Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 129

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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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Arrogance Continued (2)
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That night.
I parked my car in front of a commercial building.
It was a construction site that had been halted, with a banner fluttering that read “Lien in Effect.”
I entered the building and trudged up the stairs with heavy footsteps.
When I reached the rooftop after passing through the dark stairwell, I saw Shin Ji-yeon.
Shin Ji-yeon handed me a phone and opened her mouth.
“A gift.”
“What is it?”
“A burner phone. Use this to contact me from now on. And.”
This time, Shin Ji-yeon handed me a beer.
“Drink.”
I accepted the beer and surveyed my surroundings.
A commercial building with exposed rebar.
“Why did you want to meet in a place like this?”
“The view is nice. Why? Don’t you like it?”
The commercial building was situated in a high location.
Just as Shin Ji-yeon said, the sprawling night view looked beautiful.
But there was no particular spark of emotion in my eyes.
Shin Ji-yeon continued.
“My father always says something. Always suspect and be vigilant.”
It’s a passage from the Art of War.
“But my father takes it further.”
“Don’t trust family. Suspect even yourself. Endlessly, constantly suspect. The moment you think something is right, that’s when you get hit.”
“And he practices what he preaches. That’s why I chose this place to meet. I lied today.”
When Chairman Shin Moo-hak mentioned the prosecutor who had taken Shin Il-seung, Shin Ji-yeon had answered quickly.
“I handled that by calling the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, sir. I asked them to exclude it from the case.”
Shin Ji-yeon continued, recalling that situation.
“Father will suspect. He might even follow me.”
This commercial building is where construction has stopped.
There are no security cameras.
Because it’s in a high location, I can check if there’s a car following me.
“That’s why I suggested meeting here. Like I said, the view is nice, and drinking beer with my handsome younger brother doesn’t seem so bad either.”
When I nodded, Shin Ji-yeon took a sip of her beer and continued.
“Can you get Shin Il-seung detained? I think there’s about 20 hours left.”
“Yes.”
“You know that male idol singer was reported in a Me Too scandal today? I did that. I wasn’t trying to backstab you—Father ordered it.”
An article broke about a popular idol group member committing sexual assault.
Simultaneously, the articles about Lee Sol-ah and Shin Il-seung vanished in an instant.
“Public opinion is finished, but can you pull it off?”
Yet Seo Jin answered calmly once again.
I had anticipated this kind of interference tactic from the beginning.
“Yes.”
At my confident tone, Shin Ji-yeon smiled faintly and spoke.
“I like that confident voice. But if Il-seung gets arrested, and our father remembers his younger brother’s name, then I can’t protect you.”
Among the seventy-odd subsidiaries Shin Ji-yeon owned, she only had department stores, hotels, confectionery, and home shopping.
Even those could be stripped away with a single word from Chairman Shin Moo-hak.
I let out a small laugh.
“There’s no need to protect me. In a few days, I’ll be thirty-one. I’m not at an age to hide under my older sister’s skirts anymore.”
At my words, Shin Ji-yeon burst into laughter.
“Did you just call me older sister? That sounds nice.”
“Anyway, you didn’t call me here just to warn the chairman. What was the real reason you asked me to come?”
“What do you want?”
“Want?”
My gaze fixed on Shin Ji-yeon.
Shin Ji-yeon nodded and opened her mouth.
“Don’t give me vague talk about wanting to raise your performance record. Performance is something you could get from catching a thief next door. If anything, bringing in someone like Il-seung would be a minus.”
“….”
“My brother, you don’t seem like a monk without desires, and you must have approached because you want something, so I want to hear what that is.”
“….”
“What do you want? Your path in the Prosecutor’s Office will be paved by the Prosecutor General. Money? Your father is Kim Jun-man, the representative of Jaejeong Construction, right? You should have enough money. What could my brother be lacking? Did you really approach because you took a liking to this older sister of yours? That can’t be it.”
Shin Ji-yeon was anticipating what I wanted.
She continued speaking.
“Business connections? If that’s what you want, should I help you build those bridges?”
From an ordinary person’s perspective, Jaejeong Construction was certainly a remarkable company, but from their viewpoint, it was merely a name on the subcontracting rankings.
Compared to a chaebol, it was nothing more than one of their subsidiaries.
It was difficult to build connections with a chaebol family at that level.
So Shin Ji-yeon thought that might be what I wanted, but I shook my head.
“No.”
I didn’t want connections with the chaebol family.
‘It’s too early.’
If I built connections with the chaebol now, I would have to grovel.
What I wanted was for them to come seeking me out and bow their heads.
“Then what is it? This isn’t twenty questions. Just tell me.”
“I’ll explain the details once the matter succeeds. It won’t be a loss for you either.”
“It won’t be a loss?”
“Yes. You don’t need to doubt this.”
Through Shin Ji-yeon, I intended to swallow one of Shin Il-seung’s subsidiaries.
Even if Shin Il-seung collapsed, Shin Ji-yeon couldn’t absorb all of his subsidiaries.
So for Shin Ji-yeon, who wanted to control Shinma Group, having more friendly subsidiaries was an acceptable condition.
“And don’t worry about the Chairman. It’s frightening, but he won’t remember my name. A hotshot prosecutor like me shouldn’t be remembered by someone who controls the nation’s economy.”
I would ensure that the Chairman never learned of my involvement.
“…How?”
“Just watch.”
My voice remained confident throughout.
There was no sense of intimidation, even when mentioning the Chairman of Shinma Group.
Shin Ji-yeon regarded me with an enigmatic gaze.
At that moment, my phone vibrated.
The caller was the bodyguard.
The same bodyguard I’d been tailing along with Prosecutor Han Chang-hee during the day.
“Yes, Kim Seo-jin…. I’m coming now.”
I pocketed my phone and continued speaking to Shin Ji-yeon.
“I’ll gratefully enjoy the beer you gave me after I shower at home. But I have somewhere to be right now.”
With that, I left the rooftop.
Shin Ji-yeon’s gaze followed my departing figure.
And when my silhouette had completely vanished, Shin Ji-yeon murmured to herself.
“It’s not a loss for me? I’m curious what kind of ambition he harbors.”
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“So? Han Chang-hee was caught by Kim Seo-jin?”
“Yes.”
In the Detention Center’s lawyer consultation room.
Shin Il-seung chuckled and shook his head.
A lawyer sat across from him.
“Does Kim Seo-jin think he can erase everything he has? Is that even possible? A prosecutor, and yet so foolish. Maybe domestic university graduates really aren’t cut out for this?”
Prosecutor Han Chang-hee was continuing to erase his traces.
But in a situation where I didn’t know what he was holding, his actions were reckless.
Finding a needle in a sandpit would be faster.
Shin Il-seung spoke while putting a cigarette in his mouth.
“What would you like me to do?”
“Well, that’s not something I can decide….”
“My father would have said something like this in a situation like this—if the tail is caught, it must be cut off. There’s no need to complicate things unnecessarily, right?”
The lawyer felt a chilling aura in Shin Il-seung’s eyes.
He wondered if he was about to order an execution.
“S-sir… he’s a prosecutor. You can’t kill a prosecutor. Individually, we can treat them like dogs, but these guys have a characteristic where they unite as one when they’re trampled on, and if that happens….”
But Shin Il-seung burst into laughter, clutching his belly.
“Uncle, are we the mafia? We kill people just because we don’t like them? Huh?”
“Well, then….”
“Go find Han Chang-hee and tell him. The cash payment is already done, so if Han Chang-hee just keeps his mouth shut, it’s over. So make some excuse and tell him to get arrested. Then I’ll make sure his family lives without worry. I’ll even guarantee his life after he’s released.”
Shin Il-seung continued speaking with a quiet laugh.
“Don’t worry and go tell him. When someone’s being swept away in a valley, they’ll grab onto even a hand extended to them.”
“Ah, yes.”
The lawyer answered respectfully, but his true thoughts were somewhat different.
It was truly absurd.
It was hard to understand how such words could come from the mouth of someone not even thirty years old.
‘How on earth was he raised….’
But he didn’t let it show on his face.
After all, it was just a matter of running an errand and getting paid.
As the lawyer nodded and stood up, Shin Il-seung stretched and spoke.
“Anyway, I’m getting out tomorrow, right?”
“Yes, you will be released. Judging by how quiet the Prosecutor’s Office has been, they don’t seem to have any good moves.”
“Okay, then bring a cot in here. I’ll sleep here tonight.”
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“Someone met with Han Chang-hee, you said?”
“Ah, yes. He just left.”
It was in front of a bar in Gangnam.
I was meeting with the bodyguard who had been tailing Han Chang-hee.
The bodyguard pulled out his phone and showed me a photo.
“This is the person.”
Because it was taken secretly in a dark place, the face wasn’t very clear.
But the silhouette was unmistakable.
‘Shin Il-seung’s lawyer.’
I nodded.
I could already predict what nonsense that bastard had spouted to Han Chang-hee.
“I understand. Han Chang-hee is still inside, right?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for your hard work. And I need you to work a bit harder today.”
I didn’t know what might happen to Han Chang-hee.
In the worst case, it could be made to look like suicide.
Until then, I had to protect him through the bodyguard.
After asking the bodyguard for his help, I turned my body.
And I moved toward the bar where Han Chang-hee was.
*
Han Chang-hee was sitting in the bar.
I drank the strong liquor straight, gulping it down without pause.
I couldn’t endure this without intoxication.
‘Damn it.’
Han Chang-hee clutched at his head in frustration.
‘What the hell is he holding onto!’
If I didn’t find and destroy whatever evidence Seo Jin possessed, my life was finished.
I was a prosecutor now, but my status would change—I’d become the defendant.
Moreover, I’d received Shin Il-seung’s message through my lawyer.
“Don’t sell me out. Turn yourself in. Make your excuses reasonable. Then your family won’t have anything to worry about.”
Han Chang-hee gripped his glass tightly.
His hand trembled violently.
‘Both of them are the same damn bastards.’
Just then, someone sat down right beside him.
And spoke in a leisurely voice.
“I’ll have the same.”
Han Chang-hee’s gaze shifted to the person beside him.
In that instant, his expression turned savage.
“You son of a bitch!”
The person sitting beside him was Seo Jin.
Han Chang-hee slammed down his glass with a sharp crack and spoke viciously.
“You bastard! Because of you, I—”
Seo Jin shook his head.
And spoke in a dry voice.
“Speak correctly. The reason you’re cornered is because you took money.”
“Until the very end!”
“Prosecutor Han Chang-hee, you were planning to self-destruct anyway, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, and I’m taking you down with me.”
“Stop with the threats. Since it’s come to this, let’s catch Shin Il-seung as your final achievement as a prosecutor.”
“What?”
“I’m giving you an opportunity right now. When you get out, you can tell your child that their father was a prosecutor they could be proud of.”
Han Chang-hee’s pupils trembled.
Few parents remain unmoved by talk of their children.
But more important than that is putting food on the table.
Even if I become worthless, I want my child to eat well and live well!
Then Seo Jin lifted his glass and continued speaking.
“How much is he offering? How much is Shin Il-seung offering you to take the fall and self-destruct?”
Shin Il-seung had mentioned 500 million won.
The man who had thrown 30 billion won when screaming to capture Seo Jin was now trying to negotiate with just 500 million won as Han Chang-hee floundered in desperation.
Yet Han Chang-hee considered even that a blessing.
Because he was drowning.
I had to grasp at straws.
But then.
“Give me that yacht.”
“What?”
“One billion won. That should ease your worries about your children while you’re inside.”
“I, well….”
“And don’t believe a word Shin Il-seung says. He won’t escape this. He’ll be looking at over ten years in prison.”
Han Chang-hee blinked.
I smiled quietly and spoke.
“Let me ask again. Will you take the chance to be called a prosecutor you can be proud of?”
The small fish held no interest.
My target was solely Shin Il-seung.
One of his subsidiaries.
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“I need to look remorseful?”
The next day.
Shin Il-seung put on a prepared hoodie and practiced his expression in the mirror.
“I, I apologize for causing such a controversy. Is this enough?”
Once the arrest warrant was rejected, straight home.
But reporters would be waiting.
Chairman Shin Moo-hak had secured the major media outlets and portals, but the small press outlets crying out for journalistic integrity and that bastard’s YouTube channel were the problem.
Shin Il-seung lit a cigarette.
As the lawyer’s consultation room filled with hazy smoke, the door creaked open and the lawyer entered.
“How is Dad?”
“Pardon?”
“I said how is Dad. Haven’t you seen our father?”
For Shin Il-seung, Chairman Shin Moo-hak’s mood mattered more than the arrest itself.
He could end up getting beaten with a golf club.
“I haven’t seen him.”
“Damn it…. Never mind, what did Han Chang-hee say?”
“He understood well enough.”
“Okay, once I’m out, I’m going straight after Jaejeong Construction. Some nobody puts on a badge and thinks he’s something….”
That’s when it happened.
The lawyer’s phone vibrated.
It was Shinma Group’s legal team.
“Yes, I received the….”
The lawyer’s face, which had held an indifferent expression as he brought the phone to his ear, crumpled in an instant.
And Shin Il-seung’s eyes, watching the scene unfold, narrowed.
“Why? What’s going on?”
The lawyer lowered his phone, muttering with a dazed expression.
“Han Chang-hee is… holding a press conference.”
“What?”
“He’s confessing to accepting bribes from you.”
Shin Il-seung couldn’t grasp the situation.
It was simply too far removed from reality.
The man who’d always been happy with money was suddenly confessing out of nowhere.
“…What are you talking about?”
But at that moment, the lawyer’s phone vibrated again.
The lawyer’s expression grew anxious.
As the saying goes, misfortunes never come alone—bad news has a way of piling up all at once.
The lawyer answered the call cautiously, thinking “surely not, surely not.”
But surely enough, the lawyer’s face grew progressively pale.
“…An arrest warrant for drugs and assault, huh? Bribery? But why is embezzlement in there? Why is embezzlement in there?! Wait, hold on… Shell company? What the hell is that? What is it, you bastard!”
Shin Il-seung just stood there, blinking blankly.
And when reality finally began to sink in.
‘Embezzlement? Shell company?’
He realized that things he absolutely could not let be exposed were erupting simultaneously.
Those were things he’d hidden away to seize control of Shinma Group in the future.
If they were exposed, if his half-brother and half-sister found out….
“Damn it!”
Shin Il-seung strode forward and snatched the phone from the lawyer’s grip.
And he asked harshly.
“What?”
-Lee Du-jin’s attorney keeps filing charges. It’s… already reached the Prosecutor’s Office….
Shin Il-seung’s face turned ashen and his lips trembled.
He tried to find a way out, but there was none.
If it exploded to this extent, even his father would have difficulty saving him.
Even if it were possible, his older siblings would stand in the way.
‘No, this can’t be….’
It was when he felt his hands and feet going numb.
With a creaking sound and a damp noise, the door to the visitation room opened.
Shin Il-seung’s head snapped toward the open door.
Seo Jin stood there at an angle, leaning against the frame.
Seo Jin smiled faintly and spoke.
“You’re screwed, aren’t you?”

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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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