportunity.
The secretary of each department was selected only if they prioritized ethics and were aware of each region of the country’s proficiency. This was announced through the national assembly’s confirmation hearing without any huge problem, and a cabinet meeting held was moving towards the renovating government concept. Although there were few temporary cabinet meetings, this meeting counted as the first official cabinet meeting.
There were about thirty people gathered in the conference room for the cabinet meeting, including the President, the Prime Minister, secretaries of departments (such as the Secretary of the National Intelligence Service and the Secretary of the National Institute of Corruption), other government officials, and the press. The meeting was led by Prime Minister Lee Young-ho.
“Before starting the meeting, Mr. President will greet us with a little speech regarding the governmental policies that we will have from this day.”
“Hello, and welcome,” The President began. “I appreciate how well everyone has done in the short, one-month transition period, and I thank everyone for coming up with the running plans for the newly built government policies we are going to have. Hopefully no one thinks I’m a stubborn boss giving too much work, hahaha.”
The President’s joke loosened up the nervous environment. The actual meeting has started, and the press made sure to capture it so the meeting could be aired in Korea and many other foreign countries.
* * *
December 1st, 2015 13:00, The Oval Office in the Blue House at Seoul, Jongro-gu
“Mr. President, here is the list of corruptions that happened in and out of the countries related to both public and private businesses that you asked about before,” Secretary Ahn Chang-gil said as he showed the list to the President.
“That’s more than what I expected. I heard you became a member of Congress for the first time. I apologize for giving you all these tasks and making you quit the other position, Secretary Ahn Chang-gil,” the President said as he looked at the long report.
“Please don’t think of it that way. I am doing what I need to do. Not only that, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so. I consider this my most important task – to punish and dispose of those who used what our citizens have done for their own benefit,” Secretary Ahn Chang-gil continued saying as he looked at the President. His eyes were full of passion as he thought of his responsibility.
“Now I’ll explain to you what the National Institute of Corruption’s job will be. The institute is divided into twelve groups, one which leads and five that direct. As of right now, only Group Four is fully formed and functioning. The people scouted for the institute are from various fields and industries, including past prosecutors, police officers, members of the National Intelligence Service, military investigators, university professors, and reporters. Group Four is currently investigating the top 10 from the list, trying to collect evidence. Until the next report, Group Four will be done with the first stage identifying corrupt individuals and start processing the investigation.”
“I can hear the confidence in this. We should end this corruption; the country will only move forward if we dispose of these corrupted people. I hope I can do this until the end of my term. Hahaha, I believe in you, Secretary Ahn Chang-gil.”
Na Sung-tae, the Chief of the Presidential Staff, smiled as he looked at Secretary Ahn Chang-gil. He said, “Secretary Ahn Chang-gil will do great. If any help is needed, the Presidential Staff will always be more than happy to help. If more people are needed, I’ll even help out by being there.”
“Oh, Chief Na Sung-tae, what would I do without you? I can’t do anything without you helping me. I can do anything, but not without you! Hahaha.”
“Ah! I didn’t think that far, Mr. President. Hahaha.”
Although the conversation was heavy enough to handle the whole country, the meeting progressed with a happy and loose ambiance. The role of the National Institute of Corruption was very similar to that of the Board of Audits and Inspection; however, the difference was that the National Institute of Corruption now has independent judicial power. By having the judicial power guaranteed, investigating corruptions from the past 10 years became possible. As this meeting occurred, numerous people involved in the corruptions were trying to run away to different countries or trying to launder their money.
* * *
December 17th, 2015 17:00, Kim In-jik’s place at Seoul, Kangbook-gu, Sooyou-dong.
The small room stank with the smell of alcohol. Kim In-jik and Kang Kyoung-ho slept until the day ended after a wild night of drinking. They had returned to Kim In-jik’s place early the next morning. Kim In-jik, who felt like he could pass out for a good few days, slowly zombie-walked to the bathroom with his eyes barely open.
Kim In-jik touched his head with his left hand, trying to fight the hangover while he tried to remember how they managed to come back to his place the night before. After leaving the bathroom, he kicked Kang Kyoung-ho, who laid dead-limp in bed, trying to wake him up. He asked, “Kyoung-ho, do you remember how we came back last night?”
“Bro, I don’t know! I almost died last night because of you. Ugh, you prick! I don’t want to think about last night; don’t wake me up!”
Unlike what Kim In-jik expected, Kang Kyoung-ho turned around as he yelled at him.
“What are you saying? Ah, my head hurts.”
“It seems like Kyoung-ho went through a lot last night because of me...” Kim In-jik thought. “Well, shouldn’t matter that much...”
Thinking it wasn’t a big deal, he drank water out of the fridge, then he kicked Kyoung-ho’s leg again. He said, “Hey, wake up. Let’s wash up and order some food.”
Kang Kyoung-ho woke up glaring at Kim In-jik. He seemed hungry, too.
“You’re buying the food, right?”
“Alright, alright. Wake up and get ready. I’m ordering from the Chinese place; what do you want?”
“Hmmm, jjamppong is definitely the way to go for a hangover.”
“Okay, I’m getting jjamppong as well!”
Their food arrived about 30 minutes later. They sat around a small table and started to eat. They started to sweat from the hangover.
“Mm, this place’s jjamppong is the best I’ve ever had. The broth is amazing.”
“Of course. There’s rice in the cooker too if you want some.”
“Sounds good!”
As Kang Kyoung-ho ate his jjamppong with rice, he asked, “Now that school is over, what’s your plan? Tutor, work?”
Knowing that Kim In-jik had been tutoring high school students in town even before his military service, Kang Kyoung-ho asked if he would continue doing the same.
“Maybe?” Kim In-jik replied shortly, but he hadn’t thought of it much.
“What should I do? I don’t think I can tutor knowing my personality, so do you know anything interesting?”
Suddenly, Kyoung-ho reminded Kim In-jik about the data he hacked from Area 51. “Kyoung-ho, do you trust me?”
Being confused by his question, Kang Kyoung-ho met Kim In-jik’s eyes as he drank his soup. Then he responded, “Well, who else would trust you if I don’t? Haha. What, you got anything fun?”
Being half-bored and half-confused, Kang Kyoung-ho finished drinking the soup and gestured to ask if he has a cigarette.
“You can’t tell this to anyone, I could go to jail. Do you hear me?”
“What is it? Give me a cigarette first, then I will listen.”
Kim In-jik grabbed the pack of cigarettes on his desk, grabbed one, then threw the whole pack at Kang Kyoung-ho.
“I succeeded on hacking NASA.”
Kang Kyoung-ho was grabbing a cigarette out of the pack and lit it. As he heard what Kim In-jik said, he dropped his cigarette. “What? Ah, I burnt myself!” Registering what Kim In-jik accomplished, Kang Kyoung-ho said, “Don’t lie! You know Lee Dong-hyun, who’s two years older than us? He tried to hack into NASA for a whole year with some of his friends from the club, and he gave up. But YOU succeeded? Don’t you dare lie to me.”
“I’m not lying. And more importantly, I not only went into NASA, but also into the security system for Area 51 and downloaded some data. It’s been more than two months.”
In that moment, Kang Kyoung-ho opened his eyes so wide they were almost popping out as his body froze.
“In, In-jik! Really? You really did it? Why are you telling me that now?! What about the data? Do you have that right now? Show me!!”
Seeing Kang Kyoung-ho spit out the words while frozen with shock, In-jik felt his anxiety coming back; however, he courageously took out his USB drive from his backpack and showed it to Kang Kyoung-ho.
“This is it. There’s data from Area 51. I haven’t even looked at it...”
As soon as he saw the USB drive, Kang Kyoung-ho took it from In-jik’s hand, took out his laptop from his backpack, and tried to plug the USB drive into his laptop.
Opening his eyes wide, Kim In-jik freaked out, asking, “Wait, you’re going to look at it?”
“Duh, why did you get it if you weren’t going to look at it? How did you even exist for two months holding onto this and not look at it? I don’t understand you – anyways, you’re a genius.”
Excited, Kang Kyoung-ho turned his laptop on and plugged the USB drive in right away. The monitor turned on, and then he clicked to open the USB drive’s data right away.
“Woah!”
Hearing Kang Kyoung-ho’s reaction, Kim In-jik got curious too. He came right next to Kyoung-ho and looked at the monitor. His mouth and eyes fell wide open.
“What are these? That’s awesome!!”