Two Days Later.
Manager Choi Bok-rak arrived at the office as usual and was working at his desk.
However, no one approached him.
Unless it was absolutely necessary for work, there was a palpable reluctance even to start a conversation with him.
His colleagues in the same office stole glances at him, sitting stiffly upright like an isolated island, whispering in hushed tones.
"The person in the article from Sechang Daily... It's Manager Choi, right?"
A coworker sitting nearby glanced around cautiously before lowering their voice.
"Didn't you see? He was called into the audit department yesterday."
"So it's true?"
"It must be."
"Unbelievable… How could this happen? Manager Choi was always the one who stuck to principles."
At those murmured words of disbelief, someone scoffed.
"What else could it be? He acted all strict, but he was scheming behind our backs."
"Exactly."
"I really didn't expect this from him..."
Though they tried to keep their voices down, it was still the same office—every word of gossip reached Choi Bok-rak's ears.
"..."
Hearing whispers of disappointment and disbelief, he clenched the Monami ballpoint pen in his hand tightly.
The documents spread out on his desk had remained untouched for a while.
Biting his lower lip, he barely managed to suppress the anger surging inside him.
He was already under audit—causing a scene would do him no good.
At that moment, a female employee cautiously approached him.
"Excuse me, Manager."
Choi Bok-rak forced his expression into a neutral one and looked up at her.
"What is it?"
"The director is asking for you."
"Did he say to come to his office?"
"Yes."
"Hmm. Alright."
As Manager Choi Bok-rak watched the female employee return to her desk, his expression darkened for a moment.
It was clear that this wasn't going to be a good summons.
But it wasn't something he could avoid, so he let out a silent sigh and got to his feet.
As he put on the jacket draped over his chair and stepped out of the office, he could feel countless eyes trailing after him.
Word must have already spread throughout the Financial Supervisory Service.
On his way to the director's office upstairs, every employee he passed in the hallway whispered among themselves or stole sidelong glances at him.
The stares were unsettling enough, but what truly stung was the way they avoided him, as if he were some kind of plague carrier.
"Hoo..."
Arriving in front of the director's office, marked by a black-lettered nameplate on a white acrylic board, Choi Bok-rak paused to straighten his attire.
After tightening his tie into a neat knot and taking a deep breath, he carefully knocked on the door.
When he turned the handle and stepped inside, he saw Director Bae Sang-yoon of the First Audit Bureau seated at his desk.
"Director, I came as you requested."
Bae Sang-yoon, with his broad nose and stocky build, stared at him expressionlessly for a moment before gesturing toward the sofa with a tilt of his chin.
"Sit there."
"Yes, sir."
Unlike usual, his voice was heavy and subdued, making Choi Bok-rak feel an even stronger sense of foreboding.
Suppressing his nervousness, he carefully took a seat on the sofa.
Bae Sang-yoon walked around the desk and settled into the central seat, pulling out a cigarette and placing it between his lips.
Choi Bok-rak instinctively reached into his pocket for a lighter, ready to oblige, but the director suddenly raised a hand to decline.
"No need."
With that short remark, Bae Sang-yoon lit his own cigarette.
It was unlike him.
He was the type who relished having his subordinates wait on him, to the point where he didn't even bother carrying his own lighter.
For him to refuse a gesture of deference was unexpected.
Suppressing an uneasy gulp, Choi Bok-rak quietly returned his lighter to his pocket.
After exhaling a stream of white smoke and letting a brief silence linger, Bae Sang-yoon finally spoke.
"I just got a call from the audit department."
"..."
"I had my doubts, but they confirmed it—your cousin was hired at Saebit Bank through personal connections."
Choi Bok-rak immediately straightened his posture and protested.
"It's true that my cousin works at Saebit Bank, but I never pulled any strings for him."
"They said you submitted his application separately through your university senior, the HR director at Saebit Bank, after the official deadline had passed."
Narrowing his eyes, Bae Sang-yoon probed further.
Clenching his teeth, Choi Bok-rak countered,
"That was only because he missed the deadline while preparing his documents. He just received a little assistance."
"Tsk, tsk."
Clicking his tongue, Bae Sang-yoon tapped his cigarette between his fingers.
"When the deadline passes, applications aren't accepted. Bypassing that rule to submit your cousin's papers—that's favoritism, isn't it?"
"..."
Choi Bok-rak had no response. He simply pressed his lips together.
Leaning back, Bae Sang-yoon eyed him with a sneer.
"And if you weren't a department manager at the Financial Supervisory Service, do you really think the HR director would have done you that favor?"
It was an irrefutable point.
Lowering his head, Choi Bok-rak remained silent.
"Honestly, if this had stayed quiet, I could have covered it up for you. But since Sechang Daily ran a major article on it, things have gotten too noisy."
"..."
"Until the audit is complete and disciplinary action is decided, you're to step away from your current duties and remain on probation."
He had braced himself for this ever since the first exposé was published, but now that he was officially being sidelined, Choi Bok-rak involuntarily shut his eyes tightly.
Through Seok-won, he had secured a solid connection with Vice Minister Choi Jin-woo, finally positioning himself to spread his wings—only for everything to come crashing down.
It was infuriating. Unfair.
But there was nothing he could do now.
Resigned, he asked,
"What will the punishment be?"
"Well, under normal circumstances, it would end with a pay cut or suspension. But like I said earlier, since the media has blown this up, you might face harsher disciplinary action."
"Harsher disciplinary action…?"
Director Bae Sang-yoon looked directly at Choi Bok-rak, whose face had hardened.
"Be prepared for dismissal."
"!"
Choi Bok-rak instinctively raised his eyebrows in shock and protested, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"Dismissing me over something like this? Isn't that too severe?"
"Well, if you had conducted yourself properly from the start, you wouldn't be in this situation now, would you?"
With a cigarette between his lips, Bae Sang-yoon furrowed his brow, irritation evident on his face.
Since he wasn't entirely innocent, Choi Bok-rak couldn't offer a rebuttal. He simply bit down on his lower lip in frustration.
Seeing this, Bae Sang-yoon brusquely waved his arm and spoke in a curt tone.
"I've said everything I needed to. You can leave now."
Choi Bok-rak had intended to plead for leniency, but the cold way Bae Sang-yoon turned his head away made him swallow his words.
With a heavy heart, he slowly got up, gave a slight bow, and left the office.
As the door shut with a sharp click, Bae Sang-yoon straightened his posture and stubbed out what remained of his cigarette in the ashtray.
"If only he had been a little more flexible, read the room, and bowed to his seniors instead of acting all high and mighty… none of this would have happened. Serves him right."
There were plenty of people within the organization who secretly disliked Choi Bok-rak for his rigid and upright demeanor.
Muttering to himself, Bae Sang-yoon stood up from the sofa, picked up the receiver on his desk, and dialed a number.
After a few rings, the call connected.
"Hello."
The deep voice on the other end belonged to section chief Oh Sang-hyun.
"It's me, Bae Sang-yoon."
"I was expecting your call. How did it go?"
Holding the receiver to his ear, Bae Sang-yoon glanced briefly at the door Choi Bok-rak had just exited.
"He's been removed from all duties. Once the audit is completed, we'll convene the disciplinary committee and proceed with his dismissal. That decision has already been made internally."
Contrary to what he had told Choi Bok-rak, the decision to fire him had been set in stone from the beginning.
Of course, this was only possible because Woo Yong-gap had pulled strings behind the scenes through section chief Oh Sang-hyun.
"Once everything is settled, I'll send a box of apples to your house as a token of appreciation."
Naturally, the "apples" in the box would be replaced with stacks of cash.
With the phone still to his ear, Bae Sang-yoon's face broke into a wide smile.
* * *
Sitting alone at his office desk, Seok-won leaned back in his chair, lost in deep thought.
"No matter how I look at it, something about this feels off."
While Choi Bok-rak might have had some reason to feel wronged, the fact remained that his cousin had received significant preferential treatment in securing a job at Saebit Bank.
Whether intentional or not, Choi Bok-rak's position at the Financial Supervisory Service had undoubtedly influenced the process, making his punishment inevitable.
But what bothered Seok-won was what had happened after the exposé was published.
Not even half a day had passed after the article was released before the Financial Supervisory Service launched an internal audit and immediately placed Choi Bok-rak on disciplinary leave.
"It's as if everything was set up in advance, unfolding seamlessly."
This wasn't some massive scandal—at most, it was a minor corruption case—yet the response had been excessive.
The Financial Supervisory Service, known for being slow, bureaucratic, and lenient toward its own people, had suddenly acted with unprecedented swiftness and severity.
Even more suspicious was the fact that Sechang Ilbo, which had sensationalized the scandal in its initial report, had since gone completely silent—no follow-ups, no further mentions of the case.
"Something is definitely going on."
Tapping his fingers on the desk, Seok-won reached out and pressed the intercom button.
[Yes, Director?]
"Tell Team Leader Choi Ho-geun to come to my office immediately."
[Understood.]
Seok-won folded his arms across his chest, his face set in a grim expression.
"I can't just let this go."
In his experience, every time he had ignored an unsettling hunch like this, it had come back to bite him. If something felt off, it was best to get to the bottom of it.
A short while later, a knock sounded at the door, and Choi Ho-geun stepped inside.
Approaching the desk, he gave a polite bow.
"You called for me?"
"Sorry to pull you away while the market's still open."
"It's no problem."
Seok-won interlocked his fingers and rested his hands on the desk, his expression serious.
"I need to ask you something."
"Of course. Go ahead."
"You've been working in Yeouido for quite a while now, haven't you?"
"Yes. Now that I think about it, next year will mark my tenth year."
"Then you must know a few of those underground news outlets that produce jjirashi."
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Choi Ho-geun blinked in surprise.
"May I ask why you're bringing this up…?"
"There's something I need to look into quietly, and I need someone who can handle it."
Sensing where this was going, Choi Ho-geun quickly asked,
"Is this about the Choi Bok-rak case at the Financial Supervisory Service?"
Seok-won nodded silently in response.
"Hmm… Ah!"
After a brief moment of thought, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun snapped his fingers.
"I know just the right person."
"Who is it?"
"A guy named Lee Chul-gyun. He used to work in the police intelligence division, but for some reason, he left the force and now works as a freelancer for a private intelligence firm."
A former police intelligence officer—someone skilled in gathering and analyzing information—would be the perfect candidate for this kind of task.
"Can he be trusted to keep his mouth shut?"
"Of course. If I had any doubts about his discretion, I wouldn't be recommending him to you in the first place."
Seok-won gave a small nod.
"Then get in touch with him and see if he's available to meet today."
"Right now?"
"Yes. The sooner, the better."
Sensing the urgency in Seok-won's tone, Choi Ho-geun answered without hesitation.
"Understood."
As soon as Choi Ho-geun left the office, Seok-won leaned back in his chair, tilting his head up to gaze at the ceiling.
Muttering to himself, he said,
"I could ask Director Gil for help, but that would definitely get back to my father. This might be a good opportunity to build my own network of people I can move independently."