Once the man from the secretariat had gone, Do-beom Hwang turned to Tak-hyeon Lee in a hurry.

"Chairman. Is there really any need for that? Let me handle it — I'll ask him what kind of Prosecutor General thinks he can tell you to call him."

"No. Leave it. I can do it myself."

Tak-hyeon Lee waved a slow hand as though he had no strength in him.

"Do you honestly not know why the Prosecutor General called?"

Do-beom Hwang hung his head at the question.

It wasn't that he didn't know the reason.

It was only that Do-beom Hwang was angry at the Prosecutor General for showing a side of himself he never had before, and that he'd made the offer to take the sting out of Tak-hyeon Lee's temper.

And now the man who ought to have been furious was the one staying cool about it, and Do-beom Hwang, ashamed, could do nothing but bow his head.

Tak-hyeon Lee got up from the sofa and patted his shoulder.

"It's all right. These things happen."

Instead of taking offense, Tak-hyeon Lee told him it was all right and walked slowly over to the desk.

"Find out what Prosecutor General Song is most concerned about these days. From the fact that he called himself, it looks less like he means to blow this open and more like he wants to trade at some reasonable level and put the matter away."

"…Understood."

Do-beom Hwang said he understood, and bowed his head.

Tak-hyeon Lee sat down in his chair and said,

"And start easing Mun-jong out of his duties. Slowly."

Do-beom Hwang raised his head, startled.

"You really mean to put Mun-jong out?"

"However I turn it over, that seems to be the right call. Hoo…"

Tak-hyeon Lee let out a long breath.

A short while before, when Seong-ho Kim told him to decide, he hadn't given an answer on the spot.

Instead he had told Mun-jong Lee to keep his head down, and said he would think about it a little more, and let that stand for an answer.

Then he…