The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 131

It was a rumor that supported Prosecutor Joo Taeson’s suspicions. That perhaps Chief Tak might have siphoned off drugs confiscated as evidence in cases he was in charge of and used them for criminal purposes.

Is Prosecutor Yoon Gyuho really someone who can be trusted? Seeing that he provided information that could become quite an important lead, I felt that I could trust him enough.

Prosecutor Yoon finished the conversation in a light tone.

“I thought it would be good for Prosecutor Joo to look into what kind of case it is. Well, I’ll take my leave here for today.”

Prosecutor Yoon rose from his seat and was about to open the door and leave, but he looked back at Prosecutor Joo.

“Oh, right, when did you say you were going to meet President Kang Woosung’s second son?”

“Tomorrow.”

This time, I was surprised and looked at Prosecutor Joo. It was information I had heard absolutely nothing about. Prosecutor Joo must have noticed my gaze, but he did not move his eyes from Prosecutor Yoon. Prosecutor Yoon nodded readily.

“Then good work. Officer Lee, you work hard too.”

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

I stood up and bowed my head slightly. As soon as the door clicked shut, a heavy silence hung between the two of them again.

“…I will go too.”

I was the one to break the silence first. Prosecutor Joo, perhaps intending to go alone, delayed his answer for a moment before fixing his gaze on the documents on the desk. His intention not to look at me was clearly readable. He responded perfunctorily.

“You can go alone.”

“I will go with you. You’re going because of the password sound, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“That is why I want to go with you. Because until it is revealed why DNA appeared on the awl after the password was changed that same day, Lee Gilyoung is the culprit.”

The answer came back a beat late.

“…Do as you please. Officer Lee is stubborn, too. For your information, I don’t have a good relationship with my younger brother. The atmosphere will be bad.”

“Is that why you’ve never talked deeply about your father’s case until now?”

“Yes. We were already distant to begin with, and we became even more estranged because of what happened a few years ago. I haven’t even thought about talking about it.”

“In that case, wouldn’t your brother be more cooperative if an investigator went with you?”

“…That could be true.”

Prosecutor Joo agreed reluctantly.

I dropped artificial tears into my dry eyes. I blinked a few times, wiped away the excess eye drops that flowed out with my fingertips, and as I spread out the materials full of numbers again, I asked him in a passing tone.

“Why don’t you have a good relationship with your brother?”

“One reason is because I forced my brother to change his surname as well, and the other is….”

He hesitated for a moment, but he parted his lips without a single change in expression. Still looking at the paper instead of looking at me.

“…Because that kid has liked Prosecutor Yoon Soyeon for a long time.”

A heavy rock rolled over in my chest. With his father murdered, and the person his brother liked—who was also a friend—dead because she could not withstand violence, how is it that Joo Taeson is still working at the Prosecutor’s Office and enduring his daily life as if nothing had happened?

Suddenly, the life of a person named Joo Taeson felt unbearably pitiful.

Even if it were true that he approached me with the purpose of taking revenge, I felt like I could even die after being stabbed by the blade he wielded.

However, the person I felt pity for flipped the document in front of him without even blinking an eyelash, as if he himself had no emotions. On his long fingers, the bright blue thimbles remained in their usual place as always.

📄🖊️

It was only after riding in Prosecutor Joo’s car on Saturday that I learned the exact destination. He entered the address of a pottery studio in Seoul. The place where his brother lived was further than I thought.

“Does your brother work at a pottery shop?”

“He’s the owner. He majored in ceramics.”

That Prosecutor Joo had a younger brother who majored in art. It was truly an unfitting combination.

Because it was Saturday, the traffic was heavy, so it took nearly three hours to arrive. The biggest reason was that Danhyeon City is a small town on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province. It would have been better to take the train.

The car was hopelessly trapped in the congested road. Prosecutor Joo opened his mouth for the first time in a while, keeping his eyes on the vehicle in front.

“Are you still maintaining that wild speculation that I approached you for the purpose of revenge?”

“…No.”

His black eyes glanced at me for the first time in a while before returning to their original place.

“Why all of a sudden?”

“Thinking about it, if you had held such feelings, I don’t think you would have helped me when I was falsely accused during my police days.”

“That’s logical.”

“But I also think there is at least an intention that you didn’t want to make Lee Gilyoung’s son feel comfortable or treat him well.”

“That’s a quite rational judgment. Fortunately, it seems Officer Lee hasn’t wasted that good brain of yours and has rolled it around a lot on your own.”

“…Can’t you deny it to some extent? I’ve lived receiving a lot of hatred, so I understand everything even if you say no as a courtesy.”

“I’d like to do that too, but I’m just not good at saying things I don’t mean.”

“You didn’t have a good relationship with your brother even when you were young, did you?”

“Yes.”

Prosecutor Joo paused for a moment and added.

“If the wild speculation about me has changed, is there room to reconsider our relationship?”

“There is not. I thought I made that point clear last time.”

“No, you were scratching at me subtly. I wondered if I could hold onto some hope.”

Since it wasn’t wrong to say I was scratching at him subtly, I kept my mouth shut.

The car passed through a city dense with buildings and entered a relatively quiet and remote neighborhood in Seoul. On one side, old government housing apartments were visible, and the other side was an area where old shopping districts were concentrated. Going a little deeper from there, I could see small detached houses with yards, and deeper still, the pottery studio was located.

The studio seemed to be doing quite well, as it was crowded with visitors for the weekend. The surroundings were lined with trendy cafes. Looking at the poster attached outside the shop, it seemed they also held pottery exhibitions occasionally. Looking at his profile, he was a university alumnus of Prosecutor Joo. One of the top universities in the country.

“Your brother must have been a good student, too.”

“Not really.”

…Because of that, his relationship with his brother would have been even worse. While it was true that he himself had done better, the attitude of answering that it was “not really” when they had graduated from the same university was just like Prosecutor Joo Taeson.

Prosecutor Joo stopped for a moment in front of the glass door. His hesitation was unlike him. Before long, as if he had made up his mind, his thick fingers grabbed the cold-looking silver handle and pushed. Prosecutor Joo passed the clerk, who was busy attending to customers, and knocked on the door of the studio inside.

“Joo Wooseon.”

Not long after he called, the door opened from the inside. A man appeared who looked similar to Prosecutor Joo but had thinner features and a more sensitive impression. His build was also relatively smaller, but he was taller than me. As soon as Joo Wooseon spotted his older brother, he furrowed his eyebrows fiercely and closed the door immediately.

“That bastard.”

Prosecutor Joo sighed. The sound of him knocking on the door again became much fiercer, so I blocked him as if to restrain him and shook my head slightly. Then I knocked instead and asked for the younger brother.

“Mr. Joo Wooseon, this is Investigator Lee Chaeha from the Danhyeon Branch Office. I’ve come because I have a few things to ask you regarding a case.”

Even after hearing my greeting, Joo Wooseon hesitated for a moment, but soon opened the door again. Only then did Joo Wooseon seem to notice my presence, and he looked back and forth between the two of us before moving aside with an unhappy expression. Compared to his older brother, who did not easily reveal his joys and sorrows, he was quite incapable of hiding his feelings. Their respective majors and personalities seemed like extremes.

“Come in.”

“Thank you.”

Prosecutor Joo slid inside without even a greeting, but I bowed my waist politely to his younger brother, whom I was seeing for the first time. I wanted to show respect to President Kang Woosung’s son. Moreover, he was also Prosecutor Joo Taeson’s younger brother.

The inside was full of ceramic works. There were pieces that were still being worked on and what appeared to be finished products. Avoiding the pottery wheel placed in the center, we went to the table inside where we were guided and sat down.

Joo Wooseon sat opposite us with a listless and annoyed face. He wanted to be annoyed at his older brother, but it was clear that he was enduring it at least because I was there.

“Have you been well?”

When Prosecutor Joo asked, the other person answered immediately.

“What on earth is going on that you even brought an investigator with you?”

“I’m here to ask about Father’s case.”