Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 151

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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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Talent Runs in the Family (1)
“And… I apologize, but I won’t be able to take the lead on investigating Kim Young-jun’s Wife.”
Lee Dong-young smiled faintly.
He understood my position.
I was Kim Young-jun’s nephew, and my face was reasonably well-known.
My hands would be tied when it came to conducting an investigation.
“However, I’ll provide all the personnel and funding you need for the investigation, so if you require additional staff…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll hire a private investigator if necessary.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
I bowed my head, then pulled out a file folder and placed it on the table.
The confidential investigation target was Eom Si-young.
But I needed a smokescreen—a case to divert attention.
“SR Pharmaceutical.”
I’d heard about it from Shin Ji-yeon of Shinma Group.
There were allegations of hiring irregularities at SR Pharmaceutical.
“The targets are Lee Jong-seok, the Food and Drug Administration director, and his daughter, Lee Ha-ram.”
I turned over a document and continued.
“There are suspicious irregularities in the hiring process.”
Lee Ha-ram, the Food and Drug Administration director’s daughter.
She’d graduated from a provincial university with mediocre English certification scores.
Moreover, her social media showed no signs of her studying at libraries.
Only leisure and indulgence.
“Two years ago, she was hired as a contract employee in the administrative department at SR Pharmaceutical’s headquarters.”
That much was plausible.
“The problem is what happened two years later, now.”
Lee Ha-ram, who’d been hired as a contract employee through an outsourcing company, had recently become a full-time employee.
Of course, it wasn’t unheard of for contract employees from outsourcing firms to be promoted to permanent positions.
“However, SR Pharmaceutical had never done this before. Of course, one could argue that through diligent effort, they created a new precedent.”
As I turned over another document, photographs extracted from Lee Ha-ram’s social media appeared.
“Over the past two years, Lee Ha-ram took nine overseas trips and visited Jeju Island seven times. She was enjoying vacation beyond her allotted leave.”
“…”
“Yet Lee Ha-ram became a full-time employee.”
I turned over another document.
Interview reviews from job seeker community websites about SR Pharmaceutical.
-I… failed. The interview questions were intense—master’s and doctoral level stuff. If you didn’t major in biotechnology, there’s no way you could answer. Why are they asking research-level questions for an administrative position?
└I heard they pressure and reject people with weak credentials.
└Their interviews are notoriously brutal.
-Right. It wasn’t really an interview—it was a test. I had to answer everything in English from start to finish.
-I had to do Chinese. They said they do a lot of business with China…
└I’m jealous you even got an interview. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your educational background?
└She’s from a mid-tier Seoul university. She has all the basic certifications, and her TOEIC score is over 900.
I flipped through the documents briskly.
Lee Ha-ram’s qualifications came into view again.
Her major was Library and Information Science.
“It would be difficult for her to possess master’s or doctoral-level bioengineering knowledge.”
Moreover, her English scores were abysmal.
“She would struggle with even basic English conversation. There’s no mention of Chinese language skills either.”
“….”
“If Lee Ha-ram had relied purely on her own abilities, she wouldn’t have been hired. Yet she was. Without any special examination, promoted from contract worker to full-time employee. All while traveling whenever she pleased.”
My finger moved to the top of the document.
The name written there was Lee Jong-seok, Lee Ha-ram’s father and the Commissioner.
“Lee Ha-ram’s path to becoming a full-time employee wasn’t the result of effort. It was simply meeting the right father.”
“….”
“I will investigate this matter.”
Illegal hiring. Unfair outcomes.
Favoritism and corruption that drained the hope from job seekers.
Their efforts crumbled like foam before those born to the right parents.
When this truth came to light, the world would grow loud with outrage.
I opened my mouth.
“Then, let’s begin.”
*
*
*
Days later, I sat in a coffee shop near SR Pharmaceutical’s headquarters.
I flipped through the notebook I’d brought, reviewing the case once more.
‘I pressured the pharmaceutical company over the hiring issue. There must have been compensation involved.’
Corporations weren’t charities.
They didn’t move without profit.
The Food and Drug Administration Commissioner must have promised something in return.
‘This could become an even bigger problem than the hiring irregularities.’
Pharmaceuticals were directly tied to human life.
If they’d gambled with people’s lives, that crossed a line.
I furrowed my brow and snapped the notebook shut.
Regardless, I had no intention of letting this case pass quietly.
The moment decisive evidence emerged, I would ignite the fire.
A warning about unfair hiring practices.
Consequences for their games.
And the more attention turned this way, the easier it would be for Lee Dong-young to move.
“…Prosecutor Seo Jin?”
I lifted my head at the unfamiliar voice.
“I’m Lim Chang-beom.”
Lim Chang-beom, Sales Director at SR Pharmaceutical.
The reason Seo Jin had come here.
“I’m Seo Jin.”
Seo Jin offered a warm smile, but Lim Chang-beom’s expression remained rigid.
It was only natural—a prosecutor showing up at a company was never a good sign.
“Please, have a seat. I ordered an iced latte for you. That’s fine, isn’t it?”
“Ah, yes.”
Lim Chang-beom sat across from Seo Jin with an awkward expression.
But Seo Jin said nothing after that.
He merely sipped his coffee occasionally while gazing out the window.
It was Lim Chang-beom who felt the tension, and eventually he asked cautiously.
“But what brings you here?”
“Why do you think I came?”
“I… how would I know?”
Lim Chang-beom trailed off and glanced at Seo Jin furtively.
But Seo Jin remained silent.
He simply observed Lim Chang-beom with an indifferent gaze.
Lim Chang-beom licked his dry lips.
Then, gathering courage, he spoke again.
“Well… I have a lot of work to do. Would it be alright if I left if this isn’t anything urgent?”
“It wouldn’t be, would it?”
The terse, matter-of-fact tone made Lim Chang-beom furrow his brow.
Yet he couldn’t bring himself to stand and leave.
There was something gnawing at him.
‘Could it be…?’
Lim Chang-beom was a sales director.
He directed sales representatives and outsourcing companies.
To give kickbacks to doctors and pharmacists at each hospital and everyone involved.
‘Damn.’
Lim Chang-beom exhaled a sigh.
Though he’d conducted everything as discreetly as possible, there were no secrets in human affairs.
The fact that a prosecutor had found his way here suggested the Prosecutor’s Office had already gotten wind of it.
But he had to deny it first.
As for directing the kickbacks—thinking about it, he’d never explicitly said “Give them money!”
He’d merely issued instructions in that manner.
He believed there were plenty of loopholes to escape through.
“Being a sales director at a pharmaceutical company, I find myself caught up in various suspicions from time to time. Is this about kickbacks, perhaps?”
“Yes.”
Lim Chang-beom bit his lip.
I had suspected as much, and my intuition proved correct.
Now there was no choice but to play dumb.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know much about that. I’ve never been involved in any rebates.”
I smiled faintly.
He maintained a composed expression, yet the words spilled out effortlessly.
In other words, he was afraid—deeply afraid.
He didn’t want to lose his current life.
People like this consider the thorn pricking their own hand far more painful than another’s wound.
“Wasn’t it not long ago? When a pharmaceutical company not only transferred money but also demanded sexual favors?”
“What? Did… did our employees do something like that?”
“No, I’m just informing you. Because of that incident, the sales representatives from that pharmaceutical company were indicted on charges of violating the Pharmacists Act, and ultimately the sales director was even arrested.”
Beneath the table, Lim Chang-beom’s hands began to tremble.
I had cited another company’s case and let him draw his own parallels.
I opened my mouth quietly toward the frightened Lim Chang-beom.
“Everything was done for the company’s success, yet ultimately the director bears the responsibility. But if you don’t engage in illegal sales practices, revenue drops, and the director must bear that responsibility too.”
“…!”
“Is there any need to be loyal to the company?”
I had no intention of ending the rebate scheme immediately.
Even if caught, it would amount to nothing more than a fine of fifteen million won.
Right now, I needed to focus on the Food and Drug Administration director.
I didn’t want to make the foolish mistake of poking at a sales representative and letting the real target slip away.
And Lim Chang-beom grasped what I meant.
Is there any need to be loyal to the company? That meant betray the company.
“…What is it that you need?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Do you need money?”
A man who had risen to director through rebates naturally assumed bribery was the first move.
But I didn’t need money.
“No.”
“Then….”
“Think about it. What could it be? I’ve always heard that sales is about giving the other person what they want. I’m curious—what will you offer me, Director?”
Lim Chang-beom felt a surge of irritation.
Here I was playing word games as if we were playing twenty questions.
But a guilty man must always remain subordinate before a prosecutor.
He began rolling his eyes, trying to deduce why I had come.
I simply drank my coffee.
What I wanted was hiring fraud.
But I deliberately said nothing.
A man who would nod immediately at the suggestion to betray his company.
He could just as easily discard my instructions like tissue paper.
A man like that needs to make his own choice.
That way, there are no complications.
“Surely… you’re not talking about hiring fraud?”
This was the moment Lim Chang-beom fell into the trap.
I straightened my posture and held up my phone.
A signal that recording was in progress.
The moment his eyes widened, I opened my mouth.
“Thank you for providing information about the hiring fraud.”
“Pardon?”
“If you follow my instructions, I’ll make you two promises.”
Lim Chang-beom felt as though he’d been bewitched by a fox as he listened to my voice.
“First, we’ll treat the information you just provided as a simple tip from an informant. Second, don’t order any more rebates. Then there will be no investigation into you, Director Lim. Of course, this is only if you follow my instructions.”
“…And if I don’t?”
“I’ll launch an investigation into the rebates. We’ll conduct raids and seizures. The company and all related hospitals will be turned upside down. And I plan to make it very clear who leaked the information about the hiring fraud.”
A groan escaped from Lim Chang-beom’s lips.
But my dry voice continued relentlessly.
“So you have two choices, Director Lim. A fair and comfortable company life without hiring fraud, or a hellish life shuttling back and forth to court. So, what’s your choice?”
Lim Chang-beom’s face had turned ashen.
What choice was there? He simply had to follow the instructions of this devil-like man.
Frankly, just as I had said, the company wouldn’t take responsibility for him.
They would simply pin all the blame on an employee.
Lim Chang-beom gulped down his coffee, trying to cool his parched throat.
Then he looked at me.
“…What do you want me to do?”
“It’s simple. You can bring me decisive evidence. Emails from the HR department or documents related to hiring, that sort of thing.”
Lim Chang-beom barely held back a curse.
He was in the sales department.
But emails and hiring documents belonged to HR.
It wasn’t going to be easy.
And if he got caught, it would really be the end.
But he had to comply.
There was no choice.
*
*
*
I got into my car.
As I started the engine and turned the steering wheel, I caught sight of Lee Ha-ram, the daughter of Lee Jong-seok, passing in front of my vehicle.
She was draped entirely in luxury brands, as though she’d stepped out of a drama as a career woman.
I let out a quiet laugh at the sight of Lee Ha-ram.
The hunting dog had been released.
Now I simply need to wait and see what he brings to the table.
And when that time comes, the world will grow loud once more.
*
*
*
A few days later.
Seo Jin’s family visited Kim Young-jun’s House.
The first family gathering since Kim Young-jun became Prosecutor General.
The moment we stepped inside, Kim Young-jun’s Wife regarded me with an appraising gaze.
But I pretended not to notice and bowed my head.
“It’s good to see you.”
And the congratulations began.
My father gripped Kim Young-jun’s hand firmly, offering sincere congratulations: “You’ve worked so hard. So very hard.”
My mother and Jin-young did the same.
Thus we all took our seats at the table.
Kim Young-jun’s daughter, Kim Yu-mi, also attended today’s family gathering.
Kim Yu-mi works busily as a doctor and resident, though fortunately her schedule aligned today.
‘She’s the same age as me, isn’t she?’
This was only the second time I’d seen Kim Yu-mi since awakening—the first being at the previous family gathering.
Kim Yu-mi said little during the meal.
And I paid her no particular attention either.
She seemed to have no interest in Jaejeong Construction or family matters, appearing only weary from the demands of her medical career.
This gathering too was dominated by conversation between my father and Kim Young-jun.
As expected, my mother and Kim Young-jun’s Wife avoided each other’s eyes, while Jin-young buried his face in his plate and ate in silence.
As Kim Young-jun spoke with my father, his gaze suddenly shifted toward me.
“Seo Jin.”
“Yes?”
I turned my attention to Kim Young-jun.
Kim Young-jun opened his mouth with an affectionate tone.
“What cases are you preparing these days? The Chief Prosecutor asked about you.”
With Kim Young-jun’s rise to Prosecutor General, a new Chief Prosecutor had taken office at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
As a regular prosecutor, I had only bowed in greeting when we crossed paths, never engaging in actual conversation.
“The Chief Prosecutor?”
“Yes, he seemed quite eager to see what cases you’d bring to him.”
There was only one reason Kim Young-jun made such a remark.
He wanted to show my father, Kim Jun-man, something.
No parent dislikes knowing their child is held in high regard.
But Kim Young-jun’s true intention was different.
He attributed the reason I’d caught the eye of someone important to himself.
In other words, he was subtly conveying that he was taking good care of me.
He was trying to put his father in his debt.
For when Kim Yun-hwan eventually arrived, to secure a favorable position in that negotiation.
I could see his purpose clearly.
But I thought it had actually worked out well.
I could use this situation to my advantage.
I smiled faintly and opened my mouth.
“I haven’t informed Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae yet. I received a tip about irregularities in the hiring process, and I’m preparing to investigate that.”
A way of saying I was turning my attention away from the illegal loan shark market and focusing on the hiring irregularities instead.
Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s eyes, which had been quiet until now, sparkled.
I caught that gleam in her eyes and drew a quiet smile.
‘Yes. Rest assured like that.’

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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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