The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 20

“Hoo.”

I calmed my breathing and organized the information piece by piece.

First, Han Jiyu and I slept together.

This is an undeniable fact.

If the video had been manipulated, I wouldn’t have been at a loss when Kang Hyeon-soo showed it to me.

This is what’s predicted to happen this year, at thirty years old.

From the video alone, it’s impossible to determine whether Han Jiyu and I genuinely fell for each other and slept together, or whether I received sexual favors in exchange for something.

If it was the latter, that in itself becomes a blackmail weapon. But if Han Jiyu and I were actually in a relationship, they could threaten to damage her reputation by releasing the video.

Even if the latter possibility is extremely unlikely, it’s best not to jump to conclusions before all the facts are in.

The key to investigation and deduction is to consider all possibilities.

Next is the age of thirty-four, when the events in the text occur.

That’s a whole four years away.

According to the text, I’ll be promoted to Deputy Chief Prosecutor.

But the problem is, it’s not the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Inspection Department, but of the Special Investigation Department.

And I’ve been in the Special Investigation Department since I was thirty.

If I choose not to enter the Special Investigation Department this year, the content of that text will be completely invalidated. But for now, I have to assume that I will enter the Special Investigation Department.

After being promoted to Deputy Chief in the Special Investigation Department and working for four years, I’m somehow forced out.

Considering the usual backroom dealings, it doesn’t seem like a simple tail-cutting [scapegoating] or Kang Hyeon-soo’s doing. There’s probably something I have to take responsibility for.

And one more thing.

Even if all of this is overturned, one piece of information will remain unchanged.

Depending on how I use it, my course in the great upheaval that will occur in four years may be determined.

That’s a lot of information.

It was just one text, but it contained content of immeasurable value.

I have to make the most of it.

Without missing a single detail, and to my advantage.

***

Two days passed, and a little after midnight on the third day.

While Yoon Seol-ha was eating a convenience store sandwich with the interior lights off, a car pulled into the narrow, dark parking lot.

Yoon Seol-ha put down her sandwich and turned to look.

A black SUV. The license plate number is 35 Da 3741.

She took out her cell phone, snapped a picture, and immediately sent it to Choi Seo-joon.

-Recipient: Choi Seo-joon

-Nam Woo-hyun has arrived. I will continue to watch.

A reply arrived shortly after.

-Sender: Choi Seo-joon

-Call me immediately if anything happens.

Reassured, she focused on the vehicle again.

Before long, another black foreign car slid in.

The vehicle Yoon Seol-ha had seen a few days ago. 95 Ro 4106.

It’s the car of Kang Hyeon-soo, the head of the Special Investigation Department.

His car parked next to the SUV, and soon the engine was turned off.

The two got out of their cars and stood facing each other, exchanging words.

The distance was too great to hear what they were saying, but the topic was obvious.

What kind of incident happened this time, and how to cover it up. Or the situation with Joo-ok Group.

It must be one of these.

Yoon Seol-ha took pictures continuously, not wanting to miss a single moment.

After about five minutes, Chief Prosecutor Kang Hyeon-soo went to the back of his car, opened the trunk, and took out a black bag.

Yoon Seol-ha swallowed hard.

‘It was real.’

She had been half-doubtful until she saw it with her own eyes.

It wasn’t that she doubted Choi Seo-joon; she trusted him completely.

Her worry was about the information itself.

She didn’t know who leaked this perfect information or how Choi Seo-joon found out, but if she captured this scene, she could completely destroy those two prosecutors.

Not just ordinary prosecutors, but the heads of the Financial Crime Investigation Department and the Special Investigation Department, which are key departments of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office!

‘If I give this to a reporter…….’

She would be rewarded with a huge amount of money.

Far more than her annual salary as a prosecutor’s office official.

Of course, Yoon Seol-ha had no intention of stabbing Choi Seo-joon in the back or betraying the man who had saved her.

The fact that he freed her from Im Seong-jin and accepted her as an investigator was worth more than any amount of money.

She was just reminding herself of the photo’s potential value.

As expected, Yoon Seol-ha didn’t miss the moment and captured it perfectly in a photo.

Nam Woo-hyun, who received the money bag, felt its weight and couldn’t hide his smile.

‘Dirty bastard.’

His dirty smile was also captured in the lens.

Chief Prosecutor Nam Woo-hyun lifted the bag a few times, savoring its weight, before putting it in the trunk of his SUV.

The moment she perfectly captured this scene.

Flash!

A call came to her cell phone from an unknown number, brightening the screen.

It was set to silent mode, so there was no vibration or ringtone, but the light on the screen couldn’t be hidden.

She immediately rejected the call, but the light had already leaked out.

Whether he saw the light or not, Chief Kang Hyeon-soo said something to Chief Nam Woo-hyun and cautiously began to approach Yoon Seol-ha’s car.

‘Damn it!’

Yoon Seol-ha leaned the chair back to hide her body as much as possible.

However, Chief Kang Hyeon-soo, already suspicious, began to peer into all the cars around Yoon Seol-ha.

Putting his hands next to his eyes to look through the windows of the parked cars one by one, Chief Kang Hyeon-soo finally approached Yoon Seol-ha’s car.

‘Please!’

Yoon Seol-ha held her breath and tried not to make a sound.

She had hoped that the darkness and tinted windows would help, but as always, her ominous feeling proved correct.

Bang!

Chief Kang Hyeon-soo hit the driver’s seat window hard with his fist.

“Who are you!”

She got caught.

‘I’m screwed.’

Yoon Seol-ha quickly made a decision.

‘There’s no way I can hold out here…….’

She hurriedly straightened the back of the driver’s seat and immediately started the engine.

At the sound of the engine starting, Chief Kang Hyeon-soo hit the window again and shouted fiercely.

“Who sent you, you son of a bitch!”

Yoon Seol-ha immediately stepped on the accelerator.

Through the rearview mirror, she could see Chief Kang Hyeon-soo stumble, then immediately get up and run towards his car.

He would chase after her.

With Prosecutor Nam Woo-hyun.

Yoon Seol-ha grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and sent all the photos she had taken to Choi Seo-joon with the other hand.

And immediately called him.

“Prosecutor, I’ve been caught.”

-Caught?

Choi Seo-joon’s surprised voice came through the phone.

-Where are you now?

Judging from the rustling sound, he was trying to get out of the house in a hurry.

“I’m running away. I’ve already sent the photos, so save them all.”

-Where are you? I’ll go now!

“Don’t come. Don’t come, and just in case, move all the photos to your laptop.”

She explained calmly.

“If you come and get caught, it’ll be revealed that you ordered me to do it. Just get out of here. Even if I get caught, I’ll say that I investigated it alone, so you don’t know. That’s the only way we can both survive.”

-Is the car not yours?

“I rented it in my friend’s name. She’s a friend who has nothing to do with me officially, so you won’t be able to catch me by tracking the car number.”

-If I can just shake them off…….

Flash!

She frowned at the strong light reflected in the rearview mirror.

It was the high beams.

They were repeatedly turning the high beams on and off from behind, obstructing her vision.

The car visible in the rearview mirror was a foreign car.

There was some distance, but judging from the fact that they were flooring it, it was only a matter of time before they caught up.

“No. I don’t think it will be easy to shake them off. I’ll try to run away for now, but I’m not sure.”

The visibility was poor because of the high beams flashing from behind.

“Prosecutor, I’ll call you again.”

-Investigator, Investigator! Seol-ha!

Yoon Seol-ha ignored Choi Seo-joon’s desperate voice and hung up the phone.

The foreign car was getting closer and closer.

‘Damn it, I should have rented an expensive car if I knew this would happen.’

It was too late to regret it.

The possibility of being caught had increased.

She shouldn’t leave any evidence, even in preparation for that situation.

The first thing to do was to delete the evidence that the photos were sent.

Yoon Seol-ha grabbed the steering wheel with her opposite hand and deleted all the text history and today’s call list that sent the photos to Choi Seo-joon.

She also deleted the photos she took.

That way, there would be room for excuses even if she got caught.

Yoon Seol-ha stepped on the accelerator with her right foot, but she couldn’t outrun the foreign car with the rented domestic car.

Kang Hyeon-soo, who finally pulled up right next to her, opened the passenger seat window and shouted.

“Hey, you bastard! Stop the car!”

She gritted her teeth.

She wanted to shout, ‘Would you stop if you were me?’, but she couldn’t open the driver’s seat window.

“Hey, aren’t you going to stop?”

The speed was already over 140km/h [approximately 87 mph].

She regretted that she couldn’t accelerate any further because she felt the car’s balance was becoming unstable.

Sweat began to form on the hand holding the steering wheel.

Yoon Seol-ha took a deep breath.