Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 154

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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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Traces of the Past (1)
The man Kim Young-jun’s Wife had met in the past—his name was Seon Chae-o.
Notable detail: he disappeared.
I shifted my gaze to Lee Dong-young.
Lee Dong-young quickly offered an explanation.
“He attended the same university’s College of Education.”
A man and woman meet, part ways, and she marries someone new.
The sort of thing that happens all the time in youth.
But the man she married was Kim Young-jun.
Something didn’t add up.
An uneasy beast coiled in the darkness, waiting.
Lee Dong-young continued.
“And around that time, a missing person report was filed.”
I swallowed hard.
‘Missing?’
The uneasy beast was taking shape.
It was lifting its head, watching me.
I nodded, and Lee Dong-young went on.
“I sensed something was off, so I conducted discreet inquiries through a private investigator.”
Lee Dong-young had traced the shadow of Seon Chae-o, a man from Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s past.
Someone who graduated from the same department.
A classmate from high school.
“And the neighborhood where Seon Chae-o lived.”
Since it happened so long ago, few people remembered Seon Chae-o.
The only thing anyone recalled was ‘disappearance’—nothing else.
“But…”
Lee Dong-young, who had been speaking freely, suddenly hesitated.
He was wrestling with whether to continue.
After all, I was Kim Young-jun’s nephew.
Blood runs thicker than water, as they say.
Sensing his reluctance, I spoke up.
“Please, go ahead. It’s fine.”
“One of Seon Chae-o’s childhood friends told me this.”
—He mentioned that she was pregnant. He said he needed money for an abortion.
“So that friend lent him the money.”
“…And?”
“Not long after, he disappeared.”
I fell silent for a moment.
No—I’d lost my words.
My mind was spinning with every melodramatic scenario imaginable.
‘An abortion?’
Well, I could grudgingly accept that much, I supposed.
‘But… he needed money?’
Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s family was old money.
They were monsters who carried wealth beyond imagination—then and now—feeding on the blood of ordinary people.
I couldn’t fathom why her boyfriend would need money.
That amount wouldn’t even cover one of her meals.
‘Sigh…’
I shook my head, pulling myself from my thoughts.
The truth behind melodramatic scandals shouldn’t be defined until I saw it with my own eyes.
The moment my thinking tilted in one direction, every puzzle piece would arrange itself to match that bias.
Errors were inevitable.
Right now, I needed to view the past with objective clarity.
And what mattered now was this:
“The disappearance is still ongoing, correct?”
“Yes.”
Seon Chae-o had never been found.
Whether he was hiding somewhere or already dead, I couldn’t say—but Seon Chae-o certainly carried memories of the past within him.
My prosecutor’s instinct to uncover the truth tingled in my blood.
I tapped my finger on Seon Chae-o’s name, thinking.
‘Finding this person comes first.’
Then Lee Dong-young spoke up.
“Do you know Eom Seon-ju?”
I turned to look at Lee Dong-young.
Eom Seon-ju was Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s biological sibling.
I was puzzled why that name suddenly came up.
“We’ve received intelligence that he possesses considerable information on this matter.”
Eom Seon-ju was currently under investigation by Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
But it was only scratching the surface.
What crimes Eom Seon-ju was committing, how much wealth he possessed, or who he was meeting—
I couldn’t know his thoughts and memories.
To dig into the past, there was only one method: meeting him directly and hearing his account.
Whether I dragged him to an interrogation room or engineered a chance encounter, one of the two had to happen.
*
*
*
Days later, I was meeting with Shin Ji-yeon of Shinma Group.
We were on the rooftop of a building she’d purchased outright.
Shin Ji-yeon sipped her beer, feeling the summer wind approaching.
“Busy lately?”
“Of course.”
I’ve been swamped with work—first the Jeo Hoo-an matter, then the hiring irregularities at SR Pharmaceutical.
Unable to focus on anything else, I remained glued to my desk until I could finally leave.
“And here you come running the moment this noona calls? Did you miss me?”
“I wanted to express my gratitude in person.”
Shin Ji-yeon was the one who’d provided the source on SR Pharmaceutical’s hiring irregularities.
Thanks to her, I’d been able to shake both SR Pharmaceutical and the Food and Drug Administration director, and Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s faction was gradually losing interest in me.
I wanted to convey that gratitude.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I’ve been able to boost my performance.”
“We’re thinking alike? I called you because I wanted to thank you too.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
I tried to think of what Shin Ji-yeon could possibly be grateful to me for, but nothing came to mind.
That Jayden Kim became a major shareholder of Shinma Construction?
That it solidified her stake?
That was merely mutual aid—neither side had gained significantly more than the other.
As I continued pondering, Shin Ji-yeon’s secretary approached and handed me a tablet PC.
Articles filled the screen.
[SR Pharmaceutical in Crisis, Shinma Pharmaceuticals Acquisition Appears Certain]
[Shinma Pharmaceuticals Set to Become Industry Leader]
[Business Community: This Acquisition Demonstrates CEO Shin Ji-yeon’s Management Prowess]
[American Economic Magazine Names CEO Shin Ji-yeon Among Influential Women]
“…What?”
Shin Ji-yeon grinned widely and offered me a can of beer in a toast.
“SR Pharmaceutical’s stock price plummeted thanks to my little brother?”
I blinked for a moment, then burst out laughing.
“I’ve been played.”
Literally used.
Shin Ji-yeon had jumped into the SR Pharmaceutical acquisition from the start and thrown me the hiring irregularities source.
Then came the cascade of scandals.
The Food and Drug Administration director received bribes and approved unapproved medications.
Eventually, SR Pharmaceutical’s CEO was arrested and retail investors dumped their shares.
The stock price crashed.
“I was able to buy at a good price. Thanks.”
I clinked glasses with Shin Ji-yeon.
I wasn’t displeased.
Anyone worth shaking hands with needs to know how to think strategically.
And the stronger each of us becomes useful to the other, the deeper the trust in mutual benefit grows.
“Then may I ask you for a favor?”
Shin Ji-yeon’s eyes narrowed at my words.
“All I can offer is money, and my scale makes it difficult to fill your wallet….”
Seo Jin is the son of Jaejeong Construction—he possesses wealth that leaves nothing to be desired.
Moreover, he is someone with a certain connection to Jayden Kim, one of the major shareholders of Shinma Construction.
He would not harbor greed over a paltry sum of money.
“Then do you need people?”
“….”
“Or perhaps corporate misconduct?”
A barrage of twenty-questions-style inquiries followed, but Seo Jin shook his head each time.
“Just tell me. This is frustrating.”
“Could you break just one story for me?”
“…A story?”
Shin Ji-yeon regarded Seo Jin with curious eyes at this unexpected request.
Seo Jin crumpled his beer can as he continued.
“The Prosecutor’s Office assisted Shinma Pharmaceuticals in the acquisition battle for SR Pharmaceutical. An honest piece like that.”
“My brother?”
“Of course, but without clear evidence, it will fizzle out. There will be some momentary chaos, but it will be dismissed as mere controversy or conspiracy theory. It won’t cause any real harm to Shinma Pharmaceuticals.”
“Then?”
Shinma Pharmaceuticals would be fine.
People have grown numb to corporate misconduct.
Even when they commit wrongdoing, people simply brush it aside with a curse.
But the Prosecutor’s Office is different.
The directive for this case came from Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
His first shot as Prosecutor General becomes imaged as having joined hands with the business establishment.
And it would be nearly impossible to suspect Seo Jin as the source of that article.
—It was Seo Jin who brought the employment misconduct case.
—Seo Jin is not on good terms with Shinma Group.
—Because it was Seo Jin who imprisoned Shin Il-seung, the youngest son of Shinma Group.
—The connection between Seo Jin and Shin Ji-yeon is a secret known only to a select few.
Seo Jin smiled faintly.
‘This should be interesting.’
During that brief window of chaos that would engulf Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun, I could freely investigate Eom Seon-ju—my aunt’s brother.
And Shin Ji-yeon quietly laughed and nodded.
“The stock price will drop again?”
The stock price mattered little to Shin Ji-yeon.
For now, she needed to devour greedily and prepare for the prince’s rebellion that would unfold in the future.
Shin Ji-yeon opened her mouth toward Seo Jin.
“We can make Lee Jong-seok, the Food and Drug Administration director, the source of the article. He’s been desperate to grasp at straws lately. Once he gets his hands on a source like this, he’ll be itching to spread it around.”
“That would work.”
A plan was formed in a brief moment.
Shin Ji-yeon glanced at Seo Jin’s empty can and spoke.
“Want another round?”
*
*
*
-There are growing suspicions that Shinma Pharmaceuticals received assistance from the Prosecutor’s Office during its acquisition of SR Pharmaceutical. SR Pharmaceutical’s hiring violations and bribery allegations coincided with a stock price collapse!
The channel switched.
Similar news blared loudly from another station.
-Shin Ji-yeon, CEO of Shinma Pharmaceuticals, dismissed the allegations, stating that the acquisition of SR Pharmaceutical was planned in advance and that all claims are baseless, but…
The other channels reported the same.
-Lee Jong-seok, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, countered that it was indeed a political conspiracy…
As I listened to the reporter’s voice, Kim Young-jun picked up the remote control.
With a beep, the television turned off.
In the silence, Kim Young-jun’s expression darkened.
This was supposed to be something that would earn public support, yet it was becoming a blemish on his reputation.
However, Kim Young-jun remained unruffled.
He simply stared at the darkened screen with cold eyes.
Then, Kang Ryuk, the head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division standing before Kim Young-jun, spoke up.
“I’ll issue an order for his arrest.”
The Food and Drug Administration Commissioner was a high-ranking government official.
He had enough power to make his voice heard against the media.
That’s why I had left him alone until now.
The more he ranted, the better my image became—a reverse effect that worked in my favor.
But now his mouth had become a problem.
“We have sufficient grounds for charges, and we can obtain a warrant by the end of today.”
“Wait a moment…”
I raised my hand slightly.
Kang Ryuk fell silent, and I paused to think.
Lee Jong-seok was currently shouting about collusion between the Prosecutor’s Office and Shinma Group.
‘If I arrest him now…’
It would only lend credence to that conspiracy theory.
The situation would become even more chaotic.
“Arrest isn’t the problem. I can do that anytime. It’s the timing that matters.”
I was the one who could create that timing.
Various methods to silence Lee Jong-seok flashed through my mind before fading away.
But I kept those thoughts to myself.
“I’m curious how this fool will move next.”
I picked up my phone.
The contact I was looking for was Seo Jin.
*
*
*
Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
As I climbed into my car in the parking lot, my phone rang.
It was Kim Young-jun, the Prosecutor General.
He was asking how to escape the slander against the Prosecutor’s Office.
‘What?’
I was momentarily taken aback.
The Prosecutor General had cited wanting to hear the thoughts of a younger person as his reason.
But this matter transcended a single case—it was a problem affecting the entire Prosecutor’s Office.
I never expected him to pose such a question to me.
‘Is it because I’ve built his trust? Or is he still testing me?’
But there was no time for deep contemplation.
The Prosecutor General wanted an immediate answer.
And if he followed my counsel, it would be another opportunity.
“I think it’s best to let it be, sir.”
-Conspiracy theories only grow louder when they become agitation.
“The agitation has already begun, and I don’t believe we have evidence to assert our innocence.”
There were suspicions.
An acquisition that erupted simultaneously with the Prosecutor’s Office investigation.
But there was no basis to claim innocence.
For the Prosecutor General, it was a case of the crow flying away and the rice bowl falling—pure misfortune.
The longer this drags on, the worse it becomes for the Prosecutor’s Office.
“However, Director Lee Jong-seok is a man with many problems. The more he speaks, the more we expose his shortcomings, the more people will see it as desperation.”
The Prosecutor General offered no particular response.
He merely interjected with the occasional “I see.”
Then, moments later, the call ended, and I stared at my phone in disbelief.
‘This is something else….’
I was the one who created this conspiracy theory.
And now he was teaching me how to resolve it—the phrase “giving medicine after causing the disease” suddenly came to mind.
That was when it happened.
Buzz.
My phone vibrated.
It was Jang Ji-hyuk.
-Eom Seon-ju just entered the building. But what are you trying to do?
This was why I had gotten in the car.
To uncover Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s past and Seon Chae-o through Eom Seon-ju.

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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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