You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 279

“Ugh, what the hell? Jesus, you scared me.”

It was an old man dressed in worn-out hiking clothes.

To be exact, it was hard to tell if he was an old man or just a middle-aged guy.

His face was covered in grime, and his hair was matted.

A strange stench seemed to waft from him, and Sang-gil subtly took a step back.

He looked like a homeless person.

“Ah, that old guy’s here again.”

But LifeBet sighed as if he was used to it and took out two new cigarettes from his pack.

“Give me a cigarette.”

As if he had been waiting for it, the homeless man held out a grimy hand.

LifeBet placed the two cigarettes he had taken out on his hand, and the homeless man turned his head towards Sang-gil and held out his hand again.

“What do you want?”

But Sang-gil wasn’t one to be easily taken advantage of.

He had forgotten and didn’t bring new cigarettes, so he only had one left. What was he supposed to do if he gave this away?

Of course, he could buy them at the store, but he still felt like he was losing, and it hurt his manly pride.

“Just give it to him quickly. It’s not the first time.”

LifeBet whispered to Sang-gil.

At the words ‘not the first time,’ Sang-gil finally realized.

This homeless man was no ordinary homeless man.

He was a known fixture at Hwagun Reservoir, a named homeless man [a local character with a known presence].

Just like the homeless people who set up camp in front of Seoul Station and Busan Station and subtly appear to smokers to beg for cigarettes.

Sang-gil ended up handing over his entire cigarette pack.

Then, without even saying thank you, the homeless man put the cigarette LifeBet gave him into the pack Sang-gil handed over and disappeared into the darkness.

“With Lee Jung-chan dead, fewer people are coming here, so it must be tough for him to make a living.”

LifeBet clicked his tongue, even worrying about him despite being ripped off.

“Let’s go in now. Do you have a good spot, hyung [older brother or close male friend]?”

Sang-gil asked as he entered the entrance.

The left side was towards the scene of the incident, and the right side was a spot where the scene wasn’t even visible.

At Sang-gil’s question, FishingLifeBet crossed his arms and pondered.

“There are good spots all around, but…”

“Where was the last spot you went to, hyung?”

It was natural to ask, Sang-gil thought, complimenting himself on his conversational skills as he waited for an answer.

“I did it over here, and it used to be good to catch fish here? But these days, not so much…”

LifeBet pointed to the left.

*If he had been on this side that day, he might have seen Cha Ju-han*, he thought.

He didn’t want to admit it, but Cha Ju-han had a striking appearance wherever he went.

A tall, pale guy wearing a suit strangely wandering around the reservoir in the middle of the night would have been noticed at least once.

Sang-gil crossed his arms like LifeBet and led him to the left.

He had to go this way to go near the restricted area and ask exactly where he had been.

“Let’s go then!”

“I’m telling you, it doesn’t seem that good these days?”

“It’s all in your head, hyung. I catch a lot of fish on this side too.”

Sang-gil ignored LifeBet, who was looking at him strangely, and quickened his pace.

“Oh, this area is off-limits?”

After walking for a while, they came to an area with yellow tape.

LifeBet glanced over the tape and tilted his head.

“Is this where the incident happened?”

“Oh, I guess so.”

“That’s strange.”

As LifeBet muttered, Sang-gil didn’t miss the opportunity and asked.

“What is?”

“No, I was over there.”

LifeBet pointed to the spot they had just passed.

It was about a 5-minute walk from here.

There was a bright, large light between this place and that spot, but it didn’t seem like he would have seen anything because of the dense bushes.

“Did you see anything?”

“No, I didn’t know anything. But if someone died, there would have been a scream.”

“That’s right. But you didn’t hear any sounds either?”

“I didn’t hear anything. And Lee Jung-chan was found in the water. So, the murderer killed Lee Jung-chan and then threw him into the water. When someone falls into the reservoir, everyone hears the splash even from a distance and looks around, but there was nothing like that. Wasn’t Lee Jung-chan’s body found in the water?”

“I think I saw in the newspaper that they pulled him out of the water.”

“Ugh… Sang-gil, Lee Jung-chan’s ghost is going to come out here. Let’s set up over there.”

LifeBet led Sang-gil and started walking in the opposite direction.

Since he had achieved his purpose of leading LifeBet here, Sang-gil followed him in the opposite direction without regret.

They were getting farther away from the scene of the incident, but what did it matter when there was someone who was here at that time?

On the side they were heading to, there were a few people, perhaps because it was far from the restricted area.

They unpacked their things a little farther away and began to prepare for fishing in earnest.

*Ah, it’s so disgusting.*

When LifeBet took out the bait worms he had bought at the entrance store, Sang-gil almost threw up without realizing it.

Even in the military, he was always running away at the sight of worms, and he almost fainted when he saw Tinkerbell [likely a reference to a specific type of worm or a military anecdote].

But if he, who had pretended to be a skilled fisherman, showed that he was disgusted by worms, he would be suspected, so he squeezed his eyes shut and put his hand into the basket full of worms.

“Your equipment is all new?”

In the meantime, LifeBet, who was looking at the fishing rod Sang-gil had taken out, asked.

He could never say that today was his first day fishing, so Sang-gil answered as if it were nothing.

“I just got it yesterday. You could say I upgraded it a step? They say a craftsman doesn’t blame his tools, but just because you use good tools doesn’t mean you’re not a craftsman. Haha.”

Since he was going to get it from Cha Ju-han anyway, Sang-gil said without hesitation, ‘Give me the best one.’

As they say, a craftsman recognizes a craftsman.

He knew what was good, and his eyes looking at the fishing rod intently were unusual.

Anyway, that’s how the boring fishing began.

“The fish aren’t biting at all, hyung.”

Had an hour passed?

LifeBet was silent, wondering what he was thinking, and Sang-gil, who had been watching for an opportunity, cautiously opened his mouth.

“I know.”

“I just thought of something, hyung. Have you heard that story?”

“What?”

“The one who killed Lee Jung-chan isn’t actually the person who’s wanted right now.”

“That lawyer guy?”

“Yes.”

“I haven’t heard that story. Then who killed him?”

“Wooshin Group. People in the know all know it.”

Sang-gil lowered his voice and whispered.

*That’s right.*

Everyone in the know knows that it was Wooshin Group, not Cha Ju-han, who killed Lee Jung-chan.

The problem is that there are only about ten people who know it.

“Wooshin? Why Wooshin?”

“I heard from an acquaintance who’s a reporter that it was revenge. Originally, Lee Jung-chan was sticking with Wooshin and living well, but with his son’s case and that pharmaceutical company case, they drifted apart.”

“Really? Well, Lee Jung-chan was screwed, so it makes sense that they would drift apart.”

“But the person who’s suspected of being the culprit used to specialize in exposing Wooshin’s corruption. It was on the news, too. The prosecution used that suspect as an investigator in the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical case.”

“I didn’t know that. That lawyer is that kind of person? I heard he’s famous, though.”

“I saw it on the news, but you didn’t see it, hyung?”

LifeBet shook his head.

At Sang-gil’s office, every time Cha Ju-han was on the news, they said he had become a superstar, and they had to do better to maintain the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] contract in case they were abandoned.

As expected, he was only famous in the industry and not known to the general public.

“Anyway, Lee Jung-chan was going to tell that lawyer about Wooshin Group’s corruption. So, Wooshin found out about it and *ttak!* [onomatopoeia for a cutting motion, implying death]”

Saying that, Sang-gil drew his thumb across his neck.

“…Hmm, now that I think about it, I think I saw people in suits walking around in groups that day.”

LifeBet, who had been thinking hard, spoke up.

If people in suits were walking around ‘in groups,’ it wouldn’t be Cha Ju-han and Kang Min-jae.

You wouldn’t describe two people walking around as ‘in groups.’

Above all, hadn’t the two of them already separated before reaching the place where LifeBet was fishing?

“People in suits?”

“Yeah. I wondered why people in suits were walking around the reservoir in the middle of the night, so I peeked around a bit.”

“Oh. About how many people were there?”

“I don’t know. About three?”

Could it be that the people LifeBet saw were the ones who killed Lee Jung-chan?

Sang-gil swallowed hard and pressed further.

“Wow, then did those people kill Lee Jung-chan?”

“I don’t know. I peeked around a bit because I wondered if something had happened, but I didn’t hear any loud noises, so I just thought it was nothing and lost interest.”

“The article said that the estimated time of death was around 11 to 12 o’clock. Was the time you saw those people around that time too, hyung?”

“Hmm… I was watching the entertainment show on DMB [Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, a mobile TV service] that starts after the drama at 10 o’clock, so wouldn’t it have been around that time? I didn’t look at the clock, so I don’t know.”

“Then, hyung, did you happen to see their faces?”

Sang-gil said, his hands sweating.

LifeBet, who had been staring at the surface of the water while talking, glanced back at him.

“I think I saw them.”

“Oh, you saw their faces?”

“Not all of them, but I remember the impression of one person.”

*Crazy.*

*Crazy, crazy, crazy!*

Sang-gil wanted to get up from his seat right then and do a dance of joy for 4 seconds.

So, LifeBet remembers the face of the person presumed to have killed Lee Jung-chan!

He said he didn’t see the scene of killing Lee Jung-chan, so it can’t be decisive evidence, but at least if he finds out who that person is, he can get some clues.

“But, Sang-gil.”

LifeBet, who had been answering obediently, tilted his head as if something was strange and asked.

“You’re not a detective in disguise or something, are you?”

“…Pardon?”

With a feeling that his heart was sinking, cold sweat began to form on his back.

He wasn’t a detective, but he was pretending to be a fishing enthusiast for the purpose of extracting information.

“Oh, no? A detective? Where’s a 24-year-old detective? Should I show you my ID?”

But Sang-gil did his best to pretend to be nonchalant.

And LifeBet, deceived by Sang-gil’s formidable acting skills, smiled and nodded.

“Well, I guess not. You seem really interested in that case.”

“I’m just interested in world affairs. But hyung, if what I heard is true, you might have seen the person who actually killed Lee Jung-chan. Shouldn’t you report it somewhere?”

“Eh. But that’s not a definite fact. Besides, they say that suspect ran away, right? Why would he run away if he’s not the culprit?”

“…That’s true, but.”

Judging by his reaction, he won’t come forward on his own.

For now, it seems best to get a composite sketch from LifeBet and have him compare faces when he narrows down the candidates later.

To do that, he has to keep maintaining his friendship without being caught as a fake fisherman until at least then.

Since he asked if he was a detective, it seems like he would get a negative reaction if he told the truth.

“Oh, hyung. I think something’s biting?”

Sang-gil shouted, watching the ripples on the surface of the water.

LifeBet hurriedly grabbed the fishing rod, and Sang-gil quickly wrote a text message on his phone in the meantime.

[The person I met just now seems to have seen the culprit (or those bastards)!!!!]