Cunning and Evil

CRAZY FOR YOU

On the podium of the National Assembly hall stood Representative Ri Jeong Hyeok, ready to deliver his keynote speech for the session. His eyes drifted towards the spot where a certain assemblywoman would always sit and read, and he remembered how she would be commanding almost half of the room with her wit, beauty, and grace.

He looked for her among the crowd, trying to spot a beautiful assemblywoman in a blazer but to no avail.

It was the second session for the week, and Representative Yoon Seri's seat in the National Assembly hall still remained empty.

He tried to ask her Chief-of-Staff, but Seri got a good one there. He wasn't able to get any information from Hong Chan Sik.

When the session ended, Ri Jeong Hyeok quickly went back to his office. He grabbed his phone and debated with himself whether he should call her.

What would I even say to her? The assemblyman asked himself. It was uncharacteristic of him to think what he's supposed to say.

But there's something that's telling him that he couldn't wing this. His moves have to be calculated, or he will risk losing the possibility of getting back something he once had.

He eventually decided to just send a message to her.

How are you? He heard how it sounded in his head and he quickly deleted it. Nah, too clingy.

I'm sorry. Can we talk? Nah, too needy.

Are you alright? You left without saying goodbye. Nah, too emotional.

Assemblyman Ri Jeong Hyeok almost dropped his phone in the pursuit of hiding it from his staff who just entered the room.

Kwang Beom laid a folder on his desk, "Sir, I need your signature right here." He pointed to the line where his name was written, "and here."

"And this is..?" Jeong Hyeok asked.

"Procurement of the equipment you asked for, sir."

Jeong Hyeok nodded and affixed his signature, prompting Pyo Chi Su to start talking. "Mr. Ri, you have a meeting with the committee at 1:00, and you have to visit the newly constructed orphanage in Seoul at 3:00 where you'll give a speech."

"Alright." Jeong Hyeok stood up and fixed the button of his suit. The men were about to leave when their boss called their attention again. "Chi Su. Kwang Beom."

"Sir?"

He pointed to Chi Su, "You're married, right?" to which he nodded, and then turned to the younger man, "And you're in a long-term relationship?"

"Yes, sir. What about it?"

He hesitated for a moment, but these two are his most trusted men, so might as well just spill what's been bothering him. "How do you ask how a woman is doing without sounding needy and creepy?"

Pyo Chi Su was the first one to react to that, eyebrows immediately furrowed as a hands-on Chief of Staff. "Mr. Ri, a fling? Really? That wouldn't look good for your image."

He countered, "No! Not a fling! What am I, 22?"

"What then? You're dating? After the very public fiasco with Ms. Seo?" Pyo Chi Su was already imagining the mayhem of the media, and he made a mental note to set up more public engagements with his boss for marginalized sectors for good press. "That's even worse, Mr. Ri!"

"It's nothing like that."

Park Kwang Beom might have been the only one who understood what his boss wanted to say. "Sir, in my case I would just outright ask her, and even show her that I care."