The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 24

“I feel like I’m going to be demanding and sometimes even mean to you, Officer Lee. I’m already doing that now. It must be because I know you’re the son of a murderer.”

“…That’s fine. I’ll learn hard and do well.”

“I don’t need you to work hard. Just do it well. Because I’m the kind of person who values that more.”

“I’ll hold on until I’m good at it.”

“Even though you quit being a police officer?”

The returning question stung. However, I answered steadfastly, like a police officer.

“I will ensure that such things don’t happen in Prosecutor Joo Taeson’s office. I will do my job well until the very end, until I am transferred.”

Prosecutor Joo Taeson turned his body toward the outside of the villa. My hand was still gripping the hem of his coat.

I thought Prosecutor Joo would just leave as he was. But as if he had changed his mind, his broad chest turned back toward me, and the toes that had been pointing outward stepped firmly inward.

We were already close enough for me to grab his arm, but as he stepped one inch closer, it felt as if our bodies would stick together. As the space between us narrowed to the point where a single sheet of paper could barely slip through, I couldn’t breathe. The intimidating pressure he exuded turned into a rock that weighed down on my chest.

Prosecutor Joo slowly lowered his head toward me. Strangely, I felt like he was going to kiss me. Because the light radiating from his black eyes was touching my lips.

However, my intuition was off, and nothing happened between him and me.

“Officer Lee.”

Prosecutor Joo held his lower lip tightly for a moment, as if restraining himself, before letting go, then grasped my arm that was holding him. The request that flew in on the winter wind was far too simple compared to the expression he was wearing now.

“You seem drunk; be careful going up the stairs.”

Did he turn back just to say those words again? I wanted to ask.

But instead of asking, I offered a polite greeting.

“Yes, Prosecutor. Please get home safely.”

“Sleep well.”

The same “sleep well” greeting from last time returned. I had the illusion that Prosecutor Joo knew about my insomnia. It was just a common farewell.

This time, he finally let me go and turned away from me. A wind, as large as the widening gap between us, brushed past the two of us.

I looked at his broad back in a daze, then bowed my head.

“Goodbye.”

He ignored my second greeting and walked back alone through the alley we had walked together.

I stood alone in the cold, staggering until Prosecutor Joo turned the corner of the alley. Until the steam escaping from Prosecutor Joo’s lips, his body, and the hem of his coat completely disappeared, leaving only the dark void before my eyes.

📄🖊️

As soon as I entered the house while dead drunk, I relaxed and passed out. The ice cream I had bought even while leaving Prosecutor Joo standing outside was found in my bag the next morning, completely melted. The plastic bag felt squishy. It was a huge relief that it hadn’t leaked.

The people in the prosecutor’s office, who were strong with alcohol, came to work with bright faces as usual and worked hard. I performed my assigned tasks diligently too, but because my stomach hurt, I kept thinking about the milk-flavored ice cream I couldn’t eat yesterday.

Life in the prosecutor’s office flowed more smoothly than I had thought. Prosecutor Joo, who had suggested the investigator position by asking me to become a conspirator, had made no special gestures since I transferred to the office. When I did something wrong, he spoke sharply, and there were times he called me in separately to scold me, but it was nothing more or less than the attitude toward a general subordinate.

It even reached the point where I pondered, wondering if I had misheard the word ‘conspirator’ that day, as I retraced our conversation. Since the day of the staff dinner, the strange tension that had begun to flow between us felt like it was all my own illusion.

Meanwhile, Prosecutor Joo was still not processing the death of Mr. Kim, the Koryo-saram, the case we had first worked on together. Although we suspected abandonment of a body in our hearts, there was no solid evidence or suspects, so it was a case that couldn’t be indicted anyway.

Because of that, rumors spread that he had been heavily scolded by the Chief Prosecutor of the 1st Division this time. From the upper management’s perspective, it was natural since he had been stalling a case that looked like an accidental death for a month. However, even after Prosecutor Joo returned from his morning meeting with the 1st Division Chief, his expression was always the same, so there was no way to confirm the truth of whether he was really being pressured from above.

I returned to the office after brushing my teeth at lunchtime as usual, and Prosecutor Joo was sitting alone in front of his desk. For the first time in a while, we were left alone in the office. I clutched the toothbrush handle, hesitated slightly, and brought up the curiosity I had been harboring.

“Why aren’t you processing Mr. Kim, the Koryo-saram, as an accidental death?”

“Right. When you really want to hear an answer from me, ask when there’s no one else around like now. Last time you asked that question, other people were outside, so I couldn’t answer you.”

“…I will do that.”

I gripped the toothbrush handle a little tighter. Since he was friendly to Chief Song and Officer No but his attitude toward me was particularly cold, sometimes a feeling of sadness spread like a drop of ink dropped in water.

Prosecutor Joo looked at me and continued.

“We agreed that Mr. Kim, the Koryo-saram, died while transporting drugs he had swallowed. Then, in your opinion, Officer Lee, where do you think is a place in Danhyeon City where one could purchase that amount of drugs?”

“…Don’t tell me you suspect Casino World?”

“The Grandma Park murder case by ice pick that you said was strange, Officer Lee. What was the occupation of the culprit suspected of making a false confession?”

“A retired miner.”

“Do you get it now?”

I don’t get it at all.

It was my honest feeling.

I stuck the toothbrush into the glass cup placed in the corner of the desk and ruminated on Prosecutor Joo’s words. The two cases were unrelated, but there was a connection between casinos and miners.

Most families of miners living in Danhyeon City worked in jobs related to the casino. Either they ran a business near the casino, or they got hired by the casino. The Coal Mining Association had enticed the casino in the first place for that very purpose. The casino director ‘Oh Jahyeon,’ who had acted out against me at the fine-collection office, inevitably came to mind.

“What does the Grandma Park murder case by ice pick have to do with the casino?”

“Well. I don’t know what the connection is, but I know that something is happening. My delusions are a bit severe.”

“If there is a clue, it’s not a delusion but a deduction.”

“If you have circumstantial evidence, not physical evidence.”

“That is…”

“Aren’t circumstances also clues?”

“That may be, but… you can’t use them in court. Circumstances are just the driving force that makes you desperately search for physical evidence.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

I gave up on the riddle-like conversation and took out the assigned case to look at in the afternoon. As I was about to sit down, Prosecutor Joo gestured.

“Officer Lee, today’s mistakes.”

Because I wasn’t used to the prosecutor’s office work yet, about three or four things came up every day that could be pointed out. And Prosecutor Joo returned all those mistakes to me—even the tiny specks that could have been overlooked. I sat next to him, feeling a little nervous about what I would be scolded for today. Although I was calm on the outside, it was never pleasant for me to hear harsh words every day.

Prosecutor Joo sighed deeply as he took out the file folder I had submitted in the morning.

“I’m going to have to buy a red colored pencil. It seems necessary to teach you, Officer Lee.”

“I will do well so you won’t need it soon.”

“You sure talk well.”

“…I have a question, do you dislike me?”

“Yes. I thought I had made that point clear.”

“Then why did you bring me here?”

“Because I needed someone to be on my team.”

Another riddle that didn’t give a clear answer.

Lately, conversations with Prosecutor Joo were all like this, except when I was being scolded for work. I had brought up the ‘Mr. Kim, the Koryo-saram’ case earlier because I was curious about what kind of team it was for. Prosecutor Joo showed no intention of talking about what work he wanted to do together.

‘I need to know what it is to conspire.’

A skewed gaze glanced over my expressionless face.

“I can hear your brain whirring. I’ll let you know when the time is right, so don’t worry.”

“…I wasn’t thinking anything.”

“Sure you weren’t.”

Feeling embarrassed, I cleared my throat and pulled my chair close to Prosecutor Joo, who was ready to point out my errors. By now, this interrogation process had become quite familiar.