## Chapter 24 – 03. Shrimp
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“Today’s cases are all about the powerless and weak.”
Prosecutor Lee Na-eun of the Criminal Division 3 at the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office muttered quietly.
Since some time ago, she had been assigned only cases that didn’t seem very important—cases that wouldn’t bring in money—and the cases that were passed on from other prosecutors were mostly like that.
“Th-that’s… I’m sorry. It seems you don’t consider who the suspect is at all, Prosecutor…”
“Why is that something the clerk should be sorry for?”
This was also a form of harassment.
A punishment and ostracization for someone who doesn’t mingle with the group and acts aloof.
‘Since you’re going to do things by the book anyway, and you’re not going to take bribes or anything, just take on cases that have nothing to do with that.’
That was the general feeling.
“Prosecutor…”
Clerk Yoo sighed as he looked at the still densely stacked documents.
The reason Prosecutor Lee Na-eun came to the district office to work even on Saturdays was all because of those.
Probably, after processing them late into the night, just as many would pile up again tomorrow or Monday morning.
It was a never-ending document hell.
‘Still… she’s a prosecutor…!!’
It was just as hard for him, the clerk.
But he could endure it.
He respected Prosecutor Lee Na-eun… and… anyway, he wanted to be her strength.
‘The only hope of the corrupt prosecution…! Suffering is nothing for her sake!’
He steeled his resolve.
To protect this strong yet fragile prosecutor… no, woman! Physical hardship was nothing!
“This part seems to need supplementary investigation.”
“Ah, yes. Wh-which part are you referring to?”
He subtly approached, bringing his nose close to catch her scent.
Lee Na-eun marked a large section of the document.
“The victim’s statement and the situation at the scene don’t match. There’s also the suspect’s alibi.”
“Ah… I understand. I’ll pass it on.”
Returning to his seat, he felt regret and happiness.
Ah…
If only we could continue to be together.
“Um, Prosecutor, aren’t you getting hungry?”
Lee Na-eun checked the time.
It was well past lunchtime.
“…It’s already this late.”
“I found a great janchi-guksu (banquet noodles) place—”
“Sorry, maybe next time. I have a prior engagement.”
“Ah… Y-you have a prior engagement.”
He had made a courageous suggestion only to be immediately disappointed.
He had hoped that she might at least glance at him, but Lee Na-eun didn’t even give him a second look.
‘…As expected, an iron wall.’
Her principle of cutting ties with family and existing acquaintances and not dating to avoid creating weaknesses was well-known.
But… still, it was hard to endure her not even acknowledging the suggestion he had made with such effort.
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While the disappointed Clerk Yoo was eating a lonely lunch by himself,
Prosecutor Lee Na-eun met with Reporter Yoon Ha-young, with whom she had recently started interacting.
Reporter Yoon Ha-young opened her laptop in a room with blocked-off views and showed a video.
“…What’s this?”
“That’s our team leader.”
“…?”
A video of a woman revealing her sins and tearing off her clothes.
Then, she performed a naked dogeza and was brutally raped.
And this woman is the team leader of Shinmirae Daily?
“She took a half-day off yesterday and left work. It seems like she suffered this afterward.”
“Is she missing?”
“I don’t know yet. When I checked my email earlier, this video was there, so I rushed to you right away.”
“I don’t understand the circumstances. Why did this happen to her, why is there a video, and why was the video sent to you?”
“That’s…”
Yoon Ha-young explained everything.
Kim Dong-gi, the treasurer of Rainbow Miracle, exposed various sex bribery scandals through a live broadcast,
Yoon Ha-young watched it live and posted an article about it, but the team leader arbitrarily took down the article, and then suffered the same fate as in the video.
“The email subject was ‘Payment.’ I reported it in an article, and she was called in and raped for not stopping me.”
“…Was it like, ‘Manage your subordinates well’?”
“It’s also a warning to me.”
Prosecutor Lee Na-eun watched the video with emotionless eyes.
In the video, Team Leader Seo Hyun-joo was being violated, her mouth bruised and swollen.
“Did you report it to the police?”
“…If that were possible, I wouldn’t have come to you. I can’t trust the police!”
“….”
“And frankly, not even the prosecution.”
Yoon Ha-young suddenly grabbed Lee Na-eun’s hand.
“You’re the only one I trust!”
“So, you want me to dig into this case?”
“…In a way, that’s… right.”
Lee Na-eun stared at her, who was slightly averting her gaze.
“You’re making a request.”
“Well…”
“In the first place, I don’t handle case assignments. Even if you report it directly to the prosecution, it’s unlikely that I’ll be assigned a case like this. Don’t you know that?”
“…But you’re the only one I can trust—”
“Showing me this video is also problematic. Downloading and possessing illegal footage, and even showing it to me, a third party.”
“That’s!”
Reporter Yoon Ha-young was restless.
Watching her, Lee Na-eun smiled slyly.
It was just a fleeting moment.
“It’s not like there’s absolutely no way.”
“Yes?? Re-really??”
“I have a lot of… enemies.”
“??”
“Taking down a video watched by tens of thousands of people and leaving no trace of it on the internet… Moreover, calling the team leader of Shinmirae Daily to her home, receiving an apology, and even raping her… And then boldly taking a video and sending it to you. If the mastermind behind this is capable of such things, wouldn’t many people who hate me see it as an opportunity?”
“….”
“An opportunity to physically remove Prosecutor Lee Na-eun, who is a thorn in their side. They might hope that I, who am in charge of this case, will end up like the team leader in the video, accepting grotesque things into all sorts of holes, and eventually be found dead deep in the mountains.”
“!!”
Lee Na-eun chuckled as if she was enjoying it.
But Yoon Ha-young couldn’t laugh.
No matter how clueless and shameless she was, she couldn’t laugh along when someone was openly mentioning death.
“I-I’m sorry, Prosecutor. I just—”
“Ah, no, it’s okay. I’m really fine. Rather, I meet with reporters for things like today, right?”
“Yes…??”
“I take the time to meet you because you’re a righteous and sometimes reckless person who doesn’t consider the consequences. When I see you, I look forward to the future.”
“I-is that so?”
“I was thinking that you would bring me a case like this someday. It’s like a kind of fish trap.”
“Uh…”
Lee Na-eun, who smiled at her bewildered expression, got up from her seat.
Yoon Ha-young also awkwardly stood up.
“Send me the video by email. And if you bring this case to our district office, I’ll ask my chief to let me take it.”
“Prosecutor…”
As Yoon Ha-young looked at her with a mixture of emotions—gratitude, worry, and everything else—Lee Na-eun patted her on the shoulder.
“Thank you, Reporter Yoon Ha-young.”
+++
“She met with a prosecutor alone…? Could it be that she just went to the prosecutor and talked about what happened yesterday?”
“There’s a high possibility of that, right? Otherwise, there’s no reason for her to meet a prosecutor at this timing.”
“Is she crazy?”
It came out unconsciously.
“…I know, right? She might actually be a psychopath.”
“Her superior’s vagina was violated because of her, and she’s spreading it to other people. Isn’t this basically a plague?”
Looking at the surveillance log of Reporter Yoon Ha-young, I’m really impressed.
I had some expectations, but I never thought it would be this much.
No, I was just expecting her to be obsessed with this case and dig around like some kind of detective, but instead, she just crashes into a prosecutor she knows.
Shouldn’t she at least have some idea of who’s behind the video before asking for help?
“Team Leader, has Reporter Yoon Ha-young called you or anything?”
“…No… nothing.”
“She didn’t even call to check on you? Knowing what you went through?”
“….”
Hyun-joo lowered her head as if she had nothing to say.
Well, it’s not like she protected Yoon Ha-young of her own volition, but wouldn’t she feel a bit of a reality check?
Like, ‘I got raped because of this kid’—
She was even taken by me again today.
“Tsk tsk tsk… Unbelievable. So, who’s the prosecutor she met?”
“Lee Na-eun, she’s famous for being stubborn. People with money and connections avoid her because bribes and stuff don’t work on her at all.”
“Hmm… So, she went there and tattled.”
“Well… that’s how it looks. But it’s a bit strange that a mere prosecutor can decide which cases to take.”
“Or maybe she just asked for some help? Like, she asked for advice.”
“That’s also a bit off. Originally, journalists and prosecutors aren’t supposed to meet like that. It’s not well-kept, but still. But a prosecutor who’s known for being principled and upright is so close to a reporter? That’s also a bit…”
Soo-ah kept tilting her head.
I don’t know if it’s that strange, but it doesn’t seem wrong either…
“Could it be that she’s actually someone with deep ulterior motives?”
“Yoon Ha-young?”
“No. The prosecutor. My gut feeling, honed from being a detective, is sensing something strange. From this prosecutor.”
I see.
But,
You’re a corrupt cop.
