Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 143

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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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Beneath the Surface (2)
I had already completed my investigation into the building’s tenant and manager.
The manager was dispatched from an Outsourcing Company and had no connection to Eom Seon-ju.
In other words, I could bring him to my side.
I pulled my hat down low and walked briskly toward the manager.
Then I handed over a business card I’d prepared.
The Gangnam
Real Estate Auction & Investment Specialists
With the hat pulled down, it was difficult to make out my face.
Even if my name appeared in the media from time to time, I wasn’t a celebrity.
The manager took the card and tilted his head in confusion.
“…Real estate? But why here?”
“Our company is considering purchasing this building. We haven’t informed the owner yet. We’re planning to investigate quietly first before making our approach.”
The manager glanced at me cautiously.
It was difficult to trust someone wearing a hat pulled down so low.
But I offered a handshake with an easy smile and continued.
“You’re the building superintendent, aren’t you? I was planning to visit you, but I’ve made you go through unnecessary trouble. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you slowly—could I trouble you for a cup of tea?”
“Ah, yes. Well….”
The manager nodded.
It probably wouldn’t happen, but if the building were sold and the Outsourcing Company changed, he’d lose his job.
The manager wanted to hear what I had to say first.
And I followed the manager up the stairs, smiling quietly to myself.
I couldn’t entrust this kind of work to Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
He was a man bound by principles.
He believed that those who resort to tricks will be ruined by tricks.
So I had to handle the groundwork myself before Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk began his formal investigation.
*
*
*
“So, what you wanted to say….”
It was the management office.
With a cup of warm green tea before him, the manager asked, and I didn’t beat around the bush.
“I’d like to see the building’s CCTV footage.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I want to understand the foot traffic volume and how many regular customers each individual shop has.”
“What do you….”
The building owner only needed to worry about the monthly rent coming in steadily—not about regular customers.
As the manager tilted his head in confusion, I smiled subtly and spoke.
“The details are trade secrets for our company.”
I pulled a white envelope from my pocket and placed it on the table.
As the caretaker’s gaze shifted to the envelope, Seo Jin continued.
“It’s modest, but it’s compensation for the information you’ve provided.”
“…!”
The caretaker picked up the envelope and peeked inside.
King Sejong’s portrait—judging by the thickness, one million won.
Seo Jin watched as the caretaker licked his dry lips and continued speaking.
“People hunt for the lowest price on ten-thousand-won items and obsess over value for money. When hundreds of billions of won are changing hands in a deal like this, an investigation of this scale is only natural. And it won’t end with just one payment. I’d appreciate your help once a month, until the transaction is complete.”
“….”
“Let me make one final promise. Even if the ownership changes, your position as caretaker won’t be affected.”
“….”
“Of course, I’d appreciate it if you kept our conversation confidential. If the building owner learns that a company like ours is eyeing this property, he might demand an unreasonable premium. Then we’d have to abandon this building, and your allowance would dry up.”
Money received in exchange for CCTV footage.
One million won a month.
For a salaried worker, that’s a substantial sum.
He could hold his head high when he went home.
As the caretaker nodded, Seo Jin asked something that had been on his mind.
“By the way, who’s renting the basement space? I couldn’t find any information on it.”
It was a perfectly natural question—anyone looking to purchase a building would naturally be curious about such a tenant.
But the caretaker didn’t know either.
“I don’t know what they do. I only heard that the building owner uses it directly. There’s someone who comes and goes about twice a week, though….”
*
*
*
Shortly after, I left the management office with the USB containing the CCTV footage.
The management office was tucked in a corner of the first floor.
Now I just had to pass through the hallway and exit the building.
‘But why did Eom Seon-ju come here today?’
I continued turning the question over in my mind.
The reason Eom Seon-ju had visited this place today.
‘Eom Seon-ju owns many buildings.’
If I counted the ones registered under proxy names, the number could exceed my imagination.
And each building was currently being managed through local outsourcing companies, just like this one.
In other words, without a specific reason, there was no need for him to visit this building.
‘So, did he have business in the basement?’
I immediately shook my head.
I’d checked the CCTV footage at the management office, but no one had entered or left the basement office today.
And it was absurd to think that Eom Seon-ju had come here to handle some task on his own.
‘That doesn’t make sense.’
Eom Seon-ju was a man who had only ever given orders his entire life.
Born with a silver spoon.
With a single word and a pointed finger, she sets people in motion and brings results to fruition.
Yet she handles matters herself? It made no sense.
‘Then, why?’
I continued to spiral through my thoughts.
A message arrived from Jang Ji-hyuk.
-That woman just entered the building.
The dispute over the minor accident had concluded.
I pulled my hat down further.
Then I turned toward the entrance.
‘Huh?’
The door opened and Eom Seon-ju walked in.
Followed closely by Kim Young-jun’s Wife.
Kim Young-jun’s Wife, dressed in a luxury coat worth millions of won, clicked down the hallway in her high heels.
And her gaze slowly turned forward.
I furrowed my brow.
Regardless of anyone else, Kim Young-jun’s Wife might recognize me.
Even with my hat pulled down, she wouldn’t miss a familiar silhouette.
I quickly darted my eyes around.
A place to hide my body.
There was one.
The restroom two steps ahead.
I moved quickly, and fortunately, Kim Young-jun’s Wife didn’t notice.
Once Kim Young-jun’s Wife and Eom Seon-ju disappeared, I turned again.
My destination was the management office.
I wanted to confirm where the two of them were headed.
As expected, the two entered an office in the basement.
I didn’t know what conversation they would have there.
But I could infer that Kim Young-jun’s Wife and Eom Seon-ju were bound by a strong connection.
*
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*
As I opened the car door and got in, Jang Ji-hyuk rapidly spilled out what he’d been holding back.
“Wow, Eom Seon-ju? That woman was genuinely terrifying. She looked me up and down, and I swear even a hardened psychopath would cry standing before her.”
“Did you handle the insurance?”
“Oh, it’s done.”
“What?”
Eom Seon-ju glanced at Jang Ji-hyuk’s car and muttered in a quiet voice.
“What do you expect from a beggar?”
Jang Ji-hyuk felt the veins at his temples throb, yet he apologized as earnestly as he could….
“I’ll handle the insurance for you….”
But Eom Seon-ju simply said, “That’s enough,” and left the room.
“Treated like a beggar, and now I’m curious what expression he’ll wear when we meet in the interrogation room. Really fascinating.”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk chuckled softly, recalling the scene that had just unfolded.
He seemed to be anticipating the moment he’d sit across from Eom Seon-ju.
But Seo Jin’s next words made Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s expression harden instantly.
“Did you see the person who went in with Eom Seon-ju?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
“It was Kim Young-jun’s Wife.”
“What?”
“She went into that vacant office with Eom Seon-ju. The one that’s been empty for a long time.”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk blinked.
Eom Seon-ju was the Chief Prosecutor’s wife’s younger brother—naturally, they could be together.
But heading into a vacant office like that.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk caught the scent of something wrong.
“There was an office in that vacant space. When I asked the building manager, he said Eom Seon-ju seems to use it for personal purposes.”
Eom Seon-ju was an unlicensed loan shark.
And the Chief Prosecutor’s wife had just entered an unlicensed loan shark’s office.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk began to wonder if Seo Jin’s aunt had gotten her hands dirty in loan sharking alongside her brother.
“…Could it be?”
“We need to investigate.”
At Seo Jin’s dry tone, Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk swallowed hard.
“This… can we skip it? I’ll keep the secret for the sake of your family’s peace.”
It was said as a joke, but investigating the Chief Prosecutor’s wife carried significant risk.
*
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*
That night.
I headed to the hotel where Anna Roux was hiding.
I’d entrusted the matter of Eom Seon-ju and Kim Young-jun’s Wife to Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk, but I couldn’t afford to waste time against the organization Anna Roux belonged to.
‘It’s only a matter of time before Kim Young-jun finds out.’
Once Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s investigation begins, no matter how secretly we move, word will reach his ears eventually.
It would be the same whether Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk or I made the move.
If Kim Young-jun’s Wife becomes the target, discovery is inevitable.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office itself is Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun’s eyes and ears, and he’s particularly sensitive about his own misconduct.
‘But when he hears that his wife has become a target…’
Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun will move to protect Kim Young-jun’s Wife.
Not for romantic reasons.
Because his wife’s misconduct could become an obstacle on his path to becoming Prosecutor General.
‘Then my investigation could be shut down too.’
Before Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk gets caught by Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun, I need to break at least one of their limbs.
‘So that’s it….’
I wanted the media to publicly expose how dirty money from various countries flowed into Korea and was shamelessly laundered through crime.
Once public opinion shifted that way, even if Kim Young-jun himself—not just his wife—was involved, it would become unstoppable.
I’d already sown the seeds; now I just needed to harvest them.
*
*
*
A hotel room.
Anna Roux sipped her wine while gazing at the night cityscape.
I sat across from her, but our eyes didn’t meet.
We weren’t the sort to exchange glances and make small talk.
“I want to catch your boss.”
Anna Roux’s gaze shifted toward me.
Anna Roux represented Chinese capital.
The boss who received money from Qian Zhu and ran operations was named Jeo Hoo-an.
Anna Roux set her wine glass down on the table and tilted her head.
“How? The office I knew about will be empty. Same with his residence. And don’t ask me how that’s possible in such a short time—this is Korea, where money can buy anything. But how do you catch a boss who’s gone completely underground?”
“You become the bait.”
Anna Roux laughed, a sharp, brittle sound.
“Bait? You think Jeo Hoo-an would show up just because I called him? He’d be suspicious first. And he’d send a cleaner to collect my corpse.”
“He’ll come.”
My voice carried absolute certainty.
When Anna Roux’s eyebrows rose slightly, I placed my phone on the table.
The article I’d written myself after catching the Arsonist was displayed on the screen.
I tapped the article and continued.
“Jeo Hoo-an has been agonizing for days.”
-Was Anna Roux a traitor? Or is there another spy?
“You contact him and say, ‘I know who the traitor is.’ Then he’ll agonize again. Whether your words are true or false.”
“….”
“What matters here isn’t his anguish. It’s that he’ll want to verify. The more suspicious a man is, the more he needs to see the truth with his own eyes.”
Anna Roux’s eyes blinked.
She was amazed at how I’d predicted even Jeo Hoo-an’s personality.
Then I pulled out a tablet PC and unfolded a map of a certain region.
“This location would be ideal for the meeting.”
An industrial complex area in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.
“It’s not a residential zone, so foot traffic becomes sparse at night—practically nonexistent. Plus, the roads are long and open on all sides, making escape easy and surveillance straightforward.”
“….”
“If you choose this location for the meeting, he’ll trust you a little. He’ll think, ‘She picked the safest place she could find because she wants to live.'”
Anna Roux furrowed her brow.
“…Wait. Everything sounds good, but what if I go through all this and Jeo Hoo-an doesn’t show up? Then I’m the one exposed, aren’t I?”
“Of course he won’t come.”
“Pardon?”
“What would make him agree to meet so readily?”
“Ha! But why waste time on—”
Anna Roux closed her mouth and picked up her wine glass again.
There was nothing more to say.
But Seo Jin shook his head.
“Once he hangs up, he’ll investigate everything. From the beginning, piece by piece, all over again.”
“….”
“The prosecutors at our office, the police in our jurisdiction—he’ll wonder if you might somehow be in my custody.”
“….”
“And once he’s convinced there’s no connection between you and me, he’ll contact you again. He’ll demand a meeting place he believes is safest for himself.”
Anna Roux stared at Seo Jin with a bewildered expression.
It was hard to fathom how many layers deep he was thinking.
Then Anna Roux recalled what Seo Jin had just said.
“The more suspicious a man is, the more he wants to see the truth with his own eyes.”
It felt as though he were describing himself.
Seo Jin opened his mouth, looking at Anna Roux.
“Catch this bastard, and I’ll make sure your sentence is five years. Deal?”
Anna Roux nodded slowly.
If she did nothing, she’d die anyway—she had few choices.
Seo Jin placed a burner phone on the table and continued.
“Their contact numbers shouldn’t have changed, right? Call one of them and ask to speak to the Boss.”
As Anna Roux reached for the phone, Seo Jin pulled out a notebook and slid it in front of her.
When her eyes fell on the notebook, Seo Jin spoke.
“A script.”
“Ha!”
Anna Roux laughed as if it were absurd.
She no longer bothered wondering how far ahead Seo Jin was thinking.
She simply had to follow his lead.
Anna Roux began punching in the number as she spoke.
“It’s the only number I’ve memorized. If it’s changed, I wouldn’t know. You understand this isn’t an excuse, right?”
She’d lost her phone in the karaoke room fire.
Anna Roux held the phone to her ear, her expression tense.
Fortunately, the signal went through.
At the familiar voice on the other end, Anna Roux smiled and spoke.
“It’s me. I need to speak with the Boss.”

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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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