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Chapter: 16
Bang! The office door swung open, and the person who entered was Woo-kyung.
“······!”
Startled, Eun-jae froze on the spot.
Could it be that he’d overheard her conversation with Jin-hyuk about the motel…?
She didn’t want unnecessary misunderstandings with someone as prickly as him.
“What’s up, Prosecutor Baek? Weren’t you off work already?”
Jin-hyuk asked as Woo-kyung removed his suit jacket and took a seat.
“As you can see.”
His eyes alone conveyed a silent reproach: see? I’m not off work. Jin-hyuk frowned, understanding the hint.
“Ugh, so stiff. Can’t you just finish a sentence properly?”
“······.”
Then, noticing Eun-jae’s attention fixed on Woo-kyung, he continued.
“Prosecutor Baek, we’re law school classmates, right? Let’s make this work. Honestly, aren’t we the top output of our year?”
He gestured to the file of evidence he had been flipping through. Woo-kyung simply lifted his eyes and observed them both.
Jin-hyuk looked slightly pleased.
Eun-jae was tense, practically shrinking.
Those two, left alone in his sight, reminded him painfully of a certain scene he had witnessed in the past.
“Faces and skills, the pride of Korean prosecutors! Let’s do this together.”
As Jin-hyuk rambled on, Woo-kyung swallowed the unpleasant memory without emotion.
“If you’ve got nothing to do, leave. I can’t concentrate.”
Seeing him lower his gaze back to the documents, Jin-hyuk scowled.
“Ugh! You heartless bastard.”
He had given up on trying to lighten the mood and muttered sarcastically.
“Eun-jae, do you want to be my investigator instead of dealing with that AI-like guy?”
Jin-hyuk joked that if she applied for a transfer, he’d approve it immediately.
But Eun-jae didn’t even crack a smile. The awkwardness with Woo-kyung came to mind.
‘He said he’s leaving in six months…’
She swallowed a sigh and counted the remaining days she had with him.
The next day.
“Ah, hey! Don’t push!”
“I got here first!”
The entrance to the prosecution office was chaos due to the gathered reporters.
“Looks like Do Seung-jun is quite big in the gang world. Tons of reporters today because he’s at the prosecution office.”
Eun-jae’s fellow investigator, Park Mi-jung, clicked her tongue and took a sip of coffee.
Returning to the prosecution office after lunch, the commotion outside was intense.
“Eun-jae, this must be overwhelming for you?”
“Well, the workload is similar to other cases.”
“No, not that. I heard your boss has two ‘mothers-in-law’ at his back?”
Mi-jung grinned, teasing or worried, Eun-jae couldn’t tell which.
The cooperation between Baek Woo-kyung and Ahn Jin-hyuk was the hottest topic these days.
“Oh no, our Eun-jae’s gonna be the sandwich in the middle.”
It wasn’t wrong. Last night, she had felt extremely awkward caught between the two.
Jin-hyuk had casually brought up the matter they had agreed to keep secret, testing just how difficult it had been for her.
Moreover, Woo-kyung, who had suddenly returned to the office, maintained a cold, suffocating silence throughout.
If this discomfort was going to continue for the foreseeable future… just imagining it made her head throb.
“So, which one’s your type?”
Mi-jung’s ridiculous question broke her train of thought.
“Uh, what? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“You innocent little classmate. You’ve got the prosecution’s hottest guys in both hands right now.”
Mi-jung whispered teasingly as Eun-jae recoiled.
“But do you have to pick just one? The law doesn’t require it. Take both.”
“······!”
Just as she was about to snap, Take both? What are you talking about…!
“Here he comes!”
With a shout, cars arrived from a distance.
At the front, a sleek sports car swerved violently and sped across toward them.
Click, click—the quiet outside the prosecution office was suddenly filled with camera flashes.
From the back seat, Do Seung-jun stepped out wearing a bright sky-blue suit.
“Oh my, that decadent sexy guy—what is he? Crazy.”
Watching him button his jacket casually while taking in the gathered reporters, Mi-jung nudged Eun-jae.
“Eun-jae… it’s not two, it’s three.”
“Ugh, come on.”
“Since when did gangsters get so stylish?”
Mi-jung muttered in awe, captivated by his well-built body and striking face.
Thanks to her ever-doting colleague, Eun-jae let out a hollow laugh and shook her head, diverting her gaze.
‘That person…!’
One of the men getting out of a different car with Do Seung-jun looked familiar.
‘He used to work at the welfare foundation. I’m sure of it.’
Back in college, she had crossed paths with him a few times while handling scholarships.
‘Is he so important to Chairman Do that he even assigns him staff?’
But the records Eun-jae checked only showed foundation donations. There seemed to be no connection to Oh Hye-joo.
Was this coincidence as well?
“I’ll head in now.”
“Yeah, good luck investigating Mr. Stylish!”
Eun-jae clenched her fist amid the rising tension.
Somehow, she had a feeling this case wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed.
The interrogation room was as fragile as ice ready to crack.
“Well, some of you are meeting me for the first time. Some of you I know by name. Anyway, nice to meet you. I’m Do Seung-jun.”
Stepping in confidently, he offered his hand to the prosecutors.
Woo-kyung ignored him neatly, while Jin-hyuk half-heartedly shook hands, gesturing to a chair.
“Just sit.”
Do Seung-jun’s snake-like, sharply slitted eyes slowly scanned Woo-kyung as he took his seat. Then he spoke, deliberately bold.
“Let’s see. This gentleman here is the son of a chaebol? Sorry to have you sit across from such a punk.”
He didn’t hide the fact that he had done some background checking.
Woo-kyung simply stared back, expressionless.
“I think I saw this gentleman during our kids’ trial. Recognize him.”
His gaze shifted from Jin-hyuk to Eun-jae, who sat beside Woo-kyung.
“It’s my first time at the Central District Prosecutors’ Office, but the atmosphere is nice. Even a flower garden inside.”
“······!”
“Enough chatter. Let’s begin.”
Woo-kyung shot a glance at the flustered Eun-jae and spoke.
At that, Do Seung-jun stiffened, radiating a threatening aura. He was no easy opponent.
As expected, Do Seung-jun was far from compliant. He toyed around, avoided the core of questions, and acted nonchalant.
“You’ve donated a lot. Mostly to the Do-young Welfare Foundation.”
The prolonged power struggle left Jin-hyuk practically defeated. His face showing scattered focus, he asked a perfunctory question.
“Can gangsters donate? Isn’t this just for income deduction during year-end taxes? Don’t you guys do it?”
“Well, he runs clubs nationwide. He should get all those deductions.”
“I even went into the food industry to live righteously. A 24-hour pho restaurant—come by after your night shifts. Our chef is great.”
“Ha. Your sense of etiquette flows quite freely.”
With all conversations like this, the interrogation was going nowhere.
Jin-hyuk eventually gave up his poker face and looked frustrated.
Just as it seemed Do Seung-jun was gaining the upper hand…
“Personally, I have a question.”
From between the clenched teeth of the file Woo-kyung was flipping, a calm, deep voice emerged.
“Usually, once people get money and power, they indulge in romantic affairs.”
Romantic affairs?
The term, seemingly unrelated to the case, made Eun-jae and everyone in the room flinch.
“Do Seung-jun, do you have no romantic issues? Or haven’t you succeeded enough yet?”
“What?”
“Looking at credit card and bank statements, unfortunately, your spending patterns suggest you’re not meeting anyone.”
“······.”
“All the money you earn from hard work—where does it go? Donations alone wouldn’t cover that amount.”
It was a sharp, incisive approach.
“Even looking at your usage patterns, they’re completely different from young men in relationships.”
“······!”
“Well, it seems like the money just disappears as if laundering it.”
Eun-jae silently admired ‘Prosecutor Baek Woo-kyung.’
‘But why didn’t he ask me to do it? Usually, investigators handle the classification, not the prosecutors themselves.’
“Ha, what the hell is this atmosphere.”
Do Seung-jun laughed incredulously.
“When did the law change? Do I have to expose all my personal matters to a prosecutor?”
“You’re not exactly ascetic, so you probably meet someone. But no trace exists. If it’s the kind of romance you can’t reveal openly, it makes sense.”
Bang!
Do Seung-jun slammed his chair and stood up, growling.
The composure he had maintained vanished instantly, revealing his wild, masculine side.
“Ah, damn. Am I an adulterer now? But what do I do? I’m a believer in premarital chastity!”
“Then sit and explain your money flow properly. Don’t muddy the point.”
Woo-kyung’s firm, low voice wavered not an inch.
