You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 1

You Have Been Defended – Episode 1

[Seoul High Court Case No. 2018No 8711

Defendant: Go Sang-jun

Presiding Judge: Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6 (Chief Judge Yang Cheol-yong)

Prosecutor: Special Prosecutor Cho Mun-young of the Special Investigation Team for the Wooshin Group Corruption Scandal]

I bit my lip, comparing the screen with the official document on my desk.

In this special investigation, which began with the Wooshin Group’s corruption, I, as the head of the special prosecutor’s investigation team, was supposed to be in charge of the second trial.

However, without any prior notice, the person in charge of the second trial was changed.

I squeezed my eyes shut and leaned back in my chair.

Former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Cho Mun-young was the most passive person on the special investigation team.

Personally, I thought he should have been removed from the team.

Yet, he became the prosecutor in charge of the second trial.

“Chief, please take a look at this, too.”

Secretary Oh Yang-hoon, who had been quietly standing before me, handed me two documents.

“What are these?”

“You’ll know when you see them.”

He seemed reluctant to speak, simply pushing the documents toward me.

[Chief Prosecutor Cha Ju-han of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, 3rd Division, is dismissed from the Special Investigation Team for the Wooshin Group Corruption Scandal. (Reason: Possibility of retaliatory investigation)]

I had already expected it when the person in charge of the second trial was changed.

The same announcement had probably already been made in the media.

I immediately turned to the next page.

It was a printed internet news article.

[Chief Prosecutor Hwang Young-chan of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has been announced as the nominee for Prosecutor General. Chief Prosecutor Hwang Young-chan is a graduate of Kyunggi High School and Seoul National University College of Law, and a graduate of the Judicial Research and Training Institute…]

-Congratulations on your promotion!

I couldn’t even finish reading a paragraph of the article.

A noisy commotion began outside the door.

I left the bewildered secretary behind and opened the door.

Every prosecutor’s office door opened in unison.

The prosecutors who rushed out were all neatly dressed in suits and lined up.

“Chief Prosecutor, congratulations on your promotion to Prosecutor General!”

The First Deputy Chief Prosecutor led the chant, bowing deeply to Hwang Young-chan in the center.

“Chief Prosecutor, congratulations on your promotion to Prosecutor General!”

And all the prosecutors, like parrots, repeated the same words, bending at the waist.

The sight of them bowing at a 90-degree angle was more like gangsters than prosecutors.

My gaze, which had been following the prosecutors who couldn’t seem to raise their bowed waists, soon met Hwang Young-chan’s.

He was staring intently at me.

I wasn’t in the mood to congratulate him.

His promotion was achieved by stepping on me.

But I,

“Congratulations.”

Bowed deeply, like them.

“That’s enough. The confirmation hearing is still ahead. It’s not a sure thing yet. Everyone, go back to your places and get to work.”

Hwang Young-chan said it as if it were nothing and went into the Chief Prosecutor’s office.

As soon as the sound of his door closing was heard, all the prosecutors straightened their bowed waists.

As the Chief Prosecutor ordered, or rather, as the Prosecutor General nominee ordered, they went back to their offices without even exchanging personal remarks.

The once bustling hallway became quiet in an instant.

I immediately strode toward Hwang Young-chan’s office.

Knock knock.

-Come in.

After his permission, I opened the door.

Hwang Young-chan was sitting at his desk, looking over documents as if nothing had happened.

He didn’t even look up at me, even though I had strode right up to his desk.

A moment of silence passed, and I finally opened my mouth.

“Congratulations on your promotion.”

“I saw earlier that you didn’t seem to be in the mood to congratulate me.”

“Ah, was it that obvious?”

“To not receive a sincere congratulations from a cherished junior… I must have misjudged my junior.”

“I think you did. That’s why you excluded me from the special investigation team. If you knew what kind of person I was from the beginning, you would have prevented me from joining the team in the first place.”

Hwang Young-chan took off his glasses and looked up at me.

“That’s why I’m trying to correct it.”

“Correcting it means kicking me out on the grounds of a retaliatory investigation that I didn’t even conduct?”

“It was something that should have been addressed, of course. Don’t you think?”

“I doubt it was something that had to be addressed even to the point of disclosing my family history to the media. Besides, I didn’t do anything that deviated from fairness.”

“Well, isn’t that just your opinion? No one can objectively see themselves. As the Chief Prosecutor, I had no choice but to do that for the sake of fairness.”

Hwang Young-chan continued with a stern expression.

“The media describes you like this: A fearless hardliner who rushes headfirst into large corporations. An FM robot [a person who strictly follows rules and principles]. A great nickname. It’s the ultimate compliment for a prosecutor who must be clean and upright.”

He stood up from his seat and walked closer to the window.

Standing with his back to me, he looked down at the street below.

“But I’ve always wondered if you’re really someone who deserves such praise.”

“I’d like to ask why.”

“When your father passed away due to the side effects of a drug made by a Wooshin Group affiliate pharmaceutical company. Of course, this hasn’t been definitively proven to be a side effect, so it’s just an assumption. Your father may have had other complications.”

At that moment, I recalled his voice patting my shoulder and comforting me at my father’s funeral.

-Those Wooshin bastards have no conscience. I wonder how many people they plan to kill by selling such drugs. Cha Pro [short for Prosecutor], hang in there. I know you’ve heard this a lot, but hang in there.

Antrozol, made by Wooshin affiliate Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals.

The drug that killed my father is still being sold because its side effects have not been legally recognized.

Eight years ago, he cursed at Wooshin Group, but now he’s subtly defending them.

“Continue.”

“You’ve been personally investigating Wooshin Group for years. Not just Wooshin, but whenever a chaebol [large family-owned conglomerate] corruption scandal breaks out, you’ve always been on fire.”

“That’s right.”

“I thought you looked more like someone obsessed with revenge than a prosecutor who wants to realize justice.”

“You’re mistaken, Chief Prosecutor. You’re looking at me through tinted glasses. I never imagined you’d think that way.”

“Really? I still remember your voice sobbing in the bathroom stall at your father’s funeral when you were a junior prosecutor, saying you’d kill those Wooshin bastards.”

My father’s death was the event that made me choose what kind of life I would live.

It was even more heartbreaking for me now that I still hadn’t brought Wooshin Group to its knees.

And Hwang Young-chan was constantly mentioning my father’s death in low-quality arguments.

It was a great insult.

He finally turned to me when he saw that I was starting to waver.

“You’re like a broken train. A locomotive that spews out all kinds of fumes and runs madly on the tracks, not even letting passengers off where they need to go.”

“I think there’s something wrong with your eyes, Chief Prosecutor.”

“Cha Ju-han. Don’t be rude.”

“Alright. A runaway locomotive. But, aren’t you worried that the runaway locomotive will run and run, and then crash into Wooshin Group and explode? Of course, the one worried wouldn’t be the locomotive, but Wooshin Group.”

“Your delusion is excessive. You haven’t seen the personnel announcement yet, have you? I still care about you. I’ve even taken measures to cool down that runaway locomotive, return you to the Cha Ju-han I knew, and then promote you to Chief Prosecutor.”

He rummaged through his desk and handed me a document.

[Personnel Transfer Announcement]

▲Cha Ju-han, Research Fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (Former Chief Prosecutor of the 3rd Division, Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office)]

Research Fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

It’s a place to wait before being promoted to Chief Prosecutor, or broadly speaking, Prosecutor General.

On the surface, it’s easy to think that Hwang Young-chan is really trying to push me to become Chief Prosecutor by putting me here.

Of course, that’s if I can get out of the Judicial Research and Training Institute quickly.

The Judicial Research and Training Institute is a strange place.

It’s a stopover to rest before being promoted, but it’s also a place to openly exclude people from the organization.

Of course, I’m the latter.

“Why rest? If you can promote me to Chief Prosecutor, you should do it right away. Especially considering your strange case, Chief Prosecutor. The Chief Prosecutor of the Central District Prosecutors’ Office is no longer at the level of a High Prosecutor. But you skipped the High Prosecutor position and were promoted two levels at once. And considering the seniority, there will be more than one or two seniors who will have to take off their robes because of you, Chief Prosecutor. Personally, with that kind of personnel move, well, I wonder if there was some kind of deal.”

“Cha Ju-han. How far are you going to go?”

He pointed out my rude remarks again.

But there was nothing more to hold back.

I’m probably being bombarded by public opinion right now.

I’ve been dismissed from the special investigation team, and the reason is even suspicion of retaliatory investigation.

Talking about Chief Prosecutor is just lip service, and it’s no different from telling me to take off my robes.

Now that I’ve been excluded from the organization, what can’t I say to its leader?

“For example, I wonder if Chairman Go Sang-jun was worried that if the hardliner Cha Ju-han proceeded with the second trial with his eyes blazing, he wouldn’t be able to get a 15-year sentence.”

“So?”

“Chairman Go Sang-jun goes to ‘someone’ who was famous for cherishing me. And he proposes to exchange my weakness for the position of Prosecutor General. Even though it’s a two-level promotion, there was a rumor that if you become the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, 80% of the time you’ll become the Prosecutor General. It’s not a big deal.”

Hwang Young-chan gestured for me to continue.

“But the hardliner, FM robot Cha Ju-han, doesn’t really have any weaknesses. But there’s one thing. His father was a victim of Antrozol, and as a result, he doesn’t have good feelings towards Wooshin. That’s something only ‘someone’ knows. Fortunately, Go Sang-jun has the power to get rid of Cha Ju-han with just that source.”

“Interesting story. So?”

“But if you just get rid of him outright, people will say that you’re deliberately excluding a hardliner prosecutor. So you transfer Cha Ju-han as if you’re promoting him. And you put the person who is the most passive and pro-Wooshin in the special investigation team in charge of the second trial. Should I tell you in advance what that person will say in court?”

“I’m curious too. What the end of your novel will be like.”

“I couldn’t prepare the evidence. I couldn’t find the evidence. That’s what he’ll say.”

“Haha, surely not.”

“In the end, Go Sang-jun and ‘someone’ have a happy ending. And Cha Ju-han, who trusted and followed that ‘someone’, gets betrayed in a big way. Cha Ju-han never imagined that ‘someone’ would betray him. That’s how Cha Ju-han is used and then gloriously falls behind, and the story ends.”

Hwang Young-chan nodded slowly.

As if reviewing a movie, he replied briefly.

“You have a talent for novels. If you’re going to take off your robes [resign from your position], becoming a novelist wouldn’t be bad.”

“The novel is over, but there’s still an epilogue.”

“Really? I’m curious. Tell me.”

“Cha Ju-han goes to all kinds of media outlets and exposes all the facts. Well, I don’t know what the result will be, but he has to squirm somehow. He makes a scene at the confirmation hearing to confirm whether that ‘someone’ is fit to be the Prosecutor General. That ‘someone’ doesn’t become the Prosecutor General in the end.”

“I see. But the Cha Ju-han in your novel is too reckless. What if Go Sang-jun stops him from going to the media? And even if there are media outlets that listen to Cha Ju-han, what if no one believes it?”

“That’s… I’ll have to think about it then. I haven’t fully planned it out yet.”

“I hope it goes well. I hope your novel succeeds. I’ll be watching as a reader. But the epilogue is a bit boring. I don’t like unrealistic stories. The main story was interesting. It’s good to leave when people are applauding, Writer Cha.”

Hwang Young-chan sat back at his desk and picked up the documents, as if he had nothing more to say.

From the beginning until now, in every moment of conversation with me, he has never been on Wooshin’s side.

No, maybe he’s been on the side of power since the beginning when he said he would raise me.

Has there been a strong connection between Wooshin and Hwang Young-chan for a long time?

Or did he suddenly change his attitude because he was blinded by the promotion to Prosecutor General?

No, it doesn’t matter now.

Anyway, I foolishly followed him for 15 years, and Hwang Young-chan betrayed me.

“Ah.”

Hwang Young-chan’s words stopped me as I was about to leave the Chief Prosecutor’s office.

“That ‘someone’ still likes Cha Ju-han. So he wants to continue walking the same path together. If you change your mind even belatedly, that ‘someone’ and Cha Ju-han can continue to build the same friendship as before.”

I barely suppressed the urge to laugh.

“Cha Ju-han thinks that ‘someone’ is talking too much nonsense. I think I should advise him to go to a psychiatrist. I don’t know what that ‘someone’ thinks, though.”

I turned my back on him and left the Chief Prosecutor’s office.

* * *

[Cha Ju-han, the Chief Prosecutor of the 3rd Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, who was known as the Wooshin Sniper, has been revealed to have conducted a retaliatory investigation, shocking some people……

Next news. The confirmation hearing for Prosecutor General nominee Hwang Young-chan will be held tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the main building of the National Assembly. As the result of the confirmation hearing will determine whether Hwang Young-chan will become the Prosecutor General, the members of the National Assembly are……]

It was a very good story.

The media, which had been clamoring for a special investigation, quickly turned to criticizing the prosecutor for bringing personal feelings into the courtroom.

TV stations were no different. I managed to schedule meetings with reporters, but the meetings never happened.

-I’m sorry, Prosecutor. They’re cutting it from the top.

-Prosecutor, please don’t try to use the broadcast for personal gain.

I received the same response from dozens of places.

The only place that would even meet with me was a women’s magazine that covered celebrity gossip.

“Haa…”

Forced vacation and a small bonus.

My personal information was completely exposed. My father’s name, even where my ex-wife lived.

Yesterday, I received a call from my ex-wife.

She said she couldn’t leave the house because of me.

Having failed to protect my family while digging into Wooshin’s corruption for years, I had nothing more to say.

Except for one word: sorry.

Bzzzz-

“Yes, this is Cha Ju-han.”

-Ah, yes. Chief Prosecutor, this is the secretary from Assemblyman Lee Jung-oh’s office of the Korea Liberty Party. I’m calling to confirm whether you’ll be attending the hearing tomorrow. Oh, and we received the materials you sent. Thank you.

“I will definitely attend. I was just reviewing the materials again.”

-Yes, I understand. Thank you for your hard work. We appreciate your help.

Fortunately, the opposition party preparing for the Prosecutor General nominee’s confirmation hearing had contacted me.

As soon as I was dismissed, I began to gather clues, reminiscing about the past 15 years I had spent with Hwang Young-chan. I was able to compile enough material to serve as a witness at the hearing.

The hearing is tomorrow.

I must end Hwang Young-chan there and prove his connection with the Wooshin Group.

Buzz-

[Chief Prosecutor, I’m at a street stall in front of your officetel [a type of studio apartment]. Let’s have a drink.]

The text was from Secretary Oh Yang-hoon.

We had worked together for a long time, since I first became a prosecutor.

Except for when I was assigned to a 지방(Jibang) [rural] province, I spent most of my time as a prosecutor with him.

Especially after my father passed away, he became like family to me.

Still, tomorrow is the day of the hearing.

It’s best to abstain from alcohol.

I opened the front door, intending to watch him drink and chat.

‘It’s raining a lot.’

When I arrived on the first floor of the officetel, heavy rain was fiercely pounding the ground.

Since it’s just in front, I should run.

“Chief Prosecutor Cha Ju-han?”

As soon as I stepped out of the officetel, people in black suits surrounded me.

I knew they were Wooshin’s men, but I couldn’t ask.

“Mmmph!”

“Let’s go for a little while.”

As soon as a handkerchief covered my nose and mouth, I lost consciousness.

* * *

Clatter, clatter-

I felt like I was going to throw up. It was partly due to the drugs, but I also felt motion sickness.

“Are you coming to your senses?”

I couldn’t move.

My hands and feet were completely tied.

But even if I wasn’t restrained, I wouldn’t have been able to move.

Because I was trapped inside a drum.

“Are you Wooshin bastards?”

“What does it matter since you’re going to die anyway?”

The man chuckled, and another man laughed with him.

“No one can hear you no matter what you do here.”

A black sea without a single light stretched out in all directions.

I was on a small fishing boat that was annoyingly clattering.

The only light was the lighthouse on the island, which was already far away.

“We told you to stay home and not come out, but as soon as we contacted you in the secretary’s name, you came right out. There was such a simple trick.”

So the text sent by Secretary Oh Yang-hoon wasn’t real.

I didn’t suspect it because I often met Oh Secretary there.

Was my thinking paralyzed by great despair?

I was stupid.

“That’s right, why didn’t you know your place and act up?”

The men approached with well-mixed cement.

The grayish-white substance began to meticulously fill the space between me and the drum.

“Do you know what happens if you kill a prosecutor?”

In the end, this was all I could say.

The men chuckled again at my words.

They were men who moved for money, so it was right to try to appease them with money, but unfortunately, I was in a position where I couldn’t promise them money.

When I was working as the Wooshin Sniper, I kept my financial relationships clean in case I got caught.

It was ironic that I was eventually caught for something else, despite being so meticulous.

“Have a cigarette before your face gets covered.”

The man put the cigarette he was holding in my mouth.

The damp filter was disgusting, but I took a long drag.

I smoked until the little remaining cigarette burned down to the filter.

It was to buy time.

“Prosecutor. In your next life, know your place.”

But of course, it was meaningless.

Cement poured over my head.

“Kuh-ugh.”

I couldn’t breathe. Cement seeped into every hole in my body.

I could feel the men closing the drum lid and rolling it on the boat.

It might be a relief.

It seemed I was going to die before the drum fell into the sea with a splash.

I had a feeling that I only had one breath left.

And at that moment, many things quickly flashed through my mind.

When I was accepted into Seoul National University’s law school.

When I passed the bar exam.

When I became a prosecutor.

When my father passed away due to the side effects of Antrozole.

When I decided to become the Wooshin Sniper.

When I joined hands with the countless people who had been harmed by Wooshin and made a resolution.

When I worked with numerous colleagues to create the Wooshin special investigation team.

When the arrest warrant for Wooshin’s chairman was approved and I jumped for joy.

When I first met the Wooshin chairman…

‘Wooshin…’

Did they say to know my place in the next life?

No, I will live as the Wooshin Sniper in my next life as well.

I will not give up until I put the entire Wooshin family in jail, no matter how many times I am reborn.

I will not stop for a single moment until the name Wooshin disappears from the world.

Crash- Splash!

* * *

“Prosecutor.”

“…”

“Prosecutor. You need to wake up. Aren’t you hungry?”

“Huh!”

I woke up with a start.

Reflexively, I looked around.

“Wh-where am I?”

Mountains of piled-up documents.

A sofa so worn out that the leather was torn.

A feature phone in my hand.

A CRT TV playing the news.

Prosecutor Lee Ye-jin from the next room, who often came to visit my room.

On the desk full of documents, a nameplate that read [Prosecutor Cha Ju-han].

And, Secretary Oh Yang-hoon, looking 10 years younger, laughing at me in disbelief…

A huge prosecution calendar hanging inside the prosecutor’s office.

“What do you mean, where are you? It’s the prosecutor’s office. You must have had a very elaborate dream. You can’t even come to your senses. I’m going to order food, what would you like to eat?”

“Wh-where are you ordering from?”

“What do you mean, where? It’s the 백반(Baekban) [Korean set meal] diner.”

“…Please order a mackerel 백반(Baekban) [Korean set meal].”

“Okay. Go wash your face or something.”

My fingertips and toes were tingling.

No matter how many times I thought about it, there was only one conclusion I could draw.

If this wasn’t a dream, I had returned to 10 years ago.

My parents are still alive, and I haven’t lost anything yet.

‘If that’s the case…’

I fought to the point of being covered in blood to catch Wooshin.

The people who fought with me suddenly disappeared one by one and were found dead.

Those painful years lasted for 7 years.

So, wouldn’t it be okay to live like others for once?

[Wooshin Group Chairman Go Sang-jun’s good deeds have been belatedly revealed, becoming a hot topic. Chairman Go Sang-jun regularly visits the Angel’s House orphanage and has donated 1 billion won every year for 10 years, totaling 10 billion won…]

The news flowing from the TV broke me from my reverie.

Angel’s House.

It is where Chairman Go Sang-jun’s nominee accounts are sleeping.

Chairman Go Sang-jun operated stocks and opened nominee accounts under the names of the children of Angel’s House.

The problem is that after it was revealed that these children were being used in such a way, they suffered an unexpected accident.

Yes, it’s Wooshin’s doing.

“You bastard…”

The news screen showed Go Sang-jun playing in the water with the children.

“Yes? What did you say?”

Secretary Oh, no, Chief Oh, who was pushing in a cart of documents, looked at me in surprise.

“It’s nothing.”

I guess I can’t dream of a happy life after all.