Chapter 12.1
Laughter and noise were already spilling out of the private room where the dinner gathering was taking place. Arriving late, Woojin slid open the door with a soft rattle.
They had already had a lunch gathering just days ago after the deputy chief prosecutor was replaced, but apparently, it wasn’t proper to skip alcohol altogether. So, the Central Prosecutors’ Office’s Special Investigation Division was once again summoned to a traditional Korean restaurant near Lawtown after work.
Jung Ho-myung, who had arrived earlier, gave Woojin a nod of greeting.
The deputy chief prosecutor sat at the head of the table. Along the long, joined tables, as if arranged in a hierarchy, the chiefs of Special Divisions 1, 2, and 3 sat next to him, followed by deputy chiefs and then senior-ranking prosecutors.
Jung Ho-myung sat at the very end. Normally, as the senior-most prosecutor, Woojin would have sat next to Chief Lee Seung-min or beside a deputy chief, but those seats were already taken. There wasn’t a single open spot at the first table where he usually sat.
Jung Ho-myung avoided Woojin’s gaze. Woojin sat in front of Jung Ho-myung, the only remaining empty seat.
Noticing Woojin’s arrival belatedly, the deputy chief prosecutor asked in a dry tone,
“Bit late, huh? No seats left, so just sit there for now.”
“Apologies. I had some things to take care of.”
“You’re not that busy these days, are you?”
“Thanks to your consideration, things have lightened up.”
In an organization where, when a junior surpasses a senior in promotion, the seniors naturally resign and leave, Woojin’s current seat—across from Jung Ho-myung, among junior prosecutors with only a few years of experience—was a clear message.