You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 169

“Thanks for the meal, Attorney.”

Kim Chanyoung and his group bowed their heads as they watched me present my card at the counter.

“We could have split the bill.”

“Why would you split with students? Just say thank you for the meal.”

I was paying, but Kang Minjae was taking credit.

“You sound like a boomer when you do that.”

Lee Sungjin said with a playful face, and Kang Minjae frowned.

“Hey, don’t call me a boomer. I’m old enough to be called ‘hyung’ [older brother or male friend] by you guys, you know?”

I understood he didn’t want to be treated like an old man yet, but it felt a bit awkward for me, who was in my 40s, to be called ‘hyung’ by college students.

“How are the attorneys getting back?”

“Attorney Cha brought his car, and I’m taking a taxi.”

The atmosphere shifted as we left the restaurant and started to disperse.

Everyone went to the main street to catch a taxi, waving their arms.

Meanwhile, Kim Chanyoung, who had been quiet, cautiously approached me.

“Attorney, could I possibly get your contact information?”

“My contact information?”

“Yes. You never know. If I ever need legal help, I’ll look for you, Attorney. Haha.”

Kim Chanyoung scratched the back of his head as he replied.

It was advantageous for me.

I was planning to build a relationship with Kim Chanyoung anyway, so if he asked for my contact information first, I wouldn’t need to create a flimsy excuse.

I took out a business card from my wallet and gave it to him.

“Ah, and also… about Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals that we talked about earlier.”

Kim Chanyoung, who was looking at the business card, lowered his voice and asked.

Kang Minjae seemed busy saying goodbye to his group, who were starting to get into taxis one by one.

“What about it?”

“If there’s really a problem as you said, Attorney, I think I should consider selling. I’m just investing little by little with some pocket money, but I don’t want to lose money.”

[Lie]

I smiled faintly.

It’s not just a small amount of pocket money; Koh Sangjoon directly handed him a significant amount of stock.

I wanted to know what problems Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals had that made him say this.

What does Kim Chanyoung think of his father now?

Like in 2018, does he resent his father enough to reveal evidence that would bring him down?

“And?”

“If you heard something, Attorney, I was wondering if I could ask about the source.”

Kim Chanyoung added awkwardly that he couldn’t ask earlier because he had to rush in when they said the fried rice was ready.

“Well, I’m not supposed to reveal this kind of information.”

“Ah, is there no way?”

“I can check if the information is accurate, though.”

“Really? Then could I ask you to contact me? This is the first stock I bought with all the New Year’s money I’ve saved since I was a kid, so I don’t want to lose it.”

He emphasized once again that he was just an ordinary retail investor.

He bought a newly listed bio stock with all the New Year’s money he had saved since he was a kid?

It’s hard to believe, but I decided to play along.

I handed him my phone, and he typed in his phone number.

“How long do you think it will take to confirm?”

“I’m not sure, I’ll look into it, but it might take some time.”

“Okay. Thank you so much.”

Kim Chanyoung bowed deeply, repeatedly expressing his gratitude.

“Then I’ll be going now. Please contact me!”

He got into a taxi and waved at me again.

Only after everyone left did Kang Minjae start trying to catch a taxi for himself.

When I said I would wait with him, Kang Minjae gave me that impressed look again.

“Don’t contact me again with this kind of thing. I’ll contact Director Kang right away.”

“Ah, please, Attorney. Seriously.”

“If you don’t want that, Attorney Kang shouldn’t get involved in this kind of thing.”

“Sigh… Honestly, I don’t mind that you found out who my grandfather is because he helped you, Attorney. But I really regret it now.”

“The taxi’s here. Hurry up and go.”

I pointed to the deluxe taxi in front of him.

“I’ll head in first. See you on Monday.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you and sorry again for today.”

“If you know, hurry up and go in.”

“Yes.”

Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals will release Antrozol Alpha in the second half of this year.

Not much time left.

I checked recently and confirmed that the approval for Antrozol Alpha had already been granted.

The approval information was also released, and I confirmed that Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals had distributed press releases stating that they were now entering the manufacturing stage.

How should I start this?

* * *

“Joohan! Over here!”

I came to Daebak House, which is still thriving, after a long time.

Since opening my law office, I haven’t had as much time as I thought, so I haven’t been able to meet Dongjin often.

I think we used to see each other once a quarter, but last year I only saw him once and occasionally talked on the phone.

I received help from nurses Seo Hyejin and Han Youngsun for their job transfer recently, so I made time to arrange this meeting.

“So, are you paying today?”

“Of course.”

“Ah, I knew it, so I skipped breakfast. Haha. But I don’t think I can drink tonight.”

“Why? Do you have to go in again later?”

“Yeah. If I want to become an associate professor without any backing, I have to take the hits [endure the hardships].”

“You’re going through a lot.”

I took the tongs from his hand, who was grilling the meat.

“I’ll grill it, so you just eat.”

“Hey, no way. You’re terrible at grilling meat.”

…I was snatched back, though.

“How are your mother and father doing?”

“They’re fine. How are your parents? I’m curious if your wife and kids are doing well too.”

“They’re doing well, of course. My wife and I went to Thailand recently.”

“Just your wife?”

“My wife, kids, my parents, and my in-laws went. I couldn’t go because I suddenly had surgery.”

I’m busy, but Dongjin is incomparable to me.

When I finish a big case, I can relax by taking on small cases, or I can even temporarily not take on any cases, but his situation is different.

Especially when I see him struggling to become an associate professor, I feel sorry for him.

I smiled bitterly, suddenly thinking of him in my previous life.

“How’s the hospital work? Is that son of the director you mentioned still annoying you?”

“Hey, don’t even mention it. He’s really crazy. Anyone would think that jerk is my senior, even though he’s my peer.”

“What’s he doing now?”

“You know those nurses you introduced me to recently? You know how our hospital beat Wooshin Hospital in the evaluation for the first time in a while after they came?”

“I know.”

“Because of that, the director and the head of the department are looking at me favorably. Now that I think about it, it’s thanks to you. Hey, I should buy dinner today.”

Dongjin pushed the cooked meat to my grill and said.

“It’s okay. So, what about it?”

“The head of the department introduced me to one of the VIPs [Very Important Person] he was in charge of.”

“VIP?”

“Yeah. The third son of Hanyoung Group. A huge VIP. Like our Myungdae Hospital, they’re always second to Wooshin, so there’s some kind of solidarity between us. Hehe.”

Hanyoung Group is the second-largest conglomerate in Korea.

Being in charge of a VIP is quite good for Dongjin.

I don’t know the ins and outs of the hospital, but Dongjin told me before that they mainly introduce such influential figures to fellows they are pushing.

“That’s good.”

“It’s good, but the director’s son is keeping me in check even more now. Ah, I have to think that I’m being checked because I’m an ace and bear with it. Ugh.”

Dongjin pretended to beat his chest like King Kong and then kept pushing the meat to my grill, saying it was burning.

“You should eat well, too. You look thinner than the last time I saw you.”

“Oh, Attorney Cha. I’m eating well. I even eat red ginseng. I’m worried about you, man. Do you even eat properly living alone?”

“Are you going to tell me to get married too? Would someone who doesn’t eat alone eat more if they got married?”

“Should I find you a nice lady? Why haven’t you been able to get married with your specs [qualifications]? If you register with a matchmaking agency, you’ll get a perfect score. Get a consultation when you have time.”

“I’m leaving if you’re going to talk about marriage.”

Three men in their mid-30s gathered at a barbecue restaurant in the evening, and the meal ended without a single bottle of soju [Korean distilled spirit].

I dropped Dongjin off at the hospital and headed home.

Then, my phone started ringing.

It was Choi Jonghyun.

“Yes, this is Cha Joohan.”

-Attorney Cha, what are you doing?

“I’m on my way home. Is there something wrong?”

-No, I was just wondering if you know any developers around.

“Developers?”

-Yeah, I’m thinking of making a small website, but I don’t know who to entrust it to.

“Don’t you know a lot of people, Reporter Choi?”

-I know a lot, but I don’t have a single developer among them. When I said I was making a website, they all scoffed at me. Everyone’s falling behind in this digital age.

“Are you trying to create an internet media outlet with the website?”

In his previous life, he actually created and ran an internet media company.

People who knew Choi Jonghyun tried to dissuade him from his choice, but ultimately, Choi Jonghyun was right.

At first, it was a site that only people he knew visited, but it became hugely popular through various social media and video-sharing sites, coinciding with the spread of smartphones.

-Attorney Cha, it’s like you’ve really been blessed by the gods?

After leaving Iljung Daily, Choi Jonghyun didn’t join another media company and continued to work as a freelancer.

He seemed to be continuing his investigation, occasionally writing columns and contributing to small magazines.

I didn’t think he would be thinking about it yet, but it’s quite welcome news that he’s already thinking about creating an internet media outlet.

“Is there anything else you need a developer for besides that, Reporter?”

-So, do you know anyone or not?

“I do. I have someone to introduce you to.”

-Wow, that’s great. I wonder how much the development costs will be?

“I’ll support you.”

-You will, Attorney Cha?

“Yes. If possible, I think it would be good to have a regularly scheduled show in a visible radio format [podcast]. If you put internet ads here and there, I think quite a few people will gather. You’ll have to find the guests yourself, but you know a lot of people anyway.”

-That’s a good idea? Oh, there’s a site that broadcasts internet broadcasts these days. I think we could use something like that?

While going home, I talked with Choi Jonghyun about the internet media outlet he was going to create.

He seemed to have a lot of ideas, and he listed several of his ideas.

There were some absurd stories, but that could be adjusted later.

-We’ll target people of our generation and make it a broadcast that thoroughly criticizes Wooshin. The broadcast name will be ‘A Broadcast Made Directly Because the Broadcast Guys Won’t Do It.’ Something like that, a bit humorous.

“It’s a bit long, but we can shorten it.”

-Oh, and you know what I thought would be the most popular thing for people of our generation? It’s definitely financial technology, right? I know a stock expert? He’s quite a well-known expert. He used to do day trading while working, but now he only does stocks. There are even people who blindly believe the information coming from him? I’m going to ask him to be a regular guest for a while and start with stock talk. He really hates Wooshin too. He gets along well with me. What do you think?

“That’s good. Are there any real estate experts?”

-There is, Attorney Cha, it’s you.

“Me?”

-Who else is an expert around me besides Attorney Cha, who knew in advance that a new city would be built in the barren northern part of Gyeonggi Province and bought a lot of land, making a market profit of 3 billion won [approximately $2.5 million USD]? The news even gave you a big advertisement, Attorney Cha has to come out.

“…I’m not an expert. I told you it was just luck.”

-Hey, don’t do that, come out once.

“Let’s finish the development first and talk again.”

As we continued talking, we were already at the parking lot.

I turned off the engine and was about to hang up when a good idea suddenly came to me.

“Reporter Choi.”

-Huh?

“You said you had a stock expert among your acquaintances earlier, right?”

-I did?

“Please introduce me.”

-Oh, why are you doing this? Attorney Cha, you also have some knowledge of stocks. What are you trying to be greedy about again?

“It’s not for that purpose, I’m trying to do a project related to Wooshin.”

-A project? What project? What interesting story are you going to tell? Did our bodhisattva [enlightened being] receive a revelation from the general again?

I chuckled at the playful words.

“It will be fun. Are you free tomorrow? I have something important to talk about.”