By Zephyria 
“Are you here, Prosecutor?”
As I entered the office, Chief Oh greeted me with a deep sigh. Looking over, I saw a mountain of assigned cases piled high on the desk. I flipped through the cases one by one before giving up and tossing my coat haphazardly over a chair.
“They told me to handle those first for the time being. They want the Kim Hae-sung case pushed back.”
Hearing that, the clerk Baek Young-mi grumbled.
“’Pushed back’ is just a nice way of saying they’re pressuring him to drop it, isn’t it? The atmosphere is already leaning toward confirming it as a suicide, so they’re probably wondering why he’s stirring the pot.”
“Exactly. He should have just played along and sucked up a bit. Is that really so hard?”
Chief Oh reproached me, mimicking the motion of rubbing her palms together. She knew full well that the reason I was on the Head of Department’s bad side wasn’t because of a lack of flattery. Hee-shin smiled as he stirred his coffee at their complaints.
“I think I’m really in the doghouse, huh?”
“Do you even have to ask? Who knows how many ears were listening outside that day.”
“What? Should I go and act cute now?”
“Too late, too late. That ship has sailed. Or, you could just go and have a proper showdown with him.”
Hee-shin gave a chilling smile as he lifted his coffee cup, causing Chief Oh to recoil in horror. She warned me not to even dream of such a thing, delivering a long lecture on how using violence against a superior was unthinkable within the Prosecutor’s Office, where the chain of command was absolute.
“I’m not that reckless. You know that.”
Just then, there was a knock, and the door swung open. It was Park Tae-min, a Sunbae from my hometown. Unlike usual, he was carrying four cups of coffee. He handed out the paper cups, branded with a franchise logo, to each person.
“What’s this for?”
“The rumors are spreading all over the District Office. Why on earth did you provoke the viper? Are you fearless? Now that you’re dating a chaebol, do you think everyone is just a joke?”
“You seem excited, Sunbae.”
“Was it that obvious? I am a bit thrilled. Every day was so boring, but thanks to you, things have been interesting lately. Tell me privately. You’ve got something, don’t you? You’ve managed to align yourself with the right people, right? That’s why you’re acting so bold?”
He was a snob, through and through. But since I was much the same, I didn’t feel like criticizing him. If anything, I wanted to criticize Park Tae-min’s loose lips.
“I wish that were the case.”
“You brat. You could at least play coy and say no.”
“If I played coy, you’d just curse at me for playing coy.”
Park Tae-min called out to Chief Oh.
“See this, Chief Oh? How can I possibly adore him when he’s like this?”
Chief Oh gave a professional smile, and Kang Hee-shin found Park Tae-min equally annoying.
“If you’re here for pointless chatter, please leave. As you can see, I have a mountain of work. I’ll enjoy the coffee. Thank you.”
Instead of leaving, Park Tae-min glanced toward the hallway and leaned in close to the desk. He lowered his posture and dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“The other day, I went to Migung for a meal.”
“…Are you bragging?”
“Listen, you punk. Chief Prosecutor Cho and Deputy Prosecutor Seo were eating in the room next to me. Do you know what I heard?”
When I didn’t answer, Park Tae-min continued.
“Choi Yoon-oh is leaving the country next month. Apparently, he’ll be staying in New York for a while.”
Hee-shin’s eyes flashed like blades.
“Are you sure?”
“Strange, right? If he has nothing to hide, why the rush to leave? He’s planning to tie your hands and feet and buy himself some time.”
Hee-shin fell into deep thought with his lips pressed tight, and Park Tae-min patted him on the shoulder.
“Let’s call it even with this.”
“Even for what?”
“For me talking behind your back.”
“So you did do that.”
“I swear, I didn’t make anything up.”
After thinking it over, Hee-shin pulled over the desk calendar. If he left the country, the investigation would vanish into thin air. However, even if I requested a warrant now, the chances of it being granted were slim. I needed proper evidence. Concrete evidence that Choi Yoon-oh was involved in the deaths of Kim Hae-sung and Kim Ju-won.
“I can practically hear your brain gears turning from here.”
Good luck. I’m off. With those words, Park Tae-min left the office.
After he disappeared, Chief Oh looked at the closed door suspiciously.
“I really can’t tell what’s going on inside Prosecutor Park’s head.”
I agreed with her. I had known him for a long time, but there were moments when I wondered what he was thinking. He was a dual-sided person. He had a kind side, but he also had a clearly selfish and greedy side. Since he was similar to me in that regard, I had no intention of criticizing him, but I didn’t want to be too deeply entangled with him either.
Still, I had gained important information. If Choi Yoon-oh’s departure was true, I had to stop it somehow. But first, I had to deal with the mountain of documents in front of me. Just as I sighed and took a sip of the coffee Park Tae-min had bought, my phone vibrated.
Instead of sending a reply, I thought about Im Gyeong. Or rather, ‘calculated’ would be a more accurate term. Whether to turn my back on him now, or to associate with him moderately to reap the benefits. In truth, looking at Im Gyeong’s background alone, the conditions were incredibly attractive.
Setting aside the maternal grandfather, his father was a prominent businessman in the country. Furthermore, his mother was a famous investor. Starting with real estate, she was now known as a major shareholder of a private equity fund—a powerhouse in the M&A market boasting a scale of 1 trillion yen. There were cases where several mid-sized Korean companies had been absorbed by that fund.
On the other hand, nothing clear was known about Im Gyeong himself. The only things exposed to the public were videos from ten years ago when he worked as a model.
Because of the mention that it might be helpful, I couldn’t bring myself to cut him off decisively.
A quick reply arrived to my message asking for the time and place.
How does he know where I live? I almost refused, but then I changed my mind. If that man set his mind to it, couldn’t he find out anything? He had tracked down the people who kidnapped Kim Jun-gu and discovered that Yoon Se-na was behind it. It took him less than a week to find all that out. With that level of ability, he had probably already figured out exactly what kind of person I am. So, it wasn’t strange that he knew my address.
“How annoying….”
Muttering to myself, I focused on my work. Wearing a thimble, I flipped through documents and made several calls to request appearances. Some people hung up immediately, angrily asking if it was a voice phishing scam. It happened often enough that I was now numb to it.
I spent the morning frantically processing the assigned tasks, and before I knew it, lunchtime approached. Clerk Baek Young-mi went out to eat with close colleagues, and Kang Hee-shin headed to the cafeteria with Chief Oh. Before they even reached the cafeteria, Chief Oh grumbled.
“Ugh, this smell. Soybean paste soup again.”
As she said, lunch consisted of soybean paste soup, sausages, and seasoned vegetable side dishes. After getting my food and sitting down, just as I took a spoonful, Chief Oh’s phone rang. After a very short call, Chief Oh scanned the surroundings and lowered her voice.
“I found the prosecutor you were looking for.”
“…?”
“You know, the son of the driver from Choi Yoon-oh’s high school days.”
I stopped mid-bite and put my spoon down. I then grew wary of my surroundings. This was a place with many listening ears, and rumors spread in an instant. A place where something I said could unexpectedly blow back on me.
“He said he went abroad, but it seems he returned a few years ago. He changed his name and is currently in Busan. I’ll try to meet him.”
“Let’s go together.”
“You want to? Go to Busan and have some sashimi with soju?”
“Sounds good.”
Just then, the Head Prosecutors passed by, glancing our way. Chief Prosecutor Cho’s look was so disdainful that everyone around could feel it. Once they disappeared from sight, Chief Oh let out a sigh of relief and shook her head.
“Ugh, how childish. They say you don’t even mess with a dog while it’s eating. It’s not like they’re bullying high schoolers.”
“What? Should I go and land the first punch?”
“Look at his size. Do you think you’d win? That’s why there are weight classes in boxing.”
In reality, Chief Prosecutor Cho was nearly 190 cm tall; though he had a protruding belly, his frame was solid. He had once mentioned that if he hadn’t become a prosecutor, he would have become a gangster, and looking at his appearance, I thought that made sense.
“Hey, you’re making me feel sad saying that, Chief. Fighting isn’t about strength. It’s about momentum.”
I acted arrogant on purpose, and a few female employees glanced our way as they passed.
Seeing them whisper among themselves, Chief Oh laughed.
“I don’t know about fighting, but you’ve won a landslide victory in the looks department. Across all the district offices in the country, there’s no one who can compete with your face.”
“I agree.”
I picked up my spoon with a sly grin. Though I was smiling on the outside, my mind was working busily without rest. Chief Oh was likely the same, judging by how she kept taking out her phone to search for something. Ah, looking closer, she was searching for a famous restaurant. For a moment, my trust wavered, but since I was also thinking that I might as well eat something good while I was there, I decided to ignore it.