You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 179

You’ve Been Defended – Episode 179

[I’m an Insider at Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals] Apollo, hello.

I’ve been following all your posts on the stock bulletin board, NewsNow, and even your internet broadcasts.

I could tell that you’ve been investigating Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals and Antrozol Alpha in great depth.

I’m sending you this email after hearing you say on your internet broadcast that you’re looking for someone who can help.

As I mentioned in the title, I’m an insider at Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals.

If you need any data, I can help you within my access.

Please reply to this email if you’d like to discuss this further.

Thank you.

The email was more productive than the phishing emails we’d received so far.

And it was quite in line with the purpose for which we had written the email.

However, that doesn’t mean we can take this email at face value.

Even though the sender claimed to be an insider at Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals, they didn’t reveal their identity at all.

The nickname set in the email was also ‘Insider.’

I thought for a moment and immediately wrote a reply.

[

Hello, Insider.

This is Jo Bong-joon.

I know this must have been a difficult decision, so thank you so much for stepping forward.

But as you know, this is a very sensitive matter, and I’m putting a lot of effort into it, so it’s hard to trust just what’s written in the email.

I hope you understand.

I’d like to discuss the details in person.

Of course, your identity will not be revealed to anyone other than me, reporter Choi Jong-hyun, and the lawyer in charge of this case.

I’ll adjust the time and place to suit your convenience.

I look forward to your reply.

Thank you.
]

After sending the email, I checked the time.

It’s only 11 a.m. yet.

I need to quickly share this with Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon and come up with a plan, but they’re probably still asleep.

Even if they’re awake, they’ll be suffering from a hangover.

…Wait, but what does that matter?

This is an urgent situation.

Blaming myself for momentarily wavering due to consideration, I headed to the veranda.

And I called Jo Bong-joon.

The ringing tone continued for a long time, and just as it was about to go to the answering machine, he answered the phone.

-Ugh, hello……

“This is Cha Joo-han.”

-I know.

“Where are you now?”

-Here? Where is here? Um, it’s Cha Byeon’s house [Cha Byeon refers to Lawyer Cha’s house].

“Is reporter Choi also with you?”

-Jong-hyun hyung [hyung is a Korean term used by males to refer to older brothers or close older male friends]? He’s passed out next to me.

“Then wake him up, I have something to tell you.”

-Hyung, wake up. Cha Byeon is on the phone, wake up, quickly.

I could hear Jo Bong-joon’s voice trying to wake up Choi Jong-hyun over the phone.

I could also hear the sound of slapping, as if he was hitting him on the back.

-Hyung woke up too.

“Put it on speakerphone.”

-It’s on.

“Jo Bong-joon just received an email from an insider at Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals.”

-……Huh? An insider at Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals?

Jo Bong-joon, who had been answering in a consistently languid voice, raised his voice.

-Are you sure it’s an insider at Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals?

“I don’t know yet. I’ve sent a reply for now. I said I want to meet.”

-Good job.

“So, pull yourself together and get up. I put hangover cures in the fridge, so drink those. I was thinking of talking about it tomorrow because you two are in bad shape, but I don’t think I can. Come to the office today for a case meeting.”

-……Okay, we should. What time should we be there by?

“Have lunch and see me around 2 p.m.”

-Okay. Thanks for the hangover cures.

I hung up the phone and went back to my seat, and there was already a reply to the email.

[

Hello, Apollo.

I fully understand that you can’t trust me with just a simple email.

As you said, it would be better to meet in person and talk.

I’m available this evening and tomorrow evening.

How about meeting at Apollo’s studio?

If you give me the address, I’ll check how long it will take me to get there and set a meeting time.

I look forward to your reply.
]

I thought that since he was an insider, he might be reluctant to reveal his identity, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

When I sent the address of Jo Bong-joon’s studio as a reply, he said he could come by 7 p.m.

It seemed like he was coming straight after work.

There wasn’t much time left until the summons, so it was better to meet as soon as possible.

After setting the appointment time for 7 p.m. tonight, it was already 12 p.m.

“Shall we go for lunch?”

At that moment, Kang Min-jae got up like clockwork and said.

In this office, we rarely miss meal times.

Because Kang Min-jae’s accurate meal clock guides us to the restaurant.

“Kang Byeon [Byeon is short for Byeonhosa, meaning lawyer], have you grasped the case a bit?”

“Ah, yes. I’ve read the articles Apollo posted, and I’ve listened to NewsNow. I’ve only watched clips of the broadcast for now, but I’m planning to watch the whole broadcast before I go to bed after work.”

Kang Min-jae grasped the outline of the case in a short amount of time.

He seemed to have come up with a defense plan of his own.

“I think the suspicions Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals is receiving are reasonable. It’s not like they’re nitpicking over something completely absurd. And even if it’s not true, we can push it as a statement for the public interest.”

Kang Min-jae put spoons in front of me and Office Manager Oh as he answered.

“That’s right. But the client doesn’t just want to be found innocent or not guilty.”

“Then what?”

“He wants to use this case to confirm the truth of the allegations he’s raised.”

I pulled the earthenware pot that the restaurant employee served in front of me and said nonchalantly.

Kang Min-jae seemed to be thinking about what I said, then picked up the pepper shaker and said.

“Um, so you mean that in the process of distinguishing between false statement and true statement, you’re going to prove that it’s not a false statement?”

“That’s right.”

“Then does Jo Bong-joon have evidence to prove that?”

Kang Min-jae asked as he put pepper in his sundae soup.

Sometimes Kang Byeon makes people lower their guard and then asks sharp questions like this.

I put minced seasoning in my sundae soup and answered.

“Well, I don’t know yet, but… we have to steer the case in the direction the client wants. If he doesn’t want a not guilty or innocent verdict, but wants to turn the essence of the case into a defamation case with factual claims, then we have to do that.”

“That’s right. But there may be some risks. Not only does the difficulty of the case increase, but we’re also going to be directly confronting Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals. You were summoned to the prosecutor’s office a while ago, right? I’m worried about that. Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals is an affiliate of Wooshin, right?”

“I don’t care.”

“You may not care, but I’m worried. Please understand how the people watching feel, huh? Office Manager, say something too.”

He tapped the arm of the office manager, who was sitting next to him and concentrating on eating.

But the answer Kang Min-jae wanted didn’t come out of Office Manager Oh’s mouth.

“We have to do what the lawyer wants to do. He’s not the type to not do it just because we tell him not to.”

“That’s true… Ha, really. Jo Bong-joon must have been firmly disliked by Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals this time, and just by defending such a Jo Bong-joon, Wooshin Group will firmly recognize the lawyer’s existence, right? You might be selected as their main enemy.”

“Main enemy? This isn’t the military. I’m also curious about the truth. And as you said you read Jo Bong-joon’s article, Antrozol Alpha is mainly a arthritis medicine for the elderly. I also find it outrageous that they’re playing around with that. It’s true that we’re constantly fighting against Wooshin, but it’s also true that Wooshin keeps doing bad things.”

Kang Min-jae nodded slowly as if that was the right thing to say.

“You said he’s a lawyer’s acquaintance, and you’ve already decided to take on the case, so I’m not going to stop you. I was just worried about the lawyer.”

“Then Kang Byeon’s grandfather can help again, right? Why else would I be working with the grandson of the former president?”

It was just a joke, but Kang Min-jae put down his spoon as if he was shocked.

“I thought you kept working with me because you liked me?”

“Isn’t it because I thought some crumbs would fall from the elder?”

“…Lawyer, am I getting hurt?”

“Kang Byeon, are you serious? Of course, I’m joking. The lawyer didn’t even know who Kang Byeon’s grandfather was until recently.”

“Ah, is that so? That’s right, ah, I almost got hurt for nothing. Hehe.”

When Office Manager Oh added a word, Kang Min-jae quickly seemed to feel better and focused on the sundae soup again.

Sometimes, when I see him being so simple after sharply grasping the case, I get confused.

What is Kang Min-jae’s real self?

* * *

After finishing the meal, Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun stopped by the office.

Whether they had stopped by the house in the meantime, they brought the original summons that I had only seen in photos.

After briefly greeting Kang Min-jae, we finished the overall briefing.

I had glossed over it, saying I didn’t know well to Kang Min-jae while eating, but since I had already established a plan to some extent, it didn’t take too long.

Jo Bong-joon shared the fact that he had received an email from an insider at Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals today and that he had decided to meet and talk in detail, as if he had done it himself.

Kang Min-jae was delighted, saying that he would also like to go to the meeting with the informant.

He had been nagging that he was worried about taking on the case, but anyone who saw him would think that he was desperate to take on this case.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought to get rid of him.

When he heard Jo Bong-joon’s words that the informant wanted to hide his identity and that he had promised not to tell anyone other than one lawyer and Choi Jong-hyun, he soon understood.

And around 7 p.m., we headed to the studio.

“I wonder what kind of person the Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals insider is?”

“Wouldn’t it be one of the researchers? Like a whistleblower who has evidence that Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals knew all the facts and hid them.”

That’s the scenario I want the most.

If that were the case, it would end smoothly, but I don’t think that’s the kind of person he is.

Because, in my previous life, such a person didn’t exist.

In fact, it was surprising that an insider at Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals had appeared.

I don’t know well because I didn’t directly take on the case when I was a prosecutor, but what is certain is that there was no critical evidence.

That’s why Antrozol Alpha was still being sold continuously until before I regressed.

I’ll have to wait and see.

“I can hear footsteps?”

It was when the second hand pointed exactly at 12 o’clock.

Choi Jong-hyun gestured towards the studio door.

Everyone held their breath.

The sound of footsteps was really getting closer.

And the sound stopped in front of the door.

“……”

Soon, the door opened.

And the person who appeared there was none other than,

“Oh, Lawyer Cha?”

“You are……”

It was Kim Chan-young.