The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 47

“What do you know about my father and me, Prosecutor Joo, to tear open my wounds like this again? How can you ask me to dig up the grave of someone who is already dead?”

To me, the implication that I should dig into my father’s case was no different from being told to reopen a grave. Prosecutor Joo silently watched my face as I argued with him in my agitation, then he swept his hair back and sighed. A cold heat smoldered in his eyes.

His large hand gripped my forearm, pulling me until our bodies were pressed completely together, and he stood as solid as a wall, blocking my escape route. Prosecutor Joo slowly opened his lips.

“Lee Chaeha, there’s a limit to how much I’ll let slide.”

His voice sent a chill straight to the center of my chest. I thought I had heard Prosecutor Joo’s sharp tone many times, but this was the first time he had exuded such a frigid aura. I kept my lips shut and blinked my eyelids, letting the pooled tears fall. Hot streaks traced my cheeks.

“Every suspect’s family says the same thing in front of me—that their family member was framed. Even when the evidence that they killed someone is clear, they don’t apologize to the victim’s family. Don’t you dare ever let me hear you mutter that ‘my father wasn’t that kind of person’ or ‘I don’t believe it’ in front of me again. I’ll make you suffer so much you’ll wish you were dead.”

“…”

“No matter if they’re your family, don’t let me hear you defending a suspect ever again. End this dreamlike thinking that your father might be innocent, starting today. I needed a competent investigator with a police background to look into the truth with me, not a brat spewing nonsense.”

“How can a perpetrator’s family conduct a fair investigation? I’ll step down.”

“Then I’ll be the only one left who takes an interest in this case. I wanted there to be at least one more person. Someone willing to bet their life on a job that won’t help with promotions and will leave nothing behind even if you dig into it. You think it didn’t cross my mind that you’re Lee Gilyoung’s son, and that the probability of you losing objectivity is high? Throughout the time I spent instructing you to report your opinion on the Koryo-in Mr. Kim case, bringing case files to your residence, and waiting for you to come to me….”

He added, as if gnashing his teeth:

“I hesitated until the very last moment.”

Prosecutor Joo, too, was not his usual self. I could tell just by looking at his burning expression.

He is obsessed.

With that deduction he worries might just be a delusion.

With the thought that the executor of all these cases is Oh Jahyeon, and the miners who confessed are merely her puppets.

That was why Prosecutor Joo was in such an agitated state, and the steam escaping from our lips was as thick as the argument currently engulfing us. My arm, which he held as fiercely as the emotions surging within him, was in significant pain, but I bit my lips shut and endured it without a single groan. Just as I had for the past 15 years.

Prosecutor Joo looked me straight in the eyes and said once more:

“But when I thought about it carefully, it was hard to imagine there would be any investigator other than you willing to take time out of their day to look into cases that are already buried and won’t help their career. Fine, your father killed him. Maybe you don’t want to look into it. Maybe you find my proposal offensive. But isn’t it possible that you, too, might want to find the real reason why your father killed his friend? You said he was a kind man. You even want to believe he’s innocent, even now. But do you really think he killed his friend just to steal a million won?”

The desperation dwelling within Prosecutor Joo’s pupils burned like a craving. It was only after hearing all that that I realized:

Surprisingly, Joo Taeson still wants to investigate with me.

Even though I had used informal language and defied him moments ago. Even though I had lost control of my emotions to the point where I thought my life at the Prosecutor’s Office was over.

Even so, Prosecutor Joo still thinks I am necessary to him.

A strange feeling mixed in between the surge of betrayal and anger.

Prosecutor Joo bowed his head and looked down at me. Staring at my lips, as if he might kiss me, as he always did.

But instead of doing so, Prosecutor Joo simply spoke. It was like those many days when we would only share a cigarette and nothing more.

“You’re also someone who chases the substantive truth, Officer Lee.”

“…Why on earth are you so curious about this case, Prosecutor?”

At my question, for once, he couldn’t answer immediately. Instead, he hesitated for a long time before he spoke.

“…Because I’m someone who wants to know the truth and has a sense of professional duty. Something happened. There needs to be someone to clean it up. That’s my job. I was already blacklisted by the prosecution organization after Prosecutor Yoon Soyeon committed suicide, and I have nothing left to lose.”

“…”

“The things I wanted to protect have already left me. Isn’t that the same for you, Officer Lee?”

With that lonely question, his firm hand let go of my arm, and he turned his back. My heart pounded as if it wanted to shatter my ribcage. Because the questions Prosecutor Joo threw at me regarding my father’s case and the reasons he presented were all so valid, every word he uttered felt like it would sweep me away.

It seemed Prosecutor Joo was going to head back to his house, but he turned and strode back toward me. He grabbed my arm again, but it wasn’t the rough, violent grip of someone unable to control their intense emotions like before. He pulled me close to stand in front of him and peered into my eyes. We were so close that I could see how dilated our pupils were. Our breath collided in the cold air, visible like mist.

“If you weren’t trying to dig into your father’s case, why did you become a police officer? If you couldn’t adapt to the police organization, why did you crawl back into the Prosecutor’s Office? I thought I just needed to confirm your motive and your skills, but it turns out the most important motive is missing?”

The hand that had been gripping my forearm slid down and grasped my fingers, which were cold and trembling.

“Did you enter the Prosecutor’s Office by accident, Officer Lee?”

“…”

“Your father became a man who committed robbery-homicide for the sake of his friend’s pocket change. He couldn’t even stand trial because he committed suicide, but everyone pointed their fingers at your father. If you’re going to point a finger at someone, at least the tip of that finger should be pointing at the truth. Even if it’s just to criticize, you should do so only after properly knowing why he killed him and if someone instigated him.”

I parted my lips, which had been stuck together as if by glue. My chest felt tight, making it difficult to speak, but there wasn’t much I could have answered anyway. The tears that had been pouring out now fell only intermittently.

“The reason I went to the police academy, as I told you before, is because I wanted to live on my own. I took the prosecution exam because a recruitment notice for experienced personnel was posted. Unlike what you think, Prosecutor, I didn’t have any other motive at all. I couldn’t tell you in detail when we ate together, but there wasn’t a single day at my uncle’s house where I wasn’t physically abused, and I never had a day where I could sleep comfortably. My room was the family’s dressing room in my uncle’s house, and whether it was 2 AM or 6 AM, if they woke me up, I had to get up and run errands for the family. So, the result of choosing without even considering my aptitude in my childish heart is just something that has gone wrong until now.”

“…”

“And, I know what you’re trying to say, but the truth might be even uglier. If the truth is revealed, my dead father might end up being criticized even more.”

“…I know. But no matter how much he’s criticized, at least it’s the truth.”

Prosecutor Joo’s hand suddenly approached my face. Thinking he was going to hit me, I flinched, closing my eyes tightly, but his thick fingers wiped away my tears. When I opened my eyes again, the newly fallen tears pooled between Prosecutor Joo’s finger and my cheek.

A small sigh was heard. His expression even seemed to show regret. I couldn’t tell if it was regret for pushing me so hard or regret for choosing me.

“Stop crying and go inside. You’re going to catch a cold, Officer Lee.”

After telling me to go in, Prosecutor Joo now caressed both my cheeks with his hands. His face came even closer. I didn’t avoid him and curled my hands into tight fists, but, as always, nothing happened.

“I’ll drive you.”

“No, thank you. I’ll walk to cool my head.”

“…You said you weren’t suited for the police, yet you’re using that stiff tone again. You’re not trying to cool your head; you just don’t want to be with me.”

“…”

“If you aren’t going to ride in my car, stop crying and go.”