The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 235

Showdown (6)

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to give you the money, it’s that I can’t right now. And I told you not to call me so suddenly like this.”

Park Jae-pil, on his way to his office, frowned at Investigator Jo Byeong-tae’s words and asked,

“Who is it?”

Jo Byeong-tae, noticing Park Jae-pil, ended the call.

“Let’s talk again later.”

He hung up and reported to Park Jae-pil.

“It’s the kindergarten teachers.”

“What about those women?”

“They’re pressing us about when we’re going to pay the remaining balance because we haven’t given it to them yet…”

“Didn’t I tell you to pass it on to the Polar Bear [a known intermediary or contact]?”

“I did pass it on, but…”

Jo Byeong-tae replied with a troubled expression to Park Jae-pil’s sharp tone.

“As I mentioned before, the Central District Prosecutor’s Office has assigned people to monitor us, so it’s not easy to deliver the money.”

“They’ve still got surveillance on us after a week?”

“Yes. It feels like they’re really going for it. We’re under 24-hour surveillance, so even contact itself is impossible.”

“Can’t you deliver it to their families?”

“Choi Seo-jun is hiring people with his own money to monitor everything.”

“That son of a bitch.”

He had thought Choi Seo-jun would grit his teeth and back down, but he didn’t expect him to cling on so tenaciously.

‘It all went wrong because of that stupid reporter in the beginning.’

He told him to provoke them while testing the waters, but he ended up having his phone confiscated, and now it’s come to this.

Because of that, the Central District Prosecutor’s Office wasn’t constrained by the media, and because they made the first move, they haven’t been able to pay the kindergarten teachers the remaining balance.

However, Park Jae-pil wasn’t too concerned.

Persuading and contacting them was his job, but since delivering the money was the Polar Bear’s responsibility anyway, his role was over.

“When will we be able to get the phone back?”

“Unless you’re planning to be punished for assault, you should legally get it back next week.”

“Okay. Then let’s wait. We need to shake him up with the media so we can inflict additional damage.”

“Understood.”

Park Jae-pil thought time was on his side.

In a week, he’d be able to get the reporter’s phone back, and naturally, the situation would tilt in his favor.

‘Just you wait, Choi Seo-jun. Your fall to rock bottom isn’t far off.’

***

“Are they not planning to give us the money?”

“Is that really it?”

The kindergarten teacher bit her nails, and the headmistress paced anxiously.

“What if they just disappear on us like this?”

“Surely not, would they?”

“No, but it’s not a small amount, it’s a whole 500 million [Korean won, approximately $400,000 USD]…”

500 million.

That was the amount of money they were supposed to receive from Park Jae-pil’s side for committing this act.

That’s why they went crazy and did that to the student they were supposed to be taking care of.

“Are those people still outside?”

“Yes. I saw them before I came, they were watching.”

“Haa.”

The headmistress sighed deeply and slumped into her chair.

“I can’t do anything with this anxiety.”

“I saw on TV these days that they check phone records and everything… Are these people watching our every move like that too?”

“Ah, maybe, is that why Investigator Jo told us not to contact him carelessly?”

“That could be it.”

“How can we live like this with all this anxiety?”

The headmistress wore a tearful expression.

“Should we just confess?”

“No, headmistress. Didn’t you hear back then? This is attempted murder. Not assault, attempted murder.”

The teacher hurriedly stopped her.

“The kid’s dad is a chief prosecutor. We don’t know when we’ll get out of jail if we go in.”

“Yeah, even I wouldn’t give us a break.”

“Haa.”

The headmistress started to scold the teacher.

“You should have been more gentle. You smashed the kid’s nose so badly…”

“Are you blaming me now?”

“The kid almost died. They told us to only do it to the point where they’d be taken to the hospital…”

“Headmistress!”

At the teacher’s words, the headmistress avoided her gaze.

“Call Prosecutor Park Jae-pil’s side one more time.”

The teacher sighed and called Investigator Jo, but he didn’t answer again.

The headmistress wore a worried look.

“But what if we get abandoned like this?”

“Don’t say such ominous things.”

“If that happens, we’re really done for.”

“Of course. The Central District Prosecutor’s Office will step in; we can’t handle it on our own.”

“Then should we run away now?”

“We need money to run away.”

“…That’s right.”

A cold atmosphere settled.

The headmistress fidgeted and got up from her seat again, pacing around the office.

“But headmistress.”

“What?”

“What’s really scary is…”

The teacher said in an anxious voice.

“Is that they’re not doing anything except watching us. That Chief Prosecutor So-young’s dad isn’t even coming to argue with us or curse at us…”

To them, it felt like the calm before the storm.

Like the silence before something big happens.

Bling-.

“Mommy!”

The teacher, startled by the ringtone, slipped off her chair and screamed.

The headmistress barely calmed her pounding heart.

“You scared me.”

The teacher grabbed her waist and got up, picking up her phone.

“It’s an unknown number.”

“Then don’t answer it.”

“Maybe Investigator Jo is calling?”

“…Is that so?”

“I’ll answer it for now.”

The teacher took a breath and pressed the call button.

“Yes, hello?”

-Is this Yoo Hana?

‘I’ve heard this voice somewhere before.’

The teacher thought back and answered.

“Yes, who is this?”

-This is Choi Seo-jun, the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office.”

The teacher dropped her phone without realizing it.

“Why, who is it?”

At the headmistress’s question, the teacher couldn’t answer and swallowed hard, picking up the phone again.

“Wh, what’s going on?”

-Let’s meet. There’s something I want to talk about.

***

“Chief Prosecutor, I’ll go. It’s better than you moving yourself…”

“No.”

I refused Jang Ha-young’s words firmly and unbuckled my seatbelt.

“I have to go to this one.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I have to go for Doo-hyung’s sake.”

At the mention of Chief Prosecutor Lee Doo-hyung’s name, Jang Ha-young didn’t stop me anymore.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Understood. Be careful.”

“Okay.”

Leaving Director Jang Ha-young behind, I entered the kindergarten.

Because all the children weren’t attending due to this incident, I headed straight to the headmistress’s office without hesitation.

Opening the door and entering, the teacher and headmistress were waiting for me, looking very nervous.

“Ah, hello. Prosecutor.”

“Please, sit here.”

I went to the sofa they guided me to and sat down.

I thought I had cooled down my emotions before coming in, but seeing the women brazenly in the kindergarten, the scene of the incident, made my anger surge.

As I sat down, the teacher brought out tea that she had prepared in advance, and the headmistress carefully opened her mouth.

“What brings you here…”

Before she could finish, I threw the teacup in front of me against the wall.

Clang-!

The mug shattered and scattered on the floor, and the teachers screamed in surprise and cowered.

At the same time, my emotions cooled down in an instant.

No, they froze over.

“Are you even human?”

A colder voice than ever came out of my mouth.

“We, we’re sorry!”

The teacher and headmistress bowed their heads and knelt down without hesitation.

They were the ones who brazenly said in front of Lee Doo-hyung that it wasn’t their fault.

It seems my face is more ferocious than usual.

Of course, not only that, but also because they realized that they were in a crisis because they hadn’t received the remaining balance from Park Jae-pil’s side and couldn’t even contact him properly.

That’s why we had people watching them in the first place.

“You should apologize to Chief Prosecutor Lee Doo-hyung, not me.”

“We’re really sorry.”

“That little kid…”

I was about to speak, but I closed my mouth because I felt anger rising again.

I mustn’t get excited.

After calming down, I opened my mouth as planned.

“Go apologize to Chief Prosecutor Lee Doo-hyung now. If you kneel and sincerely apologize, I won’t send you to jail.”

“…”

They must be hesitating.

If they’re still hoping for Park Jae-pil, they don’t need to stick with me.

Regardless of what Park Jae-pil is really like, I have to shatter that expectation.

“I know everything about you being instigated by Park Jae-pil. I was wondering, but you’re still expecting to receive the remaining balance from that guy.”

I said with a sneer, and a look of bewilderment crossed their faces.

The problem wasn’t just that they weren’t giving them money, but they didn’t expect me to know that they were connected to Park Jae-pil.

“That’s how that guy always is. He’ll cut off contact soon. In short, you’re being abandoned.”

After a moment of silence, the teacher asked first.

“If we apologize, will you forgive our sins?”

“That’s right. But instead…”

I leaned towards them.

“There’s a condition.”

“A condition?”

“Yes.”

I said directly.

“Reveal the nature of your relationship with Park Jae-pil.”

“…Yes?”

A look of embarrassment crossed their faces.

“Everything from how you contacted him, how much you received as an advance, how you were supposed to receive the remaining balance, and even what channels you used to contact him, without leaving anything out.”

Park Jae-pil is naively thinking that we’ll react when he makes the first move.

To make him think that way, we didn’t take any action other than confiscating the reporter’s phone and monitoring these two women.

But through these women, I’m going to hit him first.

“That’s…”

I cut her off again as she was about to say something.

“If you’re not happy, there’s no room for negotiation. Go to the prosecutor’s office right now and get investigated.”

“What kind of…”

I took out an arrest warrant from my pocket.

“Do you want to be arrested, or do you want to stick with me?”

They had no choice.

The headmistress was trembling with fear and couldn’t say anything, and the teacher opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.

“I’ll apologize to So-young’s father.”

“You’ve made a good choice.”

I put the arrest warrant back in my pocket.

Of course, this warrant was fake.

A document fabricated by Clerk Jo Ah-ra in the office.

“There’s a white sedan outside. Don’t think about packing your bags, just get up and go out and get in that car.”

The teacher got up from her seat without a word and left the kindergarten, and the headmistress belatedly opened her mouth.

“Me too…”

“Get out.”

“Yes.”

She followed the teacher like she was running away.

After they both left, I leaned back on the sofa, slowly closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

“Hoo.”

Until now, even if the worst people stuck with me, I embraced and accepted them with a broad mind.

But this time it’s different.

For the first time, I’m going to stab the people who stuck with me in the back.

I can’t forgive them for touching a child, especially for putting Lee Doo-hyung’s daughter in that state.

I’ll take care of Park Jae-pil and them as a set.

After confirming that the teachers got into Director Jang Ha-young’s car and left for the prosecutor’s office, I came out of the kindergarten and called Yoon Seol-ha.

-Yes, Chief Prosecutor.

“The trash has left.”

Trash that cannot be recycled must be disposed of.

“Let’s show them that living under the sky can be more painful than death.”