The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 62

My People (1)

Three days before delivering the final dismissal to Inspector Kim Hyung-seok, I met with former Seoul Central District Prosecutor General, Im Ju-young.

He had since moved up to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, holding the position of Deputy Prosecutor General.

This was the rank right below the Prosecutor General.

In short, he was essentially the number two in the South Korean prosecution system.

“Have you arrived, Prosecutor General… no, Deputy Prosecutor General. I apologize, the title ‘Prosecutor General’ just rolls off the tongue.”

“Haha, it’s alright.”

He chuckled heartily, waving his hand.

“Actually, I prefer the title ‘Prosecutor General.’ Even though I’ve moved up in rank, hearing ‘Deputy’ after being called ‘General’ feels like a downgrade. Hahaha.”

The start was promising.

Deliberately calling him ‘Prosecutor General’ instead of ‘Deputy’ had the desired effect.

Prosecutor General Im Ju-young settled onto the cushion, glancing around the interior.

“I didn’t know there was such a nice place in Paju.”

“I should have brought you here sooner. I apologize for the delay.”

“I appreciate you thinking of me, even if it’s late.”

Deputy Prosecutor General Im Ju-young seemed to be in good spirits, constantly smiling.

“You look radiant, Deputy Prosecutor General. Is there some good news?”

“It’s nothing much…”

He chuckled softly as he spoke.

“Our youngest one aced the placement test this time and got into the top class.”

‘Youngest one’ likely referred to the late-in-life son Im Ju-young had in his forties.

“The entrance ceremony was just the other day, and seeing him take the oath filled me with such pride. I just got off the phone with him, and it brought the thought back to me.”

“Wow, congratulations!”

Im Ju-young scratched his head, seemingly embarrassed by his own boasting.

“Ah, they say bragging about your kids makes you a fool…”

“Not at all. He’s your son, Deputy Prosecutor General. I feel like going there myself to give him some pocket money as a reward.”

“Hahaha, I appreciate the thought.”

Just as the saying goes that no parent dislikes praise for their child, Im Ju-young’s spirits continued to rise.

“So, your son is attending…”

He waved his hand.

“Don’t call him ‘your son.’ It’s embarrassing. Just call him Sung-joon.”

“Understood. Is Sung-joon going to a school in the Gangnam area?”

“Yeah, he went to Daechi-dong. Getting into any middle school in the 8th district [Gangnam’s school district] is so tough, honestly.”

“Sung-joon topping the class there is truly… amazing.”

I even gave a thumbs-up, further boosting Im Ju-young’s mood.

After chatting for a while, when the atmosphere had ripened, I cautiously asked.

“Shall we bring the ladies in soon?”

With a glint in my eye, I explained.

“The reason I brought you all the way to Paju is for this. The girls here are incomparable to places like Gangnam’s Ten Pro [expensive hostess bars]. I’m sure you’ll be satisfied, Prosecutor General.”

As I slyly raised my eyebrows, he let out a puff of air and set down his glass.

“Let’s finish the main business before we start playing. You know I can’t stand being kept waiting.”

He leaned his arm on the table, gazing intently at me.

“What business could our Choi Prosecutor have that would bring me to such a nice place?”

“Ah, it’s nothing much…”

I took out two shopping bags filled with tens of millions of won worth of luxury goods, which I had placed under the table beforehand, and handed them to him.

“Please accept these first.”

“Oh, Choi Prosecutor!”

He rebuked me, his eyes widening.

“Were we ever the kind of relationship where you needed to give me something to ask for a favor?”

“No, it’s not like that, it’s just a small token of my sincerity.”

“If you think of it that way, I’m disappointed. What kind of relationship do we have?”

“Of course, this is just a token of my sincerity, a token of my sincerity.”

As I slid the shopping bags across the table, he cleared his throat.

“Isn’t ignoring sincerity against the laws of Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom]?”

“Of course!”

“Then I’ll accept it for now.”

“One is for you to wear, Deputy Prosecutor General, and the other is for your wife…”

He smiled contentedly, placing the shopping bags with the luxury logos under his side of the table.

“You really have a knack for this, Choi Prosecutor. The older I get, the more I have to watch my wife’s eyes.”

This should be enough to get straight to the point.

In line with Im Ju-young’s dislike for beating around the bush, I spoke directly.

“I’m planning to take down a certain police officer.”

“A police officer?”

He tilted his head.

“Does a prosecutor… especially one of your caliber, really need to involve me to take down a police officer?”

“That police officer has Deputy Chief Cha Kyung-seok backing him.”

“Are you talking about Deputy Chief Cha of the Planning and Coordination Department?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Only then did Im Ju-young nod as if he understood.

“That police officer always crosses the line with prosecutors, calling them ‘sir, sir,’ but we’ve always had to put up with it because of Deputy Chief Cha. I almost had to as well. Prosecutors are above the police, not the other way around, right?”

“Of course, that’s obvious.”

“So, when I tried to teach him a lesson, I immediately received a call from Deputy Chief Cha Kyung-seok.”

“That Deputy Chief Cha, he sticks his nose in everything, regardless of whether he should or not.”

He frowned as if he didn’t like the situation either.

After a brief silence, he delivered his conclusion.

“Deputy Prosecutor General, while I’m teaching that guy a lesson, please prevent Deputy Chief Cha from interfering.”

After a moment of thought, he chuckled and opened his mouth.

“My son told me a joke the other day.”

His smile returned as if he was reminded of his son.

“He said that when you want to quiet down noisy elementary school students in a PC cafe [internet cafe], it’s faster to use middle school students instead of an adult.”

He winked.

“In other words, it’s best to deal with someone by going through the person right above them.”

In the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Deputy Chief Cha Kyung-seok is ranked third, while Deputy Prosecutor General Im Ju-young is ranked second.

In the end, he was the perfect person to silence Cha Kyung-seok.

“Hahaha, is that so?”

“I couldn’t stop laughing when I heard it.”

He twisted his lips and refilled my glass.

“Don’t worry and just kill him [deal with him]. What’s the point of being a prosecutor if you’re being played by the police? I’d be too embarrassed to continue being a prosecutor.”

“Thank you.”

I refilled his glass, showing off my easygoing side.

“I’ll be sure to visit your home soon, Prosecutor General. I’d like to give Sung-joon some pocket money. And talk about things, he seems very bright.”

“Hahaha, I appreciate the thought.”

Im Ju-young lightly clinked glasses with me and said coolly.

“If we’re done, we should enjoy ourselves properly. Bring them in. Let’s drink until we’re completely wasted tonight.”

“Understood!”

***

“That Inspector Kim, it’s not just a little dirt on him, he’s completely covered in filth, isn’t he?”

“Is it that bad?”

“Yes. Just from what he’s been taking from the surrounding nightlife district, he could have bought several imported cars.”

The prosecutor telling the story let out a sneer.

“It’s so satisfying every time we dig into him.”

“You’re working hard. Please keep up the good work, Prosecutor Park.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. Thanks to you, Prosecutor Choi, we’re digging into him, and it’s so refreshing. It feels like years of indigestion are finally going away.”

Prosecutor Park stroked his stomach as if he couldn’t be happier.

The internal investigation of Inspector Kim Hyung-seok was entrusted to two individuals: this Prosecutor Lee and Prosecutor Park.

The Prosecutor Park in front of me was the one who had been played by Inspector Kim at the joint investigation headquarters last year, and Prosecutor Lee, who was conducting the internal investigation with him, was the one who had worked with me on this investigation headquarters and most strongly advocated for investigating Inspector Kim.

Since both of them were people who were sick and tired of Inspector Kim, it wouldn’t be difficult to thoroughly investigate him, even without my direct involvement.

Even just hearing this interim report, the revenge felt satisfying.

Why would the police try to take on a prosecutor?

“Then I’ll trust you, Prosecutor Park, and I’ll stop paying attention to it now.”

“Just leave it to me. I’ll handle everything and give you a clean report later.”

“Yes, thank you. Good work.”

“Yes!”

I turned away from him, who was bowing his head, and was about to go up to my office when.

Bzzzz.

My phone vibrated.

The caller was CEO Jin Tae-yong of Star Production.

I hadn’t answered his calls for the past few days, so I felt like I should answer today.

In the end, I had no choice but to take out a new cigarette and light it.

“Yes, this is Choi Seo-joon.”

-Ah, Prosecutor. It’s been a while. Is it a good time to talk?

CEO Jin Tae-yong’s voice was much more upbeat than when we had met before.

“Yes, go ahead.”

-You must have been very busy these past few days. It’s been hard to get a hold of you, hahaha.

“I apologize. The Arbiter case is entering its final stages, so I’ve been swamped.”

-Oh, is it finally ending?

“It’s wrapping up on my end, and the trial is just beginning.”

The Arbiter case was, as he said, almost over.

I had struggled quite a bit because the suspect, Song Ha-na, kept talking only to me during the interrogation process, but that had also wrapped up last week.

The joint investigation headquarters was scheduled to disband tomorrow, and the aftermath would be left to the trial department, so I could finally step away from the Arbiter case.

-Congratulations. Thanks to this case, our movie has received a lot of publicity.

Ah, I had forgotten.

I had been brought in as a film advisor.

I had only lent my name and hadn’t actually done any work, so it had long since slipped my mind.

I had only heard the news that filming had started two months ago, and since then, I had been too busy to even reply properly when he contacted me.

“I’m glad to hear you’ve seen some benefits. How far along is the filming?”

-We’re about two-thirds of the way through now. It’s progressing faster than expected.”

“So, will we be able to see it on the big screen this summer?”

-No, we still need to go through the editing process, coordinate with the distributors, and determine the theatrical release date, so it’ll be winter at the earliest, or the cherry blossom season next year at the latest.

“I see. Can I look forward to a premiere invitation as well?”

-Of course. Just tell us how many you need. Actually, we would love for you to come up on stage at the premiere… but that would be too much to ask, right?

Going up on stage at the premiere.

That would be quite a burden, but…

Wait, in a way, it’s an opportunity to approach the public in a more friendly way, unlike the stiff image I always showed at press conferences.

If this image spreads to the public through the premiere video, my perception will definitely improve.

Looking at it from a long-term perspective, it was definitely an opportunity that could benefit me.

“I’ll try my best to participate if possible.”

-Really?

CEO Jin Tae-yong’s voice rose sharply.

-We would be so grateful if you did.

“It’s not confirmed, and as I mentioned before, I belong to the state… so I need to get permission.”

-Of course. It’s still a long way off, so please take your time to coordinate and let us know.”

“Understood. Please let me know if there’s anything else going on later.”

-Yes, thank you. I’ll be cheering for you, Prosecutor!

“Goodbye.”

After hanging up, Han Ji-yoo suddenly came to mind.

She had sent me several messages since we last met, but I had been too busy to even read them properly.

On second thought, I opened my chat with her.

-Han Ji-yoo: Prosecutor!

-Han Ji-yoo: Let’s meet up before the movie starts if you have time!

-…….

-Han Ji-yoo: Are you busy?

There were over twenty unread messages.

The last message was a month ago.

Though late, I replied.

-Choi Seo-joon: Sorry, I’ve been a little busy.

After sending a simple message and throwing away the cigarette butt, I was about to go into the office when.

Bzzzz.

She called me less than a minute after I sent the reply.