Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 49

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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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Who Are You? (2)
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‘It’s identical.’
This was the scene of a death case.
Investigator Lee Dong-young had been observing Seo Jin’s behavior the entire way here.
He’d convinced himself that what he’d witnessed in the office was merely a misunderstanding.
But the more he watched, the more breathtakingly identical everything became—except for appearance and voice.
The driving habit of braking from a distance.
The way he shifted into neutral at traffic lights.
When the car ahead suddenly hit the brakes….
“Damn this bas….”
Seo Jin didn’t finish the word.
Yet even that was identical to Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung.
‘Sigh….’
Investigator Lee Dong-young exhaled deeply.
Common actions, common habits. But when combined, they formed Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung.
At fleeting moments, he genuinely resembled the real Seo Jun-kyung.
The more Investigator Lee Dong-young observed Seo Jin, the more rigid his expression became.
‘Am I losing my mind?’
Investigator Lee Dong-young shook his head.
‘No. It’s just Prosecutor Seo’s habits overlapping in my perception.’
And when he arrived at the crime scene, he was certain.
Seo Jin was touching walls and placing his hands on railings—strange behavior.
Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung would never do such a thing.
Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung was someone who grasped key points and simplified situations.
He found pointless detective work—like picking up cigarette butts from the ground—contemptible.
Investigator Lee Dong-young, who had been watching Seo Jin intently, chuckled softly.
‘Thank goodness. He’s different. Truly different.’
Eventually, Seo Jin took the elevator up to the 15th Floor and began running his hand along the apartment wall.
Getting dust all over his hand in the process.
Unable to bear it any longer, Investigator Lee Dong-young asked.
“Prosecutor, what are you doing?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just my style.”
And he continued touching the wall.
Watching this, Investigator Lee Dong-young nodded.
He’d been wondering if something was wrong with himself.
But now he was certain.
‘That guy is the strange one.’
Seo Jin carefully scanned his surroundings.
The incident had occurred several months ago.
It was only natural that no traces remained.
The apartment manager would have cleaned multiple times, and the police would have collected anything suspicious.
But one could never be certain.
Seo Jin possessed the ability of psychometry.
Though he couldn’t control it, if it manifested suddenly, he might glimpse the memories imprinted on the apartment walls.
That’s why he’d taken the elevator to the 15th Floor.
This was a corridor-style apartment building. Seo Jin kept his hand on the railing, brushing against it as he maintained his concentration.
He desperately prayed for the world to drain into monochrome, but nothing happened.
“…What are you doing?”
Lee Dong-young asked.
To a veteran investigator, this was naturally suspicious behavior.
It wasn’t something even the police’s forensic unit would do.
Seo Jin turned his head toward Lee Dong-young.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Just my style.”
Seo Jin smiled faintly and placed his hand against the wall again.
Then he took a few more steps.
In that moment, Seo Jin’s eyes sharpened.
The world was draining into monochrome.
“Damn it, this is fine, right?”
“Shut up, you bastard!”
The whispers were urgent and strained.
Three men? Four?
The darkness made it impossible to see anything clearly.
“Hey, I was just joking. Why did you jump in like that!”
“I said shut it!”
Then came the sound of ragged, heavy breathing.
“The 15th Floor is pretty damn high.”
“Did you bring it?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Shove it in your pocket!”
“Don’t let it touch the wall. If blood gets on it, we’re caught. Alright, one, two, three! Lift!”
A soft thud echoed shortly after.
But something was wrong with the men’s breathing.
There was no guilt over the murder they’d committed—only a strange exhilaration.
As if they’d merely swatted an annoying mosquito.
Then came the voice of the one who’d been orchestrating everything.
“Did you grab Jung-il’s jacket?”
“Yeah.”
“Keep that safe. We’re going to dump it on the mountain. I didn’t know we could use it like this.”
“…But will it be okay?”
“Don’t worry. As long as we keep our mouths shut, no one will know.”
That was the end of it.
In the darkness, the world regained its color along with the quiet, chilling sound of laughter.
Seo Jin remembered the creeping voices of those bastards and quietly asked Lee Dong-young.
“Investigator, the defendant’s name is Jung-il, right?”
The defendant’s name was Jung-il.
But that name had appeared in the world I saw through psychometry.
“Jung-il took the jumper, didn’t he?”
My eyes narrowed.
‘The defendant said he lost the jumper a few days before the incident.’
But those bastards had said it.
“I didn’t know we could use it like this.”
I stroked my chin and turned my body.
“Let’s go.”
“…Is it over?”
“Yes.”
Lee Dong-young stared at my back with a strange expression.
Then he turned his head toward the apartment railing.
Lee Dong-young reached out and tapped the railing lightly.
‘Now that I think about it….’
This case had begun when a student waiting for university admission fell to their death.
The CCTV captured no evidence.
The suicide note in their possession was printed, not handwritten.
Not even an autopsy was conducted to find the truth.
‘It’s similar.’
Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung’s death had been similar too.
CCTV and a printed suicide note—everything from the accident to the funeral and cremation proceeded swiftly in one breath.
There was only one difference.
Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung’s case was closed as a suicide, but this case had a defendant.
Lee Dong-young, lost in thought while staring into the distance, clenched his fist tightly.
I wanted to solve this case no matter what.
‘Meeting a similar case like this… I really miss that bastard.’
Lee Dong-young decided to have a drink and get some sleep tonight as well.
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“Heo Jung-il? Good to see you.”
It was the Interrogation Room.
Seo Jin sat across from the defendant Heo Jung-il.
Heo Jung-il’s expression was devastated.
The light had long since fled from his eyes; he could only mumble through pale, parched lips.
“…It wasn’t me. Really, it wasn’t. Why would I kill Se-gwang? He’s my friend.”
But then an unexpected statement came from Seo Jin’s mouth.
“I know.”
Heo Jung-il hadn’t heard Seo Jin’s words.
He continued muttering.
“I’m telling you it wasn’t me. I really did lose the jacket, and I have no idea about those footprints.”
“I said I know.”
Only then did Heo Jung-il hear Seo Jin’s voice.
He hesitated, then slowly turned his eyes toward Seo Jin.
His expression suggested he’d misheard.
Heo Jung-il asked haltingly.
“You… you know?”
“Yeah. You didn’t kill him. I believe you.”
Seo Jin’s voice was businesslike.
Yet Heo Jung-il, without realizing it, tears began streaming down his face.
“…You believe me?”
“Yeah.”
This was the first prosecutor to say such a thing.
Everyone else had pressured him, driven him to the edge of a cliff.
“You’re the culprit.”
“Why did you call me in at that hour!”
“Was it a premeditated crime?”
“Then what about the jacket?”
“Don’t lie to me!”
But Seo Jin had spoken those two simple words to Heo Jung-il: “I believe you.”
At those simple words, Heo Jung-il collapsed onto the table, weeping uncontrollably.
At that same moment, on the opposite side of the interrogation room’s glass wall.
The Chief Prosecutor, Han Jung-ah, and three other prosecutors were observing Seo Jin.
They were all curious about Seo Jin’s true nature.
A fortunate talent shrouded in rumors.
A newcomer who had solved case after case and even cracked cold cases.
They wanted to confirm with their own eyes whether all of it was false or true.
But after observing Seo Jin’s words and actions for some time, the Chief Prosecutor let out a chuckle and opened his mouth.
“Not bad.”
At those words, all eyes in the vicinity turned toward the Chief Prosecutor.
The Chief Prosecutor pointed at Seo Jin and continued.
“Usually, rookies lay out the entire case and go for the direct approach. Listing evidence and pressuring the suspect is the easiest way. But this bastard Seo Jin—he’s different.”
Seo Jin didn’t even open the documents.
He simply nodded along as he listened to Heo Jung-il speak.
The Chief Prosecutor’s voice continued.
“Heo Jung-il will mistake Prosecutor Kim, who listens to his story, for being on his side.”
Speaking in a soft voice to a defendant cornered in an extreme situation.
It’s a technique prosecutors sometimes employ.
“I believe in you.”
“You’re not that kind of person.”
“It was impulsive, wasn’t it?”
“Why? What happened?”
A defendant driven to the cliff’s edge wants to lean on anyone.
That delusion makes them believe the prosecutor sitting across from them is on their side.
Not realizing it’s the devil’s temptation.
The prosecutors chuckled at the Chief Prosecutor’s words.
“Already pulling out tricks, I see.”
“Still, if we just solve it, that’s a jackpot. That bastard keeps denying the crime anyway. If we can’t get a confession and lock him up, it’ll feel unsatisfying.”
“True, tricks or not, as long as it’s resolved, that’s all that matters.”
As Han Jung-ah listened to the prosecutors’ words, her gaze turned back toward the interrogation room.
‘A technique? A trick?’
That’s not what Han Jung-ah sensed.
The light in Seo Jin’s eyes as he regarded defendant Heo Jung-il was sincere.
He seemed to genuinely believe in the defendant.
She could feel that sincerity.
Han Jung-ah tilted her head in confusion.
‘That doesn’t seem right.’
That was when it happened.
Seo Jin’s voice changed.
-Were you ever bullied?
-Pardon?
-You and your friend—have you ever been bullied?
The prosecutors watching let out small laughs.
“Now he’s digging into the past? He’s really going full technique now.”
They believed Seo Jin continued to rely on interrogation techniques.
But that was the moment.
The words spoken inside the interrogation room couldn’t be heard here.
Seo Jin and Heo Jung-il’s mouths were moving, but no sound came through.
The prosecutors’ gazes shifted to the staff member in the interrogation room.
“What’s this? Is the microphone broken?”
“Fix it quickly, will you?”
The interrogation room staff member, frantically fumbling with various switches, shook his head.
“It appears to have been turned off from inside.”
The prosecutors’ eyes narrowed.
“…Turned off?”
The prosecutors watched Seo Jin with expressions of confusion.
Interrogation Room.
Seo Jin opened his mouth with dry eyes and a businesslike tone.
“Have you ever been bullied?”
“….”
“I think those bastards killed your friend Kim Se-gwang and framed you for it.”
Heo Jung-il didn’t answer.
Whether he was ashamed of being bullied or had some other reason, the boy kept his mouth shut and his head bowed.
After observing Heo Jung-il for a moment, Seo Jin brought his hand beneath the table.
Then, click.
He switched off the microphone.
What I’m about to say is what I saw through psychometry.
There was no need for anyone else to hear it.
“Who do you think stole your jacket?”
“…Stole it?”
“Yeah, you probably forgot. But think about it. Who do you think would have taken that lost jacket?”
Heo Jung-il’s eyes began darting in all directions.
He was recalling the person.
And as the target narrowed, Seo Jin’s voice pierced sharply into Heo Jung-il’s ears.
“The one who carries a knife, the one with his own car, the one who treated Kim Se-gwang like a toy.”
With each word Seo Jin spoke, Heo Jung-il swallowed hard.
When all those descriptions came together, one person came to mind.
Heo Jung-il looked at Seo Jin with anxious eyes.
“Him? Is it him?”
“Yeah, him.”
“But… can you actually catch him?”
Heo Jung-il didn’t trust the Prosecution Service—he trusted Seo Jin.
Not completely.
Perhaps because he was young, he was thinking of the Prosecution Service as something hand-in-hand with power.
And even though he didn’t know what that guy had been spreading around, he believed those words to be true.
But Seo Jin spoke firmly.
“That’s what I get paid to do—catch guys like that.”

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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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