Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 193

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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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Your Past (6)
The devil’s identity is Seo Jin.
As Seo Jin advances, the man retreats step by step.
“I asked if you were busy.”
The man thrust his hand into his jacket and urgently drew a knife.
An 11-centimeter folding blade.
The man’s lips stretched into a grin as he growled in a low voice.
“Get out of the way.”
But Seo Jin doesn’t back down.
I simply stare at the knife in his hand.
“Put it away now, and I’ll overlook it. But if you keep brandishing it, you’ll face enhanced charges.”
“…What?”
The man was taken aback.
Even seasoned detectives grow cautious at the sight of a blade.
Yet this delicate-looking Seo Jin takes no defensive action.
His gaze remains as composed as before, regarding the man with unhurried eyes.
“Damn it, I said move!”
Suddenly, a menacing voice cuts through the darkness from the side.
“What crazy bastard pulls a knife on someone like this?”
A massive shadow emerged from the darkness.
Illuminated by the flickering streetlight, their forms are unmistakably imposing.
Clearly thugs.
The man’s voice trembles uncontrollably.
“M-move, I said…”
He glances nervously over his shoulder.
Thinking of twisting away to escape if the moment comes.
But beasts swarm both ahead and behind.
They fix him with savage eyes.
“Put the knife down. I’ll let this slide.”
Though Seo Jin speaks gently, the man hears it as: ‘Lower the knife and I’ll spare your life.’
The man’s grip weakens.
The knife clatters to the ground, and he raises both hands in surrender.
He realizes further resistance is futile.
Seo Jin produces handcuffs and secures them around the man’s wrists.
The man complies without resistance, and I secure the cuffs to the iron ring on the wall, concluding the situation.
“Good work.”
At Seo Jin’s dry voice, the burly men bow at ninety degrees.
“Then we’ll head inside!”
These men are Jang Seok-min’s subordinates.
Arresting a drug dealer is dangerous work, so I stationed them just in case—a decision that proved quite sound.
The burly men disappeared, and the man bound in handcuffs cautiously opened his mouth.
“…Who are you, exactly?”
“What’s it matter to you?”
The man blinked.
When he first saw me, he’d assumed I was a detective.
But my appearance didn’t match that of a rough detective. I was far too handsome.
The man, who had been studying my face intently, suddenly widened his eyes.
He’d finally recognized who I was.
“Y-you’re Kim Seo-jin?”
“It’s Seo Jin, not the formal version.”
I stepped forward and rummaged through the man’s pockets.
Then I pulled out a cigarette, placed it between his lips, and lit it for him.
“Smoke.”
The man inhaled deeply, as if savoring what might be the last cigarette of his life.
A moment that could very well be his final one.
As smoke curled from the man’s lips, I asked him a question.
“You specialize in deliveries, don’t you?”
“….”
“Well, you don’t have to answer.”
I rummaged through his pockets again. What I pulled out was a cell phone.
“The password.”
“….”
“You’re free to invoke your right to remain silent, but you should consider the consequences. I don’t need small-time criminals like you—results are what matter to me. If you don’t cooperate, I’ll package you as a drug kingpin in my report.”
“…!”
“Why look at me like that? Think I can’t do it? If you know my name, you know about me, don’t you? My uncle is the Prosecutor General. Fabricating something like this is child’s play. The Prosecutor’s Office isn’t an organization that finds existing crimes—it creates crimes that don’t exist and pins them on people. So don’t complain about injustice.”
The man clenched his jaw tightly.
But internally, he was conflicted.
‘No way, no way, no way, no way!’
The thought that a prosecutor would actually go this far.
The question of how a mere delivery man could be framed as a drug kingpin.
But the man had watched plenty of movies and believed that South Korea’s judicial system operated arbitrarily.
What sealed it, however, was the phone call that came through to me.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk had said it.
-The convenience store part-timer was the delivery man. I’ve got him, and if I press him, he’ll spill everything.
“I’ve already apprehended him.”
-What?
“Turns out he’s the boss on your end.”
-I’m coming over!
I ended the call and turned my gaze back to the man.
“I’d prefer it if you kept invoking your right to silence.”
“I, I’m sorry….”
“Everything you say from now on will be treated as a lie. The court will find you show no remorse.”
“Y-you’re a prosecutor?”
“The Part-time Worker will flip with just a little persuasion and testify that you ordered everything. You know how it is, right? Junkies like you have no brothers or sisters.”
“That’s not it….”
“And those drug dealers you were trading with? They’ve got money. Connections too. They’ll point you out and walk free.”
The man’s face darkened to a sickly pallor.
With each word I spoke, the day ahead seemed to unfold before him in utter desolation.
I continued, observing the man’s expression shift with each passing moment.
“Remember when I said I’d overlook the blade incident? Canceled.”
“Prosecutor!”
“Ten years. Just serve ten years and get out. By then I’ll have made chief, so I’ll buy you a bowl of rice soup.”
“102517.”
“Huh?”
“My phone password! It’s 102517!”
I unlocked the phone and checked its contents.
Messages exchanged with a contact slightly higher up the chain than him.
Nothing significant.
Locations and meeting points.
But judging from the casual tone of conversation with his superior, he’s far from a mere foot soldier.
Just a step or two away from touching the supplier.
A useful piece.
I chuckled softly to myself.
I’d moved one step closer to Kim Yun-hwan’s arrest.
But this was only the beginning.
“Hey, since you’ve given up the password, tell me about the Opposition Party too.”
Opposition Party—the term for drug case information brokers.
It’s difficult for investigative agencies to catch drug dealers operating through a network structure using only their own intelligence.
Moreover, this organization was meticulous enough to deploy even Part-time Workers to confuse investigations.
To dismantle them, I needed a broker.
“Give me supplier information and you get a suspended sentence. How’s that?”
I placed another cigarette between his lips.
Smoke drifted hazily from his mouth. After a moment of deliberation, he nodded.
“…A suspended sentence?”
“Yeah.”
Then footsteps echoed.
Jang Ji-hyuk was entering the alley.
“Is this guy the boss?”
“I thought he was, but he says he wants to work with the Opposition Party?”
“The Opposition Party?”
As Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk studied the man’s face, I opened my mouth.
“What if we put the drugs back?”
“Huh?”
If the part-time worker and this man get caught and we lose a customer too, word of the Prosecutor’s Office investigation will reach the supplier’s ears.
He’ll hide in an even more secretive location, and I might never see his face again.
Now is the time to take a step back.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk nodded.
Then he relayed the situation through the radio.
“Arrest the part-time worker for assaulting a drunk customer. Put the drugs back in the toilet tank.”
After finishing the radio transmission, Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s gaze turned toward the man.
“Your name?”
“Koo Young-jin.”
The man’s name was Koo Young-jin.
Koo Young-jin had already abandoned all hope.
He answered obediently, pledging to fulfill his role as an informant faithfully.
“Your rank?”
“Bottom tier.”
“Find out who the supplier is and which mule travels overseas. Even better if you can identify when the shipments arrive.”
Mule—the term for a drug courier.
What Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk was after were those who smuggled drugs in and out of the country.
“Get me that information no matter what. Risk your life to extract it. That’s the only way you survive.”
At Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s grave voice, Koo Young-jin nodded.
Then I unlocked his handcuffs and spoke.
“Always contact me on this burner phone. Your location is being tracked, so send a message every hour to confirm you’re alive. The moment messages stop, I’m confident I can find you within thirty minutes by checking all nearby CCTV and dashcam footage, so don’t even think about running.”
“Yes.”
Koo Young-jin answered while looking at the phone in his hand.
I patted his shoulder and continued.
“Remember one thing. The moment you do your job as an informant properly, you’re free.”
*
*
*
A few days later, at my house.
My family had dinner together for the first time in a while.
Of course, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s family was there too.
Ostensibly to celebrate Kim Yun-hwan’s new job.
Kim Yu-mi skipped it again, claiming the hospital was busy.
Meals with this family are always uncomfortable.
While others remain silent, my father and Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun seem genuinely enjoying their conversation.
But I know Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s true, dark intentions.
Jaejeong Construction is merely a tool for his ambitions.
A scheme to seize through Kim Yun-hwan.
When I imagine spewing out what lies beneath it, the revulsion is almost unbearable.
“You’re listening well to your uncle, aren’t you?”
“Of course. I’m doing my best.”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun posed the question to Kim Yun-hwan, who answered readily.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s gaze shifted toward Father.
“Thank you, brother. It must have been a difficult decision. Bringing family into the company….”
“An executive? Not even a division head or department manager, just a section chief. What’s so difficult about that decision? His credentials aren’t lacking, and he’s a former prosecutor. Who would object?”
Kim Young-jun’s Wife cut off Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s words, delivering her remark with an indifferent expression.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun turned toward Kim Young-jun’s Wife, suppressing his irritation.
But Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s expression remained unmoved.
Instead, she lifted her wine glass and continued speaking curtly.
“That’s right.”
“I apologize. I hesitated for so long because I was concerned about the staff’s perception.”
When Father apologized to ease the tension, Kim Young-jun’s Wife nodded.
“No, please do well going forward.”
“Of course. Since he’s doing well at work, if he just earns recognition from the surrounding employees….”
I watched Kim Young-jun’s Wife intently as I listened to Father’s voice.
Her expression wasn’t good.
Kim Yun-hwan had entered Jaejeong Construction as she’d desired, but the marriage with Lee So-hee weighed on her mind.
I could sense her anxiously wondering if Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun would announce Kim Yun-hwan’s marriage at this gathering.
Watching Kim Young-jun’s Wife like that, I made a silent vow.
‘I’ll definitely make the engagement break off.’
After the broken engagement, something far more terrible would surely unfold.
Arrest and finding my biological father.
But for now, what Kim Young-jun’s Wife wanted was the broken engagement.
Fulfilling that was my duty as a nephew.
I thought playfully to myself, ‘I’m such a good person,’ and let out a quiet laugh.
“What? Something good happen?”
Father asked upon hearing my laughter.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“No, I just suddenly remembered something amusing.”
“If it’s amusing, share it with us.”
“It’s about a case, so you probably wouldn’t find it interesting.”
After finishing the meal, I rose from my seat.
Now it was time for the adults’ conversation.
It was proper etiquette for the younger generation to withdraw.
Jin-young and I moved to our respective rooms, with Kim Yun-hwan following behind me.
Kim Yun-hwan looked around the room and spoke.
“Nothing’s changed.”
“I only use this room for sleeping a few times a week when I’m pulling all-nighters.”
“Yeah, I pulled plenty of those myself back in the day.”
Kim Yun-hwan settled onto the edge of the bed and continued.
“But why were you smiling just now? What case is it? Come on, let me in on it. I’d love to hear about a case again—bring back some old memories.”
“Oh… that?”
I pulled out a chair and sat down with a subtle smile.
Kim Yun-hwan believed with absolute certainty that Kim Young-jun was his father.
But that too was merely my hypothesis.
It seemed worth verifying once.
“It’s really nothing special. Actually, I wanted to ask you something. I know someone who has this habit of saying, ‘My father and I seem so different.’ But recently, he got a paternity test done. The genetic results came back as non-matching.”
“….”
“Apparently there was another man his mother was seeing before marriage, and that man seems to be his biological father.”
I paused for a moment, then leaned forward toward Kim Yun-hwan.
“How would you comfort someone in that situation?”

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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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