Cunning and Evil

MANY SHADES OF BLACK

Seri's luggage is packed and she's ready to go.

The first day of her vacation in Jeju was purely business. The second and third day was supposed to be the cherry on top. It was supposed to be a time for herself. Beach and spa, she imagined in her mind a few days back.

She had a foolproof plan set, and everything was going according to her perfectly planned plan... until Ri Jeong Hyeok came with the rain and ruined it.

Rain and Ri Jeong Hyeok: two entities in the world she hates the most, both ruined the first vacation she had in years.

Maybe she could throw a hot stone at the man checked in the room in front of hers, maybe that's the kind of spa therapy she needs.

Seri removed the mask on her face and gently tapped on the solution still in her skin, and suddenly the flashbacks of last night are back to taunt her.

The tight grips in the rain, the breathy whispers in her ear, the heated stares...

Soon the assemblywoman found herself brutally tapping her face to remove the cursed images in her mind.

A sound coming from her phone indicating an email notification was a great distraction.

GeumED@assembly.go.kr sent her a message with the subject: APPROVAL RATINGS

She told her staff not to shy away from sending her emails during her vacation. Good, good. The assemblywoman needed to work or she might as well just spontaneously combust out here.

To say that she's expecting a lot is a complete understatement. The last time she checked, the news of her pushing the agenda of the agrarian reform bill catapulted her to the top of the ratings.

Today as she checked the file sent by her junior staff, imagine her triumphant smile lighting up the room when she saw that she's still in the top spot, her ratings moving up by a constant 3%. The second page of the document is a news article from one of the most famous political columnists in the republic, who titled it: Assemblywoman Yoon Seri taking the National Assembly by Storm. The columnist even included a mock election for the upcoming election of the Deputy Speakership— to which Seri won.

Nothing can ruin her day, she thought, deciding to continue her plan of vacationing in Jeju.

Seri took one last look at the approval ratings, and her nose crinkled when she caught sight of something that ultimately irked her. The assemblywoman's beautiful smile came reversing back in a split second when she saw the rest of the document— Ri Jeong Hyeok is under her by 7%.

Ri Jeong Hyeok under her.... Ri Jeong Hyeok...

"Good god, Seri! Get a grip!!"

Unbeknownst to her, a certain assemblyman got out of the shower draped with nothing but a towel wrapped in his lower waist, water still dripping down his body as he foregone wiping himself dry.

The hotel must have saved a lot of electricity because he didn't use the heater at all.

He needed the cold shower anyway.

Is it still raining? Will he still be reminded of an assemblywoman drenched in rain...?

Ri Jeong Hyeok grabbed the end of his curtain to check the weather.

Oh, it's sunny now.

—-

Seri wanted to be petty today, to take the news and rub it in the Speaker and Ri Jeong Hyeok's pathetic little men's club. So when she got a call from Ma Young Ae, she immediately answered it, knowing she can easily get what she wanted.