Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 71

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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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Drinking Broth Before the Kimchi (1)
I stepped into the room and surveyed my surroundings.
A studio apartment with a small kitchenette separated from the main space.
Left untouched, the signs of the search warrant’s upheaval remained scattered throughout.
“This apartment is registered under Kim Tae-kyung’s name, correct?”
“Yes.”
“If Kim Tae-kyung ends up being away for an extended period again, what should we do? There’s still quite a bit of time left on the lease.”
This was why I’d sought out Yoon Min-woo in such haste.
Yoon Min-woo’s profession was travel writer and travel YouTuber.
There was a real possibility he could vanish on a whim.
I’d barely grasped a single thread of evidence—if it disappeared without a trace, it would be a disaster.
Fortunately, Yoon Min-woo seemed to have no intention of leaving. He shook his head reassuringly.
“I’m planning to stay here for a while. And Tae-kyung will be out soon. He didn’t do anything wrong. I know him. He’s not that kind of person. When he worked at the academy, he was so good with the kids. But you’re saying he committed murder? Against children, no less?”
I moved toward the bedroom, listening to his voice.
Scattered snack bags and a television broadcasting news about the middle school girl’s murder case came into view.
“What about the car? Does Yoon Min-woo use that as well?”
“…I suppose I’ll have to for now.”
Yoon Min-woo swallowed hard, watching my back.
‘What the hell is this guy doing?’
The conversation that followed deviated from his expectations.
This wasn’t a visit to offer condolences.
These were the questions of a prosecutor trying to extract information.
A thought flickered through Yoon Min-woo’s mind in that instant.
‘Should I kill him?’
Anything suspicious needed to be eliminated.
Complacency—thinking ‘what could possibly go wrong?’—could lead to ruin.
But I held back.
The possibility that I’d informed another prosecutor of my visit here.
The CCTV at the apartment entrance.
Too much evidence could be left behind in this place.
Meanwhile, I moved my eyes methodically, absorbing everything in the room.
Books stacked on the floor.
Mostly travel-related texts.
And what caught my attention were books on criminal psychology and profiling, peeking out here and there.
‘He was studying.’
Criminals read such books with keen interest.
To research how investigators perceive them.
And then they exploit those gaps to commit their crimes.
I grew more certain of my deduction.
He hadn’t stopped committing crimes after the middle school girl’s murder.
It would have certainly developed into another form.
I walked toward the bookshelf.
And then.
“Are you interested in this?”
I picked up a profiler book and turned toward Yoon Min-woo.
I needed to observe his expression.
But he wore a thick mask.
He opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
“After Kim Tae-kyung was arrested, he asked me to do this. It sounds absurd, but if I catch the real culprit, Kim Tae-kyung’s innocence could be proven, right?”
If you didn’t know better, you’d feel the desperate heart of a true friend.
But I knew his true nature.
‘Insane bastard.’
I picked up a bag of snacks this time.
“It looks like you haven’t eaten. Have some.”
“How can I eat when my friend is suffering? I feel guilty even eating this.”
Judging by the crumbs scattered everywhere, he’d eaten enthusiastically, yet he spouted such hypocritical nonsense.
Leaving someone like this in the world any longer felt like it would give me cancer.
I wanted to throw him in prison as soon as possible.
But there was something even greater on my mind.
‘I’m curious what expression he’ll make.’
I was curious.
When all of Yoon Min-woo’s crimes were exposed, when the judge’s lips uttered the word “death penalty.”
What expression would he wear?
Would he smile like now?
Or….
‘I’ll make you cry.’
I rose to my feet.
Then I opened my mouth again with a pitiful expression and a voice full of concern.
“Still, you should eat something. Is there anything you’d like? I’ll order it for you.”
Eat all you want.
This is your last meal.
*
*
*
“Work’s done. Let’s grab some food.”
I stopped by the Dongnam District Prosecutor’s Office after a long time.
To meet Kim Yun-hwan and to take care of another matter.
I was planning to stop by the bean sprout soup restaurant I used to frequent when I was here.
“Why would you eat that? How crude.”
Kim Yun-hwan refused, calling it beggar’s food.
And so we headed to an upscale raw fish restaurant, one that came laden with an abundance of side dishes.
“Alcohol?”
“I’ll pass. I need to drive.”
“Then I’ll drink alone.”
Kim Yun-hwan ordered a drink.
I filled his glass and asked.
“How did you catch him?”
“Why? Curious?”
“Yeah.”
“I went through the records and combed through sex offenders. But you know the first victim? The academy she attended—that’s where he worked as an instructor. Doesn’t that feel right?”
According to the files, Kim Tae-kyung lived near the crime scene, worked at the very academy the victim attended, and even committed sexual assault.
Moreover, he was unemployed and from a vulnerable background.
The perfect suspect.
He was weak, and no one would speak up for him.
He was ideal prey in Kim Yun-hwan’s eyes.
“All I need is a confession.”
The evidence was already fabricated.
The victim’s bag found at the scene.
“There’s a tiny tear on the inside.”
Kim Tae-kyung’s hair was supposedly found there.
Of course, it was planted.
“He’ll confess soon.”
Kim Yun-hwan spoke with certainty.
You could tell just by looking at his eyes.
He wasn’t hesitating to use coercive interrogation to extract the confession.
Beating him repeatedly, careful not to leave visible scars.
“Let’s eat.”
Kim Yun-hwan chuckled darkly as he picked up raw fish with his chopsticks.
The sight was repulsive, but I maintained my expression and spoke.
“Impressive.”
“What is?”
“Your name keeps rising and falling in the Prosecutor’s Office, doesn’t it? The articles all praise you. You’ve become the people’s prosecutor.”
Kim Yun-hwan’s name was the talk of the office.
Especially within the Prosecutor’s Office, they were closely watching this case.
As unsolved cases were being resolved one after another and the Prosecutor’s Office’s stock was rising, he’d essentially driven the final nail in the coffin.
At my praise, Kim Yun-hwan’s lips twitched as he tried to suppress his laughter, spouting words that didn’t quite fit.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overshadow your name.”
“My name?”
Now that I thought about it, before this case, my name used to come up fairly often.
Though it was limited to within the Prosecutor’s Office.
“Right, your name. That’s how this field works, isn’t it? Even if you solve a major case, people forget about it in a few days. So don’t worry. When my name fades, yours will come back into the spotlight. I hope you understand.”
“Come on, I don’t care. You can plaster your name all over if you want.”
The flattery had ended.
Now it was time to scratch his pride a little.
“But hyung, you’re sure you got this right?”
“What are you talking about?”
Kim Yun-hwan’s face twisted.
Seo Jin opened his mouth in a whisper, his expression grave.
“We have quite a few people at our District Prosecutor’s Office tracking this too. So I looked into it, and it doesn’t match up well with Kim Tae-kyung.”
Seo Jin applied the brakes.
He was doing it on purpose.
The man had a strong ego.
The more he was held back, the more obsessive he’d become—that much was certain.
And as expected, he took the bait.
“Your District Prosecutor’s Office? You think I’m the same as those kids stuck out in Gangwon Province eating potatoes?”
“I’m just worried. It’s not like there’s a problem with looking into it again. In times like these, we should proceed carefully.”
“Are you teaching me?”
“If it came across that way, I’m sorry…”
“Hey, the rice I’ve spilled is more than the meals you’ve eaten. You think I wouldn’t have checked every angle? I turned on the lights, looked at everything around me. So…”
“Hyung! That’s not the point. Don’t get angry—think about it calmly.”
Kim Yun-hwan set down his chopsticks with a sharp clink.
Then he drank a glass of soju and glared at Seo Jin.
“You’re jealous right now, aren’t you?”
“What?”
Jealousy, out of nowhere.
This was a reaction Seo Jin hadn’t anticipated.
“Isn’t that it? You’re worried your name will be overshadowed if I do well?”
He really was childish.
But what shocked me more was hearing such a stupid remark come from the mouth of a prosecutor.
“Hyung!”
“Either you’re jealous or eat your raw fish quietly.”
Kim Yun-hwan shoved raw fish into his mouth.
Seo Jin threw out one more comment.
To make Kim Yun-hwan even more provoked and come at him harder.
“Don’t appear on broadcasts. It could be dangerous.”
“Kid, you’re definitely jealous.”
Kim Yun-hwan wanted to be recognized by his father, Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
And he wanted to beat Seo Jin.
His distorted nature was leading Kim Yun-hwan toward destruction.
After parting with Kim Yun-hwan, Seo Jin got into his car.
And I headed to the motel where Kim Tae-kyung allegedly committed sexual assault.
A case without evidence—I intended to verify everything myself.
Once the case was resolved, I could throw a big piece of shit in Kim Yun-hwan’s face.
*
*
*
“It was room 305.”
I met the motel owner.
Since the police had visited several times back then, he remembered the circumstances in detail.
“The CCTV footage is only kept for about a week.”
The report had been filed months later.
So there was no CCTV footage.
“Is there CCTV in the hallways on each floor?”
“No. Only in the lobby and elevator.”
“So if someone came in through the back entrance and took the stairs, there’d be no record?”
The motel owner fell silent.
“People having affairs often come in that way.”
“They help boost our sales.”
…He couldn’t say that in front of a prosecutor.
I understood that part well enough and let it slide.
“I’d like to take a look. Could you give me the key?”
With a metallic jingle, the key was handed over.
‘A physical key, not a card key.’
Kim Tae-kyung had said he laid the woman down and left immediately.
‘He probably didn’t lock the door.’
Even if he had, the key would’ve been left at the counter.
If the staff was sleeping, the key would’ve remained on the desk.
I took the key and headed to room 305.
Slowly, via the stairwell.
And I arrived at room 305.
It was clearly an old place.
Worn window frames, a weathered door, and a discolored bathtub.
There was nothing else unusual.
I turned on the television, raised the volume, and stepped into the hallway.
Then I closed the door.
‘No sound comes through.’
Despite being an old motel, the soundproofing was excellent.
Even if screams had occurred, they wouldn’t have leaked out.
Even if someone had heard something, they would’ve ignored it and moved on.
I went back into the room, lowered the television volume, and examined the surroundings.
‘The woman would have been lying here, and Kim Tae-kyung left. After that, if Yoon Min-woo had come in….’
As I continued my train of thought, leaning against the vanity, the world drained of color.
The world became monochrome….
A harsh sound echoed through the darkened room.
“Gaaahhh!”
The darkness made it hard to see clearly.
All I could see was a hand strangling a woman’s neck.
Latex gloves covered the hand.
And all I could hear was the woman’s anguished voice.
But then.
“More… keep gasping like that! Huh? More!”
Even in the darkness, I could tell.
It was Yoon Min-woo’s voice.
The bastard was panting and aroused like a pervert at the sound of the woman’s dying breath.
His hand was shoved between the woman’s thighs.
And the whites of the woman’s eyes were showing.
“Not yet! Not yet! Hold on!”
But the woman couldn’t hold on and went limp.
The bastard in the darkness breathed heavily, remaining still for a moment.
“Haaaaah….”
After exhaling a long breath, he got off the bed and rummaged through the woman’s bag.
“We drank together, so why do you only have eyes for Tae-kyung? Don’t you know I’m better than that bastard? That’s why I’m angry, right? Huh?”
Yoon Min-woo pulled out a wallet and pocketed the ID card as he continued speaking.
“I don’t usually mess around with anyone under seventeen, you know? But this is fun too?”
With that, as if he’d finished his business, he walked out into the hallway.
Staggering from intoxication, without hesitation.
And as he passed through the hallway light, his figure became visible.
He was wearing a hat and clothes.
When the door slammed shut, the woman coughed and regained consciousness.
And so the psychometry ended, and the world regained its color.
My face was twisted in rage.
At the same time, my mind recalled the records of the woman who had reported the sexual assault.
“He really tried to kill me while committing the assault!”
“And my ID card disappeared.”
“He took it!”
“I was too scared to report it because I thought he knew where I lived!”
Kim Tae-kyung claimed he never stole the ID card.
The court had also ruled it a simple loss.
I ran my hand through my hair.
‘The woman survived because Yoon Min-woo was drunk too?’
It was a stroke of fortune for the woman.
I turned my head slowly.
What I’d been leaning against was the vanity where the woman’s bag had been.
‘That bastard took her ID. Could he be a collector?’
There were twisted psychopaths out there who killed people and took trophies from their victims.
Yoon Min-woo seemed like he might belong to that same category.
As my mind churned with these thoughts, Kim Yun-hwan’s face appeared on the television screen.
It was a preview for the current affairs program “25 Hours.”
Kim Yun-hwan spoke with righteous conviction in his eyes.
-Criminals who commit heinous acts and receive only one or two years in prison, their sentences reduced through tears of remorse and claims of diminished capacity—that won’t happen this time. I will show this society that justice still lives. I will secure the harshest punishment possible.
A man who murdered six middle school girls and was imprisoned for sexual assault.
A prosecutor who pursued that man for years—Kim Yun-hwan.
The reaction to the preview was intense.
Checking social media.
-That’s absolutely incredible.
-Other prosecutors should be ashamed of themselves.
-I was moved by his words about showing justice. I believe in you, Kim Yun-hwan.
-Please give us that satisfying outcome.
And watching the screen, I laughed quietly.
‘I’ll make you cry too.’

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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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