Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 53

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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 (3)
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In the Break Room of the District Prosecutor’s Office.
I was meeting with Lee So-hee.
We’d both been assigned to the same District Prosecutor’s Office, but it was harder to see her here than at the Local Prosecutor’s Office.
Even now, I was barely managing to catch a glimpse of her by squeezing in some time.
Lee So-hee brought the coffee to her lips before asking.
“You doing okay?”
“Okay with what?”
“I heard the Chief Prosecutor doesn’t like your division chief.”
It wasn’t sarcasm.
She was asking out of genuine concern.
Jo Yong-jun, the Chief Prosecutor of Gangwon District Prosecutors’ Office, was an old fox waiting for retirement.
He had no ambition for promotion and only favored those who fawned over him.
But my division chief lacked the ability to flatter.
Moreover, Criminal Division 2 had been missing all the major cases, so he’d earned nothing but disfavor.
As a result, my division chief was treated as incompetent, and with Jo Yong-jun in charge, his promotion was considered a lost cause.
Thanks to that, Criminal Division 2, where I worked, was also treated as a gathering of fools.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Well…”
I wasn’t concerned.
No matter how much Jo Yong-jun disliked my division chief or how loudly he called Criminal Division 2 a collection of idiots.
I knew there weren’t many days left to see.
Jo Yong-jun would be taking off his robe soon enough.
“But why did you postpone the trial?”
Lee So-hee blinked and looked at me.
The case I’d resolved at Dongnam District Prosecutors’ Office was extraordinary.
So when news of my transfer spread, all eyes at Gangwon District Prosecutors’ Office turned toward me.
If I showed something here, both my stock and Criminal Division 2’s would surely rise.
But then I suddenly postponed the trial.
At Lee So-hee’s questioning gaze, I smiled faintly.
“Throwing yourself at a trial that will be dismissed is just exhausting, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“It’s just how things are.”
Lee So-hee shook her head.
I was saying something incomprehensible again.
It felt like I was foreseeing what would unfold ahead.
It was a headache trying to understand.
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“Kim Yong-woo?”
Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office.
Kim Yun-hwan crossed his legs and gazed forward.
Kim Yong-woo, barely twenty years old with a youthful face, sat trembling with fear.
Kim Yun-hwan observed Kim Yong-woo’s expression with serpentine eyes, saying nothing.
He merely tapped the documents on the desk, continuing his thoughts.
‘I’ve finally sat down across from Kim Yong-woo.’
The first step had gone well.
But now came the real challenge.
-How could I connect this case to the fall incident in Gangwon Province?
-Where should I begin to unravel the knot and extract a confession from Kim Yong-woo?
The documents stopped moving against the table, and Kim Yun-hwan’s eyes scanned Kim Yong-woo entirely.
‘He’s terrified.’
Kim Yong-woo trembled throughout his entire body.
Arrested merely for damaging a church door, he looked as though he might cry at the slightest touch.
Back in high school, he probably flexed his shoulders, thinking he was tough.
But here at the Prosecutor’s Office, he was nothing more than an insect easily crushed underfoot.
Such men often crumble under the slightest pressure, spilling everything.
Kim Yun-hwan ceased his deliberation and opened his mouth.
“Let me ask you one thing.”
At his quiet voice, Kim Yong-woo startled and hurriedly spoke.
“I, I drank alcohol so my memory isn’t clear. I have a low tolerance, and… I didn’t mean to, I just fell and the door broke. That’s right! That’s what happened!”
Kim Yun-hwan smiled faintly.
The atmosphere suggested he would answer anything asked of him.
Kim Yun-hwan opened his mouth again.
“I’m not asking about the property damage.”
“Then, what?”
“Why did you do it?”
“What?”
“Why did you kill someone?”
Kim Yong-woo’s face went rigid, and his lips turned pale.
Kim Yun-hwan observed all of it and spoke.
“I know everything. So tell me honestly.”
“What, what do you mean?”
“The apartment.”
Kim Yong-woo’s pupils wavered.
His hands fidgeted anxiously.
Kim Yun-hwan watched the moment of his hesitation unfold, his mouth sealed shut, his eyes pressing down on Kim Yong-woo with the weight of absolute knowledge.
‘Please….’
Kim Yun-hwan was hoping for Kim Yong-woo’s confession.
And then.
“…I tried to stop him.”
Kim Yun-hwan’s fist clenched with sudden force.
‘Perfect.’
With an ordinary criminal, the denials alone would stretch across a night and a day.
But a confession right from the start?
The image of Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun’s beaming smile flashed through Kim Yun-hwan’s mind.
Until now, going home had felt like sitting on a bed of nails.
His father’s cold expression and that piercing gaze.
But not anymore.
For the first time in ages, it seemed he might share soju with his father.
Yet Kim Yun-hwan concealed that joy, reaching his hand beneath the table.
Then, with a soft click.
He switched off the microphone.
Then he opened his mouth quietly.
“You… serve three years and walk free.”
“…!”
“The others get ten.”
Kim Yong-woo’s eyes gleamed.
In that same instant, the conversation he’d had with Seo Jin surfaced in his mind.
In that alley where the streetlight swayed, Seo Jin had spoken.
“Who is Jo Jun-tae’s father?”
“He’s a Chief Prosecutor, sir.”
“Right, a Chief Prosecutor. The king of this region. But think about it carefully. What do you think will happen if you stand trial here? All the sins Jo Jun-tae should bear will land on your shoulders instead. The Chief Prosecutor has the power to make that happen.”
Kim Yong-woo shook his head.
“I definitely tried to stop him. I told him not to do it, to call an ambulance right away!”
Seo Jin patted Kim Yong-woo’s shoulder.
“I know. But your excuses won’t work here.”
“….”
“If you stand trial here, you’ll have to bear Jo Jun-tae’s sins as well as your own.”
“….”
“But if you’re tried in Seoul, things change. Do as I say, and you’ll only face the consequences for what you actually did. I’m trying to help you.”
The promise that he would only face the consequences for his own crimes.
It was Seo Jin’s genuine intention, and Kim Yong-woo had felt it.
“You really mean it?”
“Yes.”
Besides, Kim Yong-woo had no desire whatsoever to bear Jo Jun-tae’s sins.
After all, Jo Jun-tae had left for a university in Seoul and never contacted him once.
There was no loyalty between them.
Kim Yong-woo nodded and opened his mouth.
“I’ll do whatever you tell me to.”
Kim Yong-woo lifted his gaze, recalling that moment.
Kim Yun-hwan came into view again.
He smiled and parted his lips.
“What do you think?”
Kim Yong-woo nodded with desperate eyes.
And he uttered the exact same words he had spoken to Seo Jin.
“I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever you tell me to.”
Kim Yun-hwan smiled faintly and brought his hand beneath the table, pressing the switch firmly.
The microphone switched back on.
Now it was time to record video and audio to create evidence that would be used in court.
And moments later.
“Jo Jun-tae, Oh Sung-gu, Kang Gu-young….”
The names of those who had committed murder flowed from Kim Yong-woo’s lips.
Kim Yun-hwan wrote down the names in his notebook and spoke.
“You all graduated from the same high school, right?”
“Yes.”
With the confession, the suspects were identified.
Seeing no need to hesitate, Kim Yun-hwan immediately brought his phone to his ear.
“Investigator, one moment please.”
The investigator entered in less than three minutes.
“You called for me?”
“Bring all of them in right now. Immediately.”
The investigator tilted his head while looking at the note Kim Yun-hwan had handed him.
“Who are they?”
“Murder suspects.”
The investigator’s eyes widened.
These were men who should have been released after a simple investigation for property damage.
Yet suddenly, murder?
Unable to believe it, he asked again.
“…Murder?”
“Yes, we have a confession, so a warrant will be issued immediately. I’ll handle that, so please focus on locating them and making the arrests.”
The investigator’s gaze turned toward Kim Yong-woo.
Kim Yong-woo kept his head bowed.
That posture was the expression of someone who had committed a crime.
And Kim Yun-hwan rose from his seat and spoke.
“Let’s begin right away.”
Until now, Kim Yun-hwan had envied how Seo Jin resolved these troublesome cases.
But not anymore.
‘I’m sorry, Seo Jin.’
Kim Yun-hwan trudged out of the Interrogation Room.
“…Murder?”
Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae wore the same expression as the investigator—his eyes filled with suspicion.
Kim Yun-hwan smiled faintly and set the tablet PC down on Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae’s desk.
“Take a look.”
Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae focused on the tablet’s screen.
Soon, the interrogation room footage began to play.
Kim Yong-woo, his shoulders hunched and head bowed, opened his mouth.
-Kang Gu-young swung a knife as a joke, and Sae-gwang ran toward the street. But then Jun-tae brought the car around and….
-It was an accident?
-Yes. So I suggested calling an ambulance, but he said we couldn’t because he’d get caught for drunk driving.
-He threw him from the rooftop?
-Yes.
Kim Yun-hwan paused the footage, and Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae’s eyes narrowed.
He’d been interrogating a petty criminal and ended up creating a murderer.
No matter how he thought about it, it made no sense.
But since the real culprit had confessed, there was nothing he could say.
Watching Chief Prosecutor Jo Woo-jae’s dazed expression, Kim Yun-hwan lowered his head.
“I’d like to piece together the full picture, if you’ll permit it.”
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Kim Yun-hwan moved faster than Seo Jin had anticipated.
Seo Jin’s phone vibrated as he worked at his desk in the Office.
-Conference room. All prosecutors from Criminal Division 2. District Prosecutor’s orders.
A simple message, an unexpected summons.
Seo Jin sensed it immediately.
‘It’s blown open.’
I’d thought it would take at least three weeks.
But he shook things up in no time.
That impatient temperament of his lit the fuse on the bomb.
Thankfully.
Seo Jin stepped into the Hallway and brought his phone to his ear.
Of course, he was calling Kim Yun-hwan.
The call connected, and he spoke right away.
-I’m sorry. I didn’t think things would unfold like this.
“Hyung!”
—Listen, would I do that on purpose? Things just got complicated. This guy broke the church door while drinking in our jurisdiction. We were doing a light investigation, but something seemed off, so I pressed him on it, and he just spilled everything? What was I supposed to do? Trust me. We’re family.
He really does work like family.
This is truly infuriating.
Seo Jin let out another groan to drive the point home.
“How can you do this? At least tell me what’s going on!”
—I’m sorry. I’ll buy you drinks at a place with pretty girls next time. Okay?
Seo Jin barely suppressed a hollow laugh.
He’d blown things open faster than expected, and now he was making an even bigger mess of it.
He didn’t even realize he was choking on his own haste.
But then it happened.
Kim Yun-hwan’s voice suddenly grew urgent.
—What? Who’s Jo Jun-tae? Father? Wait, why is the Chief Prosecutor calling me? He’s angry? Why? Hey, hold on a second.
Seo Jin was on his way to the conference room after being summoned by the District Prosecutor.
From the circumstances, it appeared an arrest warrant had been issued for Jo Jun-tae.
The bomb had already detonated, and the fire was spreading beyond control.
‘The District Prosecutor will have to resign.’
The Chief Prosecutor’s son had committed murder.
Jo Yong-jun, the Chief Prosecutor, would naturally have to take responsibility and step down.
He would also need to offer a sincere apology for raising his son poorly.
But Jo Yong-jun was an old fox.
He wasn’t the type to go down without a fight.
On his way to hell, he wouldn’t leave Kim Yun-hwan or Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun unscathed.
‘They’ll fight and fight again.’
Now Seo Jin could simply watch from across the river.
But Seo Jin wasn’t satisfied with that.
Since things had come this far, he decided to pour gasoline on the situation.
To make it burn even brighter.
Seo Jin searched his phone’s contacts and found the number for Lee Eun-ha, a reporter from the Current Affairs Program “Seeing the World.”
As soon as he pressed the call button, Lee Eun-ha’s cheerful voice came through moments later.
—Ah, Prosecutor. I heard the news. You went to Central Headquarters, didn’t you? I wanted to grab a meal with you in passing, but I was afraid you’d be too busy to call.
If left alone, the story would veer off course.
Seo Jin cut off Lee Eun-ha’s words and got to the point.
“Do you still write articles? Now that you’re an MC for the Current Affairs Program, you don’t write anymore?”
There was a brief silence.
Instead, a peculiar excitement came through the line.
Lee Eun-ha felt it too.
That something was there.
She asked carefully.
—…Why?
“Why? I thought I’d give you an exclusive.”
The party begins.

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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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