The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 159

Climbing the Tightrope (4)

Assemblyman Jo Hyun-woong’s face was wreathed in smiles as he emptied his glass.

“By the way, is there a particular reason you’re looking after Assemblyman Seong Tae-hyun so much? From my perspective, while Assemblyman Seong seems capable, I don’t see a reason for you, Prosecutor, to go all out to help him.”

Perhaps sensing a possible misunderstanding, he raised his hand and added,

“I don’t mean to belittle him. It’s purely curiosity.”

I chuckled lightly and replied,

“He’ll soon be my brother-in-law.”

“Ah!”

He clapped his knee and said,

“I knew he was seeing your sister-in-law, Prosecutor, but I didn’t realize it was a serious relationship given the age difference. It seems you’re closer than I thought.”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Since it was someone else’s romance, I didn’t feel the need to get involved.

Assemblyman Jo Hyun-woong nodded thoughtfully for a while before cautiously asking,

“By the way, will you be alright? Choi Gyu-hyun might not get Seong Tae-hyun, but he won’t let you go easily, Prosecutor.”

I lowered my voice coldly.

“If that’s the case, I’ll just cut off the wrist holding on and move on. Don’t worry.”

My lip twisted into a smirk, and Jo Hyun-woong flinched, his jowls folding.

“You can speak well of me and Assemblyman Seong Tae-hyun to the people in the second tier, right?”

“Of course. That’s my job.”

“Then, I’ll tell you about the future plans. For now, it will appear as if only Assemblyman Seong Tae-hyun has moved over, and I will remain in the first tier. I’ll test the waters here and gradually…”

***

“Drive safely.”

“See you again, Prosecutor.”

Assemblyman Jo Hyun-woong, his face flushed, got into the car with a satisfied expression, a woman by his side.

Watching the car drive away, I felt the alcohol hitting me all at once.

I must have drunk a lot, as my head was spinning for the first time in a while.

“We’ll take you, Prosecutor.”

The staff from Chaplin bowed politely, and soon an employee drove my car to the lobby.

“Where shall we take you?”

“Home. It should be in the navigation.”

“Understood.”

As the car smoothly pulled away, I leaned back in the seat and slowly closed my eyes.

Thanks to the pleasant atmosphere and the drinks, I was able to get an additional promise from Assemblyman Jo Hyun-woong.

Even if Seong Tae-hyun were to lose the Seoul mayoral election, he would at least receive a nomination for a National Assembly seat.

Of course, that situation itself would be the worst-case scenario, but even if the sky falls, you need to have a way out.

However, I had no intention of telling Assemblyman Seong Tae-hyun about that.

Fighting with your back to the wall is different from going into battle knowing there’s a way out; the mindset is different.

It was past 11 PM, but not yet bedtime.

I called Seong Tae-hyun.

After a long ringing, I finally heard his voice.

-Yes, Prosecutor.

His voice was clear.

It even sounded slightly echoed, so he must still be at the office.

“Is this a good time to talk?”

-Yes, go ahead.

“I just met with Assemblyman Jo Hyun-woong and we talked. It seems like we can move to the second tier.”

-Oh, really?

I could tell how happy he was just from his voice.

-Thank you. I feel terrible that you’re going to so much trouble, Prosecutor, and there’s nothing I can do to help.

“It’s nothing. I proposed it, so I should take care of it. I’ve secured the Seoul mayoral nomination, so now all you have to do is move over without giving the first tier any excuse to hold you back.”

-When should I make the move?

“The Le Grand Bridge incident will break in mid to late January. Choi Gyu-hyun will be busy trying to stop that, so you can change your party affiliation then.”

-Understood. Thank you for your hard work.

“The real work starts now.”

-I’ll prepare thoroughly.

“Have a good night.”

-You too.

I hung up and turned my gaze to the window.

As I told Seong Tae-hyun, the real work starts now.

Choi Gyu-hyun, the head of the first tier.

I couldn’t deny that he was a more powerful and formidable opponent than anyone I had faced so far.

It would be a very long, fierce, and desperate struggle.

It’s not the strongest who wins.

It’s the one who survives to the end who is strong.

I can’t stop here. I have to go to the top.

***

“You stupid bastard!”

Assemblyman Choi Gyu-hyun swept the documents off his desk and stood up abruptly.

“How did you handle things so badly that there’s a Le Grand Bridge special on terrestrial TV [free-to-air television]?”

“I’m sorry, hyung [older brother].”

His brother, Choi Gyu-seong, bowed his head with an anxious expression.

“I told you to block it properly. Don’t you know that everyone in the country watches ?”

“We, we tried to block it, but they were preparing the broadcast secretly… After they were somewhat prepared, even if we went and yelled at them, it didn’t work.”

Assemblyman Choi Gyu-hyun’s brow furrowed.

“Did you even threaten them?”

“No. I went to their house, but it was empty…”

“Ugh.”

He sighed deeply and shook his head.

“I’m an idiot for trusting someone like you as my brother.”

“I’ll take all the blame, so please block this. I can’t do it on my own.”

Choi Gyu-hyun ran his hand through his hair and composed himself, while his brother, Choi Gyu-seong, cautiously watched his brother’s expression and said,

“The PD [Producer-Director] said they mobilized three people to do the broadcast. It seems like they smelled something and latched on.”

“Did you contact the PBC president?”

“No. But that guy is from , so he doesn’t usually block things. And Le Grand Bridge doesn’t have any influence there.”

“Then you should have told me sooner! Now it’s a week before the broadcast and they’ve even released a trailer. What can I do now…?”

Choi Gyu-hyun grimaced and picked up his phone.

“I didn’t want to bother you, hyung, so I tried to handle it myself…”

“This is bothering me.”

He relentlessly scolded him and called the PBC president.

The call rang only a few times before the other person’s voice was heard.

-Hello?

“Yes, President. This is Choi Gyu-hyun.”

-Yes, Assemblyman. What’s the matter?

“It’s nothing much, but I heard that will be broadcasting a special on Le Grand Bridge next week.”

-Oh, is that so?

The PBC president had been directly informed by PD Song Jae-hoon, so he knew, but he pretended not to know.

-I don’t keep track of every program. Anyway, is there a problem with the broadcast?

“Yes. My younger brother is involved with them, and since it’s a religious activity, a negative broadcast could have a significant impact.”

-That’s a shame.

The PBC president pretended to think for a moment and then continued.

-But we don’t have any programs to replace it right now, so it seems like the broadcast will have to go on.”

“I’ll prepare the replacement program. Just remove the broadcast slot.”

-I’m sorry, but that’s going to be difficult.”

The moment he heard that answer, Assemblyman Choi Gyu-hyun’s face twisted.

“President Kang, do you know how many advertisement companies that are working with me have placed on PBC?”

The PBC president was quite displeased with the threatening tone and said sternly.

-I do know. But those people aren’t volunteering for free, are they? Advertisements are attached to programs with high viewership. If we keep cutting and blocking broadcasts, the problem won’t be the advertisements, but the program itself will be in danger of disappearing. I hope you understand.

“President Kang.”

Choi Gyu-hyun lowered his voice very coldly.

“Now that you’ve risen to the position of president and stabilized, are you turning your back on me?”

Of course, President Kang Jong-min had no intention of antagonizing Assemblyman Choi Gyu-hyun, so he needed to back down at this point.

-That’s not true. Absolutely not. It’s just that the broadcast is next week, and the trailer has already been released, so it’s hard to stop it. Instead, let’s adjust the time a little. Would it be okay to move it forward by an hour to overlap with a drama on another broadcasting station?

As President Kang Jong-min cowered, Assemblyman Choi Gyu-hyun suppressed his rising anger.

If he exploded here, there would be no going back.

He took a long breath and slowly thought it over before opening his mouth.

“Don’t move it forward, move it back by an hour.”

-Would that be enough?

“For now, yes. I’ll contact you if I need anything else later.”

-Understood. We’ll prepare for the broadcast on Thursday at 11:50 PM.”

“Yes.”

Assemblyman Choi Gyu-hyun hung up the phone without even saying goodbye.

‘Now that I’ve stepped down from the Prime Minister’s position, you’re rebelling, huh?’

He involuntarily gritted his teeth.

‘Who do you think helped you get to that position!’

His anger was then directed at his brother, who was standing there blankly.

“I told you to do things properly!”

Assemblyman Choi Gyu-hyun couldn’t hold back his anger and kicked his brother in the shin.

“Ugh!”

Choi Gyu-seong collapsed, grabbing his leg, and Choi Gyu-hyun clenched his fist and called WBS and TBN, PBC’s competitors.

“Hey, it’s Choi Gyu-hyun…”

***

“The schedule is changing?”

“Yes. Orders came down from above. They said they’re doing a special broadcast for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the company and asked us to move it back by an hour.”

“Does that make any sense to do that suddenly?”

“Of course it doesn’t make sense.”

PD Song Jae-hoon trembled with anger and continued.

“That’s why I’m so dumbfounded. It’s not even on the weekend, but starting it close to midnight on a weekday. It’s obvious that the number of viewers will plummet in the early morning…”

He raised his voice in frustration.

“That’s not all. WBS and TBN have also changed to a special broadcast starting at 11 PM.”

“A special broadcast?”

“Yes. WBS has an exclusive on a top celebrity’s dating scandal, and TBN has a special on stocks and coins.”

As soon as I heard that, I knew that Choi Gyu-hyun was openly trying to divert viewers’ attention.

A top celebrity’s dating scandal is a consistent scoop now and then, and stocks and coins are a combination of stocks and virtual currency, which is the most talked-about investment item since the virtual currency craze of 2017, and many people are interested in it.

It seemed like the only reason they put together such a stimulating special that viewers couldn’t help but watch was to lower ‘s viewership.

Seeing the situation like this, my head cooled down instead.

“It might be a good thing that it’s been pushed back by an hour.”

“A good thing?”

PD Song Jae-hoon asked back as if he had misheard.

“There’s a possibility that the viewership will be a complete disaster, you know?”

“In this situation, it’s a good thing that it’s been scheduled. If it hadn’t been broadcast at all, the viewership and everything we’ve done so far would have been for nothing.”

“Ah…”

He opened his mouth wide as if he had realized something.

“Well, Choi Gyu-hyun is definitely the kind of person who could do that.”

“Yes. President Kang Jong-min must have been paying attention to make sure it could be broadcast properly.”

“Haa…”

PD Song Jae-hoon sighed deeply and pressed his temples.

“Seo Jun, you’re right.”

“It’s definitely a bad situation, but it’s not the worst. Besides, has a legendary story.”

“All we can do is hope it goes well.”

We put our hands together with earnest hearts.

The viewership is bound to decline.

Hopefully, the buzz will be maintained.