Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 62

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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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An Unsolved Problem (4)
An office bearing the sign for Cheongseong Manpower Support Center.
The Violent Crimes Team Leader sits on a worn sofa, smoking a cigarette.
He taps ash into the tray while staring ahead.
A woman with long hair and a rather pretty face—Shin Ji-min, the Victim—sits across from him.
The Team Leader opens his mouth.
“There’s a crackdown tomorrow, so watch yourself.”
“I’m always grateful.”
Shin Ji-min smiles brightly and tosses her hair back.
Then she pulls out a thick white envelope and places it on the table.
I don’t need to look to know what’s inside.
Money.
The Team Leader doesn’t hesitate, grasping the envelope and checking its contents.
A slight smile crosses his face—the amount pleases him.
“Nice.”
“I look forward to your continued cooperation.”
“So what are you doing this weekend? Want to grab a drink with me?”
The Team Leader, well over forty, casually uses the familiar term with Shin Ji-min.
But her response is even more striking.
“Do you want the Police Chief to scold you?”
“Come on, isn’t it about time we had a drink together?”
“I apologize.”
“Tch.”
The Team Leader stubs out his cigarette and rises to his feet.
Now that he has the money, he’s ready to leave the office.
He shoves his hands in his pockets and saunters toward the door.
But his steps suddenly halt.
His gaze fixes on a red ledger resting on the desk.
Countless contact entries.
-Dumin Guesthouse, Rose, Soldier, 2 hours.
-Live Motel, Hwa-ran, Office worker, 1 hour.
-Buil Motel, So-min, Office worker, 1 hour.
A sex trafficking ledger.
Locations, dates, aliases of the women involved, phone numbers of the buyers, and detailed notes on special circumstances are all meticulously recorded.
The Team Leader shakes his head and speaks.
“How much is the daily take?”
“I’m not sure.”
Shin Ji-min steps beside the Team Leader and covers the ledger.
She won’t let him see any more.
Even in a relationship built on money, there are lines that must not be crossed.
The Violent Crimes Team Leader lit another cigarette and opened his mouth.
“There are minors too, right?”
“Well, that’s debatable.”
“Listen, I know you’re sneaking Min-ja away without the Boss knowing. But try not to if you can help it. Even the Police Chief can’t stop that.”
Shin Ji-min smiled enigmatically.
“How can I not do something that makes money?”
“How much?”
Instead of answering, Shin Ji-min pulled out another envelope and slipped it into the Team Leader’s pocket.
“This is about as much as I can give.”
The Team Leader chuckled.
“This is why living honestly makes you an idiot. Kids like you strut around making money hand over fist, while guys like me have to grovel. Damn it.”
“Managing Min-ja is a secret from our Boss.”
“But there’s one thing I’m really curious about….”
The Team Leader trailed off, exhaling cigarette smoke.
Shin Ji-min crossed her arms and asked.
“What is it?”
“You’re a woman too, aren’t you? Don’t you feel sorry for the girls selling their bodies?”
In that moment, Shin Ji-min’s lips twisted grotesquely.
“Did I choose this? They chose it themselves.”
The world regained its color.
The Violent Crimes Team Leader came into Seo Jin’s view.
The Team Leader opened his mouth with a desperate expression.
“Let’s do this by the book. We’ll take him and file a report….”
Meanwhile, Seo Jin’s mind was organizing what he’d seen through psychometry.
-Prostitution, Shin Ji-min, the Police Chief, the Team Leader.
A filthy tangle of connections.
I could easily predict what would happen if they took Seo Dong-seok away.
So I brushed past the Team Leader’s desperate gaze and grabbed Seo Dong-seok’s arm.
“Get up. Let’s go talk somewhere else.”
The other detectives couldn’t stop Seo Jin and could only frown.
Then the Team Leader suddenly shouted.
“Isn’t this going too far, even for a prosecutor!”
“…Too far?”
Seo Jin’s gaze, which had been helping Seo Dong-seok up, turned toward the Team Leader.
His eyes were murderous.
A man I could devour on the spot was actually raising his voice—my voice came out cold and cutting.
“We’ll see each other again soon.”
The Team Leader froze. Eyes that knew everything were squeezing him.
“I, I….”
The Team Leader could only watch.
And when Seo Jin left, he pressed his phone urgently to his ear.
“Chief, it’s me.”
Seo Jin was heading to the District Prosecutor’s Office in a car with Lee So-hee and Seo Dong-seok.
Lee So-hee, sitting in the passenger seat, looked back and forth between Seo Jin and Seo Dong-seok with a question.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Hold on.”
Seo Jin pulled the car to the shoulder and pressed hard on the brake.
Then he turned his gaze toward Seo Dong-seok, who sat in the back.
Seo Dong-seok trembled faintly, handcuffs fastened around his wrists.
“Seo Dong-seok?”
“I-I didn’t do it! Why would I kill my sister!”
“I know. But you know what she was involved in, don’t you?”
“What?”
“Your reaction tells me you do.”
Seo Jin made his conclusion, and Seo Dong-seok’s expression twisted.
His pale face grew rigid and taut.
Seo Jin observed that expression and pressed further.
“Your sister had two phones, didn’t she? One of them looks like a burner phone. Where did you hide it?”
Seo Dong-seok clenched his teeth and lowered his head.
Then a voice trembling endlessly leaked out.
“I-I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”
From Seo Dong-seok’s demeanor, he seemed absolutely unwilling to open his mouth.
He trembled violently while trying to protect his secret.
Seo Jin turned his head toward Lee So-hee.
“Once we get to the District Prosecutor’s Office, interrogate him for me. Shin Ji-min had two phones.”
Lee So-hee, who had been nodding, opened her eyes wide.
“Interrogate? Me?”
“Yeah. I have something else to take care of.”
“Hey, this is our team’s case….”
“What does it matter whose team catches the criminal? You’re a prosecutor, aren’t you? Then I’m counting on you.”
Seo Jin said what he needed to say and got out of the car.
Lee So-hee’s bewildered voice came from inside the car.
“Hey!”
Seo Jin walked down the street with his phone pressed to his ear.
“Lee Dong-jin? There’s something I need to ask you for. It doesn’t seem like a situation to request through the police.”
Shortly after, Seo Jin stood in front of a dilapidated building.
On the fourth floor, a sign reading “Cheongseong Manpower Support Center” was visible.
‘This is it.’
Seo Jin climbed the stairs directly.
As he opened the door and entered, three men sat on a worn sofa playing cards.
One by one, the thugs with brutish faces set down their playing cards and stared at Seo Jin.
“We’re not hiring right now.”
Seo Jin didn’t answer, instead glancing around the space.
An eight-pyeong office—this place was called a manpower support center in name only; in reality, it was a sex trafficking broker.
And Seo Jin’s gaze froze on the bookshelf.
‘That one.’
A red notebook came into view.
The ledger the Violent Crimes Team Leader had seen in the world of psychometry.
Then the man’s voice came again.
“I said we’re not hiring.”
Seo Jin ignored their words and headed toward the bookshelf.
One of them suddenly bellowed.
“Get out!”
Seo Jin paid no attention this time either.
When I was Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung, I’d encountered countless thugs and gangsters.
These guys were cute in comparison.
Seo Jin stood before the bookshelf and immediately reached for the red notebook.
At the same moment, the thugs scrambled to their feet and a menacing voice erupted.
“Touch it and you’re dead.”
Seo Jin turned his head toward them.
The thugs approached him with heavy footsteps.
“Who the hell are you? What’s your problem!”
“Dead if I touch it?”
“That’s right!”
Before their words even finished, Seo Jin pulled out the ledger and opened it.
The thugs’ eyes widened in shock.
“This bastard!”
That was when it happened.
Buzz.
One of the thugs’ phones vibrated.
It belonged to the Manager of this establishment.
After checking the caller ID, the Manager spoke urgently.
“Hold on.”
The Manager quieted the area and brought the phone to his ear.
“Yes, Team Leader.”
Regardless of what he was hearing, the Manager’s eyes trembled with urgency.
And then.
“…A prosecutor might come here? How would a prosecutor know about this place? You’re telling me to prepare just in case?”
At the same moment, the office grew cold as if ice had been poured into it.
The thugs stared at Seo Jin with startled eyes.
I waved the red notebook and opened my mouth.
“There’s room for negotiation.”
I brushed past the men blinking their eyes and headed toward the sofa.
Then, looking at the Manager, I tapped the table with my finger.
“Sit.”
The Manager hesitated, gauging the situation.
But there was no choice.
I exhaled and sat across from him.
And.
“There’s room for negotiation?”
“Yeah.”
“Is there something you want?”
“You’re the one who needs to show your hand.”
The Manager quietly studied my face.
Still young.
Even considering my prosecutor career, it couldn’t be more than a year or two.
‘Now that I think about it….’
He was clenching and unclenching his fists.
Occasionally checking his wristwatch to keep track of time.
The way he swallowed dryly made it obvious he was trying to hide his anxiety.
‘Was it all bluffing?’
A prosecutor had the power to reduce this place to rubble if he wanted.
But he’d left room for negotiation.
Moreover, he’d come alone without bringing investigators or other prosecutors.
‘Why?’
Because what he wanted was money.
There was nothing else.
The puzzle pieces were clicking into place.
The Manager lowered his head and laughed silently.
‘The young bastard’s learned all the wrong lessons.’
No matter how much of a prosecutor he was, he lacked life experience.
He didn’t know what it meant to fear adults.
The Manager believed he could easily manipulate this money-hungry young prosecutor.
The Manager licked his dry lips and rubbed his hands together.
Now was the time to put shackles on that fool’s mouth.
Once he threw out the bait and received the money, the moment would be captured on CCTV.
Then a rather useful puppet would be created.
‘If I can bring a prosecutor under my control, all the dangerous elements in this region will disappear.’
The Manager raised his head and met my gaze.
And he cast the first bait.
“I’ll give you three million won every month.”
“Three million?”
“Yes.”
But Seo Jin’s expression remained unmoved.
The young bastard had already tasted money—three million didn’t even make him flinch.
However, the Boss’s expression hadn’t changed either.
The negotiation was just beginning.
“…Would five million suffice? I’d like to give more, but our situation is difficult too. There’s talk that back in the day, running the shop would net a Mercedes every month, but now inspections are stricter and complaints pile up. After accounting for everything….”
As the Boss spoke, Seo Jin flipped through the ledger and let out a short laugh.
“Where are you selling drugs? Looking at the sales, you could still pull out a Mercedes right now.”
“Well, the percentage that young lady takes has increased, and we have to maintain the website too. Plus, after greasing palms here and there, there’s nothing left.”
The Boss glanced cautiously at Seo Jin’s expression.
Still unfazed.
He should at least pretend to listen to complaints, but this one only cared about money.
“Fine then. Six hundred thousand.”
“….”
“Seven hundred!”
“….”
“Ugh… Alright. I’ll give you ten million won each month. Really, I can’t go higher than that. You might as well arrest me. It’s better to eat bean rice in prison than starve to death sucking my fingers.”
The Boss thought this was his final offer.
If he tried to squeeze out more, he’d be a thug.
But this young prosecutor was a thug.
“How much do the Violent Crimes Team Leader and the Police Chief get?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re a prosecutor, so shouldn’t you make more than those guys?”
The Boss’s brow furrowed deeply as he opened his mouth.
“The Team Leader gets fifty per case, and we give him a million won during holidays.”
“The Police Chief?”
“Five hundred thousand a month. Is that enough? We’re giving you special treatment, prosecutor. So….”
Seo Jin shook his head.
“That greedy old man is satisfied with five hundred? Then show me the books.”
“Pardon?”
“Show me the ledger.”
The ledger connected to government officials was the last line of defense.
It was their lifeline.
Yet Seo Jin was demanding to see it.
This had crossed the line.
The Boss’s eyes hardened.
“Prosecutor, some things simply cannot be done. Since I’m old enough to be your uncle, take the ten million won and call it even. Otherwise….”
“So there is a ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Bring it.”
“Prosecutor!”
The Boss erupted, his voice booming toward Seo Jin.
But Seo Jin was smiling.
The foolish expression he’d worn until now shattered, replaced by cold, piercing eyes as he looked down at the Boss.
Those eyes weren’t seeing money—they were seeing a criminal.
The Boss’s hands trembled violently.
“Damn it… So you’re a prosecutor!”
The Boss bared his savage teeth.
This stupid prosecutor had come alone.
Beating him to death wouldn’t be difficult.
After that, I could escape by boat to another country or hide away in the countryside.
I had plenty of money anyway.
Since I was already caught, there was nothing to lose.
“Kill him!”
Crash!
The Boss slammed the table.
At the same moment, the door burst open and investigators poured in.
“Seize them!”
The Boss’s employees were being apprehended by the investigators.
Some tried to flee, stumbled, and began pleading.
The Boss stared blankly, his eyes darting between Seo Jin and the investigators.
His expression screamed confusion.
Seo Jin smiled faintly at the sight.
Then he leaned toward the Boss and whispered in a low voice.
“Did you really think I’d come alone like some madman? Hand over the ledger, you bastard.”
The Boss’s face crumbled like cracking earth.
He was staring into the abyss of his own ruin.
Seo Jin straightened up.
Now it was time to dismantle the Police Chief and the Violent Crimes Team Leader, and find the Serial Killer.

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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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