School Cleaning - 4
Before I knew it, Jeong Suyeon, already past thirty, flashed a fresh, youthful wink that belied her age.
The truth was, Suyeon had never been part of the board I set up.
I had put Lawyer Choi Myeonghun forward as my shield and meant to spear them with public opinion.
By pure chance, though, the timing lined up perfectly with a case she had been investigating in secret.
She was the one who first grasped how the situation was turning and called me, and showing up here today had been her decision alone.
In the blink of an eye, I had become one of Suyeon’s pieces on the board.
One figure still remained, though—someone far too heavy for a mere junior prosecutor to handle alone.
The district assemblyman, Kim Yongbeom.
“Hahahaha~ What’s this, some secret of birth? Not content with Hanul Law Firm, now even the prosecution’s taking that little brat’s side. Representative Kim, Prosecutor Jeong Suyeon. You’re not going to claim this is all coincidence, are you?”
“I am simply protecting my client.”
“And I am simply catching people who have done bad things.”
“Hahahaha~ When you put it like that, I have nothing left to say.”
The laughing face hardened, and the atmosphere turned heavy in an instant.
Was this the weight of a sitting assemblyman?
Even the great Lawyer Choi Myeonghun looked tense, and the bright expression on Suyeon’s face had frozen solid.
“Yes, Chief Prosecutor. I’ll come see you soon. Understood. I will not forget this matter.”
No one spoke until Assemblyman Kim Yongbeom finished his call.
Only after it ended did someone open their mouth—Lee Cheolwoo, the chief prosecutor still held by the investigators.
“Assemblyman…! What did the Chief Prosecutor say…?”
“Just wait a moment, Prosecutor Jeong.”
“Yes.”
“Take this.”
“……”
The title “Chief Prosecutor.”
He must have spoken with the head of the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office where Suyeon worked.
Keeping Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheolwoo safe would make burying the case far easier.
With a light gesture from Assemblyman Kim Yongbeom, Suyeon’s phone rang.
“Yes, Chief Prosecutor… That is… there was concern about destruction of evidence, so I made an emergency arrest…. No. I haven’t had any particular conversation with Assemblyman Kim Yongbeom…. Yes… yes… yes, Chief Prosecutor…”
Suyeon’s voice grew smaller and smaller as she took the call.
A smile returned to Assemblyman Kim Yongbeom’s face, and Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheolwoo shook off the investigators gripping his arms.
Beside him, even President Park Seoksu of Dongjeong Industries regained his swagger.
Then he asked,
“Can you handle it? That Kim Yongbeom. No—our party.”
The weight was completely different from the words Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheolwoo had thrown out earlier.
This was a man who could move even the chief prosecutor representing the district office.
Was this the power of a sitting ruling-party assemblyman?
But if it was power, our side was no weaker.
Not mine, exactly—Suyeon’s.
“That handling… I’ll give it a try.”
“L-Lee… Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Seokmun, what brings you here…?”
The once-arrogant Assemblyman Kim Yongbeom looked flustered.
By rank alone there was no reason for it.
Prosecutors rose from ordinary junior, deputy chief, chief, deputy chief prosecutor, chief prosecutor, and finally Prosecutor General.
So a man who could move a chief prosecutor had no business trembling before a mere deputy chief prosecutor.
But if that deputy chief was Jeong Seokmun, Suyeon’s father?
And if that deputy chief was the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Deputy Chief Prosecutor, second only to the Prosecutor General himself?
“The story changes.”
“D-Deputy Chief Prosecutor, what brings you here…?”
“Chief Lee, do I have to report every little thing to you?”
“N-No, sir!! Oh my! I overstepped! Please forgive me!”
Why go that far?
That man had probably survived this long not through ability, but through flattery.
“Assemblyman Kim Yongbeom, come with us. If I sent the special investigation prosecutors, you’d just start making calls all over again, so I came myself.”
“What? The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division for a kids’ fight…!!”
“A kids’ fight? Violations of the Political Funds Act, the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, bribery charges—there are so many counts I can’t list them all here. Come to the Special Investigation Division and we’ll explain everything slowly. Take him.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you dare touch me!!! Let go of me!! Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Seokmun! I am a sitting assemblyman! You know I have immunity from arrest!”
“Ah, is that so? Then shall we have your face and every charge plastered across the news day after day, take it to a National Assembly vote, and have you walk in under the eyes of the entire nation? Come to think of it, it would be nice for the prosecution to look like it’s actually working for once. Let’s do it that way. I’ll see you next time. Plenty of reporters will flock in, so make sure you get a good facial beforehand.”
“W-Wait a moment…!! Take me too! Deputy Chief Prosecutor!!!”
No matter how great an assemblyman’s power, once the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division stepped in, the story changed.
They were investigating with the honor of the entire prosecution on the line, and coming out this hard meant they already held airtight evidence.
Assemblyman Kim Yongbeom chased after Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Seokmun as he simply walked out, and Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheolwoo was led away by the investigators.
“Aren’t you leaving, President? If you want to save your son, you should be out looking for a law firm. Ah… or is it time to worry about yourself more than your son? Both of them have been taken, so you’ll probably be following them in soon.”
“……”
His legs gave out and he sank to the floor.
But why had this ballooned so much?
I had only meant to teach a few spoiled kids a lesson.
“Noona, what exactly just happened?”
In the counseling room after everyone else had left, I poured her a cup of coffee and asked.
I had grabbed her before she could leave because I needed to know.
“The bad guys got caught. Thanks to you, it was easy.”
“Huh??”
“They made so many calls trying to save their kids~ Just the money that moved overnight was tens of billions. So we mapped every connection in one go. Traced the entire flow of funds. Every transaction that had ever gone back and forth came to light. Thanks to that, the whole thing wrapped up cleanly~ Appreciate it.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you. But if the game was already over, why did you sound like that when you took the Chief Prosecutor’s call earlier?”
“I was hoping it wasn’t true. I hoped our Chief Prosecutor at least wasn’t like that… but no such luck.”
She hadn’t been cowed or intimidated—she had been disappointed and sad.
That was why her voice had grown so small.
“But is it true?”
“What is?”
“Those little brats they brought in claimed you assaulted them first, hung them from the building, and stripped them naked. Is that true?”
It was true.
But even if it was true, so what?
“Criminal Procedure Act Article 307, principle of evidence-based adjudication. Facts shall be recognized only through evidence. Recognition of criminal facts requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“There’s no evidence~ Even if what those bastards said is true.”
“You…!”
“I didn’t do anything bad. I just gave them a tiny taste of the pain their victims had suffered. Before the law handed down its judgment.”
“Don’t do it again. And if evidence turns up, I’ll punish you too. No exceptions.”
“Of course~ Ah! By the way, did you receive the evidence I sent you properly?”
I had submitted everything as evidence—the videos I filmed, the audio files, even the threatening phone calls.
All carefully packaged and delivered.
“I received them so well there was barely anything left to investigate.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Anyway, you’ve got a good head. Use it. Don’t do bad things.”
“Yes.”
“Ah! Have you decided on a career path? How about becoming a prosecutor?”
“Haha… I’ll pass on being a busy salaryman.”
“Then what will you do?”
“Well~ Still searching for my dream.”
“Always with the words… Ah! Mom’s inviting you over for a meal soon~ Bring Sol and Naye too. I’m heading out first~”
“Yes, take care~”
Except for the years she was buried in the bar exam and the judicial research and training institute, I had steadily kept my connection with Jeong Suyeon.
Naturally, my connection with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Seokmun was still ongoing as well.
But that connection would never put them on my side.
They were far too upright for that.
People who always stood only on the side of justice.
“Well, as long as I don’t do anything bad, they’re on my side, right~”
And so the dirty school cleaning came to an end.
I handed the audio files of the principal, vice-principal, and even the head of academic affairs threatening and coaxing me over to the education office and the broadcasting stations, ending their teaching careers. Kim Gyuyeon’s lackeys went through the school violence committee and left under forced transfer procedures.
The trials of Kim Gyuyeon, Lee Daejin, and Park Gongmyeong were still underway, but they wouldn’t see the light of day for at least a few years.
Everything seemed to have resolved perfectly…
“Uung… uung…”
“Eunsol, what are you doing under the desk?”
“I dropped the ballpoint pen you gave me and I can’t find it… I’ll search this side, so you look over there.”
“Just stop and get up. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“No! I’m going to use it until it runs out! So hurry up and help me look!”
“This kid and her pointless stubbornness…”
I crouched down on the floor and started searching for the supposedly lost pen.
But how had she not found this?
The pen wasn’t under the desk—it had fallen under the chair.
I reached out casually, picked it up, and turned my head to call Eunsol.
“Hey, the pen’s right he—”
“Uung… uung… where is it…”
“……”
For a while I couldn’t bring myself to say I had found the pen.
My gaze had been stolen by the pure white thighs spilling out beneath her lifted school skirt.
Right. Everything had seemed perfectly resolved, but an unexpected variable had popped up…
My libido had started acting up.
Well… it had been more than ten years since I last held a woman…
Gulp.
Sol’s thighs really are pretty…
No, that ass is plump for her frame, so tempti—
No! Snap out of it!
Eunsol is family! And she’s still a high school student!
Right, Eunsol is family, like a little sister.
Eunsol is family.
……
……
But we’re not blood-related, are we?
“Cha Sunwoo, what the hell are you doing right now?”
“……”
I couldn’t lift my face or body, which had somehow pressed flat against the floor.
Lee Naye’s voice had frozen me solid.
So I answered from that exact position.
In this situation, acting as natural as possible was the only way out.
“Sol said she lost her pen, so I’m helping her look.”
“Ah~ Really? So you’re checking whether Sol’s pen might be inside her skirt?”
“Uung? Skirt??”
“W-What are you talking about? Of course depending on the angle it might look that way, but right now I’m just aligning my line of sight with the floor to search for the pen. So spare me the misunderstandings.”
“Ah~ I see. Then what’s that in your hand right now?”
“This is…”
Oh crap.
Clear evidence under the principle of evidence-based adjudication was sitting right in my hand.
There was no more room for excuses.
I could no longer deny that I had been peeping at her defenseless thighs and ass, and had even flattened myself on the floor to peek under her skirt.
How do I get out of this?
“I’ll give you a quiz. Get it right and I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything. Naturally I’ll keep it secret from the director too.”
“R-Really…?”
“What color are Sol’s panties today?!”
“Pink… kuhack!!!!”
“You perverted bastard!!!”
I took the bait.
To fall for such a simple trick…!
But that doesn’t mean you get to step on people!
“Hey! Lee Naye! Even so…! Stepping on a person… like that… teddy bear…”
“Teddy bea— Where the hell are you looking right now!!!!”
“Kuhack!!!!”
Her tastes are purer than I expected?
But… how am I supposed to endure three more years like this!!!!
I want to go back!!!!