The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 70

“That’s true.”

Surprisingly, he gave a compliant answer. The hand that had been resting on my chest slowly pulled away. He pulled up the top that had rolled up and meticulously tucked the blanket around me.

“Sleep well, Officer Lee.”

“You too, Prosecutor.”

Surprisingly, the film of the past that played every night did not run behind my eyelids. I listened to Mr. Joo’s even breathing beside me, felt the hand that took mine, and drifted into sleep as if being sucked into the darkness.

📄🖊️

The next day, we spent the whole time together at Mr. Joo’s house as well. I begged him several times in between that I couldn’t do it anymore, but it was to no avail; as he had declared, he unleashed his dirty sexual preferences on me to his heart’s content. The corners of my mouth, which had barely healed, were torn open again from moaning.

His way of having sex was certainly sadistic. While I wasn’t well-versed in the actual practice, I had encountered various cases, so I didn’t lack theoretical knowledge. I had even seen a crime scene where someone died from autoerotic asphyxiation after tying a rope around their own neck.

We were sex partners, but the initiative was entirely his. I couldn’t resist him properly.

I couldn’t come to my senses because I was being dragged around by Mr. Joo, and the obscene talk that seemed as if it would only appear in criminal case analyses also left me reeling. It was late Sunday night when I was released from Mr. Joo.

Monday morning, as soon as I woke up alone at the residence, I let out a small sigh. Because it was my first day at work after having sex with Mr. Joo, a heavy burden, like the day I received my appointment, blocked my throat. I felt embarrassed to see others at the office, and I couldn’t even dare to face my superior, who had become my sex partner.

Standing in front of the sink without energy, I was brushing my teeth when my mouth stung because of the bubbles overflowing from the foam. Traces of moaning. It would have been fine if it was just Saturday, but because I had sucked on him too much yesterday, it had been torn several times throughout the day, so it didn’t heal easily. I had thought it would be better after sleeping, but it was just the same.

It had snowed all night, so the morning air was cold. As I walked to the prosecutor’s office, stepping on the piled-up snow, the phone in my pocket rang. I quickly pulled it out, thinking it might be Mr. Joo, but it was an unknown number. It didn’t seem like spam, so I answered it, and a familiar voice came through.

— Chaeha, are you free to talk?

It was Baek Youngjun’s voice. I stopped for a moment before I could barely start walking again. I felt disgusted and wanted to just hang up, but I decided to take it because it was suspicious that he was calling from 7:40 in the morning.

“Yes, sunbae. Why did you call?”

— I’m in the parking lot of the Danhyun Branch Office right now; what time do you get to work?

“I’m on my way to work right now. Why did you come to the Danhyun Branch?”

— That’s a relief. Let’s meet and talk. Will you be there soon?

“…Yes. Wait 10 minutes. I enter through the entrance near the civil complaints office, so let’s meet there.”

— Okay, thanks.

I was worried that he might be showing up at the Danhyun Branch to harass me. I had to be fully prepared just in case. I turned on my phone’s voice recorder before turning the main gate.

Baek Youngjun was standing at the entrance, and his appearance looked noticeably more haggard than when I saw him at the Danhyun Police Station last time. I widened my stride and approached him briskly to appear composed.

Maybe he came to ask to borrow money. The very situation of meeting Baek Youngjun was off-putting, so I asked him straight to the point without greeting him.

“Why did you come all the way to the Danhyun Branch?”

“Didn’t you say you were in the 2nd Criminal Division?”

“No, I’m in the 1st Criminal Division.”

A deep sense of frustration was visible on Baek Youngjun’s face upon hearing the answer. Unable to hide his nervousness, he rubbed his palms together and looked up at the cloudy sky with an expression as if he wanted to scream right then and there. His aimlessly wavering eyes finally dropped back to me.

“Then, what was the name of the Prosecutor who came with you that time…?”

“It is Prosecutor Joo Taeson.”

“Ah, seriously. This is driving me crazy. I was mistaken. I thought I might get some help from you….”

“Why would I help you, sunbae?”

I tilted my head slightly and asked.

“You’re always talking like that…. No, that’s not it, Chaeha. I got a notice to come to the prosecutor’s office for an investigation. And on a Sunday, too. I was so anxious I couldn’t sleep a wink last night.”

“What kind of investigation?”

“No…, among the suspects I investigated, there was someone who tried to frame me. This was a case that was already over, but now… because of that and other reasons, I was even demoted to the forensic department of a local police station, but if I’m investigated by the prosecution, I might get fired.”

Although I was an outcast at the police academy and within the police organization, rumors still reached my ears. Because those from the Seoul Police Academy are so few in number and the relatively powerless police are more sensitive to the misconduct of their own staff than the prosecution, bad news reaches ears quickly.

“Sunbae, I’ve heard about that case, too. It’s true that you were in the wrong. I can’t give you any help.”

“Chaeha…, can’t you do something for me with Prosecutor Joo? The prosecutor who called me is someone named Yoon Gyuho.”

“Prosecutor Joo is not that kind of person. Get investigated properly, and if you’re guilty, pay the price.”

I moved my feet toward the entrance, passing Baek Youngjun. At that moment, his voice caught me by the nape of the neck.

“I was wrong about what happened back then. Spreading bad rumors about you and touching you even when you said you hated it. And not being able to grant your request when you cried a lot for help.”

The footsteps I was about to take to ignore him stopped. It was the first time Baek Youngjun had admitted his wrongdoing, even in private. I turned my head slowly to look behind me. He blabbered on.

“I’m really sorry for everything. I was angry because you ignored me….”

Following the sigh I let out, white vapor stretched out into the cold air. I didn’t want to hear it all, so I cut him off in the middle.

“As expected, the way you think is exactly like a suspect, sunbae. To be honest, I don’t even need to look to know what the case you’re being investigated for today is about. The suspect was a man, wasn’t he? If a fellow man went as far as to file a formal complaint of sexual harassment, I can easily imagine what you did.”

“Chaeha, still, I came to find you because you’re a fellow police academy classmate….”

“I’m a person who threw away that prestigious Seoul Police Academy tag and entered the prosecution as a Grade 8 official. Consider it a good thing that you’re being investigated by the prosecution.”

I stared straight at Baek Youngjun and added.

“You have no qualifications to be a police officer, sunbae.”

“Hey, Lee Chaeha!”

I didn’t avoid the gaze of the shouting Baek Youngjun and spoke in a firm voice.

“You should know who to approach when asking for help. Your judgment is just as poor now as it was then.”

Baek Youngjun must have thought I was still the Lee Chaeha who, back in the police academy days, would shed tears and apologize even when I had done nothing wrong, begging him for help. Although we had run into each other at the Danhyun Police Station, it wouldn’t have been easy to change his opinion of me with such a brief encounter. Since he knew me better than anyone from those days, it wasn’t unreasonable for him to think he could manipulate me however he pleased.

If the current me were to go through the same thing, I wouldn’t have shown that I was in pain even if it killed me. If only to avoid throwing bait to Baek Youngjun. The me back then was still too weak and held too much hope. I had believed that university life would be different from my middle and high school days.

Leaving Baek Youngjun behind, who seemed to have been shocked, I scanned my employee ID tag and went inside. When I got on the elevator, my heart was racing and pounding in the aftermath of my anger. Forgetting that I was nervous in the morning, I took firm strides forward with my numb feet. I barely managed to end the phone recording, and in a dazed state, I opened the door to Room 512, where Prosecutor Joo Taeson was sitting.

“Hello.”

The tone of voice I used to greet him was high. It seemed as if I were advertising that I had just come from an argument, and I was even out of breath, so I thought it was reckless of me not to have calmed my breathing before entering. As expected, he did not miss the strange signal.

“Your face is beet red, and why is your voice so excited? You look like something happened.”

“It’s nothing special….”

“Tell me.”

Prosecutor Joo ordered, lightly tapping the desk with his fist. I pressed my lips tightly together for a moment before opening them.

“Do you remember my sunbae whom I ran into at the Danhyun Police Station last time? Baek Youngjun.”

“I know him.”

“That man, a year ago he did something seriously wrong, and the Metropolitan Investigation Unit buried it and demoted him, but I heard he’s being investigated again this time.”

“…Is that so? Good for him. If he’s guilty, he should pay the price. He also did something wrong to Officer Lee. A leaky bucket leaks anywhere.”