Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 174

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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 (5)
My father didn’t approve of Jin-young’s dream.
He had assumed Jin-young, a graduate of an excellent university, would inherit Jaejeong Construction, so it was difficult for him to understand why he suddenly wanted to become a chef.
But he acknowledged his son’s dream and supported it.
Because when Jin-young held a frying pan and made pasta, the joy on his face looked genuinely happy.
“…You’re going to quit?”
Yet suddenly he was thinking of quitting.
And the reason was Kim Young-jun, of all people!
My father set down his glass with such force that it made a loud ‘thud’ sound.
“Enough! Don’t worry about company matters.”
My father’s expression darkened. His eyes, so different from usual, stared coldly into empty space.
“Just do what you want to do.”
I could see a plan forming in my father’s mind to eliminate Kim Young-jun.
He didn’t want to see his two sons worrying because of that fool Kim Young-jun.
I nodded.
“Yes, I’ll tell him that. Father, please pretend you didn’t hear.”
I wanted to say a few more things, but I kept my mouth shut.
My father was a good-natured, optimistic man who was always laughing.
But he was the man who built Jaejeong Construction from nothing—far from someone to be underestimated.
Even if it were Kim Young-jun, the company chairman, instead of Kim Young-jun, he wouldn’t easily seize Jaejeong Construction.
And if such a thing were to happen, if my brother and I could be hurt by it, I would grab my opponent by the collar and fight, even if that opponent were my older brother, Chairman Kim Young-jun.
I nodded.
I could tell from the look in my father’s eyes.
Even if he grabbed Kim Young-jun by the hair and threw him into prison, he would still support me.
Always standing by his children—that’s what my father is.
“But Jin-young, isn’t Korean food better than Italian? The kimchi fried rice was delicious, but the pasta was….”
I refilled my father’s glass and changed the subject.
Only then did my father laugh heartily.
“Is that so? I thought foreign food just didn’t suit my palate, but it doesn’t suit yours either?”
“Actually, I’m a Korean food person too, so I don’t know much about Italian food. Right, Jin-young asked me a few days ago if it was okay to get married first….”
“What? Marriage?”
My father’s movements froze once more.
It seemed only my mother knew that Jin-young had a girlfriend.
“Have you met her? Is she nice? What’s she like?”
My father’s eyes filled with curiosity as he fired questions rapidly.
I shook my head.
“I haven’t seen her in person either, only in photos, but she looked very cute. Jin-young is meeting her while keeping it a secret about his background….”
At the mention of keeping his background secret, my father’s eyes widened. I continued, seeing the question in his gaze.
“He says that if the girl hears that Father is the CEO of Jaejeong Construction and his older brother is a prosecutor, she might approach the family for those reasons, so he’s keeping everything hidden. Anyway, the girlfriend’s name is apparently Jin-guk….”
My father burst out laughing.
“Exactly. Money attracts flies like shit. He’s doing well at that.”
I continued relaying to my father the stories Jin-young had boasted about his girlfriend.
My father kept laughing with delight.
After a few more rounds of drinks, my father asked.
“She cooks with you?”
“Yes.”
“As long as she’s a good person, that’s all that matters.”
I had assumed that someone of my father’s stature—the representative of Jaejeong Construction—would have certain standards in mind for a daughter-in-law.
What family background she should have, which university she should graduate from at minimum, that damned process of categorizing and grading people.
But my father had none of that.
Shortly after, dinner ended.
I called a designated driver, and my father decided to ride home in my car.
In the humid summer night breeze, my father lit a cigarette.
And then.
“Kim Yun-hwan….”
He brought up the subject of Kim Yun-hwan.
Even while he was talking about Jin-young’s girlfriend, a corner of his mind had been preoccupied with the matter of Kim Yun-hwan.
I watched my father silently.
Then my father’s voice continued.
“I can’t stop him from entering the company. As you know, your uncle’s stake in our company is quite substantial. Though it’s under a borrowed name….”
“….”
“But you don’t need to worry about what you’re concerned about. I’ll plant people in the Legal Team to monitor him and make sure he can’t do anything else.”
My father is the representative of Jaejeong Construction, and the Legal Team has many people who serve as his eyes and ears.
They will monitor Kim Yun-hwan’s every move.
But there is a problem.
A man with unnecessary greed.
Jaejeong Construction is not a corner store.
The ownership structure can shift based on shareholding distribution.
Among so many employees and executives, there are naturally those harboring different intentions.
If that man and Kim Yun-hwan align, and he rides all the way up to Kim Young-jun, there’s more than enough possibility of a bloody conflict between brothers.
Kim Young-jun is someone whose reason surpasses emotion.
And that nature of his seeks profit and success over moral obligation.
A monster that greedily devours everything.
Before him, blood brothers are an afterthought.
Kim Young-jun prioritizes only himself.
Reading my father’s heart, I smiled quietly and opened my mouth.
“Don’t worry.”
I intend to tear Kim Yun-hwan to shreds and bring down Kim Young-jun, starting with his mother.
‘All this time….’
What I had been worried about was the emotional wound my father would suffer in the process of destroying Kim Young-jun.
But my father is worried too.
Kim Young-jun’s greed, the power that matches it.
The fear that his blade might turn toward me and Jin-young at any moment.
‘There’s nothing left to fear now.’
The power to bring down Kim Young-jun is steadily, yet swiftly accumulating in my hands.
And when that time comes, the concern my father harbors will never come to pass.
*
*
*
Days later, I visited Congressman Yeo Dong-soo’s office again.
What I had demanded as a condition of the deal was now being delivered.
What I had expected Congressman Yeo Dong-soo to provide was the misconduct of a fellow congressman.
And my assumption proved correct.
“There’s a congressman named Hwang Yun-sung.”
I knew of him.
A man who followed in his parents’ footsteps as real estate moguls, making a fortune through land speculation.
Someone who lobbies the upper echelons and avoids exclusion from party nominations.
Thanks to that, he’s entrenched himself in his territory, a three-term congressman living in comfort.
“Do you know which pocket that lobbying money comes from?”
“….”
“Gangsters.”
Congressman Yeo Dong-soo placed documents on the table.
Then he tapped the papers with his finger and continued speaking.
“Those gangsters operate an entertainment agency.”
Not a legitimate one.
They lure a few aspiring entertainers with promises of Korean Wave success, then send them overseas.
To Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.
“What they do there is predictable.”
Performing on night stages, providing sexual services.
But they never get caught. Because they never directly forced the aspiring entertainers into sexual servitude.
They merely disguised coercion as choice with lines like “You decide. I hate saying this too. But if you want to succeed, there’s no way around it,” or “The other members are doing it, you know? If you don’t, they’ll fail too.”
I laughed as if in disbelief.
“A congressman would do something like this?”
“He doesn’t do it. He just turns a blind eye.”
“I like it.”
I really did like it.
Trash like this feels no pain even when someone else’s legs are severed.
Yet they scream as if dying the moment a small thorn pricks their own hand.
Perfect tools to exploit.
‘Set aside the gangsters.’
I don’t need thugs.
I’ll dispose of them.
But.
‘I need to secure the congressman.’
His power is essential.
A congressman’s formidable authority, surrounded by loyal subordinates—they are the greatest monsters in South Korea.
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head while taking the documents from Yeo Dong-soo’s hands.
As I turned to leave, Yeo Dong-soo grabbed my arm.
“Wait a moment.”
When I turned back, Yeo Dong-soo lit a cigarette and spoke with a grave expression.
“These thugs are uneducated—I can’t predict how they’ll resist. Be careful.”
“Yes.”
“And you… your relationship with Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun is fine, isn’t it?”
“Pardon?”
I and Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun are relatives, and on the surface, we support each other mutually.
But Yeo Dong-soo saw it differently.
“It’s awkward to say, but you’re similar.”
Like recognizes like.
Opposite poles of a magnet repel each other.
A vicious dog never releases its grip on another’s throat until one dies.
The Seo Jin that Yeo Dong-soo perceived was just as vicious as Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
Of course, there was the special relationship of being relatives, but Yeo Dong-soo wanted to verify it.
If he sensed tension between us, he would need to decide which side to align with.
But I revealed nothing in my expression.
I smiled as if bewildered and shook my head.
“Of course. He’s my uncle.”
*
*
*
As I stepped out of Yeo Dong-soo’s office, I tilted my head in thought.
He was suspicious of my relationship with Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
Though still in its infancy, the intent behind his question was unmistakable.
‘Could it be…?’
Yeo Dong-soo’s suspicion didn’t matter.
But if Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun was scrutinizing me even slightly, that would be a serious problem.
I briefly considered whether I had ever left him with any doubts.
‘No.’
If I had, he wouldn’t have introduced me to powerful figures, nor would he have presented me to my allies at his inauguration reception.
‘It’s just my paranoia.’
Seo Jin climbed into the car, thinking he needed to be even more careful.
He then started the engine and unfolded the documents he’d received.
I wanted to at least confirm what kind of people they were.
‘Huh?’
The name Eom Seon-ju, Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s biological brother, was written there.
My grip on the documents tightened with sudden force.
The calculation was already clear in my mind.
Catching Eom Seon-ju incidentally in the process of apprehending the gangsters.
And through Eom Seon-ju, seizing Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun by the ankles.
The entire sequence played out vividly before my eyes.
‘Perfect.’
In that moment, my phone vibrated.
It was Lee So-hee from the Gangwon District Prosecutors’ Office.
“Hey, So-hee.”
-Wait, can you talk right now?
“Go ahead. It’s fine.”
-I’m… they’re telling me to get married.
Lee So-hee’s voice was trembling.
*
*
*
At that moment, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun was reading articles on his tablet PC.
‘Quite impressive…’
Articles about Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun appeared constantly, never more than three days apart.
Thanks to that, his approval ratings were soaring without limit.
He hadn’t made any announcement about entering politics, yet this level of support was genuinely positive.
Buzz.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s phone vibrated.
The caller was Congressman Baek Ki-ho.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun furrowed his brow and picked up the phone.
A low voice flowed from the other end of the line.
-I thought I hadn’t thanked you properly.
A thank you for stopping the investigation.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun had tried to drag Congressman Baek Ki-ho into the case involving Congressman Yeo Dong-soo.
But Congressman Baek Ki-ho had used some weakness of Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun as leverage to halt that investigation.
“What’s there to thank me for? People who can hurt each other should just avoid one another.”
-General… do we really need to avoid each other? Let’s meet face to face after all this time.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun didn’t answer.
He simply waited quietly for the voice on the other end of the line.
And Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s measured voice continued.
—Director General, I’ve thought about this for a long time. What if we joined forces? I go first, then you follow. We could build this nation together.
Director General Kim Young-jun chuckled and shook his head.
You only shake hands with someone you can trust.
That trust isn’t built on friendship.
It’s a clear weakness held over someone unilaterally.
Or it’s formidable power to shake the other person’s very foundation.
Naturally, Director General Kim Young-jun and Congressman Baek Ki-ho could never build such a trust.
Both men wielded comparable power.
They even knew each other’s weaknesses.
How could those who’d aimed guns at each other through those weaknesses ever trust one another?
They’d live in constant dread, always fearing a knife in the back.
That was when it happened.
—Let us become in-laws.

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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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