You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 522

You Have Been Defended – Episode 522

It had been a week since the college students dispatched to Angel House had withdrawn.

During that time, there had been no suspicious activity at Angel House.

It was the school vacation, so the children rarely left the facility, and the only outsiders who came and went were the companies providing supplies needed by Angel House, delivery drivers, and volunteers.

“We’ve been keeping watch with the car parked there until yesterday, but it’s a bit inconvenient.”

It was the day we decided to hold a meeting in Kang Min-jae’s hospital room, so everyone was gathered, and this time, Tae-shik’s employees also came.

Now that surveillance was being conducted systematically, it was for reporting the situation by group.

Among them, Dae-cheol, who was in charge of the surveillance team, groaned.

“We have to keep moving the location to watch, but it’s an alleyway, so there’s no suitable spot. They keep asking us to move the car, telling us not to park here…….”

“Really? Then we’ll need a base of operations.”

“Yes. So today, we rented a villa right across from the entrance of Angel House. Here’s the contract.”

He placed a holder containing the contract documents on the table.

“A villa means you’ll be watching the entrance through the window. It’ll be less conspicuous than parking the car in front and waiting, but if you discover something suspicious, you have to rush out right away, so wouldn’t that be a bit late?”

At my question, Dae-cheol showed me a few more photos as if he had been waiting for it.

“This is the view from the villa across the street. The first floor is used as a commercial space. We’re planning to set up the first floor commercial space roughly like an office and then park the car in front of it to keep watch. They even gave us two parking spaces. And if we install CCTV as if it’s for business security, it’ll be good for the lawyer to check the situation as well.”

It was a good method.

Dae-cheol was an employee at the detective agency long before I first went to Tae-shik in this life.

He was quite a veteran among the employees, so he was good at his job.

I was worried that he had made the contract without asking me, but it was a very appropriate decision.

If he does well on his own without me having to give instructions one by one, it’s okay to proceed arbitrarily.

Besides, the rent written on the real estate contract was a deposit of 10 million won [approximately $7,500 USD] and a monthly rent of 450,000 won [approximately $340 USD].

Isn’t that very economical?

Even if that neighborhood is a cheap area, it’s amazing that you can rent a place of this size with even two parking spaces at this price.

It’s not a waste of money because it’s being spent on something necessary, but at this price, I even wonder if it’s a fake listing.

“Ah, the monthly rent is a bit too cheap, right?”

“It is.”

“Actually, the person who used to do business in this spot had a considerable amount of debt, and they kept not paying it back. So the angry debtor broke in and finished that person off here, yeah……. Anyway, they went on a long journey like that [a euphemism for death]. So no one wanted to come in here. Even though they remodeled everything and put it up for rent again at a very low price, it was vacant for almost eight months. Besides, there was a clothing alteration shop next door, but they moved out because they were scared. Thanks to that, we can park two cars.”

So there was such a story.

It’s a good thing for us.

We rented it to prevent Onodera’s grandson’s surgery, but once the incident breaks out, we’ll have to keep monitoring Angel House in case they pull any more tricks.

Having a hideout makes that task easier.

The lease period is one year, so wouldn’t that be enough?

“Do you remember Hanlim Trading from before? The place where the meter reader and the shoulder-to-shoulder bastard [a derogatory term for someone who is aggressive or confrontational] had their hideout. I think we can just put up a sign with that kind of feel, stick sheets on the shop window so you can’t see inside, and then hang up an ‘Out on Business’ sign. What do you think?”

“That’s good. But you haven’t even decided what kind of business to do yet, and you’ve already made the contract? Doesn’t the landlord ask?”

“They didn’t ask anything and just said they were grateful that we came in. They said they don’t care what we do as long as we don’t kill anyone.”

They must have been quite desperate.

It’s the first time I’ve seen a landlord who doesn’t ask about the type of business when renting out a commercial space.

“Just in case, get a business registration. If Woo-shin suspects something and investigates, there’ll be problems if there are any holes.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hey, does Sang-geun know what kind of story is there?”

Tae-shik, who was listening to the story, asked.

Sang-geun is an employee belonging to the Angel House surveillance team.

They were divided into two teams of six, a tracking team and a resident team, and Sang-geun was included in the resident team.

“Sang-geun? He doesn’t know.”

“Don’t tell him.”

“Why?”

“He’s really scared of ghosts. Two years ago, he went into a really cheap rooftop room, but that place also had a story, so he saw a ghost and had nightmares……. Because of that, he abandoned the house and ran away, and stayed in the office for a while.”

“Ah, so that’s why he was eating and sleeping in the office back then? Sang-gil told me not to talk to Sang-geun because he was having a hard time, so I didn’t ask.”

“Yeah. Hey, that’s right. A ghost appeared in his dreams every night and shouted at him to get out because it was his house. Every time he fell asleep, he got sleep paralysis, and even when he turned off the lights and came out, the lights were still on, and he kept hearing strange noises. It was a mess. He used to be a horror movie maniac, but now he doesn’t even listen to scary stories. He’ll piss his pants if you even mention the word ‘ghost’.”

“Hey, hyung [older brother or male friend]. There’s no such thing as ghosts in the world. Now that I see it, Sang-geun was a coward. He used to brag so much about being a Marine. Sang-geun is a Marine who runs away first when he sees a ghost, not a Marine who catches ghosts.”

“I didn’t think there were any either, but Sang-geun was trembling so much that I wondered if there were any.”

Jeong-hyeok, who was standing near Kang Min-jae, seemed quite interested in their story and was slowly getting closer to them.

He was clearly at Kang Min-jae’s bedside just a moment ago, but he was already at his feet.

“Anyway, let’s solve the Angel House surveillance like that. Then how are you going to monitor Ribbon Medical Center?”

At Choi Jong-hyun’s question, Hyeong-shik, who had been waiting for his turn next to Dae-cheol, opened his mouth.

“I’ve been looking all over the Songju Mountain area. First of all, the side where Ribbon Medical Center is located is ambiguous to be called a mountain……. It’s just a hill, so there aren’t many access roads. There are only two roads that cars can enter. One on the front gate side, one on the back gate side. Well, if you have something like a mountain bike, you can enter through the forest. But it doesn’t look like any car bigger than that can enter at all.”

“Could there be a hidden path that you can’t see just by looking at the outside?”

“Ah, yes. That’s true, but except for the front and back gates, the bottom of the mountain is right next to the highway, so there’s a huge soundproof wall. So the places where you can get in a car are fixed anyway.”

“Could these bastards have dug a tunnel? How do you know if there’s a secret passage?”

Jo Bong-joon checked the satellite photos provided by the portal site and threw a word.

It’s not impossible.

However, according to the CCTV footage confirmed by Heo Min-woo, Im Hyun-il used a vehicle both when entering and leaving.

They haven’t started a nauseating business there yet, so even if there is a secret passage, there’s no need to use such an inconvenient place from the start.

Besides, Onodera’s grandson is scheduled to have surgery at Okashima Hospital, so there’s no need for airtight surveillance at Ribbon Medical Center right now.

“First of all, there are a few flower farms near the starting point of the access road at the bottom of the mountain, so we also rented a place right in front of the access road and are monitoring it with the car parked there. The greenhouse that the person who used to be there used is still there, and they didn’t even clean up the piles of luggage, so it’s good for creating a smokescreen.”

“That’s a relief.”

“If you need it, should we look for a secret passage? It seems a bit difficult……. When I asked the other flower farm owners, rumors had already spread that a very rich person was building a mansion there. They must have acted rudely, saying that it’s private property from the time of construction, so you can’t come in. But they were cursing, saying why are they doing this even though it’s not their land even a little behind the flower farm, and who is the owner of that mansion anyway.”

“I wonder if they’ve installed CCTV all the way from the entrance.”

“It’s on the road, but it doesn’t seem to be anywhere else. Because we were wandering around under the fenced part, but they didn’t know.”

“And if it’s not their land, it’s illegal to install CCTV anyway.”

Listening to the conversation between Hyeong-shik and Choi Jong-hyun, I felt like I knew what it was like.

Maybe their private property starts from the fenced part.

According to satellite photos from two years ago, an unpaved road was already open at the current location of the access road.

Woo-shin’s side probably asked for consent to use that road comfortably and paved it a little wider and stronger.

They only fixed the road on someone else’s land because they needed it, which means that the access road is not theirs.

If the access road was theirs from the beginning, wouldn’t they have installed a barrier long ago?

So there would be no problem even if we searched that area.

However, our purpose in monitoring Ribbon Medical Center is only to prevent accidents and collect information.

The route they use to distribute organs is Angel House, so it’s a device to cross-verify whether vehicles departing from there enter Ribbon Medical Center.

Additionally, it would be even better if we could secure a list of the guys involved in this business besides Im Hyun-il.

Of course, it would be nice if we could monitor all the secret passages, but they are the guys who scared the people nearby, saying that it was their private property even though it wasn’t.

If we hang around trying to find a secret passage, they will soon realize it even if they haven’t installed CCTV.

It’s a bigger problem if they realize that Ribbon Medical Center has become a target.

“There’s no need to try too hard to find a secret passage. We need to focus on monitoring Angel House and Im Hyun-il. Ribbon Medical Center is insurance.”

“Monitoring Im Hyun-il is a piece of cake.”

Tae-shik said confidently.

“Monitoring people is our specialty. Besides, listening to Hyun-beom, that bastard doesn’t even seem to think he’s being watched.”

People usually think that the guys who commit these acts have the vigilance that ‘someone might be watching me’ 24 hours a day, but surprisingly, that’s not the case.

Of course, they try to handle things secretly and are always worried about the leakage of conversations.

However, they are so concerned about security, and even have spies planted in the investigative agencies, so they think that if the focus is on them, they will naturally receive a report.

They have prepared multiple layers of security devices and have spent a lot of money for this, so they trust it that much more.

Also, when committing crimes, they think that they only need to do a good job of deceiving them as an extension of their daily lives.

Rather, they are afraid that trying to hide will look more suspicious, so they openly walk around.

Im Hyun-il must be in that state too.

So he only acts very carefully when going to Ribbon Medical Center, and doesn’t pay attention during his other daily life, right?

“Hello!”

At that time, the hospital room door opened and Heo Min-woo came in.

He was holding a huge fruit basket in his hand.

Kang Min-jae had been hospitalized for quite some time, and he was finally able to come and see him, and he was moved, but I didn’t know he would bring such a huge fruit basket.

“No, Officer. The fruit……. There’s too much, isn’t there?”

Kang Min-jae also widened his eyes as if surprised.

Kang Soo-il also took the fruit basket that Heo Min-woo was holding and muttered that he had never seen anything like this before.

“Is it that big? I just thought there were a lot of delicious things…….”

Heo Min-woo seemed to realize that the fruit basket was quite large only after seeing our reaction.

“I heard that Lawyer Kang woke up very quickly and has a good prognosis, so I wasn’t worried, but I didn’t know you’d be this healthy. Still, it’s brain surgery.”

“I know. I used to get dizzy sometimes, but I haven’t been doing that since this week. I’m really fine, so I wish they’d let me out soon. Yesterday, I tried PT exercise number 6 [physical therapy exercise] as a test, and it didn’t ring in my head. I’m going to try to nag Dong-jin to discharge me.”

Dong-jin told him to only do light walks for a while, but PT exercise number 6.

Well, I’m glad it’s number 6 anyway…….

“Discharge? This hospital room has been a convenient hideout for me……. Min-jae, stay here for a while even if you’re not sick. You have a lot of money anyway.”

Jo Bong-joon said, chuckling.

In fact, there is some truth to that.

Myungwoon University Hospital is one of the leading large hospitals in Seoul, and there are so many people coming and going every day that it is perfect for avoiding surveillance.

If it were our office, it would have been difficult to call Tae-shik’s employees directly and receive reports one by one.

The employees who were called today are the heads of their respective assigned tasks, and it is very dangerous for their faces to be exposed to Woo-shin, so I would have just received reports in writing or by phone and ended it.

“The hospital room is like a palace, so the daily hospitalization fee must be enormous. Wouldn’t it be a bit of a burden if you keep staying?”

“Officer Heo, that’s Kang Min-jae. He has too much money.”

“Still. Lawyer Kang, move your finger once.”

Heo Min-woo approached Kang Min-jae and ordered him to move not only his fingers but also his arms, legs, and toes.

He even shook his finger in front of his eyes to check if there was a problem with his eyesight.

Wasn’t that what I did when Kang Min-jae first woke up?

Again, I wasn’t overdoing it.

It’s a normal reaction, but Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon were too complacent.

“Anyway, now that Officer is here, let’s talk in earnest. I asked everyone to come to create an overall picture. I matched the picture with Officer in the early part, and let’s brainstorm together about the insufficient parts and create a blueprint.”