Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 95

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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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When You Meet Your Prey (1)
The man holding the phone to his ear was Assemblyman Song Won-tae’s aide.
After saying “hello” several times, he pressed the end call button and slipped the phone into his pocket.
In that moment, Seo Jin’s expression twisted further.
‘Shin Ju-eon….’
-Name: Shin Ju-eon.
-Age: 44.
-Occupation: Aide responsible for Assemblyman Song Won-tae’s electoral district.
-Marital Status: Divorced.
-Promised nomination for the next local election.
When I saw Shin Ju-eon standing behind Assemblyman Song Won-tae, I wondered why he had come here.
Since Assemblyman Song Won-tae’s electoral district was in the provinces and Shin Ju-eon handled regional affairs, he rarely had reason to come to Seoul.
But now it made sense.
‘It was you?’
My expression grew increasingly cold.
Just moments ago, my mind had been burning hot, but not anymore.
I tapped the railing with my fingers, shooting the aide a glacial stare.
A silent laugh escaped me as I recalled the past.
It was when I was sharpening my blade against Assemblyman Song Won-tae.
Shin Ju-eon came looking for Seo Jun-kyung.
He held out a canned coffee and spoke.
“You have no family and live alone, so you have nothing to lose? I apologize for saying this, but stop. That’s where it ends.”
Shin Ju-eon’s voice was cold.
Seo Jun-kyung shook his head and opened his mouth.
“What if I don’t stop? Will you kill me?”
“Use more refined language, will you? What era is this, killing people? Ah, is killing easier for you?”
He was dismissing Seo Jun-kyung entirely.
Speaking with utter contempt.
“Prosecutor, your ranting alone won’t change the world. If the world could be changed by one person’s strength, would it be in this state? But if we change your thinking, the world will be pleasant. Happy, even.”
“….”
“You studied while wandering construction sites, didn’t you? Why did you do that? You did it to succeed, right? Then enjoy your success! Don’t waste time on useless things!”
Shin Ju-eon turned his body.
He pointed at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office building with his finger and spoke.
“Among the hundred or so prosecutors in that building, eighty percent will stand with us.”
Shin Ju-eon’s gaze shifted to the Seoul Central District Court across the way.
“The courts are the same.”
“….”
“When all of that is in our hands, what do you think you can do?”
At those words, Seo Jun-kyung laughed as if absurd, a low chuckle.
“There’s one thing I can do. Grab you by the hair and drag you to court. You took some bribes from construction companies for helping with the district’s redevelopment.”
Shin Ju-eon’s eyes filled with panic.
It was pocket money that Song Won-tae had secretly taken without anyone knowing.
I thought no one knew, but Seo Jun-kyung standing before me did.
“H-how did you…?”
Seo Jun-kyung tossed his canned coffee into the trash and spoke.
“How I found out doesn’t matter. What you need to think about right now is just one thing. If this gets exposed, will Song Won-tae protect you? Considering his image, I think he’d kill you first. I’m curious—how will your happy little world change?”
“You bastard!”
“Watch your mouth, before I kill you right now.”
Recalling old memories, I exhaled a long sigh.
Dealing with the big players, I hadn’t even given the aide a second thought.
But now everything made sense.
That bastard must have manipulated Song Won-tae.
Told him that Seo Jun-kyung couldn’t be left alone.
‘There are far too many people in this world who deserve to die.’
If I’d died without dealing with someone like him, I would have died with true regret.
I descended the stairs with genuine gratitude for having survived and been given a new life.
I wanted to see that bastard’s face a little more clearly up close.
Kim Young-jun, Song Won-tae, and Shin Ju-eon were heading toward the elevator.
I stepped in front of them and bowed respectfully.
As if I’d simply happened to pass by and was greeting them.
“Good day to you.”
As I greeted them, Kim Young-jun introduced me.
“Representative, this is Seo Jin, the prosecutor who was the protagonist of this case.”
Kim Young-jun didn’t mention that I was his nephew.
A considerate gesture—he was concerned that my achievements would be diminished if it were known I was related to the prosecutor general.
And Song Won-tae’s gaze fixed on me.
“Is that so?”
Song Won-tae’s serpentine eyes swept over me.
I was the culprit who’d cut the throats of the Police Chief and Prosecutor Choi Hee-jun—his pet dogs.
Song Won-tae’s feelings toward me were far from favorable.
‘I was done in by such a young punk?’
Song Won-tae found Prosecutor Choi Hee-jun and the Police Chief contemptible.
If he’d been defeated by at least the Chief Prosecutor, he wouldn’t have felt such humiliation.
But the protagonist turned out to be this impossibly young bastard.
‘Pathetic fools.’
But he was a politician.
Concealing all his malice, he smiled brightly and patted my shoulder.
“Keep up the good work going forward.”
But I was equally skilled at hiding my emotions.
In my possession exists a ledger bearing Song Won-tae’s name.
It feels as sharp and cold as a blade.
But I won’t use it now.
I plan to keep Song Won-tae alive until he’s no longer useful.
“Thank you.”
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside.
I bowed to them once more.
Through the closing doors, my gaze fixed on Shin Ju-eon’s face.
‘I’ll spare Song Won-tae for now, but you… I’ll kill you soon.’
*
*
*
“You got yourself a girlfriend, didn’t you? Otherwise, how could you not come home like this? No matter how busy you are, this doesn’t make sense, does it?”
I stopped by home.
My first visit since arriving in Seoul.
The moment I opened the door, Jin-young launched into his nagging, and I waved my hand defensively.
“I got caught up in a case as soon as I arrived.”
“Huh? Busy? But Kim Yun-hwan left work early, didn’t he?”
“That’s because Kim Yun-hwan doesn’t actually work.”
You can’t compare me to him.
He’s the type who built his career by just accepting whatever cases Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun threw his way.
Jin-young seemed to know that too.
“True.”
But Jin-young’s expression gradually grew peculiar as he nodded.
And then.
“Hey, what’s that furry thing?”
Only now did he notice the dog standing beside me.
Moongsil, the dog Madam had been raising.
With such a good temperament, the creature wagged its tail cheerfully even in this unfamiliar environment.
“It’s Moongsil. I think the breed was a Bichon or something like that—I’m not entirely sure. I agreed to watch it temporarily until the defendant is released.”
Jin-young’s expression turned strange.
“…Really just temporarily?”
I don’t know.
Whether it’ll be a suspended sentence, three years, or longer depends on which lawyer Madam hires.
I didn’t know Jin-young disliked dogs.
“Don’t lick me! Stop wagging your tail! Quit being so cute! Hey!”
Mother appeared at Jin-young’s commotion.
“My son’s home? Oh? What’s this?”
Mother seemed charmed by Moongsil’s fluffy fur.
She scooped the dog up and petted it, and Moongsil panted happily in response.
“Can I keep it for a while?”
“Then.”
Mother answered readily and shifted her gaze to Seo Jin.
Then she opened her mouth with a pitying expression.
“Your face is half-dead. Is your uncle working you too hard?”
Mother’s eyes grew cold.
Mother doesn’t care for Kim Young-jun’s family.
She dislikes them so much that she doesn’t even exchange words with Kim Young-jun’s Wife.
But now that Seo Jin had been assigned to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and couldn’t even leave work on time.
“Is that it?”
If I said right now, “Yes, my uncle gives me a lot of work,” a fight would break out immediately—that’s the look in her eyes.
Even as a joke, I couldn’t say such a thing.
“No. It’s just a place with a lot of work naturally.”
“Is that so?”
Mother, who had been watching Seo Jin with suspicious eyes, nodded.
“Should we eat?”
“Yes, please. But where’s Father?”
“He hasn’t come home yet. He’ll be here soon.”
Seo Jin sat down at the table.
Jin-young sat beside him, and Mother sat across from them.
“Hyung, what’s this guy’s name? Moong-sil? He does ‘sit’ too? Lie down! Paw!”
Jin-young had said he disliked dogs.
Yet he was enjoying himself, commanding Moong-sil to do various tricks.
“Bark! Why are you just sitting there? Can’t you bark yet?”
And as Mother watched Seo Jin eating, she opened her mouth.
“You’re staying the night, right?”
“No. I just stopped by. This case is tangled like sweet potato vines.”
It started with Eom Young-jin’s death, but it had already extended to Seo Jun-kyung’s death.
No matter how much I dig, it never ends.
I was thrilled just imagining what kind of monster might pop out at the end.
“But what case are you handling?”
Jin-young asked, and Seo Jin smiled faintly and explained briefly.
A detective had died, and they had dug into a room salon as the reason.
And.
“I caught a Violent Crimes Division detective, the Jongno Police Station Chief, and a prosecutor from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.”
“…!”
Jin-young’s mouth fell open.
Mother’s did too.
How long had I been working, and I’d already brought in people whose names alone commanded respect—like catching neighborhood mutts.
That’s when.
“Really?”
It was my father’s voice.
He hurried over to the dining table, loosening his necktie as if he’d just arrived home.
“Really, our son caught all of them? That was actually true?”
My father had already heard about it from Kim Young-jun and knew the facts.
But he simply brushed it off as casual talk.
Kim Young-jun had suddenly visited not long ago and told him something.
That he should hand over the company’s future to Kim Yun-hwan.
“Seo Jin is a prosecutor.”
That’s what he’d said.
But my father was the boss of a large construction company.
Because he had a worldly perspective, he couldn’t believe those words.
Seo Jin was now thirty years old—in corporate terms, barely a new hire or junior manager.
“A Violent Crimes Division detective, a police station chief, and a prosecutor? He caught all those people in succession?”
“Yes.”
At my answer, my father’s mouth split open in a hearty laugh.
“Hahahaha!”
In that moment, my mother spoke rapidly to my father.
“Don’t stack up newspapers this time!”
There were boxes scattered throughout the house.
Whenever my father saw even a single mention of Seo Jin’s name, he’d print out internet snippets too.
Apparently, his hobby after work these days was opening his laptop and searching for my name.
It looked like a few more boxes would be added this time.
My mother sighed and opened her mouth.
“What about Seon? When are you going to see her?”
At my mother’s words, my father stopped laughing and glanced at my expression.
Now that I thought about it, I had promised to meet Seon.
I was thirty years old now.
In an ordinary family, it might still be fine, but for my father who runs Jaejeong Construction, my marriage was a massive M&A deal.
“I mentioned it to someone I know, and marriage proposals keep coming in. Your mother said no to announcers or entertainers though.”
Jin-young, who had been playing with Moong-sil, bristled.
“Why exclude entertainers? My brother is so picky about looks! I’d love to have an entertainer sister-in-law.”
“You be quiet. Seo Jin, should we go with a politician’s family or a wealthy household?”
“Either one is fine.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Then I’ll arrange it. The weekend works, right? This time we’re really doing it.”
*
*
*
After leaving home, I found myself in a residential area in Bangbae-dong.
A jeonse apartment I had contracted with Lee Dong-young back when I was Seo Jun-kyung the prosecutor.
As I stepped inside, stale air greeted me—the kind that accumulated when no one had entered for a long time.
After throwing open the windows, I took a seat and retrieved the box containing Song Won-tae’s files.
Inside lay materials related to Shin Ju-eon.
I found the investigative documents regarding Shin Ju-eon and the construction company’s misconduct.
As I flipped through the papers, the sound of a password being entered echoed, and the door swung open.
“Have you been waiting long?”
I shifted my gaze.
Lee Dong-young was entering, wearing a jacket that reeked of middle-aged man.
Lee Dong-young sat across from me and asked.
“What brings you here?”
There was no reason for me, now in Seoul, to contact Lee Dong-young in Gangwon Province.
But there was one reason I had summoned him.
I pulled out my notebook and showed it to Lee Dong-young.
“She touched Jin Yun-hee’s phone.”
“…!”
Jin Yun-hee—the name of the administrator who had falsely accused Seo Jun-kyung of sexual assault.
As Lee Dong-young’s eyes widened, my voice continued.
“I found a contact number there. It belonged to someone presumed to be her boyfriend.”
Lee Dong-young’s eyes narrowed.
He leaned in, absorbing every word I spoke.
“A while ago, Song Won-tae visited the District Prosecutor’s Office. On a hunch, I called that number….”
“It was Song Won-tae!”
Lee Dong-young growled, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
The look of someone waiting for a mortal enemy.
But an unexpected name spilled from my lips.
“Shin Ju-eon.”
“…The Chief of Staff?”
“Yes.”
I handed Lee Dong-young the file I had retrieved from the box.
“So… I want to catch this one with you, Inspector.”
Seo Jun-kyung’s name remains one of the Prosecution Service’s greatest humiliations.
Lee Dong-young had been exiled in an attempt to restore that honor.
I wanted to witness the end of it together with him.
Lee Dong-young nodded.
“I’ll need to take leave.”
“Thank you. If you need anything, I’ll support you fully. A place to stay or….”
“No. I have somewhere to stay. My daughter just became a university student.”
I knew.
Lee Dong-young’s daughter, Sung-ah, had enrolled at a prestigious university in Seoul and was living on her own.
I knew everything, but I pretended not to, and Lee Dong-young launched into his pride about Sung-ah.
“I always felt sorry for growing up without a mother, but she’s always been a good student. Her dream is to become a prosecutor someday, haha.”
Seo Jin smiled warmly.
It wasn’t unpleasant hearing Sung-ah’s accomplishments from Lee Dong-young’s mouth.
And I really wanted to see her.
“I hear the boys chase after her every day….”
Suddenly, the phone buzzed.
Seo Jin’s phone vibrated.
A new phone he’d bought after Choi Hee-jun destroyed the last one.
The caller was an unknown number.
“One moment, please.”
Lee Dong-young fell silent, and Seo Jin slowly brought the phone to his ear.
“Yes, this is Seo Jin.”
-This is Shin Ju-eon, Chief of Staff for Representative Song Won-tae.
My prey had called me of his own accord.
And he opened his mouth with a voice that seemed polite but carried an arrogant undertone.
-The Representative would like to have a meal with you. Ah, and he’d prefer if you didn’t mention this to Prosecutor Kim Young-jun or anyone else.
“…What is this about?”
-I’m not in a position to explain. Please discuss it directly with the Representative.
Shin Ju-eon didn’t account for the possibility of Seo Jin refusing.
In a world where it was natural to come running like a dog when someone of Representative Song Won-tae’s stature called, such refusals were unthinkable.
But the other party was Seo Jin.
I already anticipated why Representative Song Won-tae was calling.
Not long ago, Representative Song Won-tae had visited the District Prosecutor’s Office to review the ledgers.
‘He must have discovered that his name wasn’t there.’
The prosecutor who participated in that search and seizure was Seo Jin.
Representative Song Won-tae would want to confirm why his name was absent.
In other words, I held the reins.
“Representative, before we meet, would you mind if I spoke with your Chief of Staff first?”

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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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