Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 36

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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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Secretively (2)
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“I heard it was all your plan, Prosecutor.”
Lee Eun-ha set down her utensils with a soft clink and flashed a smile at Seo Jin.
Seo Jin tilted his head in confusion.
“My plan, you say?”
Lee Eun-ha nodded and recounted what she’d heard from Investigator Lim Jung-taek.
-Emergency arrest of the representative simultaneously with the on-site verification.
-Complete victory over Han Sang-jun in the psychological battle.
-Interrogated the remaining staff under pressure, and the representative ultimately confessed to murder.
“You’re truly remarkable. How did you come up with such an idea?”
Lee Eun-ha was ready to launch Seo Jin into the stratosphere with praise.
But I couldn’t simply nod along and accept such flattery.
Already, merely sitting beside Lee Eun-ha was drawing prickly stares from all directions.
Lee Eun-ha was MBS’s flagship reporter, the kind whose name came with search suggestions like “superior figure”—the sort of person who turned heads.
Unmarried prosecutors were nursing their drinks, their eyes burning with jealousy as they glared at me.
So.
“No, it wasn’t me at all. The advice from my seniors was invaluable. Chief Prosecutor Kim Gwan-yong, Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo here, and Prosecutor Lee So-hee, and also….”
I delivered a textbook answer, but Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo, sitting across from me, burst out laughing. “Pfft!”
“Getting an award? Wait a bit longer and we’ll hear the raw fish restaurant owner’s name too?”
“Pardon?”
“You know how it goes. ‘I’m grateful to everyone who helped me receive this award. First, thank you to the representative, the director, the chief. And there are so many people I should acknowledge….’ That kind of thing.”
Every word in a conversation with a reporter requires careful consideration.
Even if Lee Eun-ha was smiling brightly, I couldn’t trust how my statements might be portrayed.
That’s why I grounded my response in humility and expressed gratitude toward my seniors.
But Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo chuckled and said, “A few interviews and you’ve become a celebrity,” while another prosecutor laughed and said, “Call my name at the awards ceremony too.”
When Seo Jin made a bewildered expression, Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo refilled his glass and spoke.
“The reporter isn’t the type to write strange articles, and you did accomplish something great, so you don’t need to be so humble.”
“….”
“Think about what that 30 billion won we recovered meant to the victims. There’s no money without a story. For some, it was their life’s savings. For others, it was their child’s wedding fund.”
“….”
“We’re not getting incentives for finding that money, but when you think about how those people can finally rest easy and sleep soundly, isn’t that joyful? So go ahead and enjoy that joy.”
Not only Lee Eun-ha but the other reporters present nodded in agreement.
Seo Jin smiled faintly.
“Then maybe I should be a little arrogant about it?”
At those words, the prosecutor beside me laughed loudly.
“Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo, you laid out the stage and he’s already taking it like he was waiting for it?”
“I’ve raised a tiger.”
Lee Myung-soo gestured toward Seo Jin with a nod of his chin.
It was time to put some backbone into his voice.
Seo Jin cleared his throat before speaking.
“Your guidance has been invaluable, Lee Myung-soo. Thank you so much.”
“Cut the flattery and just drink.”
That was when it happened.
“We’re starting.”
At someone’s announcement, every eye turned toward the screen as Lee Eun-ha’s face appeared on the broadcast.
-Good evening. This is Lee Eun-ha with “Seeing the World.”
My phone vibrated.
A message from my younger brother Jin-young.
But then.
-Hyung, something’s wrong.
My eyes narrowed.
Something’s wrong?
A chill ran through me.
I squinted and glanced around the room.
This wasn’t the place for a phone call.
I prepared to stand and quickly typed a message.
-What is it?
-Dad…
In that brief moment, countless thoughts raced through my mind.
Whether Father had a chronic illness, or if something else had happened.
Then came the next message.
-He works at a black company.
The incomprehensible message made me pause.
Simultaneously, a video message arrived from Jin-young.
I lowered the volume and played it, hearing Father’s voice on a call with someone.
-Director Um, are you watching “Seeing the World”? What? I told you to watch it! Don’t ask why, just watch! And call Director Kang too!
Mother’s voice came from beside him.
-Please be quiet. It’s starting now.
The “black company” was actually Father bragging about his son.
I shook my head with an incredulous smile.
I pocketed my phone and turned my attention back to the screen.
The broadcast centered on the case itself.
The victims’ tears and reenactments of the crime.
People robbed of their money. People dying.
It was produced with such vicious intensity that one wanted to hurl stones at the perpetrators.
And real-time search comments began flooding in.
-They’re like demons.
—Damn it, those bastards should be wiped out for generations to come.
Seo Jin’s face was captured on screen just as the broadcast was nearing its end.
—This is Prosecutor Seo Jin from the Dongnam District Prosecutors’ Office.
The way he gazed at the camera with those cool, piercing eyes was rather handsome in a somewhat melancholic way.
Seo Jin smiled as he watched his image on the screen.
Seo Jin was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
And on top of that, his profession is prosecutor.
It’s already unfair just looking at this much, but his face is even blessed with good looks.
‘The world is truly bitter.’
Seo Jin’s voice continued from the screen.
—…They are quite intelligent criminals who have studied the law extensively. However.
That was where it ended.
At the word “however,” the screen cut to a sudden preview.
A composition worthy of a film.
Solemn music played, and a scene appeared showing Seo Jin, Kim Gwan-yong, and Chief Prosecutor Lee Jae-seung gathered together.
And then Investigator Lim Jung-taek’s urgent voice rang out from Seo Jin’s phone.
—Whether we should call this fortunate or vicious.
It cut to a commercial.
Even from the prosecutors who knew the process and conclusion of the case, voices filled with irritation poured out.
“Ugh, seriously!”
“Why are they editing it like a drama!”
The chorus of complaints seemed to be a measure of the broadcast’s success.
Word came that it had achieved the number one trending spot.
Reporter Lee Eun-ha smiled brightly and turned toward Seo Jin.
“The editing turned out well, didn’t it?”
“Yes, quite well indeed.”
As the broadcast ended, the main courses of flounder, rockfish, and various other raw fish arrived.
And the formal beginning of the dinner gathering was a toast.
Seo Jin clinked glasses with the others and then picked up his chopsticks.
He resolved to eat his fill of raw fish this time, deliberating over whether to dip it in soy sauce or spicy sauce for the best flavor….
“Seo Jin!”
The District Prosecution Office director called him over.
Seo Jin naturally stood up with his glass, but the director waved his hand.
“Just bring yourself.”
So he set down his glass and went, only to find the director was mixing beer and soju to make a bomb shot.
The director himself.
“Have a drink.”
“Thank you.”
Seo Jin hurriedly made his way around the table, drinking soju.
There were many people calling for him from all directions.
He was the protagonist of this gathering and the youngest among them.
“You’re a celebrity, aren’t you?”
Lee Myung-soo, who had been watching me, chuckled and brought the soju glass to his lips.
As he picked up a piece of raw fish, Lee Eun-ha let out a sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“Pardon?”
Lee Eun-ha had participated in this dinner to have a conversation with me.
But looking at the situation, it seemed there wouldn’t be an opportunity.
Lee Eun-ha’s gaze turned toward Lee Myung-soo.
Still, since she was already here, she wanted to at least gather some information from me.
There was a saying that if you knew a young and capable prosecutor, exclusive stories would fall into your lap even in your sleep.
And he was handsome too.
“Prosecutor?”
Lee Eun-ha smiled and extended her glass.
Lee Myung-soo accepted her toast, and as she set down her glass, she asked.
“What kind of person is Prosecutor Seo Jin?”
“Seo Jin? He’s enviable. Young, handsome, skilled. And he comes from a good family too.”
Lee Eun-ha still didn’t know much about me.
All she had was the interview and what she’d heard from Lim Jung-taek.
So she thought I was just skilled.
“…A good family too?”
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“Sigh….”
The sound of Lee So-hee’s sigh echoed through the quiet office.
A prosecutor from Criminal Division 3 had been in a traffic accident.
The other prosecutors had divided his work among themselves, and Lee So-hee was no exception.
The problem was that she was focused on the real estate fraud scheme while other tasks piled up.
With additional work from others added on top, her desk was buried under mountains of documents.
Click.
The door opened.
Lee So-hee, who had been flipping through documents, looked up.
I was standing there.
“Done with the dinner already? Why aren’t you heading home?”
I held up a black plastic bag.
“Beer?”
“What?”
“Or soju if you prefer?”
Lee So-hee’s expression turned bewildered.
“You didn’t drink that much, did you?”
“I drank quite a bit. But…”
I showed her the plastic bag I was holding in my other hand.
“The appetizer is flounder sashimi—large platter.”
At the mention of flounder, Lee So-hee immediately sat up.
“I’m in.”
Canned beer was placed on the table, and a generous portion of flounder sashimi arrived.
“But won’t we get in trouble if we’re caught doing this?”
Lee So-hee worried, but I shook my head as I gripped my chopsticks.
“We won’t get caught. Besides, after all this hard work, one drink is fine, right?”
I smiled and picked up the canned beer, and we clinked glasses lightly.
I opened my mouth gently.
“You worked hard.”
“You too.”
The atmosphere was good up to this point.
We even felt a sense of camaraderie.
But shortly after, Lee So-hee wore an incredulous expression.
“Hey, I think the real culprit isn’t the alcohol—it’s the sashimi. Why are you eating so eagerly? The company dinner was at a raw fish restaurant, wasn’t it? You didn’t eat there?”
I nodded.
“I couldn’t eat.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s true.”
It really was.
I was too busy being dragged around and drinking.
I placed a piece of sashimi on a lettuce leaf and popped it in my mouth, smiling slightly, and Lee So-hee let out a small laugh.
“You’re ridiculous.”
That’s how our little celebration party for just the two of us ended.
Lee So-hee stood up and spoke.
“Coffee?”
“Thanks.”
I cleared the table and Lee So-hee brought out the coffee.
Clearing was simple enough—I just put the trash in a plastic bag and wiped down the table with a wet tissue.
I sat down and picked up the tablet PC on the table.
Since I’d already been on the broadcast, I was going to check the comments, but the search bar had “Baek Ki-ho” typed in it.
‘Baek Ki-ho?’
-Three-term congressman with a background as a judge.
-A star politician who frequently appears on broadcasts.
-Doesn’t shy away from variety shows either.
-Has an image of being down-to-earth, humble, and an incorruptible politician.
Lee So-hee set the coffee down in front of me.
Seo Jin closed the tablet PC and asked.
“Seems like you’re interested in Baek Ki-ho?”
“What?”
“I saw what you searched for.”
As Seo Jin pointed to the tablet PC, Lee So-hee’s expression stiffened for a moment.
But she quickly returned to her usual expression and shook her head.
“He was trending, so I just searched him out of curiosity. I’m not really interested in politics.”
Seo Jin sensed something odd in Lee So-hee’s words and behavior.
But he didn’t press further.
Forcing out what someone is hiding only causes wounds.
Then Lee So-hee leaned forward and changed the subject.
“So what’s next?”
“Next?”
“Are you just going to diligently handle the assigned work? Or something else?”
The type to hunt down cases and solve them.
She believed Seo Jin wasn’t the kind of person to simply eat what was thrown at him.
And her prediction was correct.
Seo Jin let out a quiet laugh.
“I’ll have to create another one.”
Seo Jin had set three major goals since coming to Dongnam County.
-Advance to the central office independently without relying on Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun’s help.
-Build deep connections with the sword-wielders of this exile, including the District Prosecution Office Chief.
-Send them to Seoul.
To succeed with the plan, he needed to keep creating cases.
He had to keep biting and gnawing so the current attention wouldn’t fade away.
Then someone from the political world or high office would take a closer look at the Dongnam District Prosecutors’ Office.
‘To choose an obedient hunting dog’.
Seo Jin was waiting for that moment.
To turn it to his advantage instead.
“So.”
Seo Jin pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.
And slid it across to Lee So-hee.
Lee So-hee unfolded the paper, and her already large eyes widened even further.
“…You’re going to do this?”
“Yeah.”
Seo Jin nodded slowly and continued speaking.
“Want to do it together?”

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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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