You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 22

You Guys Are Defended – Episode 22

Prosecutor Yang Han-seok stood in front of the chief’s office, grinding his teeth.

In the moment when the trial’s outcome was clearly decided, Hwang Young-chan, who was in the audience, left the courtroom in great indignation.

And as soon as the trial was over, he summoned me.

I’m going to get chewed out big time.

I was supposed to arrange a meeting with the higher-ups after this trial, but is that promise still valid?

People passing by in the hallway glanced at me as they passed.

Some even whispered.

I couldn’t hear them directly, but they probably thought this:

‘I heard Prosecutor Yang got humiliated by Cha Joo-han in court?’

Prosecutor Yang Han-seok trembled, his fists clenched.

But only for a moment, he took a deep breath and opened the door to the chief’s office.

“Where is the chief?”

When he asked the clerks, they quietly pointed to the door of the room.

Yang Han-seok sighed and slowly walked towards it.

I thought I had prepared myself mentally when I came into the chief’s office, but that wasn’t the case.

I reached for the doorknob, but I couldn’t bring myself to grab it.

-What are you dawdling for! Come in!

Hwang Young-chan’s roar came from inside the room.

Startled, Prosecutor Yang Han-seok quickly opened the door and went inside.

Hwang Young-chan was looking out the window with his back to him.

Prosecutor Yang Han-seok was intimidated by the mere sight of a middle-aged man’s back.

“You said you were confident, right?”

“…….”

“Even if it’s Cha Joo-han, it’s a sure thing. You said it yourself, right?”

“I have no excuse!”

Yang Han-seok shouted, bowing deeply.

“What the hell are you doing!”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not ambiguous, there was undeniable evidence! Do you think it makes sense that the prosecution couldn’t find it and got humiliated like this? And by a crazy bastard who’s been targeting his own family from his first case!”

“I have nothing to say, even if I had ten mouths. It’s my fault.”

Hwang Young-chan turned his head sharply towards Yang Han-seok.

Yang Han-seok, still unable to raise his head, was folded in half like a folder.

“The Jo Jin-tae murder case is coming up again! They’re saying that Cha Joo-han solved it after it was reassigned to him, and that’s why he felt disillusioned with the prosecution and wrote his resignation! That’s why he’s deliberately targeting us! Do you know what the prosecution has been through in the media?”

Hwang Young-chan slammed his desk.

Yang Han-seok flinched each time.

“I didn’t know Cha Joo-han was so good at trials. Only five years in…….”

As Hwang Young-chan muttered, Yang Han-seok raised his head, as if looking for a chance to interject.

“I was really surprised, too. I knew Cha was good at trials, but I didn’t know he was this good……. I thought I was watching someone with 20 years of experience. Especially when he tried to create a motive by going after Kim Hyung-joon’s business, it was obvious, so I told Kim Hyung-joon to strike first……. Even then, he interrogated him without showing any signs of embarrassment. Besides, the way he took control of the atmosphere was really…”

“Shut up.”

Yang Han-seok wanted to say that he was up against an opponent he couldn’t beat, but Hwang Young-chan couldn’t hear it that way.

It felt like he was praising Cha Joo-han in front of him, and it made his stomach churn.

“Cha Joo-han deliberately didn’t put that video on the evidence list and put on a show. No, if he had brought that video from the beginning, the charges would have been dropped before the trial, of course. Then we wouldn’t have been humiliated in court. He definitely did it on purpose.”

Hearing that, Yang Han-seok remembered something.

When he brought the video, saying that evidence had suddenly appeared, he did suspect it for a moment…….

“When Cha came to get the autopsy results with a power of attorney……. He told me that his goal wasn’t to prove innocence, but to get a reduced sentence. Neither the chief nor I thought Cha would bluff. Because Cha wasn’t that kind of person.”

“I can’t figure out what he’s thinking. It’s like he’s changed 180 degrees all of a sudden. Does he have someone backing him…….”

It doesn’t make sense that he’s flying around in court like he’s been in the prosecution for 20 years.

I admit that he was a talented guy from the start.

He stood out from the training institute.

That’s why Hwang Young-chan started to nurture him.

But he was also human, so he made mistakes here and there, and he was a bit of a rigid type, like his nickname FM robot [Field Manual Robot, someone who strictly follows rules].

But now he’s even starting to lie and putting on a show in court.

I can’t understand how a guy who’s only in his mid-30s has suddenly changed like he’s been through all kinds of hardships.

“And Kang Min-jae. What about that guy?”

Hwang Young-chan asked, as if suddenly remembering.

“……I don’t know either.”

“You’re hopeless. You don’t know anything properly.”

“I’m sorry. I heard that someone from Cha’s office visited the factory run by Kim Hyung-joon, but I didn’t know it was Kang Min-jae. I was really surprised to see him contacting Cha during the recess.”

As soon as Cha Joo-han left the courtroom, Yang Prosecutor watched him.

But he was so surprised to see Kang Min-jae running up, panting, outside the courtroom.

He saw him handing something over, but he never dreamed it would be the decisive evidence in the trial.

That means Kang Min-jae was working with Cha Joo-han.

Only the question ‘Why?’ filled his head.

Isn’t he working for Taekwang right now?

I even heard that he’s working under the most valuable senior in Taekwang.

In a few years, he would be guaranteed to escape from being an associate lawyer, regardless of his grades.

But why is he under Cha Joo-han, who just opened his own practice?

“Maybe the person backing Cha is Kang Min-jae’s grandfather.”

“Shut up! How dare you say such a thing? What if someone hears you!”

Yang Han-seok shut his mouth at Hwang Young-chan’s roar.

But he also seemed to have the same thought as Yang Han-seok, and he had a confused look on his face.

Yang Han-seok fidgeted with his fingers, watching his expression.

“You, indict Kim Hyung-joon and finish the trial properly.”

After a while, Hwang Young-chan said in a somewhat calmer voice.

Yang Han-seok breathed a sigh of relief.

Since he didn’t say he was going to assign the case to someone else, it seemed like the opportunity wasn’t completely gone.

“Write a report and bring it to me, too.”

“……Yes.”

“If I think you can replace Cha Joo-han, I’ll call you again then. Until then, stay in your office and do your job properly.”

At those words, Yang Han-seok squeezed his eyes shut.

Everything Hwang Young-chan had promised to do for him after this trial had vanished before his eyes.

“Get out now.”

At Hwang Young-chan’s cold voice, Yang Han-seok bowed deeply again.

And he left the chief’s office with a flushed face.

“There’s no one worth using.”

Hwang Young-chan muttered as he sat down in his chair.

He had to find someone who showed promise, someone who could replace Cha Joo-han, as soon as possible.

* * *

Kim Yeon-joon contacted me as soon as he was released from detention, but I told him to rest enough and come to see me.

He must have suffered a lot, and he must have had many people to meet.

Besides, the media would be flooding him with interview requests, so he should turn off his phone for a while.

Above all, I had to rest a little after finishing a big case.

I had been staying up almost all night, so Kang Min-jae and I decided to get enough sleep and meet at the office in the evening.

“Lawyer, you’re here?”

After the sun had set, I entered the office and found that Kang Min-jae had already placed a bag of snacks on one side.

I was going to take him to a nearby restaurant for dinner, but seeing that he had already set this up, I couldn’t ask him to go out.

“I brought some alcohol, too. It’s a gift to celebrate our victory.”

He said, placing a bottle of whiskey, still in its packaging, on the table.

It’s an expensive bottle of alcohol that costs over a million won [approximately $750 USD].

It’s a bit *b 부담스럽다 [burdensome/too much].

“We can just drink soju [Korean distilled spirit], why whiskey?”

“It’s not that expensive if you buy it at a liquor store. I even bought ice in case there wasn’t any.”

Snacks that go well with whiskey, and even an ice bucket with tongs.

He’s really prepared.

“Have you had dinner?”

“I didn’t eat because I was going to eat with Kang. I was going to go to a nearby restaurant.”

“I thought you might, so I ordered pizza. Is pizza okay?”

It’s a menu I used to eat quite often in the prosecutor’s office.

It was easy to eat while working, and there were no leftovers, so it was easy to dispose of.

Since he was a trainee in my prosecutor’s office, he must have known that it was my preferred menu.

I went out for a cigarette, and the pizza had already arrived.

Kang Min-jae and I started eating quietly without saying much.

“Being like this reminds me of when I was a trainee prosecutor. I don’t think you remember, though.”

We finished one pizza, and while I was folding the box, he brought ice in an ice bucket.

Two glasses for on the rocks were also placed on the table.

“It’s so peaceful because the phone isn’t ringing.”

I had unplugged the phone line and turned off my cell phone because of the flood of interview requests.

As I checked on my way to the office, there seemed to be all sorts of speculations surrounding me, but I didn’t really care.

After all, my goal was to make a name for myself and build a good image.

A former prosecutor who criticized the prosecution’s sloppy investigation.

It felt like I had become an internal whistleblower.

Even so, the real culprit in this Kim Cheol-hwan and Yeo Hee-sook couple murder case was so heinous that it didn’t become a big topic, but my name was probably quite well known in the legal profession.

“How about a toast?”

Kang Min-jae said, handing me a glass.

When we had company dinners at the prosecutor’s office, we had to shout all sorts of embarrassing toasts, but it’s nice not to have that.

Clink!

With the sound of the glasses clinking, we both took a sip of whiskey at the same time.

I’m drinking alcohol for the second time since I returned to 10 years ago, something I would never have touched in my previous life.

Of course, I didn’t intend to drink enough to get drunk.

“Lawyer.”

Kang Min-jae, who had been excitedly talking about the various episodes he had experienced while solving this case, suddenly looked at me seriously.

“Please hire me. I’m confident I’ll do well.”

I definitely thought he would say something like this at a drinking party.

I had told him that I would only include him in this case, so now I wouldn’t have any business with him.

“Kang.”

“Yes?”

“Why did Kang think Kim Hyung-joon was the real culprit?”

At my question, Kang Min-jae smiled awkwardly and replied.

“I told you before. The reasoning process.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

The letters [Lie] floated above Kang Min-jae’s head.

It was a letter I had never seen from him before.

“That’s not it.”

“Yes?”

“The reason you thought that. There’s another reason.”

Kang Min-jae sighed, as if noticing that my words were laced with wariness.

I gave in once because he kept insisting on being included.

It was because I needed an assistant because the schedule was too tight.

Also, I confirmed that Kang Min-jae sincerely believed that Kim Yeon-joon was innocent in this case.

But he naturally changed his attitude.

At first, he said, ‘Include me in this case,’ but gradually he started to put playful pressure on me to hire him.

Even though it’s a memory from 10 years ago, Kang Min-jae wasn’t a very impressive person in my life.

I probably never ran into him after his training was over.

“Lawyer. Do you think I’m suspicious?”

If I were an ordinary lawyer who had opened his practice without any purpose, I might have welcomed Kang Min-jae.

He has a sociable side that I lack, he’s quick-witted, and I can see that he’s working hard.

But my situation is different.

I have a final goal, and the road to it is rough.

I shouldn’t trust anyone easily.

If I choose the wrong person to work with, I don’t know what weaknesses I might provide later.

“I don’t know.”

“It was the first case that senior took on after opening his practice. I didn’t think that the only purpose was to get a reduced sentence. So I kept watching.”

Kang Min-jae continued, his face more serious than ever.

“As I said before, when I heard the announced second autopsy results, I suspected Kim Hyung-joon. So I thought that the reason senior took on this case in the first place was…… perhaps because you were sure of the defendant’s innocence.”

“But that’s what I’m sure of, and Kang only has suspicious circumstances. There’s no reason for Kang to be sure.”

“……Yes. In fact, I wasn’t sure of Kim Yeon-joon’s innocence.”