Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 195

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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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Bluff (1)
A goblin-like face.
The resolve to kill without fail.
I could feel it all in Jang Ji-hyuk’s eyes.
“Didn’t you hear me tell you to get out?”
Jang Ji-hyuk gripped a crowbar in his hand. Then he tapped the car window repeatedly as he continued speaking.
“Open it. Before I smash it to pieces.”
Jang Ji-hyuk’s gaze was sincere.
He was determined to drag the two people out even if it meant destroying the vehicle.
The driver looked urgently at the woman.
“B-Boss….”
The driver’s eyes were desperate.
Pleading for instructions on what to do.
But the woman shook her head.
“Wait, just wait….”
The woman deliberated.
She was the mastermind behind the drug smuggling operation—if caught by the Prosecutor’s Office, her life was over.
She had to escape this place by any means necessary.
‘What should I do?’
The woman tried to formulate an escape plan, but Jang Ji-hyuk wasn’t going to give her that time.
The force of the crowbar striking the window grew stronger and stronger.
“Three seconds. One, two….”
The woman quickly devised an escape plan in the shortest time possible.
She swallowed hard, then opened the window and moved her lips as if nothing was wrong.
“…Why are you doing this?”
“You don’t know?”
“What’s going on?”
“This is maddening…. Playing dumb to the very end?”
“My husband said he was going fishing here today. That’s why I came….”
The woman thought to herself.
She was a woman.
It made no sense for a woman to appear at a dangerous drug smuggling operation.
Both the Prosecutor’s Office and the police would certainly think the same.
In other words, she could use fishing as a pretext to deceive them adequately.
And the investigator standing beside Jang Ji-hyuk—his pupils were wavering.
It meant he was listening to what the woman was saying.
“Ah, I also have fishing equipment my husband asked me to bring, in the trunk…. Would you like me to show you?”
The woman’s voice was trembling.
Feigning fear, feigning tension, her innocent eyes suggesting she knew nothing.
Then the investigator looked at Jang Ji-hyuk and spoke.
“Shall we check the trunk?”
At those words, the woman clenched her small fists tightly.
‘It worked.’
I had deceived them.
Now I just needed to slip into Jebu Island, hide for a while until the Prosecutor’s Office and Police withdrew, then reveal myself.
Losing nearly 100 kilograms of drugs was unfortunate, but money could be earned again.
There were plenty of customers in the world who wanted drugs, and recovering the principal would be quick.
“Then, I’ll check it.”
It was when the investigator turned his body and moved toward the rear of the vehicle.
The woman exhaled a tense breath and smiled faintly.
There really were fishing rods in the trunk.
And once the investigator confirmed that, he would acknowledge the woman’s innocence.
That was what the woman had anticipated.
But then.
“Three.”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk counted in a low voice and thrust his hand directly into the vehicle’s interior.
‘What?’ In that instant, Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s hand was already opening the locked car door without hesitation.
“Get out.”
“Why are you doing this!”
The woman screamed desperately, and the investigators tried to stop Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
“Prosecutor!”
“You can’t do this!”
If the woman wasn’t the criminal, and a complaint was filed, that would be a serious problem.
It would be less troublesome to let the criminal escape and face criticism than that.
“There’s a fishing bag in the trunk too!”
“Stop!”
But Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk didn’t consider the consequences.
He had already grabbed the woman’s head.
“Ugh!”
As the woman let out a sharp scream, Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk opened his mouth with a terrifying voice.
“I’m arresting you on suspicion of violating the Controlled Substances Act.”
“Let go! Let go!”
The woman was dragged out by her head, screaming in protest.
The investigators continued trying to stop Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
“Prosecutor!”
But Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk didn’t listen to them.
“I’ll take responsibility for the aftermath, so please call the female investigators.”
The word “responsibility” came from the prosecutor’s mouth.
The investigators hesitated no further.
“Understood.”
They moved with urgency.
A female investigator arrested the woman, and handcuffs were placed on the hands of the organization members disguised as a driver and delivery courier.
It took only a moment for the words to spill from their mouths—that the woman was the boss.
“She ordered all of it!”
“We’re not at fault! We just followed because she said she’d give us money!”
“I only drove, that’s all.”
These men knew nothing of loyalty.
Offer them drugs or money, and they’d sell out their own siblings without hesitation.
The woman, now the target of everyone’s accusations, kept her head bowed in silence.
Her lips trembling as she bit down hard.
*
*
*
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk listened to the splashing sound of waves as he pulled out a cigarette.
He thought the night sea, the sound of waves, and the cool breeze were perfect for smoking, so he lit it.
Just as he exhaled a plume of smoke—
“…How did you know?”
A middle-aged investigator approached and asked.
“Know what?”
“That the woman was a drug smuggler.”
“Ah….”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk chuckled dismissively and shook his head.
“Prosecutor Seo Jin told me.”
“…Prosecutor Seo Jin?”
“Yes, that guy’s got an uncanny sense for these things.”
The middle-aged investigator tilted his head in confusion.
Seo Jin hadn’t been included in this operation.
Yet the investigator couldn’t help but wonder—how could Seo Jin have known about the culprit if he wasn’t even part of the operation? But he wouldn’t get an answer.
“The boat’s here. Let’s get ready.”
A vessel carrying drugs was approaching, disguised as a fishing boat.
*
*
*
-A criminal ring attempting to smuggle drugs through a port in Gyeonggi Province has been apprehended. Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has arrested A, known as Korea’s drug king, and 24 accomplices….
A breaking news report crackled through the radio on a dark night.
Headlights stretched in a long line as numerous vans headed toward the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
They arrived one after another and came to a halt in front of the building.
Doors creaked open as the rough voices of investigators rang out.
“Get out! I said get out, you bastards!”
As the arrested criminals descended in a rush, waiting reporters surged forward.
“Look up at the camera!”
“Who is it? Who’s the drug lord?”
“Hey!”
The reporters had demanded it, but they knew their targets were embarrassed.
Moving toward the building as if running with their heads bowed.
And behind them, Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s vehicle came to a stop.
Naturally, the reporters’ next target was Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
“You conducted a surprise raid on a drug smuggling operation. How did you obtain that information?”
“I heard that the woman known as the drug lord was also arrested. Is that true?”
“Was this drug also distributed through entertainment establishment workers? Or is it a new….”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk blinked.
This was the first time in his life he’d stood before so many reporters.
The flashing cameras stung his eyes.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk, who had been standing dazed, quickly composed his expression and walked forward with measured steps.
There was work to be done right now.
So he tried to pass without speaking, but it was difficult to escape the reporters clinging to his collar.
“Prosecutor! Please say just one word!”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk eventually turned his gaze and opened his mouth.
“I’ll provide details at the briefing.”
But he should have just kept walking.
The reporters, having spotted their prey, rushed at him even more ferociously.
And with truly pointless questions at that.
“How old is the drug organization’s leader?”
“Is her face pretty?”
*
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*
Shortly after, Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk entered the office and loosened his necktie with a heavy sigh.
“Damn it, dealing with reporters is harder than catching criminals. What does it matter what the criminal’s face looks like?”
“You must be exhausted.”
It was then, as he was grumbling away.
Seo Jin entered the office. Approaching the desk, I set down the coffee I’d bought at the coffee shop with a soft thud, and Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk let out a slight smile.
“You bastard, you buy expensive coffee when you come back from work? But you haven’t left yet?”
It was 2 AM.
Seo Jin, unrelated to the case, should have left long ago.
“I can see you’re working hard, so how could I leave?”
“Well, I’ll drink it anyway.”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk chuckled and brought the coffee to his lips.
“Coffee tastes best in the world after seeing the criminal’s face. I like how sweet it is,” he murmured.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk, savoring the taste of the coffee, looked out the window and spoke.
“This is my first time getting a camera massage in front of so many reporters since I was born, you know? I guess that’s why they say you need to hang around with the successful types. When my name gets splashed across the headlines, I’ll have it printed and framed. I’ll give you a copy too—signed. Keep it as a family heirloom.”
I spoke in jest, but I was conveying my gratitude to Seo Jin.
He had handed over the credit for the operation.
He had discovered in advance that their smuggling location had changed and informed me.
Without Seo Jin, tonight’s raid would have been impossible.
“But how did you know? That they’d changed locations?”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk asked as he set down his coffee.
Of course, I knew through psychometry, but I couldn’t say that.
“Koo Young-jin’s expression seemed off. So I pressed him, and he confessed everything.”
“He’s at the Detention Center now?”
“Yes.”
“Damn fool. If he’d been honest from the start, he could’ve at least gotten his freedom.”
My satisfaction from solving the case ended there.
Now the real work began.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk pulled his phone from his pocket and placed it on the table.
Six phones in total.
All of them belonged to that woman.
“This is what you needed, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve already locked them in the interrogation room, so go check them out.”
*
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*
I picked up the phones and found the interrogation room.
The person sitting there was the head of the drug organization—Choi Sun-hye.
For someone who’d just been arrested, her expression was surprisingly composed.
No, confidence would be the better word.
Her eyes said it all.
—You’ll never catch me.
I pulled up a chair, eager to see that confidence shatter.
“Good to see you.”
Choi Sun-hye didn’t answer, only regarded me with a contemptuous gaze.
But I paid no mind to her eyes and reached under the desk to turn off the recording function.
What I was about to do required discretion.
Then I laid out the six phones I’d received from Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk on the table.
“These are yours, right?”
“….”
“Give me your finger.”
The phones were locked with biometric security.
So I demanded her fingerprint, but she uttered something completely unexpected.
“Do you know about Pandora’s Box?”
“What?”
I lifted my gaze and looked at Choi Sun-hye.
Choi Sun-hye smiled with absolute confidence.
I asked with a genuinely bewildered expression.
“…Pandora?”
“Pandora, who couldn’t resist her curiosity and opened the box. That phone is exactly the same. Opening it will bring misfortune.”
“Entertaining. I come into an interrogation room and hear Greek and Roman mythology.”
“My phone contains a client list. But you can’t touch that. Even if you’re the Prosecutor General’s nephew, or even if you were the Prosecutor General himself, there’s nothing you couldn’t do.”
I set the phone down on the table and looked at Choi Sun-hye.
I was curious what else she would say next.
“Keep talking.”
But Choi Sun-hye interpreted my expression as fear.
She continued speaking with an irritating smile on her crimson lips.
“Pandora, who opened the box, was called the woman who brought calamity. But what will the prosecutor who checks that phone be called? One thing is certain—you’ll be hurt. Because everyone in there is a monster.”
“….”
“Congressmen, tycoons—they all share one thing in common. Would you like to know what it is? They cherish their own children dearly. Whether other people’s children suffer or die doesn’t matter. As long as my child is happy, that’s all that matters. That’s how they think.”
“….”
“So don’t even think about checking. You can’t catch them anyway, right?”
I laughed incredulously and looked at Choi Sun-hye.
“Get hurt?”
“Yes. You might even suffer worse wounds than that. You could die. You seem quite young still, so you should live a long and healthy life.”
“Thanks for worrying about my health. But….”
I leaned forward toward Choi Sun-hye and spoke in a low voice.
“Please… stop the bluffing. I find it truly repulsive when a criminal like you pretends to be someone important.”

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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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