The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 200

Prosecutor, You’re Going Places! – Episode 200 (200/341)

Trust in This Business (3)

“Did it go through?”

“Yes. Jang Young-soon handed over 20,000 gift certificates directly to Choi Seo-joon without James Kim’s help.”

At Chief Kim’s report, Choi Gyu-hyun chuckled lightly.

“The old woman’s got some strength. How did she carry it? It must weigh about 20kg.”

“It’s confirmed she put it in a carrier and dragged it.”

“Is that so?”

Choi Gyu-hyun tapped the armrest with his fingers.

“Doesn’t she even trust James Kim?”

“It seems so.”

“She’s always been distrustful of people.”

Chief Kim tilted his head.

“Always?”

“That’s not important.”

Choi Gyu-hyun quickly changed the subject at his question.

“What about the investigation on Choi Seo-joon?”

“We managed to capture the scene of him receiving over 10 billion, but it was in a carrier, so it might not be solid evidence.”

“Didn’t you film him putting the money in? Didn’t you get that video from Jang Young-soon?”

“That’s…”

Chief Kim replied with a troubled expression.

“She said she forgot to film the video.”

“What?”

Choi Gyu-hyun’s face crumpled.

“Didn’t I tell you to take care of that?”

“You definitely gave the order, but Jang Young-soon forgot…”

“That damn old hag!”

Choi Gyu-hyun gritted his teeth.

He didn’t intend to hand over the money willingly, but unintentionally, he ended up benefiting Choi Seo-joon.

In the end, he had no choice but to focus all his efforts on tracking Choi Seo-joon’s cash conversion of the gift certificates.

If he couldn’t track the flow, he would end up handing over 10 billion to Choi Seo-joon without any gain.

However, Choi Seo-joon is a current prosecutor.

He probably knows more about money laundering than he does.

But all of this was Jang Young-soon’s plan.

In reality, she filmed it herself and kept it separately.

After hearing that Choi Gyu-hyun made the same offer to Shin Sung-ho, she decided that she shouldn’t completely trust Choi Gyu-hyun.

If Jang Young-soon faced a crisis, she was planning to give Choi Gyu-hyun decisive evidence and stick with him.

However, Choi Gyu-hyun had no idea, so the blame ultimately fell on Chief Kim.

“You incompetent fool!”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Chief Kim, you take responsibility and track the money laundering process.”

“Yes, sir.”

He stood up from his seat nervously.

“What about the Bear?”

“He’s waiting inside.”

“You wait here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Choi Gyu-hyun opened the door and went inside alone.

“Have you arrived, Assemblyman?”

A large, burly man stood up from his seat and bowed politely.

“Oh, Seung-min, it’s been a while.”

Choi Gyu-hyun smiled affably and patted Jung Seung-min’s shoulder.

“You seem to have gotten bigger.”

“You have become more benevolent, Assemblyman.”

“Are you buttering me up?”

“Have you ever seen me use flattery in front of you, Assemblyman?”

He laughed heartily and sat down in the seat of honor first.

“Sit down.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’ve been through a lot alone, haven’t you?”

“I felt keenly that your embrace was warm, Assemblyman.”

To Choi Gyu-hyun, Jung Seung-min felt like a puppy wagging its tail, not befitting his size.

“Now, about the issues related to affairs…”

“You don’t have to worry at all. I’ve come to my senses now. Even when I go out to play, I act very gentlemanly.”

“What about marriage?”

“I’ve erased it from my mind altogether.”

“Good. You can enjoy yourself enough with money, why bother getting married?”

It wasn’t something Choi Gyu-hyun, who was already married and had grandchildren, should say, but Jung Seung-min only agreed.

“That’s right.”

After a brief greeting, Choi Gyu-hyun went straight to the point.

“I want you to come to the election camp and help…”

“Assemblyman.”

Jung Seung-min said firmly.

“You don’t need to ask me, just order me.”

“Good.”

Choi Gyu-hyun twisted his lips with satisfaction.

“Come in, Seung-min.”

“I will work hard.”

Jung Seung-min lowered his head, his eyes sparkling.

“I’ve learned a lot while wandering alone outside. I will make sure you hear the title of ‘Your Excellency’…”

“When was that ‘Your Excellency’? ‘President’ is enough these days.”

“Ah, is that so?”

The two burst into laughter.

Choi Gyu-hyun leaned towards Jung Seung-min.

“If I get elected this time, I’ll give you a good position.”

“A good position, you mean…”

“Chief of Staff.”

Jung Seung-min swallowed hard without realizing it.

Chief of Staff of the Blue House [South Korea’s executive office and official residence of the president].

A position that can be seen as the President’s right-hand man.

Jung Seung-min glanced around to make sure the door was tightly closed before asking again.

“Then what about Chief Kim…”

Choi Gyu-hyun shook his head firmly.

“That friend is not talented enough to rise to that position. He’s got a small bowl [limited capacity or ambition].”

The corners of his lips twisted slyly.

“At least it should be someone like you, shouldn’t it?”

Jung Seung-min stood up from his seat as if deeply moved and bowed 90 degrees.

“I will give my loyalty, Mr. President.”

***

“Give me all the funds from Queen Investment.”

-All the funds?

Jang Young-soon’s flustered voice came from beyond the phone.

-That’s too much… No, Choi Gyu-hyun will notice it in the first place.

“It doesn’t matter. Since the full-scale election campaign will start in two days, we have to move too.”

-But…

The reason she hesitated was different.

The moment she received the funds from Queen Investment, there would be no way to return to Choi Gyu-hyun.

“Trust me and follow me. Since we’re in the same boat, we have to move together.”

Above all, she would have no choice but to hesitate at the fact that she was cutting off her own slush fund channel.

But there was no room to think about her at all.

She’s a person who has been in and out of prison several times for fraud.

At least I have to hold the purse strings so she doesn’t have any funny ideas.

Even so, her breath was not completely cut off.

No matter how much I told her to hand over the slush funds, Jang Young-soon would prepare it herself.

It was obvious that she would set aside the money she would take.

She’ll embezzle enough to live more richly than others, at least.

No, it’s highly likely that she’s already prepared it.

After hesitating for a moment, she answered with difficulty.

-Okay. I’ll do as you say.

“You made a good choice.”

-Should I turn the funds into gift certificates and give them to the prosecutor as before?

“No. Transfer them to YH.”

-YH?

Jang Young-soon’s voice was startled.

-If it’s YH…

“That’s right. It’s where CEO Shin Sung-ho is.”

After a moment of silence, she spoke cautiously.

-Are you going to work with them too?

“Now that we’ve turned Choi Gyu-hyun into an enemy, we need as many allies as possible.”

Jang Young-soon must have thought, ‘Oh no,’ but she couldn’t turn back now that she had already stepped in.

“Don’t worry. CEO Shin Sung-ho is only for money laundering. There’s no problem with the promise with you.”

-Okay.

“Just trust me and follow me.”

Of course, I won’t trust you at all.

-I’ll organize the funds and contact you.

“Go ahead.”

Hanging up the phone, I stood by the window and took a sip of tea to moisten my mouth.

I won’t touch the funds flowing from Queen Investment to YH.

You could say it’s a kind of gift to Shin Yong-ho.

It’s also a reward for this work.

It’s money that will give me a stomach ache if I eat it anyway.

But it’s different for Shin Yong-ho, who is the same businessman.

If he just writes a few side contracts with Queen Investment while receiving the money, he will be able to swallow all the money by paying a small fine.

Above all, if the election period officially begins, Choi Gyu-hyun will try to attack me using Queen Investment.

Then it’s obvious that Queen Investment will collapse.

I don’t know if the company will last until the end or collapse in the middle, but what’s certain is that someone will swallow the slush funds they had.

If it’s money that Jang Young-soon or Choi Gyu-hyun will eat anyway, it’s better for someone around me to take care of it.

It seems like I can repay Shin Yong-ho sooner than I thought.

Knock knock.

Then the sound of knocking.

“Yes, come in.”

Turning around, Yoon Seol-ha bowed her head and entered the Deputy Head’s office.

“What’s going on?”

“While checking the list of this presidential election camp, there was an unusual person, so I’m reporting it.”

“Are you talking about Choi Gyu-hyun’s election camp?”

“Yes. We confirmed that Jung Seung-min has joined as a new face.”

Yoon Seol-ha handed me a report with the list written on it.

“If it’s Jung Seung-min, are you talking about the person who was the chairman of the Human Rights Commission?”

“That’s right.”

I skimmed through the report and found Jung Seung-min’s photo and stopped looking at it.

Looking at his face, his nickname ‘Bear’ naturally came to mind.

An enormous height of 190cm and muscular. And even a rugged face.

Even if you see him for the first time, you can know why he is called a bear without hearing the explanation.

“I know he was Choi Gyu-hyun’s man a long time ago, but he left due to an unpleasant incident… I see he’s been re-employed.”

“Yes. According to informants, he seems to be getting closer than Chief Kim now.”

That’s unexpected.

Is he trying to drive out Chief Kim?

He may be less capable than the Bear, but he has been his caretaker for several years.

To try to drive such a person out along with the presidential election.

Certainly, Choi Gyu-hyun is not a person to be thought of with general standards.

“First, tell them to keep a closer eye on him. And find a way to approach Chief Kim in case.”

If he is abandoned by Choi Gyu-hyun, I have to take his hand.

The person who was the closest aide is the most dangerous factor that can be the biggest bomb.

“I will carry out your instructions.”

***

“Queen Investment’s fund flow?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Choi Gyu-hyun’s brow furrowed as he looked at the data reported by Chief Kim.

“The fund flow is unusual.”

“That’s right. It feels like it’s flowing into the political world.”

“But you didn’t investigate this at all?”

“…Yes?”

Choi Gyu-hyun raised his voice.

“If there’s anything suspicious, you should investigate and report it right away, shouldn’t you?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Is ‘I’m sorry’ enough?”

“…”

“The election campaign starts tomorrow, but do I have to direct even these trivial details myself? What if it flowed into the Min-guk Party?”

“I will find out as soon as possible.”

Choi Gyu-hyun said nervously.

“Okay. You stay still.”

“Yes?”

Choi Gyu-hyun didn’t answer Chief Kim’s question and shouted towards the door.

“Jung Seung-min!”

In less than 5 seconds, the door burst open and the Bear, Jung Seung-min, came in.

“Assemblyman, did you call me?”

“Oh, Seung-min. You know Queen Investment, right?”

“Yes.”

“Investigate the fund flow there.”

“I understand.”

He bowed his head and left the office again.

The situation was no different from openly embarrassing Chief Kim in front of the Bear.

Chief Kim gritted his teeth, but he couldn’t show it.

However, Choi Gyu-hyun didn’t stop there and dug into his heart.

“Chief Kim, you have to do well. You know that the Bear came back under me after resting for several years, right?”

“I know.”

“Make sure you hold on so that the rolling stone doesn’t pull out the embedded stone [newcomers don’t displace established members].”

“…I will work hard.”

“Not work hard, do well.”

“I will do well.”

“Okay, go.”

Chief Kim clenched his fist and left the election camp.