You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 268

Although I’m trying to stay calm, my body feels tense.

I woke up a little before 5 AM.

Even though I went to bed around the same time as usual, I woke up an hour early.

I tried to go back to sleep, but it didn’t work, so I decided to just get up.

It was still dark outside the window.

I went downstairs to the first floor, thinking of taking a quick shower and having a cigarette.

“You’re up? You must be hungry. Would you like to eat first?”

The housekeepers were already up and preparing breakfast; the smell of rice cooking filled the first floor.

“No, thank you. I’m just going to have a cigarette.”

“Oh, okay. Then, shall I blend you some juice?”

“It’s alright.”

As I walked past the living room, I suddenly noticed the morning newspapers on the table.

“…….”

Subscribing to newspapers from all affiliations, there were about six or seven newspapers neatly arranged on the table.

I picked up the Iljung Daily, which was placed at the front.

The large photo on the front page caught my eye.

[Former Minwoo Party Leader Lee Jung-chan Found Dead]

A photo with Lee Jung-chan’s face superimposed against the backdrop of a reservoir.

I reflexively checked the article below.

[Former Minwoo Party Leader Lee Jung-chan was found dead on the afternoon of the 4th at a reservoir in Gyeonggi Province, about a week before his trial. After the deceased went out with his driver, saying he had an appointment, and there was no news for two days, the housekeeper, finding it strange, reported it and a search began. Coincidentally, a passerby who visited the reservoir discovered and reported the body, which was identified as former Minwoo Party Leader Lee Jung-chan as a result of fingerprint verification.

]

The back-page article contained the same information I already knew.

The content that the suspect was identified as a result of checking the text message history.

[…Lawyer Cha, who was scheduled to meet the deceased at the reservoir, has been identified as a suspect and was to be summoned, but it has been revealed that Lawyer Cha has disappeared and is on the run.]

And, the fact that I was named as that suspect.

Although my name and age were not specifically disclosed, my surname is not common, and if it’s a lawyer with the surname Cha who has recently been involved with Lee Jung-chan, many people would naturally think of me, so it’s as good as being public.

I sat on the sofa and turned on the television.

[…Police are searching for Lawyer Cha, who has disappeared…]

[…Lawyer Cha made a significant contribution to revealing the corruption of former leader Lee Jung-chan…]

As I flipped through the channels to check the situation, I found that all sorts of news outlets were reporting the incident, starting with Iljung Daily breaking the embargo.

Some of them even broadcasted my appearance on television with mosaics [blurred to protect identity].

“Lawyer!”

At that moment, Kang Min-jae came downstairs to the first floor with a clatter.

He hadn’t been up for long; his hair was a mess, and he was in his pajamas.

“Lawyer, Iljung Daily broke the embargo…”

He shouted as he ran towards me, then stopped next to me, staring blankly at the TV screen.

“…Damn, are those bastards crazy?”

Just as footage from my TV appearance was being aired, Kang Min-jae couldn’t hide his agitation.

“They haven’t even found any solid evidence yet, and they’re already revealing the lawyer’s personal information? Are they crazy, really!”

“Iljung Daily published an article first, calling me Lawyer Cha. So, other media outlets are now urgently releasing Lee Jung-chan breaking news, and it seems like one of them started using my footage to avoid missing the suspect breaking news.”

“What a disaster to wake up to… I woke up after receiving a call from a friend. He asked me out of the blue if it was you, Lawyer.”

Kang Min-jae slumped down on the sofa and checked the Iljung Daily article on the table.

It seemed that other newspapers besides Iljung Daily had kept the embargo; different stories were written on the front pages.

As expected, as soon as today’s Iljung Daily morning newspaper was published, the broadcasting station hurriedly broadcasted the footage they had prepared in advance.

“If this happens, the police will also become impatient. They’ll get a search warrant today and search my house and office first.”

“…I’ll call the Office Manager first. I’ll tell him not to come to work today.”

“I’ll do it.”

I was about to take out the burner phone [a disposable phone used for sensitive communications] Kang Min-jae gave me yesterday, but I soon stopped.

Office Manager Oh is my close aide.

In a situation where I’ve disappeared, he’s one of the first people the police will investigate the call history of.

Calling Office Manager Oh as soon as the report comes out is like telling him to suspect my burner phone number.

If Kang Min-jae calls, it will be accepted that Kang Min-jae is calling to share this situation because he’s an office colleague.

That’s what I have to say during the investigation.

“Call the Office Manager and give the phone to me.”

“Okay.”

It was still early, but he answered the phone before long.

– …Lawyer Kang, what’s going on at this hour?

“Office Manager, I’m sorry for calling so early.”

– Lawyer Cha?

“Yes, it’s me.”

– Is something wrong?

Office Manager Oh seemed to be wide awake, asking in a clear voice.

“The thing is, former leader Lee Jung-chan is dead.”

– …What? That Lee Jung-chan I know?

“Yes. And I’m being named as the suspect.”

– Wh, wh, what are you saying?

His voice rose sharply.

I could hear his wife’s voice asking what was going on over the phone.

Office Manager Oh seemed to brush it off and come out of the room.

I heard the sound of the door closing.

– What are you talking about? You’re being named as a suspect?

“First of all, I’m telling you this because I was worried, but I’m not the culprit.”

– You’re stating the obvious. Of course, you’re not!

“Originally, there was an embargo on the reports related to the death of former leader Lee Jung-chan, so there was some time to prepare. I also heard about it last night, so I was going to tell you this morning, but…”

– …The embargo was broken? Is that what happened?

Office Manager Oh seemed to have turned on the TV.

I could faintly hear the announcer’s voice.

– This is ridiculous…

“It seems that Iljung Daily broke the embargo first, and a reporting war broke out. They’re quite specifically reporting that the suspect is Lawyer Cha.”

– Are you okay, Lawyer? Where are you now? I see it’s Lawyer Kang’s number, so I guess you’re together… The news here says you’re on the run, what’s going on?

“I’m not exactly on the run, but I’m staying at Kang’s house right now.”

– …That seems like a good choice.

Office Manager Oh replied after a moment of silence.

– Even if they’re suspicious, they can’t search the former president’s house without any evidence.

“Yes.”

– …I think they’ll come to search your house and office today, what should we do? Should we not go to work?

“No. You have to go to work. Kang will also go to work.”

Kang Min-jae, who was listening next to me, exclaimed, “In this situation?”

– That’s right, if we leave the office because something happened, we’ll be suspected too…

“Yes. We have to look as unrelated to this incident as possible. Because we actually are.”

– We have to show everything to prove that you’re innocent.

“Yes. And for both of you too. I’m sorry in advance because it seems like you’ll be investigated because of me. I feel bad that you’ll have to go through hardships because of me.”

– Why is that because of you? Ha, well… First of all, is there anything we need to hide in the office? Should I go early and check?

“Just erase the back of the whiteboard. And take down the photos.”

– Ah, yes. I understand.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you. Let’s agree that the call you just received was from Kang, who was shocked by the news report and called the Office Manager.”

– I understand.

In this situation, I’m so glad that there’s a certainty that there’s no need to suspect the people who share an office.

I handed the disconnected phone to Kang Min-jae.

“What about your house, Lawyer? Is there anything you need to hide there?”

“There’s nothing there.”

Originally, I kept materials and memos about Wooshin at home, but after the office was bugged, I rented a small warehouse and stored them there.

In fact, even if I had a lot of materials about Wooshin, it’s not like they’re things that shouldn’t be confiscated, but I’m worried about security.

As for this incident, Wooshin’s influence is heavily involved.

In that situation, if the police find a large amount of Wooshin-related materials in my house, they might find it suspicious.

Above all, it would be troublesome if it got into Wooshin’s ears.

It would be troublesome if they knew how much I knew.

“Would you like to talk to Reporter Yoon Se-yeon? I think we need to know the atmosphere over there.”

“No, it’s better for Kang to do it. Let’s say Kang doesn’t know where I am right now and have him call once.”

“Okay.”

It was when Kang Min-jae picked up his phone again.

The phone rang, and a familiar name appeared on the screen.

[Yoon Se-yeon]

“She can’t be a noble person [a Korean expression for someone who always shows up at the worst possible time].”

“…Is this the time for such leisurely remarks? Sigh. Should I answer it now?”

When I nodded, Kang Min-jae pressed the answer button and switched to speakerphone.

– Lawyer! Did you see the news? Did you see the newspaper?

“Reporter Yoon, no… How could you do this? If this kind of article was going to come out, you should have given us a heads up!”

Kang Min-jae suddenly shouted.

Then Yoon Se-yeon replied even louder.

– I didn’t know either! I really didn’t know!

“You didn’t know either?”

– Yes! I didn’t know! I was forced to use up my monthly leave, so I took a vacation… Lawyer Cha wasn’t answering my calls, are you okay?

“I can’t reach him either. It seems like he turned off his phone.”

– I know it’s not, but I’ll check the facts first. It’s not, right?

“Reporter Yoon, are you calling me now to dig up information?”

Kang Min-jae shouted loudly, as if he was genuinely angry.

Then Yoon Se-yeon realized she had made a mistake and replied in a small voice.

– I’m sorry. Not at all. That’s not what I meant. I didn’t think it was Lawyer Cha’s doing either, and I was naturally assuming that while talking, but if it’s true, I’ll be the only fool, so I asked. Really.

“…Ha, it’s definitely not the lawyer’s doing. I went to that reservoir with the lawyer back then. I was with him!”

– Ha, that’s a relief. Really a relief…

Yoon Se-yeon said with a deep sigh.

“I’ll testify that way when I go to the investigation, and I went there in my car back then. It’s all caught on CCTV, so it’ll be acknowledged. So, if you have to write an article, please take good care of it.”

– I understand. I’ll try my best too. What’s going on, really…

“If there’s anything else you can tell me about the reporting guidelines, can you let me know? The lawyer can’t be reached right now, but the Office Manager and I are also looking into what we can do at the office level. I’ll send an email. Then the lawyer might read it.”

– Yes. I’ll send an email to Lawyer Cha too.

Kang Min-jae hung up the phone and slumped against the back of the sofa.

He still couldn’t hide his bewilderment, and I was just as flustered.

I thought there were still two more days, but it’s already blown up like this.

“It’s driving me crazy, really. What should we do? I thought that even if the embargo was lifted, nothing would come out about the suspect because there’s nothing certain yet.”

I thought so too, but it’s not like I wasn’t prepared for it.

As for the suspect, it’s common for all kinds of places to talk about it as soon as one media outlet starts blabbing without any reporting guidelines.

Later, if it turns out that I’m not the suspect and there’s talk about reporting ethics, they can just put a small apology article on the back page.

“It’s driving me crazy… I’ll get a call from you and the Office Manager today, right?”

“That’s right. And I think your parents will be contacted too… Kang, call our parents and talk to them for me. Tell them I’m safe and sound, and I’m not a suspect. I have evidence to clear the charges, so tell them to wait a little and reassure them. And if the police talk about the call history with Kang, tell them that Kang called to check if he could contact me. Don’t tell anyone.”

Kang Min-jae, who quickly wrote down what I was saying in the blank space of the newspaper, put down the pen and asked.

“You’re not doing it yourself, Lawyer?”

If I hear my voice, my mother will cry, so I can’t do it.

“Kang will do it.”

“…Okay.”

“Let’s get our act together from now on. Both Kang and I.”