Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 21

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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 Friend (5)
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I was driving toward Lim Jung-taek’s location in my car.
Lee So-hee stared at my expression, then tilted her head.
“What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your expression looks off. You have the face of someone who left the gas stove on at home. Did you forget something? Does it feel unfinished?”
My expression must have been more transparent than I realized.
Lee So-hee laughed quietly and continued.
“Actually, I feel it too. Everything’s been going too smoothly right now, hasn’t it? So I’m starting to doubt whether I’m doing this right.”
She was right.
Everything was unfolding far too easily.
There had been no interference from Ji Dong-min, and we’d managed to uncover Wi Jun-sang’s misconduct sooner than expected.
By all accounts, this was the ideal scenario.
Yet there was this nagging unease, exactly as Lee So-hee described.
‘The target is a politician.’
Moreover, the general election was just around the corner.
For the party, this was a time when even the smallest stumble couldn’t be overlooked.
The party could mobilize its resources to bury an individual’s misconduct.
Judging by Wi Jun-sang’s demeanor, it seemed he had formidable backing.
“There are the cars.”
Hearing Lee So-hee’s voice, I turned the steering wheel.
Two vehicles sat parked on a narrow road flanked by rice paddies and fields, their hazard lights blinking.
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“This man set the fire here.”
Standing before Lim Jung-taek was a bespectacled man.
Watching the trembling figure, visibly gripped by fear, I asked gently.
“What were you trying to burn?”
A PC hard drive hung from the man’s hand, and Lim Jung-taek provided the explanation.
“After Wi Jun-sang rushed into his house….”
He said this man had appeared shortly afterward and entered Wi Jun-sang’s residence.
“And he came back out ten minutes later.”
Lim Jung-taek continued observing the man carefully.
But something seemed off about his expression.
His eyes betrayed far greater fear than when he’d entered—a look of sheer terror.
“He glanced around nervously, then got into his car in an absolute panic. So I followed him. That’s how we ended up here. And I caught him red-handed, burning the hard drive.”
“…I apologize.”
A heavy sigh escaped the man’s lips.
After taking the hard drive from the man’s hands, I asked him a question.
“Is this Councilman Wi Jun-sang’s?”
“…Yes.”
The man admitted it immediately.
His name was Koo Jung-ki.
A contract civil servant whose neck swayed back and forth at every word from Wi Jun-sang.
To him, Wi Jun-sang was a figure to be revered.
“I was at home when Councilman Wi Jun-sang called me. He told me to remove the hard drive from the computer at home and bring it to him….”
“So you switched them?”
“Of course I did. The councilman ordered it.”
Koo Jung-ki had exchanged Wi Jun-sang’s hard drive with his own.
It was an obvious method of destroying evidence.
I shook the hard drive and asked him.
“Did Councilman Wi Jun-sang tell you to burn it and destroy it?”
“No, no.”
“Then?”
Koo Jung-ki hesitated before finally opening his mouth with difficulty.
“He said to hide it well until the prosecution investigation ends, just in case. And if it looked like I’d get caught, he told me to throw it in the sea or burn it.”
“But the investigation hasn’t even started yet—why were you trying to burn it?”
Koo Jung-ki didn’t have the nerve that Councilman Wi Jun-sang possessed.
He was an ordinary man, and the mention of a prosecution investigation had terrified him.
“My visit to Councilman Wi Jun-sang’s house was captured on the elevator CCTV. So I was worried I’d be questioned soon…. After the investigation starts, it seems like I’d be under surveillance through stakeouts or something. So I thought it would be better to get rid of it beforehand. I’m sorry.”
In summary, Koo Jung-ki had watched too many movies and instinctively panicked.
That’s why, after leaving Wi Jun-sang’s house, he’d desperately tried to burn the hard drive as if being chased by something.
I shifted my body and spoke.
“I understand. For now, pretend you don’t know anything about this hard drive to Councilman Wi Jun-sang.”
“Then, am I going to be okay? Then I’ll keep it a secret till the end. I’ll tell him I’m keeping it safe. Please….”
“That’s how it should be.”
The moment my words ended, Koo Jung-ki grabbed his knees, bent his waist, and exhaled a tense breath.
His legs appeared to be trembling uncontrollably.
Lee So-hee approached my side.
She opened her mouth as she looked at the hard drive in my hand.
“It’s pretty badly burned.”
“Yeah.”
“Can we recover it?”
“Hard to say.”
The condition of the hard drive was quite poor.
The brief exposure to fire had clearly done significant damage.
It was heavily charred, and the smell of burnt material hung in the air.
Lee So-hee shook her head.
“That’s strange—things have been going so smoothly until now. We need obstacles like this to make the investigation feel worthwhile. But shouldn’t something like this be escalated to Central Headquarters?”
The District Prosecution Office lacked a center capable of repairing hard drives and examining their contents.
To recover the data, we’d have to hand it over to Central Headquarters.
My gaze shifted toward her.
“…Central Headquarters?”
“Yeah, we can’t do it ourselves, right? But I’m not even sure if Central Headquarters can manage this. At this level….”
I stroked my chin and narrowed my eyes thoughtfully.
If it went to Central Headquarters, political pressure could compromise the evidence.
‘The opponent is a politician.’
You have to test even a stone bridge before crossing it.
These bastards treat the law as a joke and will use any means necessary.
When fighting them, I always have to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
After a moment of contemplation, I nodded.
“I’ll give it a try.”
“What? You can do it?”
“I can’t, but I know someone who might be able to.”
I held my phone to my ear and brushed past Lee So-hee, speaking quietly so she couldn’t hear.
“Jung-woo, I need a favor.”
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“Officer Park happens to be on duty today. Seo Jin, this is our department’s most skilled technician.”
At Dongnam Police Station, Officer Park sat before Seo Jin and Lee Jung-woo, rubbing his eyes.
Officer Park examined the hard drive on the desk and murmured.
“I won’t know until I try….”
“Is it possible?”
“Even with severe external contamination, recovery is possible if there’s no serious physical damage. Though I can’t give you a definite answer yet.”
Officer Park glanced at Lee Jung-woo and continued.
“It’ll take about two hours. You’ll have to buy me chicken later.”
“Chicken? Should I order it right now?”
“Sure.”
“Then I’ll place an order for half-and-half right away.”
Shortly after, Seo Jin and Lee Jung-woo stepped outside the building.
I tapped Lee Jung-woo on the back as he smoked a cigarette.
“Thanks.”
Jung-woo was wearing a training suit.
He’d been watching a movie and drinking beer after work when my call came through, and he’d rushed over immediately.
“Don’t mention it.”
Lee Jung-woo exhaled a plume of cigarette smoke and continued speaking.
“By the way, when are you heading to Seoul?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“You fell, didn’t you? Let’s go together sometime. Who knows—maybe something will come back to you if I’m around?”
When I became Seo Jin from Seo Jun-kyung, the first place I opened my eyes was a hospital.
They said I fell from the fifth floor of an apartment, but naturally, I have no memory of it.
I don’t know the reason or the cause.
“Whoever threw you from that fifth floor—I’m going to catch that bastard for sure.”
“What if I fell on my own?”
Lee Jung-woo exhaled cigarette smoke and gazed at me slowly.
Then he opened his mouth with a heavy voice.
“You weren’t the type to kill yourself.”
That voice carried such profound belief and trust in our friendship.
It was enough to make me feel apologetic for no reason.
But then something flickered across my mind.
“Wait, hold on….”
“What? Does something come to mind?”
Lee Jung-woo licked his dry lips and spoke as calmly as he could.
“Take your time, take your time. There’s no rush. Whatever scene comes to you, just tell me.”
“…Rotten Beauty.”
“Huh? Rotten what?”
“Channel name Lee Jung-woo. Rotten Beauty. Already got 300,000 views?”
Lee Jung-woo’s face gradually stiffened, and he stammered as he spoke.
“Sorry. I just wanted you to do well…. Huh? Wait, I’m getting a call. Officer Park? You backed it up?”
Lee Jung-woo laughed and spoke to me.
“Let’s call it even.”
“Hey….”
“Sorry, hehe.”
Seo Jin and Jung-woo entered the building, and Officer Park, whom they met again, opened his mouth.
“I’ve recovered everything that was deleted. And don’t worry—I didn’t intentionally look at the contents.”
Officer Park handed me the hard drive along with a USB containing the backup files.
He even recovered the deleted files—truly a thoughtful person.
I lowered my head slightly.
“Thank you.”
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Back home, I opened my laptop and plugged in the USB.
As I checked file after file, I opened an Excel document.
The filename was simply a date—”September 6th,” “October 7th,” and so on.
As the screen filled with evidence, Seo Jin found himself chuckling involuntarily.
‘So that was it?’
The reason Wi Jun-sang had been so confident.
That reason lay within the laptop screen.
-Lee Se-moon, Governor of Gangwon Province.
-Eom Il-seop, National Assemblyman of Dongnam County.
Governor Lee Se-moon was known as the undisputed leader of Gangwon Province.
And Eom Il-seop was a former judge turned assemblyman.
Wi Jun-sang had been bribing both of them.
The accounts, dates, and amounts were laid bare in meticulous detail.
‘If this hard drive had reached Central Headquarters….’
The contents would have gone straight to the Chief Prosecutor’s office.
And the Chief Prosecutor of Gangwon District would have certainly deliberated over it.
Whether to proceed with the case or bury it.
‘Jo Yong-jun, Chief Prosecutor of Gangwon District.’
He was an old fox preparing for retirement while sniffing around the political arena.
To Jo Yong-jun’s eyes, this hard drive would have appeared as a passport to political nomination.
And it was predictable.
I could almost hear the old fox’s voice in my ears.
“Contact Dongnam District Prosecutors’ Office and tell them the hard drive is severely corrupted and cannot be recovered. Then connect me with the Chief Prosecutor of Dongnam.”
And so the case would be buried, and I would have become a dog chasing chickens.
Yet as I recalled that filthy backroom deal, a quiet smile crossed my lips.
‘So that’s what happened?’
I briefly reminisced about my life as Seo Jun-kyung.
I had lived righteously, proclaiming justice, yet was falsely accused of sexual assault, called garbage, and murdered disguised as suicide.
It was truly the worst.
So in this life, I would discard shallow notions like justice, law, and humanity, and instead pursue money, power, and everything else.
And so I made my decision.
I pulled the USB from the laptop and gripped it firmly.
‘This time, I’m keeping it.’
The contents of this USB alone weren’t enough to imprison Governor Lee Se-moon or Assemblyman Eom Il-seop.
They were monsters, the strong of this world.
The moment I exposed the USB, they would trample not only me but the entire Dongnam District Prosecutors’ Office.
I had no intention of dying a dog’s death while crying out for justice anymore.
‘I’ll wrap up this case with Wi Jun-sang. And I’ll use this USB for myself.’
The Chief Prosecutor of Gangwon District had used these contents as a passport to political nomination.
But I intended to use it as the first key to entering the center of power.
I tossed the USB into the drawer.
And slowly closed it.

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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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