You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 417

[You Have Been Defended] – Episode 418

[Hello, Ms. Lee Ga-yeon. This is reporter Choi Jong-hyun. I received your email address from Kim Seung-hee and am contacting you. We are investigating the scandal of illegal study abroad programs at Angel House. If you have a phone number where we can reach you, please leave it, or if it’s difficult, we can talk via email. Or we can visit you in Japan. We will accommodate you in whatever way is convenient for you. I look forward to your reply.]

“It’s been a week since I sent the email, and she hasn’t even read it,” Choi Jong-hyun said, slumping onto the sofa with a sigh.

My gaze was fixed on Jo Bong-joon’s mouth as he munched on potato chips on my sofa.

“Didn’t you say she’s hard to get a hold of?”

I clutched my stomach, got up, and snatched the potato chips from Jo Bong-joon’s hand. “Hey!”

“What? You’re making a mess on the sofa.”

“You’re so fussy.”

Jo Bong-joon brushed potato chip crumbs off his clothes.

I felt a wave of nausea. Even though I knew he was deliberately teasing me, I couldn’t stand the potato chip crumbs on my sofa and living room floor.

“Ah, Bong-joon hyung [older brother/friend], why do you keep teasing the lawyer when he’s sick?”

Tae-shik, ever the peacemaker, brought out the vacuum cleaner and started cleaning the floor and sofa.

Seeing the potato chip crumbs disappear into the vacuum cleaner brought me a small measure of relief.

“Is this really the time for this? Bong-joon, you too! Attorney Cha! Lee Ga-yeon hasn’t read the email!”

“It could be a site that doesn’t confirm receipt.”

“If she received it, she should reply.”

“She will soon.”

“Why are you so relaxed?”

“It’s not that I’m relaxed, but I’m saying this because there’s nothing we can do by anxiously waiting like this.”

I was waiting for Lee Ga-yeon’s reply more eagerly than anyone else, but I’d been prepared since I heard she wasn’t easy to reach.

Choi Jong-hyun seemed impatient to uncover the truth about the sex scandal.

Jo Bong-joon had been the most excited when he first heard Kim Seung-hee’s hints about a sex scandal, but perhaps Choi Jong-hyun was the most furious deep down.

“Ugh, seriously. I can’t even eat a snack in peace in this house.”

“Move aside a bit, I’m going to vacuum.”

Tae-shik tapped Jo Bong-joon’s rear with the vacuum cleaner head.

Jo Bong-joon exclaimed, “Ugh, geez!” and sat down next to Choi Jong-hyun, who was slumped in front of the laptop. He then mashed the refresh button.

“Oh! She read it.”

“What? Really?”

“It looks like she just read it!”

Indeed, the read time was displayed in the read confirmation window.

It seemed she had just read it.

The current time was 7 PM.

Did she read it after getting off work?

About 10 minutes later, an alert popped up in Choi Jong-hyun’s inbox, signaling a new email.

“Email’s here! Read it quickly!”

Choi Jong-hyun jumped up from the sofa and checked his inbox.

An email had arrived under Lee Ga-yeon’s name.

[Hello, Reporter Choi Jong-hyun. I heard from Seung-hee unnie [older sister/female friend]. I don’t have a separate cell phone, so phone calls will be difficult. I can communicate via email, but as you can see, I’m not in a situation where I can check emails quickly. If you want a quick interview, I’m sorry, but it would be easier if you came to Japan. If you can come to Japan, please let me know.]

“She doesn’t have a cell phone.”

“Does anyone not have a cell phone these days?”

“If she had a cell phone, she would have read the email sooner. The fact that she doesn’t have one doesn’t seem like a lie.”

In any case, it was fortunate that Lee Ga-yeon had made positive contact.

“I wonder what the situation is. I think we should reply quickly. Should we say we’ll go?”

“Please do.”

[Hello, Ms. Lee Ga-yeon. Thank you for your reply. We will come to Japan to see you. If you leave your address, we will visit you as early as tomorrow. Thank you.]

Once she read one email, Lee Ga-yeon also read subsequent emails quickly.

It seemed like she was sitting in front of the computer, so it would be good to make an appointment quickly.

[I’m in Osaka right now. If you come to Osaka Airport, I will pick you up. Tomorrow is a work day, so meeting will be difficult. How about Wednesday afternoon, two days from now?]

“She wants to meet on Wednesday afternoon. Look up plane tickets.”

Jo Bong-joon immediately started searching on his phone.

“There’s a flight departing at 12:20 PM on Wednesday, arriving in Osaka at 2:05 PM.”

“Any earlier?”

“There’s an 11 AM flight, arriving at 12:45 PM.”

Choi Jong-hyun immediately wrote a reply email.

[There are flights arriving at 12:45 PM and 2:05 PM on Wednesday. Which time is more convenient for you?]

[2:05 PM would be better. Then I’ll see you the day after tomorrow. I’ll be standing there holding a sign that says ‘Reporter Choi Jong-hyun’.]

As soon as they saw the email, they went to the airline website and started booking a flight that arrived in Osaka at 2:05 PM.

When they got to the final payment screen, Choi Jong-hyun held out his hand to me.

“Attorney Cha, your card, please.”

Of course, it was my job to buy the plane tickets.

* * *

Choi Jong-hyun, Jo Bong-joon, and their bodyguards arrived at Osaka Airport and headed straight for the exit.

They moved at a fast pace, almost running.

As soon as they came out of the exit, they started looking for a woman holding a sign that said ‘Reporter Choi Jong-hyun’ among the crowd.

“She’s not here?”

“She’s not on this side either.”

“I don’t see her here.”

“She’s not here either.”

The current time was 2:20 PM.

They were flustered because she hadn’t shown up, even though the flight was supposed to arrive at 2:05 PM.

Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon exchanged worried glances.

“Could we have been tricked?”

“Surely not…”

It wasn’t impossible.

Woo-shin might have used Lee Ga-yeon to interfere with the investigation.

Or…

“Could something have happened to Lee Ga-yeon?”

If that were the case, it would be better if Lee Ga-yeon had simply intended to trick Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon.

Choi Jong-hyun took a deep breath and opened his inbox.

There was no new contact.

Just then,

“Hyung! Over there!”

Jo Bong-joon shouted, pointing to one side.

A woman was running into the airport, holding a sign that said ‘Reporter Choi Jong-hyun’.

It was Lee Ga-yeon.

Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun ran towards her.

“Ms. Lee Ga-yeon?”

“Ah, yes. Haa, I’m sorry I’m late. Haa, the traffic was terrible…”

Their worries had been for nothing.

Seeing Lee Ga-yeon bowing her head repeatedly as if she was sincerely sorry, I felt bad for suspecting her.

“But I thought only the reporter was coming. Who are these people…?”

Lee Ga-yeon looked at Jo Bong-joon and the bodyguards with a slightly wary expression.

“Ah, this person is broadcasting with me.”

“Ah, ah! You’re Mr. Jo Bong-joon, right? I saw you on TV. Hello.”

“Hello.”

“And these two are friends who are in charge of our security.”

“Security?”

“Ah, there’s been some dangerous stuff lately… Are you uncomfortable?”

“Ah, no. It’s better to have a bodyguard.”

Lee Ga-yeon looked around, as if worried someone might be watching her.

“Are you worried that Woo-shin might be following you?”

“…Ah, yes. I’m sorry.”

“No. We’ve checked it two or three times. You don’t have to worry.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I think it would be better to go to a cafe or something and talk. Let’s move first.”

As Choi Jong-hyun spoke, heading towards the airport exit, Lee Ga-yeon carefully opened her mouth.

“Actually… There are a few more unnies [older sisters/female friends] who want to testify besides me. Would it be okay to go near my house?”

“Then that’s good for us. The more testimonies, the better.”

They took a taxi to the place Lee Ga-yeon directed them.

Listening to Lee Ga-yeon talking to the taxi driver, it was clear she had lived in Japan since she was a child; her Japanese was very fluent.

“It’s this way.”

As soon as they got out of the taxi, Lee Ga-yeon pointed to a cafe in an alley.

When they arrived, two women who were already there recognized Lee Ga-yeon and stood up from their seats.

“Hello.”

Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon handed them their business cards and sat across from them.

“It would be quieter and better to talk at my house, but it’s a cramped place where several people live together, so it’s shabby,” Lee Ga-yeon said, sounding embarrassed.

“No, it’s okay.”

“You’re all busy, so should we start with the interview first?”

When Lee Ga-yeon asked the others, they all nodded.

“Everyone here was in Angel House and came to Japan under the pretext of studying abroad, right?”

“Yes.”

“Excuse me, but we want to check something first, so we’ll ask about that first and then talk slowly. It’s a question that might be uncomfortable, is that okay?”

At Jo Bong-joon’s question, they exchanged glances and then nodded together.

“When I heard from another person who went to study abroad in Japan from Angel House, they said they went to meet people called sponsors when they first went to Japan. How about you guys?”

“Ah, yes. We met them too.”

“How old were you at that time?”

“I was 13 years old.”

“I was 16 years old.”

“I was 15 years old too.”

“Can I ask what you did when you met those people called sponsors, and what kind of people they were?”

They were silent for a moment, whispering to each other.

Judging from their expressions, they were wondering if they should reveal the truth.

“When we first met those people, there were about five of them… They told us to sit next to them one by one and pour them drinks.”

“…They told you to pour them drinks?”

“Yes. We didn’t know anything, so we just did as they told us… Those people stroked and touched our arms and legs.”

Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon frowned.

“That’s sexual harassment.”

At Jo Bong-joon’s words, Lee Ga-yeon carefully nodded and said, “We met those people several times, poured them drinks, and were sexually harassed like that… From the time we turned 17, they started calling us to hotel rooms one by one.”

“To hotel rooms?”

Jo Bong-joon clenched his fist.

“Is that what we’re thinking?”

“…Yes. That’s right. I was raped there for the first time.”