You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 205

You’ve Been Defended – Episode 205

* * *

“Kang, are you free any day after work?”

Now that we’re working together, I should formally introduce Kang Min-jae to Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon.

They already knew Kang Min-jae as the grandson of former President Kang Kwan-woong, but Kang Min-jae probably only saw them as lawyers on the Myung-hwa Pharmaceuticals defamation case, right?

We’ll be ‘plotting’ a lot in the future, so it would be good for them to get to know each other beforehand.

“After work? I’m always free. I have nothing but time, you know that. But why do you ask?”

Kang Min-jae answered cheerfully, seeming more excited than usual.

“I was thinking of having dinner with Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon.”

“Ah, are you introducing me? Is this like a newbie welcome party? Haha.”

“Well, yeah. And we need to build some familiarity to establish trust.”

“If that’s the case, can’t we go on an MT [Membership Training, a Korean bonding trip for students or colleagues]?”

“MT? We’re not college students.”

I remember being forced to go even when I didn’t want to in college.

The reason I don’t like MTs is because I almost died from drinking all the alcohol poured on me by the female seniors.

I remember bringing several cases of soju [Korean distilled rice liquor], and I think I drank about half of them myself… Honestly, I don’t even know how much it was.

They gave it to me in soju glasses, in *doe* [a traditional Korean measuring unit, roughly 1.8 liters], in big cups, and even in gourds.

Even though I was a strong drinker, I couldn’t stay conscious after drinking that much.

And that’s not all.

When the seniors gave me alcohol mixed with all sorts of filth as a department tradition, I even regretted enrolling, wondering if I had to do this kind of thing.

Of course, other classmates couldn’t stand the nausea and ran outside or struggled while holding onto the toilet.

In the end, I remember crawling home with a hangover the next day.

That’s what MT is to me.

Looking at articles from my previous life, it seems that such college MT culture was being addressed as a problem and discouraged, but in our time, there were many disadvantages if you refused.

I, who graduated from college in the 90s, couldn’t even expect such advanced awareness of human rights.

“Let’s go on an MT!”

“No.”

“Ah, let’s go. If you just tell me the concept, I’ll find a great place. Do we have to go to a pension [Korean guesthouse] for an MT? We can rent a nice beach villa and drink whiskey. In a luxurious way.”

“If that’s the case, why go on an MT when we can just go to any bar?”

“People become close when you drink together until you’re wasted, roll around and sleep in the same room, and then have hangover ramen together.”

Who would call Kang Min-jae the precious only grandson of a former president?

“Ah, so is that why you deliberately got wasted at our company dinners, came to my house and caused trouble, and then had hangover soup and left the next day? To become friends with me?”

“Well, not necessarily… But it’s true that I became friends with you, Attorney!”

“Who says?”

I don’t want to deny that Kang Min-jae and I are friends, but I never thought we became friends because of alcohol.

If anything, it might have been a reason for us to grow apart.

“Ah, I want to go on an MT. We haven’t even gone on a workshop for our office. Rent a pension, huh? We can gather, talk, eat, and drink. How great is that.”

“We just went to Jinseong a while ago. We went to your favorite guesthouse, ate, and talked.”

“That was for work!”

“Attorney.”

Office Manager Oh, who had been quietly listening to Kang Min-jae’s whining, suddenly spoke up.

“If he wants to go that much, let’s go once. I want to go too.”

I thought the office manager would be on my side, but I was greatly mistaken.

There are a total of 3 people in our office.

And among them, two in favor and one against.

In this case, I’ve already lost by majority vote.

I need to win over the votes that will cast a dissenting vote.

“Let’s ask Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon too. We’ll follow their opinion.”

With that, I picked up my phone.

-MT? I’m in! Let’s go somewhere with the sea. I want to see the sea. And eat sashimi at a seafood restaurant. I’ve been stuck indoors working on the Myung-hwa Pharmaceuticals case in Seoul, which is full of smoky air, so I want to get some fresh air for once.

-I’m also in favor. Wow, am I finally having a drink with President Kang Kwan-woong’s grandson? I’ll get him drunk and ask him all sorts of things.

4 in favor, 1 against.

I was miserably defeated.

* * *

The location was Gangneung, Gangwon-do, which was relatively close.

It had the sea they wanted so much, many pensions, and several famous restaurants.

I couldn’t close the office for the MT, so we decided to leave on Saturday.

There were a total of five people going.

Kim Chan-young hadn’t revealed his identity yet, and he wasn’t the type to want to build camaraderie like Kang Min-jae, so he was naturally excluded.

Kang Min-jae also suggested bringing Tae-shik and the National Intelligence Service agent, but if they joined, it would really be a mess.

The National Intelligence Service agent, who can’t live without at least one can of beer a day, and the heavy drinker Tae-shik.

Just thinking about it is terrible.

“Are we stopping at a rest stop along the way?”

“Why bother? Let’s just go straight.”

“Then let’s meet at the pension. Okay, Kang, let’s go!”

“Yes!”

Five people can fit in one car, but Jo Bong-joon is quite large, so it would be uncomfortable. We decided to go in two cars.

As Kang Min-jae wished, he, Choi Jong-hyun, and Jo Bong-joon went in one car so that he could quickly build camaraderie with them, and I went with Office Manager Oh.

Kang Min-jae, who was already excited, took off the suit he usually wore and dressed casually.

As I’d noticed before, Kang Min-jae seems to look better in casual clothes than in a suit.

“Wow, Cha, you look good in a suit, but you also look great in casual clothes.”

“It’s not the clothes that make the man, it’s the face that makes the clothes.”

“Oh, wait a minute. I have a jacket similar to the one Cha is wearing, but I don’t have that kind of *feel*?”

“Your face isn’t Cha’s face, *hyung* [older brother/male friend],”

…Hmm, I guess so.

The two cars arrived in Gangneung, sometimes ahead and sometimes behind.

As Office Manager Oh and I parked and got out of the car first, Kang’s car arrived in front of the pension not long after.

“Min-jae! Open the trunk!”

And Jo Bong-joon, who got out of the car like an arrow, shouted.

Min-jae?

What is that very intimate title?

“Yes, *hyung*!”

*Hyung*?

…What happened in that car during the 3-hour drive to Gangneung?

Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun, who were taking out the boxes of soju and beer that Kang had bought the day before, as well as meat and all sorts of groceries from the trunk, approached us while talking to the pension owner.

And they gestured towards Kang Min-jae, who was diligently carrying luggage.

“Cha, Min-jae seems like a really good friend. I like him a lot.”

“…It seems so.”

Otherwise, how would they call Kang Min-jae by his name and speak informally to him, when they had been using honorifics and calling him ‘Kang’ until recently?

“I thought he would look like a young master because of his appearance, but he’s very sociable and a good kid.”

I just wanted to tell them:

They’ve all fallen for Kang Min-jae’s charm.

Almost as soon as things were organized, Kang Min-jae went to the grill with the meat and alcohol.

“The youngest will grill the meat, and I’ll tell you when it’s done, so please lie down here and rest comfortably.”

At Kang Min-jae’s words, Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun, who were lying diagonally watching TV, jumped up.

“What are you talking about? We have to do it together. Cha, Office Manager, let’s have dinner!”

The time is 6 o’clock now.

The earlier you start, the longer it lasts.

It’s clear that it will be a pour, drink, and get-drunk mode until dawn, but they’re already grilling meat.

“Take it easy, Kang.”

“What are you saying! Every hour is precious. Right, *hyungs*?”

“Of course!”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

…It’s just a pity that I’m always pushed around by the majority.

As it is, the only way is to quickly recruit new colleagues and increase the base of the population that can exercise a precious vote.

“Ah, it’s such a shame. Ha, I should have been there at the moment of the birth of the famous BJ [Broadcast Jockey, internet streamer] Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon… Aish, the attorney is only ostracizing me, really… I became a fan after watching the broadcast for the first time when Bong-joon *hyung* came as a client… Please take me to the studio too. I want to go too.”

“Aish, hey. Min-jae, don’t state the obvious. When are you coming to see the studio? Hehe. Should we go as soon as we arrive in Seoul tomorrow?”

“Yes! Great! Ugh, but I have to buy a congratulatory flower pot…”

It was a mess.

They ate their fill of meat and exchanged drinks, and they got drunk in an instant.

It was a bit chilly to stay outside, so they brought the grilled meat and sausages inside and were doing something similar to a second round.

Choi Jong-hyun and Office Manager Oh had already been knocked out and went to sleep, and only the three of us were guarding the spot.

Unfortunately, I wanted to go to sleep too, but I was being held back because I looked fine.

“But… how did Bong-joon *hyung* end up doing this job? No! That’s right. It could be a very… dangerous job…”

“Me? I’m just…”

Jo Bong-joon trailed off, filling his glass.

In my previous life, I had only heard about Jo Bong-joon from Choi Jong-hyun, and it was my first time getting to know him directly, so I was quite curious.

Choi Jong-hyun said that he hated Wooshin like him and that he was a trustworthy person, so he was put into the Myung-hwa Pharmaceuticals case.

I was only planning to get help with the Myung-hwa Pharmaceuticals case, but he decided to run an internet media outlet with Choi Jong-hyun and even went on the air, getting deeply involved.

There must be a reason.

“…Well, it’s an old story. My father passed away, you see?”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that… Me too.”

“Really? Min-jae also doesn’t have a father?”

“Yes… But it’s okay because I have my grandfather.”

“Hehe. Okay. I’m okay because I have my mom.”

“Hehe.”

…I know they’re drunk, but I wish they’d get to the point quickly.

“I’m going to be a little more pitiful than Min-jae.”

“Uh… Why?”

“Wooshin, that fucking son of a bitch, ruined my father’s business because of money. So he hanged himself. I was the first one to find him. Hehe, those fucking bastards…”