YS 70

Yoon Tae-hee let go of his hands from behind his back, braced both palms against the edge of the podium, and suddenly beamed a bright smile.

“Some of you are staring at me as if you want to kill me. The atmosphere is quite murderous.”

At those words, the air in the hall stirred violently.

It was a provocative remark, blending playfulness with a characteristic crookedness, as if he were engaging in a battle of wills. Jae-gyeom instinctively looked around. The reactions toward Yoon Tae-hee were varied. There were looks of goodwill, and there were looks of disapproval. However, it was clear that with that single lighthearted comment that shattered all formality, he had broken the solemnity weighing down the auditorium and captured the attention of the entire audience in an instant.

Shifting his weight onto the hands gripping the podium, Yoon Tae-hee scanned the crowd and spoke with a flick of his eyebrow.

“Still, this is a grand occasion, so you’ll at least give me a round of applause when the speech is over, right?”

Having tossed out a light joke, Yoon Tae-hee left the murmurs of the crowd alone for a moment, a smile still on his face. He was not swept away. He acted like a man who knew well that they would soon focus on him again.

Watching him from behind the podium, Master Yeohye unconsciously clicked his tongue. It was because he found the situation immensely intriguing. Master Yeohye leaned toward Seok Ju-ryeon, who was sitting beside him, and spoke.

“I imagine you’ve suffered quite a bit having a man like that under you?”

The words carried a heavy amount of implication.

“…….”

After a brief silence, Seok [unauthorized copy]visit our sitewm: unauthorized [Read on Read BL Novels]copy -->Ju-ryeon suppressed the urge to let one corner of his mouth curl up and answered quietly.

“Yes, he is a very brazen fellow.”

Seok Ju-ryeon was well aware that reactions within the main office regarding the appointment of Yoon Tae-hee were divided. In that sense, making Yoon Tae-hee give this speech could be seen as Seok Ju-ryeon’s own strategic gamble.

Countless eyes were watching Yoon Tae-hee. However, Yoon Tae-hee was a man who wouldn’t bat an eye even in the face of a barrage of arrows. To be able to flip the mood of so many people at once in such a critical setting would be impossible without a truly extraordinary temperament.

“I believe you all know what I have done.”

At that moment, Yoon Tae-hee spoke politely, his voice still tinged with amusement.

“That’s right. I once attacked the Exorcism Bureau. I wanted revenge for the loss of my family. I wanted to bring the Exorcism Bureau down. So, for ten long years, I embedded myself within the Bureau, gloomily sharpening my blade of revenge while waiting for the right moment. Sounds like a cliché from some third-rate movie you’ve seen somewhere, doesn’t it?”

As he confronted his past and history head-on from the very beginning of the speech without avoiding a single speck of it, the whispering in the hall gradually died down.

“Since I’ve come this far, some of you might be curious about the conclusion of my revenge. Well, to put it simply, I half-succeeded and half-failed. The fact that you and I are all here right now is proof of that. Yes, I failed to bring down the Exorcism Bureau. However, I believe the Exorcism Bureau did collapse once back then.”

His low, rich, and pleasant voice resonated through every corner of the grand auditorium via the microphone.

“The current Exorcism Bureau is a new one, different from the one I sought to destroy.”

Pausing for a moment, Yoon Tae-hee adjusted the microphone and spoke again.

“That is why I have returned. As the Chief of the Department of Grievance Resolution. Yes, I know there are great concerns. Many of you must wonder how I, the former leader of the Exorcist Order unauthorized copywho led ghosts to [Read on Read BL Novels]on Read BL Novels" style="display:none;" aria-label="Read on Read BL Novels">Read on Read BL Novelsattack the Exorcism Bureau, dare to stand in this position. I understand.”

Slowly erasing the smile from his face, Yoon Tae-hee closed his eyes and spoke.

“If ghosts are territories stained by darkness, then Narye is the torch that drives that darkness away.”

Taking a deep breath, Yoon Tae-hee continued in a low voice.

“For many long years, our Exorcism Bureau has taken up arms to repel darkness and calamity and to protect the world of the living. We swung our swords and threw our talismans under the noble value of chukyeok—the exorcism of plagues. This was because we believed that suppressing and driving away vengeful spirits through force was the absolute and only way to guarantee the well-being and peace of the living. In that regard, the clash between the Exorcism Bureau and the Exorcist Order was inevitable. For force inevitably gives birth to more force.”

For a fleeting second, Yoon Tae-hee’s gaze shifted toward Jae-gyeom, who was sitting in the front row below the podium. Jae-gyeom felt his heart sink for a moment. Yoon Tae-hee’s eyes were cool and heavily sunken.

“However, as many of you know, darkness suppressed by force does not disappear; it becomes resentment under another name. Grudges forcibly broken became seeds of deeper sorrow, lingering upon this land. Peace obtained while ignoring the voices of those who left in agony can never be called true peace.”

A heavy silence had now descended upon the auditorium. Before they knew it, the exorcists were listening intently to his story. The tense atmosphere had also softened considerably.

“Ghosts are not monsters that spontaneously appear from nothing. A ghost is what a living person of flesh and blood becomes upon death, and all of us standing here will also eventually face death. That is the irreversible providence of nature. If so, why did they become ghosts, and why were they unable to ascend to heaven, forced instead to wander the underworld and remain on this earth? I have wondered about that for a very long time.”

The eyes of the exorcists, who had spent their entire lives dedicated to the principle that ghosts must be annihilated, wavered. It was a subtle agitation.

“What made them feel wronged, what made them unable to leave—we must now be able to listen to those things. Old sayings tell us that when the world goes wrong, Heaven sends goei—the strange and anomalous—as a warning. The fact that the dead cannot leave properly is the responsibility of the living world. Therefore, listening to their voices before drawing the sword, untying the knots of resentment and opening the path so they may leave on their own… I believe that is the true reason why we were granted this mysterious power.”

Staring at the audience with unwavering, clear eyes, Yoon Tae-hee raised his voice with conviction.

“Thus, the Exorcism Bureau shall cast off its past facade and take a new first step under the solemn promise of ‘The Exorcism Bureau for a New Era.’ We will uncover the grudges of vengeful visit unauthorized copyour sitespirits Read on Read BL Novelsto resolve their agony, strive for peace, and lead the cheondo—the guiding of the dead—with the generosity of the living. Accordingly, I declare the launch of the newly established ‘Department of Grievance Resolution.’”

Having finished his speech, Yoon Tae-hee took a step back and calmly placed his hand over his heart in a gesture of respect.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

After the speech ended, only a heavy silence remained in the hall. Everyone held their breath, chewing over the shock and lingering aftereffects of the speech they had just heard. A strange stillness lingered for a while, but then, someone who gathered their courage began to clap cautiously. Following that, Seok Ju-ryeon and Master Yeohye also began to clap slowly. The applause that started thus spread like wildfire, eventually filling the entire hall.

Clap, clap, clap, clap…

Of course, among them were those who clapped reluctantly, and those who refused to clap until the end. It was impossible for a single speech to completely overturn the internal atmosphere of the Exorcism Bureau built over many years or to gain the support of everyone. However, it was a speech of sufficient meaning in that it created a crack in the values that most exorcists had absolutely believed in and gave them a point to ponder.

What happened after that was a task that the Department of Grievance Resolution would have to solve step by step.

Jae-gyeom looked up blankly at Yoon Tae-hee, who stood amidst the pouring applause. Standing on the podium, he endured the gaze of countless people with a perfectly upright posture, without a single flaw. His tall height, a black suit that fit his solid frame perfectly, spotless polished shoes, and neatly swept-back hair.

He was the perfect image of ‘Chief Yoon.’

Looking at him, for some reason, Jae-gyeom’s heart kept beating foolishly, and he felt like smiling.

Just then, Yoon Tae-hee, standing on the podium, slid his eyes over and found Jae-gyeom. Their gazes locked precisely in mid-air. The moment their eyes met, Yoon Tae-hee, [Read on Read BL Novels]who had been standing [unauthorized [Read on Read BL Novels]copy]with a composed face, quickly closed and opened one eye—a gesture only Jae-gyeom could recognize. It was a secretive wink that didn’t change his expression one bit.

‘Did I do well?’

Jae-gyeom finally burst into a bright smile and clapped his hands more vigorously than anyone else.