You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 178

I felt like my insides were turning upside down.

I downed a hangover cure I had bought on my way home yesterday and mixed it with honey water.

Then, I sighed and looked at the four people tangled in my living room.

The NIS [National Intelligence Service] agent, Jo Bong-joon, Choi Jong-hyun, and even Kim Jung-woo.

As if they were having so much fun, they were abusing themselves with the devilish charm of alcohol.

They mixed soju [Korean distilled spirit] and beer in a 1:1 ratio, or maybe even more soju, and poured it into beer glasses to drink.

Of course, they didn’t forget to force it on me too.

I kept refusing, but eventually, I couldn’t resist their persistence and accepted a glass or two.

And this is the result.

The plan to lock them up in the officetel [a building with both office and residential units] I had prepared for Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun and return home was completely shattered.

I was too drunk myself, so I ended up dragging them all to my house.

I changed out of the clothes I hadn’t taken off, washed up, and went into the study.

Since I had been broadcasting until late last night, the expanded reactions would come out around this morning.

[‘Apollon’ Jo Bong-joon Reveals He Was Sued by Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical on Internet Broadcast]

[Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical Sues Investment Expert Jo Bong-joon?]

[Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical VS ‘Apollon’ Jo Bong-joon, Who Will Win?]

It wasn’t enough to be on the main page; it seemed to have garnered enough attention to be listed in the news tab.

Most of the articles included images capturing scenes from the internet broadcast, so it seems like it was quite a promotion.

Should I check out the sites too?

[

I’m just a guy who watches game broadcasts, but my brother is obsessed with stocks and always goes to the stock bulletin board?

Then he told me to turn on this broadcast by someone named Jo Bong-joon, and it seemed like he was talking about current affairs.

I thought it would be boring, so I told my brother to watch it alone, but my brother was laughing like crazy in his room lol [laughing out loud]

I got curious and watched it with him, and it was like an investment expert and a reporter were broadcasting together?

They were talking about Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical, which I have no interest in, but it was so funny that I ate ramen and watched it with my brother until 10 PM lololol [laughing out loud a lot]

What they were saying on the broadcast was that Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical, which is a subsidiary of Wooshin, makes medicine, and there’s a problem with that medicine?

……

The explanation was a bit long, but that’s what it was like.

It’s a serious problem, but it doesn’t seem to be well known, so I explained it in detail lol [laughing out loud]

And the BJ [Broadcast Jockey, a streamer] even certified that he was sued by Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical, and the viewers said it seemed like they were trying to silence him.

If there’s anyone around you who takes that medicine, tell them not to take it lol [laughing out loud]

Anyway, the two of them doing a comedy act is really funny

I recommend you watch it

ㄴ I didn’t find it fun; I turned it off after 10 minutes. What’s so fun about two middle-aged men laughing and playing around? It’s disgusting;

ㄴ Did 2,000 people come in the first broadcast if it wasn’t fun? lololol [laughing out loud a lot] Anyway, as soon as someone is about to become popular, there are always people who try to criticize them

ㄴ People have different tastes, why are you treating it like criticism?

ㄴ No, I wrote a recommendation, and the first comment is that it’s not fun, so wouldn’t I feel bad? There’s effort in writing the post;

ㄴ Woah, woah, don’t fight;; I found it fun lololol [laughing out loud a lot] I’m going to wait for next week from the beginning

ㄴ Me too lol [laughing out loud]]

I don’t know if it’s a real review left by a viewer or our part-time workers, but it’s not bad.

Even on sites where people who enjoy internet broadcasts gather, there were quite a few people mentioning it, perhaps because it was selected as a rising star in the first broadcast.

At this rate, the reaction isn’t bad.

Thanks to Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical suing me at the right time, things are progressing according to plan, so should I start planning my defense?

* * *

“Good morning, Attorney.”

After soothing my stomach with hangover soup and coming to work, Secretary Oh was already out.

He was holding a duster and a rag in his hand.

The office had finished all the cases we had taken on until recently and took a week off.

This was because I needed time to focus on the preliminary work and brainstorming sessions, such as renting a studio to start internet broadcasting.

It seems like he came in early to clean because the office was empty for a long time.

“Secretary Oh, why are you cleaning yourself?”

“It’s not really cleaning. I just wiped the dust off the desk.”

Secretary Oh put the cleaning tools on the veranda and sat down at the table, saying.

“I enjoyed the broadcast yesterday. The reaction was good, wasn’t it?”

The data I showed Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon when I informed them about the Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical case was a collaboration between me and Secretary Oh.

Finding and reading papers, commissioning translations, and finding related articles couldn’t be done alone in a short amount of time, so I needed help.

No matter how much I had encountered the data in my previous life, I don’t have the superpower to not forget what I’ve seen once, so I have no choice but to read it all again, right?

“Yes, the reaction was better than I expected. It’s a relief.”

“Jo Bong-joon and Reporter Choi are good speakers. My wife said it was fun too.”

“That’s a relief.”

“You revealed the fact that Jo Bong-joon was sued on the broadcast yesterday. Is it starting in earnest now?”

“Yes. Now I have to prepare for the defense.”

“I had a consultation inquiry this morning. Should we put it on hold until this is over?”

“Unless it’s a big case, there’s no need to do that. Kang Attorney is here anyway.”

I replied, checking the memo Secretary Oh handed me.

“Kang Attorney is here? Were you talking about me?”

But the answer came from a completely different place.

Kang Min-jae, holding shopping bags in both hands, burst into the office.

He looked like he was in very good condition.

“We were talking about a case.”

“Ah, ha. You had a vacation after a long time, did you two rest well? Did you go anywhere?”

“No, I just rested at home.”

I decided not to tell Kang Min-jae that Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical was our work, so I made excuses.

“You should have gone somewhere.”

“Where did Kang Attorney go?”

“I went to Bali. Hehe. I bought gifts for you two.”

He said proudly, putting the shopping bags on the table.

“Take them out quickly.”

He gave us each a shopping bag, so I was about to take it and go back to my seat, but Kang Min-jae grabbed me.

I had no choice but to take out the contents.

“I brought everything that people buy a lot in Bali. Haha.”

Hand cream with a tropical fruit scent, soap, air freshener, dried fruit, cups and keychains with “Bali” written on them, coffee beans, Hawaiian shirts, and whiskey.

I wondered why the shopping bag was so big, but it was because there were so many small things inside.

“Thank you. I’ll give this hand cream to my daughter.”

“Secretary, you can drink the whiskey all by yourself.”

“Okay. Haha. Was Bali good?”

“Oh, it was good. I rented a villa on the beach and played in the water all day, ate delicious food in the evening, and went to clubs and played.”

“You went to a club?”

The word “club” reminded me of the day Kang Min-jae got into a fight at a club and was called to the police station in the middle of the night.

If I hadn’t met Kim Chan-young that day, only anger would have remained.

“Ah, haha, nothing happened. Haha. But after playing for a week, I got a little tired of playing. I even started to think I wanted to work quickly.”

What a lie that no one would believe.

I crossed my arms, checking the shining “lie” letters above his head.

“Really? As Kang Attorney wants, a case just came in.”

“Yes? Ah, ah……. I see.”

“Why, don’t you want to work? Should I leave Kang Attorney out?”

“No! No! What is it? What kind of case is it? I’m so curious.”

“It’s a defamation case.”

Kang Min-jae shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing.

“If it’s defamation, isn’t it usually a summary indictment? It’ll be a simple case.”

Generally, that’s the case.

There is absolutely no prison sentence, and at most, in the case of first-time offenders, it ends with a small fine.

But I never intended to be satisfied with that scale from the beginning.

“It might not be. It’s the Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical case.”

“Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical?”

Kang Min-jae’s eyes widened as if he was surprised.

“Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical, is it Apollon?”

“Ah, did you see the article?”

“Yes, I saw it this morning. Did that case come to our office? According to the article, Apollon himself seemed to have found out that he was sued last night. Did the request come in already?”

Even if I’m trying to hide that Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical is our work, Kang Min-jae will meet them as long as our office takes on the case.

There’s no way I can tell them to act awkwardly to those they’re already familiar with.

“Because he’s someone I know.”

“Ah, I see.”

He easily understood.

“Then, did the attorney roughly grasp the details of the case?”

“I heard about it, but they’re coming for a consultation tomorrow.”

In fact, according to what we talked about yesterday, they should be coming to the office for a consultation today.

But thinking about the state they were in this morning, tangled up in the living room, I don’t think it’ll work out today.

“Then, I should get a sense of the case atmosphere today. There were a lot of articles. Apollon was on the radio, right? He also broadcasts on the internet. He seems to be grinding his teeth at Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical. Is he the type with a lot of sense of justice?”

“Kind of.”

That’s not true, but I answered that way for now.

Kang Min-jae nodded and went to sit at his seat.

“Then, I should look at the articles he wrote, watch the internet broadcasts, and listen to the radio.”

He was obviously showing that he didn’t want to work, but when he’s given a job, Kang Min-jae is the most diligent.

I turned my gaze to him, who was already rolling the wheel, looking at the monitor screen as if he would pierce it.

He’s not showing it, but he has a lot of worries.

I can’t deceive Kang Min-jae forever.

I need to start acting in earnest now, and it’s inefficient and bothersome to make excuses to him every time.

In fact, I still haven’t made a decision.

The reason I decided not to tell him even though I had come to trust him was because this work is dangerous.

I, who was recently targeted by Wooshin and investigated by the prosecution, am proof of that.

But now that I know that his grandfather is the former president, I don’t know.

Since he’s the grandson of the former president, he might not be in as much danger as me.

However, even if Kang Min-jae wants to join, I doubt Kang Kwan-woong will let him.

I don’t know what his relationship with Ko Sang-joon is, but when he saved me, he couldn’t have not thought that it would be at least a little upsetting.

But he might not want that to intensify.

Even if he’s on bad terms with Ko Sang-joon, it’s different to move in a way that helps me, a complete stranger, and to have his precious grandson fight directly.

In fact, since Kang Min-jae has a history of leaving the prosecutor’s office and entering Taekwang, the possibility of him being on bad terms with Ko Sang-joon is very low.

Whatever it is, everything is a problem when Kang Min-jae wants to join.

He might unexpectedly say that he’ll step back.

[An email has arrived.]

I was freed from my thoughts when a new notification popped up on Jo Bong-joon’s email, which I had logged in to earlier.

Well, I didn’t have high expectations.

I had been prepared since yesterday when I revealed my email on the internet broadcast, saying that anyone who wanted to help should contact me, but there were a lot of prank emails.

[Myung-hwa Pharmaceutical Insider.]

A simple title.

And a very tempting title.

But I’ve already received countless emails of this kind.

Unlike the title, the contents are all curses, pictures circulating on the internet, or requests for consultation showing their stock investment details.

“Hmm.”

What will it be like this time?