The Civil Servant Who Conceals Her Power Is Too Good at Possession Chapter 86

* * *

 

‘Why did you become a police officer, Mom?’

 

It was probably a day when I had homework to write about my parents’ jobs.

 

At my question, my mom answered very hesitantly. Her voice was careful and secretive, as if she were confessing a huge secret.

 

‘Because I wanted to make the world a better place?’

 

Mom’s voice was clear, but she intentionally ended her sentence like a question.

 

Because she wanted to pretend she wasn’t confident.

 

But I could tell.

 

My mom’s belief that she could make the world a better place had lasted for a very long time.

 

Mom had the breathing and the look in her eyes that only such a person possesses. 

 

‘That’s cool.’

 

When I said that, Mom’s expression turned subtle and complex. 

 

I didn’t know back then, but thinking about it now, I wonder if it was something like guilt. 

 

Am I really making the world a better place?

 

Am I not contributing to the world getting worse?

 

Is it okay to give such an unconfident answer to a young child?

 

Amidst scuffles with drunk drivers, battles with frequent civil complaints, and the tedious daily routine that continued on the road, my mom’s belief must have been tested.

 

Even so, I read a strong will in my mom’s answer.

 

‘Yeah.’

 

Without shyly dodging it, and without just brushing it off with a thanks, my mom nodded her head.

 

Yeah. It is cool.

 

Making the world a better place is always a cool thing.

 

Because I felt that kind of grim determination, that was why— 

 

‘The kids teased me for not having a mom.’

 

Was it about a year after Mom passed away? When Lee Yugyeom came back after getting into a fistfight at school, I couldn’t say anything. 

 

Lee Yugyeom didn’t swing his fists because those guys teased him.

 

Lee Yugyeom swung his fists because he couldn’t stand seeing another kid in his class being insulted.

 

‘The teacher knows they do that but pretends not to. Their methods are sly so it’s tricky to catch them, and the victim doesn’t have a guardian so there’s no parent to complain on their behalf. And the kid is naive. They do it because they think it won’t be a problem.’

 

This was the only way.

 

Saying that, Lee Yugyeom honestly had a face that looked more like he’d been hit than he’d been the one hitting.

 

Thanks to that, he wasn’t reported for school violence, but I felt like I had fallen into a quagmire at that time.

 

Making the world a better place is a cool thing.

 

If there ever comes a day when that belief hurts you, me, or the things precious to me, what should I do?

 

I asked myself, and I answered.

 

‘You did well.’ 

 

‘….’

 

I stroked Lee Yugyeom’s head as he held back tears and said.

 

‘But let’s not strike first next time. I’ll teach you punches and kicks.’

 

Unfortunately, I regretted that answer not long after.

 

* * *

 

Does Choi Woojin know too?

 

Has he ever opened this document?

 

Is that why back then—

 

‘I was planning to save you in this life.’

 

Did he say something like that?

 

When Choi Woojin was five years old, it was before his regression point.

 

In other words, it was a past that was already fixed in his previous life, meaning it was a part of the unchangeable past for the current Choi Woojin.

 

That’s why Choi Woojin couldn’t save his parents.

 

Because the five-year-old Choi Woojin had neither the power of regression nor the power of awakening.

 

And probably—

 

“You ordered an Iced Vanilla Latte, right? Extra whipped cream, add drizzle.”

 

I looked up at the Iced Vanilla Latte placed in front of me and Choi Woojin’s smiling face as he set it down.

 

‘There’s a high chance that a 5-year-old child didn’t remember the name of the Police Corporal who saved him.’

 

Let alone the fact that she was my mom, he might have known even less about that.

 

‘…But Choi Woojin is a thorough person.’

 

As long as he suspects his grandfather was involved in his father’s death, he would have tried to investigate this incident after regressing.

 

If so, there’s a possibility he knows.

 

“Wow. But watching an interrogation like this is pretty fun.”

 

I looked at Choi Woojin grinning as he watched the interrogation room from the dark observation room, contrasting with the brightly lit interrogation room.

 

He subtly closed the distance to me.

 

He leaned in as if to press his face against the special one-way mirror filling one side of the observation room, watching Go Cheolwon being interrogated and Kwon Ikseong interrogating him.

 

Byeon Gudo was also in this room, but he had fallen fast asleep a long time ago.

 

‘It was a schedule that would understandably make anyone tired.’

 

After Mayor Go Cheolwon’s summons for investigation was notified, the attention of all sorts of media outlets poured onto the HIB’s Special Task Force.

 

It would be a lie to say I didn’t expect it, but honestly, this time the pressure was on a whole other level.

 

It was because not only media outlets but also political circles had chimed in on this investigation.

The HIB in Crisis, Targeting the Incheon Mayor as soon as they escape abolition! Is it the HIB Unit Chief’s Ploy?

 

Liberty Korea Party plans to report HIB for violating political neutrality of public officials.

 

Opposition Figure, “Regardless of ruling or opposition party, the illegal black market trade must be caught……” Controversy over siding with the HIB?

 

Well, the nuances were subtle, but generally, there was a lot of talk that the HIB was sniping Mayor Go with political ambitions.

 

Political ambitions, my foot.

 

I shook my head recalling Hong Jaegyeol’s name, which was appearing exceptionally often in the news.

 

That guy, doing politics?

 

That guy is a quintessential civil servant.

 

A civil servant specialized in surviving by any means necessary with his uniquely slippery social skills.

 

Only after a ton of news articles were released did I feel like I finally understood why the Director of the Hunter Administration Bureau specifically called me in and handed me the approved documents.

 

‘This case is huge.’

 

As expected, touching someone at the level of a local government head is a whole different scale.

 

Kevin Choi was just a civilian at best, and Cha Jeonhyeok was merely a senior-level civil servant.

 

However, Mayor Go is strictly an elected official chosen by the votes of the public. 

 

So regardless of how this case concluded, he needed to show that he had followed procedure as much as possible.

 

Whatever the case.

 

Because political issues got involved, the comment sections were pure chaos and destruction.

 

Comments

 

I thought the HIB was revamping their image lately, but they instantly hit rock bottom. 

└ Rock bottom is also rock. 

└ Wasn’t that image revamp thanks to a rookie who hasn’t even been there for a year anyway? I just wish the Taekwondo Girl would leave the HIB. 

└ Hunters are all the same whether they’re in the HIB or a guild. They don’t see civilians as human. They only care about their own interests. The Taekwondo Girl is probably the same.

└ What do you know to be bashing the Taekwondo Girl?

└ What do u know

└ I know more than you. 

└ (This comment was deleted according to Nutube policy.)

 

– Hong Jaegyeol from the HIB went to K High School in the past, didn’t the Prime Minister go there too? There’s a rumor they’re alumni. 

└ By that logic, Min Seokjung from the Liberty Korea Party went there too. 

└ The HIB’s media play is scary lol Look at the comments being posted right away. 

└ Meanwhile, the country is falling apart. South Korea’s political situation is hanging by a thread. To overturn the established political order, a new figure is needed. If you want to know the path politics should truly take, read my book, The Future Prophecy of the Republic of Korea. There are also more detailed explanations on my blog…

 

A feeling that the essence of the case was being blurred because political talk got mixed in.

 

What started as an individual’s criminal case over illegal smuggling was riding on the likes and dislikes of politicians and derailing from its original trajectory.

 

And that was exactly what Mayor Go was aiming for.

 

“I don’t know where you heard your source from, but I know nothing about this. The city level made the necessary item purchases, and because I only authorized the payment, my name seems to be included, but they were all used at the local government level. I don’t know where and how much every single civil servant is spending. I just approve the overall budget.”

 

As if thinking the situation was in his favor, Mayor Go treated Kwon Ikseong with a relaxed voice that didn’t lose its dignity.

 

His posture, not once lifting his body from the backrest, even looked like an attitude of scolding a subordinate.

 

As if to say, what do you gain from catching an innocent person, stop here.

 

But I know that won’t last long.

 

No, we’ll make sure it doesn’t last long.

 

Definitely.

 

I recalled my mom’s face.

 

And over that face of my mom’s, Choi Woojin’s face overlapped.

 

Because he had thrust his face close to mine.

 

The evidence of Mom’s belief, saved by Mom, saved by her conviction. 

 

To think that was Choi Woojin.

 

I felt strange.

 

“His tongue is long, but everything he says is useless talk. Shall we just go eat some burgers?”

 

Those damn burgers.

 

“Those burgers were….”

 

“I know. The two of you are secretly dating for lunch and dinner.”

 

At Choi Woojin’s words, I looked at Byeon Gudo, who was sleeping behind us.

 

Fortunately, he was sleeping with his mouth open, snoring.

 

“But it doesn’t seem like you guys are officially dating.”

 

Choi Woojin scanned down my nape and my fingers with his eyes, not his hands. 

 

“Usually when people date, they do things like that. Put something around the neck, put something on the finger. So—”

 

Choi Woojin filled his face with his characteristic fox-like smile.

 

Watching him, I wanted to ask my mom.

 

Mom.

 

“Date me too.”

 

Would you have saved him even if you knew this brat would grow up like this? Even if you knew he would grow up to be a guy who blackmails people like this?

 

I felt like I had fallen into a trap.