Hardboiled Scenario

Chapter 17

 

5 minutes. At most, 10 minutes if they stalled. Muyoung glanced at the half-open interrogation room door and began.

“Persuasion, threat, surveillance. Which one is it?”

“…What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“All three?”

Although he answered calmly, pretending not to understand, Muyoung quickly noticed the change in Yoon Jun-young’s expression.

“I’m curious. No matter how I look at you, you don’t seem like a fucking trash who would kill someone.”

Yoon Jun-young, unable to hide his bewilderment at Muyoung’s blunt curse, averted his gaze.

As expected. There was something between them.

“Or did the lawyer tell you this?”

So he needed to shake him up.

“It was a mistake, and since it’s your first offense, you’ll get probation. Lay low for a few years, and when people start to forget, show your face on TV again, shed a few tears. Then, it’ll all be over.”

Who decides that? I, the prosecutor in charge, have no intention of ending this case like that. Maybe for a simple drug use case, but this time it absolutely can’t be overlooked.

“If you really think that’s possible, your brain must be not just pure but completely empty… It’s amazing how you memorize scripts with that head.”

Yoon Jun-young clenched his mouth shut like a clam and raised his head sharply at the insult.

“You understand insults perfectly well. Interesting.”

Muyoung smirked. Yoon Jun-young’s bloodshot eyes and bitten lips showed he had much to say, but his determination not to speak a word without his lawyer was evident.

“If you know something, it would be better to speak quickly.”

His effort was commendable, but he was no match for Muyoung.

“Listen carefully, Yoon Jun-young-ssi.”

Muyoung opened a yellow file case and selected a few photos. Then, tap, tap, tap. With precise movements, he laid them one by one on the table before pushing a photo of a beautiful woman, alive in happier times, in front of Yoon Jun-young.

“A 25-year-old girl died. Even if the others don’t, you should feel guilty.”

He reminded him of his crime in a low but clear voice.

“Because you’re the bastard who took this woman there.”

As if suddenly remembering a forgotten fact, Yoon Jun-young’s face turned pale blue. Cracks began to appear in his poker face.

“I heard she was your girlfriend. Who would take their woman to such a place?”

It was ridiculous to think that this trash of a person might have a conscience.

“Don’t tell me you sold your girlfriend to get sponsored?”

While the woman was dying, choking with her airway blocked, he must have been high on drugs, not knowing she would die from just this much.

‘When I came to my senses, she was dead.’

The woman’s death was described only to that extent in the police report.

This is why people say only the dead are pitiful.

The most important fact right now is this.

“There are at least three suspects. One is a congressman’s son, and one’s identity can’t even be determined. What do you think I’m going to do here?”

That I, who’s investigating you, am the biggest thug of all.

“Rather than a complicated scenario like joint principal offenders, it’s simplest to make you the sole culprit.”

That once it’s in my hands, I have no intention of letting go, regardless of whether a congressman or deputy chief prosecutor pulls strings.

“Your face is famous, it’ll be a hot issue everywhere, if this goes well, my promotion is as good as guaranteed.”

Muyoung slowly rose from his chair. The ceiling light was blocked by his tall stature and broad shoulders, casting a large, dark shadow on the floor.

While the sky outside was still clear, the interrogation room seemed filled with the dark shadow he created.

“Who do you think has the most to lose here?”

His low, calm voice echoed in the room, intertwined with his heavy footsteps. As Muyoung circled the desk and approached him, suddenly bending his upper body, the sense of pressure doubled.

“Even if by chance you get probation in the first trial, I’ll appeal. Even if it’s lower than the prosecution’s demand, I’ll appeal. I plan to drag it out as long as possible through second trial and Supreme Court decision, tearing you apart until you’re in tatters.”

Yoon Jun-young unconsciously hunched his shoulders at the cold voice piercing his ears.

“If you’re okay with taking all the blame alone, keep your mouth shut like this.”

“……”

“It’s no big deal to ruin someone like you with no real power or connections.”

His ruthless eyes looking down on the other were sunken in coldness. The lack of contempt made it even more chilling.

“Why, why are you doing this to me……”

“If you can’t handle it, spill it now. What exactly happened that day.”

The guy’s bewildered eyes wavered like a candle in the wind. His mouth seeming to dry up, he licked his lips and glanced back. His look for the lawyer was as pitiful as a child who had lost his mother.

If this were acting, he’d be a great actor. If not, Muyoung had a hunch he wasn’t the main culprit.

“How long do you want to bet it’ll take for you to realize that no matter how much you rack that stone head of yours, it’s useless?”

It doesn’t seem like it’ll take long…

When Muyoung grabbed Yoon Jun-young’s shoulder with his large hand, the startled Yoon Jun-young flinched and swallowed a gasp. His two fists on the desk also turned pale and trembled.

Muyoung, scanning his reaction, whispered softly in his ear.

“Let me tell you one more thing, that lawyer isn’t on your side, at least.”

Whoever it is, it’s clear he’s on the side of the person who assigned that lawyer to this guy.

“Is that lawyer’s boss the congressman’s son or the unidentified bastard?”

As expected, the guy’s wavering face crumbles. Having gained psychological dominance, Muyoung removed his hand from the shoulder and took out a business card from his pocket.

“If you can’t do anything, just pray.”

After neatly placing the card in Yoon Jun-young’s left chest pocket, he straightened up as if he had finished his task and smiled.

“Anyway, once you’re in prison, that’s all you’ll be able to do.”

The slightly upturned corner of his mouth looked quite mischievous. However, the fleeting look in his eyes was clear in what it demanded.

Whether to use that business card or not was entirely up to you. It’s your last chance, so do as you will.

The interrogation that lasted for hours only ended as the sun was setting. Yoon Jun-young never uttered a word from his own mouth until the very end.

Muyoung narrowed his eyes as he watched the two people walking down the corridor after leaving the interrogation room.

For days, what had been nagging at the back of his mind was a kind of déjà vu. It had no precise form, and he didn’t know the reason.

“Just a moment, Yoon Jun-young-ssi.”

Yoon Jun-young stopped at Muyoung’s call and turned around. His darkened complexion seemed drained from the long interrogation.

Muyoung approached with long strides, showing something only visible to Yoon Jun-young.

“I think you dropped this.”

What he held out was the black business card he had picked up at Capriccio.

A woman with swollen eyes, cracked lips, and red scars twisted on her wrist. It was just this morning that he saw the image of the dead woman overlapping with her.

For some reason, his body moved first, as if doing something that had to be done.

“Isn’t this yours?”

“I don’t know.”

“If not, then never mind. I must have been mistaken.”

It was the most flustered look Muyoung had seen from him all day. His eyes, pale and trembling, wandered for a while, fearful of something. Then he quickly turned and closely followed the lawyer.

Not “It’s not mine,” but “I don’t know.”

And not even asking what a business card without a name, address, or phone number was.

That answer was as good as saying he knew.

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Ring-ring, ring-ring.

The incessantly whining phone on the desk was giving Jae-in a headache. She pressed her fingertips firmly against her temples.

She couldn’t turn it off or put it on silent, not knowing when or what kind of call might come.

Since that day, Jung Jae-hee and her mother had been calling like crazy.

 

“Why do you need money for a divorce?”

“He says he won’t divorce unless I give him 30 million won, so I want to pay him off and get rid of him.”

 

Jae-in had roughly guessed why she was called home, but Jae-hee’s brazen demand was so absurd.

 

“Is that really all?”

“What else should there be? I’m telling you I really can’t live with that bastard! So lend me some money.”

 

Jae-in felt a stinging pain in her heart. Her lungs tightened uncomfortably, and her fingertips tingled. It was the moment when her head, which had been heating up, suddenly cooled.

 

“Three years ago, you borrowed 50 million won from me for your wedding.”

“Ya! You’re funny, did you lend me that money expecting to get it back? I thought you gave it to me as a wedding gift.”

 

She had lent her the money after Jae-hee begged, saying she had to get married but didn’t have enough saved to even complete the dowry. And now what? A wedding gift? It was a miraculous logic that left her speechless.

With that money, they had a European honeymoon, bought luxury bags, and spent more on other things than on the dowry, without even giving Jae-in a single gift.

Still, she hadn’t said anything. She had lent the money knowing she probably wouldn’t get it back anyway. Thinking it was better to let it go, because they were family after all.

She had let it slide, but for it to come back like this.

How much more hurt and scarred did she need to be before she could end this? If she could, she wanted to slap her own cheek to come to her senses.

 

“What savings do I have? I’ve been giving Jae-yeol 800,000 won a month for his allowance since he started university until now.”

“Who told you to do that? Why give him money when you could have let Jae-yeol get a part-time job? What does he need money for when he’s living at home and going to school?”

“Is that something you should be saying?”

“Ya! You should watch your words. Who paid for your tuition while you were in medical school? Dad did, right? He probably spent all that money on you instead of me and Jae-yeol.”

“What are you…! I earned money and paid my tuition while I was in school! Do you have any idea how hard it is to squeeze in tutoring while attending medical school?”

“Frankly speaking, is it our fault that you don’t have money now? It’s your own fault, isn’t it?”

 

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Thank you for reading! ♡