The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 172

The prosecutor’s office in July was on the verge of suffocating from the sweltering heat. The air conditioner, which had broken down thoroughly somewhere, had been making the sound of a ship’s horn for several days, spraying hot and cold air into the room by turns. The office, already dreary to begin with, became damp with humidity.

The middle-aged witness who was sitting in front of me receiving the investigation wrinkled his brow in annoyance and fanned himself. It happened to be the timing when the air conditioner was blowing out hot air. It seemed even hotter because his long hair was matted against his sweaty nape.

“Why is it so hot in here? My goodness, what is that air conditioner. It’s just noisy.”

“You’re hot, aren’t you? We requested repairs, but the technician hasn’t arrived yet. Shall I get you a glass of cold water?”

“Yes, please. It would be better to just turn the air conditioner off.”

“It will be blowing cold air soon, so please wait just a little.”

As I stood up from my seat and walked toward the water purifier, the gaze of Prosecutor Joo, who was sitting with his back to the window, followed and pierced into my cheek. I know that he does not consider kindness a virtue, but he should at least know that ordinary people who are not as well-off as he is have courtesies they inevitably have to maintain when living in society. I brought the cold water, placed it in front of the reference witness, sat back down across from him, and placed my fingers on the keyboard.

The Prosecutor Joo office, which had been on everyone’s lips for a while, was cruising smoothly again. The investigator newly assigned to replace the arrested Chief Song was slightly older and lacked finesse. There were no major clashes with Prosecutor Joo, but he barely managed to do the minimum amount of work assigned to him. It could not have satisfied Prosecutor Joo, who has perfectionist tendencies, but at least Ms. No Seonhui, the administrative officer, was being as cheerful as ever, which prevented the office atmosphere from worsening.

The first trial for Chief Tak Sungwoong and Oh Jahyeon was in full swing. Highly capable lawyers were attached to the case, but the outlook for the defendants was not very bright.

The public prosecutor was more motivated than ever. It was because, unlike cases indicted by the Danhyeon Branch, it was receiving media attention and the physical evidence was so certain that it was an opportunity to build a solid track record. The prosecution had demanded the death penalty for Chief Tak and a 30-year sentence for Oh Jahyeon, who aided him, but it remained to be seen what the court’s verdict would be.

The repair technician, who visited late in the afternoon, fixed the air conditioner that had been rattling due to the breakdown. Since I have a summer vacation starting tomorrow, I had to struggle to work until a late hour to clear out the piled-up cases, so it was a relief that the office at least became cool.

Around ten at night, I packed my bag to leave work together after Prosecutor Joo shut down his computer. The fatigue of an office worker who had only stared at a monitor all day piled up layer upon layer on my shoulders.

As I stretched upon rising, he approached and poked my stomach with his finger.

“Your bare skin is showing.”

“Because I’m tired.”

I pushed back the end of the shirt that had popped out in my shyness, but his long fingers dug inside and pulled out the clothes I had painstakingly straightened. His fingertips secretly touched my bare skin. As he grabbed my waist to the point of pressing into the flesh, I caught his thick wrist with both hands to block his playful touch and straightened my shirt again. I sent a look of dissatisfaction toward him without filtration.

“I haven’t left work yet.”

“It’s fine. It’s vacation period so there’s no one at the branch. We must be the last to leave.”

I put on the cross-body bag I was holding in my hand. When I looked up, clutching the strap that crossed my chest, one corner of his mouth rose leisurely.

“You’re defensive today.”

“Since we’ll be together continuously from tomorrow because of the summer vacation, there’s no need to rush.”

“Still, when I have Lee Chaeha in front of me, my heart easily grows impatient.”

His large palm held my shoulder and then slowly came down, sweeping my arm. My fine hairs stood up minutely while his hand moved along my forearm, which stretched out under the short sleeve, down to my wrist.

It is a curious thing that I can be trembling every time, even though he touches me every day. The round surface of his finger touched the scar that remained a faint brown from being cut by the knife swung by Chief Song. He asked, rubbing it carefully as if the already healed scar might hurt.

“Does your stomach not hurt?”

“It ached sometimes until a few weeks ago, but now it’s fine.”

“I’m still worried. Unless the scar disappears completely, because I keep seeing it.”

I was the one who pointed out just a moment ago that we were at the office, but I couldn’t help it and grabbed his warm hand before letting it go. I had gained a lover who felt sorry for my wounds and was affectionate toward me, and I was immensely happy that the person was Joo Taeson. It was unfamiliar that the full emotions that suddenly filled my heart all bore positive labels.

Things like happiness, excitement, and comfort. It was about time I got used to them, but they were still unfamiliar.

The hallway was as empty as an unoccupied building. While we were waiting for the elevator together, his large palm covered my head briefly before falling away quickly. His attentive gaze touched the scar mark revealed under the short sleeve again.

Prosecutor Joo kept being concerned about the wounds where I was cut and stabbed by the knife. He seemed to think that if he had run a little faster, or if he had thought of the branch first instead of the apartment and government residence, I would not have been hurt.

Joo Taeson was a lover affectionate enough to harbor that kind of guilt. Of course, he was a person who was still difficult at times, and there were coercive aspects in bed, but he was much warmer and more affectionate than I had expected. It was a sense of stability I had never had before.

We decided to go on a trip for our summer vacation. If we didn’t leave somewhere, it was difficult to date comfortably or even eat out once in Danhyeon City, where there are many eyes watching. In normal times, we could disguise it as a meeting for friendship or an outing for work, but it was extremely awkward for a boss and a subordinate to meet and eat or walk around downtown during summer vacation. Moreover, the city was small, so the probability of running into someone I knew was high. This was the disadvantage of an office romance.

It was Prosecutor Joo who first suggested we go on a trip. It was right after our team’s summer vacation schedule came out a month ago. We were lying together on the sofa in his apartment on the weekend watching a movie, and Prosecutor Joo, who was holding me tight from behind, whispered small into my ear.

‘Shall we go on an overseas trip during summer vacation?’

‘Must it be overseas?’

I asked back, keeping my eyes fixed on the screen. The voice that touched the back of my head had an air of bewilderment at my listless answer.

‘Do you not like traveling?’

‘Um… I don’t know if I like it or not. Especially overseas, because I’ve never been out.’

‘When was the last trip you took?’

‘A school retreat?’

‘Things like that don’t count.’

‘What about a field trip?’

‘Same thing.’

‘A picnic?’

‘Is there any way I’d count a picnic? You’re doing this on purpose right now.’

A hand extended from behind my back squeezed my nose tight and then let go. When I laughed until my cheeks puffed out roundly, his fingers grabbed my raised cheeks slightly before leaving. This time, I answered seriously.

‘Then I suppose the last trip was going to the sea for summer vacation when I was a second grader in elementary school.’

‘You’re an alien.’

The final reaction was somewhat unfair. I took my eyes off the movie screen, turned my head to the side, and glanced up at him. Prosecutor Joo was looking down at me, who was in his arms, with his chin propped up, not caring about the movie. His thick fingertips caressed my hair that had fallen and the area around my cheek. As my gaze locked with Prosecutor Joo’s, my interest in the movie also suddenly dropped sharply, so I immediately laid my body down and made proper eye contact with him.

‘Do you like traveling, Prosecutor?’

‘Yes. I traveled a lot. Overseas and domestically. Then isn’t there anywhere you want to go?’

‘I do want to see the sea again.’

‘Domestically?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then let’s go to the seaside no matter what. This summer vacation.’

I was happy that he decided on the sea just because I wanted it.

If I had to choose between mountains and the sea, I preferred the sea much more. It must be because of my childhood memories.

Standing on the hot sandy beach, the sensation of the transparent waves that would coldly cover my ankles and then recede still came to mind vividly. I would float around in the sea on a small tube, and when I got tired, I would crawl under a parasol and lie on a straw mat. Then my mom would feed me watermelon that she had sliced at home. I would open my small mouth to receive the red, sweet flesh, and with my eyes closed, I would feel the sea breeze drying the sand grains stuck to the soles of my feet.

I was still not interested in traveling, but I thought it would be good to go to the sea with Prosecutor Joo. It was an opportunity to spend a leisurely vacation that existed only in memories.

After debating between the South Sea and the East Sea, we decided on the East Sea. It was because it was a sea I had never been to once.

After the destination was decided, I searched for the sea from time to time. Was it a trick of the camera? The sea in the photos was bluer and more beautiful than the fragments of memory that remained as reminiscence, so I was curious about what kind of sea I would actually face. When I imagined the sea, which was sure to be bluer than the summer sky, I would look forward to the vacation that used to be nothing more than days of sleeping in alone.