You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 299

“Hello. This is reporter Choi Jong-hyun.”

“Jo Bong-joon… Well, just Jo Bong-joon.”

[ApolloFollower: Jo Bong-joon (Currently unemployed) ]
[Song Eun-chan: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL]
[oiaplql2: LOLOLOLOLOL]

“Hey, are you dissing me with that ‘ApolloFollower’ nickname right now?”

“Bong-joon, calm down. It’s true that you’re unemployed, isn’t it?”

“No, why am I unemployed! If I had to say, I’m an internet streamer! Or an investor!”

[PharmaceuticalMagnate: LOLOLOLOLOLOL Jong-hyun *hyung’s* [Korean honorific for older brother or male friend] expression looks so pitiful LOLOLOLOLOLOL]

“You bastards…”

Jo Bong-joon, bothered by the constant unemployment jokes, muttered, clearly wounded.

[DontFallAsleep: Enough, just show the evidence already ㄱㄱㄱㄱ [Korean abbreviation for ‘go go,’ urging someone to hurry] ]
[KimMyungKing: If you cut it off yesterday and disappeared, you should show it right away. Why are you dragging it out? Give us the evidence *ppalli ppalli* [Korean for ‘hurry, hurry’]]
[ByunginYangyo: ㅡㅡ Show the evidence quickly]

The viewers, who usually enjoyed the banter, were impatient today.

Less than five minutes into the broadcast, they were already complaining about the delay in presenting the evidence.

Jo Bong-joon, quietly reading the chat, wanted to retort out of frustration. However, with so many viewers and so much attention on him, he didn’t want to appear as if he was stalling to gather more viewers.

He casually skimmed the chat and winked at Kang Min-jae, who was sitting next to Kim Jung-woo.

“Alright, everyone. Calm down.”

“Okay, let’s skip the preamble and welcome lawyer Kang Min-jae, who joined us yesterday. Please welcome him with applause!”

[Oswald: Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk]
[MakeMeHitTheJackpotInStocks: Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk]
[LemonHaulerDebtPayer: Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk]
[KimChunchu: Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk]
[GirlsGeneration♡: Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk]

“Oh… This is my first time receiving cyber applause.”

Kang Min-jae, seated between Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun, said while scanning the chat window.

“Hello. I’m lawyer Kang Min-jae.”

“We introduced lawyer Kang Min-jae thoroughly yesterday, so we’ll skip it today. If you’re curious, there were some articles about it yesterday, so please refer to those. Let me be clear: we didn’t bring a scammer here.”

[Gomtaengyi: Jo Bong-joon is so happy because there are so many articles about him LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL]
[Solgae: But there were definitely a lot of articles. It’s been number one in real-time search too ㄷㄷ [Korean abbreviation for ‘daebak,’ meaning ‘amazing’ or ‘jackpot’]]
[SongSuro: But Wooshin is getting so many search hits and hundreds of articles. Aren’t they going to release a statement or something?]

“Will Wooshin release a statement? Usually, it’s best to keep quiet in these situations. If they issue a statement, it’ll become a hot topic again, and there will be a frenzy of dissecting it. Of course, when Wooshin releases a statement, they’ll have dozens of lawyers to prevent any issues and craft a statement worth hundreds of millions, but that doesn’t guarantee Wooshin’s integrity will be accepted.”

Since yesterday’s broadcast, countless online articles have claimed Wooshin was behind Lee Jung-chan’s murder, and some reputable media outlets have also covered the case.

Wooshin must have heard about it. Even if the articles hadn’t been published, they would have been monitoring Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun’s broadcast.

But they didn’t think it was the right time to release a statement yet.

I didn’t expect them to from the start.

It takes more than this to get such a large corporation to issue a statement.

Only when Wooshin makes a significant internal mistake during a national crisis, or when a member of the Wooshin chairman’s family commits a crime and it’s actually revealed, will they finally speak up.

The last time Wooshin released an official statement was when Koh Sang-joon’s youngest son’s assault on Yoon Sung’s employee, sexual harassment of a nurse, and habitual drug use were revealed in quick succession.

Since then, there have been many major and minor issues involving Wooshin, but there hasn’t been a single article starting with the common phrase ‘according to sources’.

“Anyway, back to the main issue. Yesterday, we explained why C [Cha Joo-han] couldn’t have murdered the deceased. Many viewers then asked about the murder weapon found at the house and the witness. Well, we can’t address the witness yet, so let’s put that aside. But we have a lot to say about the murder weapon found at the house. So, today, let’s talk about that.”

[ByunginYangyo: So curious ㄷㄱㄷㄱㄷㄱ [Korean abbreviation for anticipation] ]
[rian89: If even the murder weapon is suspicious, then the only evidence that C is the culprit is the witness account ㄷㄷ Then we really don’t know what will happen ㄷㄷ]
[GganImaTtoGga: But isn’t a witness usually pretty important evidence in a murder case?]
[Yangachi: In this situation, if there is only circumstantial evidence and a witness, wouldn’t there be insufficient evidence? Of course, the police would have already verified whether the witness’s testimony is valid… They wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the witness might be lying]
[KimYeonjungILoveYou: But if the witness lied, wouldn’t the witness be punished too? Like perjury or something]

“KimYeonjungILoveYou just mentioned the punishment of witnesses. If a witness’s testimony turns out to be false, they can be charged with obstruction of official business by deception. Perjury is a charge that applies to a witness who lied after taking an oath in court.”

[OhPilseungKorea: Oh… Since there’s a lawyer, this is happening right away]
[KimYeonjungILoveYou: I see… You’re so cool]

As the expressions of admiration continued, Kang Min-jae’s lips twitched involuntarily, but he tried his best to restrain himself.

If it were lawyer Cha [Cha Joo-han], he would never show such a pleased expression for something like this.

In other situations, it would be good to show such a side to give a sense of familiarity, but since Kang Min-jae is acting as a spokesperson, it’s important to maintain credibility.

To do that, upholding the stereotypes people have about lawyers is also a method.

“First, the story must go back to the day when C’s house was searched. That was the day C’s alleged crime was revealed to the media.”

In line with Jo Bong-joon’s words, Kim Jung-woo displayed the briefing materials on the screen.

The timeline of the incident was neatly organized.

The information about Lee Jung-chan’s death and the perpetrator was first released through the *Iljung Ilbo* [Fictional newspaper name] morning newspaper around 4 a.m., and the breaking news that the murder weapon was found at the suspect’s house around 8 p.m., along with related photos, was organized.

“I had a legal matter to ask C about. So, on this day—that is, the day before the death of the deceased was announced, the 16th—I contacted C on the 15th, but he didn’t answer. I contacted the office, but only the secretary answered.”

“For reference, lawyer Cha was not at work that day due to personal business, and I was also out on business.”

“Yes, anyway, so I couldn’t reach him that day, so I thought I should call him tomorrow and went to sleep. But the next day, the 16th, a report came out that C killed Lee Jung-chan. I immediately called again, but he didn’t answer, and I was worried. So I went to C’s house.”

[KimSuhanmuTurtleAnd…: Wow, he went to the house without fear even though there was an article saying he was a murderer?]
[ComprehensiveGiftSet: They must have been close enough to go to his house ㅇㅇ [Korean abbreviation for ‘okay’ or ‘understood’]]
[Hey4885: If they were close, they could do that. I would have gone to see him if my friend was suddenly accused of being a murderer and I couldn’t reach him ㅇㅇ]

Until now, Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun had not revealed that they had a deep friendship with Cha Joo-han.

In particular, they had deeply considered that if they publicly announced that they were friends with Cha Joo-han while doing this broadcast, there would be criticism that they were doing a broadcast to defend him because of that.

However, if they don’t reveal this fact, it’s difficult to explain why someone was at Cha Joo-han’s house.

This was because they had to reveal that Jo Bong-joon had confirmed that someone was inside the house through the intercom.

If only the existence of the meter reader is revealed, it cannot be proven that he entered Cha Joo-han’s house.

Even if Kang Min-jae lies that he went to the house, it will be revealed that Jo Bong-joon visited that day anyway if the investigation proceeds.

Rather, looking at the long term, lying once at times like this will cause them to lose trust in the future.

“I first met C when I was sued by Myunghwa Pharmaceutical, and after that, Jong-hyun *hyung* [Korean honorific for older brother or male friend] asked for help once more when he was arrested for the Lee Se-hyung fraud broadcast, so it’s true that we became friends.”

[qasnzkn: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ They’re doing this defense broadcast because they’re friends]
[vbzmXna: Why are they defending a murderer? Because they’re friends… ㅋㅋ Okay]
[oakqlak: Then you can’t see it as an objective broadcast. I thought it was a pretty objective perspective since yesterday, but I was the only one who was fooled ㅋㅋㅋ]

Unsurprisingly, the chat began to fill with people questioning the sincerity of the broadcast.

Of course, there were some people who occasionally refuted, but it wasn’t enough to stop the viewers who were waiting to pounce.

Since yesterday, the broadcast had been unstoppable.

Presenting evidence that anyone could understand, and only telling stories that didn’t contradict logic, it was natural that even if someone raised an objection, they would be treated as a nuisance and ignored.

Kang Min-jae clenched his fist on his lap.

He was sure that there were quite a few agitators hired by Wooshin in this broadcast.

English IDs that seemed to be made up roughly, which he had never seen chatting during the two days of broadcasting, suddenly started making a lot of noise.

Moreover, seeing them appear in droves and chat as if they had been waiting, it seemed like they were holding their breath, waiting for something to pick on and then running wild.

Even though it wasn’t a completely unexpected situation, he couldn’t help but be flustered by the sudden surge of criticism.

[uasdjh: This is a broadcast… I thought it was writing a novel since yesterday’s broadcast, but in the end, they’re broadcasting to defend him ㅋㅋ]
[12098qwha: You guys are so stupid. If you just hid that you were friends and broadcast, there would have been idiots who believed you, but you revealed it and got so much hate ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ So stupid ㅋㅋㅋ]
[nabslakq: Everyone get out. This is a broadcast where murderers’ friends are defending them ㅋㅋㅋ If you want to see rebuttals to this broadcast, search for ‘Reporter Jung Min-cheol’ on the internet. There are rebuttals to this broadcast]
[leejk76: Isn’t it obvious? Lee Jung-chan ruined their lives because of them, and in a way, that’s why he was murdered. Because if Lee Jung-chan hadn’t ruined his life, who would have dared to kill him? ㅋㅋㅋ In that situation, they’re defending the guy who appeared on their broadcast because they’re afraid of getting involved. Because the fact that he appeared on the broadcast once can’t be erased ㅋㅋㅋ]
[pinaz: No, they’re the ones who became an issue because of Myunghwa Pharmaceutical + Lee Jung-chan, and Lee Jung-chan even died, so they’re racking their brains to revive the ruined broadcast and planned this broadcast. It’s all so obvious, so obvious~]

Kang Min-jae glanced at Choi Jong-hyun, who was reading the chat with a serious face.

“……”

Choi Jong-hyun’s face was more hardened than ever before.

Jo Bong-joon was the same.

He seemed to be wondering how to react.

Before the broadcast, they had agreed to push forward, assuming that there would be viewers who would stand up to them even if this situation arose, but they seemed flustered because the viewers who were standing up to them were being buried.

In this situation, wouldn’t it be better to freeze the chat and proceed, even if it seems like they are somewhat ignoring public opinion?

Kang Min-jae looked at Choi Jong-hyun once again to suggest it, but Choi Jong-hyun seemed more annoyed than ever before.

He was worried that he might lose his temper.

Kang Min-jae tried to open his mouth to somehow ease the atmosphere, but Choi Jong-hyun was faster.

“Hey! I’m speechless because I’ve been watching! Are you saying we’re doing a broadcast to defend him because we’re friends? I didn’t know you guys were so loyal. Can you guys stand up for your friend and say, ‘My friend is innocent because he’s my friend, sob, sob, sob,’ even if your friend is a criminal? Can you guys immediately jump in and save your high school friend if he’s being beaten by a bully and yell at the bully, ‘Why are you hitting my innocent friend?’ Right? Surely none of you guys who are chatting like this just stood there and watched him get beaten and then went to him and said, ‘My friend, did it hurt a lot, sob, sob, I’m sorry, I couldn’t help you…’ Right?”

[ChoiJonghyun’sWig: Real LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL]
[BongjoonILoveYou: Right, they’re pretending to be so righteous. They can’t even stand up for their friends, but they’re so disgusting. The *hyungs* [Korean honorific for older brother or male friend] didn’t present fake evidence or force anything, they said the right things, but they’re still being ganged up on like this. Ugh;; Disgusting]

In conjunction with Choi Jong-hyun’s outburst, viewers who had been unable to speak out because they were being drowned out by English IDs began to chime in.

“Even if he was a friend, we would have kept our mouths shut if he seemed like a real murderer. If we defended someone who seemed like a criminal and the fire spread to us, we would be the only ones who would lose. Are we stupid? We didn’t think Cha *Byun* [Short for *byeonhosa*, Korean for lawyer] was the culprit, so we investigated, and after investigating, we thought our thoughts were right, so we broadcasted it.

Did we want to attract attention? Yes, we wanted to attract attention. But if we wanted to attract attention safely, it would be easier and simpler to broadcast us, who were friends with the criminal, criticizing the criminal, but why would we go through this trouble? If you have a brain, think about it, English nicknames. Stop showing that you’re getting paid to chat and do it naturally. So where are you going to get your allowance?”

When even Jo Bong-joon, who had been silent, added his voice, viewers began to come out one by one and complain that ‘it was strange that the English nicknames were suddenly acting up’ and ‘suddenly a bunch of IDs that I had never seen before poured out and it was suspicious’.

Of course, there were still people who were chatting like ‘They’re just raising their voices because they’re scared’, but it wasn’t to the point where they couldn’t be ignored.

“And there’s someone who properly refuted our broadcast, so tell them to look at that person’s post? Post the chat.”

At Choi Jong-hyun’s words, Kim Jung-woo froze the chat window.

While quickly searching the chat, he found the chat that told him to read ‘Reporter Jung Min-cheol’s’ post.

“Reporter Jung Min-cheol refuted our broadcast. We’ll refute that in detail after our broadcast is over. We don’t even know what the content of Reporter Jung Min-cheol’s post is.

But we are confident in our claims, so we don’t think it will be difficult to refute. Anyway, I think we’ve said enough about our position. If you still think we’re talking nonsense, don’t watch the broadcast. We’ll go our own way.”

‘Don’t watch if you don’t like it.’

What a perfect means of defense.

That’s what internet broadcasting is.

There is less ethical responsibility than public broadcasting, and in the end, it’s a broadcast that viewers come to watch themselves anyway.

If you’re so annoyed, ‘you can just not watch it’.

At the end of Choi Jong-hyun’s words, viewers also began to drive away the viewers who were criticizing them, saying ‘get out if you don’t like it’, and they gradually became quiet as they lost their footing.

“Anyway, let’s continue the story. Yes. I went to C’s house. I think I rang the doorbell about 100 times. Da-da-da-da. But there was no response. The time I went was around this point in this timeline that we showed you.”

The point that Jo Bong-joon pointed to was after the time when Lee Jung-chan’s death and the fact that Cha Joo-han was a suspect were revealed, but before the search and seizure.

“I was about to give up and leave, but you know that, right? When you press the doorbell and wait, and then you hear the ‘pot’ sound when they pick up the intercom inside and then immediately hang up.”

[BadgerHat: That’s the sound when you ring the doorbell three or four times in a row at one house when you’re doing a bell prank, and then the homeowner gets tired of getting angry and tries to turn off the doorbell sound, so they pick up the intercom and immediately put it down ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

“Yes. That. That’s it!”

Jo Bong-joon, who had been worried that he wouldn’t be understood even if he explained it like this, shouted in surprise.

[PharmaceuticalMagnate: Jo Bong-joon confesses his bell prank experience by accident ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

“…What are you talking about, everyone? I’ve never done that. Anyway, that sound came out. So I thought C was at home, but he wasn’t opening the door because of circumstances, so I went home as it was. Well, he might be hiding for a reason. And then, a few hours later, I got a call from lawyer Kang Min-jae here. According to lawyer Kang Min-jae, C had already disappeared since the day before! Then who the hell was in that house!”

[poalak: Are you saying that someone was in the house based on that sound alone? And that person brought the weapon? Get lost ㅅㅂ [Korean profanity] ]

Unsurprisingly, the English IDs reappeared, thinking this was their chance.

They were eager to point out that Jo Bong-joon’s logic was weak, but some of them were viewers who had been following their broadcast well.

They were saying that they couldn’t rule out the possibility that Cha Joo-han had briefly stopped by the house, as Jo Bong-joon had said at first.

If he didn’t answer even Jo Bong-joon, who was an acquaintance, in order not to be caught that he was in the house, then it would make sense.

“You guys are so impatient. Have you only been watching our broadcast for a day or two? Do you think I’m going to say it’s a done deal with just this? Ah, I’m so angry that I can’t proceed with the broadcast, really.”

Jo Bong-joon grabbed the back of his neck and leaned back on the backrest.

Kang Min-jae, watching Jo Bong-joon turning the chair around and suppressing his anger, soon took over the baton and pulled the microphone closer.

“I, who received the story from Jo Bong-joon, checked the CCTV of the *officetel* [Korean term for a multi-purpose building, often used as residences or offices] where lawyer Cha was residing that day. To be exact, it was to check if there was anyone who got off on the floor where lawyer Cha’s house was located after lawyer Cha disappeared and before the search and seizure, and at the same time, before Jo Bong-joon visited the house.”

[PublicEnemy: So was there anyone suspicious?]

“There wasn’t.”

At Kang Min-jae’s answer, chats like ‘Ah, what’, ‘Are you kidding me’ followed.

It was a scene where you could see how impatient the viewers’ personalities were.

“There was only one gas meter reader. But the interesting fact is……”

[WhoOpenedTheDoorLikeThisHwangHyunhee: Interesting fact????]
[LittleBabySquirrelJonghyun: What’s there?]

“According to the gas supply company that day, it wasn’t a meter reading day, and in fact, no households in that *officetel* [Korean term for a multi-purpose building, often used as residences or offices] received a gas meter reading that day.”

[BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer:??????]
[PharmaceuticalMagnate: This is so fun]
[ApolloFollower: Wow…]
[SriLanka: Wow…………]
[SongSuro: Amazing…..]