You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 164

Kang Min-jae stared at me blankly, while the housekeeper smoothly took the bag he handed over and went up to the second floor.

And then he said the word ‘grandfather’ as soon as he came in.

That was enough for me to understand the situation.

Former President Kang Kwan-woong was Kang Min-jae’s grandfather, the fact he had been so eager to hide.

“You’re here? You’re a little late.”

“Yes, the traffic was a bit heavy. But…”

Kang Min-jae shuffled sideways like a crab, very awkwardly, and sat down next to me.

Then, he started to watch me very carefully.

He seemed worried that I might be disappointed in him now that I knew he was the grandson of such a prominent political figure as Kang Kwan-woong.

Of course, I was surprised.

But I think it’s understandable.

Until now, he must have found it difficult to form honest relationships with people because of the weight of being the former president’s grandson.

He probably didn’t want to receive the ‘special treatment’ that people often talk about, and wanted to face challenges using his own skills, so he hoped I wouldn’t find out.

In fact, even at Taekwang, Yoon Won-hyung [likely a high-ranking executive] took care of him repeatedly. Didn’t he appoint a rookie lawyer with only one year of experience as a prosecutor as an associate to Kim Yoon-hee, the second-in-command of Taekwang?

And in truth, I wasn’t in a position to get angry at him.

It was as if I had knowingly turned a blind eye.

If I had tried to find out about his family, I could have easily done so.

Both reporter Yoon Se-yeon and a few others seemed to know his identity.

“…Lawyer Cha, how are you? Was the investigation very difficult for you?”

Kang Min-jae asked in a barely audible voice.

“No, it was okay. I was released early thanks to Attorney Kang’s grandfather.”

“…No, why didn’t Grandpa tell me and just do whatever he wants, huh?”

He muttered incoherently and glared at Kang Kwan-woong.

Kang Kwan-woong chuckled at his grandson’s childishness and replied.

“If you hadn’t been so worried about your lawyer that you barely ate and couldn’t sleep properly, your grandpa wouldn’t have stepped in.”

“Wh-when did I barely eat and not sleep?”

Kang Min-jae jumped up, and Chief Kang answered instead.

“You did. I saw you coming down to the kitchen in the early morning and drinking whiskey alone.”

“…When did you see that, Hyung [older brother/male friend]?”

I could guess why he was so friendly and sociable, looking at the family atmosphere.

Others may not know, but Kang Kwan-woong and Chief Kang had a lot of affection for him.

Kang Kwan-woong, who always had an inscrutable look in his eyes, had a tender gaze only when he looked at his grandson.

“I can’t just leave my immature grandson in your care without even greeting you. I invited you to have dinner together.”

“…He’s not an immature grandson, but if you were going to help, you should have helped sooner. Lawyer Cha must have suffered a lot during the investigation, and the media was falsely accusing her of trivial things.”

“This guy. It’s useless to raise a grandson. He only cares about his boss more than his grandpa. Attorney Cha, that’s how our Min-jae is.”

According to reports, Kang Kwan-woong lost his only son in an accident.

His son’s face was quite well-known during his term, but his grandson, Kang Min-jae, was just a child at the time.

After Kang Kwan-woong finished his term, he chose to live in seclusion, and his grandson was also veiled in secrecy.

Kang Min-jae had studied in the United States at Lee Jin [likely a university], so his existence was even less known.

Even so, there must have been people who knew, but it was of no interest to me.

Even when I was trying to catch Wooshin in my previous life, Kang Kwan-woong was not involved at all.

I wasn’t very interested in influential figures who weren’t related to Wooshin.

“Elder, dinner is ready.”

Chief Kang approached and said.

We moved to the dining room inside the mansion.

The long table was filled with all sorts of delicacies.

I wondered when they had prepared all this, and when I looked inside the kitchen, there were a few more housekeepers.

It felt new and strange that Kang Min-jae, who was born and raised in this kind of house, could grill meat well and quickly set the table when he went to a restaurant.

“Help yourself. I don’t know if it will suit your taste.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Lawyer, have some abalone. Abalone. Oh, there’s eel here too. Have some eel first.”

Kang Min-jae, who was sitting next to me, brought the abalone and eel from the center of the table and placed them in front of me.

It happened before Chief Kang, who was sitting across from me, could even touch the abalone.

“Min-jae, is anyone going to take it away?”

“Lawyer Cha has worked hard and needs to replenish her energy. Hyung, eat something else.”

Before I knew it, most of the main dishes were placed in front of me.

Even if I turned them back to the center, Kang Min-jae would notice it like a ghost and bring them back to me.

“Kang, eat quickly.”

“I’m eating well too. Oh, but the bulgogi [Korean marinated beef] is not very good today. Right? I think your mother makes it better.”

Kang Min-jae put down the bulgogi he had taken a bite of on his plate and tilted his head.

Of course, my mother’s food is delicious, but it wasn’t *that* much better.

I looked at Kang Kwan-woong, who was quietly eating, despite Kang Min-jae’s over-the-top behavior.

He didn’t seem very surprised by his grandson’s actions, but he was looking at him with a slightly pathetic expression.

“Lawyer, did my grandfather bother you while I was gone? If I had known you were coming, I would have come earlier.”

Even while drinking tea after the meal, Kang Min-jae’s chatter did not end.

He started placing the most delicious of the petit fours that came out for dessert in front of me.

Kang Min-jae is usually like this, but he was even more enthusiastic because I had entered his home ground.

“He just said nice things.”

“That can’t be true.”

Kang Min-jae glared at Kang Kwan-woong and said.

“Is the Elder going to eat Attorney Cha up?”

Chief Kang looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, and Kang Min-jae grumbled.

“Lawyer’s mother cooked for me last time, and whenever I got drunk, Lawyer took me home and let me sleep there. You’ve really helped me a lot. I’m learning a lot under Lawyer. But I’d feel so sorry if you mistreated such a lawyer.”

“Are you brainwashed by Attorney Cha? Is it a religion?”

It was getting worse and worse.

Chief Kang and Kang Min-jae started bickering, and I sat quietly between them and drank tea.

When Kang Min-jae wasn’t there, Kang Kwan-woong’s eyes were constantly testing me, so it wasn’t very comfortable, but I almost wanted to go back to that time.

“I checked the news on the way here, and it doesn’t seem like all the charges have been cleared yet. It just says the investigation is over, Hyung.”

Kang Min-jae, who had been constantly extolling how well I had treated him, suddenly changed the subject.

Chief Kang took a sip of tea and smiled faintly.

“So?”

“The fact that Grandpa called the lawyer to his house means that he has decided to help her in my eyes. Right, Grandpa?”

“Attorney Kang.”

I stopped Kang Min-jae from speaking.

I thought there must be a reason why Kang Kwan-woong, who had never met me before Kang Min-jae appeared, had helped me.

But now all those questions were resolved.

His precious grandson was worried about me, so he directly exerted his influence, which he had not done until now.

Of course, it is not difficult for a former president to clear a minor charge against a small-time lawyer like me.

But the problem is, as I said before, that he has never exerted his influence.

If he breaks the unwritten rules he has established and steps forward, rumors will spread that former President Kang Kwan-woong is protecting me.

The reason why the target was limited to me this time is probably because Koh Sang-joon’s brothers and Taekwang already knew that Kang Min-jae was Kang Kwan-woong’s grandson.

If Kang Kwan-woong protects me, it is tantamount to declaring that he will be at odds with them.

“Your lawyer doesn’t seem to need this grandpa’s help at all?”

“Honestly, Lawyer can overcome the crisis even if Grandpa doesn’t help.”

“Really? Attorney Cha didn’t seem to have any other plans.”

At Kang Kwan-woong’s words, Kang Min-jae sighed.

“Even if she doesn’t have one right now, she’ll find a way anyway. That’s how it’s always been. She didn’t start with the answer from the beginning in the many cases she’s handled so far. But she eventually found it. I don’t think this time will be any different.”

“Then there seems to be even less reason for Grandpa to help Attorney Cha?”

“Because it takes time. It’s different from Grandpa, who can end everything with a single phone call. People don’t care about the process. Image consumption is inevitable while the lawyer is producing results.”

“What’s so important about an image to a mere lawyer?”

Kang Kwan-woong looked at me while answering his grandson.

It was what I had said to him earlier.

“But it’s a waste of what you’ve built up so far. And Grandpa also said that Attorney Cha is a rare, eye-catching item. Such an eye-catching item shouldn’t end up like this because of this…”

Kang Min-jae answered in a slightly smaller voice.

Kang Kwan-woong smiled faintly as he looked at his grandson.

From the moment Kang Min-jae entered my office, Kang Kwan-woong would have been watching me persistently.

He may know all the information surrounding me from my childhood to this moment.

He is still looking at his grandson with affection dripping from his eyes, and he must have been constantly evaluating me to judge whether he can really entrust his grandson to me.

Even before seeing me in person today, he may have already made a conclusion about whether to help me or not.

If you ask me if I want to receive help from Kang Kwan-woong, I want to honestly say yes.

Kang Min-jae is all right.

Considering Kang Kwan-woong’s position, it may be a risk for him to step out and protect me.

But selfishly speaking, if Kang Kwan-woong has my back, it’s like I’m growing wings.

No matter how much Koh Sang-joon is, he won’t easily think of touching me if Kang Kwan-woong is protecting me.

“What does Attorney Cha think? You said earlier that you couldn’t speak honestly because you couldn’t know my intentions.”

Kang Kwan-woong turned his gaze towards me.

“Now that you know, tell me. For the sake of my grandson, do you think I should help you?”

Kang Kwan-woong stared at me with those piercing eyes.

Kang Min-jae also looked at me anxiously.

It was a look that seemed to say, ‘Let’s just ask for help this time.’