CHAPTER 3
Kang Yul stepped into the office on the ninth floor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
Two boxes were placed on the desk.
With calm movements, he organized files and law books one by one and packed them inside.
His suit was neatly pressed, and his appearance was flawless without the slightest disorder.
Strangely enough, a relaxed smile even spread across his face.
“Are you really leaving?”
A fellow prosecutor standing by the door hesitated before speaking.
“You should just stay here, but Namcheon Branch Office?”
Kang Yul raised his head and looked at him.
His gaze was calm, and a faint smile crossed his face.
“What’s wrong with Namcheon Branch Office?”
The fellow prosecutor pressed a hand to his forehead as if frustrated instead.
“No, who willingly steps off the promotion track with his own feet?”
“Even now, just say you misspoke before you regret it.”
Kang Yul’s lips slowly curved upward.
“Does a prosecutor work for promotion?”
“We should be chasing cases.”
In truth, for several years Kang Yul had continuously requested a transfer to Namcheon Branch Office.
However, no superior wanted to send one of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ brightest talents to a small branch office.
His stubborn insistence on stepping off the promotion track was a choice no one could understand, and every personnel season his wish was repeatedly ignored.
But Kang Yul’s persistence in requesting the same position year after year gradually became a burden to those above him.
At last, during this round of appointments, those with personnel authority could no longer block him and had no choice but to grant his request.
The colleague sighed and shook his head.
“Anyway, you really are unusual.”
“Of course, you’ll do well there too.”
“That’s enough if you know it.”
Kang Yul smiled as he placed the last book into the box.
A short while later, the car drove along a winding road toward Namcheon City.
The scenery passing outside the window gradually changed.
They were clearly mountains and fields he had seen countless times in childhood, but perhaps because of the weight of eighteen years, they felt strangely unfamiliar.
Soon the car stopped in front of an old government building.
“…I’ve returned.”
Kang Yul muttered briefly.
There was no special emotion on his face.
Only memories buried for a long time had brushed past him.
Kang Yul stopped the car in front of the Namcheon Branch Office of the Chuncheon District Prosecutors’ Office.
Unlike the polished buildings of Seoul, the gray concrete walls openly showed the traces of age.
Kang Yul got out of the car, lifted one box, and stepped inside the building.
When he opened the office door at the end of the third floor, he felt the stale air unique to a space left empty for a long time.
Kang Yul set the box down on the floor and slowly ran his fingertips across the edge of the desk.
It felt new and emotional.
Elite prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
A promising talent noticed by prosecution executives.
But to Kang Yul, all of that was merely a means to an end.
His real purpose was elsewhere.
Eighteen years ago, his mother had gone missing.
And a few days later, a body was found in the Namcheon River.
The police presented her belongings and identification card, confirming it was his mother’s body.
They informed him the cause of death was presumed to be suicide.
But Kang Yul could not believe it.
Above all, what remained vividly in his memory was the promise she made that evening.
“I’ll bring the fried chicken our Kang Yul likes tonight.”
“Wait for me.”
Those were not words someone planning to end her own life would say.
But no matter how suspicious it felt, there was nothing he could do as a minor.
His father had already died, and he had lived alone with his mother.
In the end, he had no choice but to hold the funeral with local government support.
But on the day the body was cremated and the funeral was held, Kang Yul accidentally overheard detectives talking.
“Still, doesn’t it feel suspicious?”
“There were marks of strangulation on her neck…”
“And they found a wet towel in her mouth.”
“Shh, stop talking.”
“If this gets turned into a murder case in times like these, do you think those above us will stay quiet?”
“The mayoral election is coming soon, and if it hits the media, it’ll be chaos.”
At that moment, Kang Yul became certain.
His mother’s death was not suicide, but murder left unsolved without a proper investigation.
That was why he became a prosecutor.
And that was why Kang Yul volunteered for the office that had closed the case.
On the surface, it was a provincial assignment.
In reality, it was a return to personally retrace the records of that day.
“It began here, so it has to end here.”
Just then.
“Prosecutor Seo!”
The office door burst open, and a booming voice rang out.
A large man in his late fifties stood there.
It was Namcheon Branch Chief Yoon Taesik.
“What happened?”
“Your appointment starts tomorrow, doesn’t it?”
Taesik added while panting for breath.
“I got a call from the General Affairs Manager and was so surprised that I rushed right over.”
“I came early to organize my things.”
“As expected, talented people really are different.”
“You even came here personally.”
“I’m truly glad to meet you, very glad.”
Taesik laughed heartily and strode over, patting Kang Yul on the shoulder.
Kang Yul bowed politely.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Just leave anything to me.”
“Ah, the official residence will be arranged within this week.”
“Until then, stay at a nearby hotel.”
“The administrative team has already made the reservation, so don’t worry.”
“Thank you.”
“Let’s have a grand welcome party this weekend.”
“You’re the ace coming down from headquarters, so we can’t just let it pass.”
Taesik’s lips curled into a broad grin.
Then he glanced at his wristwatch and slapped his forehead.
“Ah!”
“Look at me forgetting.”
“A welcome party is a welcome party, but I happen to have lunch with the mayor today, so you should come too.”
“It’s before your official start date, but wouldn’t it be good to meet him once?”
The tone at the end sounded less like a suggestion and more like an order.
Kang Yul disliked formal greetings more than anyone, but it was a meeting he had to attend at least once.
Meeting the mayor in advance was not a bad choice either.
After taking a short breath, Kang Yul nodded.
“Yes, understood.”
—
The Civil Complaints Administration Office of Namcheon City Hall did not have a moment to breathe.
It was exactly as expected.
In the once-quiet Namcheon City, the first murder case had occurred, and notices about a sex offender recently released from prison had also been distributed.
Residents’ anxiety was spreading out of control.
Most of the calls coming to Lee Damju were complaints and fears from people who did not even know where to direct their anger.
Holding the receiver, Lee Damju forced a smile onto her lips.
It was already the twenty-third call.
“Yes, complainant.”
“I understand everything you’re saying.”
“The police have mobilized all search personnel and are investigating diligently, so please do not worry too much.”
A sharp voice poured from the other side of the receiver.
“It’s already been ten days, and they still haven’t caught the criminal?”
“Does that make any sense?!”
“I can’t even send my child to the academy.”
“If something happens while they go alone, who will take responsibility?!”
“What is City Hall doing?!”
“Tell the police to increase patrols!”
Lee Damju quickly wrote on the memo pad.
“Request stronger patrols.”
“School route safety measures.”
As soon as she hung up, another phone rang.
“Yes, complainant.”
“I will deliver it immediately.”
“Yes, yes.”
The city hall complaint board displayed on the monitor was also in chaos.
More than half of the top posts were about the murder case and the sex offender.
Lee Damju looked at the monitor and covered her face with both hands.
A long sigh slipped through her hair.
Normally, she would run directly to the complaint site, take action, send official documents, and make confirmation calls.
But this time was different.
The area where she could act was limited.
That helplessness slowly scraped at Lee Damju’s nerves.
Just then, a notification window popped up on one side of the monitor.
[Social Welfare Department Park Bokyeong: Let’s eat.]
Lee Damju glanced at the clock.
“Is it already this late?”
“Right, let’s eat first.”
“I need to eat to handle people.”
Passing through City Hall’s lobby, Bokyeong linked arms alternately with Lee Damju and Mina and asked.
“What should we eat today?”
“Tonkatsu for me!”
Mina, the rookie walking beside them, raised her hand high.
“Yesterday was kimchi stew too.”
“Was it?”
Bokyeong tilted her head.
At that moment, Lee Damju stopped walking.
“Wait a second.”
“My shoelace.”
While Lee Damju bent over to tie her shoelace, Bokyeong absentmindedly looked up and froze.
A man was walking out from deeper inside the lobby.
Neatly arranged hair.
Beautiful features.
A tidy suit.
It felt as if the surrounding air changed from his presence alone.
“Oh my, oh my, look over there!”
Bokyeong grabbed Mina’s arm and shook it.
“Did you see him?”
“That man who just passed by.”
“Wow… he’s seriously handsome, right?”
“Is there an event in Namcheon City today?”
Unable to hide her excitement, Bokyeong pointed in the direction the man had disappeared.
By the time Lee Damju finished tying her shoelace and looked up, only the man’s back could be seen.
“A celebrity?”
“Who?”
Lee Damju asked indifferently.
Mina pointed with her chin.
“That person.”
“But he’s not a celebrity.”
“They say he’s a prosecutor from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.”
“What?”
“Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office… a prosecutor?”
Lee Damju’s expression instantly hardened.
Just hearing that name made the bottom of her chest feel frozen.
That was where her ex-boyfriend, Jung Siho, worked.
The bastard who abandoned her and married another woman.
Unaware of her feelings, Mina casually added.
“I happened to overhear him talking with the mayor in the hallway earlier.”
“They said he was assigned here this time.”
Bokyeong glanced at Lee Damju’s expression and cleared her throat.
“Well, I guess he must be capable.”
“If he came all the way here from Seoul.”
Bokyeong lightly tried to smooth over the atmosphere.
But Lee Damju’s eyes were different.
Her brows slowly narrowed toward the retreating back of the man.
“If he were capable, would he come from Seoul to Namcheon?”
“He must’ve been demoted.”
A strange spite colored the end of her words.
Just hearing the words “Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office” was enough to make her insides churn.
