You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 20

You’ve Been Defended – Episode 20

Prosecutor Yang turned pale and shouted.

“This evidence was not agreed upon in advance. I cannot accept it!”

“We also obtained this evidence during the recess, so we couldn’t apply for it in advance. Please allow it as it is crucial evidence.”

“Sigh… Both sides, come forward.”

Judge Go Il-guk was already rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache.

Prosecutor Yang, facing me in front of the bench, shouted, spitting.

“Your Honor, this evidence was not agreed upon in advance. We cannot accept evidence whose contents are unknown!”

“Defense attorney, what is the nature and content of the evidence?”

“It is decisive evidence that the defendant is innocent. It’s a video.”

“A video?”

Prosecutor Yang turned pale and looked at me.

He seemed unnerved that I had decisive evidence to prove my innocence.

“That’s right.”

“Then, we will review the evidence first and decide whether to adopt it through a deliberation of the court.”

A heavy silence fell over the courtroom while waiting for the video to play.

Kim Hyung-joon suppressed his trembling hands with his other hand, and Kim Yeon-joon looked at me as if he didn’t know what was going on.

Weeeing-

The sound of the computer recognizing the USB was heard.

Even though it wasn’t a loud sound, it echoed loudly in the courtroom as if an amplifier had been installed.

A video player popped up on the monitor.

As soon as the play button was pressed, a man’s scream was heard without any delay.

“Damn it, let’s talk!”

It was a video taken with a camera hidden somewhere.

Some parts of the top and bottom of the video were blacked out.

However, the figures of the trembling couple were clearly revealed.

Thump! Thump!

Along with the sound of kicking the master bedroom door and trying to break it down, the doorknob shook.

“If you don’t open the door, I’m going to smash everything in the house, you fuckers!”

Startled by those words, Yeo Hee-sook approached the door, but Kim Cheol-hwan stopped her and shook his head.

He seemed to be telling her not to, but Yeo Hee-sook closed her eyes tightly and opened the locked door.

“I’m asking to talk, why don’t you listen? Huh?! Look at my face and talk straight!”

And what appeared through the door was Kim Hyung-joon holding a baseball bat.

The audience began to stir.

The relatives opened their mouths in disbelief, and the maternal grandmother covered her face and began to sob.

“Hyung [older brother/male friend]! Don’t do it! Talk it out, huh? Talk it out!”

Kim Yeon-joon followed and grabbed the baseball bat in Kim Hyung-joon’s hand.

Kim Hyung-joon’s hand, wearing thin latex gloves, pushed Kim Yeon-joon away roughly.

Pushed by the force, Kim Yeon-joon’s back hit the corner of the drawer, causing him pain.

“Get out of the way, you orphan bastard!”

“Hyung-joon, why are you really doing this… Put down the baseball bat. Calm down and talk to Father, okay?”

Kim Cheol-hwan said, embracing Yeo Hee-sook, who was in a panic and trembling.

“Instead of raising your own child well, why adopt this kind of orphan bastard and waste money, you fucker!”

“Hyung-joon, your business—”

“Shut up!”

Kim Hyung-joon kicked Kim Cheol-hwan, knocking him under the bed.

And started hitting him with a baseball bat.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

The beating continued without giving him a chance to even groan properly.

“Honey!”

Yeo Hee-sook’s tearing scream was heard, and Kim Yeon-joon rushed towards Kim Hyung-joon again.

“Stop it, please! Don’t do it! Something big will happen!”

“Let go, you son of a bitch! Where are you butting in, you who don’t even have roots!”

Kim Yeon-joon tried to take the baseball bat away from him again.

Although the angle was not right and it was not clearly visible, it seemed that Kim Hyung-joon struck Kim Yeon-joon’s solar plexus with his elbow.

Kim Yeon-joon was in great pain and fell back down.

Kim Hyung-joon, who had removed the obstacle, again raised the baseball bat and began to beat Kim Cheol-hwan, who had fallen to the floor.

“Hyung-joon, please… Please stop! Honey, honey!”

Yeo Hee-sook cried out.

She approached Kim Cheol-hwan, who was convulsing on the floor.

And she hugged Kim Cheol-hwan and sobbed.

“I’ll do whatever you want, so please stop, Hyung-joon… Stop it!”

“What are you saying, you bitch? Get out of the way!”

Kim Hyung-joon kicked Yeo Hee-sook.

Yeo Hee-sook fell over, and he struck Kim Cheol-hwan, who was convulsing while lying prone.

Thwack! Thwack!

Every time the baseball bat was swung, blood splattered.

“Please, stop it, Hyung! Please! Sob, stop it!”

Kim Yeon-joon rushed towards Kim Cheol-hwan as if bouncing.

And hugged Kim Cheol-hwan to protect him.

“Dad, Dad, please come to your senses… Dad!”

Kim Yeon-joon shook Kim Cheol-hwan, sobbing.

He hurriedly began to check here and there as if trying to check Kim Cheol-hwan’s pulse.

“Mom, c, call an ambulance… Call an ambulance, Mom.”

Kim Yeon-joon, who was in a panic, stuttered, but Kim Cheol-hwan seemed to have already stopped breathing.

Yeo Hee-sook picked up her cell phone following Kim Yeon-joon’s words.

However, Kim Hyung-joon did not miss this.

“What are you doing, you bitch?”

Kim Hyung-joon grabbed Yeo Hee-sook’s hair.

And threw her to the floor.

“You fucking bitch! You’re driving me crazy!”

Again, blood was splattered every time the baseball bat was swung towards Yeo Hee-sook.

“Aagh! Ack!”

Kim Yeon-joon tried to stop him by embracing her, but Kim Hyung-joon kicked him.

“Stop it… Please, stop it… *Hic*, sob.”

Kim Yeon-joon weakly clung to Kim Hyung-joon, but Kim Hyung-joon swung the baseball bat without regard.

And before long, she stopped moving.

There was not even a slight movement.

Kim Hyung-joon quietly approached the couple and checked if they had stopped breathing.

Kim Yeon-joon stood there blankly and looked at the scene.

“How on earth… How could this happen…”

Kim Yeon-joon muttered, repeating the same words as if his soul had left his body.

Kim Hyung-joon, who was breathing roughly, was soon startled by the doorbell and rushed out to the living room.

From afar, the police were heard banging on the door and shouting.

Kim Hyung-joon hurriedly came into the master bedroom and handed the baseball bat he was holding to Kim Yeon-joon.

“Hold it for a second.”

“…….”

Kim Yeon-joon, who was completely out of it, received the baseball bat as he was told.

And Kim Hyung-joon, taking off the latex gloves he was wearing, slipped his hand into his pants.

He seemed to be hiding something inside his underwear.

Thinking that preparations were complete, Kim Hyung-joon quickly ran out to the front door.

The screen remained fixed on Kim Yeon-joon, standing blankly holding the baseball bat and the corpses of the couple.

However, even for a moment, Kim Hyung-joon was heard wailing to the police from afar.

“Please, *hic*, please save my parents! Please stop Yeon-joon! *Sniff*…….”

The video playback ended there.

The courtroom was enveloped in a chilling silence.

Even the judge seemed to have lost his words, and Prosecutor Yang was also in a state of unconcealed embarrassment.

I looked at the audience.

Kang Min-jae was quietly raising his thumb towards me.

“Oh, Attorney?”

I, who was preparing for the trial in the office without going home, encountered Kang Min-jae entering the office before the sun even rose.

“You came early? No, you’re wearing the same clothes. Didn’t you go home?”

“I’m preparing for the trial, and there’s something I need to think about.”

“Ah. Is it because of the camera?”

Kang Min-jae approached the coffee pot, putting down his bag.

“I was also thinking about it when I went home. If we strongly argue the motive of the crime and talk about the problems that existed in Kim Hyung-joon’s business, he will be caught anyway after the 2nd trial date. Shouldn’t we try to find the camera by then, no matter what?”

I watched the sun rise, smoking a cigarette while he made coffee.

I was frustrated that we had to drag out the time like this, even though I knew there was a video evidence but couldn’t find it.

“It’s a pity about Ms. Yeo Hee-sook, though. She needs an outlet to relieve stress. I heard that watching movies was her hobby, but she couldn’t even do that because she was trapped in panic and even got yelled at. Isn’t it bad that she couldn’t even relieve her stress and it just kept building up? Moreover, her daily life was ruined.”

He lit a cigarette and handed me a cup of coffee.

“She must have died with a lot of stress. It’s so unfortunate.”

“That’s right.”

“I went back to Ms. Yeo Hee-sook’s house and ran the program. I had nothing to say. She was such a cheerful and lively person.”

Kang Min-jae shook his head, leaning against the veranda fence.

He probably felt uneasy, just like me, so he came to the office early.

Maybe something else will come out, maybe we can see something more, maybe we can do something more.

To find even that.

“I said that she reflexively pressed the record button when she was in a panic and heard the doctor yelling.”

“Yes, you did.”

“So her daily life was difficult.”

“Yes.”

“Ms. Yeo Hee-sook had more medical appointments than broadcasts. She needed a manager.”

“And?”

“She doesn’t get yelled at on broadcasts. But her daily life became difficult, so she panicked when she heard yelling. If she had continued broadcasting, she would have asked the people around her not to yell at her.”

I continued thinking while drinking coffee.

Mysterious fragments of thought floated in my head, as if they were about to connect.

“Did the staff at the broadcasting station yell at her a lot while preparing for the show?”

“Don’t we do that too? But I don’t know if she got yelled at enough to not go on the show.”

“The director yelled at the assistant director on .”

I suddenly remembered when I first went to the broadcasting station to investigate.

The assistant director seemed used to being yelled at by the director, and even though he didn’t care, the swearing was heard outside the editing room.

“Ms. Yeo Hee-sook checked her makeup and the screen, and every time there was a cut, Ms. Yeo Hee-sook asked for another take during the filming of . The filming probably took longer than usual, and the director must have gotten annoyed. He probably scolded the assistant director with swear words, but I don’t know the details.”

“…Then.”

“When the assistant director was getting yelled at by the director, they must have installed cameras everywhere in the house during the filming. What do you think Ms. Yeo Hee-sook would have done if she panicked at that time?”

“She would have reflexively pressed the record button?”

“Then the scene would have been captured on the cameras that were installed for filming.”