The Prosecutor’s Office’s Proposal Chapter 99

“This is evidence from which no DNA was recovered last time, but I’d like you to test it once more. Would it be possible to check again using the technique of slicing it?”

“It’s possible. You’re quite well-versed in National Forensic Service techniques, Investigator.”

Prosecutor Joo answered for me.

“Officer Lee is ex-police, sunbae.”

“Oh, really? Investigations are indeed best left to the police. The prosecution only knows how to do search and seizures and harass people.”

“Since you know better than anyone, how about you stop the sarcasm? And this is evidence suspected to be drugs. If it turns out to be drugs, please compare it with the blood sample of Oh Jahyeon. If you contact the forensics department at the Danhyeon District Office, they will hand over the materials.”

“Oh Jahyeon? Why the person from Osong?”

The other person’s gaze was filled with interest.

“We ran Oh Jahyeon’s blood through forensics, and drug components were detected. This is the drug we suspect Oh Jahyeon purchased.”

“Really? Okay. I’ll let you know as soon as the results come out.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Just before leaving with Prosecutor Joo, I bowed my head once more.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes, Investigator. I’ll process it as an emergency, but it will take some time.”

“That’s fine.”

Prosecutor Joo and I left the National Forensic Service, ate lunch, and went to a café. I was feeling so hungover and tired that I had intended to return to the government residence as soon as I finished my coffee, but I was caught and dragged back to the apartment.

How exhausted I was from being tormented at Prosecutor Joo’s house all weekend long. I hadn’t even taken a sleep aid, yet I fell asleep as if I had fainted, nearly making me late for work on Monday.

We waited with bated breath for news from the National Forensic Service, but perhaps due to an excessive workload, the results didn’t come out for nearly two weeks. Prosecutor Joo seemed anxious, but my heart wasn’t quite as impatient. My daily life had barely found stability lately.

Of course, the black silhouette of the person pressing the front door password to kill President Kang Woosung occasionally came to mind. The sensation of a long-held belief collapsing was chilling. However, I had no intention of letting the past hold me back. I was just calmly waiting for the truth to be revealed.

On Thursday, I had a lunch dinner with my colleagues from the prosecutor’s office for the first time in a while, and we laughed and chatted in a café until the lunch hour was almost over. It was enjoyable. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had spent such a fun time with so many people.

As we were returning to the district office while carrying our remaining coffee, a familiar face standing at the company entrance caught my eye. It was my uncle. First Baek Youngjun visited, and now this. A painful past I wanted to shake off tried to suck my blood again like a leech.

I had been walking ahead, but I stopped in my tracks with a stiff face, feeling flustered, and my colleagues looked at me as if asking what was wrong. Chief Song was the first to ask with a worried face.

“Investigator Lee, what’s wrong?”

“No, I… I just remembered I have sudden work to do. Please go ahead. I’ll be inside before lunch ends.”

“Alright.”

Chief Song and Officer No obediently believed my words, but Prosecutor Joo did not. He stood still in his spot and stared straight at me. Only after the distance between the two of them and us had grown did he tug on and release the ID card hanging around my neck, and said,

“What’s going on? You can’t fool me, so tell me honestly.”

I hesitated, but I had no intention of hiding it. It was purely thanks to Prosecutor Joo that the investigation into my uncle and Baek Youngjun had started.

“My uncle has come. I’ll go talk to him and come back in.”

“Where?”

“I will talk to him myself. Please don’t worry.”

It was a face I was seeing after several years. Even on the last holiday I saw him, he said such horrible things to me that I stood up to him, only to be slapped and kicked in the legs. Just like in my childhood. However, since I was an adult now, I hadn’t gone back to my uncle’s house since then.

For some reason, Prosecutor Joo hesitated to leave me behind. But I forced a smile and pushed his back, telling him to go first.

“Go. The talk will end quickly.”

“Alright.”

Prosecutor Joo finally turned his gaze away and quickly caught up with Chief Song and Officer No, who were walking ahead with long strides. Before he disappeared around the district office fence, he stared intently at my uncle, who was just waiting for me blindly. Perhaps he knew his face, or perhaps he had good intuition.

I took a forced deep breath and approached my uncle with quick steps.

“Uncle, hello.”

“Chaeha.”

“Are you waiting for me?”

“Yes. Listen, let’s talk for a bit.”

Whether it’s Baek Youngjun or my uncle, I don’t know why they are all the same.

Because I was worried about my cousin Noona, I had no choice but to walk with my uncle to a secluded alley where he wanted to go. My uncle’s complexion looked exceptionally haggard, as if he was under extreme pressure due to the search and seizure and the prosecution’s investigation.

“You’re an investigator, can’t you give me some help?”

“I can’t. I’m just a lowly investigator, not a Prosecutor.”

“But still… wouldn’t it be better if you spoke well to the investigator in charge of that room? I can give any amount of money that investigator wants, so could you at least mediate….”

“What did you do wrong?”

“…They say they’ve done a tax audit, and there’s embezzlement and breach of trust… I’ve got a massive headache. If things go wrong, the company is going to be blown away.”

“Consult with a lawyer.”

“The lawyer only says negative things, saying I’ll have to pay fines and won’t be able to avoid prison time.”

“Then focus on what the lawyer says to reduce the sentence.”

“Lee Chaeha.”

“Since there’s nothing I can do for you…. I’m going to go in now.”

At that moment, to my surprise, my uncle knelt down and grabbed my hands. I was always the one who took that position, and seeing my uncle begging me, the wound I thought had healed was exposed. My chest hurt with a stinging pain, as if a scab was being peeled off.

Living through so much suffering at my uncle’s hands as a child, I had never once imagined that the opposite situation would occur. Not until Prosecutor Joo imagined it.

“Chaeha, it’s because there’s no clear solution even after consulting with a lawyer. Who knew a search would come out from the prosecution for this small company? Huh? That’s why I left evidence everywhere without hiding anything secretly. I was so naive I didn’t even think to hide it.”

“It’s not a small company. You have many trading partners, you run factories, and you make as much income as a decent small or medium-sized enterprise.”

“You know it’s a company I built my whole life. I’ve really done you wrong all this time. Your aunt told me to see you and come apologize. That then your heart would be softened. Even so, we raised you….”

I didn’t want to hear any more, so I cut him off.

“I’m not the one investigating, so what does it matter if my heart softens? Even if you do this, I have no intention of helping you, and I have no power to do so. Handle your own business, Uncle. The cost of raising me was more than covered by the jeonse deposit money my dad left behind when he died and my mom’s life insurance payout.”

For the first time, I brought up the money. Until now, I hadn’t had the courage.

Once opened, my lips wouldn’t stop moving.

“I know Dad didn’t touch Mom’s insurance money because he wanted to pass it on to me. Even with the family’s situation in that state, he worked as a taxi driver and a casino driver and managed to pay off all the debts with difficulty. It’s a company expanded with my parents’ lives, and you lived affluently and abundantly with that money. I’ve done my duty with that. That’s the thought I’ve used to just move on until now.”

As I spoke, uncontrollable emotions welled up, and I breathed heavily.

Yes, my dad was someone who committed murder, but who would remember the heart he had for his child? I had no choice but to be the one who didn’t forget. If it is true that Oh Jahyeon incited the murder, it must have been a decision made because of me.

Holding back the tears that were about to fall, I snapped at him.

“So don’t ever contact me like this again. Even if I die, I cannot forgive you, Uncle.”

After pouring out the harsh words I had kept inside, I shook off the fingers that were clutching me, and left the alley. For the first time in a while, the ground felt mushy under my feet. The Earth shook in a different sense, and the voice of Prosecutor Joo I had heard on the Friday two weeks ago vividly found its way into my head.

“Because I wanted to take revenge on those people in your place.”

The faces of the two people who had ruined my life, who came to find me every few weeks to beg and cling to me saying they were wrong, pounded against my chest. My heart beat as if it would shatter. Because I felt like I would go crazy from the unfairness of the life that had passed, and yet, at the same time, because I felt relieved for the moment, my body temperature lost its way and surged, unable to find a point to rest.