You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 289

“Ah, jeez! Oh, jeez, that scared me! Aaaagh!”

Startled by the bum-like man who suddenly thrust his face between Life Betting and Sang-gil, and the musty smell emanating from him, Sang-gil placed a hand on his chest and shrieked.

“Why are you always so surprised when I show up? You got a guilty conscience? Did I say I was gonna kill you? Why are you overreacting and making a fuss?”

“……Hah.”

That mumbling way of speaking, that voice, and above all, that smell.

It was the homeless man he had bought cigarettes and soju [a Korean distilled beverage] for earlier that day, and whom he had believed he had successfully driven away.

The homeless man grabbed a handful of snacks from the bag spread out on the makeshift table and stuffed them into his mouth, looking at Sang-gil.

He seemed to be asking what was wrong.

“Oh, look at this rude old man. We agreed not to acknowledge each other! You already mooched a ton off me today, why are you still hanging around! Is this guy stalking me or what! Wasn’t your territory over by the entrance? Why did you come all the way here! I’m a guy who’s been through a lot, and whether you’re older or younger, if you’re a pain in the ass, I’ll just take it! What do you say, wanna go at it today?!”

A true man, Sang-gil, embarrassed by having been startled three times by the homeless man, blushed and shouted at the top of his lungs.

But the homeless man paid no attention and continued to munch on snacks, staring intently at Sang-gil.

“Sa, Sang-gil…….”

“If you’re gonna act like this, spit out all the cigarettes and soju I gave you!”

“Sang-gil, just a minute.”

As Sang-gil shouted, Life Betting kept trying to interject, as if to mediate.

“Ah, why?”

However, Sang-gil forgot that he was playing the role of a gentle and kind young man and glared fiercely at Life Betting.

Sang-gil’s smiling eyes made him seem kind, but in reality, his impression wasn’t that soft, and Life Betting quickly shrank back.

The only one at peace was the homeless man, who continued to munch on snacks, staring at Sang-gil.

“You don’t need it? Then I’m just gonna go. I won’t even acknowledge you in the future. You son of a bitch, I was trying to help you, and you can’t even accept that. Idiot, idiot. It’s only a loss for you, not for me.”

The homeless man sucked on his fingers, which were covered in snack crumbs, and 벌떡 [beoljjeok – suddenly] stood up.

Then, he smacked Sang-gil hard on the back of the head, slung his bag over his shoulder, and strode off in the opposite direction.

“Ah, why are you hitting me and acting crazy…….”

Only after he sat back down and rubbed the back of his head did Sang-gil finally calm down his anger. Only then did he realize that he had revealed the wildness he had been hiding in front of Life Betting.

He smiled gently again and laughed awkwardly.

“Ah, hyungnim [term used to address an older brother or male friend], were you surprised? I’m not usually like this, but I had some bad things happen today…….”

“It’s not that, Sang-gil.”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t you hear what that 아저씨 [ajussi – a term for middle-aged man] said?”

“What are you talking about?”

“That 아저씨 said he saw them.”

“Saw what?”

“The people in the picture you showed me.”

“Huh?”

He hadn’t heard those words.

To be exact, he had heard the homeless man say something when he suddenly thrust his face in, but he couldn’t understand because he was mumbling, and more than anything, he was so surprised that he thought his heart would drop, so he couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying.

Only then did Sang-gil realize how big of a mistake he had made, and he 벌떡 [beoljjeok – suddenly] stood up.

And without saying a word to Life Betting, he started running in the direction the homeless man had disappeared.

“아저씨 [ajussi]! 아저씨 [ajussi]!”

After running for a while, he saw the back of the homeless man walking slowly in the distance.

How could he be so far already with such a slow pace?

Did he used to do race walking or something?

He was worried about not being able to find him because it was dark, but his hairstyle, which looked like he hadn’t cut or washed it in 100 years, was exuding presence with just its silhouette.

“아저씨 [ajussi]! No, 선생님 [seonsaengnim – term of respect, like ‘sir’ or ‘teacher’]! Just a minute! 선생님 [seonsaengnim]!”

His pace was so fast that Sang-gil followed behind him with all his might.

When he grabbed the homeless man’s shoulder, which he never wanted to touch, the homeless man finally stopped walking.

“Are you calling me, by any chance?”

“……Aigoo, 선생님 [seonsaengnim]. Then who else would I be calling besides 선생님 [seonsaengnim].”

“Since when have I been 선생님 [seonsaengnim]? Wasn’t I a rude 아저씨 [ajussi]?”

The homeless man seemed to be quite angry.

Seeing him huffing and puffing, spewing bad breath, Sang-gil really didn’t want to do this, but he grabbed his sticky hand and smiled awkwardly.

“선생님 [seonsaengnim]. I had a bad day today. So I think I said harsh things to 선생님 [seonsaengnim] without realizing it. I’m really sorry. What can I do to make you feel better?”

Sang-gil took out a cigarette from his pocket, offered it to him, and smiled kindly.

“Would you like to take a puff?”

“If you smoke here, it’ll start a fire, you 새끼야 [saekkiya – son of a bitch].”

“We’re surrounded by water, what does it matter, 선생님 [seonsaengnim]. If our 선생님 [seonsaengnim] wants to smoke, then he smokes. Haha!”

The homeless man still looked at Sang-gil with a dissatisfied face.

He must have been crazy.

The homeless man kept appearing without warning and startling him, so he must have gotten annoyed without realizing it, but he was really a crazy bastard.

If the homeless man really saw the person in the photo, then all the cases might be solved.

He didn’t know the details, but 강민재 [Kang Min-jae] said that he was a more important person to check than the meter reader he suspected of being the culprit, so wouldn’t that mean this person was the culprit?

If he was the one who saw the culprit, he might have to be called as a witness later, and if he ruined things with his light-hearted chatter, 태식 [Tae-shik] wouldn’t leave him alone.

Sang-gil was restless, half-kneeling in front of the homeless man with a feeling that he might even cry.

“선생님 [seonsaengnim]. What can I do to appease your great wrath? I’ll do anything. If you need more cigarettes and soju [Korean distilled beverage], I’ll provide as much as you want.”

“…….”

“I didn’t want to say this, but if you want to end your homeless life, I’ll help you do that! Somewhere like a monthly rental room…….”

Of course, he didn’t have that ability, but 차주한 [Cha Joo-han] had a lot of money.

And the person who could clear him of his charges had appeared like this, so wouldn’t that rich man be able to get him a monthly rental room?

Sang-gil started babbling whatever came to mind and begging.

“선생님 [seonsaengnim], please. Please, I was really wrong. Really, truly.”

“Buy me 국밥 [gukbap – Korean rice soup].”

“……Yes?”

“I said buy me 국밥 [gukbap].”

“Th, that’s all it takes?”

“Yeah.”

* * *

He was worried about what would happen if the 국밥 [gukbap] restaurant owner didn’t accept homeless people, but thankfully, it was okay.

The homeless man ate 국밥 [gukbap] like someone who hadn’t eaten in 100 years.

He was already on his third bowl, shoveling food without a moment’s rest.

Sang-gil watched him eat and placed well-ripened kimchi on his spoon.

“Eat with me.”

“…….”

The homeless man glanced at Sang-gil with feigned kindness, but continued his meal without paying attention.

With soju [Korean distilled beverage] in between.

Sang-gil, who had been enduring the time while watching the homeless man eat non-stop for 40 minutes, finally looked at him with a subtle gaze as he patted his stomach and burped after emptying four bowls of 국밥 [gukbap].

“선생님 [seonsaengnim]. Can I ask you now?”

“Ask.”

As soon as the homeless man gave his permission, Sang-gil pulled up a photo on his phone and placed it politely in front of the homeless man.

“That day 이정찬 [Lee Jung-chan] died. Do you know when it was?”

“Don’t know.”

Sang-gil pointed to the large calendar hanging in the restaurant and roughly calculated when it was.

Then the homeless man nodded slowly.

“That day, did you see the people with their arms around each other here?”

“Yeah, I saw them.”

“What about this young guy here?”

“I saw him too.”

“Is there anyone else you saw besides these people……?”

“I only saw these two.”

“Do you remember what time it was, by any chance?”

“Where would I get a clock, you 잡놈아 [japnoma – jerk]. Do you think I’d know the time?”

The most important thing is the time he saw those two.

The reason why Life Betting’s discovery could be Sang-gil’s greatest achievement was because he was here on the day 이정찬 [Lee Jung-chan] died, around the time the incident occurred.

Of course, even in a situation where those two people were the prime suspects, it would be helpful to have seen them at this reservoir, but for the homeless man to become a decisive witness, he would have had to have seen them around the time 이정찬 [Lee Jung-chan] died as well.

“Hah, so it was night?”

“Of course it was night, what else would it be?”

“……Late at night?”

“After I saw them and came back to the entrance, the convenience store was closing.”

The convenience store closes at 12 AM.

The time 차주한 [Cha Joo-han] and 강민재 [Kang Min-jae] were supposed to meet 이정찬 [Lee Jung-chan] at 화군 [Hwagun] Reservoir was 11 PM.

The time they entered the reservoir because they couldn’t be seen at the entrance was around 11:10 PM.

And assuming that 차주한 [Cha Joo-han] and 강민재 [Kang Min-jae] started searching separately around 11:20 PM, and considering that 이정찬 [Lee Jung-chan] arrived at the reservoir early, the time they were expected to have committed the murder was between 10 PM and 11:20 PM.

“Did you come straight to the entrance after seeing those people?”

“No. I came out a little later. I think I watched them for about 40 minutes, but I don’t have a clock, so I don’t know, but that’s how it felt to me.”

If he watched them for about 40 minutes as the homeless man said, then the time he saw them was 11:20 PM.

That falls within the time frame in which the murder was expected to have occurred.

“Could you tell me in detail where you saw these people, and what they were doing when you saw them?”

Sang-gil turned on the reservoir map on his phone and placed it in front of the homeless man again.

Life Betting said he saw the meter reader fishing with rough-looking people around here at 10 PM.

In other words, Life Betting is presumed to have seen them before they killed 이정찬 [Lee Jung-chan].

But if the homeless man saw them at a closer time, there is a possibility that he witnessed the murder scene.

Sang-gil clenched his fists tightly with increasing tension.

“I saw them here.”

The homeless man pointed to a part of the map.

It was towards the forest that surrounded the reservoir.

It was a completely different point from the place where the police line was set up to preserve the scene.

“I was trying to ask the kids who were fishing for a cup of ramen, so I was coming this way through the trees, right? But suddenly, some guys were dragging a fishing bag inside, and something felt strange, so I hid here.”

“And then?”

“The guys you showed me in the picture came and ripped the bag open like this, right? Then an old man came out of it, whether he had fainted or something, anyway, he didn’t seem to be in his right mind.”

“……Was that 이정찬 [Lee Jung-chan]?”

“I didn’t know at the time. But as time went by, it looked like 이정찬 [Lee Jung-chan].”

“So?”

“The young guy in the picture lifted the old man up like this, and the guy with his arm around him stabbed the old man like this with a knife.”

At that moment, Sang-gil barely managed to stop himself from shouting ‘Nice!’

He was talking about a person who had died, and even if he had achieved his goal, it didn’t seem polite to say that.

But even so, he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from twitching upwards.

Found him, the witness!