Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 2

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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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Rebirth (2)
5:00 PM.
I was running on a treadmill in the gym at the Apartment Community Center.
Sweat drenched my entire body, and my lungs burned as if they might tear.
But I didn’t stop running.
‘Two hours from now.’
At 7:00 PM, I had a dinner appointment with Kim Young-jun, my father’s younger brother and my uncle, who served as Chief Prosecutor.
Kim Young-jun was my enemy—if I faced him, I might unconsciously wear a savage expression.
That’s why I was running with such brutal intensity.
Exhausting my body to force myself to maintain composure….
Better to look worn out than to scowl.
“You’ve been running for an hour?”
It was Jin-young.
The guy who never came to the gym in his previous life was standing right beside the treadmill, grinning widely.
I stopped the treadmill and wiped the sweat away with a towel before speaking.
“What brings you here?”
“Just saying goodbye before you head to Gangwon Province. I’m not joining you for dinner—I made an excuse to get out of it. Dad gave me an earful, but still.”
“Why?”
“I hate my uncle.”
Jin-young’s expression made it clear he genuinely despised Kim Young-jun.
He tapped the floor with his toes as he continued.
“What’s so great about being a prosecutor? He disrespects Mom and Dad, and when he needs money, he just holds out his hand shamelessly. Just thinking about it makes me sick.”
“Is that so?”
“You don’t remember? Well, experience it yourself today and see how unbearable he is. He’s like a Joseon dynasty king. If you hadn’t become a prosecutor, I shudder to think how much he would’ve lorded it over us. Anyway, I’m saying goodbye now, okay? Drive safely. The entrance code is 1018!”
Jin-young left, and I drank a glass of water before picking up a dumbbell.
I began lifting it gently.
My muscles tightened and my hands trembled slightly.
But no matter how hard I tried not to think about it, I heard Kim Young-jun’s voice.
“You pathetic bastard. How would you know shit from miso without tasting it? Your masters aren’t those beggar bastards!”
“Who pays your salary through taxes? Not them. In fact, they’re receiving money from the Republic of Korea. Yet they’re asking for more. Telling hardworking rich people to pay even more taxes! So who exactly are the thieves!”
“Even a dog won’t bite the hand that feeds it. So shut up. Live quietly, you bastard.”
Crash!
I dropped the dumbbell.
“…It’s too noisy to concentrate.”
*
*
*
A reception room with a clear view of the Han River.
A round dining table there was adorned with candelabras and flowers, while atmospheric piano sonatas filled the space.
It was thirty minutes before Kim Young-jun would arrive, yet the housekeeper and my mother were bustling about.
Seo Jin sat at the desk in his room and closed his eyes.
His heart pounded relentlessly.
‘Kim Young-jun….’
Kim Jun-man, the representative of Jaejeong Construction, and Kim Young-jun, the prosecutor general of Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, are brothers.
Born as sons of a rural farmer, the two men received land compensation after their parents passed away and entered Seoul.
From childhood, Kim Jun-man worked construction sites and honed his skills, taking it upon himself to support his younger brother Kim Young-jun.
As a result, Kim Young-jun was admitted to Seoul National University’s School of Law and began his career as a legal professional.
Afterward, Kim Young-jun scratched Kim Jun-man’s itches, and Kim Jun-man filled Kim Young-jun’s pockets.
The two grew larger through mutual aid in this manner.
This was their appearance from the outside.
In one sense, affectionate brothers; in another, greedy ones.
But what I witnessed directly was different.
The real Kim Jun-man was not a greedy person.
He wished to earn moderately and live moderately, but Kim Young-jun would not leave him alone.
Kim Young-jun was a ravenous tiger, forever hungry no matter how much he consumed.
He would exploit Kim Jun-man until death.
“Seo Jin, your uncle has arrived.”
Now it was time to meet that Kim Young-jun again.
Seo Jin rose from his seat upon hearing his mother’s voice.
Kim Young-jun’s family was already seated at the dining table in the living room.
Kim Young-jun and his wife.
The eldest, Kim Yun-hwan.
The second, Kim Yu-mi.
Kim Yun-hwan was thirty-one years old.
Kim Young-jun passed the judicial examination while attending university and married after causing an incident.
Thus, he fathered children earlier than his older brother Kim Jun-man and established his household sooner.
In any case, Kim Yun-hwan was also a prosecutor, working at the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office.
Following his father’s wishes, he attended law school and became a prosecutor, earning praise for climbing this far, yet he himself was utterly ordinary apart from his father’s shadow.
Thus, Kim Yun-hwan found comparison with his father stressful, and whenever he saw someone inferior to himself, he would boast in every way possible—a pathetic man.
“Oh, Seo Jin. I heard you weren’t feeling well? Are you alright?”
His daughter Kim Yu-mi spoke up.
She was the same age as Seo Jin, twenty-eight years old.
She worked as a resident at a university hospital.
Kim Young-jun’s children were a prosecutor and a doctor.
Witnessing their success, Seo Jin’s father must have felt considerable envy.
Seo Jin bowed toward Kim Young-jun.
“Good to see you.”
Kim Young-jun’s gaze turned toward Seo Jin for the first time.
Sharp and dark eyes, observing Seo Jin with that piercing gaze.
“So, you have no memory of it?”
“Yes.”
“Will you be able to manage work?”
“All my memories are normal except for personal information like my name and age.”
“That’s a relief.”
I glanced at my mother.
Kim Young-jun was my father’s younger brother.
But my mother feared and was uncomfortable around him.
It was because of the power Kim Young-jun wielded.
The tragedy that would unfold if my father ever fell out of Kim Young-jun’s favor.
Though Kim Young-jun and my father were brothers, the cold-bloodedness and ruthlessness he occasionally displayed was enough to make one’s skin crawl—or so my younger brother Jin-young had told me.
Even now, thinking about this meal confirmed it.
It had been arranged because Kim Young-jun had helped me take sick leave smoothly, and seeing how elaborately everything was prepared, Jin-young’s assessment didn’t seem exaggerated.
Everyone took their seats.
My mother and my aunt began placing dishes on the table.
The menu was steak.
At a glance, it was premium-grade meat.
Kim Young-jun cut into his meat.
Blood dripped steadily from the undercooked flesh.
He sliced it into small pieces, placed them in his mouth, and spoke in an unhurried tone.
“Dongnam District Prosecutors’ Office, right? Once your internship ends, have they decided where you’ll be assigned? Would you like to come to Seoul? I have the power to pull my nephew to Seoul.”
My father interjected while pouring wine into Kim Young-jun’s glass.
“Seoul? You can help with that? Come on, if you can, do something about it. Seo Jin doesn’t like the countryside much anyway. Right?”
Kim Young-jun’s gaze shifted to me.
“What do you think?”
Before meeting Kim Young-jun, I had worried tremendously.
Because of him, I was accused of sexual assault, dragged up to the apartment rooftop, and murdered.
How could I face that man?
Could I endure it?
I had agonized over it—but I found myself eerily composed.
I looked at the blood-stained meat and thought.
‘I won’t become meat like that.’
“No, thank you. I’m fine. I’ll go wherever I’m assigned and work.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
After becoming Seo Jin from Seo Jun-kyung, my plan had been to devour the world.
But now, one more plan had been added.
Smashing that face into the toilet.
Until I see that happen, I can smile as much as needed.
“I’m grateful for your words alone.”
“But… you don’t remember the moment of the accident? Why it happened, what occurred?”
I fell from the fifth floor of the apartment.
I was rushed to the hospital and miraculously regained consciousness.
Naturally, the person who woke up was not me but Seo Jun-kyung, so I had no memory of why I fell.
“No, I don’t.”
For a moment, I caught a peculiar smile on Prosecutor Kim Young-jun’s face.
But that was all.
The adults continued their conversation, and after finishing my meal, I returned to my room.
“You’ve packed everything, haven’t you?”
The door opened and Kim Yun-hwan, Prosecutor Kim Young-jun’s son, entered and leaned his back against the wall at an angle.
When I was Seo Jun-kyung, I wouldn’t have dared to even look at him.
But now he was looking at me as if I were beneath him.
“I just wanted to check if there’s anything else you need.”
“Is that so?”
Kim Yun-hwan uncrossed his arms and walked toward me.
He stared blankly at the documents on my desk.
The newspaper article I had just been reading.
A case Kim Yun-hwan was handling.
A middle-aged high school teacher’s sexual assault of a minor.
A high school teacher had called a minor to his officetel, gotten him drunk, and had sexual relations with him.
The minor’s parents filed a complaint immediately after learning the truth, but…
Kim Yun-hwan picked up the newspaper and widened his eyes.
“This is my case, isn’t it?”
“Oh, is it?”
I knew it.
While waiting for Prosecutor Kim Young-jun, I had read one of the cases Kim Yun-hwan was handling.
The teacher’s sexual assault of a minor was famous, and it was also well-known that Kim Yun-hwan was handling it.
That was truly all.
I didn’t want to know more.
But Kim Yun-hwan smiled with a confident expression.
“Were you studying? Want me to explain it?”
I tried to say it was fine, but it was already too late.
Kim Yun-hwan spoke quickly.
“The problem right now is the lack of decisive evidence to prove coercion. The parents claim that the man got the minor drunk and then forced himself on him. Well, we’re also leaning toward that theory.”
*
*
*
In the living room, Prosecutor Kim Young-jun and my parents were listening to Kim Yun-hwan’s voice coming from the room.
Prosecutor Kim Young-jun brought wine to his lips and shook his head.
“That incompetent fool is teaching someone?”
He clicked his tongue disapprovingly, but his expression showed no displeasure at his own son teaching me.
From that gaze alone, I could see the thought: ‘My bloodline is superior.’
Seo Jin’s Father laughed awkwardly, while Seo Jin’s Mother sipped her wine with a frustrated expression.
Prosecutor Kim Young-jun raised his glass and spoke.
“Once Seo Jin grinds away in this field for a few years, he’ll become seasoned. He hears about cases like this every single day.”
But that was when it happened.
Seo Jin’s voice drifted from the room.
“Sexual assault might be difficult to prove, wouldn’t it?”
The counterattack silenced the living room.
Prosecutor Kim Young-jun, along with Seo Jin’s Father and Mother, held their breath and listened intently.
Then Kim Yun-hwan’s twisted voice came through.
“What? What do you know?”
“Even if alcohol was administered, you’d need to establish whether the victim was in a state of complete intoxication, but proving that isn’t easy. Moreover, these two people met several times over a month and exchanged messages saying they loved each other and all that.”
“Right, the defense counsel says the same thing you do. But this case is…”
“If it were me, I’d charge under Article 302 of the Criminal Act.”
“What?”
“Why take the hard road when you can take the easy one? If you just flip through the books a little, the answer’s right there…”
Kim Yun-hwan’s mouth fell silent.
And Prosecutor Kim Young-jun’s movements froze like a still frame.
Even when Father asked from the front, “Why? What’s Article 302?” there was no answer.
—Criminal Act Article 302 (Sexual Intercourse with Minors, etc.): Any person who commits sexual intercourse or indecent acts against a minor or person of weak mental capacity through deception or coercion shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years.
In other words, a man in his forties deceived a minor into believing they would develop a romantic relationship or something more.
But he was a married man with no intention of maintaining a long-term relationship with a minor.
In other words, my assessment was correct.
But Prosecutor Kim Young-jun couldn’t say that here.
“Who’s right?”
To Seo Jin’s Father’s question, he could only answer reluctantly.
“That’s the thing about law. It can differ depending on your perspective. Both of them are saying something valid.”
And Prosecutor Kim Young-jun nudged his wife, who hadn’t smiled or spoken once since entering this house.
She opened her mouth for the first time.
“Why?”
“That’s enough. Yun-hwan, bring him along. Seo Jin starts work tomorrow. We should go now.”
*
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“Hahaha! You should’ve seen Young-jun’s face change!”
It was when Seo Jin opened the car trunk to pack a Boston bag for his trip to Gangwon Province.
Mother laughed quietly while Father laughed, holding his belly.
They’d never seen Prosecutor Kim Young-jun look so flustered before…
“Our son is the best, the absolute best! Hahahaha!”

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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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