The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 114

It was the strong voice of a superior defending me. I inhaled shallowly and tightly curled the fingers resting on my knees.

The fact that he said “several times” meant he had somehow blocked attacks directed at me from behind all this time. Since even I had heard bad things reach my ears, much more criticism regarding me must have flowed into Prosecutor Joo’s.

“So, you don’t need to worry about Officer Lee. If there are any shortcomings, I can sufficiently guide him at my level.”

Prosecutor Joo’s defense was calm and firm. Even though Chief Tak had shown a disappointing side and attacked me, he didn’t let his emotions scatter anywhere. It was just as he had resolved.

The Division 1 Chief stepped forward again to advocate for Prosecutor Joo.

“No, Chief of Criminal Division 2. You’re speaking in a strange way. Prosecutor Joo’s approval line goes through me, so how can there be procedural issues? There hasn’t been a single problem in court until now.”

The argument among the three people, excluding me, ignited.

The fact that Chief Tak had desperately revealed his true colors to this extent was proof that our hypothesis was correct.

Oh Jahyeon thought he had killed Koryo-in Mr. Kim himself with a nicotine syringe. Afterward, with Chief Tak’s help, he abandoned the body. It was a hypothesis based on evidence.

Now, all we had to do was push forward with the investigation. There was nothing to be afraid of. Because I had Prosecutor Joo Taeson.

Chief Tak eventually accepted the fact that he could not get the conclusion he wanted. Prosecutor Joo was directly under the Division 1 Chief, and if the Division 1 Chief agreed with the investigation, there was no justification to stop it.

Finally, Chief Tak ended the meeting.

“Forget it. I understand, so all of you leave now.”

“We will investigate based on the evidence, so don’t worry, Chief Tak.”

Prosecutor Joo greeted him and rose from his seat. Of course, it was not the answer Chief Tak wanted.

Chief Tak returned to his desk, and the offended Division 1 Chief opened the door forcefully and left first. As the youngest person in the room, I cleaned up the table where the water bottle and paper cups were scattered and rose from my seat last. Leaving the heavy air behind, I bowed to Chief Tak and left with him.

Prosecutor Joo, having left the Chief’s office, seemed more shocked than when he heard the whole story from me. After confirming there was no one in the hallway, he muttered as if chewing his words.

“If it were in the past, I would have thought he was worried about me…. Now that I see it, it’s too blatant.”

It was difficult to add anything, so I quietly matched his stride. He stood for a moment and steadied his breathing before entering the prosecutor’s office. It seemed as though he was settling the impurity of emotions he hated to reveal so much. Before he opened the door to the office, I quietly handed him the object wrapped in a handkerchief.

“What is this.”

“The paper cup Chief Tak used.”

“…How on earth did you manage to grab this in the middle of that chaos?”

“I thought it would be fine since it’s trash. I just slipped it in when I was clearing the table.”

“Even if it’s trash, they might find it strange if one is missing. He’s someone who has been a prosecutor his whole life, so he’s sensitive. Ah…, is that why you threw away a perfectly good paper cup before the meeting started?”

“To keep the count right. It was difficult to identify the nationality from the photos he said were taken abroad.”

Prosecutor Joo, who had turned his body toward the prosecutor’s office while holding the item wrapped in the handkerchief, turned back and looked down at me.

“Sometimes you are scary in how thorough you are.”

“It’s just a trace of having grown up eating ‘eye-rice’ [walking on eggshells], it’s not because I’m an inhumane person, so don’t worry.”

“If you ever harbor ill intentions toward me, it would be a split second before I’m done for.”

“There is no way I would do that.”

“And am I someone who would do that?”

Exhausted from the long argument with the Chiefs, he asked back crookedly and opened the door. Chief Song and Officer No were sitting in their seats doing computer work, just as they had been when we left. The prosecutor’s office is always at war with the printed word.

Prosecutor Joo took out an evidence bag, put the paper cup inside, and stored it in a drawer. It was evidence to be sent secretly to the National Forensic Service within the day.

I was about to start my work when the company messenger alarm flickered. I clicked it, thinking it was one of the people in our office, but surprisingly, the name ‘Yoon Gyuho’ popped up.

[Hello, Investigator Lee Chaeha.]

My eyes, fixed on the monitor, opened roundly. First, I answered quickly.

[Hello, Prosecutor Yoon.]

[Looking at the materials Pro Joo sent over, you write reports very well.]

[Thank you.]

[It’s nothing else, but there’s something I want to check with you separately. It’s not a very important question, and I didn’t want to bother Pro Joo.]

I was curious about the business of the person who even offered unnecessary pleasantries. Whether it was really a simple question or if there was a hidden motive. I thought for a moment, rubbing the sleek keyboard with my fingertips, and soon answered.

[Yes, please go ahead.]

[I heard Pro Joo met with the Chairman this morning. And you accompanied him, Officer Lee.]

[That is correct.]

[Did you write a report or record the conversation you had with the Chairman?]

[No. The Chairman’s position is that he will formally appear later if necessary.]

He was said to be a style with a desire for success; it seemed he was conscious of Osong’s position.

[I’ll buy you a coffee when we run into each other later. We’ll be investigating together from now on, and it seems like I’ve never even greeted you personally, Officer Lee.]

[Not at all. I should have sought you out and greeted you first; thank you.]

[There’s no need to tell Pro Joo that I asked separately.]

He was telling me not to tell him. I lightly scanned the messages we exchanged again, but there was no particularly exposed information.

[Understood.]

The unexpected conversation ended there.

Hesitation pooled at the tips of my fingers, which were still resting on the keyboard. It was because I was worried about whether I should tell Prosecutor Joo.

In any case, the other party is a prosecutor. Although it was a light conversation where no special information was exchanged, if he found out that I reported it as is, harm could come to me even if he wasn’t my direct superior. There was no telling when or where an personnel transfer would be announced.

I hesitated for a moment, but I reported it as it was to Prosecutor Joo Taeson.

[Prosecutor Yoon Gyuho contacted me via the company messenger.]

[To you, Officer Lee? What did he say.]

[He asked if I had written a report or recorded the conversation with the Chairman.]

[You would have answered that you hadn’t. Anything else.]

[No. However, he gave the nuance that there was no need to tell you separately, Prosecutor.]

I waited a moment again this time before asking.

[Prosecutor Yoon Gyuho, is he someone who can be trusted? He is a prosecutor in Criminal Division 2 where Chief Tak is. He might have personal ties with Chief Tak.]

[I know they have ties, but I don’t think they’re that deep. Of course, it’s a possibility, though. Like me, he is a university alumnus of Chief Tak’s. Now I don’t even know what I know and what I don’t.]

His messages flew in succession.

[I won’t make it obvious to Prosecutor Yoon, so if he talks to you again, report it as is.]

[Yes.]

I finished my conversation with him and then thought about the work I had to do today. There was a mountain of instructions from my superior to carry out. To fulfill one of them, I sent a message to Chief Song.

[Chief, I’m so sorry, but something suddenly came up for me this weekend. How about we have lunch separately tomorrow?]

[That’s good too. Are you meeting a friend?]

I hesitated for a moment before answering.

[Yes.]

We were clearly not friends, but it was a relationship for which there was no way to explain it to anyone else.

The person who was the closest and most intimate relationship to me, yet at the same time, the one who sometimes called forth loneliness. I stared at the letters ‘friend’ quietly, then took my eyes off it and put a bright blue thimble on my finger.

📄🖊️

I never asked Prosecutor Joo again after that whether he liked me. If I were to fail to get an answer again, it felt as if a rock would fall on top of my shallow patience. I did not want to endure the work of having my concentrated emotions shattered and crumbled into pieces again.

Since I was not a person accustomed to living with my emotions exposed and scattered about, it was a question I would not be able to ask a second time without the help of impulse. Prosecutor Joo acted as if he had never heard my question, and I understood that meaning as a rejection.