Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 50

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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? (3)
Heo Jung-il kept his mouth shut.
But his pupils were trembling.
He was hesitating.
Heo Jung-il feared that if he spoke carelessly, he would dig himself deeper—and that terrified him.
Because he had no idea who this man’s parents were, and that unknown terrified him even more.
Seo Jin rose from his seat and walked toward Heo Jung-il with measured steps.
Then, gripping his shoulder lightly, he spoke with a gentleness he hadn’t shown before.
“Jung-il, nothing changes if you don’t speak.”
“….”
“You become the murderer. Do you want to live branded as the one who killed your friend?”
Heo Jung-il squeezed his eyes shut.
The victim’s parents’ anguished cries echoed in his mind.
“Why! Why did you do this! You didn’t, right? You couldn’t have!”
Heo Jung-il shook his head, remembering the victim’s parents’ grief-stricken voices.
“…I didn’t do it.”
Heo Jung-il’s emotions were wavering.
Now all he needed to do was steady those emotions and reveal the truth.
Seo Jin patted his shoulder and continued.
“I know. But all the evidence points to you. If you don’t tell me, I’ll have no choice but to put you on trial, and the judge will say it: ten years in prison….”
Heo Jung-il’s face drained of color.
Three years of high school—bullied by those bastards.
And now another ten years ahead of him.
As Heo Jung-il flinched, Seo Jin’s words pierced straight through his heart.
“…You’re going to prison instead of them. That’s not right, is it?”
Seo Jin leaned slowly toward Heo Jung-il and continued speaking.
“Jung-il, they’re nothing. I’ll make them cry in prison. I won’t let their parents do any more harm. I’ll show you what real power looks like.”
“….”
“I believe in you. So you believe in me too.”
Heo Jung-il turned his head and met Seo Jin’s gaze.
His eyes were bloodshot.
His lips, full of injustice, trembled violently.
And slowly, those lips began to move.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“…Then I’ll tell you. It’s Jo Jun-tae. But his father….”
Jo Yong-jun, Chief Prosecutor of the Gangwon District Prosecutors’ Office.
Seo Jin’s face twisted for a moment.
But then he smiled quietly.
Beyond the glass wall, the prosecutors in this office were observing Seo Jin’s expression.
Even without hearing their voices, they could discern from Seo Jin’s expression what had transpired.
For now, I had to conceal it.
Seo Jin composed his expression and opened his mouth.
“Wait. I’ll break him down for you.”
Moments later, Seo Jin finished the interrogation and emerged into the hallway.
Simultaneously, the prosecutors who had been observing him came pouring out.
“Why did you turn off the microphone?”
Seo Jin had suddenly switched off the microphone during the interrogation.
The prosecutors were curious about the reason, and Seo Jin answered with a faint smile.
“Ah, that? It was part of the persuasion process. I wanted him to trust me a bit more. You know, like ‘this is just between us two.'”
The prosecutors chuckled and offered their remarks one by one.
“Already picking up tricks?”
“Hey, rookies should go by the book.”
“So what did you get?”
There was only one thing they were expecting.
What the new prosecutor, rumored to be exceptionally fortunate, had uncovered in his first appearance.
But Seo Jin shook his head.
“Nothing yet.”
“Nothing?”
“No.”
Seo Jin wrapped it up cleanly.
Then he bowed respectfully to the prosecutors and walked away down the hallway.
The prosecutors opened their mouths.
“No matter how lucky he is, this case was already fully investigated. It’s difficult to uncover anything new from the start.”
“True enough….”
A somewhat disappointed expression.
But Han Jung-ah was different.
She narrowed her eyes, watching Seo Jin’s retreating figure disappear into the distance.
Then she murmured to herself.
‘Nothing?’
*
*
*
Seo Jin could not speak the truth.
Jo Yong-jun was the king of this place.
In other words, the prosecutors here were Jo Yong-jun’s eyes and ears.
If Jo Yong-jun’s son was connected to this case, and if someone learned of it.
That someone would rush over and speak urgently.
“Chief Prosecutor, this is serious. Right now that bastard Heo Jung-il is pressing you about your son, Jo Jun-tae!”
Then Jo Yong-jun would say this.
“How dare that worm try to make a fool of my son?”
The Chief Prosecutor would undoubtedly see Heo Jung-il’s words as nothing but lies.
-A vengeful spirit dragging his only son into the water by the hair.
-Psychological warfare through the narrative that all those in power are corrupt.
-A piece of trash posturing as if he held leverage, seeking a reduced sentence.
The Chief Prosecutor would order the case wrapped up swiftly, and the situation would inevitably spiral toward catastrophe.
And the greater problem was the absence of evidence.
That’s why I remained silent.
To find concrete evidence.
But my silence stemmed from more than just that.
I had no intention of resolving this case through the Gangwon District Prosecutors’ Office.
The District Prosecutor himself was implicated.
Regardless of who handled it or whether they succeeded, I’d be vilified.
Drawing a blade against the Chief Prosecutor revered within the Prosecutor’s Office—an organization built on the principle of ‘we are one’—would be madness.
The label of traitor might follow me for eternity.
So I chose ‘using an enemy to strike another enemy’—a strategy of manipulation.
Entering the office, I turned directly toward Lee Dong-young.
“The dashcam footage—the police would be holding it, correct?”
There had been no CCTV at the scene, but the vehicle’s dashcam existed, and immediately after the incident, the police had collected all nearby dashcam recordings.
“They should have it. But there are only seven of them.”
Few residents in this apartment complex operated their dashcams continuously.
They worried about battery drain.
Most car owners only used their dashcams while driving.
Lee Dong-young’s voice continued.
“And I’ve reviewed the footage myself—nothing stood out.”
“I know. But there’s something I want to verify. So contact the police for me. Tell them I’m coming to check now.”
“Now?”
“Yes, now.”
I hastily threw on my jacket.
Lee Dong-young, who had been watching me intently, carefully opened his mouth.
“But Prosecutor? If I may ask something presumptuous, I’m curious about something.”
“Go ahead.”
“Why go to such lengths?”
“Pardon?”
“Well, most prosecutors can’t do this, can they? They’re buried under other cases, barely finding time to breathe….”
But I was different.
Even after work, I scoured the scene, searching for the smallest trace.
At first, I thought it might be mere show for my first case.
But I no longer believed that.
I was relentlessly obsessive—chillingly so.
“Why are you working so hard on this?”
I tilted my head slightly.
There were two objectives.
To make enemies fight each other through this case.
To solidify my position through that.
No matter how skilled Lee Dong-young was as an investigator, I couldn’t tell him such things.
So I offered a different reason.
“I just want to solve cases like this one.”
“…Cases like this?”
“All this talk about disguising it as suicide and whatnot—it bothers me.”
Both Seo Jin and Seo Jun-kyung left the world in similar ways.
Evidence and criminals who vanished without a trace.
This case was a rehearsal for catching those bastards.
“That’s all there is to it.”
I spoke casually and turned back toward the mirror.
Lee Dong-young watched as I adjusted my clothing, his eyes narrowing.
‘…Cases like this?’
Lee Dong-young’s gaze shifted toward the case file.
Apartment rooftop, a fall incident.
‘Cases like this….’
He thought of Seo Jun-kyung again.
And whatever shadows might surround this case, he hoped I would solve it thoroughly.
Shortly after, I left the office again.
Lee Dong-young, who had been sitting blankly, opened a drawer.
A faded notebook in the corner came into view.
When he pulled it out and opened it, messy scribbles appeared—handwriting only Lee Dong-young could decipher.
-Official Jin Yun-hee filed sexual assault charges against Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung.
-After Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung’s death, opened a Coffee Shop.
-How did someone who used overdraft accounts manage this?
Lee Dong-young’s face transformed as he stared at the notebook.
Sometimes contorting, sometimes resigned, and finally, he shook his head.
‘Enough.’
The notebook was tossed back and the drawer slid shut.
*
*
*
I was at the Police Station.
The officer handling the case sat across from me and handed over a tablet PC.
“You caught the suspect, right? That guy or whoever.”
“Yes, there’s something I need to verify.”
“There’s probably nothing there.”
The police officer looked annoyed.
He’d already reviewed this footage hundreds of times.
If something that wasn’t there before suddenly appeared just because a prosecutor showed up to look, that would be strange.
And if the prosecutor found something the police had missed?
The officer handed over the tablet PC and stood there watching me.
Regardless, I focused intently on the tablet’s screen.
I paid no attention to the people moving about on the display.
I concentrated solely on the vehicles entering.
License plate numbers.
‘Not this one, not that one either….’
I recalled the world I’d seen through psychometry.
Those bastards had said something back then.
“Why did you jump in there?”
It wasn’t a phrase used in ordinary conversation.
It was used in certain specific situations.
-Why jump into the ocean.
-Why jump into the burning house.
-Why jump into the car.
Jo Jun-tae has a car.
A used SUV his father gave him as a gift when he got his license.
‘The victim must have collided with their car. And they used the vehicle to transport the victim.’
Trying to identify their faces through CCTV footage had been foolish.
That’s why the case was turning into an unsolved mystery.
‘Next dashcam footage.’
When the police officer watching beside me yawned and left, I checked the fourth dashcam recording.
And ten minutes later, my eyes gleamed sharply.
‘Found it.’
Jo Jun-tae’s car was entering the frame.
Though it soon disappeared from the footage, the license plate was clearly captured on the dashcam.
*
*
*
“I want to work on something significant too.”
Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun’s office at Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
Jo Woo-jae, the Chief Prosecutor and right hand of Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun, was present.
Jo Woo-jae shook his head at Kim Yun-hwan’s words.
“Hey, do you want to watch me die?”
“Still….”
The Chief Prosecutor slapped down the documents and rebuked him.
“Why the hell did you meet with that bastard and cause this mess? Huh? If you’d just kept your head down, you’d be the type cruising on the highway with an EZ-Pass!”
The marine park development project corruption that had unfolded in Dongnam County not long ago.
Kim Yun-hwan had been entangled with Park Sang-young, the bureau chief at the center of it all, and Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun had learned of the affair.
Because Seo Jin had visited his home and informed him directly.
This was the result now.
The old Kim Yun-hwan had devoted himself to work where he could manage his record.
But now he only touched assignments that left no trace.
Things like arguing with internet trolls.
“I’m thinking of it as a period of reflection, keeping my mouth shut. I’ll speak well of you to the Chief Prosecutor. Tell him you’re showing genuine remorse. Understood?”
“Ha….”
Kim Yun-hwan exhaled a sigh and rose to his feet.
There was only one thing Kim Yun-hwan could say now.
“Thank you.”
Kim Yun-hwan bowed his head and left the Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
As I walked down the hallway, I felt a vibration from my pocket.
I pulled out my phone and checked the caller ID—it was Seo Jin.
Kim Yun-hwan’s face twisted instantly.
‘This crazy bastard.’
Kim Yun-hwan bit his lower lip hard and brought the phone to his ear.
-Hyung, it’s me.
“Yeah, I know it’s you. But since when do you speak informally to me?”
Kim Yun-hwan’s feelings toward Seo Jin could hardly be favorable.
Naturally, his voice was harsh.
-You said I spoke informally before I lost my memory, right? Let’s not be so rigid now that I’ve recovered it.
“Enough. If you have something to say, keep it brief and to the point. If not, I’m hanging up.”
-Wait, we’re cousins after all. I called because I wanted some advice.
“Advice?”
-Besides, you’re the only person in this field I can trust, hyung.
Kim Yun-hwan’s lips curled.
“Don’t butter me up. What is it?”
*
*
*
“Alright, I’ll see you this weekend.”
Seo Jin smiled faintly and slipped the phone into his pocket.
This weekend, Kim Yun-hwan had arrogantly told him to come by.
He had no idea what kind of advice Seo Jin was actually seeking—he simply wanted to show off under the guise of offering counsel.
Perhaps he even wanted to appeal to Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun with this display.
But all of Kim Yun-hwan’s plans would come to nothing.
‘I’ll give him a bomb as a gift.’
Seo Jin planned to deliver a sweet poison to Kim Yun-hwan.

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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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