Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 219
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Remembering (5)
“Mother-in-law….”
“I’m telling you no! Don’t you trust me?”
Eom Si-young denied it to the end. But I had anticipated she would react this way.
I opened my mouth with the most urgent expression I could muster, speaking rapidly.
“The Ruling Party is moving! They’re going to drag in Mother-in-law, then Father-in-law, and even Congressman Baek Ki-ho!”
“No! Aaahhhhh!”
Eom Si-young tore at her hair and let out a scream. Then, with wild eyes, she glared at me and spoke.
“Seo Jin, you trust me, right? Who’s that person at the media company? Contact them. So that….”
“Mother-in-law! Right now is….”
“Tell me! Tell me! Stop this right now!”
She thrashed about wildly—there was no difference between her and a madwoman.
Just then, my phone vibrated.
The caller was Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun, and his dry voice came through the receiver.
-I was in a meeting and couldn’t answer. What’s going on?
“Well, Father-in-law, it’s….”
In that instant, Eom Si-young snatched my phone from my hand. And with a voice on the verge of tears, she spoke.
“H-honey… they’re saying I’m a murderer.”
-…What are you talking about?
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s voice was filled with tension.
But Eom Si-young was not in her right mind.
Drunk and cornered, she could only scream incoherently rather than speak logically.
“These crazy bastards are saying I’m a murderer!”
“Mother-in-law!”
I unleashed my voice like thunder.
At that, Eom Si-young squeezed her eyes shut. Then, steadying her trembling body with effort, she handed me the phone.
I put the phone to my ear and explained the situation.
“A Current Affairs Program is going to cover a corpse. And the place where that body was found is owned by Mother-in-law….”
The call cut off.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun didn’t wait to hear the rest of what I had to say.
He was planning to contact the media company, assess the situation, and pressure them to stop the broadcast.
But.
‘The collapse has begun.’
I turned my gaze toward Eom Si-young, suppressing the smile that threatened to cross my lips.
“Mother-in-law… is it true?”
Eom Si-young glared at me with sharp eyes and spoke in a sinister voice.
“I told you it’s not.”
“…You’re really sure it’s not?”
“It’s not.”
“If I know the truth, I can help suppress this situation.”
“How many times do I have to tell you!”
Eom Si-young’s eyes burned with an intensity that was far from normal. Had she possessed a blade, she would have driven it straight through me without hesitation.
I met her gaze and spoke in a measured, concerned tone.
“The Ruling Party will demand a DNA test from Kim Young-jun’s Wife. Since the statute of limitations has passed, there’s no legal obligation for her to comply. But I believe she should. The sooner we settle this, the sooner we can dispel the suspicions.”
“Get out.”
I bowed slowly before Eom Si-young.
Then I left.
The moment the front door closed, Eom Si-young turned her head to look at the housekeeper.
“Clean it up.”
She’d thrown and smashed it herself, yet she didn’t lift a finger.
The housekeeper approached cautiously, reading Eom Si-young’s mood, and began gathering the glass shards.
Eom Si-young watched her for a moment, then climbed the stairs to the second floor.
“Madam… what should we do about this?”
The housekeeper held up the broken phone.
Eom Si-young’s eyes narrowed as she stared at it.
She couldn’t know what information might be stored inside. Though she’d used it herself, she couldn’t predict what secrets might have accumulated over all that time.
Right now, cornered at the edge of a cliff, Eom Si-young believed it was best if such evidence simply disappeared.
“Dispose of it.”
Eom Si-young spoke coldly before ascending to the second floor.
*
*
*
“What exactly are we doing right now?”
That night, Jang Ji-hyuk and I were rummaging through the trash bins near Kim Young-jun’s House.
“The housekeeper empties the bins once a day. If there’s even a hint of garbage, Kim Young-jun’s Wife throws a fit.”
“I understand that, but this far…? Ugh! The smell!”
Jang Ji-hyuk and I were searching for Eom Si-young’s phone.
As I’d left the house, I’d checked the state of the living room and noticed the broken phone was gone.
“She definitely threw it away.”
Though the statute of limitations had expired, the Ruling Party would find ways to investigate. They’d demand DNA tests and threaten, and they might even search the phone.
“She needs to destroy the evidence.”
Jang Ji-hyuk and I continued sifting through the garbage bags.
About thirty minutes passed.
“This is it?”
Jang Ji-hyuk held up the broken phone and laughed heartily.
“Why do I love this more than a bar of gold?”
*
*
*
At that same moment, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun was still in his office at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun set down his pen with a sharp tap and slowly lifted his gaze.
Before him stood the president of MBS Broadcasting Station.
“Your daughter is a fourth-year university student now, isn’t she? I heard she was born through in vitro fertilization—is she growing up well?”
The president nodded with an uncomfortable expression.
“Yes, she’s growing up well.”
“When your daughter was implicated in that admissions scandal, I was the one who protected her. I thought a daughter born with such difficulty shouldn’t be hurt. So why are you doing this? Wouldn’t it be better if we didn’t make things awkward for each other?”
The president exhaled a tense breath.
“Prosecutor General… it’s not just our problem. Other media outlets are in chaos too…”
“Other media outlets?”
“Word has spread. Everyone’s just watching to see who breaks the exclusive first. The Ruling Party has its hand in this…”
“You fear the Ruling Party but not me?”
“…Prosecutor General.”
“Listen, Mr. President—I’m not talking to some other media outlet president. I’m talking to you.”
“…!”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun slammed his palm on the desk with a sharp bang and stood up. He grabbed the documents on the desk and walked toward the president with heavy, deliberate steps.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s eyes blazed with ferocity.
The president found himself swallowing hard despite himself.
Standing before the president, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun brushed a loose thread from the president’s clothing and spoke quietly.
“Don’t become a dog desperate to catch an exclusive. Don’t weigh the Ruling Party against the Opposition Party. Just… follow my lead.”
“A, already… the preview has aired.”
“Change the content. I’ll decide who the culprit is. Don’t create chaos in the world over something like this.”
“Prosecutor General!”
In that instant, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun hurled the documents in his hand at the president’s face.
With a sharp sound, the papers scattered in all directions.
All of them were records of the president’s misconduct—hiring fraud, sexual favors from celebrities, various bribes.
As the president’s pupils trembled, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun pointed at the scattered papers with his finger and spoke.
“Choose. Either uphold your journalistic integrity and eat in a prison cafeteria, or sit at the dinner table with your family.”
The president dropped to one knee. Gathering the fallen papers one by one in his hands, he spoke weakly.
“…I’ll be with my family.”
“Then choose the menu for me. I think kimchi stew would be nice for dinner.”
A cold smile played at the corners of Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s mouth.
The president bowed ninety degrees to Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun and headed toward the office door.
The president opened the door with difficulty. But standing before him was the president of another media outlet.
“Come in.”
At Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s voice, the other media outlet’s president entered the office.
The door closed with a sharp bang, creaking as it shut.
*
*
*
Days later, Reporter Lee Eun-ha brought a glass of soju to her lips, her face flushed with anger. She set the glass down sharply and spoke.
“They’re telling me to delete the interview with the Victim’s mother too. The Ruling Party said they’d back us up, but… everything fell apart. What is this all of a sudden….”
We were at a pojangmacha.
Lee Eun-ha exhaled deeply and looked at me.
But I wore an unbothered expression, calmly bringing the glass to my lips.
“What? Why are you so composed?”
Lee Eun-ha was furious.
All the preparation work she’d done had come to nothing.
And since she’d been forced to yield to external pressure, it was unbearable.
Yet I smiled, holding the glass and speaking in an unhurried tone.
“I expected this. The Prosecutor General and the broadcasting station’s Boss… they were in a hurry. When you rush, you miss things, and that becomes fatal.”
Lee Eun-ha blinked, not understanding my words.
“They rushed? There was no sign of haste in Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s actions. He coldly manipulated and shook the Boss in his grip.”
“Reporter, news isn’t only consumed on television anymore.”
“What?”
I tapped my phone and continued.
“More people trust internet broadcasts than traditional news now.”
“…!”
The Current Affairs Program “Seeing the World” had even released a teaser for this case.
But right before it aired, everything changed. They’d just fill the time with bland coverage of a body being discovered.
“Conspiracy theories about external pressure will begin.”
Behind Eom Si-young wasn’t just Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun—Chairman Um was there too.
Formidable men of power.
Thieves who mocked the world from above the law.
To fight them, you had to turn the world into mud.
“The real fight starts now.”
“…You never trusted our company from the beginning, did you?”
“It wasn’t the company I didn’t trust—it was the Boss. They’re all the same kind of people.”
Lee Eun-ha stared at me intently.
“You’re despicable.”
“Me?”
“I thought you were a bad man, but now I see you’re a wicked one.”
“I think I’m decent….”
Lee Eun-ha shook her head.
“No. You’re absolutely not decent. Anyway, can I ask you something? Strictly off the record.”
“Go ahead.”
“What’s your goal, Prosecutor? Because if Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun falls, you’ll definitely take damage too….”
I laughed playfully and leaned forward toward Lee Eun-ha.
“Only you’ll know, Reporter.”
“Yes.”
“I’m taking everything.”
“Pardon?”
*
*
*
Seeing the World ended on television.
It was as expected. The program had merely skimmed the surface of the case without touching on anything of substance, then wrapped up.
“It’s over.”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun picked up the remote and pressed the power button.
The living room fell silent, and Kim Young-jun’s Wife Eom Si-young exhaled the breath she’d been holding.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun also ran his hand through his hair.
“When climbing a mountain, there are always treacherous paths. If you follow the easy route, you’ll never see the beautiful scenery. You must scramble up the cliff face to stand at the summit.”
But Seo Jin’s plan was only just beginning.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s phone vibrated.
The caller was the head of the Anti-Corruption and Major Crimes Division at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.
-Prosecutor General! Right now…
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s eyes were bloodshot with fury.
As Seeing the World ended disappointingly compared to its preview, people began flooding community websites with negative comments.
But there was one comment among them.
-A conspiracy theory? There’s a related broadcast on the video site.
└Can you share the link?
└www.youtu….
It was a video Seo Jin had prepared in advance with a Jirashi company.
A detonator to amplify all attention, knowing controversy would arise.
The title was shocking.
-Seeing the World Crumbles Under External Pressure!
-Where Was the Body Found? That Land Belongs to a Famous Public Official!
-Blood Traces on the Blade! DNA Test Immediately!
As the sensational title drove the video’s view count up, other streamers who had been lying low began jumping in as well.
-Seeing the World External Pressure Controversy Summary
-The Truth About Seeing the World’s Body
-I Have Psychic Abilities, So I’ll Go There Myself
-More Lies from Seeing the World!
-Seeing the World Brazenly Fabricated Content Without Getting Caught
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun’s face contorted.
If the opponent were a media mogul of a broadcasting station’s caliber, he could summon them and crush them without hesitation.
But this situation was different.
Ordinary people he’d always dismissed.
When they gathered together, they could shake the world itself.
“These damn bastards!”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun pounded the table—bang, bang, bang.
Eom Si-young, unaware of the situation, studied Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun with startled eyes.
“Why… what is it? What’s going on!”
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun glared at Eom Si-young with eyes that could kill. Just as he was about to speak, his phone vibrated again.
The caller ID that appeared was the Blue House.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————