#184

He shook them off.

No, he escaped.

He was sure he was leading the Incheon guys away. But from the Cheonan junction, the cars that had been following disappeared. Two vans had been tailing him closely, and one had even tried to cause a traffic accident. It felt like he was possessed by a ghost.

Where the hell did they go?

Did they turn back because of Lee Seon-jae?

Or did they take a shortcut and are waiting for him ahead?

Whatever the reason, Jeong Jae-jin felt miserable.

A misjudgment and complacency ruined everything.

Jeong Jae-jin couldn’t believe he had done something so stupid. He couldn’t forgive himself for using the cell phone he had used with Detective Oh again, even while Detective Park was being disciplined and Detective Oh was under investigation for his responsibility.

And then he suspected Lee Seon-jae and tried to pull Yoon Ki-beom out midway. Instead, he should have trusted Lee Seon-jae and pushed forward as planned, but he ended up making the worst mistake.

Arrest warrants for Lee Seok-doo and Lee Hyun-joon would be issued today. The chief prosecutor had already approved it, and only the deputy chief prosecutor’s approval remained. If he had just gone to work on time, he could have confidently arrested them with the arrest warrants in hand. Of course, that didn’t guarantee Lee Seon-jae’s complete safety, but at least the situation would have been slightly different.

But he couldn’t stand that short time and ruined everything.

He could only say that he was possessed by a ghost.

He was ashamed that he had confidently promised to save Lee Seon-jae no matter what. In the end, he drove him to his death and only he survived. It was a completely different result from what he had initially planned.

He was cornered. The arrest warrants were rejected, and the high-ranking officials who had contacted him first began to back out one by one. Those who had promised to testify against Lee Seok-doo changed their words. Still, it wasn’t the worst situation, so why was he so hasty?

Jeong Jae-jin fell into self-loathing for the first time in his life.

“You crazy bastard.” It was a word he should have said to himself, not to Lee Seon-jae.

He looked down on them as gangsters, but in the end, Lee Seon-jae, who had worked under gangsters, had loyalty.

Jeong Jae-jin smiled bitterly.

After confirming that there was no one chasing him, extreme hunger and fatigue washed over him.

He didn’t think he could drive in this state, so he headed to a nearby rest area. He took care of urgent business and satisfied his hunger. Once his stomach was full, his eyelids naturally drooped. He hadn’t slept a wink for two nights, so it was understandable, but now was not the time to sleep.

He went back to his car and turned on his cell phone and pager, which he had been keeping off. As expected, dozens of voice and text messages had arrived. From senior prosecutors to the chief prosecutor, investigators who shared a room with Jeong Jae-jin, and even detectives who had worked with him on the operation, everyone was worried about Jeong Jae-jin’s long absence.

They were anxious that something might have happened during the weekend. Jeong Jae-jin, who had been living in the prosecutor’s office for almost a year, regardless of weekends or holidays, hadn’t come to work and couldn’t be reached, so it was understandable.

Jeong Jae-jin immediately called the office.

Investigator Park answered the phone.

“Investigator Park, it’s me.”

“Oh, Prosecutor Jeong. Where the hell are you? The chief has been looking for you since this morning.”

Investigator Park sighed deeply and began to scold him.

“I’m sorry. I’m in the provinces right now.”

“The provinces?”

“Yes. I’ll tell you the details when I get back. What happened to the arrest warrants?”

He asked as if he had left it in their care.

“I was calling you about that. The deputy chief said he would only sign it in person with you. He said you have to visit him by this morning if you want to get the signature.”

“Shit.” Prosecutor Jeong ran a hand over his dry face and estimated the time.

The head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Department of the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office, to which Jeong Jae-jin belonged, the 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor, was as good as the next Chief Prosecutor. If he approved it, the Chief Prosecutor would sign it right away unless something special happened. From the beginning, the operation to catch Lee Seok-doo was started with the tacit consent of the Deputy Chief Prosecutor.

The 3rd Deputy Chief Prosecutor was surprisingly progressive, not caring about anything once he started something, and he was also a rigid person who always kept his word. That meant he could only get his signature if he went to see him in person. And that had to be by this morning.

Jeong Jae-jin knew that. That’s why he tried to go straight to Seoul after intercepting Yoon Ki-beom on Sunday. He didn’t know things would get so twisted.

Time was of the essence. Even if he arrested Lee Seok-doo after receiving the arrest warrant, it might be after Lee Seon-jae was dead. Lee Seon-jae was not the type to go under Lee Seok-doo even if he died. So he would have chosen Chairman Shin as a last resort.

Chairman Shin would have sent his people for Lee Seon-jae. The problem was what conditions Lee Seon-jae had set. Jeong Jae-jin knew better than anyone that he wasn’t the type to just say, “Please save me,” without any conditions.

Even in this urgent situation, his eyelids kept closing. He regretted eating, but he wouldn’t have been able to stop the drowsiness even if he hadn’t.

“Investigator Park, what’s the closest branch office to Cheongyang?”

“Cheongyang? Just a moment. Cheongyang. Chief Choi, which office is in charge of Cheongyang?”

Investigator Park asked Chief Choi, who was working in the same office. The answer came from across the receiver that it was the Gongju Branch Office. It was the voice of the clerk.

“It’s the Gongju Branch Office.”

“Yes. I understand.”

He only asked that without any explanation, so the other person seemed puzzled. But he didn’t ask any further. He seemed to think it wasn’t an urgent fire that needed to be put out right away.

“And Prosecutor Jeong, about Lee Hyun-joon, he was moved from the intensive care unit to a general ward an hour ago.”

“That’s good.”

While Investigator Park was talking, the phone kept ringing in the office. He felt sorry for holding onto someone unnecessarily on Monday, which was already the busiest day of the week.

“Oh, another call. It’s the chief.”

“I’ll call him right away.”

“Yes. Please do. By the way, you’re coming into the office now, right?”

“Yes. I’ll be there before lunch no matter what.”

After finishing the call with Investigator Park, Jeong Jae-jin called the chief. He was immediately scolded, but it didn’t last long. It was because of a meeting. It was fortunate for Jeong Jae-jin. Since it was a meeting hosted by the Deputy Chief Prosecutor, he didn’t bother to contact the Deputy Chief. There was nothing he could say over the phone anyway.

Jeong Jae-jin finished the call and immediately reclined his seat. He had reached his limit and couldn’t hold on any longer. He set an alarm for an hour and tried to sleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, he fell into a deep sleep.

He slept soundly for about an hour and woke up to the alarm. He wanted to sleep for several hours, but this was not the time. Before he changed his mind, he went to the bathroom, washed his face, and started the car again.

He didn’t even dream. Some people meet their loved ones in their dreams, but Jeong Jae-jin’s longing face didn’t even appear in his dreams.

“Who am I working my ass off for like this? Why don’t you even show your face?”

He grumbled for no reason.

If his aunt had kept the secret until the end, he wouldn’t have been interested in Lee Seon-jae or Il-gwang. He wouldn’t have started the anti-corruption investigation, flattering and sucking up to people he didn’t even have in his destiny.

But he didn’t blame his aunt.

This job suited him better than anything else, and it was more rewarding than he thought. He also knew that it was the real start of his career. Nevertheless, he sometimes regretted not stepping into this world.

When he was in the criminal division, everything was clear. There was a perpetrator and a victim, and if there was a suspect, there was a defendant. Good and evil, black and white. He couldn’t divide it perfectly into two, but there was still a clear line to some extent.

But as he proceeded with the anti-corruption investigation, that line collapsed. He felt a sense of shame at the fact that nothing, no one, he had believed in might be good. Even though it wasn’t the corruption he had committed, his face flushed, and he wanted to hide in a rat hole out of shame. It was shocking to see respected seniors and teachers, trusted colleagues, and adults who led the country participating in injustice and corruption without any qualms.

He doubted if that was the person he knew. Even though the evidence was clear, he wanted to believe it wasn’t true. No, there must be another reason. They were threatened, or they were caught with a weakness.

But Jeong Jae-jin’s expectations were shattered. Even if they were caught with a weakness and had no choice, the cause was their immoral behavior. Acts that could only become weaknesses. Shameful acts.

As he recalled their faces one by one, he suddenly felt nauseous. He quickly pulled the car over to the shoulder and opened the driver’s seat wide. Before he could even get out, he threw up everything inside.

“Shit.”

He rinsed his mouth with water and soothed it with bitter coffee.

He stood on the shoulder and looked at the distant mountains.

Tears welled up in his eyes because he was angry and sorry.

He wanted to get Lee Seon-jae out of there. He had promised to do so. But he couldn’t keep any of them.

Please just stay alive.

Even for Yoon Ki-beom, whom you love so much, even if that love fades away soon, live now.

He prayed.

Jeong Jae-jin, an atheist, decided to become a theist for today. He begged God, Buddha, and Allah, anyone, to save Lee Seon-jae.

He was heartbroken by the fact that he had put a man he could have saved, and even given a new life to, in danger with his own hands.

Why did he do that?

Why couldn’t he manage Park Dong-Hee properly?

Why did he believe Oh Dae-ho until the end?

Besides that, small mistakes came to mind one by one.

He should have done that then, he should have handled it this way then.

Jeong Jae-jin, who rarely regretted anything, would probably regret yesterday’s events for the rest of his life.

The phone rang.

It was Kim Delivery. Looking at the clock, it was time for Kim Delivery to arrive at the hideout.

“Yeah. What is it?”

“Oh! You’re answering the phone?”

Kim Delivery was surprised that he had called.

He must have thought he was caught by the Incheon guys. Then why the hell did he make a confirmation call? Anyway, he was a funny guy.

“You managed to shake them off.”

“Did you call to talk about that?”

“Sort of.”

Kim Delivery smiled awkwardly.

“Um, you know. His condition isn’t good. What should I do?”

“What condition?”

“His arm seems to be very painful. He’s been popping so many painkillers that he’s starting to talk nonsense.”

Kim Delivery’s voice was full of worry.

He had put the bone that had come out through the skin back in and aligned it. And he had treated it to prevent infection. But he couldn’t put in a metal pin. Jeong Jae-jin ran away with Yoon Ki-beom during the surgery, so he had no choice but to stop midway.

The medical staff was bewildered, but they couldn’t stop the prosecutor from the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office from stopping the surgery. All they could do was close and sew up the opened wound.

“The painkiller he gave you, is that a narcotic?”

Jeong Jae-jin asked.

“You’re asking the obvious.”

“How many pills did he take?”

“I secretly looked in the medicine cabinet while I went to the bathroom, and half of them were gone. But he’s holding up well. He’s talking nonsense sometimes, but he’s still able to have a conversation.”

“Are you home?”

“Yeah. I just got here.”

“Then feed him something and put him to sleep. Do you have sleeping pills?”

“No, you idiot. We have to treat him, treat him! Are you going to make a cripple out of a man who already has a bad leg?”

Kim Delivery sighed and got angry.

“It’s not possible now. Il-gwang’s guys will be all over the hospitals near the hideout that can perform surgery. You know that.”

“I know. Of course, I know.”

Kim Delivery knew that too. But he must have contacted him because Yoon Ki-beom’s condition seemed really bad.

“When the hell is that going to be over? You said you’d have that bastard Lee Seok-doo locked up today, right?”

“By noon. He’s on his way to Seoul now, so just wait a little longer. Just keep him comfortable and take care of him for today.”

Kim Bae-dal said, “What choice do I have? When you tell me to do something, I do it.”

“You always have to say something.”

“Oh, alright. Are you sulking?”

Kim Bae-dal was being cheeky, but it wasn’t annoying at all. If it weren’t for that friend, Yoon Ki-beom and he would already be begging for their lives in Il-gwang’s clutches.

“Oh, right, what about Cheong-yang?”

“He got away okay, for now.”

“Really? That’s good.”

“Whose boys do you think they are?”

He bragged. Then, he subtly asked about Lee Seon-jae’s well-being.

“Did you hear from that pretty boy?”

“Oh, so you’ve grown attached already? After cursing him out like that?”

“If I didn’t remember meeting a beauty like that, I wouldn’t be a man.”

Kim Bae-dal said it jokingly, but he was genuinely worried about Lee Seon-jae. He was a man with a lot of affection, anyway.

“That’s your problem. You worry after seeing someone for just a few hours.”

“Hey, do I do that to just anyone?”

Kim Bae-dal retorted.

“And I won’t be able to rest easy until it’s all over, whether he lives or the old man gets an arrest warrant. I can’t even move because of that old man. And I need to get Ki-beom’s arm treated quickly.”

Seeing Kim Bae-dal so anxious, there must be something wrong with his arm. Could he just leave it like that? He was starting to get worried.

“What about Jo Hwa-ta?”

He mentioned the name of the quack doctor he knew through Kim Bae-dal. He was called ‘Jo Hwa-ta’ after the famous Chinese doctor ‘Hwa-ta’. He didn’t graduate from medical school, so he didn’t have a license or certification, but he was more skilled than most doctors.

“He specializes in knives.”

Kim Bae-dal replied in a disapproving tone.

“Tell him to learn how to insert metal pins while he’s at it.”

“You crazy bastard. Try it on your own arm. Anyway, hurry up and call me when it’s over. He’s going to end up catching an innocent person.”

“Don’t rush me. I’ll definitely finish it before 2 PM today.”

“2 PM? Alright. Good luck.”

Ki-beom, are you hungry? Sorry. I had an important call.

The call ended with Kim Bae-dal talking to Yoon Ki-beom.

Enough with the sentimentality.

Jeong Jae-jin downed his coffee in one gulp and crumpled the paper cup.

The water had already been spilled. He just needed to take care of what was left and finish it well.

Lee Seon-jae will live. Jeong Jae-jin decided to believe that he would live no matter what.

Nothing will happen.

Yeah. What kind of guy is he?

Jeong Jae-jin shouted a fighting cheer and got into the car.

He would look back on today’s events with a smile in a few days.

He stepped on the accelerator forcefully and re-entered the road.

185 – Chapter Title Without Number