You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 561

“Hello, everyone. Hello. Yes, hello. Yes. Welcome.”

Perhaps it was because I announced on the site that I would post a notice for the next broadcast before finishing the previous one.

The number of viewers who came in and waited before Bong-joon Jo and Jong-hyun Choi even appeared was noticeably higher.

The two, who belatedly sat in front of the camera as usual, were busy greeting the new viewers.

[dongjoon ryu: There’s a lot of talk about that juvenile drug offender actually being a perpetrator of school violence. Is that the topic for today?
WhoOpensTheDoorHwangHyunHee: lololololol To be honest, I don’t think we need to explain that. There have been quite a few posts saying he’s not an *iljin* [school bully], lol
ㅗMyungHwaPharmaceuticalㅗ: If that juvenile is a perpetrator of school violence, he should be punished, but regardless, isn’t it a fact that Chosun Orphanage used the kid, lol?
sldjqlan: It’s a bit much to conclude that Chosun Orphanage used the kid… It could be other people, and it could just be a coincidence that it overlapped with the dump truck;;]

Due to the information that poured out in the past few days, people seemed curious about what the truth was.

“We’re working hard to cover the story, so please keep watching, everyone. But I have a question.”

Jo Bong-joon tilted his head, scrolling through the chats.

“Looking at the chats from the last broadcast, I see some familiar nicknames from the old platform. Of course, many seem to be nicknames presumed to be registered with Google. What happened to those who kept the same ones?”

[PleaseBringBackHandsomeLawyer: I want you to recognize me, so I deliberately changed my Google nickname when I came to this broadcast.
ㅗMyungHwaPharmaceuticalㅗ: Yeah, I’ve been chatting with this nickname since the first broadcast, hoping you guys would recognize me because I’m an attention seeker.
WhoOpensTheDoorHwangHyunHee: I thought you guys would be curious about how many of the existing viewers came…
SongSuro: I always use the same nickname on all platforms.
IWantToEatGgwamegi: I sometimes guessed things right on the old broadcast, and you guys would look for me, so I thought you might look for me again… (Sorry if I’m being self-conscious)
GiveMeMyCreditCardCherry: I want you to recognize me too, lol]

“Wow, you guys are considerate of our feelings, thank you. But it really reassured us to see the old nicknames, knowing that the old viewers are still watching.”

Choi Jong-hyun had said several times that he was glad to see so many familiar nicknames after the broadcast a few days ago.

“But GiveMeMyCreditCardCherry, didn’t you say you don’t come when I do economics or stock broadcasts because they’re boring?”

Jo Bong-joon asked sharply.

[GiveMeMyCreditCardCherry: That’s not me, lol]

“It is you. I remember.”

[GiveMeMyCreditCardCherry: You must have mistaken me, lol]

“Can’t I even say it’s boring if it’s boring?”

“Ah, my portfolio isn’t bad.”

Jo Bong-joon clicked his tongue.

[ApolloFollower: You guys already have 5,000 viewers…
MinwooPartyTears: We used to get 10,000 viewers… no, almost 20,000. I know it seems small compared to that high, but 5,000 is a lot on YouTube…
JungAHpapa: Can’t you start now? I’m so curious… lol]

In my previous life, I had never checked how many viewers were considered a lot for a YouTube live stream.

I had occasionally seen articles about 10,000 or 20,000 viewers.

But that was based on 2018, so 5,000 viewers now must be a remarkable number.

I gestured to Jong-hyun Choi and Bong-joon Jo, who were consumed by greed.

You might lose public sentiment if you try to gather more viewers.

“Our PD says to stop being greedy and start quickly.”

Kim Jung-woo, who had been quiet, raised both hands in disbelief, and I suddenly became the PD.

“Okay, everyone. Actually, while wrapping up the last broadcast, we had a separate topic prepared, and we were going to jump right into that topic today. But since Monday… suddenly, strange posts started appearing, right? The viewers have been mentioning it a lot in the chat.”

[ChoiJongHyun’sWig: That juvenile *iljin* [school bully] rumor!!!!!
ShinJongho: Oh, you’re addressing that first.
GgwamegiLover: But you need to think carefully about this.
GgwamegiLover: If you don’t properly address the *iljin* [school bully] rumor, you might face a backlash.
GgwamegiLover: Even if the juvenile is an *iljin* [school bully], the fact that lawyers Jungdo were called in through Moonyeok is still a fact, so you don’t need to explain it on this broadcast. It doesn’t create a problem for your argument.
GgwamegiLover: Of course, I hope the juvenile is cleared of false charges if he was wrongly accused.
GgwamegiLover: But I’m worried that if you shield the juvenile, your claims might be lumped together and criticized;;]

“Ggwamegi has been suspicious from the start. He’s grasping the essence accurately. Actually, we also hesitated to address this juvenile. As Ggwamegi said, we thought the sudden emergence of this juvenile *iljin* [school bully] rumor might be an attempt to obscure the main point.”

It wasn’t just thinking, I was convinced.

That viewer is right.

If we don’t present proper evidence, we will be seen as defending a perpetrator of school violence.

But that doesn’t mean we can just ignore the tarnishing of Son Jung-min’s reputation.

The Angel House side had already brought up Eom Sung-yoon during the police investigation.

So, Sung-yoon’s story will come to the forefront someday.

Sung-yoon and Jung-min are in a position where they can’t help but be tied together.

If we can’t embrace Jung-min, we can’t save Sung-yoon either.

“That’s right. Whether the juvenile was a perpetrator of school violence or not, it’s a fact that lawyers Jungdo were called in through Moonyeok. We believe that the juvenile was instigated by someone to do that, and that someone had a dump truck prepared at Moonyeok.”

“While covering this case, we investigated under the assumption that the juvenile didn’t know anything. And it was the same when we talked to the Jungdo lawyers.”

[xmdsla: That’s why it’s a problem to be lenient because they’re juveniles, lololol
wbnqlao: So, you’re saying that because he’s still a minor, he couldn’t have known anything? There’s no way someone who beats up his school friends wouldn’t know anything, lol. Kids these days know everything… lol
GgwamegiLover: I wanted to say that regardless of what the juvenile was thinking, if you’re trying to clear the juvenile’s name, it could be toxic for you…ㅠ
ㅗMyungHwaPharmaceuticalㅗ: That’s right. You could be seen as defending a perpetrator of school violence…]

“Of course, as many of you are worried, it’s possible that the juvenile knew he was participating in a murder plot. But we will assume he didn’t until everything is revealed. The principle of presumption of innocence shouldn’t only be upheld by investigative agencies, right?”

[qnljakz: Presumption of innocence my ass, lololol. Then why do you keep subtly hinting at cownew? You say presumption of innocence, lololol
kioms: Exactly, you openly associate it with a certain company and then what, lololololol]

“Hey, the cownew story is coming up again here. If we had given the principle of presumption of innocence to the dogs, we would have already revealed the names of the orphanage and the company outright. Besides, do you think the cases are the same? We have already encountered several cases where the victimized lawyers were threatened by a certain force? Did this juvenile have any prior convictions of the same kind? No, right? Even if he did, we don’t know at this stage. It seems like you’re trying to frame us, but we won’t fall for those tricks.”

[BabySquirrelJongHyun: Why are you even answering those trolls~~~ Just ignore them, lol]

“The reason I’m answering is simple. If we ignore it and just move on, there are people who will say that we’re doing that because we have something to hide.”

“Anyway, I think that’s a sufficient answer, but to elaborate a bit more. The reason we’re addressing the juvenile’s school violence perpetrator rumor is simple. While investigating content that we haven’t yet disclosed, we came across several stories related to the juvenile. After hearing that, we concluded that the juvenile was highly unlikely to have known what he was doing.”

“And to say it in advance, the juvenile was clearly a victim of something. But suddenly, people are saying that the juvenile is a perpetrator of school violence, as if it’s okay for him to be victimized?”

That’s another thing that Woo-shin was aiming for.

The first was to make Son Jung-min’s testimony unreliable.

And the second was to justify the abuse at Angel House by saying that even if Son Jung-min was abused, he deserved it.

“We don’t want the fact that the juvenile was victimized to be obscured. If he did commit the violence, he should take responsibility for it. But according to our investigation, the people claiming he did only have claims and almost no evidence. Already, there are quite a few posts saying that the juvenile wasn’t an *iljin* [school bully]. We’re going to clarify that and move on.”

[GgwamegiLover: If you guys say so, I won’t worry.
GgwamegiLover: You know? I wasn’t trying to nitpick, I was just really worried, ㅠ]

“I know, I know. Okay, without further ado, let’s look at the data and talk.”

At Jo Bong-joon’s signal, Kim Jung-woo displayed image data on the screen.

Important text was highlighted for easy viewing.

“From now on, we’ll call the juvenile A. And since ‘school violence perpetrator’ is a long phrase, we’ll just say ‘*iljin* [school bully]’ for convenience. These images are a collection of posts from people claiming that A is an *iljin* [school bully]. Some of you may have already seen them.”

The people who posted these mostly used initials for the school name and Son Jung-min’s name, but the full names were already being mentioned openly in the comment section.

So, that part was also completely censored.

“If you look at the grounds presented by the people claiming that A is an *iljin* [school bully], there was a student who was allegedly beaten by A. However, the school violence committee was not convened because A was affiliated with an orphanage, which was seen as pitiful. People asked for a medical certificate, but there’s still no news. Also, there are claims that A routinely smoked, drank, and extorted money. But if you look here, the locations where people claim to have witnessed A’s misdeeds are consistent. Let’s collect this information.”

[There’s a small park called HB Park nearby, and their group always drinks there and harasses middle schoolers passing by, so everyone who knows knows, lololol. It seems like A lives there]

[I was studying at a reading room in front of HB Park and got extorted by A on my way home… lol]

[The HB gang is famous, lololol. They call themselves the HB Fam on Facebook, lololol. They openly smoke in their school uniforms, and when my dad told them not to, they swore at him, lololol]

[The HB Fams are famous. All the *iljins* [school bullies] from the nearby schools gather there… It’s really crowded… Seeing the HB Fam story, the certifications are all real]

“There’s a place that’s commonly mentioned. It seems like that’s the hangout for the *iljins* [school bullies] in that area. Since they’re seen there so often, wouldn’t the game be over if we asked the group that resides in that park if they know A student? At least we could distinguish whether those testimonies are real or fake. So, we went there! Let’s watch the video together.”

* * *

Three days before the broadcast.

Jong-hyun Choi and Bong-joon Jo were heading to ‘HB Park,’ or Hanbit Park, which commonly appeared in posts claiming Son Jung-min was an *iljin* [school bully].

Since it was said to be the hangout for the *iljins* [school bullies] in this neighborhood, they had the employees Cha Joo-han had assigned to them go ahead, just in case.

It’s definitely not because they were scared.

The employees looked so intimidating that they were usually told to follow discreetly, but there were days like today when they were a great help.

“There’s no one here?”

An employee who was peeking into the park entrance said.

“Let’s go in a bit more. The park is bigger than I thought?”

“According to the internet posts, they’re always there from 9 PM to 12 AM.”

“What kind of high schoolers don’t go home until 12 AM? Don’t their parents say anything?”

“They probably do, but they just stand their ground.”

They entered the park.

They had only gone a little further, but the smell of cigarettes was already stinging their noses.

It said no smoking at the entrance.

Looking around, they went deeper, and finally, they began to see students.

“That’s them.”

It was around the time I muttered a word.

The students seemed to have noticed that unfamiliar adults had arrived and began to whisper.

Then, a large student stood up abruptly and blocked the two men.

“What do you want, mister?”

Choi Jong-hyun slowly looked over the student’s shoulder.

In the park, in a wide space lined with benches, there were swarms of teenagers.

About twenty, maybe more.

In the middle of the park, there were scooters and motorcycles, and bottles were scattered on the ground.

“Ah, don’t be a nuisance, Yoo Min-ho! Just let them pass.”

A student with pink hair rollers in her bangs giggled and shouted.

Her words slurred as if she were drunk.

“We want to ask something. Can you put out your cigarette first?”

When Choi Jong-hyun said with a smile, the students who were sitting down seemed to sense a crisis and gathered around.

Then, a student who was smoking spat on the ground and stood crookedly.

“What if I don’t?”

When a student leaned in and provoked him, the other students simultaneously started laughing loudly.

“Still, you’re being filmed, it’s not good if you don’t put it out. What if your parents see it?”

When Jo Bong-joon focused the camera he was holding on the student, the student frowned and shouted.

“What is it? I said put it out! Ah, damn it. Won’t you put it out?!”

He looked like he would snatch the camera and break it right away.

Jo Bong-joon raised his arm high to protect the camera.

Fortunately, he was taller and had longer arms than the student, so he didn’t have the camera taken away.

“Student. They said they’re just going to ask something simple.”

At that time, an employee who had been standing quietly behind Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon stepped in front of the student and said.

This employee’s nickname was Taesik Junior.

He had a physique and impression comparable to Taesik.

At the age of 20, he had spent time in prison because he had briefly belonged to a group of social misfits.

Even at a young age, he was the leader.

“It won’t take long. Can we talk for a moment?”

The employee smiled kindly.

It was the smile that Choi Jong-hyun had once advised him looked kinder than when he was expressionless.

“……”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“Wh, what do you want to ask?”

“I’ll ask when you put out the cigarette.”

At the employee’s words, the students who had gathered began to throw their cigarettes on the ground one by one.

Then, the employee smiled the heavenly smile (that looked ominous) once again and said.

“You shouldn’t throw them on the ground. Right?”

“……Yes.”

At the employee’s kind (but seemingly sinister) voice, the neighborhood delinquent teenagers simultaneously picked up their cigarette butts and put them in the trash can.

Watching that, Choi Jong-hyun whispered to Jo Bong-joon.

“Let’s not include what we filmed up to here. Film from when we start asking questions.”

“Why? It was a heartwarming guidance.”

“What if they think we brought gangsters and beat up the kids?”

“I guess so.”

Jo Bong-joon quietly turned off the camera.