Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 149

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

The Invisible Hand (3)
Do Gwang-hyun smiled faintly.
A lifetime spent as a con artist had taught me to read people’s eyes—and Lee Ki-seung’s eyes told me everything.
Any loyalty he once held toward Prosecutor General Choo An-young had long since evaporated.
‘Nothing but money. Endless greed.’
Lee Ki-seung had spent years rubbing his palms together at Prosecutor General Choo An-young’s side.
But loyalty had its limits.
Do Gwang-hyun opened his banking app on his phone and slid it across the table toward Lee Ki-seung.
“Take a look.”
Lee Ki-seung swallowed hard.
Five billion won. The number glowed on the screen.
As his pupils dilated, Do Gwang-hyun tapped the phone with his finger and continued.
“I can arrange it however you like. A Swiss account? Bitcoin? Or perhaps a fruit box? There’s no way it’ll ever be traced.”
“A fruit box sounds rather appealing.”
“There’s a certain warmth that blooms when cash passes between hands.”
Lee Ki-seung’s gaze shifted toward Do Gwang-hyun.
He nodded slowly.
“You said it would only be a minor irregularity?”
“Merely a falling leaf. Nothing more.”
Do Gwang-hyun flashed a disarming smile, but Lee Ki-seung’s eyes remained fixed on the phone screen.
Five billion won. He felt sorry for the Prosecutor General, but opportunities to transform one’s life didn’t come often.
Lee Ki-seung murmured.
“Let’s do it.”
*
*
*
Moments later, Lee Ki-seung left.
Do Gwang-hyun remained seated, sipping his drink.
I was waiting for Seo Jin.
The door creaked open, and Seo Jin entered.
“You did well.”
“Have I ever failed? Ha ha ha.”
Seo Jin took a seat across from Do Gwang-hyun, who laughed with easy confidence.
He poured a drink for Do Gwang-hyun in gratitude for his work.
“You need to keep succeeding from here on out. One misstep and it’s over.”
“Yes, sir!”
Do Gwang-hyun drank his glass with satisfaction, then refilled Seo Jin’s cup.
“Shouldn’t you have a drink too, Prosecutor?”
Now Lee Ki-seung was ready.
All that remained was to destroy Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s plan.
Placing Jeon Dong-guk as the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office to keep him in check—that was Seo Jin’s plan.
*
*
*
The day of the confirmation hearing.
Kim Young-jun sat alone in his office.
Yet his gaze was hollow.
The position of Prosecutor General was within reach, but his eyes held no joy or satisfaction.
‘I’m only halfway there.’
For Kim Young-jun, the title of Prosecutor General was merely a waystation; his true objective lay beyond it.
‘The pinnacle of South Korea.’
Anything less would render his desperate, clawing struggle through life utterly meaningless.
Kim Young-jun rose slowly from his seat.
He walked to the window and gazed out at the city below.
The weather was beautiful.
March was a season thick with the scent of approaching spring.
Kim Young-jun stared out the window, his mind drifting to old memories.
The day after his parents passed away, when he and his brother had impulsively fled to Seoul.
Their only possession was a meager sum from land compensation.
Two poor brothers had no choice but to work.
Day after day of manual labor.
The pittance they earned could not guarantee tomorrow.
It was then that his brother had sat him down and said something he would never forget.
“You’re smart, so focus on your studies. I’ll handle everything else, so don’t worry.”
Kim Young-jun had followed his brother’s words.
He gritted his teeth and studied, eventually entering Korea’s most prestigious university to study law.
Yet peace eluded him.
Because of his brother.
His brother, who had drifted from one construction site to another, groaned in pain every single day.
All for Kim Young-jun, for him alone.
The bruises and calluses etched into his brother’s body had broken his heart.
Recalling those memories, Kim Young-jun clicked his tongue in regret.
‘I was such a fool.’
The fool was not his brother.
It was Kim Young-jun himself.
Moved by his brother’s suffering, he had done something he should never have done.
As he bit his lip, a pivotal moment from his past flashed through his mind.
The daughter of a powerful man who attended the same university.
At the time, Kim Young-jun had not even known of her existence.
They were in different departments, and they came from different worlds.
I should have spent that time studying instead of paying attention to a woman.
I thought of it as the only compensation I could offer my brother.
Besides, she already had a boyfriend.
But then one day.
The loan shark boss’s daughter and her family came to see Kim Young-jun.
-We’ve been watching you for a long time.
-The Chairman doesn’t approve of his daughter’s current boyfriend.
-Become that daughter’s boyfriend.
A law student with no parents and no money, but a sharp mind.
Always buried in the library, a study fanatic—in their eyes, Kim Young-jun was the perfect son-in-law.
-Don’t worry about money.
Kim Young-jun accepted their proposal.
A foolish notion that if he had money, his brother wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.
‘I made a sacrifice.’
Kim Young-jun let out a hollow laugh.
That affair still haunts him to this day.
The shackles bound then continue to bind him now.
Now he believed it was time to receive compensation for that sacrifice.
He believed he should make everything in this world his own.
Knock, knock, knock.
At the sound of the knock, Kim Young-jun shook off his reverie.
When he turned his gaze, Jo Woo-jae was entering the office.
Jo Woo-jae bowed and opened his mouth.
“Sir, it’s time to depart.”
“Is it already that late?”
Kim Young-jun’s eyes shifted to the clock.
It was time to head out soon.
“Are you well prepared?”
“Prepared for what? I just answer when questions come. That’s all there is to it.”
A confirmation hearing is simply a time for National Assembly members to humiliate you.
But Kim Young-jun felt no burden.
He had already stuffed money into the mouths of the Assembly members and, in return, obtained their questions and the answers he desired.
Answer like a parrot, and next comes the position of Prosecutor General.
“Let’s go.”
Kim Young-jun moved forward with brisk steps.
As he opened the door, he saw prosecutors, investigators, and staff lined up in the hallway.
They all bowed simultaneously and shouted in unison.
“Congratulations!”
Kim Young-jun nodded in acknowledgment of their greeting.
Then he passed by them as they bowed and headed toward the elevator.
Then he stopped in one place.
Kim Young-jun appeared in my line of sight.
I was bowing as well.
Kim Young-jun tapped my shoulder lightly.
He didn’t speak, but warmth radiated from the gesture.
I opened my mouth once more.
“Congratulations!”
“It’s thanks to you.”
But since I was bowing, I couldn’t see his face.
The look in Kim Young-jun’s eyes as he gazed down at me.
That gaze was peculiar.
Yet Kim Young-jun couldn’t see my expression either.
I was smiling faintly.
*
*
*
-I will create a fair Prosecutor’s Office independent of politics, one that leans toward no faction.
Kim Young-jun’s confirmation hearing was underway.
Minister of Justice Yoon Seol-hwa watched the hearing through television.
Yoon Seol-hwa bit at her fingernails.
‘This won’t do.’
The hearing was proceeding without a hitch.
National Assembly members questioned him relentlessly, but Kim Young-jun answered flawlessly.
‘At this rate….’
Kim Young-jun would take the position of Prosecutor General without a single blemish.
All the key figures at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office would be filled according to Kim Young-jun’s will.
‘Even if I wanted to stop it, I have no justification.’
Recently, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office had arrested everyone from pseudo-religious cultists to a loan shark named Jeo Hoo-an.
Thanks to that, public support for Kim Young-jun was soaring without limit.
And public opinion spoke.
Give strength to Kim Young-jun’s shoulders.
It was difficult for the Minister of Justice to ignore that sentiment.
‘Sigh….’
Yoon Seol-hwa exhaled a sigh and imagined Kim Young-jun standing stiffly before her.
Just thinking about it was utterly distasteful.
Then the door opened and the secretary entered and spoke.
“Minister? The Chief Prosecutor from the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office urgently wishes to meet with you….”
Yoon Seol-hwa replied coldly without even turning her gaze.
“Tell him I’m unavailable.”
“He said it’s a matter of utmost importance to you, Minister.”
“Necessary?”
At the word “necessary,” Minister Yoon Seol-hwa finally turned her head.
A man stood behind the secretary.
“I am Chief Prosecutor Kim Gwan-yong of the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office.”
Chief Prosecutor Kim Gwan-yong bowed deeply.
And in that moment, Chief Prosecutor Kim Gwan-yong recalled what Seo Jin had told him.
“Meet with the Minister of Justice. She’s someone who has looked down on prosecutors as a tier below her since her days as a judge. She possesses an elitist consciousness and believes she must hold the upper hand. Such a person would find it difficult to align with my uncle, because he too is someone who doesn’t bend. The two of them will fight to seize control from one another.”
Seo Jin had continued speaking.
The two were like water and oil.
They would never mix.
“If you tell her that she’s obstructing the appointment of Vice Chief Prosecutor under Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun, and if you give her that justification, she’ll agree. And she’ll elevate Prosecutor General Jeon Dong-guk to Vice Chief Prosecutor.”
Personnel decisions for prosecutors rest with the Ministry of Justice.
They are determined by the fingers of Minister Yoon Seol-hwa.
“Right now, public interest in Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun is high, so she remains quiet, but the moment a justification emerges, she will certainly exercise her authority without hesitation.”
Chief Prosecutor Kim Gwan-yong slowly straightened his posture.
And he remembered Seo Jin’s final words.
“That justification will be revealed on the day of the confirmation hearing.”
Chief Prosecutor Kim Gwan-yong walked toward Minister Yoon Seol-hwa and opened his mouth.
“I’ve come to ask for your help with something.”
Minister Yoon Seol-hwa narrowed her eyes and regarded Chief Prosecutor Kim Gwan-yong.
*
*
*
Meanwhile, at the National Assembly.
The confirmation hearing had ended.
A rigged game of cards—everything had proceeded exactly as expected without a single problem.
Now all that remained was the transfer to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun spoke as he entered the car.
“Head to Gwacheon.”
“Yes, sir.”
The driver turned the steering wheel.
Gwacheon—the location of the Ministry of Justice.
The Minister of Justice would have been watching the confirmation hearing from within those walls.
‘Now…’
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun believed that only by filling the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office with his own people could he fully wield the formidable authority and power of the Prosecutor General.
And after breaking the momentum of the Minister of Justice, he envisioned a perfect Prosecutor’s Office built for himself.
*
*
*
“The President has also instructed us to make efforts against corruption in politics and the business world.”
Kim Young-jun, the prosecutor general, sat across from Yoon Seol-hwa, the Minister of Justice.
The Minister picked up her teacup and nodded slowly, then opened her mouth with deliberate ease.
“Of course you should.”
“So I’d like to ask that you entrust the personnel appointments at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office to me. I’m sure you have your own thoughts, but I’d prefer to work with people I’ve coordinated with.”
The Minister nodded in agreement once more and set down her teacup.
“You should. But let me ask you one thing. Will you really conduct investigations fairly, just as you answered during the confirmation hearing?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Is that so? I’ve heard that your ambitions are quite grand, Prosecutor General Kim. To go beyond the position of prosecutor general, you’d need public support—though you don’t really need to win everyone over, do you?”
Partisan logic.
After all, the other side won’t be chosen anyway.
But if people think you’re on their side, they’ll support you even if you’re human garbage.
“So I’m concerned you might only attack one side.”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun smiled faintly and shook his head. Then he spoke slowly, with unhurried composure.
“I have no such ambitions. I’m simply devoted to my duty. But even if I did have such ambitions, I would still be fair. And why would I need to abandon one side?”
“…!”
“Our people are not simple. Beyond partisan logic, they harbor another frustration.”
“…?”
“A hope that the rot will be excised. I intend to become that hope.”
In that moment, Minister Yoon Seol-hwa felt a chill.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun wasn’t thinking about ruling and opposition parties.
He wanted to seize everything.
That was, in essence, dictatorship.
As the Minister’s expression turned sour, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket.
“Then let me tell you my personnel recommendations. First, for the position of deputy prosecutor general….”
At that moment, the door burst open and the secretary rushed in urgently.
The secretary leaned close to the Minister’s ear and whispered.
Simultaneously, the Minister’s expression grew grave as she picked up the remote and pressed the power button.
A reporter appeared on the television screen, speaking urgently.
-This is breaking news: the prosecutor general of the Western District Prosecutors’ Office has allegedly assaulted a female employee at a bar. At a room salon in Yeongdeungpo, an anonymous source has submitted assault footage….
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s face hardened.
The prosecutor general of the Western District was the man he’d been considering for deputy prosecutor general.
Yet suddenly, assault charges.
-The prosecutor general of the Western District is currently not responding to any calls….
Minister Yoon Seol-hwa looked at Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun and spoke.
“Deputy prosecutor general? So, who were you thinking of?”
“…!”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun didn’t answer.
He only crumpled the paper he’d pulled out, gripping it tightly.
Seeing this, Minister Yoon Seol-hwa opened her mouth.
“If you don’t have someone in mind, would it be alright if I made a recommendation?”
“….”
“Jeon Dong-guk, Chief Prosecutor of the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office. He seems like quite a suitable partner for you, Chief Prosecutor.”
*
*
*
At that moment, I sat in the outdoor break room of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, sipping a beverage.
‘By now….’
Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun’s expression was surely contorted.
But he would never dream that I was hidden behind every step of this plan.
I crumpled the can and tossed it into the trash bin.
‘I hope he hasn’t panicked yet. This is only the beginning.’

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