Chapter 16

Chapter 016: Suspicion (5)

The man's heart had stopped, and his body was already beginning to stiffen.

The handcuffs were getting in the way of chest compressions.

The moment his arms were freed, Hee-soo immediately began CPR.

His heart hasn't been stopped for long.

It can't even have been a full minute.

I ran out here almost immediately.

Hee-soo put all his strength into compressing President Do's chest.

Before he knew it, a defibrillator had already arrived.

Even while the defibrillator was being attached, Hee-soo didn't stop chest compressions.

After around five minutes of CPR, President Do finally came back.

A pleasant notification sound rang from Hee-soo's phone.

He's alive.

Ah.

Once Hee-soo confirmed that the man had survived, instead of looking happy, he deliberately made an annoyed expression.

"Haah. You're seriously troublesome."

"Take him away now."

That was what he said, but inside, he felt as though he had just picked up an extra day of life from the ground.

A smile almost escaped from his lips.

He barely managed to suppress it.

As soon as he returned to the office, Hee-soo immediately checked his phone.

[Successfully Rescued: 1 Person]

[Your Lifespan Has Increased by 1 Day]

Hee-soo silently celebrated.

Yes!

Then he quickly looked around.

Fortunately, it seemed nobody had seen him.

If anyone had witnessed him celebrating immediately after President Do nearly died, they might have thought Hee-soo was a psychopath.

He hurriedly hid his happiness and returned upstairs.

After the incident finally settled down, Yoon-hee followed the fire chief into his office.

The chief looked confused.

"Who are you, and why are you following me inside?"

"You're the chief here, right?"

"The chief of Dobong Fire Station?"

"Ah. Yes. That's right."

"I'm Jo Yoon-hee from the business section of Samhan Ilbo."

"This is Photographer Jang Deok-su."

"Yes. What brings you here?"

Yoon-hee handed him a document.

"I was hoping to get approval for an interview."

"If it's about that, please get authorization through our Public Relations and Training Team."

Looking exhausted, the fire chief turned around and headed deeper into the station.

"Ah. Yes."

The documents had already been sent the previous day.

Approval still hadn't been granted, so Yoon-hee wanted to speed things up.

She also had several questions she wanted to ask.

However, judging from the chief's back alone, it was obvious that he was completely exhausted.

She couldn't bring herself to continue bothering him.

It's not urgent anyway.

Her interview with the chief of Dobong Fire Station was finally arranged for the next day.

"I'm sorry about yesterday."

"When complicated things happen inside the station, there's not much I can do about it."

"I understand. It couldn't be helped."

"But I do have something I'd like to ask."

"Yes. Go ahead."

"How did Firefighter Choi Hee-soo end up working here?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure how I should explain this."

"You can simply tell me the truth."

The fire chief looked troubled.

If he said something that caused trouble for Suseong, he suspected he would become involved in an annoying situation himself.

Yoon-hee noticed his hesitation.

"Suseong also wants to know why Director Choi is acting this way."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"So you don't have to worry. You can tell me exactly what happened."

After a brief moment of thought, the fire chief finally spoke.

"Originally, we didn't have a position available for Firefighter Choi."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I heard Firefighter Choi originally wanted to go to Gangnam Fire Station."

"Before moving there, he was temporarily assigned to us."

"I thought we were simply taking him in as a trainee or practical student."

Yoon-hee tilted her head.

"Hmm. So you already knew from the beginning that Choi Hee-soo was a chaebol heir?"

"Yes."

"People above us repeatedly warned us."

"They told us to make sure he didn't get hurt."

"Hmm."

"But from everything I've seen so far, he acts like a moth throwing itself into a flame."

"We're worried about that too."

"We originally thought some chaebol heir wanted to put on a publicity show to improve his image."

"That's why we accepted him."

"But then he joined the rescue team and started doing dangerous things like this..."

"Is Firefighter Choi becoming an obstacle to rescue operations?"

"I'm not sure how I should answer that."

The chief thought for a moment before speaking again.

"He doesn't blend well with the rest of the team."

"But his rescue results are unbelievably good."

"His results are good, but he doesn't work well with the team?"

"That's right."

"Since joining us, he's rescued at least one person almost every single day."

"It doesn't matter whether the scene is dangerous or not."

"As long as someone needs rescue, he charges in without thinking about his own safety."

"Oh. I see."

"On top of that, Firefighter Choi keeps rescuing people from places none of our rescue team members expected anyone to be."

"If he hadn't found them, those people would've died where they were."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

At Yoon-hee's question, the fire chief shook his head.

"It looks good from above."

"The higher-ups are busy using Firefighter Choi's heroic story."

"But at the working level, we're suffering because of teamwork problems."

"Hmm. I see."

Even after the interview, Yoon-hee still couldn't understand Hee-soo.

The fire chief had openly discussed matters that could have been considered sensitive.

Yet there was no trace of a hidden scheme.

Everything matched what Yoon-hee had already discovered.

The office of Assemblywoman Kim Ga-eul.

Her medium-length hair kept falling over her face as she studied the pile of documents covering her desk.

She didn't seem to care.

Her appearance looked delicate, but her eyes were sharp enough to cut through paper.

Her dark brown hair looked dry and rough because she hadn't taken proper care of it.

She also looked as though she hadn't slept properly for several days.

Even so, her face still had the brightness of youth.

When she had first entered the National Assembly as a proportional representative, some people had even joked that she had received the position because of her looks.

She had the appearance of an idol.

However, her remarkable performance over the past two years had proven that she wasn't a politician who survived on appearance alone.

She had graduated at the top of the National Police University.

She had also exposed corruption inside the Metropolitan Investigation Unit.

Because of her aggressive personality, members of the opposing party had given her the nickname, "The Beautiful Mad Dog."

Ga-eul repeatedly tilted her head while reading documents from the Public Administration and Security Committee.

"Is there really no problem with this?"

Her tone was so intimidating that it sounded like a detective interrogating a criminal.

The aide standing nearby flinched.

"What are you referring to?"

"This."

"Choi Hee-soo."

"The third son of Suseong's family."

The aide relaxed after realizing she wasn't criticizing him.

"Ah. The chaebol firefighter who's been getting all the attention lately?"

"Is it really appropriate for someone like this to be working as a firefighter?"

"Well, there are certainly a lot of things that are difficult to understand."

"He's the third son of a chaebol family."

"And he's practically confirmed as Suseong's successor."

"Yet he's risking his body and dedicating himself to firefighting."

"At first glance, it doesn't make much sense."

"Exactly."

Ga-eul frowned.

"No matter how much I think about it, I don't understand."

"Could there be something behind it?"

The aide also looked interested.

"Should I investigate?"

"Yes. Please do."

"There are far too many questionable details."

"He submitted an application and was specially hired only fifteen days later."

"He didn't even go through the fire academy."

"He was immediately assigned to the field."

"Understood."

"That is certainly unusual."

Hee-soo had first appeared on Ga-eul's radar because of the footage from the recent building fire.

Not only privately recorded videos, but also high-quality footage taken by media outlets had spread across online communities.

Her basic suspicion was exactly the same as Yoon-hee's.

What exactly is this man's reason for working on a rescue team?

She couldn't understand it.

Suseong was one of South Korea's largest conglomerates.

However, the group didn't manufacture firefighting equipment or firefighting vehicles.

Even if Suseong had owned such a company, there would still have been no need for the group's successor to personally put on this kind of show.

The aide returned with answers a few days later.

What he found left Ga-eul confused.

While looking through the documents, she stared at him in disbelief.

"Hmm."

"So there was clearly something unusual about how quickly he was hired."

"But technically, it wasn't impossible?"

"That's correct."

"It's highly unusual for a probationary firefighter to already be working like this."

"But they judged him sufficiently trained."

"And his actual performance supports that judgment."

"Hmm. That's true."

Ga-eul looked over the numbers.

"He's worked twenty-five days so far."

"He was dispatched around three times per day on average."

"During that time, he personally rescued thirty-three people."

"And he helped his teammates rescue around sixty more?"

"That's correct."

"But if he hadn't taken this position, couldn't someone else have taken it?"

"Director Choi was specially hired."

"The government doesn't pay him anything."

"He simply works as part of the rescue team."

"Why?"

"According to the documents he submitted, Suseong requested cooperation because Director Choi wanted direct field experience before the company entered the defense and safety equipment industries."

"The National Fire Agency accepted that request."

"Ah."

"So it's somewhat similar to an experience program?"

"Exactly."

"That's why the official number of available positions wasn't affected."

"He didn't take anyone else's spot."

"But then why is he working in the field instead of behind a desk?"

"Apparently, Director Choi strongly requested it."

"His argument was that without personally experiencing the field, he couldn't properly develop products or technology."

"Then why not simply ask firefighters for advice?"

"He made the same argument."

"He insisted that unless he personally experienced the environment, he wouldn't truly understand the need."

"So the fire agency brought him in like some kind of experience trainee, but he's actually operating like a real firefighter?"

"Yes. That's exactly right."

"Is there no legal problem?"

"If you examine it strictly, there may be some issues."

"However, parts of this fall within the discretionary authority of the National Fire Agency."

"Choi Hee-soo also has the proper qualifications to serve on a rescue team."

"Hmm. I see."

While continuing to read, Ga-eul suddenly tilted her head.

"There's a strange phrase here."

"It says he conducted rescues independently."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"I don't know. I didn't come from the fire service."

"When is the Public Administration and Security Committee's national audit?"

"Next week."

"Are you planning to ask about this?"

"Yes."

"I'll ask the Minister of the Interior and Safety directly."

"Please prepare questions on this matter."

"And if possible, I'd like the person himself to appear."

"What?"

"You want to summon a probationary firefighter?"

Ga-eul shook her head.

"I'm summoning Director Choi Hee-soo."

"I'm not calling him because he's merely a probationary firefighter."

"I want to ask why Director Choi Hee-soo is working on a rescue team and risking his own life to save people."

"I don't understand it."

"I want to hear the answer directly from him."

"Understood."

"I'll request him as a witness."

"But will the other side stay quiet?"

"The other side?"

"The People's Party."

"Suseong has very strong connections with them."

"What can a minority party do?"

"If the majority party wants to summon him, we'll summon him."

Ga-eul smiled.

"This is one of those times when we should properly abuse the power of the majority party."

"You'll help me, right?"

"Hahaha. Understood."

"I'll try persuading the other lawmakers."

"Thank you."

"This is exactly why I trust you so much."

"I understand."

"Your drive is always exhausting to keep up with, Assemblywoman."

Ga-eul's aide, Yoo Seok-in, was forty-seven years old.

He was a veteran aide within the National Republican Party.