The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 32

Prosecutor, You’re Going Places! – 32 (32/341)

Chase (4)

The day after my private meeting with the President, I headed to Boseong early in the morning.

To find the contact information of the Paju Yojung [a high-end, exclusive establishment offering entertainment and companionship] listed in Im Seong-jin’s sex bribery list.

Normally, I would have taken the KTX [Korea Train Express, a high-speed rail system] or a plane, but this time I chose to drive myself.

In the past few days, everything has been happening simultaneously—from the private meeting with the President to the Paju Yojung, reporter Bae Jin-soo, and Han Ji-yoo—so I felt the need to sort things out in my head slowly and alone.

First, there was President Kwon Jae-cheol, whom I met just yesterday.

I’ve already managed to establish a friendly relationship with the President, who is only in his second year.

The fact that he wants to see me from time to time clearly means that he intends to work with me again in the future.

Just thinking about working with powerful figures, from the current President Kwon Jae-cheol to Seong Tae-hyun, the 22nd President, already makes me feel secure…

Wait a minute, something is strange here.

The puzzle pieces are subtly misaligned.

If I retrace the contents of the text message that informed me that Seong Tae-hyun would be President…

-Sender: 42

-22nd President: Seong Tae-hyun

The sender was clearly 42. This would be in 2030.

However, President Kwon Jae-cheol’s term ends in April 2022.

There is absolutely no way that a system of presidential term limits or consecutive terms will be implemented in Korea.

In other words, one of the presidents will be impeached or step down.

When I first received the text message, I was so shocked by the fact that Seong Tae-hyun would become president in the future that I didn’t pay proper attention to the sender’s number and the timing.

Damn it, my mistake.

I should have been more careful.

At the same time, an ominous premonition arises.

Could it be that Kwon Jae-cheol is going to be impeached?

Instead of avoiding the poisoned apple, did I actually take a bite out of it?

The situation has become complicated.

I wish I didn’t know, but knowing that there is a president who will be impeached puts me in a rather difficult position.

If I become close to President Kwon Jae-cheol and he is impeached, the fallout will naturally affect me.

However, if I distance myself from him and Kwon Jae-cheol completes his term, he will surely retaliate against me for distancing myself.

It wasn’t easy to move.

But if I just drift along, I’ll end up with nothing.

In this situation, I wish the text message would provide an answer, but I know that the future text message doesn’t appear when I want it to.

My head feels full.

My temples start to throb.

Let’s think slowly.

Since the article about me receiving the award for being a clean public official has already been published, Kwon Jae-cheol won’t be looking for me anytime soon.

I still have time to think.

I thought about my future course of action all the way down to Boseong, but no clear answer came to mind.

Perhaps because my head was so full of thoughts, the 300km drive, which I thought would be boring, ended far too quickly.

I had so many thoughts that I even had to stop on the shoulder of the road to take an aspirin because of a severe migraine.

And that’s not all, the Paju Yojung and Han Ji-yoo cases are also overlapping.

It seems that I need to resolve those two cases first to properly focus on the President and the impeachment case.

Let’s deal with the Paju Yojung first.

***

I searched Shin Yong-ho’s house and succeeded in finding the sex bribery list notebook he had mentioned.

As he said, the terms ‘Blue One’ and ‘Fairy’ were written down.

Looking at the traces of him frequenting Blue One, I could confirm that not only Im Seong-jin but also Shin Yong-ho frequented the place.

This guy really played dirty.

While flipping through the ledger, I was about to enter Fairy’s number and make a call when a call came in from a number starting with 02 [Seoul area code].

“Yes, hello?”

-Yes, Prosecutor. This is Jung Hyung-joon.

Jung Hyung-joon is the police officer I asked to investigate reporter Bae Jin-soo a while ago.

“It’s not a mobile phone number… Is this the police station’s phone?”

-Yes. I left my mobile phone at home when I went to work…

“How do you remember my number?”

-I save important people’s numbers separately in the phone book. I keep it on my desk, ha ha ha.

“That’s a relief.”

He put away his smile and got straight to the point.

-I looked into reporter Bae Jin-soo, and he doesn’t seem to have any particularly bad aspects.

“Oh, really?”

-Yes. He has been involved in several lawsuits in the past because of money.

So, greed for money is the biggest thing.

-But if you’re going to work with him, you don’t have to worry about being backstabbed.

“Really?”

-Yes. While digging into his background, one of my friends said he knew Bae Jin-soo.

“Are you talking about a police officer friend?”

-Yes. This guy is from the Metropolitan Investigation Unit, and he cooperated with Bae Jin-soo during an investigation related to a conglomerate case because of information provided, and he refused when the conglomerate offered him several times more money.

“Oh, really?”

-My friend is also trustworthy, so it must be true. He is greedy for money, but he doesn’t make mistakes because he’s blinded by it. He knows how to keep his morals to a certain extent.

I’m getting a rough idea.

He is obsessed with money, but loyalty and work come first.

He might be easier to handle than I thought.

More than anything, if he knows how to keep his morals and keeps his mouth shut, there’s nothing more I need.

Since Song Hyun-sung recommended him, I don’t have to worry about the work-related aspects.

“Thank you.”

-No problem. Do you need anything else?

“Oh, do you happen to know a technician who is good at making hidden cameras?”

-Hidden cameras?

“Yes. I need a specially made hidden camera.”

A moment of silence passed while Jung Hyung-joon searched his mind.

-There’s a guy who used to film up women’s skirts on the subway with a camera he made himself, and he was recently released from prison. How about him?

“Good. Please send me a brief profile.”

-Okay.

“Thank you. By the way, how is Inspector doing?”

-I’m doing nothing special… The suspect in the case I’m currently working on is certain, but there is not enough evidence, so the prosecutor in charge is not approving the warrant application.

“Oh, are you talking about that murder case?”

-Yes, that’s right.

“I’ll put in a call to that department. You should contact the prosecutor in charge again tomorrow.”

-Thank you.

“Okay, go ahead.”

-Yes. Fighting!

I have to provide this much convenience to be able to use him comfortably.

It’s a win-win situation in its own way.

I called the prosecutor in charge, and I didn’t even have to say much before I got the okay sign.

The idea that we should all get along well because there will be opposing positions in the future is prevalent in this field.

After handling the matter simply, I called the number for ‘Fairy’ written in the ledger again.

After exactly three rings, a middle-aged woman answered the phone.

-Yes, who is this?

A dignified voice. I could feel that she wasn’t easy enough to get anything out of by testing the waters.

Without trying to probe, I immediately said what Shin Yong-ho had told me.

“This is Choi Seo-joon from the Special Investigation Department of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. I was introduced by Prosecutor Shin Yong-ho.”

-Ah, you’re a friend of Prosecutor Shin.

She immediately recognized me and continued speaking happily.

-Please tell me the date, time, and number of people.

“Next Friday at 9 p.m. Two people.”

I was debating whether to make a reservation for one person, but after hearing Inspector Jung Hyung-joon’s story, I decided to take reporter Bae Jin-soo with me for now.

Of course, the final decision will be made after I meet him.

-Any requests?

I swallowed hard.

And carefully said.

“Wol-hyang.”

-Wol-hyang… Ah, that time slot is available. What about the other person?

“Anyone else is fine.”

-Okay. Please come carefully.

With those words, the call was immediately disconnected.

It definitely feels different from ordinary establishments.

I was just making a reservation, but I felt nervous for some reason.

“Hoo.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as I successfully made the reservation without any suspicion, and then flipped through the back of the book again and wrote down the address of the Paju Yojung in my notebook, which I always carry with me.

Of course, I didn’t do anything foolish like taking pictures with my phone camera.

If the worst-case scenario happens, someone could acquire my phone and recover the data, and this could become my weakness.

Analog is the best way to avoid being tracked.

***

Sharp, upturned eyes and an imbalanced mouth.

He’s not someone whose face I can trust 100%, but how can I make a judgment based on his face?

Swindlers are mostly people with more trustworthy faces than anyone else, so you can only know the truth by looking at the substance.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Choi Seo-joon.”

“Hello, I’m Bae Jin-soo from Political District No. 1.”

He shook my hand and immediately handed me his business card.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Prosecutor Song. I heard you’re young but very talented.”

I heard that Song Hyun-sung had told him in advance, and it seems he spoke quite well of me.

I asked with a sly smile.

“Didn’t you know before you heard that?”

He burst into a hearty laugh and waved his hand.

“No. Of course, I knew. If a reporter in the political and social affairs department doesn’t know Prosecutor Choi, they’re a spy.”

“I’m honored.”

It was a short conversation, but I had a gut feeling that I could trust him enough.

Along with the sense of trust that comes from his tone of voice, there’s also the look in his eyes that desperately wants to succeed.

I could feel confident that those eyes would never stab me in the back.

He didn’t drag it out and immediately got to the point.

“I heard you want to work with me.”

“Yes.”

I folded my hands on the table and took a relaxed posture.

“But the conditions are a bit tricky.”

“Let’s hear them.”

“Absolute confidentiality. You can’t back out in the middle.”

“That’s basic. Didn’t Prosecutor Song say that this is something I can be trusted with?”

“That’s why I came to see you, Reporter Bae.”

He seemed satisfied and revealed his gums with a hearty smile.

“I’ll decide when to break the story.”

“Yes. As long as you give us the exclusive, there’s no problem. The most effective time for the article is not for us to decide, but for the prosecutor to decide.”

“Finally, there’s one more important thing.”

I said with a bright smile.

“You have to take responsibility for all the expenses required in the process. Ah, of course, not Reporter Bae personally, but Political District No. 1.”

He tilted his head with a faint smile and took a deep breath.

“I knew our prosecutor was an icon of integrity… This is unexpected.”

“No, I’m not. I’m so clean and penniless that I have nothing, so I’m asking for help.”

I shrugged my shoulders and said.

“It’s not like that money will go into my pocket; it’s just providing it to the source as an interview fee to get an exclusive.”

It’s an unavoidable choice.

I have the ability to pay the money directly, but if something goes wrong, they will definitely be curious about the source of this money.

It’s a lot of money for a mere prosecutor to give.

If a bank account trace comes in and the identity of the black money is revealed, I’m done for.

I always have to think of the worst-case scenario and take out insurance.

“That’s not a problem.”

Bae Jin-soo raised his eyebrows and added.

“However, depending on the situation, the amount can vary greatly. I’m not the one who’s paying for that…”

He pointed to the ceiling with his index finger.

“It’s decided from above.”

“Of course.”

I reached out my hand over the table, and Bae Jin-soo shook it with a satisfied expression.

The probing is over, now it’s time to get to the point.

Even though it’s a private room, I lowered my voice and carefully opened my mouth.

“Reporter, have you ever heard of Paju Yojung?”

He wiggled his butt as if to prove that it was an interesting topic and leaned his upper body towards the table.

“Of course, I’ve heard of it. However, I haven’t actually come into contact with the entity yet.”

I twisted my lips and said.

“We’re going to that Paju Yojung.”