The inspector is getting promoted! - C5

After spending two weeks brainstorming with Shin Yong-ho, our final destination ended up being the Inspection Department.

It was the safest and most reliable method.

However, we needed a fail-safe system to ensure that no one would steal credit or that information wouldn’t leak to Im Seong-jin. The most important issues were finding someone trustworthy and figuring out the steps that followed.

What would be the safest method?

Who in the Inspection Department could we trust?

As I sat alone in my office, lost in thought, my phone vibrated.

Zing, zing.

The unique vibration when a text arrives — twice, brief.

Sender: 29

Photo

I thought it had been quiet for a while, but now another mysterious message.

I immediately zoomed in on the photo. Two men were shaking hands.

The person in the photo was none other than me.

The man shaking hands with me was Song Hyun-seong.

He was my college classmate at Korea University’s law school.

I wondered if this was an old photo, but just by looking at my face, I could tell it was from around a year ago.

I hadn’t met Song Hyun-seong since graduation.

I had heard that he passed the bar exam while I was in the military, but that was all.

We had been close in college, but over time, we naturally drifted apart.

In other words, this photo was definitely not one that had actually been taken recently.

No one took the picture, but the fact that I could see it… does that even make sense?

What the heck is going on?

Thinking about all the previous messages I had received, they seemed to be giving me answers and glimpses of the future.

It was absurd, especially for someone like me who doesn’t believe in ghosts or superstitions, but there was no other way to explain it.

This is driving me crazy.

How do I even explain this?

Wait a minute, could it be that this is also only visible to me?

“Investigator.”

“Yes?”

The investigator, who had been looking at some documents, looked up at me, and I turned my phone around to show him the photo still displayed on the screen.

“Can you see this?”

He smiled slightly and brushed his hair back.

“Hey, do you think I wouldn’t recognize it?”

Wait, does he recognize me in the photo?

Could it be that Yong-ho was playing a prank on me?

If I think about it that way, everything makes sense.

But why?

However, the investigator suddenly said something completely unexpected.

“That’s Han Ji-yoo.”

Huh?

“I may have lost some hair, but I’m still up-to-date. I know all the celebrities.”

“Han Ji-yoo?”

“Yeah, the Han Ji-yoo on your wallpaper, right?”

Ah, damn it.

My phone’s wallpaper was of Han Ji-yoo.

What a surprise. I thought he had seen the photo.

Just to be sure, I checked the phone’s screen again, but the photo was still there.

As expected, he couldn’t see it.

Still, I decided to confirm again. I held my phone and approached him, looking at the screen while asking.

“So, you’re saying this looks like Han Ji-yoo?”

In my eyes, the only thing on the screen was a photo of me shaking hands with Song Hyun-seong.

The investigator tilted his head and answered.

“Yeah. Is it not Han Ji-yoo? It looks exactly like her.”

“That’s right.”

“Hahaha, I was worried I was wrong. Want to grab a coffee?”

“Sure.”

Holding the coffee the investigator had made for me, I stepped outside the building and lost myself in thought.

No one was playing a prank on me.

Unless that “someone” was a god.

I hesitated and searched the internet for “I’m getting mysterious messages” just in case, but when I saw the advice to block spam, I immediately closed the browser window.

This couldn’t be happening to anyone else.

Could these messages really be showing me things that would happen in the future or telling me what I need to do?

My head started to spin again.

Damn it.

Song Hyun-seong.

I had to meet with Song Hyun-seong, who appeared in the photo.

There were no other options.

It would be better to act than just sit idly and think.

I scrolled through my phone contacts and found Song Hyun-seong’s number.

I immediately called him, and after a short while, I heard his voice.

Oh, Seo-jun! What’s up?

His voice was full of warmth, as if he was glad to hear from me.

“What’s up? Would I be calling if something was wrong? How have you been?”

I’m good. I heard you passed the bar and became a prosecutor. Where are you working these days?

“I’m at the Gwangju District Prosecutor’s Office. Where are you?”

I’m in Seoul. Seoul High Prosecutor’s Office.

I couldn’t help but gulp.

Seoul High Prosecutor’s Office.

Could it be?

I tried to calm my trembling heart and asked in a steady voice.

“Seoul High Prosecutor’s Office. You’ve made it to a good place. Which department are you in?”

You might not like hearing this, but… I’m in the Internal Affairs Department. I was in Busan until the year before last, and I came up to Seoul this year.

Crazy.

The Internal Affairs Department, really?

I had just been thinking about how to set things up with the Internal Affairs Department before receiving that message.

Could it be that it’s even reading my thoughts?

I held my throbbing head and continued speaking.

“Internal Affairs Department, huh? Congratulations on your promotion.”

Thanks. You should come up sometime. Let’s have a drink.

“Alright. Do you have time today?”

Huh?

“I’ll come up today. Let’s meet.”

You crazy guy, your personality is as fiery as ever.

“Do you have time or not?”

Yeah, I do. But aren’t you working today? I’m in the office right now.

“Eh, I can work things out for the field. I’ll leave right now and see you later. Send me the address by text.”

Wait, weren’t you in Gwangju…?

Before he could finish, I hung up the phone and went back to the office.

I quickly grabbed my coat, and the investigator looked at me with a surprised expression.

“Prosecutor, where are you going?”

“I have a field assignment today. I’ll probably be on a field assignment tomorrow as well.”

“Excuse me?”

“Please handle the field assignment for me. I appreciate it. Thanks for your hard work.”

I made my request to the investigator and immediately went outside, driving to the airport.

***

Even on the plane to Seoul and while taking a taxi, the message kept floating in my mind.

What was the true nature of this message, and why was it sent to me?

No matter how much I thought about it, the only explanation seemed to be something supernatural.

Yeah, this is probably something that has no answer.

No, since I can’t figure it out, I decided to stop worrying about it.

The best thing I could do was use the message when it came.

However, I shouldn’t fully trust it.

I still couldn’t believe it.

There’s no harm in being fully prepared.

When I arrived at the office that Song Hyun-seong had texted me, I found him working with papers spread out on his desk.

Even after all these years, he still looked the same.

“Song Hyun-seong!”

He recognized me instantly and stretched his arms out toward me.

“It’s been a while.”

“How have you been?”

As he extended his hand, I naturally shook it, and the image from the photo came back to me.

Wait a minute, that tie.

The green tie that Song Hyun-seong was wearing had red stains on it, just like the one in the photo I saw from the message.

“You’ve been well. What’s the sudden visit about?”

“It’s a long story.”

I casually asked, wondering if the stain had always been there.

“By the way, you’ve got something on your tie.”

“Oh, this? I spilled some jjambbong at lunch.”

He scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

“It’s a designer brand… Ugh, I guess I’ll have to get it dry-cleaned.”

It wasn’t a stain that was originally there; it was clearly a mark made today.

If he’s getting it dry-cleaned, then this mark must have been made only today.

What the hell.

This situation made no sense unless the world had gone crazy.

I swallowed my surprise and shifted my gaze, noticing the papers scattered across the desk.

“What’s this case about?”

“Oh, it’s about some deputy chief prosecutor at the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office who seems to be involved with a sponsor.”

“A sponsor? Money? Or a woman?”

“Usually money. You know the Jaehyeong Group, right? They recently secured a contract for Chinese steel, and during that process, it seems they blocked other groups from bidding. After they grabbed the money with a financial audit, they teamed up.”

“Looks like they’ve taken a lot. I’d say they’ll be taking off their clothes soon.”

“It’s not just about losing their job. They’ll probably face a criminal trial too. With all the bribery scandals, the political climate is sensitive these days.”

“Right. Didn’t that deputy chief prosecutor cause a lot of trouble? If he’s not just a regular prosecutor but a deputy chief prosecutor, he must have been really angry.”

“Yeah, I heard the chief prosecutor got pissed because that deputy made the department look bad. He’s apparently the top culprit.”

While we were talking, a staff member brought us tea, and we sat down on the sofa to get into the real conversation.

“I know you, Choi Seo-jun. You’re not the type to just pop by out of the blue.”

Song Hyun-seong put his teacup down and asked.

“What’s going on?”

“Close the blinds.”

“You’re so annoyingly meticulous.”

He grumbled, but still got up and walked over to the window.

After ensuring that no one else in the office could overhear, I finally spoke.

“Do you want a promotion?”

“Isn’t that obvious…”

Song Hyun-seong started speaking but stopped, twisting his lips and looking straight at me.

“You’re asking something big.”

“You’re quick to catch on, that’s what I like about you.”

I took out a copy of the evidence of Im Seong-jin’s corruption that I had prepared in my inside jacket pocket and handed it to him.

Of course, any information that could point to the perpetrator was removed.

He quickly skimmed through it, rolling his eyes in disbelief before letting out a wry laugh.

“He’s been eating a lot. At this point, it’s even more impressive that nothing has gone wrong until now.”

He returned the copy to me and asked, “Who is it?”

“I’d rather not say.”

I carefully checked if anything was missing from the copy before putting it back in my pocket.

“Someone high up.”

“How high up? You need to tell me that.”

“I think it’s around the deputy chief prosecutor’s level. It’s around the time for promotions.”

I grinned, and he grabbed my shoulder, looking shocked.

“Crazy… Really?”

“Yeah. One of them.”

“A chief prosecutor involved in that level of corruption… If that’s true, not only will he go down, but the whole department is going to be destroyed.”

“It’ll be completely wrecked. I bet they’ll take out the deputy chief prosecutor and the regular prosecutors too.”

“Who exactly is it?”