“Another day filled with cases of the weak and powerless,” Prosecutor Lee Na-eun from the Incheon Central District Prosecutor's Office Criminal Division 3 muttered under her breath.
At so point, she had been relegated to cases that seed unimportant—cases unlikely to generate any money. Other prosecutors passed such cases onto her as well.
"Well, that’s because… I’m sorry. It’s just that you never consider who the suspect is…"
"Why should that be sothing for you to apologize for, Clerk Yoo?"
This was another form of harassnt, a way to ostracize soone who refused to blend in and preferred to stand alone. It was like they were saying, "You’ll do things by the book anyway, and you wouldn’t accept bribes or anything like that, so just handle these irrelevant cases."
"Prosecutor…" Clerk Yoo sighed, looking at the stacks of paperwork piled high. These papers were why Prosecutor Lee Na-eun had to co in on Saturdays. Once she finished this mountain of files, another pile would surely arrive by Monday morning. It was an endless paper trail.
"But… because she’s the prosecutor, I can bear it!"
Clerk Yoo had a hard ti too, but he endured it. He admired Prosecutor Lee Na-eun, and he wanted to be there for her.
The only hope in this rotten prosecution…! He was willing to suffer for her.
“Prosecutor, you must be getting hungry.”
Lee Na-eun checked her watch. It was lunchti.
“…Already?”
“I know a great place for noodle soup—”
“Sorry, maybe next ti. I have a prior engagent.”
“Oh… You have other plans…”
His spirits sank. Even though he’d made a brave suggestion, Lee Na-eun didn’t even glance his way.
…A perfect wall. Her strict rule of cutting ties with family, avoiding friends, and not dating was well-known. She wouldn’t create any weak points. Yet, despite knowing this, he couldn’t help but feel disheartened by her utter disregard for his efforts.
While Clerk Yoo ate a solitary lunch, Prosecutor Lee Na-eun t with reporter Yoon Ha-young, who showed her a video on her laptop.
“…What is this?”
“It’s my team leader.”
“…?”
The footage showed a woman confessing her sins, undressing, performing a naked dogeza, and then being brutally raped. And this woman was the team leader at Shin Mirae Daily?
“She took a half-day off yesterday and didn’t return. I think this happened after she left.”
“Is she missing?”
“I’m not sure. I found this video in my email earlier, and I ca straight to you.”
“I don’t quite understand. Why was this done to her, why was it recorded, and why was it sent to you?”
“Well…”
Yoon Ha-young explained the situation in full: Kim Dong-gi, the general affairs manager of Rainbow Miracle, had exposed sexual corruption through a live broadcast, which she had watched. She wrote an article about it, but her team leader took it down. Later, the video had arrived, showing her team leader suffering this punishnt.
“The email was titled ‘Price.’ They must’ve assaulted her because I published the article and she failed to stop it. It’s a warning to as well.”
Prosecutor Lee Na-eun watched the video with an expressionless gaze, as it showed Team Leader Seo Hyun-joo being violated in a humiliating manner.
“Did you report this to the police?”
“…If I trusted them, I wouldn’t have co here. I don’t trust the police!”
“…Neither do I trust the prosecution as a whole,” Yoon Ha-young said, suddenly grabbing Lee Na-eun’s hand.
“I only trust you, Prosecutor.”
“So you’re asking to investigate this?”
“…In a sense, yes.”
Na-eun studied her for a mont.
“You’re making a request.”
“W-well…”
“Incident assignnt isn’t up to . Even if you reported it, there’s no guarantee I’d handle it. You know that, right?”
“…Still, I have to believe there’s soone…”
“It’s also problematic that you’re showing this video. Possessing and distributing illicit recordings is a cri, you know.”
“But that’s—”
Yoon Ha-young looked uneasy as Lee Na-eun let out a faint smile—a fleeting mont of amusent.
“There may be a way.”
“What? Really?”
“I have plenty of enemies.”
“??”
“Soone who can erase a broadcast watched by thousands, leave no traces online, summon a Shin Mirae Daily team leader to his ho, and record the assault to send to you… If they’re capable of that, then plenty of people who hate might see this as an opportunity.”
“…?”
“An opportunity to finally get rid of the thorn in their side, Prosecutor Lee Na-eun. They’d like nothing more than to see end up like your team leader, left in the woods sowhere.”
“!!”
Prosecutor Lee Na-eun chuckled softly, but Yoon Ha-young couldn’t laugh along. Even as shaless as she was, she couldn’t laugh at the thought of death.
“I’m sorry, Prosecutor. I just…”
“Oh, no worries. This is exactly why I et with people like you.”
“Huh…?”
“You’re passionate about justice and fearless at tis. It’s why I make ti to et with you. Seeing you makes hopeful.”
“Really?”
“I knew you’d bring a case like this eventually. It’s almost like I set a trap.”
“Huh?”
Lee Na-eun stood, smiling as she watched the reporter flustered and confused. Yoon Ha-young also stood up awkwardly.
“Send the video. Then bring this case to our office, and I’ll request the head prosecutor to let handle it.”
“Prosecutor…”
Yoon Ha-young looked at her with a mixture of awe and worry, and Lee Na-eun patted her shoulder reassuringly.
“Thank you, Reporter Yoon Ha-young.”
“She t with a prosecutor? Did she really go and tell them everything that happened yesterday?”
“It seems so. Otherwise, there’d be no reason to et a prosecutor now.”
“What an insane woman…”
I muttered without thinking.
“Maybe she’s a psychopath. Her superior gets raped because of her, and she goes spreading it around. It’s like a disease.”
Reading the surveillance report on Yoon Ha-young, I had to admit I was impressed. I had expected her to obsess over the case, playing detective, but she went straight to the prosecutor she knew.
"Did she even check in on her team leader?"
"Not a word. She knew what happened, but she didn’t even make a courtesy call.”
“…”
Hyun-joo looked down, speechless.
She wasn’t exactly protecting Yoon Ha-young by choice, but there had to be so regret, considering what she’d gone through.
“And she let herself get fucked by again today… What a ss. So, who’s the prosecutor she t?”
“Lee Na-eun. She’s known for being unyielding. They say she’s untouchable by bribes and disliked by the powerful.”
“Hmm… So she went running to her?”
“That’s what it looks like. But it’s odd; a prosecutor can’t just choose cases like that.”
“Maybe she asked for advice or support?”
“That’s also strange. Normally, journalists and prosecutors shouldn’t be that close. Prosecutors like Lee Na-eun, who are known for sticking to principles, don’t usually get friendly with reporters.”
Soo-ah tilted her head in thought. It seed odd but also not entirely unreasonable.
“Maybe there’s sothing deeper going on here?”
“With Yoon Ha-young?”
“No, with the prosecutor. My intuition honed from my police days is ringing alarm bells about her.”
I see. But, aren’t you a corrupt cop?
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