Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 52

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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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The Bait (2)
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“I’m on my way to meet Seo Jin.”
On the road to Chuncheon.
Kim Yun-hwan was on a call with Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae.
Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae was the right hand of Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun and the most reliable person Kim Yun-hwan could depend on.
Yet Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae’s voice carried a note of hesitation.
-…Seo Jin?
Nothing good had ever come from anything related to Seo Jin.
Kim Yun-hwan’s demotion to menial work was entirely because of Seo Jin.
And now he was going to meet the man directly.
It reminded him of a hyena sticking its head into a tiger’s mouth.
Acting recklessly without knowing one’s place—snap!
Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae asked with concern.
-Will you be alright?
“I’ve been grinding away in this field for several years now. Just counting the sentences I’ve secured, we’re well over five hundred years of the Joseon Dynasty. So don’t worry. Today, when I meet Seo Jin, I’ll see if I can keep him under control.”
Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae found himself more worried by Kim Yun-hwan’s overflowing confidence.
But a single night of drinking didn’t seem likely to cause any major incident.
Moreover, if Kim Yun-hwan could control Seo Jin, that would be quite favorable.
It was also what Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun desired.
And so.
-Drink moderately. Don’t get impatient—focus on restoring your old relationship.
He concluded with appropriate advice.
A 34-pyeong apartment not far from Chuncheon Bus Terminal.
It’s less than ten minutes to the District Prosecutor’s Office.
This is where Seo Jin lives.
And.
“Hey, nice place you’ve got here?”
Kim Yun-hwan had arrived.
It was an ordinary 34-pyeong apartment, but Kim Yun-hwan quickly surveyed it from the living room to the bedrooms.
Then his footsteps halted in Seo Jin’s study.
He opened his mouth upon seeing the cluttered desk buried beneath documents.
“You bring work home with you?”
Kim Yun-hwan approached the desk in the study.
And picked up some documents.
Several significant cases caught his eye.
“Looking at this, Gangwon Province isn’t bad. They hand out work steadily even to newcomers.”
“Seoul doesn’t work that way?”
“You think I’m some pushover like you? There are four senior prosecutors and nearly forty chief prosecutors. And you think there’s anything a newbie can actually do? There’s Jong-seung, right? That guy’s been sharpening pencils lately, hehehehe.”
He chuckled and flipped through various documents.
Then his eyes landed on a case file—an apartment fall fatality.
A story that read like a detective novel concocted by high school graduates.
Kim Yun-hwan’s pupils flickered for a moment.
He’d just compared his own work—wrestling with malicious commenters—against what Seo Jin was doing.
Any prosecutor worth their salt naturally harbored the desire to work on high-profile cases.
But that was where it ended.
This was Gangwon Province.
Stealing Seo Jin’s case would be difficult.
Kim Yun-hwan, seeing nothing more of interest, stepped into the living room and settled onto the sofa before speaking.
“The sofa and dining table—they’re your grandmother’s taste, aren’t they?”
Antique furniture that evoked Marie Antoinette.
The style Seo Jin’s Mother favored.
“Seeing you live like this makes me want to move out on my own too.”
Kim Yun-hwan still lived with Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
He’d mentioned moving out countless times, but he’d never once received a positive response.
The reason was women.
A prestigious prosecutor’s title combined with a salary substantial enough to squander in a single night without consequence.
He cycled through women daily, and recently he’d even been touching entertainment agency trainees.
Even living under the same roof as Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun, he carried on like this—what if he lived separately?
Current affairs programs might air special features titled “Active-Duty Prosecutor Engaged in Sex Trade” or “Active-Duty Prosecutor Who Duped Dozens of Women.”
But voicing such thoughts directly was difficult.
One had to match jokes with appropriate levity.
“Then come down to the provinces.”
“Are you insane? Forget it—let’s just drink. Where should we go? Here? Or the island counter?”
Seo Jin pointed toward the island counter and headed to the kitchen.
He retrieved a bottle of Macallan 21 Year Old whisky he’d prepared for Kim Yun-hwan.
Macallan 21 Year Old—something he’d learned through his younger brother Jin-young was Kim Yun-hwan’s preferred drink.
He had no idea what taste justified the price tag of hundreds of thousands of won even at wholesale liquor distributors.
“Your memory came back?”
Kim Yun-hwan blinked upon seeing the bottle and asked.
“Bits and pieces.”
Seo Jin shrugged and sat across from Kim Yun-hwan.
The appetizers included lightly seared beef, potato chips, pizza, and more.
Seo Jin raised his glass and spoke.
“How have you been lately?”
“How? I’m dying because of you.”
“Me? Why?”
“You bastard, playing dumb.”
This was because Seo Jin had informed Kim Young-jun, the District Prosecutor, about Park Sang-young.
“Drink.”
Kim Yun-hwan picked up his glass, and a bottle of Macallan emptied in no time.
Seo Jin immediately produced a bottle of cognac.
With the succession of spirits, Kim Yun-hwan’s expression brightened.
“You bastard, you really came back? The old you wouldn’t even touch cheap liquor like soju.”
“Is that so?”
“You were so particular about quality—I thought you were royalty. Though looking at that dining table and sofa, you might as well be French royalty. Hehehehe.”
The alcohol was taking effect.
He was chuckling to himself over trivial remarks.
And since Seo Jin wasn’t bristling or resisting, he seemed to be in an excellent mood.
He was delighted like someone reuniting with a runaway cat.
But Seo Jin remained sober.
I watched his expression carefully as I poured, controlling his alcohol intake.
He couldn’t become completely drunk.
Just the right level of excitement.
He needed to be intoxicated by exactly that much.
“So, what’s troubling you?”
Kim Yun-hwan set down his glass and asked.
“Troubling me?”
“Yeah, you said you had something on your mind?”
The concern Seo Jin had prepared.
Something a prosecutor in his late twenties would commonly worry about, something that would appeal to Kim Yun-hwan’s sensibilities.
Something that could provoke him.
“Is there any way to transfer to Seoul before finishing my rotation? You saw it when you came—there’s nothing to do here.”
“Why didn’t you come when our father offered to get you transferred to Seoul? You refused, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t want to rely on connections. Even now, I sometimes feel the weight of that favor.”
When Seo Jin made an awkward expression, Kim Yun-hwan burst into laughter, clutching his belly.
“Is intelligence the only talent? No. Having money and connections is talent too. Why feel the weight of favors? Everyone in Seoul will be watching your every move.”
“Exactly.”
As Seo Jin fidgeted with his glass, Kim Yun-hwan stopped laughing and tilted his head.
“What? Looking at your expression… you really do want to come to Seoul?”
“Would I lie?”
“Damn it, you bastard… If it weren’t for Park Sang-young, I’d flex my muscles and pull you up right now.”
This was a moment to match his mood.
Seo Jin refilled his glass and bowed his head slightly.
“About Park Sang-young—I’m sorry about that.”
“Forget it. That’s in the past.”
“Shin Jong-seung kept provoking me back then.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“He sneered at me, saying that when he went to Seoul, he’d end up working as a servant under his older brother.”
Of course, Seo Jin had never heard such words from Shin Jong-seung.
He was merely recalling what he’d seen through psychometry.
But Kim Yun-hwan suddenly froze.
He gripped his glass tightly, muttering under his breath.
“Shin Jong-seung?”
“Yeah.”
A three-way confrontation wouldn’t matter.
It had been a secret conversation between Kim Yun-hwan and Shin Jong-seung.
The fact that Seo Jin knew about it meant someone had blabbed.
Naturally, the culprit had to be Shin Jong-seung.
Seo Jin picked up his glass and opened his mouth.
“I understand now that it was just Shin Jong-seung’s bluster back then. He’s always like that—pretending to be close with you for no reason. But even knowing that, I resented you a little at the time.”
“Hey! Of course not! We’re family, aren’t we? Would I make you work as a servant? Do you know me? I never even brought up the fact that you lost your memory, even though I hung around Shin Jong-seung. And you believed him? I’m disappointed.”
Kim Yun-hwan suddenly flared up in anger.
He was struck by guilt.
He continued muttering curses as he drank.
Seo Jin smiled faintly and spoke.
“Sorry, I misunderstood.”
A brief silence fell.
They drank a few more rounds, and this time he brought out wine.
Kim Yun-hwan’s expression showed satisfaction at the succession of premium liquor.
Seo Jin poured the wine and casually let slip a comment.
“If you took just one of the cases here and cracked it, you could add some weight to your shoulders.”
The bait had been laid.
Now it was time to observe Kim Yun-hwan’s expression.
The man was intoxicated.
At the mention of cases, his pupils naturally drifted toward the study.
Seo Jin set down a glass in front of him and continued speaking.
“Oh, an interesting case came up recently. These kids who just graduated high school….”
To Kim Yun-hwan, Seo Jin’s voice sounded like a child clutching their first case.
But that was Seo Jin’s intention.
Shortly after, Seo Jin went into the bedroom and lay down, while Kim Yun-hwan headed to the study with his wine glass in hand.
Looking at the case files scattered on the desk, Kim Yun-hwan’s eyes turned bitter.
Kim Yun-hwan had been handling only trivial cases that wouldn’t help his career.
In such circumstances, the substantial cases spread across the desk were tempting.
But they were like fruit painted on a wall.
This was Gangwon Province.
It was far too distant from the Central District Prosecutor’s Office’s jurisdiction.
‘Damn it.’
Kim Yun-hwan picked up the documents and examined them carefully.
“High school graduates?”
It was the case Seo Jin had mentioned, and it had caught my eye when the file first arrived.
‘Nothing’s been revealed yet?’
Kim Yun-hwan flipped through the records methodically.
According to Seo Jin’s deduction, the defendant was taking the fall for someone else.
The real culprits were the school’s thugs.
‘This prosecutor is playing detective games.’
A prosecutor wasn’t supposed to deduce—they were meant to examine the evidence presented and uncover the truth within it.
Yet here he was, scrutinizing the documents before him.
But Kim Yun-hwan, who’d been scoffing moments ago, found himself growing absorbed.
Seo Jin’s deductions and the evidence he pointed to were compelling.
It seemed like Seo Jin had been solving cold cases this way all along.
‘Sigh….’
A breath escaped Kim Yun-hwan’s lips.
If Seo Jin solved this case, he’d make a name for himself again.
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But an opportunity came for Kim Yun-hwan too.
A few days later.
“Why’s some punk from Gangwon Province causing trouble here? Can’t we just pass it to them? I’m already drowning in work. Ugh….”
A prosecutor from Kim Yun-hwan’s department was venting in frustration while washing his hands in the restroom.
At the mention of Gangwon Province, Kim Yun-hwan’s ears perked up, and the prosecutor continued his call.
“He’s only twenty, right? What’s his name? Kim Yong-woo? Just send him back to Gangwon Province!”
The moment Kim Yun-hwan heard the name Kim Yong-woo, his eyes sharpened.
He knew that name.
It appeared in the detective story Seo Jin had created.
One of the main figures in the apartment fall case.
Kim Yun-hwan’s mouth went dry.
‘Could it be….’
At that same moment, Kim Yun-hwan’s phone vibrated.
The caller ID showed Seo Jin.
“Yeah, Seo Jin.”
-Hyung, remember that thing I told you about back then?
“Which one?”
-The high school graduates….
Kim Yun-hwan remembered it clearly.
But he pretended not to.
“Sorry, what was it again? I drank a lot that night and my memory’s fuzzy.”
-Damn, one of those guys caused an accident in Seoul. It’s a mess.
Kim Yun-hwan’s eyes gleamed as he listened to Seo Jin’s groan, his mind racing with calculations.
-Seo Jin is still writing a mystery novel.
-But one of them caused an accident here.
-Which means he can be detained in Seoul.
-Then Kim Yun-hwan can take it from him.
-What if we escalate from a minor incident to a murder case?
-Kim Young-jun will approve it.
-“You really are my son.”
Kim Yun-hwan finished his thoughts and cleared his throat before speaking.
“It’ll work out. Don’t worry.”
After ending the call, Kim Yun-hwan shifted his gaze toward the prosecutor in the restroom.
The moment the prosecutor hung up, he approached and opened his mouth.
“This guy Kim Yong-woo—is he from Chuncheon? A repeat examinee?”
“Huh? How did you know that?”
Kim Yun-hwan didn’t know.
That Kim Yong-woo had caused an accident here.
That the prosecutor had blurted out the case in front of him.
It had all unfolded in the palm of Seo Jin’s hand.
Moments later.
Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae’s face was deeply furrowed.
Because Kim Yun-hwan was bowing before him.
“Please allow me.”
Kim Young-jun had instructed that no cases be assigned to Kim Yun-hwan.
So Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae had been withholding proper cases from him, but….
“I’ll get my act together and do this properly.”
Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae let out a sigh.
Normally he would have flatly refused, but he’d never seen Kim Yun-hwan throw himself at something with such enthusiasm, so he couldn’t bring himself to stop him.
“Hey, it’s just property damage, right? Nothing serious. Why are you so eager?”
“I’m tired of catching internet trolls. I want to sharpen my instincts a bit. So please, allow me.”
Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae sighed again.
Tapping his pen, he fell into thought for a moment before nodding.
“Fine.”
He thought Kim Young-jun would overlook this much.
And it was about time to revive his senses, as Kim Yun-hwan said.
“It’s a crude case, but handle it properly.”
Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae’s permission was granted.
Kim Yun-hwan bowed ninety degrees as if he’d been waiting for this.
“Thank you.”
The moment Kim Yun-hwan took the bait.

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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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