Late afternoon, after a plenary session of the National Assembly. In the hallway, a young lawmaker approaches Jeong-chan and offers a greeting. He is a figure drawing attention as a next-generation politician, with his name appearing quite often in the media lately.

"Representative, I listened closely to your remarks today."

"Oh, really? I see you've been working very hard lately."

"Not at all. I still have much to learn."

Jeong-chan smiles and lightly pats the other man's shoulder.

"My, even humble. The future looks very bright. If only we had more friends like you, how wonderful would that be?"

"Thank you for the kind words, Representative."

"Haha, let's do well together. Good work."

As the other person bows and leaves, Jeong-chan watches his back for a moment. Then, he walks out of the building with a leisurely stride.

Stopping in a secluded spot, he pulls a cigarette from his jacket's inner pocket and puts it in his mouth. After lighting it and taking a drag, the smile he had been wearing until just now vanishes.

...They're going to leave the political world to a guy like that?

He lets out a hollow laugh as he exhales smoke.

His talk is certainly flashy. He really thinks the world revolves around whatever comes out of his own mouth.

He shakes his head with the cigarette held between his fingers. Kim Jeong-chan lets out a small, dry chuckle with the cigarette still in his mouth. As the exhaled smoke slowly scatters, one side of his lips twists into a smirk. He clicks his tongue as if thoroughly dissatisfied and lowers the cigarette between his fingers.

Well, let's see. Just how well he does.

Jeong-chan shakes his head again and takes another drag of the cigarette. A mocking smile still hangs on his lips.