Shrimp
“Today’s cases are all just weaklings with no real power.”
Inaeun, prosecutor from the Criminal Division 3 of the Incheon Central District Prosecutors’ Office, muttered under her breath.
Lately, she’d been assigned only the unimportant cases—the ones that didn’t seem like they’d bring in any money—and the cases handed off from other prosecutors were much the same.
“Th-that’s… I’m sorry. It’s just that you don’t seem to consider who the suspects are at all…”
“And why should that make you sorry, Officer Yu?”
This was a form of harassment too. Punishment and exclusion for the one who stood alone, pretending to be above it all without mingling with the pack.
‘You’re going to stick to the rules anyway, and you won’t take bribes or anything, so just handle the cases that have nothing to do with that stuff.’
Something along those lines.
“Prosecutor…”
Officer Yu sighed as he stared at the towering stacks of documents. That was why Prosecutor Inaeun came into the office even on Saturdays to work. She’d probably process them late into the night, only for another pile to arrive tomorrow or Monday morning. An endless hell of paperwork.
‘But… she’s a prosecutor…!!’
It was tough for him too, as the administrative officer. But he could endure it. He respected Prosecutor Inaeun… and… well, he wanted to be her strength somehow.
‘The one ray of hope in this rotten prosecution office…! For her, a little hardship is nothing!’
He steeled himself. For this strong yet fragile prosecutor… no, this woman… a bit of physical strain was nothing if it meant protecting her!
“This part looks like it needs supplementary investigation.”
“Ah, yes. Wh-which part do you mean?”
He sidled up close, inhaling her scent subtly. Inaeun marked a large section on the document.
“The victim’s statement doesn’t match the scene, and the suspect has an alibi.”
“Ah… Got it. I’ll pass it on.”
As he returned to his seat, he felt a mix of regret and bliss. Aaah, if only we could stay together like this.
“P-Prosecutor. Aren’t you getting hungry by now?”
Inaeun checked her watch. It was proper lunchtime.
“…Time’s flown by already.”
“I found a great place for jjangjjangguksu—”
“Sorry, next time. I have a prior engagement.”
“Ah… R-right, a prior engagement.”
He’d mustered the courage to suggest it, only to be shot down immediately. He’d hoped she might at least glance at him sympathetically, but Inaeun didn’t even look his way.
‘…As expected, an iron wall.’
Her ironclad rule was famous: cut ties with family and old acquaintances to avoid weaknesses, and no dating either.
But… even so, it was hard to bear her completely ignoring his earnest suggestion.
While the disappointed Officer Yu ate a lonely lunch alone, Prosecutor Inaeun met with Yun Ha-young, the reporter she’d started exchanging with recently.
In a completely sealed room, Reporter Yun Ha-young opened her laptop and showed her a video.
“…What’s this?”
“That’s our team leader.”
“…?”
A woman confessing her sins, stripping off her clothes. Then crawling naked on all fours, getting brutally raped.
And this woman was a team leader at Shinmirae Daily?
“She took half a day off yesterday and left work. Then this seems to have happened.”
“Is she missing?”
“Not sure yet. I checked my email earlier and this video was there, so I rushed straight to you, Prosecutor.”
“I don’t quite follow the context. Why did this happen to her, why is it on video, and why send it to you?”
“Well,”
Yun Ha-young explained everything. How Rainbow Miracle’s general affairs manager, Kim Dong-gi, had exposed various sex-for-favors scandals in a live broadcast. How she’d watched it live and posted an article, but the team leader had taken it down arbitrarily. And then this video incident followed.
“The email subject was ‘Payment.’ I turned it into a story, and since I couldn’t stop it, they probably dragged the team leader in and raped her as payback.”
“…Like, ‘manage your subordinates better,’ something like that?”
“And a warning to me at the same time.”
Prosecutor Inaeun watched the video with impassive eyes. In it, Team Leader Seo Hyun-ju was a pathetic mess, her mouth stuffed full.
“Did you report it to the police?”
“…If I could’ve, I wouldn’t have come to you. I can’t trust the police!”
“…”
“And honestly, the prosecution either.”
Suddenly, Yun Ha-young grabbed Inaeun’s hand.
“You’re the only one I trust, Prosecutor!”
“So, you want me to dig into this case?”
“…Well, yeah…”
Inaeun stared at her as she averted her eyes.
“You’re lobbying me.”
“Th-that’s…”
“I don’t assign cases in the first place. Even if you report directly to the prosecution, this wouldn’t land on my desk. You know that, right?”
“…But you’re the only one I can trust—”
“Showing me this video is problematic too. Downloading illegal footage, possessing it, and sharing it with a third party like me.”
“That’s!”
Reporter Yun Ha-young fidgeted anxiously. Watching her, Prosecutor Inaeun gave a sly smile. Just for a fleeting moment.
“It’s not like there’s no way.”
“What?? R-really!?”
“I have… a lot of enemies.”
“??”
“Taking down a video watched by tens of thousands, leaving no trace online… Then summoning Shinmirae Daily’s team leader to her home for an apology and raping her… And boldly filming it to send to you. Whoever’s behind something this big—wouldn’t all the people who hate me see it as an opportunity?”
“…”
“A chance to physically eliminate a thorn in their side like Prosecutor Inaeun. They might hope the prosecutor on this case ends up like the team leader in the video—stuffed in every hole and eventually found as a corpse deep in the mountains.”
“!!”
Inaeun chuckled as if amused. But Yun Ha-young couldn’t laugh. Even if she was shameless and clueless, how could she laugh along when death was mentioned outright?
“S-sorry, Prosecutor. I just—”
“No, no. I’m fine, really. In fact, this is why I meet with you.”
“Huh…??”
“I make time for someone righteous like you, who sometimes charges ahead without thinking. Seeing you makes me hopeful for the future.”
“R-really…?”
“I figured you’d bring me a case like this someday. Like setting a trap.”
“Eh…”
Inaeun stood with a smile at the flustered woman. Yun Ha-young awkwardly rose too.
“Email me the video. And bring this case to our office—I’ll ask the chief to assign it to me.”
“Prosecutor…”
As Yun Ha-young gazed at her with a mix of emotion, worry, and more, Inaeun patted her shoulder.
“Thank you, Reporter Yun Ha-young.”
“She met with the prosecutor alone…? Did she just go straight to one and spill about yesterday?”
“High chance. Otherwise, why meet a prosecutor right now?”
“Is she insane?”
It slipped out thoughtlessly.
“Yeah… Basically a psychopath, maybe.”
“Her boss got her pussy wrecked because of her, and now she’s spreading it to someone else. At this point, isn’t she a plague?”
Reading the surveillance log on Reporter Yun Ha-young really left me in awe. I’d expected some level of it, but not this much.
No, I’d just figured she’d get obsessed with the case and go around playing detective, stirring things up. But nope—she goes straight to a prosecutor she knows.
Shouldn’t she at least narrow down the video’s culprits before asking for help?
“Team Leader, any calls from Reporter Yun Ha-young or anything?”
“…N-none.”
“Not even a check-in call? Even knowing what she went through?”
“…”
Hyun-ju hung her head, at a loss for words. She hadn’t exactly protected Yun Ha-young on purpose, but still—didn’t reality hit her? I got raped because of this girl—
And she’d even gotten fucked by me again today.
“Tsk tsk tsk… Unreal. So, who’s the prosecutor she met?”
“Inaeun. Famous for being stubborn. Doesn’t take bribes or anything, so rich folks with connections avoid her.”
“Hmm… So she ran off and snitched.”
“Well… from what we see, yeah. But it’s weird—a single prosecutor can’t just pick her own cases.”
“Maybe just asking for some backing or advice.”
“That’s odd too. Prosecutors and reporters aren’t supposed to meet like this. It’s not strictly enforced, but a principle-driven, upright prosecutor hanging out intimately with a reporter? Suspicious…”
Sua kept tilting her head. Was it that strange? It didn’t sound wrong, though…
“Maybe she’s got some deep scheme?”
“Yun Ha-young?”
“No, the prosecutor. My cop-honed instincts are tingling about her.”
I see. But hey, you’re a corrupt cop.