“I’ll leave it to public opinion.”
Saying so, Song-kang held her hand that was holding onto his clothes and left the office.
Even if Line was enough to be the legal defense of this case, he didn’t want to burden her with more than that.
“Senior, what will happen to me if you apologize there?”
Prosecutor Yoon Nansul had come to Joo-hyuk’s office and was causing a commotion.
“What did you say?”
In the courtroom, Joo-hyuk had turned down Yoon Nansul’s baseless claim. Faced with Yoon Nansul’s ridiculous attitude, Joo-hyuk couldn’t sit there and listen to the story.
“No, there is so much evidence…! You could have pushed it through!”
Despite her continued lack of remorse, Joo-hyuk became furious at her attitude.
“It’s not about pushing! Even if Na Song-kang is not the culprit, what’s the use of these evidences! Whether you’re a senior or a junior, where are you listening to people?”
Joo-hyuk screamed, but his facial expression was contorted, likely due to the recent wound from a knife.
For the first time he displayed such anger, Nansul was stiff, and the employees outside the office were tense. Suddenly, tears welled up in Nansul’s eyes.
She couldn’t understand why Joo-hyuk always treated her so harshly.
“Senior… Can’t you help a bit? For the Jira-in case, you’re doing everything you can, so why are you so resistant to my case? You’ve never sided with me! Even though we’re senior and junior, why do you discriminate against me all the time!”
With tears in her eyes, Nansul pleaded with Joo-hyuk.
“Yoon Nansul, is this now a matter of taking sides or not?”
“If you don’t help, I will do whatever it takes to get Na Song-kang a guilty verdict.”
Joo-hyuk, feeling dizzy from Nansul’s absurd ambition, closed his eyes as if to shut out the world. It was incomprehensible why Nansul was begging like this, not because she hated Na Song-kang, but why she was so naively pleading… It was about to burst his heart.
At that moment, an employee from the prosecutor’s office entered the office, glancing around.
“Um… Prosecutor Choi…”
“Yes, what is it? Oh… Yes, time has passed quickly. I’m leaving.”
There was an investigation schedule for the attempted murder suspect who had infiltrated Line’s house. With the trial of Na Song-kang, one day was insufficient.
For Joo-hyuk, investigating the murder suspect who had secretly entered Line’s house was more urgent than dealing with the conflict of trying to somehow arrest Na Song-kang, who was not the real culprit.
Joo-hyuk left the office without paying attention to Nansul, who was crying.
Entering the interrogation recording room, Joo-hyuk threw a notebook onto the desk and sat down. Before opening his laptop, he stared at the culprit.
Although unforgivable to the point of killing ten times more, it was more urgent to suppress his emotions and catch the real murderer behind the murderer.
“I remember.”
Without making eye contact with Joo-hyuk, the culprit looked at a distant mountain. It had been a long time since he admitted his crime. So, he had an attitude with no regret or fear.
“I don’t remember, so just quickly process it since I admitted it.”
“Yes, whether you remember or not is not important. However, quick processing is not something I can do.”
After going through the procedures, Joo-hyuk began the formal investigation.
“I’m curious about the motive for the crime. There’s a reasonable suspicion that it might be a contract killing.”
“I’ve had a grudge against Jin La-in for a long time.”
Joo-hyuk slammed the notebook on the desk. The ridiculous statement from the person in front of him had already frustrated him, but what angered him more was mentioning Line’s name with that filthy mouth.
“Hey, hey. Hey! Wake up. What are you trying to say? What grudge do you have against someone you’ve never met in your life?”
“It was an accidental crime.”
Whether it was something he picked up somewhere… Joo-hyuk couldn’t help but burst into a bitter laugh at the word “accidental.”
“Rather than an accidental crime, it seems more like a livelihood crime. Who commissioned you?”
Avoiding Joo-hyuk’s gaze, the culprit turned his head. Joo-hyuk didn’t think the culprit would speak willingly, but if he did, it could instill fear.
“With the money I earned like this, would my mother and sister be happy if I paid for my mother’s medical bills?”
The muscles on the culprit’s face, which seemed as if a metal plate was laid on it, twitched.
“My sister seemed pitiful. While I was making money without bothering her with bad things, she didn’t have an easy life either.”
Joo-hyuk hinted that he knew something, and the culprit’s eyes shook like crazy.
“That, what…”
“I asked first.”
“What are you trying to do to my sister! She’s studying hard! How good of a person is she! She doesn’t know anything.”
The culprit slammed his handcuffed hands on the desk and leaned forward. Joo-hyuk stared at him without shaking. It was pitiful to try to take away the person most precious to him.
Joo-hyuk turned the laptop monitor toward the culprit. The picture that appeared on the monitor was of the culprit’s younger sister and unfamiliar men, and it was embarrassingly awkward. The culprit’s eyes wandered, seeming lost.
“That’s why being a prosecutor is a tough job. Even I get stressed looking at these pictures. I’ll prosecute this case, and whether the woman in this photo is the perpetrator or the victim, we’ll have to investigate. Don’t worry; it has nothing to do with your case.”
It didn’t seem like it had nothing to do with it. Unless the culprit was a fool, he wouldn’t believe those words straightforwardly.
Joo-hyuk pulled the laptop back toward himself.
“I’ll ask again. The motive for the crime, answer carefully.”
The culprit was extremely confused and struggled to continue his words.
“If you continue to remain silent, regardless of the statement, the case…”
“If someone… ordered me to do it, what difference does it make?”
“If you quickly resolve what I’m curious about, I might grant a lot of leniency.”
Joo-hyuk made vague remarks to make him more desperate. However, as a prosecutor, he couldn’t spill the truth directly, so he continued with supplementary explanations.
“Of course, not as a prosecutor, but as a victim who was almost stabbed. And if we understand the situation of the real victim who was almost stabbed with a knife, I won’t demand unfavorable punishment from that side.”
The culprit rolled his eyes downward, contemplating for a moment. Joo-hyuk remained silent, giving him ample time to think.
The seemingly hesitant culprit gradually yielded, and without meeting Joo-hyuk’s eyes directly, he opened his mouth with a crawling voice.
“If I confess… My sister… is a good kid. Please be lenient.”
Joo-hyuk stared at him without offering any response.
“I… will speak. I don’t know the person’s name. But that person knew everything about me. Needing money… that person said they would provide a lifetime of money if I just went into that house and killed one person…”
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
