Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 14

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

Being Competent (4)
*
*
*
“Detective Jung Min-gu found this?”
“Yeah.”
“No way.”
The next day, I was at Seo Jin’s House.
Lee Jung-woo sat at the dining table, reading through the materials Detective Jung Min-gu had provided.
There were five suspects in total.
Of course, far more people had been under investigation in the early stages of the case.
But after ten years of investigation, Detective Jung Min-gu had ultimately narrowed it down to these five.
Lee Jung-woo rubbed his chin and spoke.
“But the suspects don’t match up with the cigarette, right?”
Detective Jung Min-gu had conducted a DNA test in secret.
He’d picked up a discarded cigarette butt and paid out of pocket to have it tested.
But there was no one whose DNA matched what was found on the cigarette.
“He’s intelligent. He probably brought that cigarette knowing we’d expect a DNA analysis. While the police and prosecutors were struggling to get a match, this bastard was laughing at them, like the whole world was in the palm of his hand.”
“Damn it, you sick son of a bitch. You killed a child and still had the presence of mind to think about DNA analysis? I really want to see that pathetic face of yours.”
Lee Jung-woo tore at his hair in frustration.
I paced around the living room for a long time.
‘What is it?’
The killer, who’d left no trace at the scene, had reacted sensitively to Detective Jung Min-gu.
‘What could it be?’
I narrowed my eyes and recalled everything I’d seen through psychometry.
From the swaying streetlight to the garbage scattered across the ground.
And as I read through the documents again and again, I found one distinctive pattern.
“Jung-woo, look at this.”
Lee Jung-woo shifted his gaze to where I was pointing.
It was the section listing the suspects’ alibis.
“Doesn’t something feel off about this?”
Lee Jung-woo, who’d been staring blankly, furrowed his brow.
“…This is perfect. So perfect it’s actually suspicious.”
“Right?”
Detective Jung Min-gu had met with the suspects he’d narrowed down each year, asking and re-asking about their circumstances at the time.
Every time, they answered identically to the five W’s and one H—who, when, where, what, how, and why.
Perhaps Detective Jung Min-gu had even questioned the killer about this very perfection.
“Your story’s always the same?”
The killer would have flinched, perhaps thinking he’d become a prime suspect.
‘Is it him?’
Seo Jin ran his tongue across his lips.
Something was clicking into place, and a method to track down the culprit materialized before my eyes.
‘His voice was saturated with irritation.’
The relentless investigation closing in, the fury at the prospect of his perfect crime unraveling.
If I exploit that?
‘I can catch him.’
The entire plan unfurled vividly in Seo Jin’s mind.
He quickly shifted his gaze to Lee Jung-woo.
“Could I ask you for a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Spread a rumor to these five people. Tell them that Prosecutor Kim Seo-jin has found evidence of the perpetrator in the Yoo A-sung case. The person suspected to match that evidence is….”
*
*
*
“Apparently, there’s a strong possibility the high school teacher is the culprit.”
“Really? Is the Yoo A-sung case going to be solved?”
It was a Coffee Shop.
Two women in their late twenties who appeared to be friends whispered while glancing around nervously.
Their voices were definitely quiet.
But they were clear, and anyone nearby could hear them.
And a man fiddling with his phone froze.
The man was Lee Jae-hwan, the high school teacher selected as a suspect.
With his gold-rimmed glasses, he was sleekly handsome, the kind of face that naturally drew favor from everyone.
He perked up his ears and focused intently on the women’s conversation.
“These days they can even find fingerprints on a person’s body, right? Apparently they discovered some kind of evidence on the clothesline that bound Yoo A-sung.”
“Wait, isn’t that prosecutor Kim Seo-jin at the District Prosecution Office?”
“Yeah, he’s keeping it all to himself—nobody’s been told the details.”
“I’d monopolize it too if I were him. If that succeeds, it’s a jackpot, right? A cold case for ten years. I’m jealous.”
Lee Jae-hwan downed his iced Americano in one gulp and stood up.
At the same moment, his phone vibrated with a sharp buzz.
He picked it up and checked the message.
-Is it you?
Lee Jae-hwan’s pupils darted rapidly around the surroundings.
But the Coffee Shop’s atmosphere was ordinary, and there was no one who appeared to have sent the message.
Or rather, everyone seemed to have sent the message to Lee Jae-hwan.
His gaze returned to the phone.
He read the message aloud quietly.
“Is it you?”
Lee Jae-hwan’s face contorted.
He bit his lip and muttered under his breath.
“What is this now? You still suspect him?”
*
*
*
A few days later, at the District Prosecution Office.
Seo Jin sat in a restaurant eating while scrolling through his phone.
Lee Jae-hwan’s social media.
Most of the posts were photos taken with students.
-With my kids.
-Character matters more than grades.
-My graduating kids, I pray that your paths ahead are always filled with happiness.
“A suspect?”
Lee So-hee sat down beside Seo Jin.
She continued speaking as she looked at his phone screen.
“…A high school teacher? Surely a teacher wouldn’t have killed an elementary school student?”
“Children kill their parents and parents kill their children in this world. A high school teacher killing an elementary school student isn’t anything special. If someone’s on the suspect list, we have to investigate them.”
Seo Jin closed the social media app he’d been examining.
Then he played a different video.
CCTV footage from a supermarket.
Lee Jae-hwan appears purchasing items.
“Bleach, baking powder, large quantities of bleach.”
“…Huh? But you can’t pin it down with just this, can you?”
“There are more clues.”
But the two couldn’t continue their conversation.
“Hey, cut it out. I’m dying of embarrassment.”
Shin Jong-seung was sitting across from Seo Jin.
He scooped soup with his spoon as he spoke.
“I’ve only got a few days left in Gangwon Province. Can’t you just stay quiet and leave? People whisper whenever they see me. They say my colleague Kim Seo-jin can’t tell right from wrong and is clinging to some unsolved case. Try to stop him! Should I be embarrassed because of you?”
“Sorry about that. I’ll make sure to solve it and become a colleague you can be proud of.”
“Still full of bluster…. Hey, So-hee, I heard from a senior prosecutor in Seoul? Kids like this who flaunt their sense of justice from the start are the first ones to strip off their robes.”
Shin Jong-seung chuckled.
But at that moment, Lee So-hee’s cold voice pierced Shin Jong-seung’s ear.
“…That’s noisy. Shouldn’t you support someone when they’re working hard?”
Seo Jin also turned his gaze toward her.
Her voice was completely different from when she spoke with Seo Jin.
As if thorns were bristling from her words.
Now that he thought about it, Lee So-hee had never been kind to Shin Jong-seung.
She was always cold and kept her distance.
But Shin Jong-seung didn’t seem intimidated, as if he was used to Lee So-hee’s reactions.
“My voice is a bit loud? But it’s hard to support this. Things will get even noisier because of Prosecutor Kim Seo-jin than my voice. An unsolved case as his first case leading independently? If a prosecutor has drawn his blade, he should cut something with it, but no matter what he does, nothing comes out, right? Prosecutor Kim Seo-jin, stop the theatrics and focus on the people’s livelihood.”
“Thanks for worrying about me.”
I raised my hand slightly, and Shin Jong-seung’s brow furrowed.
He rattled off words in rapid succession, but seeing my composed demeanor, he felt dismissed once again.
No—he had been dismissed.
In my eyes, Shin Jong-seung simply didn’t exist.
And what infuriated him even more.
Lee So-hee was stifling laughter beside him.
Shin Jong-seung refused to lose and spewed out more pointless words anyway.
“Fine, let’s see how well this goes.”
*
*
*
Wednesday night, hymns echoed through a small church.
High school teacher Lee Jae-hwan sat there in prayer.
Then someone sat down beside him.
It was Seo Jin.
Lee Jae-hwan’s pupils dilated as he caught a glimpse of Seo Jin’s face from the corner of his eye.
‘Kim Seo-jin?’
After hearing the name Prosecutor Kim Seo-jin at the coffee shop, he had scoured the internet and doggedly tracked down that face.
So he knew what Seo Jin looked like.
‘Why did he come here? Why is he sitting next to me?’
Lee Jae-hwan’s pupils trembled.
Ten years ago, Lee Jae-hwan had established himself at a private high school in this region.
His subject was mathematics.
But now he was being treated as a suspect by a prosecutor, and that prosecutor had even tracked him down to the church and was sitting beside him.
Lee Jae-hwan licked his dry lips and repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists.
Then a quiet voice flowed from my lips.
“You’re quite busy. Playing the role of a good teacher at school, reflecting on the week at church. So what do you do with your remaining time?”
“…What are you talking about? Do you know me?”
Lee Jae-hwan forced a smile and asked, and I nodded and opened my mouth.
“You know me too, don’t you?”
Just as Lee Jae-hwan’s face hardened, my voice continued.
“The killer in the Yoo A-sung murder case has been confirmed to be you. Right now, I’m searching for your other crimes.”
“…That’s not me.”
“No. It’s you.”
I turned my gaze and locked eyes with Lee Jae-hwan.
His expression was dark enough for anyone to see, and his eyes held a twisted gleam.
That warped gaze fixed on me.
“Even if you’re a prosecutor, you shouldn’t frame innocent people like this.”
I let out a short laugh.
But that laughter carried a chill.
“An innocent person?”
“So, so just bring the warrant.”
That was the end of it.
Lee Jae-hwan shot to his feet and slipped out of the Church, and I, who had been quietly watching his retreating figure, slowly rose as well.
*
*
*
Outside the Church, Lee Jae-hwan walked with hurried steps.
But he hadn’t gone far before he came to an abrupt halt.
Large, imposing men were approaching him.
The most intimidating of them produced his badge and opened his mouth.
“You’re Lee Jae-hwan, right? I’m Lee Jung-woo, Detective from Dongnam Police Station.”
“P-police?”
I heard my voice call out from behind.
“Lee Jae-hwan, you’re under emergency arrest as a suspect in the murder of Yoo A-sung. You mentioned a warrant—I’ll obtain one within 48 hours and show it to you, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
A detective in front, a prosecutor behind.
Lee Jae-hwan trembled as he spoke.
“No, it wasn’t me. I didn’t do it. I’m telling the truth, I swear! I’m just a teacher!”
Lee Jae-hwan’s voice was filled with panic, but mine remained clinical.
“Understood. Let’s go for now. I’ll explain your Miranda rights on the way, so listen carefully.”
*
*
*
“Why are you stirring up so much trouble?”
Shin Jong-seung walked through the District Prosecution Office corridor while on the phone with Kim Yun-hwan.
He was leaving work.
Tomorrow would be his last day at this dreary office.
-What are you talking about?
“Going around bragging about solving cold cases. Anyone would think he’s Superman.”
A low chuckle came through the receiver.
-He didn’t used to be so oblivious before.
“That bastard belongs right here. I wish he’d just rot away in Dongnam County for the rest of his life.”
-But that cold case—don’t tell me he’s actually solving it? Didn’t he solve that sister case last time?
“Just dumb luck, I’m telling you. And why is it a cold case? How could that bastard possibly….”
-I guess.
“Anyway, let’s meet in Seoul. And don’t worry about Kim Seo-jin—he’ll never solve it….”
That was when it happened.
The elevator doors opened and Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo, the Chief Prosecutor, the District Prosecutor, and the Deputy District Prosecutor hurried out.
Shin Jong-seung bowed respectfully, but they ignored him and spoke urgently among themselves.
“Seo Jin caught the perpetrator of the Yoo A-sung case?”
“Yes, he’s bringing them in right now.”
“You’re certain?”
“According to Seo Jin, that’s the case.”
The District Prosecutor chuckled to himself.
“What is that guy, anyway? Huh? If we solve this, we can show those Seoul bastards a thing or two, can’t we?”
Watching them pass by, the smile drained from Shin Jong-seung’s face.
His prediction had been wrong.
If Seo Jin solved this cold case, he would instantly become the center of attention.
Shin Jong-seung felt the widening gap between himself and Seo Jin.
He stared at the District Prosecutor’s retreating figure and thought.
‘…No, it can’t be. It won’t happen.’

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