Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 150

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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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The Invisible Hand (4)
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Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Grand Hall.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s inaugural address was brief.
-The position of Prosecutor General is bestowed by the people, and I shall strive to become a prosecution service worthy of the people’s expectations and trust….
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun used the word “people” more than thirty times.
Without deeper reflection, it appears he aimed to build a prosecution service for the people.
But those who know Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun interpret it differently.
His true ambition lies beyond that, they say.
-As an independent prosecution service unshackled by power and capital….
Seo Jin sat among them as well.
Seo Jin let Kim Young-jun’s inaugural address pass through one ear while surveying his surroundings.
Prosecutors-in-charge from each district office filling the seats, along with distinguished guests.
Moreover, cameras swarmed as though every journalist in South Korea had gathered.
This is power.
The vicinity of power is always bustling.
Whether they’re parasites or people, I couldn’t say.
-…I shall continue to do my utmost.
With that, the inaugural address concluded, and Kim Young-jun ascended to the apex of the prosecution service.
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After the address, refreshments were served.
Seo Jin attended under the pretext of being his nephew and stood in a corner, quietly observing the crowd.
Refreshments—superficially, a gathering to congratulate the Prosecutor General on his inauguration.
But the reality is different.
‘A microcosm of the power game.’
One must observe which people stand closest to Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun and how near they position themselves.
From this, one can gauge their future influence.
They boast of their influence by standing close to Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
‘Right beside him is the Busan District Prosecutors Office Chief.’
Standing beside Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun were the Busan District Prosecutors Office Chief and the Anti-Corruption Enforcement Division Chief.
Followed by prosecutors-in-charge from each district office and senior officials from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.
‘Was that person also part of Kim Young-jun’s faction?’
Seo Jin observed them, committing a power map of Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun to memory.
And Seo Jin’s gaze turned toward Deputy Prosecutor General Jeon Dong-guk.
The Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office is the second-in-command of the prosecution service.
Yet there was no one surrounding Deputy Prosecutor General Jeon Dong-guk.
I’m merely second-in-command in name only, possessing no real power yet.
At that moment, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeon Dong-guk’s eyes met mine.
I acknowledged him with a subtle bow of my head.
‘There’s no need to reveal my closeness with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeon Dong-guk.’
No one else must know of the connection between Seo Jin and Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeon Dong-guk.
It was unavoidable if I wanted to check Kim Young-jun’s influence.
‘My relationship with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeon Dong-guk should be known only as a brief encounter at the Dongnam District Prosecutor’s Office.’
Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeon Dong-guk understood my intention.
He quietly averted his gaze, feigning ignorance.
My eyes turned back toward Kim Young-jun.
Kim Young-jun was shaking hands with people bowing before him.
‘Time to go….’
I attempted to slip away from the reception.
There was no reason to remain any longer.
I had visually confirmed Kim Young-jun’s power structure and felt its magnitude.
Rather than lingering here, it would be better to return to the District Prosecutor’s Office and review the records.
“Seo Jin.”
As I moved slowly toward the door, I heard Kim Young-jun’s voice.
Kim Young-jun was waving his hand, beckoning me closer.
As I approached, Kim Young-jun placed a warm hand on my shoulder and spoke.
“This is my nephew.”
“…!”
That I was Kim Young-jun’s nephew was already widely known.
But this was the first time he had publicly announced it.
“He’s quite handsome and appears in the media from time to time, so I’m sure you all know him.”
“….”
“My becoming prosecutor general owed much to this fellow’s contributions.”
My name and achievements were being formally introduced to each prosecutor general and the power brokers of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.
This was different from being introduced at a gathering of the powerful.
Kim Young-jun was paving a highway through my prosecutorial career, just as he had promised.
‘A cartel.’
I thought of a cartel.
In a few months, Kim Young-jun would retire with the change of president.
But his influence over the Prosecutor’s Office would not diminish.
One of Kim Young-jun’s faction would take the position of prosecutor general.
‘And even after that person retires, it will be the same.’
Other prosecutors general and deputy directors from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office would climb the ranks through the faction, one after another, to sit in the prosecutor general’s seat.
That path was open to me as well.
As long as I caused no problems, I was destined to walk toward the prosecutor general’s position through seniority and order.
A perpetual cartel of power.
It was the world Kim Young-jun dreamed of.
“He still has much to learn, so I hope you’ll all lend him your support.”
At those words alone, the prosecutors who had shown no interest until now approached Seo Jin.
They grasped his hand warmly and patted his shoulder.
“An unsolved case specialist, is that right?”
“I’m Seo Jin.”
Seo Jin bowed his head with perfect courtesy.
But the moment his head lowered, his expression transformed entirely.
He was smiling.
‘This is really helpful.’
To catch a tiger, you must enter its den.
Kim Young-jun had just thrown open the entrance to that den.
Unaware that he himself was the prey.
I concealed my blade and smiled benevolently.
“Thank you for the opportunity.”
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Moments later.
After the refreshments ended, Kim Young-jun entered his office and gazed out the window.
Seo Jin sat on the sofa, but Kim Young-jun remained rigid, staring only out the window.
Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes passed with no change.
Lost in thought, he only sighed occasionally.
I twisted my wrist to check the time.
Though I had been brought here by Kim Young-jun’s hand, I couldn’t continue waiting indefinitely.
I was still just a prosecutor.
There was a mountain of work waiting at the District Prosecutor’s Office.
“Uncle?”
“Ah….”
Kim Young-jun turned his body and trudged toward his desk.
He sat across from me and brought the cold tea to his lips before speaking.
“I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to stand there and look down upon the world.”
“And how does it feel?”
“Well, it’s less thrilling than I imagined. Rather, I’m preoccupied with this—eight to ten months as a prosecutor-general with an expiration date. What must I accomplish in that time? What comes after? Those are my only concerns.”
Yet despite his words, there was no hesitation in Kim Young-jun’s eyes.
He had already laid out his plans.
Kim Young-jun set down his teacup and opened his mouth.
“Tell me what you want.”
“I’ve thought about it, but there’s nothing. I’m already sufficiently satisfied as things are.”
Kim Young-jun shook his head.
“The Jongno Police Station Chief, the pseudo-religious cult, and Jeo Hoo-an—thanks to you, sitting in this position came easily. When you gain something, it’s the way of the world to repay it. Even if you haven’t gained anything, speak up.”
Seo Jin licked his dry lips.
Then, pretending to fall into thought for a moment, he tilted his head before carefully voicing the words he had prepared.
“Then, I’d like to work together with Lee Dong-young.”
“…Lee Dong-young?”
Kim Young-jun’s eyes narrowed.
He murmured the name “Lee Dong-young” several times.
For Kim Young-jun, it was a name already absent from memory.
He was not the sort of man to remember the name of a mere investigator.
So Seo Jin provided additional explanation.
“When I was in Chuncheon, he was an investigator working with me. He was very helpful in solving unsolved cases, and we had good chemistry.”
“Ah!”
Now Kim Young-jun recalled the investigator Lee Dong-young.
The investigator who had worked with Seo Jun-kyung.
The man who had even been exiled while digging into the full circumstances of Seo Jun-kyung’s case.
But Seo Jun-kyung’s case was already concluded, and years had passed since then.
Besides, investigator Lee Dong-young posed no threat to Kim Young-jun.
Even if Seo Jin worked with him, it would be the same.
If anything improper arose, he could simply cast him out again.
“Very well, I’ll arrange that. And?”
“Would it be possible to work with Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae?”
A new chief prosecutor had arrived at the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 with the personnel reshuffle season, and he was notorious for having a foul temperament.
Rather than constantly reading the atmosphere, Seo Jin preferred to work in Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae’s team.
Kim Young-jun nodded readily.
“I’ll see to it. Anything else?”
“Nothing, sir.”
Kim Young-jun stared intently at Seo Jin’s face.
Among what Seo Jin desired, there was no personal ambition for himself.
He found that pleasing.
And in that moment, Kim Yun-hwan came to mind.
Had he asked Kim Yun-hwan what he wanted, he would have immediately sought to seize a key position at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.
‘They couldn’t be more different.’
Kim Young-jun smiled bitterly and lifted his teacup again.
After emptying the cup, he carefully opened his mouth.
“Your father, and my brother. When my brother committed misconduct, I turned a blind eye. I averted my gaze and pretended not to know.”
All of that misconduct was something Kim Young-jun had requested and ordered.
Seo Jin knew this fact but nodded as though he didn’t.
Kim Young-jun continued speaking.
“Even if my brother and I are close, we sometimes quarrel, and we curse each other behind closed doors. But in such matters, we always stick together. Because we are family.”
“….”
“I wish you and Yun-hwan could be like that too. You fight and hurt each other’s feelings, but I hope you never forget that you’re family.”
As I listened to Chairman Kim Young-jun’s words, the faces of my stepmother and Kim Yun-hwan appeared before my eyes.
Kim Yun-hwan, who had fled to the United States.
A man who committed crimes yet indulges in a luxurious lifestyle, constantly eyeing Father’s company.
I did not wish for him to continue enjoying himself in the United States.
I wanted him to return to Korea as soon as possible.
If one commits a crime, one must serve time—that is equality before the law.
“Uncle, I’m not sure what you think, but I harbor no ill feelings toward my brother Yun-hwan. Even if he thinks poorly of me, I’d like to share a drink and clear the air. We’re not people who will never see each other again—that’s what family is.”
“Yes, I’m grateful you think that way.”
Chairman Kim Young-jun smiled quietly.
But that smile was brief.
When I rose and left the chairman’s office, his eyes turned cold and lethal.
He placed a cigarette between his lips and muttered.
“I cannot continue making sacrifices.”
And as I left the chairman’s office, my eyes changed as well.
Gone was the warmth I had shown toward my uncle.
I too had turned cold.
I murmured as I walked down the hallway.
“Your thoughts are predictable.”
Chairman Kim Young-jun is a man who moves his own family, let alone his brothers, for the sake of success.
He wants me to flounder, intoxicated by the sweetness of power.
He wishes to control me like a marionette.
And he hopes I will depend on him.
I knew all of this, yet I stood before him with a kind smile, my blade concealed.
‘Keep smiling a little longer.’
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The chairman changed, and departmental transfers proceeded in earnest.
As promised, I was assigned to Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2, under Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae.
The investigator working with me was Lee Dong-young.
Investigator Lee Dong-young thanked me several times over.
It seemed he was concerned about his daughter Sung-ah, now a university student, living alone in Seoul.
And on the day Lee Dong-young arrived, I took him to Kkeobdeogi House, the same place I used to go when I was Seo Jun-kyung.
That day, I drank quite a lot.
Soju bottles lined the table as we shared our joy at reunion.
By the end, Lee Dong-young’s daughter Sung-ah made an appearance.
Investigator Lee Dong-young was startled by Sung-ah’s capacity for alcohol, but… she was already an adult anyway.
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The next day, I woke without a hangover, and Lee Dong-young and I immediately returned to work.
“Investigator, there’s something I’d like to look into personally.”
“Go ahead.”
Lee Dong-young pulled out his notebook, his eyes sharpening with focus.
The atmosphere suggested he would comply with any request I made.
His gaze held the kind of resolve that would keep him silent about anything, no matter what.
Because I knew Lee Dong-young’s character, I had brought him to Seoul.
The investigation I was about to begin could not reach anyone’s ears.
Not Jeon Dong-guk, the assistant prosecutor whose hand I’d shaken, nor Kim Gwan-yong, the senior prosecutor—and absolutely not Jang Ji-hyuk or Lee Du-jin.
“I need you to investigate everything about my aunt—Eom Si-young, the prosecutor general’s wife. Every man she’s dated in the past, the environment she grew up in, and everything she’s doing now.”
“Pardon?”
It was an unexpected request.
Investigate my aunt?
Lee Dong-young’s face registered bewilderment, but my expression betrayed no jest.
The clues left by my previous self.
And the behavior my aunt displayed.
She stood at the center of everything.
‘Perhaps I can even bring down Kim Young-jun.’
One of the ways a powerful man falls is through his family’s corruption.
Through the misdeeds of his wife and son, the mighty are dragged from their thrones and humiliated.
I had chosen my aunt as that target.

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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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