Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 39

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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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Outer Reaches (1)
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“We call him President Hong Ju-dae. I heard he’s involved in all sorts of businesses.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t really know. Honestly! Why would I lie to you?”
The woman’s expression and voice were desperate.
She looked at me with an expression that suggested she might burst into tears at any moment.
“…It’s not a lie.”
My gaze shifted, and I made eye contact with the burly men sitting rigidly across from me.
They flinched and hastily opened their mouths.
“W-we don’t know much either! We just know him as a customer with plenty of money who tips generously!”
My gaze returned to the woman.
“What did you talk about inside?”
“Mostly crude talk. Oh, and he kept saying we should be careful. Several times.”
“Careful? About what?”
“Well, what was it? Um….”
The woman scrunched up her face, struggling to recall what she’d heard inside.
But it seemed she couldn’t remember.
She sighed and clutched at her hair in frustration.
Then suddenly she clapped her hands together.
“There’s a driver! He should be waiting in the parking lot!”
“A driver?”
“Yes! A driver would know better, wouldn’t he? He follows him everywhere!”
There was nothing more to learn from the room salon.
I rose slowly and spoke.
“Keep it secret that I was here. If I hear any word of this getting out, I’ll know it came from you. This establishment will disappear, and your accommodations will become very uncomfortable.”
My voice was chilling.
The three burly men and the woman unconsciously nodded their heads.
Then I tapped the money on the table with my finger and continued.
“Buy yourselves something good to eat.”
With that, I left the room.
As the door closed with a sharp sound, the icy atmosphere eased slightly.
And the burly men, who had been cowering like frightened dogs, suddenly began posturing.
“Boss, that bastard came alone. Should we go teach him a lesson?”
“He wouldn’t have come alone. He’d have brought backup outside.”
“If we wear hats and beat him in an alley, it might work. That punk acting all high and mighty as a prosecutor… damn it.”
The woman, listening to their muttering, spoke with a scornful laugh.
“Go ahead if you’re confident.”
“Huh?”
“Try it. If you can’t, stop talking big and shut your mouth. You’re being too noisy with all that chatter.”
The men fell silent, their expressions uncomfortable.
The woman exhaled cigarette smoke and recalled the look in Seo Jin’s eyes.
The murderous intent in the gaze of a man not yet thirty.
Eyes that seemed ready to kill everyone in this place.
The woman opened her mouth quietly.
“I’m saying this out of concern—keep quiet. You saw his eyes earlier, right? That prosecutor bastard had the look of someone who’d burn this place down. You have to avoid crazy people like that.”
The woman flicked ash from her cigarette, and the burly men nodded in agreement.
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The driver’s seat of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Hong Ju-dae’s chauffeur was watching YouTube on his phone.
He was chuckling to himself when….
Tap, tap.
The sound of knuckles rapping on the driver’s window.
He turned his head to see an unfamiliar man standing there.
It was Seo Jin.
The chauffeur tilted his head in confusion and rolled down the window.
“Yes?”
“You’re Hong Ju-dae’s chauffeur, correct?”
“That’s right?”
“Prosecution Service.”
“Pardon?”
Seo Jin produced his credentials.
The sudden appearance of a prosecutor caused the driver’s pupils to dilate with tension.
“…A prosecutor?”
“I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“I, I don’t know anything.”
The chauffeur facing the prosecutor was excessively nervous.
Seo Jin placed one hand on the car’s roof while flashing the most disarming smile he could muster.
“There’s no need to be nervous. Just a few things….”
That was when it happened.
The world drained into black and white as my psychometry ability activated.
“Speed bumps! Speed bumps! How many times did I tell you to watch out for the speed bumps! This is exactly why I didn’t want to work with these thick-headed bastards!”
Hong Ju-dae was pounding the driver’s seat—thump, thump, thump.
The chauffeur forced out a laugh.
“I apologize. I’ll be more careful.”
There weren’t just the chauffeur and Hong Ju-dae in the car.
Seated beside Hong Ju-dae like a daughter was a girl who appeared remarkably young.
A child who still looked to be a minor.
The girl burst into giggles.
“This guy’s hilarious. Getting cursed out and laughing about it. Does he have no pride?”
The driver was in his late forties.
Her words stung, but he kept his expression neutral.
Once again, he forced a smile and opened his mouth.
“Should I take you to the hotel, sir?”
“You know where we’re going—why ask! Just drive, you bastard!”
Hong Ju-dae pounded the armrest again, and the girl dissolved into laughter.
“Oh, this is too funny! The driver’s face is killing me!”
Hong Ju-dae’s phone rang.
Hong Ju-dae furrowed his brow and raised the phone to his ear.
“Oh, Director Jang Yong-min.”
Jang Yong-min was the director of Dongnam Central Hospital.
“Yeah, I’ve heard the Dongnam District Prosecutors’ Office has been making noise lately. But don’t worry. We’ll consult with Attorney Kang tomorrow. And you know what? Where’s the evidence that it’s a shell hospital? Do I even show up to work? Is there money sitting in an account under my name?”
A shell hospital is an arrangement where a layperson hires a doctor as a figurehead owner and establishes and operates a hospital.
Under current law, it’s naturally illegal since laypeople cannot establish hospitals except through corporations.
Moreover, the biggest problem is that they use any means necessary to recoup their investment.
-Excessive medical treatment.
-Overcrowding of beds per room.
-Manufacturing fake and fabricated patients.
-Billing for surgeries that were never performed.
And so on.
From 2009 to 2018, improperly disbursed medical insurance benefits totaled 2.7 trillion won.
But criminals use asset-concealment tactics, and the recovery rate is merely 6%.
Tax money leaks away straight into the pockets of scum like Hong Ju-dae.
After ending the call with Director Jang Yong-min, Hong Ju-dae twisted his lips.
“That coward’s always been like this. That’s why he is what he is. Idiot.”
As Hong Ju-dae’s voice turned harsh, the girl nestled into his embrace and spoke in a wheedling tone.
“Uncle, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”
“Oh, I’m just helping out with the hospital business a bit.”
“Ugh… forget work and play with me, okay?”
The world came back into focus.
My eyes narrowed.
‘A shell hospital?’
These bastards were vicious.
Closed-off and specialized, making evidence difficult to obtain.
Moreover, once an investigation starts, they shut down and flee.
And from what I saw through psychometry, Hong Ju-dae had made one thing clear.
“Where’s the evidence? Did I go to work? Is there money sitting in a bank account under my name?”
He was brimming with confidence, dreaming of the perfect crime.
If I blundered in recklessly, it would be me who shattered.
I could only salivate at the sight of the closed hospital.
‘In situations like this….’
I needed to shelve the hospital investigation temporarily and shake the irrelevant periphery, gradually closing in toward the center.
Then, when the opponent’s neck was exposed, I would strike.
I finished my deliberation.
Then I shifted my gaze to the driver sitting in the driver’s seat, who looked utterly lost.
“…A young girl. Compensated dating.”
The driver’s face contorted, and bewilderment flooded his eyes.
He was trying to hide something.
I leaned toward the driver.
“If we go to the hotel, we can secure the CCTV footage. The odds aren’t high, but you could become an accomplice.”
“An accomplice?”
“Hong Ju-dae could make that claim.”
-The driver brought her.
-I didn’t know she was a minor.
The driver shook his head.
“W-what are you saying? Why would the boss…?”
“How has Hong Ju-dae treated you?”
I was a tool, livestock, an invisible man.
I’d never received a shred of human dignity.
If cornered, he could easily sacrifice me as a scapegoat.
My voice continued.
“The world is terribly unfair, isn’t it?”
“Sir?”
“Hong Ju-dae has money and connections with the local elite. Even if he’s guilty, one meal with the police chief or the District Chief, a little cash spread around….”
The driver swallowed hard.
He anticipated exactly what came next.
And my words unfolded precisely as he expected.
“Solicitation of sexual services from a minor. You’ll be branded a pimp. I’ve seen countless cases like this in my work as a prosecutor.”
It was an absurd extortion.
Yet the driver’s eyes were filled with terror.
He believed Hong Ju-dae had the power to do exactly that.
Because the people he drank and caroused with were a congressman and a hospital director.
The driver got out of the car.
Then he lit cigarette after cigarette.
I stood beside him and opened my mouth.
“There’s no loyalty to protect here.”
The driver nodded.
“What would you like me to do?”
“Who is that girl?”
The driver exhaled a long plume of cigarette smoke.
Then he opened his mouth quietly.
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“Don’t you feel something coming?”
The weekend had passed.
While I was attending to work, Lee Myung-soo summoned me to the outdoor smoking area and asked abruptly.
“Feel something?”
“The District Chief called in the Chief Prosecutors and apparently pressured them—said we need to keep generating issues to escape this situation.”
The District Chief had the general election aftermath in mind.
Once the power structure shifted, many powerful figures would want to control Dongnam County’s sword arm.
“So I’m asking—want to take on one more unsolved case?”
Unsolved cases don’t resolve themselves, yet Lee Myung-soo spoke as if playing tag with children.
I refused firmly.
“No.”
“I only mentioned it because I’m frustrated too.”
At that moment.
“Hey, Prosecutor Lee!”
An unfamiliar voice called out.
My gaze and Lee Myung-soo’s turned toward the source of the voice.
It was Attorney Kang Chi-ha.
He approached us with a slick smile.
Then he opened his mouth with a mocking tone.
“Hey, Prosecutor Lee. Still haven’t quit? I thought you’d lose your temper first and be the first to hang up your badge.”
“Me?”
“I know your temperament well enough.”
Attorney Kang Chi-ha looked down at Lee Myung-soo, who was seated.
His eyes were full of contempt.
The two didn’t seem to get along well.
Lee Myung-soo brushed off his hands and stood up.
“That’s right. I can’t believe I’m still holding on like this. But Attorney Kang, your fortune has certainly improved.”
“What can I say.”
Attorney Kang Chi-ha casually flashed his Porsche key.
Lee Myung-soo chuckled.
“Being a lawyer definitely suits you better than being a prosecutor. You’ve been so considerate of criminals’ human rights, after all.”
His tone was cutting.
But Kang Chi-ha’s expression remained unchanged.
“That’s right. But I found my calling and I’m making money from it. What about you? Are you still giving your sick parents thirty thousand won a month while patting yourself on the back?”
Lee Myung-soo’s face contorted.
A curse was about to spill from his lips.
“What are you doing there? Why aren’t you coming in?”
It was Lee Jae-seung, the Chief Prosecutor of Criminal Division 1.
Kang Chi-ha tapped Lee Myung-soo’s arm twice before turning toward Lee Jae-seung.
“Oh, Chief Prosecutor. It’s been a while.”
“What brings you here?”
“I had some business nearby and thought I’d stop by to greet you, sir.”
“Let’s go. Shall we have some coffee?”
“By the way, who is this Seo Jin fellow?”
Lee Jae-seung tilted his head curiously.
“Seo Jin? Why?”
“He’s that star prosecutor who appears on broadcast networks, isn’t he? I was just curious.”
“That’s him.”
Lee Jae-seung pointed with his finger at Seo Jin standing beside Lee Myung-soo.
“Oh, that’s him?”
“Yeah.”
“I expected him to be more impressive, but looking at him, he’s just a kid.”
“A kid, yeah. One incredibly lucky kid.”
“If he’s hanging around with someone like Myung-soo, then he’s just as ordinary.”
Meanwhile, my gaze followed Kang Chi-ha’s retreating figure.
Lee Myung-soo’s voice reached me from beside.
“Insufferable bastard.”
Lee Myung-soo made his hostility obvious.
It seemed that when Kang Chi-ha had been a prosecutor, he and Lee Myung-soo had clashed repeatedly.
But then Kang Chi-ha, who had glanced back briefly, and I locked eyes.
The moment our eyes met, Kang Chi-ha’s eyes narrowed slightly.
But that was all.
Soon his lips curved into a mocking smile.
‘Just a kid.’
A clear gesture of contempt.
But I let it pass without concern.
I knew that his smug smile wouldn’t last long.
It would be crushed soon enough.
And then.
Bzzt.
My phone vibrated.
The caller was Lee Jung-woo.
“Oh, Jung-woo.”
-We caught a runaway teenager. And that’s Sung-ah, right? Should I bring her over now?
“Yeah, thanks.”
-Just wait ten seconds.
The moment I spoke, Jung-woo’s car pulled through the main gate of the District Prosecution Office.
Jung-woo recognized me and stepped out of the car, waving lightly.
And the young girl who got out of the car with Jung-woo.
“What did I do wrong! This is so annoying!”
She scowled with a sharp, irritated voice.
She was the girl I’d seen in the world of psychometry.
Her name was Chae Sung-ah.
But the moment Kang Chi-ha, the attorney, saw Chae Sung-ah, his face went rigid.

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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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