Monday, October 28, 2019, 9:20 a.m.
National Assembly Members’ Office Building, Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
Assemblyman Kim Junhak sat buried deep in the sofa of his office, his eyes closed.
The fourth movement of Dvořák’s New World Symphony played through the speakers. Each surge of brass seemed to draw the air in the room tighter, but Junhak was not truly listening.
To be honest, the music only irritated him.
For days, unease had gnawed at him. Something somewhere had slipped out of alignment. The sense that the world had almost been within his grasp, only to keep sliding between his fingers, tightened like a hand around the back of his neck.
When he first heard that the relics had been completed, he had been certain the Republic of Korea would soon be his to command.
Then a single apostate from the tribe of Benjamin had ruined everything.
An image from the old Bible entered his mind.
Saul hunting David with murderous persistence.
It was always Benjamin that stood in the way of the Great Work.
Junhak picked up the remote and switched off the music.
Silence settled over the office. He could hear the faint creak of the leather sofa and, somewhere beyond the door, the muted passage of shoes along the corridor.
Then came a knock.
“Come in.”
Junhak slowly straightened.
By the time the door opened, the familiar expression of a politician had already settled across his face.
His secretary stepped inside cautiously.
“There’s a call for you, sir. A Mr. Jung Taeseon. He said you would know who he is.”
Junhak’s eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly.
He rose and walked to his desk. In the brief moment before his fingers reached the receiver, several possibilities flashed through his mind.
“Put him through to me. Thank you.”
The secretary left, closing the door behind him.
Junhak drew a breath, then slowly lifted the receiver.
“Elder, good morning. This is Kim Junhak. I’ve been waiting to hear from you.”
A trace of eagerness had entered his voice.
The voice on the other end, however, was heavy with exhaustion.
“Yes, Assemblyman Kim. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to contact you sooner. Ah…”
Jung Taeseon’s long sigh traveled down the line.
The corners of Junhak’s mouth stiffened. He bit his lip once and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Not at all, Elder. I know how occupied you must be with such important work. Please don’t apologize.”
“Around midnight last night, Brother Lee Jiyeol of Benjamin caught the apostate Ju Sion.”
Junhak drew in a breath before he could stop himself.
“Is that true? That’s excellent news.”
He heard the excitement in his own voice and quickly lowered his tone.
“Then… were all the relics recovered?”
“That is the problem. It seems Ju Sion had already hidden them. And because he died, we were ultimately unable to learn where.”
Something inside Junhak turned cold.
He had believed capturing the apostate would end the matter. But if the man was dead, all they were left with was an empty hand.
And an empty hand could seize nothing.
Then Jung spoke again.
“But we are not entirely without options.”
Life returned to Junhak’s eyes.
“There is another way?”
“Yes. That is why I would like to meet you in person. Are you available today?”
Junhak pictured his schedule.
“There’s a plenary session at ten, followed by the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts at eleven. The morning will be difficult, but I should be able to clear my lunch hour.”
“Then I’ll come to the Members’ Office Building at noon.”
Jung added,
“And, if possible… please ask whether Assemblyman Lee Junho can join us.”
Junhak’s eyebrows rose slightly.
Lee Junho.
The moment that name entered the conversation, he knew this was more than a simple briefing.
“Understood, Elder.”
Even after the call ended, Junhak remained holding the receiver.
A thin layer of sweat covered his palm. He opened a drawer, wiped his hand with a handkerchief, and only then returned the receiver to its cradle.
The same day, 12:20 p.m.
A private room at Cucina Hu, an Italian restaurant on the sixth floor of the National Assembly Annex.
The room was so quiet that even breathing sounded loud.
Once the door closed, every noise from outside vanished as if it belonged to another world. Only the voices of the two men remained.
Assemblyman Lee Junho lifted his glass, took a sip of water, and spoke.
“So, in the end, they failed to recover the relics.”
Kim Junhak glanced at his watch, then cautiously toward the door.
“In practical terms, yes. But Elder Jung said there was another way. That is why he asked to meet with the two of us privately.”
Junho nodded, though he could not conceal his discomfort.
He glanced around the walls before lowering his voice.
“Speaking of which, Assemblyman Kim, the matter with the Atomic Energy Research Institute—”
Before he could finish, Junhak raised an index finger near his lips.
“Assemblyman Lee, we should not discuss that here. There is no telling who might be listening—or from where.”
His manner was gentle, but his tone allowed no argument.
Junho smiled awkwardly and lowered his head.
“You’re right. I was careless.”
A brief silence passed between them.
Then the door opened quietly, and an elderly gentleman with silver hair entered.
He carried himself with such rigid composure that his age was difficult to judge. There was no disorder in his stride. A fierce heat burned in his eyes, intense enough to make the room itself seem warmer.
Perhaps it was the sternness of his face, but his mere presence gave the space a sudden weight.
Jung Taeseon.
Junhak and Junho rose almost simultaneously to greet him.
Jung opened his arms wide and embraced each assemblyman in turn.
“Assemblyman Kim. Assemblyman Lee.”
His voice was warm.
“I hope I haven’t inconvenienced two men so busy with the affairs of the nation.”
“Not at all, Elder. Please don’t say such a thing.”
Junho quickly pulled out a chair for him.
“You must have had a difficult journey.”
Once Jung had taken his seat, the two assemblymen sat down quietly.
Jung lowered his head for a moment before speaking with careful solemnity.
“First… the two of you have done a great deal for us in this matter. I am truly sorry that the outcome was not what we had hoped.”
Junhak wore an expression refined through so many years that it had become instinctive.
He quietly shook his head.
“When one undertakes important work, unforeseen difficulties are inevitable.”
Junho gave a grave nod as well.
Jung clasped his hands and let out his characteristic booming laugh.
“I am deeply moved by the faith you both have shown.”
His gaze shifted to Junho.
“Let us come to the point, Assemblyman Lee.”
Junho straightened in his chair.
“Ju Sion’s father… was once one of us, was he not? I seem to remember that he was an old friend of yours.”
Junho’s pupils shifted slightly.
“You mean Ju Myeongjin? Yes. That’s correct.”
Jung nodded.
“And where is he now?”
“A long time ago… he was martyred during the First Revival.”
A faint, knowing smile touched Jung’s lips.
It was the sort of smile that sent a chill down the spine of anyone who saw it.
“So he was one of those four.”
After a long breath, he continued slowly.
“Was Sion his only son?”
Junho answered,
“You already seem to know everything, Elder. He has a younger brother. His name is Ju Gaon.”
Jung quietly nodded.
“Then let us begin with Ju Gaon.”
The words fell into the room.
At that moment, Kim Junhak understood.
This meeting had never truly been about the relics.
In the end, it had been about one man.
Something shifted in the air.
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