Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 173

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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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Preparation (4)
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A moment later.
The aide had left, and only Seo Jin and Congressman Yeo Dong-soo remained in the office.
“Sigh…”
Congressman Yeo Dong-soo, seated across from Seo Jin, said nothing.
He simply sat on the sofa, chain-smoking for a long while.
“A deal?”
“Yes.”
Congressman Yeo Dong-soo fell silent again.
He still believed himself to be a successful member of the National Assembly.
His pride was wounded at the prospect of negotiating with an ordinary prosecutor.
Yet the reason he sat across from Seo Jin was desperation—grasping at straws.
His pride was bruised, but he wanted to live. Seo Jin found amusement in this contradiction, though he waited quietly for the man to speak.
After extinguishing several cigarettes in succession, Congressman Yeo Dong-soo finally opened his mouth with heavy reluctance.
“…Say it.”
“First, it would be best to objectify your situation, wouldn’t it?”
Pleasantries were over.
Now I needed to make clear who held the upper hand and who didn’t.
The opponent was a congressman—if I tried to crush him clumsily, I could end up being bitten instead.
I intended to establish dominance clearly, then make him comply with my terms.
“Look.”
Seo Jin pulled out documents and tossed them onto the table.
Congressman Yeo Dong-soo licked his dry lips and opened the envelope of papers.
The contents revealed Congressman Yeo Dong-soo’s corruption—the blade Congressman Baek Ki-ho had handed him to cut his own throat.
Faced with materials far more organized than he’d anticipated, Congressman Yeo Dong-soo’s face began to harden.
“W-who did this…”
“That’s not really important, is it? This alone is five years.”
“…There’s more?”
Congressman Yeo Dong-soo grasped the implications faster than expected.
Seo Jin nodded and placed another set of documents on top.
The bribery ledgers obtained from the room salon on the day the Jongno Police Station Chief was beaten, and the bribery ledgers taken from the pseudo-religious cult.
Money and sexual favors—all meticulously dated.
Congressman Yeo Dong-soo’s face turned ashen.
His hands trembled involuntarily. Then he suddenly burst out.
“Damn it! Damn it! Did I eat alone? What about all these other names listed here!”
This man still believed he held the advantage.
Seo Jin chuckled softly and spoke.
“Why the concern? This isn’t your first time facing a prosecution investigation. When the time comes to use this ledger, I’ll simply tear out the congressman’s name and use it as evidence. The rest… well, I can just claim it was damaged.”
“Hey!”
“Lower your voice and listen carefully.”
“What?”
“I told you—I’m proposing a deal.”
A congressman, no matter how abandoned by his party, wielded power that couldn’t be ignored.
The authority he possessed was different.
Even arrest was difficult. The courts rarely detained sitting congressmen for ordinary crimes.
‘And besides…’
Even if he faced punishment in the first and second trials, it wouldn’t matter—his congressional seat wouldn’t be stripped away. He’d have to wait until the final appeal.
Whether that took one year, two years, or perhaps three—nobody knew.
During all that time, Yeo Dong-soo wouldn’t sit idle.
Evidence would fade, and he could drag me down with him through misdirection tactics.
He might even target my father’s company, and leveraging South Korea’s unpredictable political landscape, he could stage a spectacular comeback.
That’s why I intended to make a deal with him.
After all, he was merely Baek Ki-ho’s hands and feet.
To strike at the head of the Opposition Party—Baek Ki-ho—I had to use this small-time criminal.
“Why would I say ‘deal’ if I didn’t mean it? I’ve always respected you, congressman. But seeing you continue to get agitated makes it difficult for me to speak.”
Yeo Dong-soo bit his lip.
Then he placed a cigarette between his lips and nodded.
It was permission to continue.
When the stage is set, you have to perform. I opened my mouth slowly.
“When painting a grand picture, the surroundings inevitably get soiled with paint. So why do people only look at the mess and not at the artwork itself?”
“…”
“I’ll cover up the bribes from the room salon and the pseudo-religious cult.”
I was subtly conveying that his misconduct remained in my hands.
In other words: don’t think of anything else unless you want us both to go down together.
Yeo Dong-soo nodded, understanding.
I continued.
“The problem is this ledger. Since I received it from above… it’s difficult to suppress everything completely.”
“…”
“But if you hold onto this ledger and work with a competent lawyer, you should be able to find adequate loopholes to slip through.”
Yeo Dong-soo’s gaze shifted to the documents.
A substantial amount of misconduct, but if it fell into a lawyer’s hands, the situation could change.
These documents were essentially a roadmap of how the prosecution would attack.
Knowing your opponent’s tactics was invaluable in court.
Moreover.
“I’ll proceed with indictment starting with this. Then I’ll throw them at you one by one, in this exact order.”
I laid out my detailed strategy for him.
Yeo Dong-soo let out a slight laugh and exhaled cigarette smoke.
Congressman Yeo Dong-soo’s plan to exploit Seo Jin’s weaknesses had already vanished from his mind.
He preferred a certain future over an uncertain plan.
“So, what do you think the final sentence will be?”
“I have my position to consider, so I won’t fight lightly. It depends on the lawyer’s skill and the judge’s temperament, but at most three years….”
“Three years is too much. Too long.”
The man who had been trembling just moments ago, anticipating five years, had now crawled out of the water demanding acquittal.
But it was exactly the reaction I had predicted.
I pulled a business card from my pocket and placed it on the table.
“Then use this lawyer.”
It was the business card of attorney Lee Du-jin, who was currently fighting against the Shinma Group.
“He has a strong reputation as a lawyer who helps the weak. He’s skilled enough to have won victories against major corporations and large law firms. With him, you could get a suspended sentence at best, or he might even secure insufficient evidence.”
“A human rights lawyer?”
“Not exactly.”
“But would this person take my case?”
I smiled quietly and whispered.
“Why would he have helped the weak all this time? It doesn’t make money and it’s only difficult work. There’s no such thing as goodwill without purpose in this world—he must have some ulterior motive, don’t you think?”
“…!”
Congressman Yeo Dong-soo’s eyes gleamed.
A pig only sees other pigs.
With my single remark, he believed attorney Lee Du-jin harbored political ambitions.
But it was a lie.
I had no intention of letting Congressman Yeo Dong-soo live.
My plan was to use him appropriately and then send him to prison—attorney Lee Du-jin was the perfect person for that role.
Everything had already been arranged between us.
Attorney Lee Du-jin would turn his back at the critical moment.
‘Until then… follow my orders.’
I had no intention of playing in Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s palm.
Everything must move according to my will.
When Congressman Yeo Dong-soo saw my sharp gaze, he snatched up attorney Lee Du-jin’s business card from the table.
He had taken the bait.
“I’ll contact him. But you said it was a deal, right? So what do you want?”
I wanted to obtain Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s weakness, but I didn’t voice that.
He was a politician.
Though I was turning my back on Congressman Baek Ki-ho now, I never knew when we might join hands again.
Yesterday’s enemy becomes today’s friend, and today’s friend becomes tomorrow’s enemy in the political arena.
To hunt in that despicable place.
“I want to gain a track record.”
“A track record?”
“Yes, becoming a star doesn’t feel bad. I want to establish myself with this opportunity.”
He was currently feeling betrayed by his fellow opposition party members.
I won’t mention their names, but I’ll give them something that can strike a blow.
Seo Jin intended to use that something as a leash for Congressman Yeo Dong-soo as well.
The fact that he had informed the Prosecutor’s Office about a fellow congressman’s fatal weakness.
That would prove to be quite an excellent weapon.
And this time, too, everything unfolded exactly as Seo Jin had anticipated.
“Wait. I’ll have them contact you soon.”
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Seo Jin stepped out of Congressman Yeo Dong-soo’s office.
‘This time, a congressman.’
Congressman Yeo Dong-soo had fallen into the palm of my hand.
A prosecutor, the media, and a congressman.
But it still wasn’t enough.
I couldn’t shake the world with merely a handful of prosecutors, tabloid media, and a single congressman.
To seize everything in this world, I needed to hold far more.
As I descended the stairs, I felt my phone vibrate.
It was Attorney Lee Du-jin.
-Seems like you’ve got quite the pull. Got a call right away. Ha ha.
The moment Seo Jin left, Congressman Yeo Dong-soo had called Attorney Lee Du-jin.
-I’ll pretend to accept it for the nomination, so don’t worry.
“Yes, thank you for your trouble.”
Seo Jin pocketed his phone and exited the building.
Arriving at the ground-level parking lot on the first floor, I climbed into my car and retrieved my phone once more.
“Father, are you busy?”
A call to my father.
I felt I needed to relay part of the conversation I’d had with Jin-young a few days ago.
Without Mother knowing—only to Father.
-Oh, it’s fine. What’s wrong? Something the matter?
“I wanted to have dinner with you after a long time.”
-Is that so? Then, would you come to the office?
“The office?”
My father’s office felt burdensome.
In an instant, a memory flashed through my mind—the time I’d visited Father’s office.
A place where my interview played continuously on the billboard and newspapers about me were arranged on the lobby bookshelves.
That alone was unsettling.
But the problem was that things would be far worse now than they were then.
Since the 9 o’clock news recently, I had been the main story of every broadcast.
The headlines were embarrassing, and my face plastered across the front pages was shameful, but Father wouldn’t miss it.
Boxes were already piling up at home.
The company lobby was unlikely to be in pristine condition.
‘No, it shouldn’t be worse than before.’
I shook my head.
After all, it was a company.
My father was the kind of man who said employees were essentially owners.
Such a man would never use the lobby for more private purposes than he did back then.
That’s what I wanted to believe.
So I considered going to the company, but ultimately I couldn’t trust my father.
“No, sir. You know that Korean Traditional Restaurant where we ate last time? I’ll go there instead.”
-Ah… you’re not coming to the company?
“No.”
-I see…
I hoped it was just my imagination that I heard disappointment in my father’s voice.
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The meal took place at the Korean Traditional Restaurant my father and I had visited when I came to the company last time.
My father wiped his hands with a wet tissue before speaking.
“Why?”
“Just curious.”
I asked just in case.
If the Prosecutor’s Office or the National Tax Service started investigating the company, what kind of problems might arise.
The thought was that as I grew closer to power, my father could become a target.
But my father’s expression remained calm.
“Just the scrap metal abandoned at construction sites is worth billions. That’s how construction work is. There are always variables. Patching here, covering there, discarding this and that—the money buried with the tools over the years must be enormous.”
There were problems.
As my expression grew serious, my father chuckled and spoke.
“Don’t worry. You don’t need to concern yourself with company matters. Just keep catching the bad guys. I live for the joy of watching you. Haha.”
My father wasn’t worried.
Whether he trusted Kim Young-jun or simply had an optimistic disposition that nothing serious would happen.
But I was different.
I resolved to quietly investigate my father’s company.
There couldn’t be any weaknesses.
Shortly after, the door opened and food arrived.
Drinking with my father after so long.
Glass after glass, we shared pleasant conversation.
And as I refilled my father’s glass, I broached the real purpose of coming here.
“I heard Kim Yun-hwan will be back soon. What are you planning to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“About the company.”
“What else can I do? I told them to create a position in the Legal Team.”
Father didn’t want to accept Kim Yun-hwan either.
But he couldn’t continue watching Kim Young-jun’s Wife overstep her boundaries.
Because the damage fell squarely on Mother and my younger brother, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
“Jin-young was even thinking of quitting the restaurant because of Yun-hwan’s situation.”
Father’s movements came to an abrupt halt.
“…What?”

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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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