Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 201

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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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Struggling (3)
Back at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, in Kim Young-jun’s office.
Jang Ji-hyuk stood before him.
Kim Young-jun glared with murderous eyes while Jang Ji-hyuk wore a bitter smile.
“Get out.”
At Kim Young-jun’s cold voice, Jang Ji-hyuk lowered his head and opened his mouth.
“If you’re sending me into exile, I’ll go willingly. But I will definitely catch one criminal before I leave.”
Veins bulged in Kim Young-jun’s fist.
“Stop spouting nonsense and get out.”
“Then….”
Jang Ji-hyuk turned his body and left the Prosecutor General’s office.
Watching the door close, Kim Young-jun bit his lip.
He had summoned Jang Ji-hyuk and instructed him to bury the Kim Yun-hwan case.
But Jang Ji-hyuk hadn’t listened, and the situation was spiraling to extremes.
Kim Young-jun gripped his phone.
The number he sought was the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
But he couldn’t press the call button.
Jang Ji-hyuk was an uncontrollable wild colt, reckless and unpredictable.
If he heard that Kim Yun-hwan’s case was being transferred elsewhere, there was no telling where he might bolt.
He might even bolt to somewhere beyond control.
‘Sigh….’
Kim Young-jun set down his phone.
And he decided to think as rationally as possible.
The more urgent the situation, the calmer one must remain.
Moving emotionally would prevent him from getting what he wanted.
*
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*
“What’s going on? Kim Yun-hwan was arrested!”
That night, Lee So-hee sought out Seo Jin.
She had heard over the phone that Kim Yun-hwan had been arrested, but that wasn’t enough.
She wanted to see it with her own eyes and hear it with her own ears.
So right after work, she headed straight to Seoul and met Seo Jin.
The place was a raw fish restaurant with private rooms, so laden with side dishes that the table legs bent under the weight.
“Want to see?”
Seo Jin pulled out his phone from his pocket and handed it to Lee So-hee.
Photos and videos he had taken to give to reporter Lee Eun-ha.
Sitting in the coffee shop, Lee So-hee watched Kim Yun-hwan’s final moments over and over.
Jang Ji-hyuk hurling documents at Kim Yun-hwan.
The scene of him being dragged away, gripped by powerful arms.
Seo Jin slowly explained what crimes Kim Yun-hwan had committed, and Lee So-hee gradually lifted her gaze.
“I haven’t been able to eat well during all this time. But now I’m hungry.”
“How does it feel to call off the engagement?”
“My fiancé is in the detention center, so my feelings are all over the place. I was going to marry into the Prosecutor General’s family and be a good wife, but what a shame.”
Seo Jin laughed at Lee So-hee’s playful expression.
“I’m disappointed too. I almost got to call you sister-in-law, but now I can’t.”
“Call me that anyway, even now.”
Lee So-hee looked genuinely delighted.
If the wedding arrangements had continued, she said she’d even considered shaving her head and becoming a nun.
For a long while, Lee So-hee muttered things like “If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve at least gotten a designer bag” and “I thought my life was garbage, but look—gold dust is falling on me,” before lifting her head to look at me.
Because I’d only been seeing the bright side until now, I hadn’t paid attention to the dark shadows.
But the darkness that suddenly came to mind was far more serious than I’d thought.
“…Will Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun really stay quiet?”
I let out a slight laugh and shook my head.
“HH Entertainment is moving to control public opinion first.”
“What?”
“It looks like they’re planning to release a video of an actress.”
Concern filled Lee So-hee’s face.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s plan is the most basic and perfect tactic.
Bury public opinion and let things fizzle out when things are quiet.
Then Kim Yun-hwan will rise again like a zombie.
It happened before.
He manipulated the case and fled abroad as if nothing had happened.
It probably happened before that too.
Kim Yun-hwan must have continued causing incidents, and Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun must have used his power to clean up after him.
And Lee So-hee thought it would probably happen this time too.
“When I was in Dongnam County, it was a windy day. I sat by the sea watching the waves, and those waves reminded me so much of Baek Ki-ho. So no matter how many stones I threw, the sea left no trace.”
It was one of Lee So-hee’s characteristics.
Having lived beside the powerful figure Baek Ki-ho, her confidence had diminished.
A contrast to me, who grew up as an orphan and lived without knowing fear of the world.
I shook my head.
“You can’t speak negatively before a big task. And Kim Yun-hwan isn’t a wave—he’s small fry. Catching one small fish is nothing.”
“Sorry.”
Lee So-hee, who had been fidgeting with her glass, apologized quickly.
Then I brought the glass to my lips before turning my gaze back to Lee So-hee.
“And don’t worry about public opinion beforehand. I’m meeting with the HH Entertainment representative tomorrow.”
“What?”
Lee So-hee’s eyes widened in surprise.
The HH Entertainment representative is someone with extensive connections in politics and business.
A mere prosecutor wouldn’t even catch their eye.
“…How?”
“There is such a thing.”
Materials I’d accumulated back when I was Seo Jun-kyung—ammunition to pierce the heart of the HH Entertainment representative.
I plan to hurl it at the HH Entertainment representative.
He’ll be trapped between me and Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun, drowning in despair and terror.
I refilled my glass and continued.
“Since we’re on the subject, would it be alright if I brought up a few serious matters?”
“Yeah, anything.”
“Congressman Baek Ki-ho and Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun joined hands for the presidency.”
Just because Kim Yun-hwan fell into ruin won’t make them release that grip.
Congressman Baek Ki-ho needs Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun, and Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun needs Congressman Baek Ki-ho.
“They’ll find another sacrifice.”
“….”
“They might try to arrange a marriage between you and me.”
Lee So-hee nearly spat out her drink. She stared at me in shock.
“There were marriage talks with Kim Yun-hwan, and now it’s you? What does that even….”
It was utter chaos and confusion.
A kingdom of beasts, passing off someone who’d almost married your own child to your nephew.
I nodded.
“It’s absurd, I know, but with the presidency looming, would anything else even register?”
“Surely not….”
“When Kim Young-jun came to our house, he never once mentioned Kim Yun-hwan’s wedding. Despite being our father’s older brother, despite the date drawing near, he kept his mouth shut.”
He was accounting for unforeseen variables.
The possibility that Seo Jin’s Aunt continued to oppose it extremely.
Various scenarios where unexpected problems could arise.
“I’m merchandise, plain and simple.”
Lee So-hee acknowledged it.
Considering Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s lust for power, it was entirely plausible.
Lee So-hee recalled the saying that power knows no children and smiled bitterly.
Then she glanced at me sideways.
“…You’d marry me?”
“There might be marriage talks.”
“Well, if it’s you, I’d consider it.”
“Huh?”
“Just kidding, just kidding.”
Lee So-hee covered her mouth and laughed.
Her cheeks were flushed from the few drinks she’d had.
My voice continued.
“Anyway, that’s why I’m going after Baek Ki-ho.”
“…!”
Lee So-hee’s eyes widened.
Baek Ki-ho was a presidential candidate for the Daehan Party.
With his image as an upright judge, his approval ratings soared without limit.
The number of congressmen under his command was staggering.
“…Catch him?”
No matter how remarkable Seo Jin was, there were things beyond his reach.
If I thought of Baek Ki-ho as a vast ocean, as Lee So-hee had just said, then I was merely a grain of sand.
A grain of sand could do nothing.
“Different from Kim Yun-hwan….”
“Exactly. That’s why I’ll use the Hanmin Party.”
“…!”
The Hanmin Party was currently the ruling party.
Not long ago, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun had summoned me and given me instructions.
To pressure Gong Dae-chul, a former congressman from the Hanmin Party.
“Even though Gong Dae-chul retired, his influence can’t be ignored.”
Former Congressman Gong Dae-chul was a senior member of the Hanmin Party.
He lived quietly, hiking and such, but his voice still carried considerable weight.
If I joined hands with former Congressman Gong Dae-chul, the Hanmin Party would tear Congressman Baek Ki-ho to shreds with all their might.
“Besides, it’s presidential election season.”
A chaotic mess of clawing, wounding, and undermining each other.
A confusion where no one could trace where any information came from.
I intended to exploit that chaos to attack both Congressman Baek Ki-ho and Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
“Once he loses the election, then I’ll catch him.”
You couldn’t bring down a powerful figure with just a few minor infractions.
Powerful people fall to corruption only when their power weakens.
When they’re drowning their sorrows after defeat in the presidential race.
That was the moment I was waiting for.
“I need your help.”
Lee So-hee was Congressman Baek Ki-ho’s daughter.
In other words, one of the few people who could approach him without suspicion.
If Lee So-hee moved, she might expose the very secrets Congressman Baek Ki-ho desperately wanted to hide.
“If you don’t want to marry me, help me.”
“What are you saying….”
Lee So-hee exhaled a sigh and gripped her glass.
*
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The world was noisy.
Articles about Kim Yun-hwan weren’t rising or falling due to Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s pressure, but real-time searches were filled with celebrity scandals.
Trivial stories about which celebrities were secretly dating, which entertainers had lost their phones.
What was peculiar was that all talk of drugs had vanished without a trace.
The drug lord and Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s exploits had disappeared as if forgotten.
Yet Seo Jin felt no anxiety.
Everything was unfolding according to plan.
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A few days later, on the weekend.
I was climbing Gwanaksan Mountain.
When I was Seo Jun-kyung, I used to ascend it with ease, but now I was breathing heavily.
‘My body has grown younger, yet….’
I shook my head and resumed climbing with renewed vigor.
There was only one reason for climbing this mountain—to meet with Congressman Gong Dae-chul.
A few days prior, I had called Congressman Gong Dae-chul and expressed my desire to meet him….
-Then, let’s meet at the summit of Gwanaksan around noon on Saturday. Haha.
Whether he truly loved mountains or simply wanted to torment me, the meeting place was set at the summit.
And when I finally reached the summit and found Congressman Gong Dae-chul….
“How does the world look from the summit?”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Then, shall we head down?”
“Pardon?”
Congressman Gong Dae-chul flashed a pleasant smile and began descending the mountain.
I thought he was joking with me.
But that was a misunderstanding.
Shortly after, at a pajeon restaurant at the foot of Gwanaksan Mountain.
There, Congressman Gong Dae-chul and I sat across from each other, pouring makgeolli as he began to speak.
“There’s nothing to gain from seeking out an old man in the back room… I wondered why a young prosecutor, especially Prosecutor Seo Jin, was looking for me. And I thought it was obvious. You came to arrest me, right? I did some things in my younger days, after all. So I chose the summit as our meeting place.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
He did things in his younger days, so he chose the summit? Congressman Gong Dae-chul’s words made no sense.
Congressman Gong Dae-chul chuckled while sipping his makgeolli.
“Let me ask again. How was the summit?”
“It was beautiful.”
“And the foot of the mountain?”
I shifted my gaze.
A valley was visible in the distance.
“This is lovely too.”
“In my view, Prosecutor Seo Jin is someone who will climb high. You might even reach the summit. But remember this—when you climb, you must come down. You cannot stay at the summit forever. The way you climb determines how easily you descend. I wanted to tell you that before you’re dragged into an interrogation room.”
Congressman Gong Dae-chul continued speaking as he refilled his makgeolli.
“It would be awkward to say such things in an interrogation room, wouldn’t it?”
I smiled faintly.
“Thank you for your kind words.”
“But what crime am I being arrested for?”
This time, Congressman Gong Dae-chul was the one misunderstanding.
He certainly had a history of committing crimes.
He had taken out a loan at zero interest in collusion with a bank director.
But he had repaid every penny he’d embezzled, interest included.
Now he was reflecting on his mistakes and continuing his volunteer work.
Of course, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun intended to use that incident to destroy Congressman Gong Dae-chul.
But Seo Jin’s reason for coming here was different.
In my view, Congressman Gong Dae-chul was small fry.
I was using the small fry as bait to catch the big fish.
“It seems there’s been some misunderstanding first….”
At my continued words, Congressman Gong Dae-chul’s eyes widened.

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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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