You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 207

You Guys Are Cleared – Episode 207

The next day, the three of us—excluding Choi Jong-hyun and Manager Oh, who had wisely fallen asleep early—were still paying the price for our overindulgence.

As expected, Jo Bong-joon was a complete wreck, suffering from a truly epic hangover.

In fact, I was awakened by Jo Bong-joon’s misery; every ten minutes, he’d be clutching the toilet bowl, emitting pathetic ‘Ugh’ sounds. That pretty much sums it up.

Of course, Kang Min-jae, who was playing nurse to Jo Bong-joon, wasn’t exactly radiating health either.

Choi Jong-hyun and Manager Oh, bless their hearts, felt sorry for our suffering and bought hangover soup from a nearby restaurant, but we couldn’t even manage a single spoonful.

Originally, we were supposed to check out of the pension at 11 a.m. and head back to Seoul, but we were worried we might die of motion sickness on the way.

In the end, we made an emergency search for nearby accommodations, and we unexpectedly found ourselves extending our MT [Membership Training, a common company retreat in Korea] for a second day.

Kang Min-jae, ever resourceful, quickly located the best hotel in Gangneung—not just some ordinary pension.

The room boasted a terrace with a stunning sea view, and the hotel offered plenty of amenities to enjoy.

“Should we hit the hotel bar tonight and have a glass of whiskey?”

“Hyung [older brother or male friend], are you kidding me? Don’t even utter the word ‘alcohol.’ I can still taste it in my mouth. Ugh, I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

“Do you even have anything left to throw up?”

“I don’t think so… but I still feel like I’m going to throw up. I’ll be right back!”

Jo Bong-joon dramatically collapsed in front of the toilet and slammed the bathroom door shut.

After a prolonged period of groaning and retching, Jo Bong-joon, finally somewhat recovered, began flipping through the hotel information pamphlet in the room.

And what immediately grabbed his attention was, of course…

“Anyone want to hit the sauna?”

“Me.”

“Me too.”

“Ah, I was thinking of soaking in a hot tub as well.”

Everyone except me eagerly raised their hands.

“What about Cha Byun [Byun is short for lawyer]?”

“Cha Byun, come with us. You’ll be bored if you’re left alone.”

“I won’t be bored.”

“You will be.”

“I don’t think so.”

Jo Bong-joon tilted his head, nodding as if he suddenly understood something profound.

Then, he picked up the phone and dialed the sauna’s internal line.

“We have five guests who would like to use the sauna now. Is it okay for us to head over?”

Ha, they never had any intention of considering my opinion in the first place.

Predictably, I was forcibly dragged to the sauna.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been to a sauna with a lawyer.”

The five of us sat side by side in the steamy sauna, towels wrapped securely around our lower bodies.

I used to go to the sauna with Manager Oh to freshen up after long nights of working together.

It wasn’t a regular occurrence, but we even scrubbed each other’s backs on occasion.

We haven’t done that lately, so it’s definitely been a while.

As soon as he entered the sauna, Jo Bong-joon, already flushed a vibrant red, started slapping his chest and sweating profusely.

“By the way, Cha Byun.”

“Yes.”

“About that source you gave me a while ago.”

When Choi Jong-hyun spoke, everyone’s attention immediately shifted to him.

As expected of these workaholics; they’re discussing work even when they’re supposed to be relaxing.

“Source? What source are you talking about?”

“Ah, it hasn’t been shared with the manager and Kang Byun [Byun is short for lawyer] yet.”

“If it weren’t for this MT, it would have been delivered yesterday.”

“Cha Byun, you never tell us everything at once. You always give us bits and pieces.”

“I told you in advance because you two kept complaining that there was nothing to broadcast.”

“No, it’s not that. It feels like you know more than you’re letting on, and you’re only revealing it little by little.”

“That’s not true. I can’t tell you more because I genuinely don’t know more.”

Oh no.

Choi Jong-hyun has always been quick-witted, which is proving to be troublesome.

“You give us a hint, and then suddenly you figure things out on your own. Aren’t you releasing information incrementally while already knowing everything?”

Oops, did I get caught?

“That’s not true. I went to Jinseong with the lawyer during the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical case. If the lawyer knew everything, he would never have done that. He put in a lot of effort.”

Kang Min-jae came to my defense.

I’m suddenly feeling like I made the right decision in accepting Kang Min-jae.

I had decided to join them, but I couldn’t exactly reveal that this was my second life, so I couldn’t share all of my grand plans with them.

However, I am providing all the necessary information at the right time.

I give them hints from time to time so they don’t find it strange if I suddenly provide too much information in advance.

“What’s the source that the lawyer gave you?”

“The head of the Food and Drug Administration might have a connection with Lee Jung-chan.”

“Lee Jung-chan, the presidential candidate for the Minwoo Party?”

Kang Min-jae asked, his eyes wide with surprise as if he had heard an unexpected name.

“The primaries haven’t been held yet, so it’s not certain, but Lee Jung-chan will likely be the candidate unless there are any major surprises,” Choi Jong-hyun replied.

He made a name for himself as a Wooshin expert, but his obsession truly shines when it comes to Lee Jung-chan.

In my previous life, Lee Jung-chan was elected president in this election and safely completed his term.

However, a president’s true colors are often revealed after their term ends.

Of course, Choi Jong-hyun tirelessly raised and tried to publicize suspicions about Lee Jung-chan throughout his presidency.

It appealed to some people who were interested in politics, but it failed to gain widespread national attention.

That was largely due to the National Intelligence Service’s [NIS, Korea’s primary intelligence agency] operations.

But Choi Jong-hyun didn’t give up there.

He has made countless efforts to expose what a son of a bitch Lee Jung-chan truly is.

As a result, he uncovered Lee Jung-chan’s hidden flaws in 2018, flaws that no one else knew about.

And I am the one who knows that fact in 2010, a fact that even Choi Jong-hyun himself is unaware of.

“Cha Byun said that, but it’s actually a bit weak. They can easily wiggle their way out of it with that much.”

“What’s the exact relationship between the head of the Food and Drug Administration and Lee Jung-chan?”

“Ah, they’re from the same hometown. Both are from Yeongdeok. But that’s about it. They went to different schools, and they’re not related by blood.”

“Yeongdeok? Well, Yeongdeok isn’t a big city, so there are fewer people from there, and if they want to stick together in this industry, they can easily do so, but…”

As Kang Min-jae continued, looking like he understood but wasn’t quite sure, Choi Jong-hyun interjected.

“What Cha Byun is suggesting is that since the head of the Food and Drug Administration and Lee Jung-chan share a hometown connection, there might be a deeper connection between the two. If we can involve a big shot like Lee Jung-chan, the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical case will expand significantly.”

The Myunghwa Pharmaceutical investigation is still ongoing.

I laid out the initial groundwork and uncovered some key details, so the rest is now in the hands of the prosecution.

But Wooshin Group has pulled these kinds of stunts more than once or twice.

No matter how intensive the investigation, the prosecution has not yet managed to reach the core individuals within the Food and Drug Administration and Myunghwa Pharmaceutical.

From what I’ve observed so far, they seem to have only identified some low-level employees who received relatively small amounts of money.

In fact, there are some ambiguous aspects to this case that make it difficult to justify a special prosecutor, so there’s been talk about forming a special investigation team, but nothing has been officially decided yet.

Besides, it’s common for such investigations to drag on for months.

Anyway, since Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon’s broadcast initially focused on Myunghwa Pharmaceutical, I thought it would be beneficial for us to revisit that area if we could uncover a few more incriminating details.

Of course, I can’t deny that my personal feelings about Lee Jung-chan played a role in this decision.

“Hyung, you’re practically an expert on Lee Jung-chan. Don’t you have any rumors or whispers you’ve picked up?”

“If I did, I would have revealed them already. But I honestly don’t know anything about his relationship with the head of the Food and Drug Administration.”

“If we catch something on Lee Jung-chan, it’ll be a jackpot. Lee Jung-chan is a son of a bitch, that guy.”

“That’s right. He’s a real piece of work.”

“But even if Lee Jung-chan is involved in the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical case, wouldn’t it be a relatively minor blow to Lee Jung-chan?”

That’s a valid point.

In fact, I only know that there is a connection between the head of the Food and Drug Administration and Lee Jung-chan, but I don’t know anything beyond that.

Perhaps it has absolutely nothing to do with the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical case.

But what if this scenario unfolds?

Let’s imagine that a separate incident, Incident A, erupts involving Lee Jung-chan, who is a presidential candidate, and the fallout from that incident triggers a thorough investigation into Lee Jung-chan’s past.

The connection with the head of the Food and Drug Administration then becomes one of the many points of scrutiny during that investigation.

It’s something that could be brought up in the hopes of eliciting a ‘Lee Jung-chan again?’ reaction, but the scale of the incident isn’t significant enough to stand on its own.

But what if it surfaces while the prosecution is already investigating the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical case?

The issue of Lee Jung-chan’s qualifications as a presidential candidate would then be directly linked to Myunghwa Pharmaceutical, creating a synergistic effect like a massive explosion.

“I’ll find a way to make it a major blow.”

“So you’re planning to completely destroy both Lee Jung-chan and Myunghwa Pharmaceutical? That’s a pretty ambitious plan. Lee Jung-chan is a major player. To take down such a powerful politician with our little scheme… Wow, I’m so excited I’m getting goosebumps.”

Lee Jung-chan is important to us for another, more strategic reason.

From the moment Lee Jung-chan first entered politics to the present day, it was none other than Wooshin Group that provided him with financial backing.

In other words, he is essentially sponsored by Wooshin.

If you receive something, you eventually have to return the favor.

The answer becomes clear when you consider how much Wooshin, already a large corporation, expanded and prospered during Lee Jung-chan’s time in office.

This means that the only way to prevent Wooshin from growing even further is to remove Lee Jung-chan from the equation.

It is one of the necessary tasks, and it can only be accomplished in 2010.

“Cha Byun, you’re not hiding anything else you know, are you?”

At that moment, Jo Bong-joon narrowed his eyes and stared intently at me.

“I would have said something if I knew.”

I only know what illegal activities Lee Jung-chan committed, but I don’t possess any concrete evidence.

It’s similar to how I knew there was a problem with Myunghwa Pharmaceutical’s Antrozole Alpha, but I was completely unaware of the existence of the pharmacist who was hiding in the fishing village.

It’s too early to reveal everything just yet.

I have to make it appear as though I naturally discovered these things while investigating Lee Jung-chan’s inner circle.

“Well, that’s probably true.”

“How long is this hyung going to keep pushing the Cha Byun shaman theory?”

“Ah, that’s just the feeling I get. It’s a reporter’s intuition!”

“…Um, hyungs. Sorry to interrupt.”

“Ah, the hyungs are done talking. Tell us quickly, our maknae [youngest member of the group].”

Jo Bong-joon turned to Kang Min-jae, who had a serious expression, with a kind and gentle face.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look so miserable?”

“…There’s something I’ve been wanting to say since earlier.”

“What is it?”

“…How long do we have to stay in this sauna? I’m dying of heat! Ugh! It’s hot! I can’t take it anymore!”