Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 115

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Dog Covered in Shit (3)
My words were audaciously blunt.
But Attorney Kang Seok-ryong and Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho had no time to dwell on my insolence.
For them, only one thing mattered.
How to escape this crisis—that was all.
Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho rolled his eyes, surveying his surroundings.
‘At least there’s that. He didn’t bring any investigators.’
That meant he’d acted independently without reporting to his superiors.
‘And Lee Eun-ha, the reporter….’
A face he’d seen frequently on television, one who appeared regularly on entertainment programs and filmed commercials often.
‘She’s interested in money.’
Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho finished his assessment.
A loophole seemed to present itself.
‘Good.’
Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho lifted his gaze.
He saw Attorney Kang Seok-ryong biting his lip.
‘Insane bastard.’
Just moments ago, he’d been clinking glasses with Attorney Kang Seok-ryong in merriment.
But now he wanted to tear the man’s face apart.
It seemed this entire situation had arisen because of him.
‘But.’
I need Kang Seok-ryong.
Without his help, there’s no way out of this.
Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho moved his foot beneath the table.
He tapped Attorney Kang Seok-ryong’s knee and gave him a meaningful look.
‘Get your head straight. We need to escape!’
Attorney Kang Seok-ryong nodded in understanding.
Then Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho shifted his gaze toward Seo Jin.
Now it was his turn.
‘First, I’ll intimidate him.’
Seo Jin’s face was gentle.
Clearly, he’d done nothing but study before becoming a prosecutor.
And.
‘His father is the CEO of Jaejeong Construction?’
A spoiled brat who’d grown up sheltered and walked an easy path—these days, there were plenty of silver-spoon judges and prosecutors like him.
And they all shared a common trait.
‘They’ve never faced hardship. Stumble over a pebble and they panic….’
Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho licked his dry lips.
Now it was time to teach Seo Jin how the world really worked.
“Who the hell are you? What kind of bastard stands before me spouting such arrogance!”
Kang Jun-ho’s voice thundered like lightning.
The sharp sound made Lee Eun-ha flinch in surprise.
But Seo Jin remained unfazed.
I sat down across from them quietly and opened my mouth with composure.
“My apologies for the late introduction. I’m Seo Jin, a prosecutor with the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office. I’ll be the one investigating both of you.”
“Investigating? On what charges?”
I pointed with my finger at the paper on the table—the verdict that attorney Kang Seok-ryong had brought.
“That should make for excellent evidence.”
In that instant, attorney Kang Seok-ryong seized the verdict and tore it to shreds.
Then he quickly placed the pieces on a plate and pulled out a lighter, setting them ablaze.
Watching the paper burn, attorney Kang Seok-ryong smirked.
“Is it because you’re young? You’re really inexperienced. Where exactly is this evidence you speak of?”
“…!”
As my brow furrowed, attorney Kang Seok-ryong continued.
“Don’t tell me you were counting on the CCTV in this building? We’ve already taken care of it, so don’t bother. That leaves the photos the reporter took? Can you see the written contents in those photos? You can’t, can you?”
His contemptible voice ended.
At the same time, Kang Jun-ho opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry we’re meeting like this before trial. But the two of us are actually relatives.”
“…Relatives?”
“Yes. My son is getting married next month. This person came to convey his congratulations on that matter.”
My pupils wavered, and Kang Jun-ho continued speaking.
“And I was thinking of requesting a judge substitution because I thought it would be problematic for me to preside over this person’s trial. So, is the misunderstanding cleared up?”
I wiped my lips.
Then Kang Jun-ho picked up his phone while studying my expression.
He scrolled through his contacts, searching for a number.
Where his finger stopped, there was Assemblyman Baek Ki-ho.
Kang Jun-ho showed me the screen and spoke.
“If it seems the misunderstanding hasn’t been cleared up, I’m planning to contact Assemblyman Baek Ki-ho. I hear he’s taken on the chairmanship of the National Assembly Legislative and Judicial Committee? He’ll be Minister of Justice in the next administration.”
“….”
“You’re young, so perhaps you don’t know. A person needs to be flexible. I’ve explained everything and promised to change the judge. But are you planning to humiliate me to the very end? Then I have no choice.”
“…!”
“Seoul has many people. To live in harmony with them, you need to learn not just criminal law, but how the world actually works.”
My complexion was darkening.
Seeing that expression, Kang Jun-ho sneered.
‘This bastard….’
Suppression through power was working.
Even if he was young, he was still a prosecutor.
He would know what a single word from a powerful person could accomplish.
‘He’s frightened.’
Kang Jun-ho glanced at attorney Kang Seok-ryong again.
‘Drag the reporter out. Go buy her silence. Ten million won should be enough.’
Attorney Kang Seok-ryong understood the situation perfectly.
‘I’ll trust only the Presiding Judge on this matter.’
Attorney Kang Seok-ryong rose to his feet with a grunt.
Then he turned to Lee Eun-ha and opened his mouth.
“Reporter, could you step outside for a moment? Let’s go….”
That was when it happened.
Seo Jin, who had been sitting in gloomy silence until now, lifted his head.
“Presiding Judge? I just thought of something I’m curious about.”
“…!”
“Representative Baek Ki-ho is a frightening man, isn’t he? But it doesn’t seem like he’s the type to cover for someone who’s committed a crime.”
Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho’s face twisted.
“What?”
Seo Jin scratched his cheek and continued hesitantly.
“A trial deal—caught red-handed trying to play games with the sentence of a pseudo-religious cult leader. Do you think people will just sit back and accept this?”
“…!”
“Is Representative Baek Ki-ho really worth the Presiding Judge bearing all that public backlash? I’m genuinely curious….”
He spoke in a bumbling manner, but it was provocation.
His unflinching gaze was saying: let’s see this through to the end.
Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho, enraged, slammed the table and let out a curse.
“You bastard!”
“Did you stuff a rag in the mouth of a man who became a judge?”
Seo Jin’s eyes changed in an instant.
His gaze turned cold as he stared down Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho.
But Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho had already crossed a bridge from which there was no return.
“Do you have evidence? Do you?! Fine, I met with the attorney here! But you said he was a relative! I could face some disciplinary action! So what do you think will happen to you? Everything I have…!”
As Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho was growling.
Lee Eun-ha, who had been quietly listening beside him, raised her hand slightly.
And she opened her mouth in a soft voice.
“…Sorry, but I have evidence.”
The gazes of Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho and Attorney Kang Seok-ryong snapped toward Lee Eun-ha.
Their eyes screamed: what nonsense is she spouting?
Lee Eun-ha picked up her camera.
“I’ve been recording video since we were outside.”
“…!”
Lee Eun-ha operated the camera.
Soon, the voices of the two men played back.
-“With a one-billion-won apartment, couldn’t we at least save face with the daughter-in-law?”
The faces of Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho and Attorney Kang Seok-ryong grew ashen.
It was evidence they couldn’t escape from.
It laid bare the entire scene of judicial bribery.
“That’s enough….”
Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho spoke.
But reporter Lee Eun-ha didn’t stop.
The voices of the two continued to play.
-You could still be active in your position.
“Enough!”
Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho slammed the table—bang, bang, bang—and attorney Kang Seok-ryong spoke quickly.
“Reporter, you need money, don’t you? I’ll give you some. How much would it take?”
Attorney Kang Seok-ryong’s appearance was pathetic.
He knew it himself.
But right now, what mattered was making that evidence disappear.
“How much will it take!”
“Ah, I don’t need that money.”
“What?”
“I make decent money myself.”
“Damn it!”
Attorney Kang Seok-ryong snatched the camera from reporter Lee Eun-ha.
Then, cursing “Damn it, damn it,” he frantically pulled out the memory card.
He put it in his mouth and began chewing it vigorously, trying to swallow it.
Watching that desperate struggle, I let out a low chuckle.
“You’re trying hard.”
My voice carried an ominous tone.
Attorney Kang Seok-ryong’s eyes darted urgently toward me.
“…Why, why are you laughing?”
“I’m curious about something else. How does the memory card taste? I’ve seen similar lawyers doing the same thing in Chuncheon too. Why do you all do that?”
There was something more to this.
Attorney Kang Seok-ryong’s face began to crumple with severity.
I smiled faintly and raised my phone.
“Let me teach you something. Modern cameras have a feature called Bluetooth. You can transfer the files inside to your phone with just a button press. So I already transferred them, while you’re wasting your effort.”
Attorney Kang Seok-ryong’s movements stopped abruptly.
His face clearly showed he was finished.
Only groans escaped his lips.
“Ah….”
It was over now.
No amount of struggling would let him escape.
I stood up and patted attorney Kang Seok-ryong’s shoulder lightly.
“Looks like we’re done here. Let’s call it a day.”
At that moment, Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho urgently grabbed my hand.
And falling to his knees, he opened his mouth with a desperate voice.
“L-look… if you arrest me, you’ll make a lot of enemies. Things could get dangerous. So….”
“So?”
“I… I’d really appreciate it if you’d just let this slide. My son’s getting married next month. Could you just give me until then? Then I’ll make sure to look favorably on all your cases going forward. Even if someone else takes over your trials, my word carries weight….”
But Seo Jin’s gaze remained glacial.
He had no intention of backing down.
Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho suddenly bellowed.
“You’re trying to make an enemy of the judiciary! I’m telling you this because you’re acting like a reckless fool, but you’re making an enemy of the judiciary…!”
Seo Jin cut him off sharply.
“I don’t care.”
“What?”
“I said I don’t care. Should a prosecutor be afraid just because he has many enemies? If that’s the case, I should resign.”
At that moment, at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
Investigators were gathered in the Smoking Room.
“Did you hear?”
“About what? Prosecutor Seo Jin getting stabbed yesterday? If anyone at our office doesn’t know about that, they’re a spy. I’ve heard about it so many times my eardrums are about to bleed…. Wait, what’s that?”
A vehicle had stopped in the Parking Lot.
Seo Jin stepped out, dragging two men along with him.
The investigators blinked in disbelief.
“That’s… Lawyer Kang Seok-ryong, right?”
“And that one looks like Presiding Judge Kang Jun-ho?”
Moments later, the investigators’ conversation shifted.
“Hey, the prosecutor who got stabbed brought in a judge and a lawyer the very next day?”
“Where would you ever hear such a crazy story? I wouldn’t believe it even in a movie.”
“Seo Jin.”
“Huh?”
“It’s Prosecutor Seo Jin’s story. He just brought them in. You didn’t know?”
“No way.”
They might not believe it in a movie, but if Seo Jin did it, they had no choice but to believe it.
*
*
*
Several days later, in the attorney visitation room at the Detention Center.
“You’re saying you’ll put up 10 billion won? 1 billion upfront, and 9 billion if I get seven years or less? Is that right?”
A new lawyer had appeared before Shin Ji-seok.
Every lawyer had refused, and he was considering whether to seek a court-appointed attorney when this one showed up.
A weathered-looking man in his mid-to-late thirties.
Shin Ji-seok spoke up.
“Last time, some idiot—I mean, a lawyer…. Anyway, I hope you’re not like that.”
Lawyer Kang Seok-ryong had ruined everything.
The trial was approaching, and his image had only gotten worse.
Now I truly had to consider the worst-case scenario.
More than ten years, or possibly life imprisonment.
But the lawyer sitting across from me smiled wryly.
“Come on, who else would take your case if not me? With a court-appointed attorney, you’d get life for sure. Don’t be so hostile—let’s do this amicably. I’m quite competent, you know?”
Shin Ji-seok clenched his fists.
If he’d had time, he would have searched for another lawyer, but now there was no time left.
‘Damn it.’
After deliberating, Shin Ji-seok nodded.
“Fine.”
“Okay, then the upfront fee is two billion won. You don’t need to pay me directly—send it to this orphanage instead.”
“…An orphanage?”
Shin Ji-seok blinked in disbelief.
He wondered if the man was insane.
“Are you Lee Du-jin, the attorney?”
“Yes.”
Seo Jin was meeting with Lee Eun-ha at a coffee shop near the District Prosecutor’s Office.
Lee Eun-ha, who had been stabbing her cake with a fork, looked at Seo Jin with wide, astonished eyes.
“…He’s taking this trial?”
Lee Du-jin—an attorney who primarily fights against large corporations.
Based on his track record so far.
-Toxic substances in toys case.
-Helped franchise owners sue major corporate headquarters.
-Construction site industrial accident cover-up case.
-Patent infringement by conglomerates against small businesses.
A man who had fought unwinnable battles to help the weak.
There seemed to be no reason for him to take this case.
Seo Jin tapped the table thoughtfully.
‘I’m curious about his motive….’
*
*
*
“Stop oppressing religious freedom!”
“South Korea is a country with religious freedom!”
The front of the courthouse was filled with protesting believers.
In truth, it wasn’t an unusual occurrence.
Their protests had been happening daily since Shin Ji-seok’s arrest.
But today was the first trial date, and the number of protesters differed from usual.
They filled the streets, holding placards with “Stop Religious Persecution!” written in red letters.
The desperate voices amplified through megaphones seemed to resound throughout not just the courthouse but all of Seocho District.
And then Seo Jin appeared there.
He’d arrested Shin Ji-seok and Seo Dong-sik, and thrown that lawyer and judge behind bars.
To the followers of Buwun Church, I was the devil incarnate, a demon.
“You bastard!”
“Son of a bitch!”
“Demon!”
“Go straight to hell!”
I paid them no mind and trudged steadily up the courthouse steps.
In an instant, reporters swarmed toward me like a cloud of locusts.
The same questions as always followed.
How much prison time was I considering, had there been any difficulties.
Then one reporter fired off a question rapidly.
“Aren’t you burdened by the protesters’ demonstrations?”
I stopped walking and turned toward the reporter with an unhurried smile.
The reporters who saw that smile felt it instinctively.
‘We need to capture this!’
Camera shutters erupted in a cacophony as flashes exploded around me.
And I opened my mouth to speak.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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