Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 216

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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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Remembering (2)
As I continued my train of thought, I felt a vibration in my pocket and pulled out my phone.
The caller was Jang Ji-hyuk’s staff officer.
A faint smile crossed my lips.
‘As expected….’
I knew Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s character well.
I’d expected that Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun would naturally keep watch over those around Jang Ji-hyuk.
Jang Ji-hyuk was the man who’d arrested Kim Yun-hwan and defied Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s orders.
Given Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s nature, it would be strange for him to leave Jang Ji-hyuk alone.
He’d slipped money to the staff officer and instructed him to report everything about Jang Ji-hyuk.
‘Just like back then….’
I recalled when I was Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung.
Back then, Seo Jun-kyung was Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s thorn in the side.
Everything about Seo Jun-kyung had been reported to Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun through his staff officer.
‘Falling for it once was bad enough. Falling for it again would be stupid.’
I’d moved first before Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun could act, and I’d already recruited the investigator and staff officer.
And I’d thrown more money at them than what Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun would have offered.
This time, I was one step ahead.
“Yes, this is Seo Jin.”
-I’ve informed the Prosecutor General. I told him you’re going to Songpa.
I was dismantling Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s intelligence network.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun would never suspect that a mere staff officer would betray him.
His mind must be filled with confusion.
“This is a secret from Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.”
The call with the staff officer ended.
I began searching through my phone’s contacts.
I was looking for Reporter Lee Eun-ha.
“I need a favor. Just one article.”
-Yes, what is it?
“Heavy rains have caused damage to facilities across the region. According to police, a body was discovered in a mountain area in Yangpyeong after a landslide, and a knife was found beside it. If the DNA on the knife is tested….”
I intended to gift confusion to Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun and urgency to Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s heart.
An urgent heart leaves behind mistakes—that’s the truth of history.
“Please say the information came from someone gathering medicinal herbs.”
-Pardon? Medicinal herbs?
Reporter Lee Eun-ha’s voice was full of doubt.
With rain pouring down, suddenly someone gathering herbs came forward with a tip? No one would believe such an excuse.
But Reporter Lee Eun-ha didn’t ask.
The other party was me. I wouldn’t pass along unnecessary information.
-Understood. I’ll do it that way.
I ended the call.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk, standing beside him, spoke with a cigarette between his lips.
“The police will be coming.”
“Yes.”
“But… your reason for going after Kim Young-jun’s Wife—you say it’s a family matter, but for an ordinary person like me, it’s hard to understand such conflicts. I guess having a silver spoon doesn’t guarantee happiness?”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk continued with a dry chuckle.
“But I think the purpose is the same, regardless of the reason.”
“….”
“His wife’s crime. Even if the statute of limitations has passed, the damage is severe. Even as Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun, it will be difficult to weather. A Prosecutor General who calls poverty a sin, who uses his power for personal gain. Such a person shouldn’t hold that position.”
“….”
“I’m already a target anyway. Use me as a shield and as bait. Let’s bring down the Prosecutor General.”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s eyes gleamed sharply. But Seo Jin’s gaze was filled with worry. Noticing the meaning in Seo Jin’s eyes, Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk spoke in a low voice.
“If I die, pin a murder charge on Kim Young-jun as well.”
“You won’t die. I’ll stop it.”
“Hearing that makes me feel reassured.”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk tapped the cigarette ash off.
Police officers were climbing up the street.
*
*
*
At that moment, at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun set down the documents with a thud and tilted his head.
‘Jang Ji-hyuk is going to Songpa? Suddenly?’
He searched through the documents, but there was no reason for Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk to go to Songpa.
‘Songpa….’
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun ran his finger across his lips. For some reason, it felt like his aide had lied to him.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun opened his desk drawer and pulled out another document.
It was about the Cheongma Orphanage, where Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk volunteered.
‘He said he would relocate.’
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun had been pressuring the Cheongma Orphanage to coerce Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
He had threatened them by purchasing the building where the orphanage was located under a proxy name and claiming he would remodel it.
Yet the Cheongma Orphanage had decided to relocate in such a short time and was leaving the premises.
‘Jang Ji-hyuk doesn’t have the money to solve this.’
And the Cheongma Orphanage certainly didn’t have that kind of money either.
Then everything connects to one thing.
Someone was backing Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
‘Who could that be?’
Several faces appeared and disappeared in Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s mind.
Someone with the wealth to help the orphanage relocate.
Someone who could grab his aide by the collar and create confusion.
In other words, someone with money and cunning.
‘But….’
No clear face came to mind.
Thinking of all the sins I’d committed to reach this position, I had countless enemies.
All of them seemed to be approaching me, wielding Jang Ji-hyuk like a blade.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun shook his head and gripped his phone again.
“Bring me everything on Jang Ji-hyuk. Who he meets, where he eats, even the underwear in his home.”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun decided to mobilize his information network.
Once they moved, he would discover the shadow standing behind Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
That’s when the door burst open with a bang.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s gaze shifted forward, and his eyes immediately twisted.
His wife Eom Si-young entered, her high heels clicking sharply against the floor.
She stood before him, glaring with eyes gleaming with madness.
And she spat out words dripping with murderous intent.
“Release Yun-hwan.”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun bit his lip.
“What kind of place is this!”
“I saw the jirashi today. It was clearly about Yun-hwan.”
That a prosecutor-turned-lawyer had received sexual favors from gangsters.
That he was now in the Detention Center because of it.
“There were comments too, weren’t there? Some even mentioned Yun-hwan’s name. People like that are called dogs, aren’t they? But if those dogs get noisy, you can’t get Yun-hwan out, can you? Because you need to maintain your pathetic power.”
“Honey!”
“You want endless power? Is it power to live watching dogs? Stop wasting time and give me my son.”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun shook his head.
From Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk to Kim Yun-hwan, it was one headache after another. And now his wife was here doing this.
“Go home. It won’t take long, so don’t worry and go back.”
“No. Now I’ll handle it myself. I won’t stand by and watch my son’s name be spoken in the mouths of poor bastards.”
Eom Si-young tossed a USB drive onto Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s table.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s gaze shifted to the USB. It felt ominous.
Eom Si-young smiled faintly and continued.
“You… planted people at Jaejeong Construction and profited quite a bit, didn’t you? If you don’t release Yun-hwan, I’ll pin everything you’ve done on your brother.”
“…!”
“Yun-hwan will be by my side. He’s still my nephew, after all, and I’ll take good care of him. Yun-hwan has a tender heart, and I’ll soothe those wounds.”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun glared at Eom Si-young with a terrifying gaze. The more he did, the deeper the smile on Eom Si-young’s lips became.
“Why? You thought of your brother as a goose to be slaughtered someday, didn’t you? Weren’t you planning to devour him eventually? What? Now you don’t like it because I’m the one who’ll do it?”
“I’ve never thought of my brother that way.”
Suddenly, Eom Si-young bent forward toward Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun. Then, twisting her lips, she whispered in a low voice.
“Your thoughts don’t matter. If that’s what I think, then that’s how it is. So give me my son.”
Then Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s phone vibrated. He reached out and brought the phone to his ear.
“Kim Young-jun….”
At the same moment, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s eyes twisted.
A call had come from a media outlet.
A press embargo had been put in place because Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s gun seemed to be aimed at Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
-We heard a body was discovered in Yangpyeong. Did you happen to issue a gag order on this?
“…Who’s the source? The police?”
-No. They said it was a herb gatherer.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s pupils trembled.
There was no way a herb gatherer would suddenly pop up out of nowhere.
This too felt like someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.
An incomprehensible shadow was clearly reaching out toward Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
‘Jang Ji-hyuk… The herb gatherer….’
But what mattered now wasn’t that.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun ended the call and looked at Eom Si-young. Then she smiled brightly and spoke.
“Yun-hwan….”
“A body’s been found. Yangpyeong. Land you own. I can’t make a move. If I do, it’ll reach the Ruling Party’s ears.”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun continued, holding a USB drive in his hand.
“Call your brilliant father right now. If you don’t, you’re finished.”
Eom Si-young tilted her head with an expression of confusion. But wait. Soon she staggered backward.
“You said he was alive. You said he didn’t die back then. You said you sent him to another country….”
“Please… Don’t pretend not to know when you know everything.”
*
*
*
“Dad, so what I’m saying is….”
“Stop.”
The next day, the place was impressive with its spacious garden.
The man sitting in the pavilion there was Chairman Um, Eom Si-young’s father.
Chairman Um set down his janggi piece and lifted his gaze.
Before him sat Choi Ji-beom, and beside him Eom Si-young knelt on the ground.
“Dad….”
Eom Si-young tried to open her mouth, but under Chairman Um’s piercing stare, she ultimately bowed her head.
Then Chairman Um’s gaze turned toward Choi Ji-beom.
“She’s married out of the family. Don’t mind her—just play janggi.”
Choi Ji-beom glanced at Eom Si-young’s expression before picking up a janggi piece and moving it.
Chairman Um looked at the janggi board with a troubled expression and spoke.
“I’ve raised my child poorly. Yesterday she came asking for Jaejeong Construction’s corruption records, and today what?”
“Dad… That’s not it….”
“Keep your mouth shut.”
“I’m not doing this just to live alone!”
Chairman Um’s brow furrowed. But Eom Si-young’s voice continued to ring out sharply.
“If I end up in trouble, what do you think will happen? Will that person die alone? No, he’ll cling to everything he can! I know that man. I’ve watched him my whole life, seen how he clawed his way up. So you should be fine….”
Chairman Um shook his head. A sigh escaped him unbidden at Eom Si-young’s thoughtlessness.
But Eom Si-young’s voice continued.
“Am I supposed to spend my whole life being pointed at and whispered about?”
Chairman Um’s gaze shifted to Choi Ji-beom. Then he opened his mouth with a tone of resignation.
“They say the murder case clearance rate is 98.2%, right? But people only get caught if they don’t have money. That remaining 1.8% who don’t get caught—how much do you think it would cost to erase my daughter’s past?”
At Chairman Um’s words, Eom Si-young’s face brightened.
There’s no parent who can refuse their child, and Chairman Um had ultimately sided with her.
Chairman Um continued speaking while gripping a janggi piece in his hand.
“The director of the National Forensic Service is Jung Sung-woo, right? That apartment he lives in—I bought it for him. I paid for his son’s study abroad expenses too. He talks about difficult things like genetics and whatnot, but isn’t it all just people receiving results that someone else arranges?”
“….”
“Checkmate.”
Choi Ji-beom stared intently at the janggi board before shaking his head.
“I’ve lost.”
“Before meeting the director, contact the media outlets too. Tell them not to print my daughter’s name with their fancy pens. If they get intoxicated by the scoop right in front of them and flounder about, there’s no future for them.”
“Yes.”
As Choi Ji-beom cleared away the janggi pieces, Chairman Um rose to his feet and approached Eom Si-young with heavy steps. Then, gazing at her with sorrowful eyes, he muttered.
“How can you be so thoughtless?”
“Dad, I’m sorry. But if you just help me this one time….”
“Go tell Seo Jin that as a condition for covering up your affair, he should also get Seo-ju out.”
“…Seo-ju?”
“Regardless, he’s your brother. If he’s suffered that much, he shouldn’t be reckless anymore.”
“That’s….”
“Answer me.”
“Understood.”
Chairman Um clicked his tongue in disapproval before descending from the pavilion.
Choi Ji-beom glanced back at Eom Si-young once more.
‘Should I tell her that Seo Jin came looking…?’
But Choi Ji-beom couldn’t bring himself to speak.
The thought that his own children might face prosecution investigations held his tongue.
Just then, Chairman Um, who was leaving the pavilion, turned back toward Choi Ji-beom.
“Find someone with no family, someone who needs money, someone shameless enough to sell his face to the media. Find such a man and send him to that woman.”
He was asking for an actor to play the murderer.
Chairman Um smiled bleakly and continued at a leisurely pace.
“There’s nothing quite like certainty, is there?”
*
*
*
A few days later, at a Korean Traditional Restaurant in Gangnam.
Jung Sung-woo, the director of the National Forensic Service, stared at Choi Ji-beom with an expression of shock.
“…You want me to alter the evidence?”
“Chairman Um said this: Until now, he’s supported you without asking for anything in return. But this time… he says he needs your help.”
“That’s… that’s difficult for me to do.”
“Director… one single mistake can crumble everything you’ve built. What will your children say? What will their friends say? Your neighbors? Your relatives? Can you bear that criticism?”
Choi Ji-beom pulled out a tablet PC and placed it on the table.
An article appeared on the screen.
A public official’s corruption, a family’s suicide unable to withstand the condemnation.
To the director, that article looked like his own future.
Choi Ji-beom tapped the tablet with his finger and continued.
“I hear your son became a judge. Let’s pave the road for him to become Chief Justice.”
*
*
*
Shortly after, Choi Ji-beom left, and the director sat alone, silently bringing his glass to his lips.
The sliding door opened again, and someone entered.
It was Seo Jin.
As Seo Jin sat across from him without a word, the director’s body trembled faintly.
“How… how did you know Manager Choi would come?”
The director had received a call from Seo Jin last night.
-Choi Ji-beom will come. He’ll try to bind you with the money he’s given you all this time. He’ll mention your son too. He’ll dangle a carrot, saying he’ll pave the way for the judge’s future.
The director licked his dry lips.
Seo Jin’s prediction was eerily accurate, as if he could see ghosts.
But Seo Jin poured liquor into the director’s glass with an indifferent gaze and spoke.
“People in desperate situations act predictably. I simply anticipated it.”
“…”
“But I have no carrot to offer you, Director. Only a whip.”

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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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