You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 143

You Have Been Defended – Episode 143

It was around 5 PM when we arrived at the Seoul office; the sun was already beginning to set.

We had left Byeolma Hospital a little before 2 PM, but the traffic was worse than expected, making us late.

“Ah, Counselor. You’ve arrived.”

Chief Secretary Oh, who had been guarding the office alone, greeted us with a welcoming face.

“Did you find anything? Considering you asked me to look into Kim Eui-cheol, it seems you’ve heard something.”

Kang Min-jae shared the story we had heard with Chief Secretary Oh.

And also, that the head nurse had agreed to testify about Go Yoon-sung’s false diagnosis.

“How is Kim Eui-cheol doing?”

“Ah, Counselor. But did you know who Kim Eui-cheol was when you asked me to look into him?”

Chief Secretary Oh asked.

“I only knew he was a construction worker.”

“I see. Kim Eui-cheol, that man, is the worker who was humiliated by Go Yoon-sung that day. The one Oh Sang-hyun shielded.”

Kim Eui-cheol was that person?

Why on earth would that person have gone to the hospital room?

“So, were you able to reach him?”

“No. I pretended to know him and contacted the site office, but they said they didn’t know his contact information. He’s someone from a subcontractor. And he hasn’t been showing up at the site lately.”

“Then I’ll have to talk to Tae-shik.”

“Yes, Tae-shik said he would get back to me by tomorrow.”

He hasn’t been showing up at the site.

Kim Eui-cheol is the starting point of everything, but he’s not really the key.

Kim Eui-cheol merely provided the cause; the ultimate conflict was between the two of them.

Kim Eui-cheol wasn’t even at the scene of the assault.

But why did Kim Eui-cheol go to Go Yoon-sung’s hospital room?

“I don’t think Kim Eui-cheol would have gone there first.”

“To Go Yoon-sung’s hospital room?”

“Probably. And even if Kim Eui-cheol had gone, I don’t think Go Yoon-sung would have met him.”

He might have been called in separately to testify.

What’s certain is that there’s a whiff of money here too.

* * *

“Huff, huff, an uphill road where cars can’t even come. Huff, huff.”

As I climbed the steep hill, Kang Min-jae shouted from behind, gasping for breath.

“Can’t we, huff, can’t we go together? Huff, huff, huff.”

His voice sounded like he was about to collapse from exhaustion.

I silently walked, checking the house number of Kim Eui-cheol’s house visible ahead.

If it were the old me, I might be struggling right now too, but the me who returned to 10 years ago is grateful for the noticeably lighter body.

A body that doesn’t get tired even after staying up all night, stamina that remains unaffected even after drinking until dawn.

Being young is the best after all.

“Ugh! Counselor! Let’s go together!”

As I stepped into the entrance of the villa, Kang Min-jae screamed from below.

The echo in this narrow alley was so loud that it was a great nuisance to the residents here.

As I glanced at him and tried to go inside, Kang Min-jae started running like crazy, as if burning the last flame of his soul.

I won’t bother mentioning how scary Kang Min-jae’s face, which was so red it was almost black, looked.

“Huff, huff, sob, huff. It’s hard, wheeze, ha.”

Barely catching up to me, Kang Min-jae clung to my shoulder and breathed heavily.

I pulled him off and climbed the villa stairs again.

Kang Min-jae despaired at the stairs in front of him but soon crawled up on all fours, chasing after me.

“Kang, are you exempt from military service?”

I asked, standing in front of Kim Eui-cheol’s house, and Kang Min-jae glared at me.

“I’m a sergeant in the Army Reserve. I went before passing the bar exam. You were a military judge advocate, right, Counselor?”

“I was.”

“I probably received more training, so why are you asking if I’m exempt…?”

Not everyone who has served in the military is in good shape, but Kang’s condition seems a bit serious for a young man.

Anyway, I just said it because you can’t work as a prosecutor if you’re exempt from military service.

I didn’t expect him to get so worked up.

“Never mind. Straighten your clothes. I’ll press the doorbell.”

At my words, Kang Min-jae hurriedly tucked the shirt that had popped out of his pants back in.

“Tie.”

He must not remember loosening his tie because he was too tired while climbing the hill.

Kang Min-jae then fixed his tie, but I sighed.

It’s subtly skewed to the left, which bothers me.

“Why?”

He tilted his head, sensing my uncomfortable expression.

“…Hah, never mind.”

I stopped myself from reaching out.

I didn’t want to bother wrestling with the tie, so I just pressed the doorbell.

“Is no one home?”

Kang peeked at the front door, which hadn’t opened yet.

There was no answer.

I checked my wristwatch for a moment.

According to what Tae-shik found out, Kim Eui-cheol didn’t go to the employment agency today.

And it’s an ambiguous time, a little before dinner.

I pressed the doorbell a couple more times.

-Who is it?

Only then did an old man’s voice come from inside.

I was going to not answer because I thought he wouldn’t open the door if I said I was a lawyer, but Kang Min-jae opened his mouth from behind.

“Law, umph!”

Fortunately, I gagged him before he could finish speaking.

-What is it? Why isn’t anyone answering after pressing the doorbell?

I heard grumbling from inside, and soon the door opened slightly.

“Who are you?”

A middle-aged man with tanned skin and full of wrinkles poked his face out.

The report Tae-shik gave me said he was 55 years old, but I would have believed it if he said he was 65.

His face, as if he had been hit head-on by time, showed traces of hardship.

Traces that would have made it difficult to refuse if Go Yoon-sung had offered money.

“I came because I wanted to ask you something.”

“Who are you?”

Kim Eui-cheol scanned us with a very wary face.

The reason I hid that I was a lawyer was because I was worried he wouldn’t open the door, so I have to reveal it at this point.

“I’m Oh Sang-hyun’s attorney.”

“……”

“You’re Kim Eui-cheol, right?”

Kim Eui-cheol’s eyes seemed to tremble for a moment at that moment.

“…I have nothing to say.”

Kim Eui-cheol said in a barely audible voice.

“You do.”

He’s lying.

I can tell even without using my ability.

But Kim Eui-cheol’s expression, saying he has nothing to say, looks so painful that I’m willing to turn back if the truth is revealed using my ability.

“I said I don’t.”

[Lie]

He was clearly fighting between the fact he had decided to conceal and his conscience.

He keeps saying no, but it’s clearly revealed on his frowning face.

In times like this, you have to push a little harder.

“You met Go Yoon-sung, right?”

“……”

“At Wooshin Hospital, VIP ward 1803. You submitted your ID and were guided to Go Yoon-sung’s hospital room, weren’t you?”

“…No, no.”

[Lie]

He shook his head and tried to close the door again.

“What did Go Yoon-sung say?”

“……”

“Did Go Yoon-sung say he would pay off your son’s business debts instead?”

According to the information Tae-shik gave me today, Kim Eui-cheol has a son.

Last year, his son’s business failed, and Kim Eui-cheol took out his only asset, the deposit for his rented house, to pay off his son’s debts.

The debts were not fully paid off with that, and in the end, his son went on a deep-sea fishing boat to earn a large sum of money.

He often told the workers that his dream was to quickly pay off his son’s debts and live together.

His son has about 50 million won [approximately $38,000 USD] left in debt.

It’s a large sum of money that ordinary people can’t save even after several years, but it’s a small amount of money that Go Yoon-sung can squander in one night.

“……”

Kim Eui-cheol looked up at me, his face pale.

If he really intended to hide it, he would have desperately managed his expression, but it seems that Kim Eui-cheol himself felt a pang of conscience.

He had the frightened expression of a child caught playing with fire.

It means that the smell of money I smelled was not just my imagination.

“No, nothing like that…”

[Lie]

“Go Yoon-sung must have asked for something in exchange for paying off the debt. What is it? Did he ask you to commit perjury?”

“I said no! Why do you keep framing an innocent person!”

[Lie]

“Then where did the 50 million won come from?”

“……”

I just probed because his son had 50 million left in debt, but it seems that the money he received from Go Yoon-sung is indeed 50 million.

They must have looked into Kim Eui-cheol’s situation and offered money, so of course they wouldn’t have called for more than that.

They think nothing of spending a few thousand when they use it themselves, but they begrudge even ten thousand won when they spend it on others.

“I, I didn’t receive any such money. Go! Go away quickly!”

Kim Eui-cheol started pushing me away, his face pale.

“Father. Can’t we go inside for a moment and talk?”

Kang Min-jae, who had been watching quietly, stepped forward and asked.

“We’re not trying to harm your father. Even if you received 50 million won, we won’t take it away. We’re just trying to find out the truth. As you know, our client… Oh Sang-hyun is suffering too much.”

At Kang Min-jae’s words, Kim Eui-cheol tightly closed his eyes.

It seems that touching his guilt in this way is not a bad method.

“He has to go to trial even though he did nothing wrong, and he may have to pay Go Yoon-sung a large sum of money. That’s too unfair. We’re just trying to resolve that unfairness, just trying to hear a little bit of what you have to say.”

Kang Min-jae began to gently coax Kim Eui-cheol.

Kim Eui-cheol’s tense demeanor also subsided, and he bit his lips tightly as if he was in *gomin* [deep thought or agony].

“Please give us 10 minutes, no, just 5 minutes. Okay?”

“What help would you get from me? Just go to the chief and see him.”

“We’ve already met your chief.”

Kang Min-jae clung to Kim Eui-cheol as if he was about to kneel down.

“Ah, Father. Let’s just go inside and talk. Okay? Just for a moment, really just for a moment. Just a moment, just a moment.”

At the same time, he didn’t forget to naturally insert his leg between the slightly opened door and widen it.

“Ah, I said I have nothing to say…”

Even while Kim Eui-cheol was turning away, Kang Min-jae diligently pushed his body into the door.

He’s already halfway in.

“There’s nothing to hear from me. You’re just wasting your time. I told you to go to the chief?”

“We don’t mind wasting our time; we’ll just talk for a moment and then leave. Really. Really.”

Kim Eui-cheol reluctantly let us in.

The small house, which was barely 5 *pyeong* [approximately 180 square feet], was full of furniture.

There was only enough space for one person to barely stretch out and sleep, and it was impossible for two people.

Kim Eui-cheol folded the small dining table and roughly put it between the luggage, then told us to sit down.

“Ask what you want to ask quickly and leave.”

“What I was about to ask you outside earlier. You went to Go Yoon-sung’s hospital, right?”

“……”

“Why did you go?”

“I didn’t go.”

“We know everything, Father.”

Getting into the house is the limit with gentle coaxing.

Kim Eui-cheol tightly shut his mouth.

To find out something, it’s much better to stimulate the guilt he feels.

“Did Go Yoon-sung ask for testimony?”