You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 129

“Choosing the paid parking lot was a stroke of genius.”

Kang Min-jae gestured with his chin towards the courthouse main gate, where vehicles were being checked.

It seemed there wasn’t a single parking space left.

“When you have business at this courthouse, if you don’t park in the paid lot, you might not even make it to the trial. You’re better off taking a taxi.”

“Then they should make the parking lot bigger, right?”

Kang Min-jae didn’t seem to tire of his usual complaints.

The sight of the jam-packed road beyond the windshield was already making me tired.

It was a distance that could be covered in 20 minutes if the traffic wasn’t bad, but the thought of it taking longer was a bit stressful.

Of course, Kang Min-jae was the one driving, not me.

I was rummaging through my bag, thinking of reviewing documents on the way, when Kang suddenly spoke up.

“By the way, why did you come with me today?”

“What do you mean, why? It’s a case our office is handling, so I came along.”

“It wasn’t a case I couldn’t handle alone, and you just watched anyway, didn’t you?”

He liked to exaggerate, but the expression ‘just watched’ was quite accurate.

I opened the file and replied.

“You told me not to ostracize you.”

“Huh? You mean you came because I told you not to ostracize me?”

Kang Min-jae turned to me and asked.

He seemed shocked.

“That’s right.”

I couldn’t let Kang Min-jae, who didn’t have much experience yet, handle a big trial alone.

But that didn’t mean I could go to every trial forever.

The number of clients had increased, and so had the number of trials I had to attend.

So, I had been sending Kang Min-jae out alone on cases that I deemed not too difficult.

He had never messed up a case.

Clients generally liked Kang Min-jae, who was kind and empathetic.

But after the conversation I had with Manager Oh a few days ago about possibly having to let Kang go, I became a little anxious.

“Kang.”

“Yes?”

“This might be out of the blue.”

“Yes.”

“Do you regret leaving Taekwang?”

At my question, Kang Min-jae frowned as if he had heard something strange.

“Leaving Taekwang? Of course, I don’t regret it. I told you before, I hated defending bad guys the most, but working with you, I don’t have to do that, so it’s great. It’s also rewarding.”

I often compared Taekwang to a den of evil, but that was mostly for people who had some position within it.

Taekwang was a workplace that even judicial research and training institute students would consider over a judge appointment.

Kang Min-jae left there of his own accord and came to me, so he had to have gained something, right?

Of course, if I thought about it coldly, learning was Kang Min-jae’s one-sided claim, and I never said I would teach him.

As it happened, we took on a major case, so I paid him more than he originally received at Taekwang.

So, even if Kang hadn’t grown, it might not matter, and it could be his fault for not picking up on things.

But I’ve grown fond of him after seeing him for so long.

Even if I have to let him go, I hope the two years he was with me weren’t meaningless.

Even if it was a childish choice in his youth.

“But why are you asking that all of a sudden? Are you worried because I told you not to ostracize me?”

That’s why I wanted to see with my own eyes.

Whether he had learned something from me as much as he wanted.

Whether he had grown.

“In that sense, how about a drink tonight to reminisce?”

I was lost in thought for a moment, and Kang asked, pretending to pour a glass of soju [Korean distilled rice liquor].

“Did a ghost who died without drinking attach itself to you? I have no intention of drinking with you for the time being.”

“Hey, you said I didn’t throw up on the floor of your house. You said I threw up in the toilet. And I got up the next day and did all the dishes, cleaned the toilet, everything. You’re really holding a grudge.”

“Who was it that always cleaned up after you whenever you got drunk?”

“……”

“Think about your alcohol tolerance and drink accordingly.”

“I need to drink a lot to increase my tolerance, so I don’t cause trouble for you.”

It was a miraculous logic.

I scoffed and replied.

“So, I have to take care of you until your tolerance increases?”

“Well, won’t it increase within a few years?”

“Take care of you for a few years?”

“I usually drive you around, buy you coffee, answer all the phone calls, I usually take care of you!”

“You volunteered to drive me around to chase after me, and we play rock-paper-scissors to see who buys coffee these days, right? Manager Oh answers the phone now.”

“You tell me to drive even when I don’t volunteer.”

“Then don’t do it anymore. It doesn’t matter if I do it, so just go alone. I drive better than you anyway.”

“Ha, really.”

Kang Min-jae closed his mouth, dumbfounded.

The traffic jam was over while we were talking.

I picked up the file again, thinking of going quietly for the little time left.

“Lawyer Cha.”

“What now?”

“Isn’t that Wooshin Corporation’s headquarters?”

Kang Min-jae gestured towards the large building ahead.

“Looks like someone is staging a one-person protest.”

As he said, someone was standing in front of the main gate with a sign full of red writing around their neck.

“Looks like it.”

“Do you know what the commonality is between large corporation headquarters, courthouses, and prosecutor’s offices?”

“What?”

“There’s always someone staging a one-person protest.”

I nodded involuntarily at Kang Min-jae’s words.

The car got closer to the protester, and I fixed my gaze on the sign they were wearing.

[Goh Yoon-sung, Head of Violent Gangster Chaebol [A Chaebol is a large South Korean industrial conglomerate.]]

But I could only read the top line because of the speed of the passing car.

Goh Yoon-sung, Head of Violent Gangster Chaebol.

If it was Goh Yoon-sung, he was definitely Goh Sang-joon’s troublesome youngest son.

“What did it say?”

“Goh Yoon-sung, Head of Violent Gangster Chaebol.”

“Gangster chaebol? That sounds brutal. I wonder if Goh Yoon-sung assaulted someone.”

“It could be, or it could be a figurative expression.”

I thought about stopping the car for a moment and talking to the protester, but I decided against it.

It was in front of the headquarters where there were many eyes watching.

[There’s a one-person protester in front of Wooshin Corporation’s headquarters. Find out what’s going on. They’re wearing a sign that says ]

Instead, I sent a simple text to Tae-shik.

[I’m going to stage a protest in front of your office too. Cha Joo-han, a lawyer with a personality defect who doesn’t even say hello after contacting me after a long time]

The reply came right away.

I don’t know why so many people around me are sulking these days.

It seems like I really do have a personality flaw.

[How have you been?]

[ㅋㅋ That’s too insincere, isn’t it?]

[Terminate the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding]?]

[I’m sorry. It was sent by a dog we’re raising in our office. I’ll send an employee right away to find out]

I tried to recall if there was a case related to Goh Yoon-sung around this time as I headed to the office.

But I couldn’t remember anything in particular.

Even if I hadn’t started digging into Wooshin in earnest, there’s no way I wouldn’t know if there was such a case.

Especially when it came to his children.

I knew the best about Goh Sang-joon’s children in Korea.

To start a special investigation into a large corporation, you have to move the public, and corruption related to children is the most effective way to move public sentiment.

Illegal inheritance and gifts, military service, university admission, etc.

Everything was a matter that Korean parents would be most enthusiastic about.

That I don’t know about this case means one of two things.

Either the cover-up was too perfect, or it didn’t happen in my previous life.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Manager Oh greeted me as I returned to the office.

I always had to lock the door when I went out with Kang, but with Manager Oh here, the atmosphere is definitely different.

Kang Min-jae also immediately approached Manager Oh and spoke to him.

“Manager Oh, would you like to have a drink with me tonight? Whiskey is good too.”

He said, glaring at me.

“Why, did you have a hard day today, Kang?”

“There’s nothing hard except being tormented by the lawyer.”

Kang sighed.

“He’s doing it because he cares about you.”

Manager Oh comforted Kang.

He seemed to feel better after hearing that, but he retorted that it couldn’t be true.

It seems like he just wants to whine because Manager Oh accepts everything.

“Lawyer Cha, didn’t you say you’d get scolded by your grandfather if you drank and stayed out again?”

“……Ah, that’s right. But I’m only going to drink enough to feel good and go home this time.”

“You can’t even control yourself, but you’re going to drink only enough to feel good.”

I added a word as I went to get water from the water purifier, and Kang Min-jae sighed.

“Manager Oh, the lawyer is grilling me like this.”

“Go home early and massage your grandfather’s shoulders.”

“……Yes.”

Before I knew it, it was 6 o’clock.

Kang Min-jae was the first to prepare to leave work and get up.

“Aren’t you guys leaving work?”

“I still have some paperwork left.”

Manager Oh replied.

“Me too.”

I was checking to see if there were any internet news about the protester I witnessed today, even if it was small.

There was nothing in particular.

It seems like I’ll have to wait for Tae-shik’s call.

Above all, I had an appointment with Choi Jong-hyun today.

He said he would come to the first floor of the building, so I was planning to stay in the office until then.

“Then I’ll go in first. See you tomorrow.”

Kang left work, and about 30 minutes later, I received a text from Choi Jong-hyun.

It said he was almost there.

I should probably go soon too, so I packed my things and got up, but Manager Oh was still engrossed in typing.

“Manager Oh, you should leave work.”

“There’s very little left. I’m going to do it for 5 more minutes and leave.”

“Don’t overdo it.”

“Overdo it? It’s much easier than when I was in the prosecutor’s office.”

He replied with a smile.

It’s good that he works hard, but he sometimes jokes that he has to earn his share because I give him a lot of salary.

Well, he’s not someone who would listen if I told him to stop.

“Lawyer Cha.”

As I came out of the building, Choi Jong-hyun raised his hand.

He didn’t have a car, and his face was red and frozen, so it seemed like he came by subway.

“Get in first.”

I said, pressing the remote key button.

It’s too cold to talk outside, and we have to go somewhere anyway.

I turned up the heater as he sat in the passenger seat.

“Did you have dinner?”

“Not yet.”

“Then let’s go somewhere where we can have a meal and a drink. Is there a place where we can talk quietly?”

“I know a place.”

“It’d be a bit much if it’s too expensive, though?”

Choi Jong-hyun said jokingly.

“I’ll pay.”

“We can split it.”

“I feel a little guilty asking an unemployed person to split it.”

“Unemployed? Call me a freelancer.”

As I was about to leave, someone suddenly knocked on the window.

It was Manager Oh.

“Are you leaving work now?”

As I lowered the window halfway, Manager Oh’s gaze rested on Choi Jong-hyun, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

“Yes. I’ve roughly finished up. Reporter Choi, I see you often. How have you been?”

Manager Oh greeted him, and Choi Jong-hyun also slightly bowed his head.

“Yes, thanks to you.”

Manager Oh’s eyes as he looked at Choi Jong-hyun seemed to be examining him.

I had told him that I was going to work with Choi Jong-hyun, so Manager Oh seemed to want to check if he was really someone he could trust.

“Reporter Choi, would it be okay if Manager Oh joins us?”

Choi seemed a little surprised.

But he didn’t seem to have any aversion.

“I don’t mind, but is it okay with Lawyer Cha?”

It seemed like he was asking if it was okay for him to know the content of today’s conversation.

Both of them seemed to be exploring whether they could really trust each other, so it would be better to create a place.

In fact, the two of them were the best match in my previous life.

“Manager Oh, get in the back.”