Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 7

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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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Rebirth (5)
Shin Jong-seung had never seen Koo Sang-jin in such a state.
The attorney, usually so composed, stood with clenched fists, barely restraining his anger.
He gnawed at his lips as though standing at the edge of a precipice.
But what was even more amusing was Seo Jin, who emerged before him.
Unlike Koo Sang-jin, he walked forward with squared shoulders and confident bearing, positioning himself directly in front of the attorney.
Then he opened his mouth with unhurried ease.
“Are you leaving?”
Koo Sang-jin’s lips trembled.
But before the attorney could respond, the suspect’s voice pierced through from the interrogation room like a scream.
“You took the money! You have to defend me! I’m innocent! I tell you, I’m innocent!”
Seo Jin’s gaze turned toward the interrogation room.
Without looking at Koo Sang-jin, he asked:
“Or will you continue?”
“No! I’m not taking the case! I thought it was a traffic accident when I came in. But this is….”
“Then go.”
Seo Jin cut off Koo Sang-jin mid-sentence.
Then he turned and headed toward the interrogation room.
In Koo Sang-jin’s eyes, it was an audacious move—his gaze twisted with fury.
“…Kim Seo-jin, is it?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve seen plenty of guys like you who act this way and end up stripped of their credentials. Show some respect.”
“Respect?”
When Seo Jin had been Prosecutor Seo Jun-kyung, he had clashed with Koo Sang-jin more than once.
The attorney appeared on television, posturing as righteous and skilled, feigning concern for the common people, yet he had always been a tool of power and its mouthpiece.
Words that Koo Sang-jin had once spoken flashed through my mind.
“Why work so hard? That kind of dedication ruins your career. The harder you work, the more you’re marked as a fool. If you want to advance, crawl carefully. Grovel and cry out: ‘I love you, Congressman.’ Like this!”
A man weak before the strong and mercilessly harsh toward the weak.
I had disliked that slimy face back then, and I disliked it now.
“Ha….”
Seo Jin exhaled a sigh and slowly turned his body.
I could see Koo Sang-jin’s retreating figure heading toward the elevator.
I regarded that back with cold, piercing eyes.
My gaze was as if I would devour everything about Koo Sang-jin.
I had decided that soon I would strip Koo Sang-jin of everything he possessed.
I slowly turned and entered the interrogation room.
Only then did Shin Jong-seung, who had been watching from the shadows, quietly poke his head out.
“That… that bastard….”
“He’s changed, hasn’t he?”
“Huh?”
At the sudden voice, Shin Jong-seung turned around.
Lee So-hee was standing there—though he couldn’t recall when she’d arrived.
Her dark eyes fixed on the interrogation room as she asked again.
“Don’t you think Prosecutor Kim has changed, Prosecutor Shin?”
Shin Jong-seung didn’t answer.
He too had sensed the change in Seo Jin.
Especially when Seo Jin emerged from the interrogation room and stood confidently before Koo Sang-jin, that heavenly lawyer—he’d caught himself thinking Seo Jin looked impressive without even realizing it.
‘Damn it.’
Shin Jong-seung bit his lip hard.
Then his phone rang with a sharp chime.
The caller ID showed Koo Sang-jin.
*
*
*
Jang Dong-ik was being dragged out of the interrogation room, arrested on suspicion of murder.
Seo Jin’s phone vibrated.
It was Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo.
Seo Jin’s gaze shifted to the mirror in the interrogation room.
Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo was probably watching from beyond that glass.
‘But why call all of a sudden?’
Seo Jin slowly brought the phone to his ear.
“Yes, Prosecutor.”
-Good work. Let’s grab food. Come out.
The call ended after those three simple words.
And Seo Jin let out a hollow laugh.
It was the first time he’d heard such words since coming to the Local Prosecutor’s Office.
‘Let’s grab food.’ He’d never heard those words from Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo—or from anyone else for that matter.
It was a Bean Sprout Soup Rice Restaurant.
Seo Jin sat across from Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo.
As they waited for their food, Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo spoke.
“Why didn’t you tell me the case flipped?”
He’d handed it over as a traffic accident, but it was a murder case.
He should have reported it, naturally.
Seo Jin lowered his head.
“I apologize.”
“Never mind. I think I know why.”
If he’d reported it, Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo might have stopped him.
He would have criticized him, saying this made no sense.
Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo asked.
“How did you extract a murder charge from a simple traffic accident?”
I couldn’t bring myself to mention psychometry.
“When I cross-referenced the clues, there were inconsistencies throughout. So I investigated further, and all the evidence pointed to murder.”
Seo Jin laid out the prepared evidence methodically, and Lee Myung-soo, who had been listening intently, nodded in approval.
“Good. Keep doing that. You need to see the forest, not just the trees.”
Something felt off.
His expression and tone weren’t his usual self.
He should have been angry about not being briefed on the case, but watching Koo Sang-jin’s humiliating display seemed to have softened everything about him.
He even poured me water.
A short while later, the soup arrived.
Lee Myung-soo cracked an egg into his bowl as he spoke.
“Can you continue handling this case? Tell me if it’s too much. I can reassign it.”
“No, I can do it.”
“Koo Sang-jin will come at you with everything he’s got. Think you can win?”
“Pardon? Koo Sang-jin said he wouldn’t take the case.”
“He’ll be back.”
It’s rare for a lawyer who storms off in a huff to return.
Yet Lee Myung-soo spoke with absolute certainty.
“He’ll come back?”
Lee Myung-soo sprinkled red pepper flakes over his soup and continued.
“Yeah, he will. I’m sprinkling red pepper flakes all over his life right now.”
I’d never seen Lee Myung-soo suggest eating together like this, nor smile with such genuine joy.
His eyes used to reflect someone weary of life, but now he was suddenly engaged.
That transformation didn’t look bad at all.
He set down the pepper flakes and continued.
“So answer me. Think you can do it? Koo Sang-jin may look like that, but the kid’s got talent.”
“Yes, I can do it.”
“You answer well. So, want to see this case through to the end? Not just the investigation—are you willing to go all the way to trial?”
Ideally, the prosecutor who conducted the investigation should appear in court, but it’s impossible to appear in every trial.
The sheer volume of cases filed daily is staggering.
That’s why trial prosecutors exist, specializing exclusively in courtroom work.
But occasionally, investigation prosecutors do appear in trials.
In cases with heated, complex disputes or those deemed particularly significant, they sometimes participate directly in court.
I naturally wanted to see this through to the end.
“Thank you. I’ll work hard.”
“Good. There are several key points to address—nail them down through additional investigation. We need to clear the victim’s name. So if you need more personnel, just say the word. You know we’ve got plenty of people with time on their hands at the office. Ask if there’s anything you don’t understand.”
“Yes.”
Lee Myung-soo’s phone vibrated.
Mid-conversation, he shifted his gaze to the screen.
The caller ID displayed “Reporter Kim Eun-ji.”
Lee Myung-soo smiled faintly.
“It’s going to taste like death.”
*
*
*
It was a Korean traditional restaurant in Dongnam County.
Koo Sang-jin and Shin Jong-seung sat across from each other there.
Koo Sang-jin poured soju into a beer glass and downed it in one gulp.
“Ugh.”
As Koo Sang-jin wiped the soju trickling down his lips, Shin Jong-seung asked what had been on his mind.
“Something seems to be troubling you?”
“I was deceived. I thought it was a traffic accident, but it turned out to be a contract killing.”
Even if I was deceived, I might have continued if the opponent hadn’t been Seo Jin.
I could see the legal angles, and my client was stubbornly insisting on his innocence.
Victory seemed within reach, but something felt off.
That something was Seo Jin.
‘That young bastard has serpent eyes, staring me down.’
As I briefly recalled Seo Jin’s face, I shook my head.
‘Forget it. Let it go.’
While I was lost in thought, my law firm called.
I brought the phone to my ear and spoke.
“Yeah, Team Leader Jung. A commercial? Why would I film a mobile game ad? It’s not like I’m wielding a sword in battle, right? You’re saying I have a strong warrior-like image? That’s news to me. Alright, how much are we talking? Got it. Let’s discuss it when I get to Seoul.”
I set the phone down and let out a quiet laugh.
‘A commercial?’
The foul mood that had been lingering began to lift slightly.
I picked up some raw beef with my chopsticks, my voice a bit lighter now as I spoke.
“Kim Seo-jin—was it Lee Myung-soo who taught that bastard?”
“Ah, yes. You know Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo?”
“We’re from the same class. He was just as rude and stiff. Trampled over his seniors and lived off his own arrogance. But what’s he doing now? While his classmates are becoming chiefs, he’s still a deputy chief. He can’t even take off his robes and leave. No law firm will take him. He’s a complete idiot, plain and simple.”
I filled my beer glass with soju again.
Already slightly drunk from one glass, I spoke words to my friend’s son that I shouldn’t have.
“Want me to tell you Kim Seo-jin’s future? It’ll be exactly like Lee Myung-soo’s. He’ll spend his whole life on the periphery and disappear without a trace. Unless I erase him first. And I have the power to do it.”
Shin Jong-seung licked his lips and smiled.
Koo Sang-jin had been losing ground to Seo Jin and felt somewhat depressed, but hearing this welcome sentiment lifted his spirits.
Shin Jong-seung extended his soju glass and spoke.
“I’ll have a glass too.”
“Aren’t you on duty?”
“It’s the Dongnam District Prosecutors’ Office. If I keep my mouth shut, no one will know. And it’s just one glass.”
“True, there’s no one with ambition here anyway.”
I was reaching for the bottle when my phone rang again.
The phone rang again.
This time, an unfamiliar number.
After filling Shin Jong-seung’s glass with soju, I pressed the call button.
“Yes, this is Koo Sang-jin.”
-This is Yoo Ha-eun, a reporter from the HN Daily Dongnam branch.
“HN Daily?”
-I heard you came to Dongnam County, attorney.
Attorney Koo Sang-jin let out a slight laugh.
This rural area was so remote that spotting a celebrity was nearly impossible.
Yet here I was, actively engaged in broadcasting activities.
I figured she’d be desperate to land an interview.
Attorney Koo Sang-jin opened his mouth with a measured tone.
“Yes, what is it?”
-Do you have a moment to talk? I wanted to ask you something.
Attorney Koo Sang-jin twisted his wrist to check the time, then nodded.
“A brief call is fine.”
-I heard you came all this way but haven’t had any success.
At those words, Attorney Koo Sang-jin’s expression crumpled.
“Success? What do you mean…?”
-Huh? Isn’t that right? I heard from sources that an attorney of your caliber lost to a newly appointed prosecutor…. Oh, I’m sorry. It’s not often that cases go unresolved….
“Who said that? Who told you that!”
-Ah, I just heard it from here and there. Anyway, since it seemed like you’d lose, or rather, the case would be dismissed, I thought you weren’t taking it on….
“Listen here!”
-Yes?
“Hear me clearly. Don’t write a single word of what I just said in your article. No, don’t print my name even once in your newspaper. If my name appears in your publication….”
But the other end of the line was eerily silent.
Attorney Koo Sang-jin found that silence ominous.
Then a genuinely apologetic voice came through the receiver.
-I’m, I’m so sorry….
“Oh, you already published it?”
-Yes.
“You published it?”
-I didn’t publish the part about losing to the newly appointed prosecutor.
Attorney Koo Sang-jin urgently searched for his own name.
First, I needed to see what nonsense they’d listed.
[Attorney Koo Sang-jin Takes on Dongnam County Murder Case]
Attorney Koo Sang-jin, who is actively engaged in broadcasting, has drawn attention by taking on a murder case in Dongnam County, Gangwon Province. (Excerpt) The newly appointed prosecutor who was appointed last year, Seo Jin….
At the same time, messages began flooding my phone.
-Koo, you went all the way to Gangwon Province?
-Against a rookie? You’ll win this one hands down.
Attorney Koo Sang-jin’s pupils wavered.
Something felt off.
No matter how popular Koo Sang-jin was as a broadcaster or that he’d come all the way to Gangwon Province, he shouldn’t have attracted this much attention.
How many murder cases happen in a single day anyway….
‘What the hell is this?’
The answer came through the flood of messages that followed.
A contract killing between biological sisters—such sensational material spread like wildfire.
-It could’ve become an unsolved case, right?
-So the older sister killed the younger one?
-Is that guy her lover? Were they splitting the insurance money?
-Two sons?
-A true lawyer. Taking on cases like this.
-I’m jealous. He’s getting his name out there again.
They said they envied him, but everyone was mocking Koo Sang-jin.
His once-brilliant life was being pelted with garbage.
Koo Sang-jin shut his eyes and ground his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
There was no escaping now.
Whether I liked it or not, I had to step into the Colosseum and face Seo Jin.
“Damn it….”

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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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