You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 77

You’ve Been Defended – Episode 77

There wasn’t much more to the story than this.

Jeong Young-joon was living his life as usual when, one day, the video suddenly went viral.

Before it even made the news, his wife, Go Jin-ah, had already seen it.

After watching, Go Jin-ah immediately confronted Jeong Young-joon, demanding to know if the person in the video was him. Jeong Young-joon panicked.

He insisted to Go Jin-ah that it wasn’t him, suggesting the video was a fake and that they should have an expert verify its authenticity.

However, the expert’s analysis confirmed that the video was not a composite or altered in any way.

Go Jin-ah became even more furious and shared the video with her family, the members of Yangjin Group.

Chairman Go Sang-kyung summoned Jeong Young-joon, slapped him, hurled insults, and demanded an immediate divorce.

No matter how much Jeong Young-joon pleaded that it wasn’t him and that someone was trying to frame him, they wouldn’t listen.

Jeong Young-joon begged them to at least stop the video from spreading, but his father-in-law and wife were unmoved.

They claimed they would have prevented it from spreading to avoid bringing shame to the family, but they couldn’t because he was stubbornly denying it instead of admitting his wrongdoing.

Eventually, after the video was reported in the news, Go Jin-ah demanded a divorce every time they met.

In particular, she said, ‘I know you have nothing but the money you earned by marrying into our family, so I don’t need alimony. Let’s just agree to a mutual divorce.’

Since being with his wife only made the situation worse, Jeong Young-joon suggested a trial separation and started living apart.

He begged her to wait, promising to find evidence that it was a setup so she could trust him, but it didn’t seem to work.

Soon after, Go Jin-ah’s legal representative contacted him to begin preparing for a divorce lawsuit.

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know who’s doing this or what their motive is.”

The fact that he doesn’t know the motive suggests that no one has directly threatened Jeong Young-joon with the video.

If someone distributed the video without directly wanting anything from Jeong Young-joon, the goal was likely to damage his reputation or credibility.

“Is there anyone you’ve had conflicts with due to business reasons? Or even if you haven’t had conflicts, someone who is trying to push forward with something that Jeong Young-joon opposed?”

“There might be. But the truth is, I’m just an executive in name only, without any real power, so things would have proceeded even if I opposed them. If someone thought I was the ultimate obstacle and did something like that…”

“It’s not certain yet. I’m just mentioning a few possible scenarios. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“…Yes. But what upsets me the most is that my wife won’t listen to me at all… Honestly, I’m too ashamed to even show my face because of the video, but I can endure it if it means I can protect my family. If only Jin-ah would stay by my side…”

Jeong Young-joon said, clutching his head.

I sympathized with his tragedy to some extent.

I was in the same position, having been divorced myself.

Of course, based on what I’ve heard so far, Jeong Young-joon was faithful to his family and had no reason to be divorced, but I did.

There were countless times when I didn’t go home because I was swamped with work, and I didn’t even contact my ex-wife properly.

The reason I agreed to a mutual divorce, even though I knew my wife was already having an affair, was because of that.

Her affair was my fault.

There was no way to hold onto a wife whose heart had already turned away, and I had no right to hold her back.

But Jeong Young-joon is different.

Jeong Young-joon has lost all trust because of that one sex video.

If the misunderstanding about the sex video is resolved, wouldn’t it be possible to avoid going to court?

“Excluding people related to work, is there anyone you suspect at all?”

“I don’t know. I can’t really guess. I don’t know who took the video or who the people in it are.”

Jeong Young-joon said in a barely audible voice.

I rubbed my forehead.

I don’t know for sure, but it seems to involve relationships with multiple people.

“Was it filmed with a hidden camera?”

“No, it looked like someone was filming. The video was, well… it felt like a party. In a big room… Haa, it might be better if you just saw it yourself.”

Jeong Young-joon sighed, the tips of his ears turning red.

“I’m sorry, but we haven’t seen the video. Would it be okay for us to see the video?”

At my question, Jeong Young-joon slowly nodded.

“…I have the video file on my laptop. I’ll give you a USB with the video on it when we meet next time. If there are any other documents you need, I’ll include them as well.”

At those words, Kang Min-jae jumped up and brought an information sheet from the drawer.

The information sheet briefly explained the necessary documents and procedures.

I don’t know when he made it, but Kang Min-jae clipped my business card and Kang Min-jae’s business card on top of it and put it in a holder.

Then, he carefully handed it to Jeong Young-joon.

“The consultation fee can be paid today, and if you decide that it would be better to go somewhere else after you return home, feel free to contact us separately.”

“Ah, is my case a little… burdensome?”

Jeong Young-joon asked as he accepted the holder.

Kang Min-jae was startled and waved his hands.

“No, not at all. But usually, people who come to our office have already decided to hire us… Mr. Jeong, you came here in a somewhat uncertain state. You might want to hire us right now, but your mind might change when you go home. In that case, don’t hesitate to contact us.”

Kang Min-jae hurriedly rattled off an explanation, and Jeong Young-joon smiled faintly.

“Ah, yes. You’re very considerate. I understand. Then, I’ll contact you tomorrow or the day after.”

Jeong Young-joon and his younger sibling stood up side by side, and Kang Min-jae escorted them to the door.

I sat down at my desk.

I hadn’t paid attention to it since Jeong Young-joon’s sex video first became a hot topic, so I intended to check what was happening now.

But Kang Min-jae approached the desk and closed the laptop I had just opened.

“But Attorney, are you really going to take this case?”

“Aren’t you tired of asking that question? I tend to do what I say I’ll do. I guess you haven’t quite figured out my character yet.”

“No, I know. I’m just curious why you’re taking this case. Do you really believe Jeong Young-joon?”

Kang Min-jae had a dumbfounded expression.

To be honest, considering the nature of Jeong Young-joon’s case itself, it’s not a case that particularly appeals to me.

It’s not my area of expertise, and these kinds of issues involving affairs are especially difficult for me, as I lack empathy in that area.

But the only reason I decided to take the case without even consulting with Attorney Kang was because the other party is Yangjin Group, a subsidiary of Wooshin Group.

The client is Jeong Young-joon, the husband of Go Jin-ah, the sole heir to Yangjin Group.

In my previous life, Jeong Young-joon accepted the divorce without any conditions, so there were no major issues, but this time it might be different.

Something might come up during the investigation of related cases or during the division of assets.

“No, Attorney, I think you trust people too easily, now that I see it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“No, I heard from Kim Yeon-joon and the cafe owner that you told Kim Yeon-joon as soon as you met him that you knew he was innocent.”

“So? Attorney Kang came to me out of the blue and asked me to include you because you thought Kim Yeon-joon was innocent.”

“I came to that conclusion after seeing the results of the second autopsy. But you made that judgment even before seeing the results of the second autopsy. It’s the same this time. Jeong Young-joon, well, he seemed wronged when I heard his story. But you know better than anyone how many people lie about things like that.”

“Like Attorney Kang, who lied without batting an eye that you had experience with copyright lawsuits?”

“No, why are you bringing that up all of a sudden? Anyway. What is the basis for that judgment?”

I can’t say, ‘Actually, I can tell if someone is lying or telling the truth.’

“It’s just a feeling.”

“Attorney, a feeling?”

“I sometimes go with my gut.”

“Hmph…”

Kang Min-jae seemed to have lost his words and only let out a small sigh.

“Do you not want to do this case?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, but if Jeong Young-joon is really innocent, I want to help him. But if he’s really someone who sleeps around like that, I don’t want to defend him. I left Taekwang because I didn’t want to defend guilty people.”

“Really? Then remember what I always say.”

Kang Min-jae frowned.

“…Then drop out?”

“Excellent. You remember well.”

“No, really! Ah!”

Kang Min-jae stomped his feet and clutched his head.

I looked up at him, resting my chin on my hand.

It would be nice if I could be honest, but I don’t want to reveal that I have this ability if possible.

In the future, I should prepare a basis for why I judged someone’s words to be true.

But this time, I can’t help it.

“Attorney Kang.”

“What?”

“You said you trust me. You said you wanted to learn from me.”

“…I did.”

“Then trust my gut too.”

Kang Min-jae stared at me intently.

I wondered if he wanted to have a staring contest, but he let out a deep sigh.

“I’ll go think about it for a moment. This is really important. Lawyers hate us, but they’re all jealous. Anyway, we have a very righteous image. But if we suddenly start defending a ‘national pervert’ [a person widely known for immoral sexual behavior], our image will be ruined in an instant.”

“Go ahead.”

Kang Min-jae stomped out to the veranda, and I reopened the laptop he had closed.

Jeong Young-joon seemed a little flustered by Kang Min-jae’s words about whether to hire us.

And he seemed noticeably relieved when I said I would take the case.

So he will contact me again tomorrow.

Until then, I need to consider at least some of the possible causes of this situation.

I placed a piece of scrap paper in front of me and picked up a pen.

And just as I was about to write something down.

“I’ve thought it all through!”

“It seems like only three minutes have passed.”

“…Was it only that long?”

Kang Min-jae scratched his cheek, looking embarrassed.

I put down the pen and looked at him.

“So, are you going to do it or not?”

“If we really prove that Jeong Young-joon is innocent, it would be a huge success, and it would be foolish to let you monopolize that success.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at Attorney Kang’s slightly sulky voice.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No, just because.”

“Ah, ah. That’s right. I thought it would be foolish of me not to trust your judgment, since I came here begging to learn from you. That’s right! I thought I should learn that gut feeling from you! You’re never wrong! Is that okay?”

Attorney Kang didn’t cry and beg, but I nodded.

It’s quite interesting to be able to hear Kang Min-jae’s hidden intentions with a small chuckle and the words ‘no, just because’.

I picked up the pen again.

And just as I was about to roll the pen on the scrap paper, a very trivial question arose.

“Attorney Kang.”

“Yes?”

“You’re not saying you want to do it because you want to see the video without any moral issues, are you?”

“Ah, no, I’m not.”

That must be one of the reasons too.