Chapter 172

               

‘Again?’

The Commissioner turned toward the door with a dumbfounded look.

He never imagined the district mayor would be summoned too.

‘Please, please no!’

He prayed desperately to every god he normally didn’t even believe in.

But the door creaked open, and of course—standing there was the district mayor.

His face was pale blue.

Naturally so—he belonged to the main opposition party, and the very man who had nominated him for the position was none other than the Floor Leader, Assemblyman Park Sung-min.

When a call came from the party’s inner circle—and one that carried such a heavy tone—he couldn’t help but be afraid.

“Ah, long time no see. Was it during the campaign trail we last met?”

Assemblyman Park greeted the mayor with a warm-sounding but chillingly cold tone.

The words were friendly, but his expression wasn’t—and that made it even more terrifying.

“Yes, Floor Leader. It’s been a while.”

“Ah. Don’t sit. You can just stand there.”

Assemblyman Park didn’t even allow him to take a seat.

For a district mayor of Seoul, that was more than mere disrespect—it was practically humiliation.

But the mayor was too busy recalling his own wrongdoing.
At this point, he only hoped it would end with a slap and a warning.

Of course, Park wasn’t the kind of man to stoop to physical disgrace.
He didn’t slap faces—he pierced chests instead.

“I hear there were civil complaints filed. You’re aware of that, I assume?”

Assemblyman Park looked up at the mayor.

Unable to withstand his gaze, the mayor lowered his head.

“Yes. I was informed.”

“They seemed quite organized… How often did the helicopter actually take off there?”

“About once a day…”

“What time of day?”

“Mostly during daylight hours.”

“So, someone took it upon themselves to gather resident consent forms and submit complaints?”

“Yes… that’s correct.”

The mayor knew exactly who that person was.

He wasn’t even a local resident—he was an employee of Hanguk University Hospital’s public relations department.

‘Must be the chief administrator’s doing…’

Chief Administrator Hong Jae-hoon was not only his senior from high school, but also someone who had helped him a great deal whenever he visited the hospital.

The mayor had thought this request would be a great chance to repay that debt.
It even made him feel the perks of having school connections.

“But you never explained to the residents why the helicopter was taking off, did you?”

Assemblyman Park’s tone had turned openly sarcastic.

The mayor didn’t even have time to feel offended—he just bowed his head lower.

“Yes, yes, that’s correct.”

“Why not? Even if there were complaints, the helicopter flights were for legitimate reasons, weren’t they? If I recall, the Central Rescue Unit’s Team Leader—what was his name? Right, Ahn Jung-heon—already sent a formal cooperation letter, didn’t he?”

Assemblyman Park not only knew about it but had the documents in hand.

It was the exact letter Ahn had sent, somehow obtained in full.

It clearly stated: *This helicopter dispatch is to save a patient who cannot be transported by ambulance. Cooperation requested.*

“Uh… yes.”

“Not just yes. I’m asking why you didn’t explain the situation and instead issued an immediate corrective order—did you even protest to the local fire station?”

“I have… no excuse. I’ll make corrections immediately.”

“So you can’t give a reason?”

“I…”

“Well, fine. You can go.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ll speak again later.”

“Ah… yes.”

The mayor left the room, shoulders drooping under a crushing weight.

The Central Rescue Unit Commander, who had been nervously watching, hurried to follow him out as if fleeing for his life.

“You heard the conversation just now, didn’t you?”

Assemblyman Park turned a cold gaze toward the Commissioner.

“Yes, Floor Leader…”

“The Central Rescue Unit already sent a cooperation letter. The flights were proceeding normally until, suddenly, a complaint came in—and then, conveniently, you all complied immediately, didn’t you?”

“Uh… yes.”

“I find that very strange. What do you think, Commissioner?”

“I…”

“Think carefully before you answer. I’ll give you another chance to answer this question later.”

“Pardon?”

The Commissioner stared in confusion.

The Minister looked at Park, but unlike the Commissioner, his expression showed understanding.

“You don’t mean…”

“What do you think hearings are for? And audits? They exist precisely to investigate matters like this.”

That was the true power of an Assemblyman—they held the authority, granted by the people, to summon officials for hearings and audits.

Of course, not every politician used that power properly—but Assemblyman Park was one of the few who did.

“T-that… that’s not good…”

This time, it was the Minister’s face that went pale.

In hearings or audits, the blame always rolled uphill—and the spearhead inevitably pointed to the highest authority.

Even if he was truly innocent, claiming ignorance would only be seen as an excuse, and his career would be over.

“Not good, Minister?”

Assemblyman Park’s face was now completely devoid of the friendly smile from earlier.

Cold sweat ran down the Minister’s back as he replied.

“You know I truly didn’t know about this.”

“Well, now you do.”

“Pardon?”

“Resolve it before the next audit. If nothing changes by then, I’ll make sure you’re summoned. And at that point, you won’t be able to claim ignorance.”

In other words—now that you know, act accordingly.

Fortunately, the Minister wasn’t stupid.
He understood perfectly.

“Understood. I’ll take responsibility and fix it.”

“The sooner, the better. People are dying every day.”

“Today! I’ll fix it today.”

“Good. I’ll hold you to that.”

Assemblyman Park casually showed him a document lying on the desk.

It was part of the upcoming audit materials—and on the front page, under “Summoned Witnesses,” was written ‘Minister of the Interior and Safety.’

“Let’s put this on hold for now.”

“Y-yes. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. You’re the one working hard for the country—I should be thanking you.”

“Then… I’ll be going.”

The Minister could barely stand at the thought of sitting in a future hearing and being grilled about this.

It was obvious—something strange had happened here.
He might be able to dodge it somehow,but the fallout would still be severe.

And the best way to handle such things—was to prevent them entirely.

“Follow me!”

With that, he yanked the Commissioner out of Assemblyman Park’s office.

Park watched the two leave, then turned to his secretary.

“Text me as soon as you get a call.”

“You mean from Professor Baek?”

“Of course. Who else?”

“There’s also the reporter.”

“Ah.”

Park remembered the journalist who had been present earlier—an old friend from his first term, someone who always shared his perspective.

He was sure the man would write the article properly—but still, it was better to double-check.

A single wrong word could completely change the tone of an article—turning good news into a disaster.

“When he calls, leak a little of it and then arrange a follow-up meeting.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And inform Professor Baek right away. That man…”

From what Park had seen, Kang-hyuk wasn’t someone who sought higher positions or fame.
Like himself, he’d do whatever it took to achieve his goal—but their goals were worlds apart.

“He can’t resist anything that involves saving lives. Once he hears, he’ll be thrilled.”

“Yes, sir.”

The secretary replied with uncharacteristic enthusiasm.

While the two of them were quietly celebrating what they saw as a near-certain victory,the Minister and Commissioner were having a very different kind of conversation—one filled with reproach and frustration.

“Are you insane?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“You know I recommended you to the Blue House for that commissioner post, right?”

“Yes…”

“And this is how you conduct yourself? Do you have any idea what kind of era we’re living in?”

Corruption hadn’t vanished completely,but compared to the past, it had dropped significantly.
There were simply too many eyes watching now.

And yet here was this scandal.

The Minister was furious enough to want to crush the Commissioner on the spot.

“I’ll fix it immediately…”

“Fix it? Can you guarantee there won’t be any fallout?”

“Assemblyman Park said…”

“Forget Park! What about that Professor Baek? You think he’s someone you can handle?”

The Minister recalled the recent cabinet meeting at the Blue House.
Both the Foreign Affairs and Health Ministers had mentioned Baek Kang-hyuk almost at the same time.

“They called him a madman.”

A mad dog who didn’t care about politics or procedure—someone who would use any means necessary for his cause.

The cause might be noble,but being on the receiving end of his rampage was pure misery.

And now they had provoked that kind of man?
One who had a political heavyweight like Park behind him?

That wasn’t just reckless—it was suicidal.

“W-what should we do?”

The Commissioner had no idea that the once-quiet Baek Kang-hyuk had been sharpening his knife behind the scenes all this time.

Who would have thought this wouldn’t come as a civil complaint—but as an attack from way, way above?

“What do you think! Go and apologize in person!”

“M-me? In person? No matter what, that’s—”

“No matter what? Do you want to end up in jail? Should I dig into your background a little?”

The Minister didn’t actually know of any specific corruption involving the Commissioner, but he knew that people in such positions always had skeletons somewhere.

“N-no, sir.”

Of course, the Commissioner bowed his head at once.

“Go apologize! And don’t you dare let any of this blow back on me. If it does…”

The Minister’s eyes burned with real fury—completely different from the political composure he’d shown earlier.

“If it does, you’re dead.”

“Y-yes, sir… I’m sorry.”

The wrath of a four-term lawmaker turned Minister was something far beyond what a mere Commissioner could handle.

The Commissioner fled straight to the Fire Agency, firing both the Commander and the Team Leader on the spot.

It all happened in an instant.

“Appoint Ahn Jung-heon as Central Rescue Unit Commander, and Kim Kang-ryul as Team Leader.” (T/N: LETSSSGOOOOO TEAM KANG-HYUK IS COMPLETE AGAIN!)

“Another personnel change?”

“Shut up and do it!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

And just like that, Ahn Jung-heon was no longer a team leader—he became the Commander of the Central Rescue Unit.

The process was so rushed that he had to change his assigned workplace the very next day.

For Jung-heon, it was all good news.
He had finally returned to the place he longed for—promoted, with one of his closest colleagues now serving as his team leader.

“Is Professor Baek in surgery right now?”

asked Kim Kang-ryul, formerly from the Suwon Fire Department.

Jung-heon nodded without hesitation.

“Of course.”

“Then shall we go? A day like this calls for a toast.”

“Let’s wait a bit.”

“Why?”

“The Commissioner’s coming too.”

“For what?”

“To apologize.”