Chapter 609

Eungsim-je was a public office space that also served as a French cultural institute. A councilor resided there. Even the powerful ANS couldn’t do anything out of their jurisdiction. Bak Mu-ssang was figuratively a hot potato roasting in burning coal. He was untouchable. They raided his house to get ahold of him and searched the house, using the police force. Jeong Pil-su had utilized the rare opportunity in which the riot police and the student protesters collided. The seemingly prevailing plan had turned to failure due to an unexpected variable.

‘Yeah. No one would have known the French would move that quickly.’

It was difficult to blame Chief Bak of the East Police Station either. There could be several dozens of excuses but it was not manly to whine. The regional director wasn’t going to listen anyway.

“Why did he hide his identity from the police?”

“It is your job to figure that out. Forget the Jang Pal-su case. Focus on Target Three. It is weird enough that he became a councilor at that age.”

“Sir, about Jang Pal-su…”

Jeong Pil-su drawled. An agent was often referred to as a “kite” in the organization. Once their connection to the organization was no longer, they were practically a stranger. Due to the organization’s nature, sometimes they needed to accept some losses. However, Jang Pal-su went missing while fulfilling the order Jeong Pil-su gave him. He felt a sense of responsibility. But they had no means to search the French cultural institute especially after their first attempt failed.

“Think of him as a pebble dropped in a lake. I am at my wit’s end handling the Daejeong case.”

Yi Dae-deok concluded. The explosion in Anjirangi, known to the media as the doings of armed Communist spies, “turned out” to be a simple happenstance, a simple sinkhole incident despite the massive damage. The Pungguk case, where several dozens of bodies were found, also was concluded as a war between criminal gangs.

The Daejeong case still proved problematic. Despite the worn-out outlook, the inside was filled with cutting-edge high-tech medical equipment and several dozens of bodies buried underground. Various illicit drugs were also found. The problem was that there was no one inside.

The television sets were on and so were the refrigerators. A coffee pot was on although the water had all evaporated. The estimate that more than a hundred would have been residing there was defied by the fact that only 10 livid guard dogs were left behind. The middle-aged woman found in the basement was completely out of her mind, babbling nonsense. Yi Dae-deok considered the welfare center as a secret biological research facility of Japan and was putting all the investigative power into the case.

“What could his real identity be? The councilor must be a cover. His real job must be spying for the French government.”

“If I knew that, why would I call you? All diplomats are spies, just working in plain sight. He may be a spy but is not an ordinary one.”

Yi Dae-deok poked Jeong Pil-su’s belly with the pen he held in his hand.

“It must be so. As soon as the riot police moved, so did the French embassy. Within three hours, Westerners appeared at East Police Station. Bak Mu-ssang must be someone as important.”

“Everyone knows that. His backstory doesn’t matter. He does.”

Yi Dae-deok slammed the tip of his pen into his desk. The shaft was smashed and the ink pipe flung out. Jeong Pil-su flinched.

“Look at this flimsy thing.”

“Ballpoint pens aren’t the sturdiest things around.”

“Pil-su, I’ve heard you are quite skilled at throwing daggers. Can you throw a ballpoint pen to penetrate the fabric of jeans and stab the flesh underneath?”

“Sir, I am but a human.”

The Baekgol’s de facto uniform, a jean jacket and jeans, were made of the thickest of the fabric. With a steel chopstick or a bamboo gimlet, it could possibly be pierced but with a lightweight, flimsy ballpoint pen, it was unlikely to be able to damage it.

“Yeah. You are a human. A lacking one perhaps, but you are a human.”

Yi Dae-deok said without even the slightest chuckles.

‘You talk like you are, asshole.’

Jeong Pil-su felt resentful. Yi Dae-deok, unlike a typical higher-up in the ANS, never used his authority for personal gains. He was even talking to him without any air of authority when he was just a mere lackey. He had some respect for him but didn’t feel friendly at all when he opened his mouth.

“How fast does it have to be for a ballpoint pen to penetrate jeans and bury itself two inches into the muscle?”

Jeong Pil-su pondered.

“If we assume the weight of the pen to be roughly half of a 9mm Parabellum round and consider the friction with air due to its volume, it would need to be at least 500 joules. To load a projectile with such momentum, the speed would need to be just below the speed of sound. Has such a pen-shooter ever been invented?”

“That’s enough, you half-wit.”

Yi Dae-deok yelled. He considered Pil-su to be quite clever. It was just that he didn’t know when to stop.

“Why not? The CIA makes use of plastic pistols. It wouldn’t be odd for them to have such a pen-shooting contraption.”

“Hey, who would invent such a useless thing? Maybe as a toy for some crooked despot, but nothing else.”

Yi Dae-deok chuckled.

“Sir!”

Jeong Pil-su eyed the employees outside the window cautiously. They were still living in a dictatorship. They had to be careful about what they said.

“You don’t get to shush me. I’m talking about a man who can launch ballpoint pens like that.”

“That can’t be! Bak Mu-ssang?”

Jeong Pil-su’s eyes widened.

“Yes. It is him. He launched a pen into the thigh of a thug who was beating up a college girl. Moreover, the pen evaded all the blood vessels and tendons and only tore through the muscle. The doctor in charge marveled at that.”

“Beat up a college girl? He deserved more than what he got.”

Jeong Pil-su, forgetting about Mu Ssang momentarily, overreacted as if his own girlfriend was beat up. It was to be expected from a man who had been single for way too long.

“You are stupid. Don’t overreact. If you slam a pen directly into the muscle, it still wouldn’t be buried as deep. He is said to be from the Foreign Legion. Before I slam a pen into your anus, you better get some info about his background.”

Yi Dae-deok shouted.

“Is he still a third-degree suspect?”

“Don’t be dumb! We cannot designate him second-degree and search his house without any evidence. Get lost right now! Don’t end up like Jang Pal-su.”

“Aye.”

Jeong Pil-su promptly stepped away from Yi Dae-deok. If he tarried, his shins would suffer a kick.

“Dae-deok must mean ‘great virtue.’ What an undeserved name.”

Jeong Pil-su grumbled as he went down the stairs. Yi Dae-deok always looked out for his subordinates but also knew how to get them to work for him. Jeong Pil-su had no idea that a great peril awaited him in his future, much worse than getting kicked in the shins.”

“What? Did Mina’s teacher say that?”

Mu Ssang’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yes. I went to her school because her teacher called. She begged me to send Mina to another school.”

Jinsun’s voice had a distinct touch of anger.

“Huh. So he is asking for someone else’s daughter to be sent elsewhere instead of disciplining his own child. I’ve never heard a more ridiculous thing.”

Mu Ssang clucked his tongue. He was going to teach the man a lesson anyway. This just expedited it.

“Still, a teacher shouldn’t say such a thing. Maybe she could learn a lesson too.”

Yeon-sun resented.

“She’s nothing but a powerless twenty-something. The one who struts around with a prosecutor husband is to be blamed.”

Jinsun, eyeing Mina who was engrossed in playing jackstones, defended her daughter’s teacher.

“My academic advisor is in the same frustrating situation. His upstairs neighbor is a prosecutor. And he routinely gets drunk and plays the piano through the night and sings. The neighbors cannot say anything but seethe. Are prosecutors that powerful?”

Gye Soon grumbled.

“What good are prosecutors before our brother? Are you going to let this pass again?”

Yeon-sun provoked Mu Ssang.

“Rice plants bow when they are ripe. The stronger you are, the more cautious you must be. Hmm…”

“Mu Ssang, platitudes won’t change anything. A boil must be squeezed. Ripe rice must be harvested. If you do nothing, they will act up even further. They need to learn a lesson.”

Yeon-sun went on.

“I get it. Calm down. Be ladylike! Geukdo!”

“Yes, sir.”

Geukdo stood up from playing jackstones with Mina and Yeong-suk. The jackstones got scattered around in the process.

“No!”

Yeong-suk was about to cry. Now they were too spread apart for her to sweep them with her small hand.

“I’m sorry!”

Gim Geukdo didn’t seem to know what to do. The same Gim Geukdo, who ambushed a man with 20 bodyguards with nothing but one sword, was at his wit’s end when he made a six-year-old girl cry. Mu Ssang grinned and held up his hand. The five scattered jackstones were gathered up by an invisible hand.

“My dad is the greatest!”

Mina and Yeong-suk hurrahed. The two girls held the most power in Eungsim-je.

“Did you get the info?”

“Yes. The Ogami in Seongnae. He meets his sponsor twice a month. They have a reservation this evening.”

“Did you get the guest list?”

“The Ogami said nothing. According to Kim, he hangs out with Jang Chul Su often. He is said to come out to the meetings with subordinate prosecutors. So I am expecting five or so.”

“The prosecutors are known to throw quite some parties. Shall we go look? I am not too fond of overthinking it.”

Mu Ssang smirked. He planned to collect information, leak it, and ruin their lives.

“Sir, you only need a small knife to gut a small fish. I can go get him for you.”

Gim Geukdo said. He didn’t think Mu Ssang needed to handle this minor scoundrel himself. It was his job to handle the small dirty jobs.

“Getting him isn’t an issue. Hiding our trails is. You are still quite clumsy at avoiding people’s gazes. Get a van and wait in the alley near the post office. When I page you, you will come right away.”

“I see.”

Gim Geukdo prayed Kim Dal Su’s soul may rest in peace. He couldn’t forgive someone who wronged Lady Mina.

What position did prosecutors hold in Korean society? The prosecutors portrayed in films or on television were one of the two kinds. Good, hardworking students from poor families or pampered spoilt children from rich, powerful families.

Either was either portrayed as a fighter for justice battling social injustice or corrupt officials producing social injustice with politicians and conglomerates. The good students are often portrayed with a love story. The rich kids are often accompanied by a rich but rude woman. But none of it influences the job’s social image which has been consolidated in society.

Films and television do not reflect reality. Prosecutors are but high-class salaried employees employed by the prosecution service, numbering 1,800. Only a few of them get to investigate socially relevant cases and get portrayed by the press. Most are mere employees working on cases irrelevant to power.

The issue is that these salaried employees held too much power with their investigative authority which they exclusively held. If they investigate a case or cover it up, if they press charges or not, it was entirely up to the discretion of the prosecutor presiding over the case. Sometimes, this power structure hurt poor, powerless citizens further. This abuse of authority stems from article 11 of the law regarding the prosecutor’s office.

The article forces prosecutors to blindly follow their superiors’ orders. A higher-up prosecutor could always replace his subordinates if they were not happy with what they were doing. Basically, the whole prosecution service worked like, positively put, an army and negatively put, organized crime.

Regardless of their background, all prosecutors are driven to power. Roughly 1,800 prosecutors worked in offices across the country. They form a pyramid power structure culminating in the Public Prosecutor General.

A pyramid structure confers fewer and fewer higher-up positions as you go up. One’s competency as a prosecutor matters less than the current political landscape, one’s alma mater, or connections. That’s why prosecutors strived to get connected to powerful figures. This resulted in the creation of various cliques.

Due to these characteristics of prosecutors’ organization, powerful figures could manipulate practically any case if they wanted to, by planting their people in key positions. The four most important positions in prosecution were appointed by the president. That’s why prosecutors always have to lean political. Whenever there was a new administration, it caused quite some noise in prosecution as well, along with internal injustice and corruption.

The prosecutors connected to power appoint reputable, competent prosecutors to be their close attendants. Then they grow together as a clique in various important relevant organizations.

This causes a severe structural problem. What is the original role of prosecution? Directing police investigations and maintaining public order. The above structure means that incompetent, disreputable prosecutors handled cases directly affecting the average citizens. Losers in internal power struggles still wielded the power of prosecution. This is why bribery was so rampant in society back then.