You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 293

“Who is Attorney Cha Mo? I think that’s what you’re most curious about. Actually, before the media even confirmed him as the culprit, they used his photos and videos so much that anyone who was interested already knew. You can find him with a simple search. Especially those of you watching our broadcast, who keep mentioning the attorney who appeared on our show, so you all probably know him.”

Cha Ju-han had appeared on television countless times, but some media outlets stubbornly captured and used only the moments when he briefly appeared on Jo Bong-jun and Choi Jong-hyun’s broadcasts as article photos.

Perhaps because Jo Bong-jun and Choi Jong-hyun had made a name for themselves by taking the lead in exposing the corruption of Lee Jung-chan and his son, they prepared photos that seemed to link him to Lee Jung-chan.

Of course, Choi Jong-hyun argued that, in that case, they could have used news photos from when he worked as a temporary investigator for Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals.

In any case, due to the use of such article photos, the replay views of Jo Bong-jun and Choi Jong-hyun’s videos, especially the episodes featuring Cha Ju-han, hit an all-time high.

Even though they took action to make the videos unavailable quite quickly.

“From now on, I’ll simply call him Mr. C. Cha, Mo, Attorney. It’s five syllables, too tiring to say.”

[Lee Reporter Squad: Hyung [older brother/male friend], you spend so much more time on useless chatter; how can five syllables be so tiring? lololol]

“No, it’s inconvenient to say! You talk too much. Listen quietly.”

“Since Bong-jun’s explanations tend to be unnecessarily long, I’ll do it. Actually, information about Mr. C has been all over the news, so you might feel like you’re hearing things you already know. But for those who are hearing it for the first time, I’ll give a brief explanation.”

Commonly known information followed: graduating from Seoul National University’s Law School, completing the Judicial Research and Training Institute at the top of his class, working as a prosecutor, and then opening a law firm.

“Hearing this, you’d think he lived the life of an elite, right? In fact, you could even say he has a strikingly inhuman side. How can someone only be number one like that? Especially considering his first assignment was at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, and he went to the Western District Prosecutors’ Office in between, only to return to the Central District Prosecutors’ Office, you can see that he was an elite among elites within the prosecution. Everyone only watches dramas, so they think most prosecutors go to the Central District Prosecutors’ Office, but in reality, it’s rare to find prosecutors only in Seoul. Rotating through the provinces is the norm. The fact that he, who was like this, killed Lee Jung-chan seems to have been even more shocking to the public.”

It was indeed.

Moreover, the cases he had taken on so far had given a strong impression that he fought for the weak, so the resulting image gap was even greater.

Whether it was Cha Ju-han driving Lee Se-hyung to suicide or being booked on charges of tax evasion or real estate speculation, even incidents that had remained at a relatively minor level at the time were all brought back to the forefront.

People had been deceived by the fabricated image until now, and his antisocial side was now showing.

People love the downfall of celebrities.

No matter how much they deny it, that is the nature that Choi Jong-hyun, who had faced the public for a long time, had observed.

He himself might also be one of those people.

But this time, is he feeling so much antipathy simply because the person falling happens to be a close friend?

Choi Jong-hyun suppressed the bitter feeling and raised his tone.

“We had commissioned Mr. C for a case, and that’s how we naturally came to know about Mr. C. But I will refrain from speaking now because we are the people who are suggesting the possibility that a third party, not Mr. C, killed Lee Jung-chan. No matter how much we talk, it seems we won’t gain much persuasion.”

[Little Baby Squirrel Jonghyun: Am I the only one curious about what kind of culprit the hyungs [older brothers/male friends] felt he was?

Like the First Time: Me too, curious. ㅇㅇ [Korean slang for ‘yes’] To be honest, most of the people watching this broadcast right now clicked because they thought it would be an interesting topic, but most of them are old men who stuck with the boring old men’s broadcast until the end. At least we’ll believe what the old men say.

Lemon Carrying Debt: I agree, I agree. I’m also curious about what kind of culprit the hyungs saw.]

While hosting this broadcast for a long time, the two were sometimes grateful to the viewers, sometimes resentful, and suffering from various ambivalent feelings.

But at this moment, both Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-jun seemed to feel a stinging sensation in their eyes.

These guys, they trusted us this much.

“Then, let’s watch the video we filmed first, and then add some comments afterward about what we felt about Mr. C.”

Jo Bong-jun gestured to Kim Jung-woo, who had finished preparing to play the video.

The video that Kim Jung-woo played seemed to have been taken by the two from outside, with a very unstable shaking against an outdoor background.

It showed only the paving stones and the weeds growing in between, and the two’s old sneakers, as if heading somewhere.

Soon, the video stopped at a cafe.

“-Hello.

Hello, thank you for coming out like this, even though you’re working.

-No, it’s Attorney B’s business, so I had to come out.”

A modulated voice flowed out.

It seemed to be a young man, with a subtly awkward tone and a somewhat embarrassed voice, as if he was not used to this situation.

“-Could you briefly introduce yourself?

-I am someone who commissioned Attorney B immediately after Attorney B opened his law firm. To be exact, the attorney reached out to me first after learning about my situation. At the time, I was falsely accused of killing the parents who adopted me, and I had given up everything and admitted to it.

-I remember. I remember that you answered quite enthusiastically when we requested an interview.

-If I may ask why?

-I owe the attorney my life—no, my whole life. Of course, I don’t know the attorney personally, but because he came to the cafe where I work every day, I saw him almost every day. Above all, the time when I commissioned him remains a very strong memory… I didn’t think the attorney would do such a thing.

-You don’t know him personally, but even if you were indebted to him, may I ask why you were so sure that he wouldn’t do it?

-I was surprised at first, too. I was shocked when I saw the reports that a weapon was found in his house and that there was a witness. But I once saw the attorney being called a psychopath on television, and I didn’t think that was the case. Above all, when I saw the report that the method of murder was so ruthless, I didn’t think it was the attorney’s doing.

-Why?

-Um… It’s true that the attorney’s personality isn’t very affable. He’s so cold, and he can be so firm that you might even feel he’s rude. But it’s hard to call him a psychopath because, during the trial, I had human interaction with him… No, to be honest, this kind of talk isn’t very persuasive and might be cliché. I’ll just say it bluntly.

-Yes, please continue.

-Just looking at the method of murder, I can say for sure that it wasn’t the attorney’s doing. Honestly, I might be making things worse by saying this, but if the attorney had killed someone, he wouldn’t have stabbed them so many times with a knife but would have used poison or disguised it as a suicide… Anyway, I think he would have used a more meticulous method.”

The first video ended.

In fact, Kim Yeon-jun, the protagonist of the first video, continued with more comments afterward, but most of it was praise for Cha Joo-han, so it didn’t seem very convincing, and I cut it off appropriately.

“As you can probably guess just by hearing the general content, this person is someone who was acquitted after entrusting his case to C. Originally, I was thinking of visiting all the clients to get videos, but I thought it would be boring, so I only got one person for now. Let’s watch the next video.”

The second video was also set in a cafe.

The person sitting across from the camera appeared to be a woman.

She was wearing casual clothes, making it difficult to determine her exact status.

[-Please give a brief introduction.

-I can’t go into detail, but I’m an acquaintance who has been watching Attorney B for several years.

-I see. Here’s the first question. Attorney B is currently wanted on suspicion of murdering Lee Jung-chan. What are your thoughts on this?

-I think it’s absurd. Well, Attorney B may be a psychopath as the media says. He’s the type who doesn’t show his emotions very well, and he doesn’t care about hierarchy. Um, yeah. Attorney B may have hated former CEO Lee Jung-chan. Even so, no one would have known. Attorney B might have really wanted to kill former CEO Lee Jung-chan because he hated him so much. But at least he wouldn’t have killed him this time.

-What makes you think so?

-Because if Attorney B had murdered Lee Jung-chan, he wouldn’t have done it so stupidly.

-Excuse me? Um, could you explain that in more detail?

-Attorney B is what you would call a genius. He’s flawless. Even if he isn’t, he doesn’t show it to others. If Attorney B had committed a crime, it would have remained a perfect crime.

-For example, a locked-room murder…?

-No? Even if you don’t know who the culprit is in a locked-room murder, at least the fact that someone was murdered is revealed. But if Attorney B had killed someone, it would have been perfectly disguised as an accident. But not only was the murder weapon found in his house, but he was also witnessed by someone, there was a record of meeting the victim, and even the body with evidence all over it was abandoned at the crime scene? That’s ridiculous.]

The protagonist of the second interview is Lee Ye-jin.

Kang Min-jae recommended her as an interview subject, and despite her status as a prosecutor, she agreed to the interview on the condition that she completely conceal her appearance and properly distort her voice.

“Let’s move on to the third video.”

The content of the third and fourth interviews wasn’t much different.

And the moment of the last video finally arrived.

[-Please introduce yourself.

-I’m Attorney Kang Min-jae, working in the same office as Attorney B.]

He boldly revealed his identity and didn’t even request a mosaic [blurring of the face].

From the moment they decided to film this interview, he had persistently clung to them, saying he would participate too.

[-Attorney Kang Min-jae, what are your thoughts on the current situation?

-I really think it’s absurd. When Attorney B was a prosecutor, I spent my time as a trainee in that room. Do you know what Attorney B’s nickname was back then? I think everyone at the Central District Prosecutors’ Office knows.

-Please tell us.

-FM Robot. The reason why he was called FM Robot was because he was a stickler for principles. Even in situations where he could have been swayed by human emotion, he unconditionally followed the law, and there were no exceptions. He was also sharp in many ways. A bit, um, like Kant [Immanuel Kant, an influential German philosopher known for his rigid adherence to principles].

-So, because he’s a stickler for principles, he wouldn’t have done anything that violates the law?

-That’s right.

-But Attorney B was investigated by the prosecution for illegal speculation and tax evasion…

-Ah, that was dismissed without charges, and he wasn’t even indicted. From the beginning, Attorney B didn’t even do common tax savings. I know that he reported all of his income without deducting a single penny.

-I see. The people who have been interviewed so far have commonly said that Attorney B is a cold person who doesn’t express his emotions. What do you think about this?

-Ha, that’s what people say when they don’t know Attorney B. Attorney B doesn’t show it, but he has a warm heart. And I feel insulted that Attorney B has been portrayed as such a heinous murderer.

-……Haha, I see. Attorney Kang Min-jae seems to respect Attorney B quite a bit. That’s why I’m worried that you might be seeing him through rose-colored glasses in a positive sense. Attorney Kang Min-jae seems to think that Attorney B did not murder Lee Jung-chan, is that correct?

-Yes. That’s right.

-Why do you think so? Is it simply because Attorney B’s character is excellent?

-No. To be honest, Attorney B is not a person with an excellent character… Putting that aside, Attorney B is not the kind of person who would kill someone in such a clumsy way and get caught right away. That’s what people say because they really don’t know Attorney B. If Attorney B were the culprit, um, I can’t really imagine how meticulously he would have committed the crime… Maybe the victim’s death wouldn’t have been known until now. Really.]

“Okay. Let’s end the videos we’ve prepared here. Because, even though the tone is different, everyone is giving a common answer.”

[내가그린기린그림 [Naega Geurin Girin Geurim – a Korean phrase meaning “The giraffe picture I drew”]: Are they all here to help C…? It’s not like he’s not someone who would kill someone, but whatㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

스핔커 [Seupikeo – Speaker]: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋHigh-level anti [sarcastic support]

까만안경 [Kkaman Angyeong – Black Glasses]: Isn’t that a roundabout way of dissing himㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

최종현의 가발 [Choe Jonghyeon-ui Gabal – Choi Jong-hyun’s Wig]: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋAn interview with completely different content from what I expectedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

“And finally, since you asked for our opinion, we’ll add a few words. Honestly, we were worried. Thanks to C, we got through the lawsuit from Myunghwa Pharmaceutical without much trouble, and our broadcast is doing well. So, we were thinking of praising his character… But as mentioned in the previous interviews, C is not really a warm-hearted style, and in his professional field, and in terms of appearance, he is an unrealistic style… So, we didn’t really feel any familiarity. So, even if we were asked to defend him, there’s not much to defend.”

“But honestly, to be blunt, there’s one thing I’m sure of.”

When Choi Jong-hyun continued to speak at length, Jo Bong-joon interjected.

“What is it?”

“Everyone’s right. If C killed someone? Then there’s no way C would be on the suspect list. He would have framed someone else. Then a picture would have emerged of idiots like Jong-hyun hyung [older brother/friend] being caught instead.”

“What? What did you just say, you idiot?”

[타짜 [Tajja – The High Rollers, a Korean movie about gambling]: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋWhat the heck is C?

김현수다 [Kim Hyeonsuda – Kim Hyun-soo is here]: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋEven if it turns out that C is not the culprit, C will be cryingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

스트리트파이터2 [Seuteuriteupaiteo 2 – Street Fighter 2]: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋC’s final defeat]