You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 316

“If we start the broadcast without Jungwoo, that jerk will throw a fit.”

Choi Jonghyun muttered, subtly tailing Jo Bongjoon, who was heading to turn on the computer.

However, for someone trying to dissuade him, he seemed awfully eager to start the broadcast.

As soon as the computer booted up, he started switching on the studio lights and camera as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

“Are you telling me not to broadcast in this situation? I’m beyond pissed! And now that the kids have nothing to watch, they’ll flock to us when we go live.”

“Ah, I was planning to write a column after watching today’s broadcast.”

“Write it after the broadcast. You’ll need time to write anyway, and the people who watched SBC’s broadcast want to keep the ball rolling.”

“Ah, I didn’t even prepare a script.”

“It’s okay. Our broadcast has a raw, unscripted charm.”

Every single word was countered, but Choi Jonghyun, for once, didn’t seem displeased.

He seemed to have found justification for starting the broadcast impromptu through Jo Bongjoon’s rebuttals.

Choi Jonghyun settled into the chair in front of the camera with a much more relaxed expression.

[Live) lol I’m so annoyed I turned on the broadcast]

The title was concise and to the point.

I took the spot with the best view of their studio, the seat Kim Jungwoo was supposed to occupy.

I wasn’t about to miss out on the prime real estate.

In fact, even after going freelance, I’d been so busy that it had been a while since I came to their studio to watch their broadcast like this.

“The broadcast might be long; should I grab some coffee?”

When Kang Minjae asked as he got up, Jo Bongjoon nodded, his face lighting up.

“Great. I’ll have a latte.”

“Bongjoon, don’t drink a latte.”

“Why?”

“You’re going to drink a latte right next to me and talk a mile a minute. Your breath will stink. Minjae, I’ll have a latte. He’ll have an Americano [American coffee].”

“You stink too, hyung [older brother or male friend]?”

“I don’t.”

It was so childish that I couldn’t even bear to watch.

Kang Minjae seemed to think the same, as he shouted while leaving the studio.

“I’ll make it all Americano!”

While he was gone, Jo Bongjoon gestured towards me.

He wanted me to press the broadcast button.

I sat here because it was a prime spot, not to act as a PD [Production Director].

I hesitated for a moment among the many buttons and then started the broadcast.

[Minhyuk: Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reassured: I got the broadcast notification before going to bed and turned it on right away lololol

Give me my credit card: Wow, I didn’t expect it, so sweet lololololol

Kim Seunghyun: Ah, I’m not going to sleep lololol]

As soon as the broadcast started, people began to trickle in.

The number of viewers didn’t explode, but since it was almost midnight, it seemed that people were belatedly checking the notifications and tuning in.

The gradually increasing number of viewers had already reached 8,000.

“Hey guys, hello. I’m so pissed off I turned on the broadcast. Raise your hand if you watched SBC today. How many are there?”

[Shinbiism: Hand

Egg Drop Soup: Hand

Property Damage: Hand

dlwlgns: Hand

Give me my credit card: Foot

凸Myungwha Pharmaceuticals凸: Hand]

The chat window was flooded with people who said they had watched today’s broadcast.

As Jo Bongjoon said, it seemed that many people had watched SBC today and were wandering around wondering if there was anything else to watch, and then rushed over after seeing the broadcast notification.

The chat was all about that story.

It was still surprising that the interest hadn’t died down even though it had been over two months since Lee Jungchan’s death and the coverage of the case began.

Usually, no matter how intense an incident is, the attention doesn’t last this long.

That’s why I always emphasize speed when conducting public opinion campaigns.

Perhaps this case continues to generate stories because evidence that piques people’s interest keeps emerging, and also due to the appearance of Sung Inho, the mastermind behind the murder.

“I’ll make a prediction. Soon, there will be a dating scandal or something similar in the entertainment industry.”

“Hehe. To keep the Wooshin story from coming out?”

“Of course. Listen up, everyone. Let me tell you about that alleged mastermind behind the murder, Mr. Sung.”

“But is it okay to talk about it? Aren’t you afraid of getting sued? Even Cha Byeon [Byeon is short for ‘lawyer’ in Korean] sued dozens of media outlets back then for revealing who the culprit was when he was ‘1 second away from being the criminal’.”

That’s a valid point.

I’m glad they’re aware of that, and fortunately, Sung Inho’s case is different from mine.

First of all, I wasn’t the real culprit, and there wasn’t such complete evidence.

In their words, I was ‘1 second away from being the criminal,’ not the ‘criminal’ himself.

But Sung Inho is a perfect suspect.

Moreover, although internet broadcasting is also under the influence of the Korea Communications Standards Commission when viewed broadly, the atmosphere doesn’t yet recognize internet broadcasting as media, so there’s no need to follow strict reporting guidelines.

The only sanctions would be at the level of the internet broadcasting platform.

Also, Sung Inho will confess soon, so there’s no chance he’ll sue us.

I signaled that I didn’t care.

“Ah, speaking of that, it’s still funny. Isn’t it hilarious that Cha Byeon sued dozens of media outlets? Cha Byeon is really crazy.”

“That guy isn’t quite right in the head either.”

“Hehe, I’m dying of laughter. Anyway, so. What were we saying? Why did Cha Byeon meet Lee Jungchan?”

[WantToEatDriedSaury: To share Wooshin Group’s corruption data, duh]

“You’re such a bright student.”

“So, the reason the murderers killed Lee Jungchan is because they were ordered to. So today, on a certain current affairs program—I won’t mention the program name just in case—they interviewed people around Mr. Sung. Everyone said that Mr. Sung usually harbored considerable hatred towards Lee Jungchan.”

[Kim삿갓삿갓: lolololololol the pattern is so obvious]

[PublicOfficer: Not some grand conspiracy, just someone hating Lee Jungchan so much they commissioned a murder lololol 100 million won lololololol]

[Ilchwiwoljang: lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololo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Of course, Choi Jong-hyun had been writing for Iljung Ilbo, trying to get articles about Wooshin published, but the editor always shut him down, putting him in their doghouse.

Perhaps, with this incident, they’re realizing he’s not just some tough guy; he truly lives up to his nickname, ‘Pitbull,’ known for his tenacity.

“From then on, wouldn’t he have been trying to scout out whether Sung Mo’s so-called acquaintances were real or fake? He must have thought Sung Mo himself might get shaken down. So, I bet he took out some insurance.”

“Probably.”

[qaqqio: But seriously, if it weren’t for Bong-joon and Jong-hyun, we wouldn’t have gotten this far. If you guys hadn’t talked about the meter reader and Attorney Kang Min-jae’s reservoir on your shows, would the investigation have even progressed properly?

Dongsimpuramen: Honestly, the police finding evidence is hilarious ㅋㅋㅋㅋ They couldn’t find any evidence until now, but after Attorney Cha voluntarily appeared, they suddenly held a briefing saying they found evidence ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Isn’t that what you guys gave them?]

I was planning to let the police take the credit for finding the evidence, but the viewers of this broadcast were deducing more than I thought.

Well, seeing the police, who had been calling me the culprit like a broken record for so long, suddenly start talking about slowly finding evidence and conducting investigations right after I voluntarily appeared, the answer was obvious.

More than anything, just the fact that my arrest warrant review wasn’t rejected would have made them realize that the explanatory materials I submitted that day sufficiently proved my innocence.

“Our Officer Podol and Officer Posoon are working so hard; do we really have to pour cold water on them? We found a lot of evidence too, but it’s not like the police did nothing. Guys, let’s not resent the police too much.”

They, who only talked about how much they hated the police when we were alone, were trying to be careful with their words and actions on the broadcast.

I was glad they seemed to be taking my words seriously.

I was a bit worried that they might say something emotional since they turned on the broadcast spontaneously, but it seems I was underestimating them.

“Anyway, whether it was because they were scared of Cha’s lawsuit or for some other reason, SBC [a broadcasting company] was the first to issue an apology broadcast. So, I thought pretty highly of them, but today, that damn current affairs program ruined my mood, right? You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

“Exactly, damn it. In the end, even though Attorney Cha isn’t the culprit, they feel sorry for broadcasting in a way that his identity could be inferred, and the culprits are all sons of bitches, but Wooshin Group is completely innocent! Isn’t that the conclusion they wanted to instill in the viewers? Makes me want to puke, seriously.”

At Choi Jong-hyun’s words, Jo Bong-joon smiled slyly, as if something had come to mind.

“If SBC offered you an MC [Master of Ceremonies, host] position on a current affairs program, would you take it or not?”

“Of course, I’d take it, you crazy bastard. Why would I even hesitate?”

[LemonPayingOffDebt: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Ttultteultteultteul: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You were just saying you wanted to puke ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ILoveEntertainmentRelay: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ So blatantly materialistic ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

“No, not materialistic. If I go to SBC, I’ll fix all those rotten higher-ups. I’ll reform their minds and make them broadcast properly.”

“What if the big companies don’t give you ads then?”

“Then I’ll have to… ask Attorney Cha to invest.”

“This guy always tries to solve everything with Attorney Cha, saying he’s the richest person he knows. Attorney Cha is going to go bankrupt because of you.”

I was smiling wryly as I watched them laugh and joke around, but suddenly, an odd silence fell.

They were staring at me intently.

Why?

“I just had a good idea.”

“…You too? Me too.”

They still didn’t take their eyes off me.

Just when I thought the people watching the broadcast would start to feel something was off, they opened their mouths.

“Everyone. Actually, we have a guest in the studio.”

It can’t be.

“We gathered at our studio to watch the SBC broadcast together. But we ended up spontaneously turning on the broadcast, so he’s just watching…”

It won’t be.

“He’s helped us a lot, and if he appeared on our broadcast at this timing, it would really help us a lot. Then we’d be even, no debts. Right.”

“Yeah. I think so.”

But my worries were gradually becoming reality.

“Everyone, let’s bring Attorney Cha Joo-han to the studio!”

[Minhyuk: Huh

Jobless: Huh

BuyJadeMattress: Huh

BringBackHandsomeAttorney: Huh

aksjqla: Huh

PreparingForCivilServiceExam: Huh

凸MyungHwaPharmaceuticals凸: Huh]

In this moment, I decided to retract my earlier thought that I was wrong to think they were out of their minds.

They are out of their minds.