You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 12

You’ve been defended – Episode 12

Senior? A junior in the legal profession?

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember who you are.”

“You’re too much. I was the first trainee lawyer you ever supervised. I’m Kang Min-jae.”

Ah, Kang Min-jae.

I remembered Prosecutor Lee Ye-jin mentioning him briefly before I resigned.

If she hadn’t said anything, I might not have recognized his name even after hearing it.

“Ah, Lawyer Kang. Long time no see. What brings you here?”

“You don’t even give me a chance to catch my breath. You’re still the same after all this time, Senior. But I’m touched that you know I became a lawyer.”

Prosecutor Lee Ye-jin said I made him cry his eyes out.

Maybe that’s why he doesn’t seem to have any expectations of me.

“I’m a bit busy. I was just about to head out.”

“Ah, I see. I apologize for coming without notice. I tried calling, but you didn’t answer, so I came here directly.”

“You called? I didn’t notice.”

“Even if you had, you probably wouldn’t have answered, would you?”

Probably not.

There’s no reason for me to meet a lawyer working for Taekwang privately.

Even if I supervised him during his trainee period, it was only for about a month.

In the first place, I’m not even sure if Kang Min-jae’s number is saved on my phone.

“How have you been?”

“So-so.”

“I saw your work on the Jo Jin-tae case. It was impressive.”

“Thanks.”

“I thought you would stay a prosecutor until the end, but I was surprised to hear you opened your own office. I heard you even had a meeting with the CEO, but I guess that was just a rumor.”

“Ah, you said you were with Taekwang. The meeting did happen. It just didn’t work out.”

“I figured.”

He spoke as if he knew me well.

I looked at him questioningly, and Kang Min-jae smiled slightly.

“It just feels like you and Taekwang don’t suit each other.”

“Then do you and Taekwang suit each other?”

“I don’t know.”

“This introduction is getting long. It’s not like I was as close to you as Prosecutor Lee. I’d like to get to the point.”

“Ah, you’re too much. You won’t even offer me a cup of tea.”

Kang Min-jae sighed and leaned back deeply against the sofa.

I was planning to leave to meet Kim Yeon-joon’s grandmother after avoiding rush hour, so this delay wasn’t very pleasant.

“What’s the point?”

“The Kim Yeon-joon case. Let me join you.”

I didn’t expect that, so my expression stiffened for a moment.

“I remember. I said something like this to you when you were my trainee.”

It was early morning, well past dinner time.

I was forcing myself to stay awake with coffee, trying to finish writing the indictment.

-You called, Prosecutor?

Kang Min-jae, a fresh-faced judicial research and training institute student, stood before me with his hands clasped.

I had called him then to scold him.

Kang Min-jae was quite nervous, and I said coldly.

-Kang Min-jae. You seem to be mistaken. This isn’t a place to satisfy your curiosity.

And today, I repeated the same words.

“This isn’t a place to satisfy your curiosity.”

Kang Min-jae seemed a little shaken by my answer.

But he soon composed himself and replied.

“It’s not just simple curiosity. I sincerely believe that Kim Yeon-joon is not the real culprit. Rather, Kim Hyung-joon is suspicious, just like Kim Yeon-joon said.”

“Why?”

“The autopsy results announced by the prosecution. I didn’t notice anything particularly suspicious in the first autopsy results. But according to the second autopsy results, all the beating marks left on the bodies of the two victims were caused by a baseball bat, right?”

“So?”

“Assuming Kim Yeon-joon is the real culprit, he beat both victims only with a baseball bat. And according to Kim Hyung-joon’s testimony, he struggled to stop Kim Yeon-joon. He would have inevitably tried to take the baseball bat away. But there aren’t any of Kim Hyung-joon’s fingerprints on the baseball bat. That’s the first suspicious thing.”

Kang Min-jae’s words were surprisingly similar to my own thoughts.

I was planning to humor him and send him away, but I was starting to want to hear more.

The word [Truth] that had been floating above his head since earlier also played a part in that decision.

“Based on that reasoning, Kim Hyung-joon either had no fingerprints or was wearing gloves. If we consider the prosecution’s announcement that Kim Hyung-joon’s fingerprints weren’t found, it doesn’t seem like he had no fingerprints, right? So, let’s assume he was wearing gloves. Then why was he wearing gloves at that time? Isn’t that something that only criminals do to avoid leaving fingerprints?”

“And?”

“Kim Yeon-joon, who lives outside, supposedly assaulted his parents every time he came home. Conversely, if Kim Hyung-joon is the culprit, then Kim Hyung-joon ‘happened’ to assault his parents every time Kim Yeon-joon came home. Doesn’t that mean Kim Hyung-joon was planning to put everything on Kim Yeon-joon from the start?”

“Good fiction.”

Let’s put aside the fact that I have an ability for now.

Right now, Kang Min-jae and I are writing the same story based on the same situation.

There’s no physical evidence, so I wouldn’t have anything to say even if the prosecutor sneered at me in court, calling it a one-sided argument.

I need to find physical evidence within four days.

This isn’t the time to be including anyone.

“You think the same way I do, don’t you, Attorney Cha?”

“Well, I don’t think I need to tell you that. Get up and leave. I really need to get going now.”

I grabbed my car keys and put on my coat.

Kang Min-jae got up as well and persistently followed me.

“I saw that you don’t even have a clerk in your office. The trial is only four days away. It’s going to be tough for you alone. Let me work on the Kim Yeon-joon case with you. I don’t need a fee.”

“Doesn’t Taekwang give work to its associates?”

As I got into the driver’s seat of my parked car, Kang Min-jae quickly jumped into the passenger seat.

“Get out.”

“It’s almost quitting time. I’m not getting out. I don’t know where you’re going, but it’s obvious where you’d go with the trial four days away.”

“Ha.”

“Departure!”

As he said, I didn’t want to waste time arguing, so I ended up driving off.

“Do you have any physical evidence secured?”

“…….”

“If you do, please let me know.”

I don’t have any, and even if I did, I wouldn’t show it to him.

“Where are you going now?”

“Can’t you just shut up and come along?”

“So, that means I can come with you wherever you’re going. Got it. I’ll be quiet.”

With those words, Kang Min-jae became frighteningly silent.

Was that hesitant trainee always so talkative?

“I’ll carry that.”

Kang Min-jae took the fruit basket he had bought on the way out of the car.

I thought he would be full of questions from the moment we got out, asking where we were and if we were trying to secure a witness, but surprisingly, he kept his mouth shut.

“Nice house.”

Kang Min-jae said, standing in front of the house with the high fence.

He confirmed that I was approaching him and then rang the bell.

The old bell rang, and after a while, a middle-aged woman’s voice came through the intercom.

-Who is it?

“Hello. We’re from Attorney Cha Joo-han’s office. If it’s not too much trouble, could we ask you a few questions about Ms. Yeo Hee-sook’s case?”

Kang Min-jae asked in a polite tone.

Perhaps a friendly approach like Kang Min-jae’s might be better for dealing with stubborn people than my blunt tone.

Even during my time as a prosecutor, Officer Oh, who knew how to use a friendly tone with the elderly and children, always took care of those situations.

-Just a moment. I’ll ask the madam.

I thought it was the grandmother herself, but it seems it was the housekeeper.

No wonder her voice sounded young.

Beep-

The door opened a moment later.

As we walked up the stone steps, a large garden with neatly arranged garden trees unfolded.

According to Kim Yeon-joon, his grandmother lived alone, but it wasn’t something an elderly person could manage on their own.

She probably hired a gardener.

Besides, she also has a housekeeper.

That means she’s quite wealthy.

“It looks like she has a gardener. It’s very well maintained.”

Kang Min-jae said, quietly looking around the garden.

He seemed to have a deeper sense of observation than I thought.

I should contact Officer Oh and ask him to show me the evaluation report I wrote during Kang Min-jae’s trainee period.

“Am I useful or not?”

I must have had a slightly relaxed expression for a moment.

Kang Min-jae said playfully, but I didn’t take the joke.

“Yeo Hee-sook is a doctor at a university hospital, Yeo Hee-sook’s sister is a professor at an American university, her younger brother is an executive at a large accounting firm, and her eldest son is also a professor at an American university. If she was able to send two daughters to graduate school back then, she must have been rich from the start. Well, it seems some of her siblings live ordinary lives. But that’s just a personal difference.”

“…….”

As I walked ahead of Kang Min-jae, he ran after me.

The front door was already open.

“Hello.”

Kim Yeon-joon’s grandmother was a rather sophisticated-looking elderly woman.

The housekeeper brought drinks and fruit to the living room, and Kim Yeon-joon’s grandmother opened her mouth after a long while.

“You’re the one who’s defending Yeon-joon, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m Attorney Cha Joo-han. This is Attorney Kang Min-jae.”

I placed my business card on the table.

The grandmother looked at the business card for a long time before opening her mouth.

“Haa, okay. What brings you here?”

“To be direct, I would like to confirm the autopsy results of your daughter, the late Yeo Hee-sook. I need your help.”

She sighed deeply.

She didn’t seem to want to do that very much.

But she soon sharpened her eyes and asked me sharply.

“I’m curious about your purpose in defending Yeon-joon.”

“Are you asking if it’s to reduce his sentence or to prove his innocence?”

“Yes.”

“It’s to prove his innocence. Kim Yeon-joon is not the real culprit.”

Were my words too definitive? Kang Min-jae looked a little surprised.

“Then are you saying you know who the real culprit is?”

“Yes.”

“Who is it?”

“Before that, may I ask you a few questions?”

Kim Yeon-joon’s grandmother sipped her juice in silence.

Kang Min-jae, who was sitting next to her, cleared his throat and smiled awkwardly.

“Ahem, ahem! I’m sorry, Madam. We’re in a hurry because the trial is only a few days away. I apologize if you felt it was rude.”

“If you’re so sure that Yeon-joon is not the real culprit, I don’t think this attitude is excessive. Whether it’s his paternal or maternal side, everyone has only said things that are unfavorable to Yeon-joon.”

“Were you aware of that as well?”

“Of course, everything was discussed at the funeral.”

In this situation where I have asserted that there is another culprit, the grandmother probably knows who I suspect as well.

Besides the deceased couple, the only people at the scene were Kim Yeon-joon and Kim Hyung-joon.

“Has Kim Hyung-joon ever asked you for financial assistance while running his business? It has already been confirmed that the deceased couple even put their house up for sale because of Kim Hyung-joon’s business.”

Kim Hyung-joon ate away at their assets to the point where the victims had to sell their house.

During the filming of , he was anxious because the house wasn’t selling, so he probably asked other people for money as well.

Perhaps his first target was his grandmother, who doted on her grandson.

Kim Cheol-hwan became a successful actor after being poor in his childhood and built up his family, so he probably went to his grandmother, who was rich from the start.