Chapter 20
He was once known as the “Gyeongsang-do Tiger” of the prosecutor’s office, a tough prosecutor who had spent years in the criminal division.
When he glared fiercely, Muyoung closed his mouth again. He bowed his head low, like someone who knew well the crime he had committed.
“If you have any conscience, you shouldn’t have anything to say even with ten mouths. A so-called prosecutor carrying a body in his car trunk, I’ve never seen such a thing in all my life.”
“……”
“I was really shocked. But then again, somehow it seemed like something you might do. Looking at how you handle things, it’s not impossible, is it?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? No. There’s no trace of ‘sorry’ on your face, but well done. We’ve even had to place an embargo because of one measly prosecutor. How dare I, with my limited understanding, evaluate a troublemaker like you?”
Criticizing from the front, from behind, from the side, beating him down. Deputy Chief Baek’s words were reminiscent of a rapper in a diss battle.
Even for the reckless Seo Muyoung, in this situation, he chose to keep his mouth shut quietly rather than insist on his innocence.
Until the superior finished venting and granted him the right to speak.
Otherwise, he might be beaten not with ‘words’ but with ‘fists’. Literally, real fists.
“What kind of wealth and glory did I expect to enjoy in my later years by taking this bastard under me? Why hasn’t a time machine been invented yet? I need to go back in time and break my own neck.”
After berating him for a while, Baek twisted his tie knot and pulled it down. Then, exhaling a long sigh as if blowing out cigarette smoke, he plopped down on the chair next to the bed.
“Section Chief Cho, go outside and tell them to remove the handcuffs. Tell them that as of today, the prosecution has decided to directly investigate Seo Muyoung’s case.”
While Muyoung had been unconscious in the hospital for two days, they had roughly cleaned things up, but given the nature of the situation, it wasn’t easy. Currently, it was just a temporary fix, and it was only a matter of time before it blew up again.
When Section Chief Cho relayed to the police waiting outside to remove the handcuffs, the officer hesitated, poking his head in. Seeing this, Deputy Chief Baek, flaring up again, shouted.
“Aren’t you going to remove them quickly?!”
“Ah, yes, j-just let me make a confirmation call and I’ll remove them.”
“What confirmation? I took care of everything on my way here, so hurry up and remove them. Do you put handcuffs on your own people like this too?! He’s lying here sick, do you think he’s going to run away? He’s a patient now, a patient!”
Unable to withstand his pressure, the police officer first removed Muyoung’s handcuffs. After that, they received some communication from above, even saluted them, and completely withdrew from the hospital.
After confirming that only his own people remained in the room, Baek Yong-jae nodded towards Muyoung.
“Now tell me. What’s this situation all about?”
“I don’t know either.”
“What? You don’t know?”
Muyoung said while rubbing his wrist where the handcuffs had been.
“Yes. I have no idea what’s going on.”
“Are you saying there’s not a single person among all those you’ve prosecuted who might do something like this?”
“There are too many to even guess.”
“You’re bragging, you bastard.”
It’s not like he only handles one case at a time, how could there be just one or two suspicious characters? After years as a prosecutor, there were countless people who might follow him on his way home and threaten him with a knife.
“Muyoung……”
Deputy Chief Baek stared at the pondering Muyoung and called him softly.
“It’s been about a month or two since I quit smoking, you know?”
“You quit smoking, Deputy Chief? Why?”
“Why? Don’t you believe me? The hospital kept telling me my lungs were black and I should quit, so I thought I’d try.”
He continued with an expression that suggested he’d light up a cigarette right now if this wasn’t a hospital room.
“But you know what? The stress from not smoking is less than the stress I get because of you. Wouldn’t it be better to just keep smoking and die?”
“For someone who says that, you still look pretty healthy. You’ll probably live longer than me.”
“Damn! Why is it that your mouth wasn’t injured and only your head was cracked? Should I grab your mouth and rip it off now?”
Half of his words were curses and half were scolding, but Baek Yong-jae cared for Muyoung that much. Having watched Muyoung since he was appointed as a prosecutor, Baek saw in Muyoung a reflection of his own passionate, reckless younger self.
He thought it might be time for him to be knocked down a peg, but he didn’t expect it to be on this scale.
Anyway, this guy is really something else. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Baek was also internally grinding his teeth, wondering who this psychopath was who had set up his protege.
“By the way, who are you planning to assign this case to?”
“Seeing how freely your mouth is moving, you seem fine. You could probably be discharged now.”
“Deputy Chief, don’t change the subject.”
He wasn’t the type to move rashly, so if he had decided on an internal investigation by the prosecution, he must have already prepared the next move.
However, the fact that there was no answer for a long time… Surely, really, is he going to do this? Muyoung sensed unease.
“Surely… You’re not going to assign it to Prosecutor Lee Do-hyung, are you?”
“Why? Do you think Lee Do-hyung would enjoy poking around in your mess?”
“Yes.”
When Muyoung answered without hesitation, Deputy Chief Baek snorted. He, too, was well aware that Prosecutor Lee Do-hyung had a particular inferiority complex towards Seo Muyoung.
It wasn’t because they were of the same age, but because both were exceptional cases that emerged from humble origins.
To Lee Do-hyung, who was desperate to have his achievements recognized, Seo Muyoung’s mere existence must be like a thorn in his throat.
“You think it’s just you?”
“Ah, Deputy Chief, please reconsider.”
“Then, should I assign your case to another department? If I assign it to someone under me, at least I can direct the investigation. If I hand it over elsewhere, there’s no justification for me to protect you.”
It made sense. If someone had set up a plan to mess with Muyoung, he needed a shadow to protect him, and Deputy Chief Baek Yong-jae was a man of loyalty who would look after his own people even if it meant risking his position.
The variable was Lee Do-hyung. Aside from seeing Seo Muyoung as a thorn in his side, there were rumors that he had been looking elsewhere lately.
To advance in the prosecution, you needed solid backing or connections, and since Baek Yong-jae wasn’t interested in the Chief Prosecutor position, it was no secret whose line Lee Do-hyung was desperately trying to catch.
Deputy Chief Gu Young-gwang, who was maintaining secret relationships with political circles to become Chief Prosecutor. Deputy Chief Baek Yong-jae, who only relied on the trust of his subordinates and focused on fulfilling his duties in his current position.
Since the Chief Prosecutor position wasn’t one you got just for being a good person, it was quite predictable which of the two would become the next Chief Prosecutor.
Moreover, Muyoung had fallen out of favor with Deputy Chief Gu due to the penthouse drug orgy case. He was already holding a grudge, and this incident was a perfect opportunity to get rid of Muyoung completely.
Muyoung wasn’t sure who Lee Do-hyung would ultimately trust and follow.
“Haah.…..”
“You can’t investigate your own case directly, but I’ll tell you to cooperate secretly. Take this opportunity to fight it out between yourselves. I’ll only take the one who survives.”
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“Why did you kill her?”
“……”
Muyoung glanced at the camera that would be recording his statement. It was his first time entering an interrogation room as a suspect, which felt strange, but it also felt dirty.
Suspect, shit. Muyoung swallowed his sneer.
“You know better than anyone that keeping your mouth shut won’t resolve the case on its own, right?”
Muyoung responded with an emotionless gaze to Lee Do-hyung, who was acting as if he had caught a big fish.
As a suspect being interrogated, all information was restricted, so he had to at least pretend to play along with Lee Do-hyung’s rhythm…
But his pride was too hurt to dance to the beat of this guy who was beating his own drum. Unless he picked up a gong and started causing a ruckus.
The questions that followed were typical of what a prosecutor would ask when interrogating a criminal, but they were questions not worth answering. Eventually, Muyoung, irritated by listening any further, let out a long sigh and spoke.
“Do you really think I killed that woman?”
“Then why was she found in your car trunk?”
“That’s something the bastard who killed her and hid her in my car would know.”
“What about the memory chip from the black box?”
“Unless he’s an idiot, he would have obviously removed it on the day he hid the body in the trunk. His image would have been recorded.”
In response to Muyoung’s calm reply, Lee Do-hyung snorted and gave a sly smile.
“That could have been you, you know?”
“So that’s how you’re going to play it?”
“Deputy Chief Baek might be 100% sure you’re not even a suspect, but I’m not.”
At Lee Do-hyung’s provocation, Muyoung’s expression turned cold.
“I think you might have done this on purpose.”
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Thank you for reading! ♡
