Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 187

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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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A Rope of Conspiracy (7)
Eom Seon-ju’s eyes flew wide open. Her face flushed crimson as fury spilled from her lips.
“Why? Did you come to watch? To gawk at me?”
The look Eom Seon-ju cast toward Seo Jin was far from kind.
She believed he had come to observe her condition and report back to Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
To Eom Seon-ju, Seo Jin was nothing more than Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s lapdog—nothing less, nothing more.
“Just kill me!”
But Seo Jin offered no response.
He simply watched her in silence, waiting for her rage to subside.
Then Eom Seon-ju erupted again.
“I said kill me!”
Eom Seon-ju’s eyes burned with madness.
If left unchecked, she looked as though she might collapse, foaming at the mouth, consumed by her own fury.
Seo Jin’s gaze shifted toward the lawyer.
A silent command to leave.
“Well then…”
The lawyer was quick to read the room. He bowed his head and swiftly exited the visitation room.
Screech—the door closed, leaving only Seo Jin and Eom Seon-ju in the space.
Seo Jin approached her with measured steps, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
Then he opened his mouth, his voice dry and measured.
“The media’s been blocked, and even if you scatter Jirashi, no one will notice. Do you have any other options left?”
“What?”
Eom Seon-ju swallowed hard, meeting Seo Jin’s gaze.
His eyes unsettled her—they seemed to know everything about the situation.
When Eom Seon-ju hesitated to speak, Seo Jin crossed his legs and asked again.
“I asked if you have any other options.”
“Ha! You think I’ll go down alone? There are people who took money from me and raised their children with it. If those people move…”
“It’s already over.”
“What?”
“One Supreme Court Justice, six Congressmen, two Ministers, four Vice Ministers…”
The names that poured from Seo Jin’s lips were all those who had received allowances from Eom Seon-ju.
The fact that this list had been exposed meant one thing.
“They’ve already bowed to your uncle.”
“…”
“Will you continue anyway?”
Eom Seon-ju closed her eyes, then opened them.
The fury that had clouded her gaze was rapidly fading.
Eom Seon-ju forced her mind to cool and opened her mouth.
“You…do you know who my father is? He’s retired from the front lines now, but there was a time when even conglomerate chairmen knelt before my father. During election season, every politician would visit our home and bow their heads. Do you really think my father would let Kim Young-jun off so easily?”
Seo Jin let out a low chuckle.
Eom Seon-ju was one of the titans who had controlled South Korea’s illegal loan shark market.
Yet at his core, he remained nothing more than a child.
The thought of him at his age scurrying off to his father for help struck me as pathetically amusing.
I shook my head and opened my mouth.
“Tell your father? How terrifying. Absolutely. Petrifying.”
At my mocking tone, veins bulged across Eom Seon-ju’s forehead.
I leaned forward toward him and continued.
“But I’m genuinely curious. Do you think your father would actually help you?”
“…!”
“You know this, don’t you? This isn’t a fight between the Prosecutor General and you.”
This was a fight between sisters.
Two sisters sharing the same father, tearing at each other’s hair.
Even if your aunt severed ties with her family of origin, a daughter remains a daughter.
Among ten fingers, there is no child that doesn’t cause pain.
I spoke each word deliberately.
“And a presidential election looms ahead. The competition is so fierce that no one can see even an inch into the future. Every financial backer is watching nervously. One wrong bet and they could lose everything. Yet you’d pressure the political sphere at a time like this? You might face a backlash.”
There was nothing wrong with what I said.
Right now, aspiring presidential candidates were watching the world with bloodshot eyes.
The moment they spotted even the slightest flaw in the opposing party, they swarmed like a pack of dogs, tearing and mauling without mercy.
“It happens once every five years. The only time ordinary citizens without money hold any real power. Your father can’t wield any influence now.”
“….”
“And honestly, you’re not even at that level anymore. You’re still clinging to past glory. The world has changed, and now you need to go to prison. Accept it—you can do nothing.”
Eom Seon-ju glared at me with a vicious gaze, his entire body trembling.
But he had no words to strike back with.
There was nothing left for Eom Seon-ju to do.
He could only bite his lip, imagining Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun and his sister savoring his downfall, clinking wine glasses together.
Yet Eom Seon-ju couldn’t accept going out like this.
Admitting powerlessness and being dragged away quietly was nothing short of humiliation.
The thought of his sister laughing mockingly would keep him awake at night.
He wanted his sister to scream in agony just as loudly as the cries he would unleash.
Eom Seon-ju smiled coldly and spoke.
“Do you know why I hired Kim Hyun-bong to kill you?”
“….”
“Simply because you froze the illegal loan shark market? Was I insane to try to kill a prosecutor for that?”
Eom Seon-ju slowly bent forward toward me and continued.
“Your aunt asked me to have you killed.”
“…!”
I had known all along.
But I widened my eyes as if hearing it for the first time.
Everything was a perfectly calculated situation.
A cornered rat bites the cat.
Even knowing death is imminent, it attacks without mercy.
The resentment of not being able to die alone.
This was the sentiment I had been probing all along.
Eom Seon-ju is a person with much to lose and much to resent.
Having spent so much time with Kim Young-jun’s Wife, she surely holds a handful of their corruption in her grasp.
I believed that if I could extract the words from Eom Seon-ju’s mouth, I could smear filth across Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s path.
I furrowed my brow, my face growing pale as I stared at Eom Seon-ju.
“W-what are you saying…?”
“Wow, seeing you angry actually makes you seem human. But you really didn’t know? My sister really hates you. She wants you dead.”
“Don’t say such nonsense!”
I slammed the table—bang, bang, bang—and shouted.
This too was a calculated move.
In this urgent situation, with my wavering composure, Eom Seon-ju would surely mistake herself for having the upper hand and spill her hidden secrets.
She would feel superior, believing she stood above me.
But what came next was not what I had anticipated.
“But I think this might be the first time?”
Eom Seon-ju rolled her eyes like a madwoman, pulling her lips into a twisted smile.
“I’ve done the same thing several times before. There’s one I remember—want me to tell you?”
My eyes narrowed.
An action she claimed to have done several times. One of them.
Eom Seon-ju licked her crimson lips and spoke.
“My sister had a boyfriend before she met her husband. What was his name? I can’t remember.”
“…”
“I heard he was a prosecutor specializing in unsolved cases. Why don’t you look into it? If you can’t figure it out, you could always search the mountain areas of Gangwon Province. There’s a good chance he’s buried somewhere. If you still can’t find out, there’s Manager Sung at our company. Go ask him. Who knows—maybe he knows about the past?”
“…”
“And remember this. Whether you believe my words or not doesn’t matter, but if you can’t catch my sister, you’re the one who’ll die. How long will it take? By my estimate, less than a year. My sister is the kind of person who’ll do anything once she sets her mind to it.”
I stared at Eom Seon-ju in silence.
Then Eom Seon-ju put a cigarette in her mouth and continued.
“But I’m not sure if a rookie prosecutor like you can catch my sister. Did you see what I’m going through? Good luck.”
*
*
*
I left the Detention Center.
As I got into the car, I suddenly burst into loud laughter.
It was the kind of eerie laugh that would send chills down anyone’s spine.
“She has power.”
Kim Young-jun’s Wife has power.
Though it is the authority her husband Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun wields, the influence she can exercise as his wife is formidable.
“She has money.”
Moreover, she has money.
Born into wealth, she now lives by siphoning off Seo Jin’s Father—a parasite drawing sustenance from his success.
She has never known hardship a single day in her life.
“And yet….”
She kills without hesitation, and now she’s set her sights on Seo Jin himself.
I cannot fathom what the true object of her greed truly is.
Seo Jin shook his head.
Though the night was pitch-black, his consciousness grew ever sharper.
The moment to put an end to Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s glittering life was drawing near.
Eom Seon-ju would undoubtedly become the rope that climbs toward Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s ruin.
The beginning lay in Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s past—her former lover.
‘And….’
Seo Jin’s gaze shifted toward the glove compartment in the passenger seat.
Inside lay Kim Yun-hwan’s hair.
*
*
*
“Thank you. Thanks to you, Congressman, everything went smoothly.”
It was a Beef Specialty Restaurant. A perfect sealed room, where Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun and Congressman Baek Ki-ho sat across from each other.
At Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s words of gratitude, Congressman Baek Ki-ho burst into hearty laughter.
“Gratitude? How could I not do this much for someone who will soon be family?”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun alone could not have controlled all the media outlets in such a short time.
With Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s backing, they could manipulate every news organization.
But when you receive, you must give in return. That is the way of the world.
Congressman Baek Ki-ho filled Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s glass with liquor, then moved his heavy lips.
“Prosecutor General, there is something I wish to ask of you.”
“Please, speak.”
“Do you remember Gong Dae-chul from the Ruling Party? He’s retired from politics now and spends his time hiking.”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun nodded.
Though it had been years since he left politics, the unusual name had stuck in his memory.
“There are rumors his background is murky. I’ll have civic organizations file complaints, and I’d appreciate it if you could investigate him thoroughly.”
Though already retired, he had accomplished considerable things while in the Ruling Party.
Investigating him would inevitably damage the Ruling Party.
Tarnishing the moral credibility of the Ruling Party—a light performance before the presidential race began, a move to seize the upper hand.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun nodded without concern.
“Of course.”
Congressman Baek Ki-ho raised his glass and glanced sideways at Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
“But there are also rumors that any suspicious traces have already been erased….”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun laughed heartily and replied.
“Congressman, if we’re sailing in the same boat, stop your worrying. Don’t you know? Creating crimes where none existed—that’s what our people do.”
“Well, that’s fortunate then.”
“If you’re that concerned, I’ll have Seo Jin move and shake things up.”
The image of Seo Jin known to the public was quite favorable.
Literally a star prosecutor.
Some even called him a true prosecutor when they saw Seo Jin.
If such a Seo Jin came forward and said “There’s corruption!”, people would believe him.
Whether the congressman in question was guilty or not, they would certainly cast stones first.
Kim Young-jun set down his glass and continued speaking.
“Common people view all politicians as inherently corrupt. If the media moves to make it seem like Seo Jin is fighting against that politician, the public will be ecstatic. Would this be sufficient as compensation for this favor?”
A bright smile crossed Baek Ki-ho’s lips.
*
*
*
The next day.
Morning arrived, opening another day.
Seo Jin walked through the hallway of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office after being summoned by Kim Young-jun.
‘Why did he call me?’
Seo Jin tilted his head, wondering if his visit to the Detention Center yesterday had reached Kim Young-jun’s ears.
‘Well…’
There shouldn’t be any particular problem.
I hadn’t said anything unnecessary in front of Eom Seon-ju.
If I mentioned that I stopped by because there was something to investigate, it would pass without issue.
‘Then…’
There was no reason to call me this early in the morning.
So I continued to ponder Kim Young-jun’s intentions.
But nothing particularly came to mind.
From Kim Young-jun’s perspective, the bait regarding Eom Seon-ju had already gone cold.
As the media moved, Kim Young-jun’s approval ratings soared without limit.
“You called for me?”
I arrived at the Prosecutor General’s office still puzzled.
After greeting him, as I walked forward, Kim Young-jun smiled warmly and pointed to the sofa.
“Sit.”
I sat across from him and picked up a teacup.
And I waited for Kim Young-jun’s words.
“Take on a case.”
What Kim Young-jun threw on the table was a personal profile of one individual.
A congressman from the previous National Assembly.
Someone who wielded considerable power within the Ruling Party.
I slowly lifted my gaze and looked at Kim Young-jun.
There was a reason for suddenly poking at a past politician, and one who had been quiet until now.
He must have met with Congressman Park yesterday and marked this man as a political target.
I lowered my head again, then shifted my gaze to the personnel list.
I need people too.
I’m constantly working to build my power.
If I turn the tables and use this man instead, I could gain considerably greater influence.
‘Another opportunity like this.’
I let out a subtle smile.

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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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