Chapter 135
On the way to the construction site, Kang Minjae asked, "Yang Hansuk—if that's the prosecutor, wasn't he the one handling the Kim Hyeongjun case back then?"
"Yeah."
"That guy totally botched the investigation, didn't he?"
It was true that I'd criticized the prosecution's hasty work back then. They hadn't even tracked down the psychiatrist Ye Hui-suk had been seeing, let alone reviewed her counseling records. They hadn't checked the massive life insurance policies that so often popped up in parent-child murders either. Kim Yeonjun had been caught red-handed and confessed on top of that—maybe they figured there was no need for a thorough probe.
Hmm. I wanted to give my old colleague the benefit of the doubt, but yeah, it was a mess.
"Pretty much."
"But why'd Manager Oh say it was such a big deal?"
"Because Hwang Youngchan's backing Yang Hansuk."
Kang Minjae tilted his head, still looking puzzled at my answer.
"Who's Hwang Youngchan?"
"Head of the Criminal Division 3. Not on great terms with me."
"Why not?"
The guy who'd been like a tongue in my mouth suddenly vanished without a word—must've left a massive scratch on that authoritarian's ego. Compared to the 2018 version, this young Hwang Youngchan almost looked pitiable, flustered by my words.
"I was Hwang Youngchan's guy. Quit the prosecution without explaining why."
"Were you close with Section Chief Hwang Youngchan?"
"We were. He favored me."
"What about you, sir?"
"Huh?"
"How'd you feel about Section Chief Hwang Youngchan?"
"Liked him too. Followed him closely. As much as Manager Oh."
I didn't want to deny the past when I'd trusted and trailed Hwang Youngchan. Even in my previous life, he'd promoted me to Third Deputy at a young age. I'd been grateful back then, but looking back now, it was probably just because I was good at my job and rose fast. Sure, he'd always said he'd pull me up, but with how busy he was covering his own ass, did he even have time for others?
"So why'd you leave the prosecution?"
"Felt like there was no future there."
"……Tough answer. Then why no explanation to Section Chief Hwang? He's staying in the prosecution forever—doesn't he seem like the type who'd hold a grudge?"
If I hadn't had that previous life, I never would've left the prosecution. Even if I had, I'd have poured out my worries to Hwang Youngchan first, sought his advice. Our parting would've been graceful. He'd have thought of me now and then after I set up my firm, just like I occasionally recalled Manager Oh.
'Ugh, kinda gross.' The thought of Hwang Youngchan missing me made my stomach churn.
I remembered every word he'd said to me right before I returned to 2008, just as he was set for Prosecutor General. Time had passed, but it still made my blood boil.
"Ended up realizing Hwang Youngchan was a seriously corrupt prosecutor. Acted clean but was dirty behind the scenes. Everyone knew but me, the idiot."
In my previous life as Hwang Youngchan's lackey, I'd never assumed he was squeaky clean. But corrupt? Nah. His constant schmoozing at every gathering, his "jump if I say jump" attitude—I chalked it up to social climbing. When did he decide to betray me? Was a once-decent guy corrupted by the special prosecution and deals over the Prosecutor General spot? Or had the connections always been there?
Either way, it pissed me off just the same.
"Anyway, we're done. And he's probably grinding his teeth over it. I went after the prosecution, so the higher-ups must've ripped him a new one."
"Yeah, probably. Hmm, tricky."
"Already a tough case, and now the prosecution's gonna make it harder."
"With all that Wooshin pressure, and they already hate you? Yeah, gotta brace ourselves."
Details weren't fully clear yet, but the prosecution had dismissed Oh Sanghyeon's claim of being assaulted, painting Go Yunseong as the sole victim. No way that directive came straight to a grunt like Yang Hansuk. Looked like Hwang Youngchan's design.
'It happened in my previous life too, and if Hwang Youngchan got the order, it should've come through me.'
The thought flashed through my mind, and I frowned. Sure, I never would've followed such an order, but it would've stuck in my memory anyway. Come to think of it, the case had felt off from the start. Especially since Criminal Division 3 handled it—even if Hwang Youngchan knew my style and tossed it to someone else, I should've remembered.
'This didn't happen in my previous life.'
Then why? What changed to make it happen this time?
"Sir, we're here."
Kang Minjae's voice snapped me out of it. The car had already pulled up near the site. It was pretty big. Demolishing a five-story apartment complex to build luxury high-rises, from what I'd heard.
"Lots of CCTV around," Kang Minjae noted, scanning the area. Easily over six visible ones.
Then, from the workers glancing our way in the distance, someone who looked like the site boss approached.
"What brings you here?"
"Hello. We're from Cha Juhan Law Office. You know Oh Sanghyeon from Wooshin Construction? We're his lawyers." Kang Minjae handed over a business card. The man looked a bit flustered.
"I see. But what for…? Everyone at the scene testified to the police already."
"We want to check the assault site ourselves and ask a few questions. Would that be a problem?"
Kang Minjae stepped closer with a friendly grin. The man hesitated, then said he'd make a call and ducked into the container office. Soon, he emerged with a middle-aged man in a different-colored vest.
"Hello. I'm the site supervisor. You're Oh Sanghyeon's lawyers?"
"That's right."
"They said upstairs to let you verify whatever. How can I help?"
"Mind if we start with the scene?"
"This way."
We followed him. Behind one apartment block, near stairs to a playground, was a secluded alley.
"Bike storage's going in here." As Oh Sanghyeon said, a CCTV covered the entrance.
"Were you at the scene when it happened, Supervisor?"
"……Yes. I was."
Not a ringing endorsement.
"Prosecution said the CCTV caught Go Yunseong badly hurt, carried out by his entourage."
"Don't know details, but yeah, that's what I heard."
"Even if we don't know who started it, if the CCTV was running, it should've caught Oh Sanghyeon too, right?"
I stepped into the alley. There was an exit at the back, but stacked high with materials. No way a bloodied Oh Sanghyeon chose this over the open path.
"……Not sure about that level of detail. Police took all the footage."
"So no one saw Oh Sanghyeon come out?"
"Guess not. I didn't."
"You know he's got a seven-week injury diagnosis and is hospitalized?"
The supervisor nodded slowly.
"Go Yunseong's side claims Oh Sanghyeon's faking it for show, but it didn't look that way to me. Fractures and all."
"Tsk." He clicked his tongue sympathetically—not just rote politeness. Hard to imagine him pitying Oh Sanghyeon if he'd really been a jerk on site.
"Did you see Go Yunseong carried out by his entourage?"
"Yeah."
"What'd he look like?"
"They shielded him with jackets, but his face was bloody from what I glimpsed. Seemed unconscious."
"Ambulance to the hospital?"
"Nah, entourage loaded him into a car to Wooshin Hospital, I think."
"And Oh Sanghyeon? Even if no one saw inside the alley, someone must've spotted him leaving the site."
"……Probably."
"Plenty of CCTV on the way in—surely caught him going out too."
"Police has all that; we don't know."
No point pressing CCTV with him.
"Supervisor, it's noon now. Lunch at twelve?"
"Yes."
"Can we ask workers questions without disrupting their meals?"
He pondered, then nodded.
"Kang Min."
I called to Kang Minjae, photographing the alley interior.
"Yes."
"Check if anyone saw how Oh Sanghyeon left."
"Got it."
Oh Sanghyeon said he'd blacked out from Go Yunseong's beating, then woke in the hospital—no memory of transport. With all that entrance CCTV, prosecution could've confirmed he could barely walk. Yet they didn't charge mutual assault? Clearly burying it. Wooshin cash greased palms, sure, but this was excessive.
'Gotta file a FOIA request first.'
For mutual assault, we'd need proof Oh Sanghyeon took a serious beating too. Go Yunseong claimed showmanship; prosecution dismissed it for lack of evidence against him.
"Sir, anything else to see?"
The supervisor asked quietly beside me. Space was tight; I'd checked it all, but leaving felt unsatisfying. I scanned the depths one last time.
"Pretty dark in here."
I turned to him. As Oh Sanghyeon said, cramped—no fighting back against seven guys. Deep inside, passersby wouldn't see a thing. Dim indeed. A light fixture on one wall. Entrance CCTV likely only caught exits.
"Hm?"
Then I spotted metal on the wall, wires tangled oddly around it. I lit it with my phone screen.
"Supervisor."
"Yes."
"Was there CCTV here too?"