You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 284

“Hello?”

As Taeshik removed the sack from the informant’s face, the informant coughed repeatedly.

Taeshik pulled up a simple chair and sat close to the informant, who was tied to a chair.

Then, he roughly tore off the duct tape covering his mouth.

“Ouch, my beard got pulled out. That must hurt.”

Taeshik frowned as he checked the hairs stuck to the adhesive surface, then crumpled the tape and threw it on the floor.

“You know yelling’s no use, right? Let’s not make things difficult for each other.”

Taeshik sighed deeply and examined the informant’s exhausted face.

He stared at Taeshik with a blank expression.

At first glance, he seemed to have given up on everything and showed no resistance, but there was still plenty of fight in his eyes.

He wouldn’t resist, but he wouldn’t say anything either.

“I guess you’re not going to say anything, but I have to ask since it’s standard procedure.”

“…….”

“Did Lee Jungchan order you to do it?”

The informant didn’t move.

He just stubbornly kept his head down and kept his mouth shut.

“Well, even if it wasn’t you, your people must have done it. Anyway, we’ve secured evidence that you planted the weapon at Chajuhan’s house.”

“…….”

“That also means you’re screwed. So, you have nothing to gain by keeping your mouth shut.”

“…….”

“Oh, you’re not scared at all? Is it because your brother promised to treat you well when you get out of prison if you take the fall alone? Like, he’ll open a store for you somewhere?”

At those words, the informant raised his head.

His eyes still showed nothing, and he didn’t answer.

“But you’re not naive enough to believe that, are you?”

“…….”

“When you get out of prison, there’s no place for you there. You’re just done for. Keeping your mouth shut is, well, loyal and good, but know this: don’t even think, ‘My brother wouldn’t do that, sob sob.’ Those who get subcontracted by big companies are even worse. There’s no concept of family. To be recognized by the upper management of the big company and keep getting offers from them, they don’t have time to take care of family. It’s all advice from my own experience, so take it to heart.”

He had never given such sincere advice to anyone before, but this bad guy was lucky enough to meet Jang Taeshik, who had turned over a new leaf, not the old daredevil Jang Taeshik.

Taeshik watched the informant, who was still keeping his mouth shut, and gestured to the employee standing beside him.

As the employee approached, Taeshik fixed his gaze on the informant and said,

“Looking at your build, it doesn’t seem like you’ve been to the army yet. Check this bastard’s ID.”

“Yes, sir. But the phone is probably a burner phone [a cheap, disposable phone used to avoid tracking], so it’ll be hard to find his identity with this.”

“Don’t turn on the phone. It has to be inspected by the National Intelligence Service [South Korea’s primary intelligence agency] before opening it. Whatever it takes, spread the composite sketch and find out who he is. Who knows? Maybe someone will recognize him. Looking at how he works, I have a feeling he’s at least a one-star player. And he’s smart, so I have a feeling they’ll be reluctant to just abandon him. Maybe they’re looking for him. Find that out too.”

* * *

“Attorney Kang, about the cloned phone. Do you think they might have installed it on ours too?”

Oh Yanghoon said, taking his phone out of his pocket.

He had already felt uneasy and had turned off his phone before even arriving at Oseong Landscaping.

“Secretary Oh, you turned off your phone too. I did too.”

Kang Minjae also placed his phone, which wouldn’t turn on, on the desk.

“I’ve been thinking, and I think they might have cloned your phone a lot earlier than we thought.”

“How early……?”

“Well, it must have been after the Lee Jungchan case, though. That’s when they would have felt a real sense of crisis. Before, when you were sent to the prosecution on suspicion of tax evasion, Wooshin didn’t go this far. There are so many celebrities who have been accused of tax evasion, and many of them are doing well. If they really wanted to destroy you, they would have framed you as a violent criminal back then. At that time, they were really just trying to scare you. But after the Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals and Lee Jungchan cases, they recognized you as a definite threat and started monitoring you in earnest, and probably cloned your phone too. Lee Jungchan is now a washed-up politician in an instant, but until then, he was an undeniable presidential candidate. Seeing such a presidential candidate fall so quickly must have convinced them.”

Moreover, Chajuhan doesn’t just finish by handling the incidents he causes, but uses public opinion to create a stage and completely finish things off.

You could say he’s trying to extract everything he can from this situation.

He must have thought that he had to step on Chajuhan from the sprout before he grew into an even bigger figure.

That’s why Chajuhan was often called out to the public square unnecessarily.

It’s true that he’s been very active, but none of his actions went against social norms.

He keeps getting caught up in methodology or being judged by ethical standards that are so narrow that he couldn’t pass through unless he was ‘going through the cracks’.

Of course, I’ve been aware that this is media play for a long time, but it was difficult to figure out exactly who was behind it because I had made so many enemies.

I’m sure of it this time.

“……Thinking about it, when we were working on the Lee Jungchan father and son case, Lee Sehyung tried to commit suicide and then suddenly made a fuss about finding the informant. Jo Hyukgeun of the Minwoo Party suddenly came out on the radio news and talked about the informant, and a lot of reporters gathered at our office.”

“That’s right.”

“And from here on out, it’s just my theory, but I heard that you contacted Lee Sehwa of the Liberty Justice Party often to help your friend. I don’t know the details, but I heard about it later.”

“……Since the connection between Lee Jungchan and Wooshin was solid, Lee Sehwa must have been a thorn in Wooshin’s side at that time.”

“Yes. Of course, conglomerates don’t want to make permanent enemies or allies in the political world, so once Lee Jungchan was out of the picture, they must have thought that they should have a good relationship with Lee Sehwa, who was almost certain to be elected president. But since you seemed close to Lee Sehwa, they must have felt really threatened. Well, to be exact, it wasn’t that they felt threatened by you approaching Lee Sehwa, but they were worried that Lee Sehwa kept trying to keep you by her side. I heard from home that Lee Sehwa likes you quite a bit.”

“So, are you saying that Wooshin might have been wiretapping all of your contacts with Representative Lee Sehwa?”

“It’s just my theory, but that’s how I see it.”

While Chajuhan was handling Yang Dongjin’s case, Kang Minjae was working in the office and didn’t know much about it.

But on the day Park Younggi told him about Lee Jungchan’s death and that Chajuhan was a suspect, Chajuhan was with Lee Sehwa.

At that time, he heard that not only Lee Sehwa but also people from the Liberty Justice Party were coming there.

Chajuhan may have been deeply involved in the political world through Lee Sehwa’s line.

I thought this far, but Chajuhan didn’t say anything, so Kang Minjae didn’t ask in detail.

Just like Chajuhan, who had always been secretive about his family, didn’t dig into him until the end.

“If Chajuhan was thinking of joining the Liberty Justice Party and entering politics, as you said… Wooshin would have definitely thought that they had to stop you. And in the meantime, you received a text message from Lee Jungchan, saying he would hand over Wooshin’s corruption documents. They must have thought that if you got your hands on Wooshin’s corruption documents while you were on a winning streak, things would get out of hand.”

“Yes. You’re right, Secretary Oh. I don’t know if he was really trying to enter politics, but if you looked like you were headed that way, it’s enough to explain why they tried to corner you even if they had to overdo it.”

“So, Wooshin might have grasped all of your future plans and the connections you’ve been cultivating. Especially Reporter Choi… Taeshik’s side might be in danger too.”

Kang Minjae nodded heavily.

Until now, he had only publicly revealed his connections with Jo Bongjoon and Choi Jonghyun as having become acquainted with them while taking on cases.

If it became known that Chajuhan was close to them, the broadcasts run by Jo Bongjoon and Choi Jonghyun would also be framed as biased.

Of course, Wooshin would have been able to infer it even if they didn’t wiretap, but even so, it’s different for them to know and for it to be known externally.

If this case is highlighted through their broadcasts, they may also be dragged out into the public square, just like Chajuhan was.

They’re in cahoots with Chajuhan, so they’re doing a broadcast that defends him; they lack objectivity, and their sincerity will be tainted with ridiculous accusations.

“Is Taeshik’s side also in danger? Did you get help from Taeshik when you took on Dongjin’s case? If the phone call with Taeshik wasn’t wiretapped, they would at least think that the relationship with Taeshik is just about hiring him for work at the law firm… Ah, but it might have been revealed today when Taeshik and Sanggil went directly to Hallim Corporation. Oh, what should we do?”

“First of all, Attorney Kang, Jo Bongjoon, Reporter Choi, and Taeshik are needed for the case we’re focusing on right now. So, rather than saving ourselves for the future, it’s better to get through this and then think about it.”

“Ha……. I want to proceed while looking two or three steps ahead like you, but it’s not as easy as I thought.”

Oh Yanghoon smiled as Kang Minjae covered his face with both hands and slumped in his chair as if exhausted.

“That’s not normal, Attorney Kang. Chajuhan’s case is a bit special. How should I put it? He was a talented person when we worked together in the prosecution, but… to be honest, he wasn’t this good. Of course, he may have grown rapidly during the time he was away from me, but it feels like he’s gained a dozen years of experience in a short period of time.”

“Really? He seemed to have a lot of inner strength when I was your intern…….”

“Well, that’s because you were a rookie back then, Attorney Kang. When I see you, you keep comparing yourself to Chajuhan and feeling like you’re hitting a wall.”

“Of course. You and I are the only lawyers in our office, and I especially came here because I wanted to learn from you. How can I not compare myself?”

“Attorney Kang, don’t keep thinking like that. You’re doing well enough. Why do you think you’re not doing well? When you checked the CCTV, you were the one who found out that the meter reader that everyone was just trying to dismiss was a fake.”

“That’s true, but we would have found out anyway as time went on. It’s not like we weren’t going to investigate that meter reader.”

“No. Thanks to you, the time was shortened, and because it was shortened, we caught the meter reader like this. If we had been even a little late, the meter reader might have disappeared.”

“……Thank you for saying that.”

Kang Minjae lowered his head and smiled bitterly.

If you ask if this situation is burdensome, Kang Minjae would not hesitate to say yes.

He still had too many shortcomings.

He’s afraid that everything will fall apart if he makes even a small mistake.

If he had a little more, even a little more experience, the situation might have been different.

Chajuhan acts like it’s nothing, but he’s human, so of course he’ll have emotional fluctuations.

Not being able to make him feel comfortable, he can’t help but keep asking him for advice because he’s not sure that he can solve the case properly unless he asks for his advice, unless he listens to his plan.

He answered as if it were nothing, as if it were natural, but what if the situation were reversed?

Wouldn’t he have handled everything himself, telling himself, who was shaken by this situation, not to worry and focus on getting his mind right?

Dongjin also said that at the drinking party he went to after receiving a call from a drunk Chajuhan.

At the time of the incident, Chajuhan didn’t say anything unless it was absolutely necessary because he was afraid that he would be anxious.

If he called and asked him once in a while because he was anxious, he would just say that it was going smoothly and not to worry, and he was able to control his anxiety a little because he said it so naturally.

Kang Minjae clenched his fist tightly on his lap.

‘I should have done that too…….’

Even though he’s finding clues one by one, even though he’s moving forward even slightly, he feels as dark and uneasy as someone who can’t see an inch ahead because the surroundings are dark.

Was Chajuhan always feeling like this?

How did he endure this pressure?