You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 122

You Have Been Defended – Episode 122

With a knock, the director entered.

Park Hyo-sung, the chief editor, who was sitting at his desk, glanced back and asked in a low voice,

“Kim Jung-woo committed suicide?”

“Yes.”

The director explained to Park Hyo-sung what he knew about Kim Jung-woo’s death.

He also mentioned that the police had not yet conducted a detailed investigation, and therefore, the existence of a suicide note was unknown.

The director was visibly anxious as he explained the situation.

Park Hyo-sung even got annoyed, telling him to calm down and speak slowly.

But the director couldn’t do that.

If a suicide note was found, and it contained information about being threatened by the director, it would be a disaster.

“Why are you acting like a dog with diarrhea? Are you worried Kim Jung-woo mentioned you in his suicide note?”

“Yes. Even if he was timid and faint-hearted, what couldn’t he say when he was dying!”

“Haha, man. Even if a suicide note comes out, we can just prevent it from being released. Kim Jung-woo isn’t a hot topic, and he’s just a trainee reporter for a newspaper.”

Park Hyo-sung waved his hand as if it were nothing.

“A good car has arrived. Come and have a drink while you’re here.”

He picked up the tea set on the table.

However, unlike Park Hyo-sung, who thought it was nothing, the director still couldn’t hide his anxiety.

“The problem is Choi Jong-hyun. If Choi Jong-hyun finds Kim Jung-woo’s suicide note before the police, we might not be able to silence him.”

Choi Jong-hyun wasn’t well-known to the public, but he was a fairly well-known reporter in the industry.

Last year, he won an influential journalism award at the youngest age, and he even gave a special lecture at a university once.

He was known for his tenacity in getting stories, earning him the nickname ‘Pitbull’.

If he decided to expose it, he could find plenty of media outlets willing to take the story.

Even if not, he could leak the information to politicians or prosecutors with opposing views to Iljung Ilbo, making the case bigger.

Even if they could somehow prevent the report from being published by a major media outlet, they couldn’t completely cover up the incident.

Once it started being talked about, there was no telling what kind of ripple effect it would have.

“…We need to stop Choi Jong-hyun from finding it.”

Park Hyo-sung murmured, pouring hot water into the two teacups.

“Is there a way?”

“Can’t we just fabricate a suicide note? If a suicide note is found, the police will focus on that first. And Choi Jong-hyun can’t get in touch with the family and is looking for the funeral home himself, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“Ah, right. We might as well take care of Choi Jong-hyun this time.”

He took out tea leaves from the box and dropped them into the teacups, speaking leisurely.

“I understand you’re saying we should fabricate a suicide note. But how can we deal with Choi Jong-hyun? Ah, perhaps?”

The director’s eyes widened as if he finally understood Park Hyo-sung’s words.

Park Hyo-sung nodded.

“I’ve been thinking that Choi Jong-hyun would eventually leave Iljung Ilbo and find a newspaper that suits his taste. If he spills all the information there, we’ll be in trouble. It’s better to ruin his reputation altogether.”

The director looked much more relieved and took a sip of tea.

“Then how about the suicide note?”

“Do it yourself. It’s only [unstable] to create multiple accomplices by using subordinates. You’ve been pressuring Kim Jung-woo directly anyway. I’ll take care of the CCTV, so just leave a simple note on Kim Jung-woo’s laptop tonight. Don’t write too much to avoid giving them something to latch onto.”

“Understood.”

There was still time until tonight.

The reporters working late would all be gone to the funeral home tonight.

He emptied the teacup Park Hyo-sung handed him and said,

“The tea tastes good.”

“Right? Haha.”

Knock knock.

The director, who had been waiting for the news of Kim Jung-woo’s obituary, raised his head at the knock.

“Come in.”

Time had passed, and it was now 5:30 PM.

He thought it was about time he heard something, and as if on cue, the head of the social affairs department entered.

“Director, I just got a call from Choi. He’s reached Kim’s family.”

“That’s a relief… They must be devastated. Where’s the funeral home? Was it Seongjin Hospital?”

“Ah, no. But the family isn’t doing well, so they’ve decided to hold the funeral at the municipal funeral hall. But it’s full right now, so they can’t get in until dawn.”

“I see… We’re looking into what the company can do to support them, so tell them to wait a bit.”

“Yes, I will. The obituary will be published tomorrow morning, and condolences will be accepted from tomorrow morning. Choi said he’ll be taking leave until the day of the funeral.”

“Okay, I understand. You can go now.”

The director followed the back of the head of the department as he left the office with his eyes.

Once the door closed, he turned his head to his computer monitor.

He had been drafting a suicide note that would look like Kim Jung-woo had written it, without leaving any loose ends.

He thought he could leave the suicide note around tonight after the reporters left the office early for condolences.

‘I guess I have to wait until dawn.’

* * *

3 AM.

A political reporter who had stayed late stretched.

He packed his bag, put on his coat, and looked around.

The office was dark, with only the lamp on his desk lit.

“Has it already gotten this late?”

Muttering to himself, he turned off the constantly running heater and left the office.

And a little later.

Movement was felt in the director’s office, located inside the office.

Two fingers spread apart the blinds that reached the floor, and two eyes appeared in the gap.

The bloodshot eyes rolled from side to side.

It seemed like he was surveying the interior of the office.

After confirming that no one was there, he slowly opened the door and came out.

And he walked towards the social affairs department.

“…”

He sat down in Kim Jung-woo’s seat.

Even though no one was watching, he moved very carefully.

He found a folder full of documents on his already turned-on laptop.

He hovered the cursor over the densely packed document file icons and checked the most recent save dates.

Three days ago.

Last Friday, right before leaving work.

It was perfect.

The content was just a simple contact memo.

He erased all the contents of the file and quickly began typing the prepared text.

[I don’t want to live anymore

Why is my life like this?

It’s already been 4 years since I joined Iljung Ilbo.

All my colleagues are regular reporters, but I’m the only trainee…

Even so, seniors force excessive work, late nights, and weekend work…

People think Choi Jong-hyun cares about me a lot, but that’s not true.

He beats me and insults me whenever he sees an opportunity…

He might be a devil sent by God to destroy my self-esteem.

I want to kill him.

Bastard…

I hope my death will be an opportunity to thoroughly expose that bastard’s true colors…

I really can’t take it anymore.

I’ll die like this, but even in death, I’ll curse you, Choi Jong-hyun

Devil ㅅㄲ [Korean slang for ‘son of a bitch’]]

“What are you doing here?”

He hadn’t even finished typing the last vowel, ‘ㅣ’.

“Gasp!”

The director was startled by the sudden voice and turned around.

“…Reporter Choi.”

“What are you so diligently writing in Jung-woo’s seat?”

At the unexpected appearance of Choi Jong-hyun, the director looked as shocked as someone who had seen a ghost.

The director subtly moved the chair to cover the monitor and asked Choi Jong-hyun.

“Reporter Choi, didn’t you say you were at the funeral home? You said you were taking a monthly leave until Kim’s funeral.”

“Yes, I did. But I left something in the office.”

Choi Jong-hyun replied smoothly.

Even though the heater was off and the office was filled with cold air, a drop of cold sweat ran down the director’s spine.

“But what were you doing, Director?”

Choi Jong-hyun didn’t ask for permission from the director and pushed him aside.

And he looked at Kim Jung-woo’s laptop monitor.

“What is this?”

Choi Jong-hyun’s eyes moved quickly, reading the contents on the screen.

His expression was getting darker and darker.

“I heard that Kim committed suicide, and I was checking his desk to see if he had left a suicide note.”

“At 3 AM? Weren’t you typing something? I heard the sound of the keyboard clicking.”

“I was feeling bad because my subordinate died, so I had a drink at a street stall outside, and I came in for a moment because I left something behind.”

“If you left something behind, you should just take it and leave. But why are you at Jung-woo’s desk?”

“Reporter Choi. Are you suspecting me right now?”

The director retorted with a serious expression.

But Choi Jong-hyun calmly countered.

“I’m trying to check because you’re acting differently than usual. Someone who wasn’t interested in Jung-woo is using Jung-woo’s laptop.”

“Ha… I was about to leave, but I saw that Kim’s laptop was on, so I thought maybe he left a suicide note! The police will be coming to check anyway, so I thought it would be good to find something in advance!”

The director, who was rambling excuses like a child caught doing something bad because he was so surprised, 벌떡 일어나다 [buljjeok ireonada – Korean for ‘jumped to his feet’].

“Wait. But… Even if you left something behind, why did you come here at this hour? Reporter Choi, you’re the one who’s more suspicious, you know?”

“Me?”

“Let me ask you. The contents of the suicide note. You read it too. Answer me. Is this true? Is the content written here true!”

The director shouted.

Choi Jong-hyun chuckled.

“Suicide note? What suicide note are you talking about? Are you talking about this ridiculous piece of fake document that says I harassed Jung-woo?”

“Fake? How do you know this is fake? I’m a witness. I found this, and I read it clearly. You pretended to be nice to Kim Jung-woo, but you’ve been treating him like this behind his back? Are you crazy?!”

The director pushed Choi Jong-hyun’s shoulder and yelled.

Choi Jong-hyun didn’t resist the hand and staggered back little by little.

“I’m going to make a big deal out of this. What kind of era is it now,”

It was when the director’s shouting echoed loudly in the office.

“Director.”

At the voice that suddenly came from behind, the director quickly stopped the words he was pouring out.

And he slowly turned his head towards the place where the voice came from.

“…Kim Jung-woo?”