Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 73

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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 Meal (3)
“…What?”
The woman using the alias Jin-hee’s pupils began trembling uncontrollably.
Unaware that the cigarette in her hand was burning down to ash, she could only blink.
But it was brief.
She opened her mouth with a faint smile.
“No.”
She thought to herself.
‘It was a few months ago.’
Before Joo Min-ah disappeared, it was true that I had entered the final table with her.
But I had to deny it.
I didn’t know how they found me, but getting entangled with a prosecutor would bring nothing good.
“It wasn’t me.”
She shook her head while brushing ash from her cigarette.
I believed that if I played dumb until the end, this would pass.
‘How could they possibly know?’
Thinking this, I looked up at Seo Jin.
But then.
‘What?’
Seo Jin was smiling as if he knew everything, utterly unimpressed.
And then.
“You know this site?”
Seo Jin pulled out his phone and slid it across the table toward her.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the screen.
A site called “Courtesans’ Fox Meeting.”
It was created with the intention of sharing difficult days with each other, but in reality, it was a place where people bragged about how much they earned in a day and how many tables they worked.
“H-how did you get this?”
It was a site where people in this industry operated in secret.
Outsiders shouldn’t have been able to know about it….
Seo Jin sighed as he watched her bewildered expression.
“Did you think the Prosecution Service wouldn’t know about sites like yours? Seems you only checked sporadically. We sweep up even the dust around the President. And you think we’d leave a place reeking like this alone? Don’t be stupid.”
Seo Jin touched the screen with his finger.
The screen changed, revealing Joo Min-ah’s post.
-Today’s final shift. With my favorite Jin-hee unnie! But one guy called for two of us. Is he a pervert?
Joo Min-ah had written down each day like a diary.
And this post was her last.
Seo Jin slowly raised his head and met her eyes.
“The email used when registering was Joo Min-ah’s. So I’ll ask again. When Joo Min-ah received her last customer, you were the one who went in with her, weren’t you?”
Through investigator Lee Dong-young, I had pursued the recently missing woman with relentless determination.
And finally, I had caught the shadow of Yoon Min-woo.
But she shook her head until the very end.
“No. How would I know if this is the last time or not….”
“Until the end!”
The smile vanished from my face.
And then.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I slammed my palm against the table with brutal force.
As she flinched, I spoke in a glacial voice.
“A person has gone missing. Someone who was laughing with you just days ago. Yet you keep dodging the question? Fine, you don’t have to answer. The ledgers of this room salon will have the records anyway. And remember this—if I find your name and Joo Min-ah’s listed together in those books, you’re an accomplice.”
I stared at her as if I would devour her whole.
Her face drained of all color.
She felt herself backed into a corner with no escape.
Finally, she nodded her head.
“Y-yes. We went in together.”
I activated the recording function on my phone.
After showing her that it was recording, I spoke again.
“You were together at the last table Joo Min-ah entered?”
“…Yes.”
“There was only one customer?”
“Yes.”
“That customer’s face….”
I searched for Yoon Min-woo’s YouTube broadcast and showed it to her.
“Is this the person?”
She studied Yoon Min-woo’s face, then nodded quickly.
“Yes! That’s him. He came alone and called both of us….”
She had kept her mouth shut until now.
But once it opened, information from that night poured out uncontrollably.
“I’ve been trying to build regular customers lately because business has been slow. He had good manners and a pleasant impression. Min-ah supported me. But in the end, he chose Min-ah.”
“Where did they go?”
“…I don’t know that far.”
I nodded.
This was enough.
I picked up my phone, found Lee So-hee’s contact, and pressed the call button.
“Got a statement. Lost contact after leaving with the last customer. Get me a search warrant. To identify the suspect, I need to check the ledgers and card records, but these bastards won’t hand them over willingly. It’s the Fox Salon in Hongcheon.”
This was why I had been coaxing the woman all along.
To obtain the ledgers—evidence more valuable than testimony—I needed grounds to secure a warrant.
And at the mention of a search warrant, her face turned ashen.
As I ended the call, she opened her mouth with a pallid expression.
“…I’m dead.”
The women in this world.
There are situations where hostesses cannot speak up even when customers extort money or assault them.
Because the establishment itself could suffer consequences.
To be more precise, they’re terrified of the organized crime syndicate backing the place.
But.
“Don’t worry. As long as you keep your mouth shut, no one will know I’m a prosecutor.”
“….”
“And if anything happens to you, every thug in this district will disappear. Trust me. And….”
I smiled faintly and touched the menu.
“If you don’t want to raise suspicion, order the most expensive drink this place has.”
As I spoke, I pulled out cash from my wallet and tossed it onto the table.
“Keep whatever’s left.”
It was money impossible to refuse.
As she reached toward the bills with vacant eyes, I continued.
“When you’re called as a witness, come out dressed properly.”
She nodded.
The amount was too substantial to decline.
Bang!
The door burst open and Investigator Lee Dong-young entered the room salon.
“Prosecutor’s Office.”
The establishment erupted into chaos.
“We don’t do anything like sex work! We only serve legitimate alcohol!”
The madam began spouting nonsense.
But the investigators didn’t listen to her words.
They moved like machines.
They swept up the ledgers, and various documents were rapidly collected.
Meanwhile, the door to the room where I sat burst open.
The waiter peered inside with an urgent expression.
And he exhaled a tense breath.
“Ha….”
Fortunately, there was no compromising atmosphere.
I was simply drinking quietly.
The waiter swallowed hard and opened his mouth.
“Sir… I’m afraid we’ll need to wrap up for today?”
“Why?”
I turned my head as if I didn’t know.
Faced with my composed demeanor, the waiter suppressed his frustration and spoke.
“There are circumstances. I’ll guide you out through the back entrance. And we’ll open a fresh bottle for you later….”
“Alright, I understand.”
I stood up without hesitation.
And I waved smoothly toward the woman.
“Jin-hee, see you later.”
With that, I left with the waiter.
The woman left alone stood dazed.
The expression I’d shown just moments ago was so different from the face I’d worn while interrogating her.
‘What the hell….’
She brought a cigarette to her lips with trembling hands.
‘A gangster would’ve been better.’
The prosecutor I’d faced directly was far more terrifying than any thug.
Outside, I glanced around the surroundings.
I spotted a man leaning against a mid-sized sedan, smoking a cigarette.
The man giggling while holding his phone.
‘That license plate… it’s him.’
The woman I’d met at the room salon had told me.
That he was the room salon’s driver and had been the one driving that day.
I walked briskly toward him.
“Hey?”
The driver, who’d been looking at his phone, turned his head to look at me.
“What?”
“You know Joo Min-ah?”
“Huh?”
“You drove her before she went missing, didn’t you?”
“…Are you a detective?”
“Prosecutor.”
The man tried to bolt.
But I was faster, sweeping his leg out from under him.
Crash!
He tumbled hard to the ground, and I casually approached and twisted his arm.
He let out a sharp cry.
“Agh!”
“Why are you running?”
“My arm! My arm!”
“Where did you drop off Joo Min-ah and the customer?”
“In front of a pojangmacha up ahead! They said they wanted to drink more instead of going straight to the motel!”
I held his arm twisted as I placed my phone in front of him.
“Is this the customer?”
“Yes! That’s him! I remember clearly because he didn’t seem to be from around here! So please, my arm! Ahhh!”
I released his arm.
His face flushed crimson, the man eyed me cautiously.
“ID.”
He immediately pulled out his driver’s license and handed it over.
Seo Jin photographed the man’s driver’s license with his phone and opened his mouth.
“Let me ask you for a witness interview later.”
“…Yes.”
Seo Jin turned away from the man and headed toward his car.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, I searched the map on my phone and recalled Yoon Min-woo’s modus operandi.
‘If he abandoned the body, it would be somewhere accessible by car. A place where people don’t pass through and where CCTV can be avoided…’
Hongcheon has many mountains.
But there aren’t many places that match his methods.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on Seo Jin’s driver’s side window.
It was Investigator Lee Dong-young.
“The search and seizure is complete.”
“Did you check the ledger?”
“Yes, as expected, Joo Min-ah and Jin-hee were at that table together.”
“What about the card?”
“…It was a cash payment.”
Seo Jin bit his lip hard.
The crucial evidence was disappearing.
But then.
“The waiter took his card and withdrew cash to pay. The convenience store where the cash was withdrawn is over there.”
Seo Jin clenched his fist.
Finally, I had caught the tail.
Now it was time to crush him.
Seo Jin showed the map on his phone and opened his mouth.
“I’ll request police cooperation to find Joo Min-ah’s body. Investigator, please handle things here. I’ll send you the suspected disposal locations by message.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“What about you, Prosecutor?”
*
*
*
-Prosecutor Kim Yun-hwan was demoted to Dongnam County after arresting the son of the Gangwon District Prosecutors’ Office chief.
Television was in the process of making Kim Yun-hwan a hero.
Even his exile to Dongnam County was being transformed into an image of a principled and upright prosecutor.
-But Prosecutor Kim Yun-hwan refuses to bend his will, driven solely by the determination to build a just Korea…
Crunch.
The sound of snacking could be heard.
It was Yoon Min-woo.
He was intently focused on the screen.
-Under Prosecutor Kim Yun-hwan’s relentless pursuit, Kim Tae-kyung eventually confessed to everything, and we at 25 Hours have decided to release Kim Tae-kyung’s personal information.
Yoon Min-woo’s hand froze mid-bite of the snack.
‘Personal information exposed?’
-In the name of human rights, protecting Kim Tae-kyung versus disclosing his identity to prevent crime—we determined that the latter serves the greater public interest.
The screen shifted, and Kim Tae-kyung’s face appeared.
Not the obscured figure in a jacket, but a beaming smile.
Yoon Min-woo grabbed his phone and frantically checked the broadcast reactions.
Everyone was cursing Kim Tae-kyung.
People were in an uproar demanding capital punishment.
Yoon Min-woo blinked.
“Wow… I feel bad for Tae-kyung. This is a bit unfortunate.”
But his words and expression didn’t match.
Chewing on the snack, he looked genuinely delighted.
That’s when it happened.
The doorbell rang.
Yoon Min-woo set down his phone and headed to the entrance.
“Who is it?”
“Seo Jin.”
Yoon Min-woo’s expression twisted.
‘Why is this bastard here again?’
Once or twice would’ve been enough—I don’t understand why he keeps coming back.
‘Crazy bastard. His meddling is pathological at this point.’
Yoon Min-woo forced a sorrowful expression and opened the door.
He greeted Seo Jin with a weak voice.
“…You came?”
“Yes.”
“But what brings you here today…?”
“It’s about this.”
Seo Jin produced a warrant from his jacket.
The man’s eyes narrowed as he fixed them on the warrant.
In an instant, his eyes sharpened with intensity, and his haggard expression morphed into shock.
“…What?”
The man froze in place.
He was in denial, his mind reeling in confusion.
And then, haltingly, he opened his mouth.
“…Why, why?”
“A hostess has gone missing from a room salon in Hongcheon. You were the last customer she met with.”
“What?”
With those words, investigators swept past Seo Jin and rushed inside.
Yoon Min-woo’s expression completely changed.
His eyes darted frantically as he tried to quickly assess the situation.
And he had become disturbingly confident.
“Prosecutor! Yes, I went to the Room Salon! But I have nothing to do with that disappearance!”
It was the house where Kim Yun-hwan had arrested Kim Tae-kyung and conducted a search and seizure.
No evidence had been found then either.
Yet they were going to search again….
‘What could you possibly find?’
A smile played at the corners of Yoon Min-woo’s mouth.
A face that thoroughly mocked Seo Jin.
“You arrested Tae-kyung the same way, didn’t you? Without any evidence! Why? To fabricate a criminal out of an innocent person and pad your statistics? But me? I won’t fall for it like Tae-kyung did!”
The bastard picked up his phone.
He tapped it familiarly, trying to open his YouTube broadcast.
Seo Jin grabbed his hand firmly.
Then the bastard laughed with a kick.
“Why? Are you scared? It’s fine to treat powerless people as criminals, but you’re afraid of this filthy business being exposed?”
“That’s not it.”
If the broadcast went live now, his crimes would be revealed to the world.
‘I can’t let that happen.’
I had to thoroughly deceive both Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun and Kim Yun-hwan.
That was all.
But Yoon Min-woo seemed to think he had won.
“Then apologize!”
Seo Jin snatched the phone from Yoon Min-woo’s hand and spoke.
“If he’s determined to be without suspicion, I’ll kneel and apologize.”
“Give it back!”
Yoon Min-woo bared his teeth savagely and lunged at Seo Jin.
But the investigators restrained Yoon Min-woo.
“Powerful people commit crimes and don’t even get investigated! But us ordinary people get searched and seized over the slightest pretext? It’s filthy! Filthy! Is this the Prosecution Service? Is this the law?!”
Seo Jin looked around the room, ignoring the bastard’s screams.
There was only one thing to find.
‘This bastard is a collector.’
He’s holding the identification cards of the murdered victims.
‘Where did he hide them?’
Bastards like this treat their collected items like treasures.
They check on them whenever they’re bored and hide them again.
The probability that he hid them nearby was high.
‘But….’
These were items that Kim Yun-hwan hadn’t found during his search and seizure.
A normal search wouldn’t work.
I had to tear through the place like I was ransacking a high-level tax delinquent’s home.
Seo Jin grabbed one of the investigators and spoke.
“Inspector, please check the restroom. Even the toilet tank.”
“Yes.”
I studied Yoon Min-woo’s expression carefully.
His face remained unchanged.
It wasn’t the restroom.
“Inspector, the car. Please check between the seats as well.”
The inspector took the car keys and headed outside.
In the meantime, Yoon Min-woo continued to shout loudly.
“What are you doing! Exactly! Why? You said she was a woman who went to the Room Salon? I’m the only person she met? Huh!”
Again, his expression remained unchanged.
No fear whatsoever.
So it wasn’t the car either.
I continued to scan the surroundings methodically.
‘The one place I haven’t checked. The ceiling.’
There were no signs of the wallpaper being torn.
“Then the sink?”
I moved toward the sink.
Suddenly, his voice pierced the air like a scream.
“Stop! There’s nothing there!”
The tone of his voice had changed.
‘Here?’
I yanked open the sink drawer.
“There’s nothing!”
He was right.
Only rice bowls and utensils were visible.
I checked various spots, but it was the same everywhere.
But I didn’t stop there.
The lowest panel—the kickboard.
The panel that concealed the sink’s legs.
I tapped it lightly with my foot.
It fell away effortlessly.
And in that instant, Yoon Min-woo’s loud voice fell silent.
Silence.
I crouched down and peered inside.
Dozens of identification cards were bundled together with rubber bands.
I reached in and grasped the IDs in my hand.
Then I slowly turned my head toward Yoon Min-woo.
He stood with his head bowed toward me, held by the inspector’s hand.
The fury he’d been screaming moments before had vanished without a sound.
I walked toward Yoon Min-woo with deliberate steps.
I grabbed the bastard’s head and slowly lifted his face up.
Then he opened his mouth with a bored expression.
“How did you figure it out?”
Seo Jin let out a quiet laugh and kicked at his shin.
While doing so, I gripped his hair and forced him down onto his knees.
“If you have questions, ask them with proper manners.”

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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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