Chapter 249: Fall (1)
There were several candidates guaranteed to be elected before the votes were fully tallied. This year’s general election had stirred the entire nation, especially the battle of Jongno where Kim Han-Gyo, the candidate who had unintentionally grabbed the attention of the public in a bad way, had run for office.
Several news media outlets quickly reported the candidate that the people had chosen. Like Kang Ra-Eun had expected, Hong Oh-Yeon had won by an overwhelming margin. The TV showed Oh-Yeon standing before the reporters with a bouquet of flowers in hand that her campaign personnel, who had done their absolute best to help her, had prepared for her.
[Congratulations on your election! Could we hear your thoughts about having beaten Candidate Kim Han-Gyo?]
Congresswoman Hong nodded with a smile devoid of worries.
[As for right now, I feel like I’m on cloud nine. I’d actually been extremely uneasy when I had announced my candidacy, but now that I’ve heard the news that the people have chosen me, I feel a sense of joy as well as the heavy responsibility that I bear to do my best.]
Her overflowing emotions could be felt from her slightly trembling voice. She took a short moment of rest and continued while staring right at the camera.
[Thank you very much. I will make a promise right here with every citizen of Korea that I will become a congressperson that you won’t regret having chosen. Also...]
There was something else that Oh-Yeon wanted to say.
[I’d also like to commend Congressman Kim Han-Gyo for being such a great competitor.]
Kim Han-Gyo threw the remote control, cracking the right-side display of the TV. He fumed vigorously.
“Cheeky bitch...!”
Han-Gyo despised Oh-Yeon for beating him and taking the title of congressperson away from him. He was most definitely partly to blame for his own failure, but those mistakes had not been anywhere near as detrimental to his career as the allegations that Oh-Yeon had brought forward against him.
‘I should’ve killed that masked bitch when I had the chance!’
Slam, slam, slam—!
His rage was not quelled even after striking the armrest of his chair multiple times. Han-Gyo already knew that doing this would not turn back time, but the fact that he knew this enraged him even more.
“Haa...”
Han-Gyo’s sigh contained a myriad of emotions. He hung his head down and wiped his face with his hands several times. He had planned to use the momentum gained from this general election to plan his presidential campaign, but that had all gone down the drain. No, it might have been better if it had only gone down the drain.
“Congressman,” his chief secretary cautiously opened the door to his office and said, “The Public Prosecutor’s Office... has issued you an order for attendance...”
“...”
The countless allegations brought up by Oh-Yeon needed to be investigated to confirm their legitimacy. Han-Gyo had not said it himself during the election, but over ninety percent of them were the truth. He wanted nothing more than to bury them using any means necessary, but he could no longer do that since Oh-Yeon and her team had already given the prosecutor’s office all the materials that they possessed. All that was waiting for Han-Gyo now was... to be brought to justice.
***
Ra-Eun had mixed emotions as soon as she heard news that Han-Gyo had failed to be elected.
‘It’s not over yet.’
To be more specific, there was still more that she needed to take revenge for. Her objective had not been only to foil his plan to be elected into the National Assembly. Her final goal was the complete ruin of Kim Han-Gyo. Ra-Eun had filled out the Return Application Form with the thought of completely demolishing all the connections, wealth and fame that he had amassed over the years. Han-Gyo had gotten used to only looking up, but he would now have to take a different point of view.
‘I’ll make sure you know the feeling of falling down.’
Seo Yi-Seo looked weirdly at Ra-Eun, who was smiling in absolute delight as she stared at the TV.
“Did something good happen? You’ve been smiling nonstop since earlier.”
“Something good? Sure did,” Ra-Eun answered. She then turned her head toward the refrigerator and asked, “We still have beer left in the fridge, right?”
“We do... But why?”
“Because I feel like having a drink today.”
Ra-Eun was way too happy not to have a drink.
Having no idea what was going on, Yi-Seo asked in worry, “Are you sure? You’re bad at drinking.”
“I want to treat myself today.”
“...?”
Yi-Seo’s confusion did not disappear even after Ra-Eun had explained to her.
***
Ra-Eun had only drunk a 335 mL can of beer last night, but she was suffering from a hangover headache the next morning.
‘For God’s sake... Why the hell is this body so weak to alcohol?’
Ra-Eun couldn’t understand no matter how hard she thought. However, she still retained memories of what had happened, unlike last time. She remembered drinking with Yi-Seo and then going back to her bed to sleep.
‘So I can drink one can without losing consciousness, huh?’
Ra-Eun was slowly but surely getting a feel for her drinking limit. As she was sitting in the living room, Seo Yi-Jun, who had been back at his parents’ place, opened the front door and greeted Ra-Eun.
“Good morning, noona. I’m back.”
“Welcome back. How’s the cafe doing?”
“As great as always, thanks to you and Je-Woon. Even last night, things were so hectic because customers kept coming when it was almost time to close.”
After Ra-Eun and Je-Woon had their date at Starlight Road aired on TV, the cafe had practically been named a landmark by the younger generation.
“Dad was going on about expanding the place or setting up a branch cafe around next month.”
“The latter sounds good too, if he’s capable of managing multiple shops.”
The current famous cafes had all started out this way. It was better to prepare for the next step while they still had the momentum.
“Anyway, good work for helping out your parents when you also have work at the company,” Ra-Euin remarked.
“I can’t say no when my parents are asking for help. They mentioned that they had hired a lot of part-timers this time around, so I won’t be called out on such short notice like yesterday.”
“That’s good.”
Ra-Eun needed Yi-Jun to be the core designer of Levanche. As the chairwoman of the company, it was obvious that she wanted Yi-Jun to focus only on his design work. He went into his room to unpack his bags, came back out and looked inside the fridge.
“Ra-Eun noona. Did my sister drink the beer that was in here yesterday?”
“Yeah. With me.”
“You drank too?”
Yi-Jun doubted his ears since Ra-Eun never even indulged in a single sip of alcohol.
“But you don’t like drinking,” he remarked.
“There are times when I crave it.”
“Really?”
His expression carried a hint of disappointment. He might have been able to join them if he had also been here last night.
“My sister had told me that you turn super cute when you’re drunk. I guess I missed my chance to see it.”
“Shut up. You won’t ever get to see that side of me, so don’t get your hopes up.”
Ra-Eun had only drunk because Yi-Seo had been the only one present; she never would have drunk in front of Yi-Jun, Ji Han-Seok or Je-Woon. If anyone else, it would be her older brother Kang Ra-Hyuk.
‘Come to think of it, I should tell him to sell those stocks soon.’
Ra-Eun had gone all in on the fact that Congresswoman Hong would be elected. She had practically swept all of Congresswoman Hong’s themed stocks long before the election even began. The rate of profit easily surpassed fifty percent. The stock prices only went up as her chances of being elected rose, so it was now time to sell.
Ra-Eun texted Ra-Hyuk to sell all of Congresswoman Hong’s themed stocks before the market closed today. As she was about to go back to her room to sleep some more, a call stopped her in her tracks. It was from Congresswoman Hong; she had to take it. Ra-Eun congratulated her as soon as she pressed the answer button.
“Congratulations on your election, Congresswoman.”
- Thank you so much. It’s all thanks to you, Ra-Eun.
“No, I didn’t do much.”
Ra-Eun was not wrong; all ‘Kang Ra-Eun’ had done was give her some courage. Most of the assistance had come from the masked woman. However, Congresswoman Hong wanted to repay the courage that she had received from Ra-Eun no matter what.
- Would you like to have a meal together today?
“Today? But aren’t you busy?”
It was her first day being elected, but she was trying to free up some time on her extremely busy schedule for Ra-Eun.
- That’s how thankful I am to you.
Ra-Eun was fine with it. Hong Oh-Yeon had become a star politician who had come out on top against Kim Han-Gyo. Ra-Eun would most definitely get something out of becoming closer to her.
“I understand. I’ll see you in the evening, then.”
Ra-Eun decided to take the time until then to think about what to buy as a congratulatory gift.
***
A meeting between the young congresswoman who had stirred the entire nation and a top star actress would most certainly garner way too much attention, so Oh-Yeon decided to invite Ra-Eun to her home instead. It was Ra-Eun’s first time visiting Oh-Yeon’s home.
‘I’d heard she was born in a rich household. She’s definitely well-off.’
Although it wasn’t as large as Han-Gyo’s mansion, it was definitely not a home that a member of the working class would be able to afford. Oh-Yeon’s expression instantly brightened the moment she saw Ra-Eun.
“Welcome, Ra-Eun.”
“Here’s a congratulatory gift.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t have.”
Even if people often said this phrase, no one in this world disliked being given gifts. The corners of Oh-Yeon’s mouth refused to go down.
“You must be hungry. Let’s talk as we eat.”
“Okay.”
The main focus of their conversation was the general election result, as expected.
“Apparently, Congressman Kim Han-Gyo won’t even be attending the campaign disbandment ceremony.”
“I’m not surprised, considering how it turned out.”
Han-Gyo was likely too ashamed to be in front of people after having been deprived of the title of congressperson that he had held for so long. The prosecutor’s office had begun to investigate him, so it was one bad thing after another for him. However, that was not the end of it.
“I’d only heard this in passing, but there’s a certain rumor going around regarding Congressman Kim,” Oh-Yeon mentioned.
“What kind of rumor?” Ra-Eun asked.
Her ears perked up.
“There’s been fierce discussions among members of his party about expelling him.”
Ra-Eun had managed to hear some excellent news from Congresswoman Hong. She recalled her own past. She had been used and mercilessly abandoned, but it was now Han-Gyo’s turn to suffer that same fate.
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