Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 155

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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 (2)
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“Where in the world does a junior prosecutor put his senior on stakeout duty?”
“I apologize.”
Inside Jang Ji-hyuk’s car.
As I offered my apology, Jang Ji-hyuk chuckled while chewing his bread.
“Never mind that. Read this instead. Got it from some private investigators. When I mentioned your sister-in-law might be having an affair, they really dug up everything. Scarier than the police, honestly.”
What Jang Ji-hyuk handed me was a thick stack of documents—all the accumulated investigation materials on Eom Seon-ju.
Since it started as an infidelity case, the first page was already sensational.
“…She really was having an affair?”
“Eom Seon-ju’s youngest son is pursuing his doctorate at graduate school, right? But she’s sponsoring a guy even younger than him. Looks like they meet once a week.”
I flipped through the documents methodically.
They had documented everything about Eom Seon-ju.
Who she met, where she went, which hotels she checked into with the man she was sponsoring—all of it.
What caught my eye was the basement of the Small Building she’d been keeping vacant—a space she apparently used repeatedly.
Jang Ji-hyuk spoke up.
“It’s definitely being used as an office. People come and go fairly regularly.”
“Are they gangsters?”
Eom Seon-ju was a loan shark.
If she was meeting someone in secret while keeping the building vacant, I’d assumed they were criminals.
“No, these guys are well-dressed. They look like ordinary office workers, honestly. I saw them with my own eyes, so you can trust me. I’m in the Major Crimes Division—you think I can’t tell a gangster when I see one?”
“Do you have any information on those people?”
“Still investigating. Should take about a week.”
Jang Ji-hyuk rolled down the car window and lit a cigarette.
Then he glanced at me with a worried expression and continued.
“But… are you going to be alright?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your target is Kim Young-jun’s wife. From my perspective, she’s a big fish, so it’s just stressful for me, but you…”
She was my aunt.
If this became a butterfly effect that sparked conflict within the family, it could be a fatal wound to my household as well.
Families had a way of sharing each other’s secrets.
“The real target is Kim Young-jun.”
Kim Young-jun’s personality was cruel and meticulous.
With that kind of temperament, he likely had boxes full of leverage to drive my family to the edge of a cliff.
But I responded without concern.
I knew Kim Young-jun’s nature better than anyone.
And I was continuously preparing countermeasures against him.
My aunt’s misconduct was part of that strategy.
“It’s fine. Knowing about a crime and turning a blind eye to it feels far worse.”
I smiled faintly and set the documents I’d finished reading on the back seat.
That’s when Jang Ji-hyuk’s quiet voice pierced my ears.
“She’s here.”
Eom Seon-ju was emerging from the building.
Everything adorning her body was clearly high-end luxury at first glance.
Her gait and gaze radiated arrogance, as if displaying the life she’d lived.
“What are you going to do?”
“Just introduce myself today.”
“Huh?”
“To grow closer in the future, I need to familiarize her with my face first. Disguised as coincidence.”
I gripped my phone and stepped out of the car.
Then, walking briskly with the phone pressed to my ear as if taking a call, I headed toward Eom Seon-ju.
‘Today, I’ll just cross paths with her.’
I intended to deliberately collide with Eom Seon-ju.
A plan to stage several seemingly accidental encounters.
Childish, but the most reliable method.
People are wary of strangers at first, but as encounters repeat—twice, three times—they gradually lower their guard and feel familiarity.
‘Once she’s grown accustomed…’
I could extract her past through various means.
Slowly, like drawing her into a swamp.
And even if this reaches Kim Young-jun’s wife’s ears, it doesn’t matter.
It’s just coincidence, after all.
As I approached Eom Seon-ju with quick steps.
Urgent footsteps sounded, and unfamiliar figures blocked my path.
Large men in business suits.
Eom Seon-ju’s bodyguards.
They looked down at me with cold, piercing eyes.
They didn’t speak, but their gazes conveyed a message.
‘Turn back. Don’t get close to her.’
I lowered my head and smiled.
I’d known there would be bodyguards.
But the reason I approached anyway.
‘My goal today was simply to establish a connection.’
I just needed her to know my face.
When Eom Seon-ju’s gaze turned toward me, I slowly lifted my head.
I made sure she saw my face clearly, then smiled with an embarrassed expression.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was in a hurry and didn’t see you ahead.”
I’d achieved my objective.
I turned my body to slip past them.
But then.
“…Prosecutor Seo Jin?”
Eom Seon-ju’s voice reached my ears.
She knew who I was.
Just as I had been tracking the Loan Shark Boss Eom Seon-ju, they had been investigating me in return.
Each of us treading on the other’s heels, seeking to deliver a fatal blow.
“That’s right, isn’t it? Prosecutor Seo Jin.”
I feigned ignorance and turned toward Eom Seon-ju.
“…Who are you?”
“…How should I put it? Our relationship is rather ambiguous. I’m the younger sister of Kim Young-jun’s Wife, Eom Si-young. My name is Eom Seon-ju.”
Eom Seon-ju stepped forward toward me, leaving her bodyguards behind.
I suppressed the urge to smile as I regarded her.
I had intended to slowly draw her into the mire, yet she was walking toward it of her own accord.
Unaware that once she set foot before it, there would be no escaping.
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“My sister bragged about you so much that I already knew. I’ve seen you in the news quite often too.”
Coffee Shop.
I sat across from Eom Seon-ju.
Eom Seon-ju was the younger sister of Kim Young-jun’s Wife—a relationship without a proper title, yet close enough to be considered intimate.
We exchanged words with careful deliberation.
I drew a quiet smile.
In the short span of our conversation, Eom Seon-ju had mentioned Kim Young-jun’s Wife eight times.
One might think it natural, given that she was our mutual connection.
‘But no.’
Nearly every time Eom Seon-ju mentioned Kim Young-jun’s Wife, the word “bragged” accompanied it.
Kim Young-jun’s Wife Eom Si-young was a woman who possessed everything in this world.
At least, that’s what people believed.
A husband who rose to become Prosecutor General, a son who graduated from an excellent university and became a prosecutor, and a daughter who is a doctor.
The media had illuminated her as a devoted wife, highlighting how she supported her husband through his humble beginnings.
People spoke of Kim Young-jun’s Wife as a successful woman.
‘Could it be… jealousy?’
The possibility was more than sufficient.
Jealousy was not directed only at distant figures—it could extend toward friends or family.
I played along with Eom Seon-ju’s words and casually cast out bait.
A fishing expedition of sorts—if she took it, all the better; if not, so be it.
“I’ve seen photos of Kim Young-jun’s Wife from her university days. She was quite beautiful. How did your brother-in-law meet her?”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve always been curious, but it’s not something I could ask directly, you know? Haha.”
Malice gleamed unmistakably in Eom Seon-ju’s eyes.
He was deliberating.
Whether to corner Kim Young-jun’s Wife or preserve her past as a card to play later.
And Eom Seon-ju decided to keep her past as a card in reserve.
“Well, there were plenty of men chasing after my sister, but I’m not quite sure how she ended up meeting my brother-in-law.”
A transparent lie.
I wanted to force the truth buried in Eom Seon-ju’s belly out into the open.
But that wasn’t possible now.
I had to settle for having him by the ankle.
Rushing a meal only leads to indigestion.
‘But….’
I had gained something.
The fact that he would preserve a past incident as a card meant it was no trivial matter.
When I nodded without pressing further, Eom Seon-ju began asking questions instead.
-How are the hiring irregularities progressing when job seekers are so angry?
-Was there really a connection between the Prosecutor’s Office and Shinma Pharmaceuticals?
To an outsider, these would seem like trivial celebrity gossip questions.
But Eom Seon-ju’s intent was different.
He was trying to determine whether I had truly severed my interest in the Illegal Loan Shark Market.
After spouting pointless questions for a while, Eom Seon-ju asked directly.
“By the way, the Illegal Loan Shark Market? You’re not involved in that anymore?”
“No, it’s too much trouble for too little return in terms of performance.”
“Ah… I see?”
He didn’t look convinced.
His gaze toward me was filled with suspicion.
But I maintained a consistent air of disinterest.
A moment later.
Eom Seon-ju and I rose from our seats.
“Let’s meet again if the opportunity arises.”
It wasn’t mere flattery.
He wanted to learn various tidbits about the front-line Prosecutor’s Office through me.
But it was during the handshake.
My vision drained into black and white.
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Eom Seon-ju sat in the basement office of the Small Building.
Before him sat Seo Jin’s aunt.
“I just need to meet one person. An Education Committee executive. You know I don’t usually ask for favors, right? But my situation is difficult right now. I can see where the money is, but all the kids who took allowance from me lost their elections. So, just this once.”
Eom Seon-ju placed a map on the table and continued speaking.
“This is where we’ll invest. It’s state-owned land, you see? We’re planning to purchase it under the guise of establishing a private educational foundation to build a school.”
Of course, I had no intention of actually building a school.
My only plan was to acquire it at below-market rates through an Education Committee executive—a National Assembly member.
“If we drag things out for about two years with various complications, everyone will forget what happened. Then we sell. After deducting expenses, the projected profit is around 200 billion won. I’ll put 30% in Yoon-hwan’s name.”
Eom Seon-ju made no effort to hide the greed in her eyes, while Kim Young-jun’s Wife gazed quietly at the map.
“30%?”
“You just provide the connection, and Yoon-hwan gets the crumbs. All for simply opening the door without doing anything else.”
30% meant 60 billion won.
For a simple referral fee, it was quite appetizing.
But Kim Young-jun’s Wife didn’t answer hastily.
Kim Young-jun’s position as Chancellor had elevated him to a place where he could no longer afford careless moves.
“If something goes wrong, it’ll get messy with speculation charges….”
At that, Eom Seon-ju burst into laughter.
“Speculation? Why worry? If you get caught, it’s speculation. If you don’t, it’s investment. Didn’t you already make a successful investment without your brother-in-law finding out?”
“Hey….”
“Don’t worry. We won’t get caught. And if it looks like we might, we’ll just handle those people quietly like we always have, and like we will in the future.”
Eom Seon-ju’s gaze shifted backward.
A large man stood blocking the doorway.
Eom Seon-ju tilted her chin toward the man and whispered.
“He’s good at that sort of thing.”
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The psychometry had ended.
Before me stood Eom Seon-ju, smiling brightly.
Until now, Seo Jin and Eom Seon-ju had merely probed each other through superficial conversation.
But through the psychometry I’d just experienced, I witnessed Eom Seon-ju’s brutal true nature.
“I’ll see you again soon.”
I forced a smile and bowed toward Eom Seon-ju.
It was difficult to maintain my composure at that moment.
Eom Seon-ju, unaware of my change, smiled brightly and waved her hand.
“See you later.”
That was the end of it.
Eom Seon-ju turned and left with those words.
And I watched her departing figure while swallowing hard.
‘This is….’
I felt as though I’d witnessed something enormous.
200 billion won in profits from state-owned land acquisition, Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s successful investment in the Chancellor, and murder.
Psychometry only shows fragments, so I couldn’t see the complete picture.
But what I’d just witnessed was enough to cast suspicion on every action Kim Young-jun’s Wife had taken.
‘First…’
I glanced around the surroundings.
The man I’d seen at the end of my psychometry vision.
The person Eom Seon-ju had referred to as “he’s good at that sort of thing.”
That sort of thing was undoubtedly murder, and his behavior had seemed like that of a bodyguard.
‘If he’s a bodyguard, he’d be nearby.’
And I found him.
A man sitting alone in the corner, sipping coffee while waiting for Eom Seon-ju to leave.
Unmistakably massive in build.
His gaze was sharp and piercing.
He reminded me of that serial killer from the playground who murdered middle school girls.
I paused in place, waiting for him to leave.
And his departure came in an instant.
He followed Eom Seon-ju like a shadow the moment he stepped out the door.
The door closed with a soft chime.
But I remained motionless, still standing there.
Until Eom Seon-ju drove away from this place.
—He was gone.
I moved the moment Jang Ji-hyuk’s message arrived.
I left the coffee cup on the return tray.
From there, I picked up the cup he had used.
Then I brought it to the counter.
The Coffee Shop employee reached out to take the cup, speaking kindly.
“Thank you.”
“No, this cup—could I purchase it?”

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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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