You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 317

You Have Been Defended

Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon were staring intently at me.

Even Office Manager Oh, who was sitting at the back table watching the broadcast, and Kang Min-jae, who had just arrived with coffee, were focused on me.

I shook my head.

“Ah, why are you doing this? Just come out already.”

Choi Jong-hyun watched with his arms crossed, as if he found the situation amusing, and Jo Bong-joon kept gesturing at me, urging me to move.

The viewers were the same.

[BetweenTheRaindrops: If he shows up, this broadcast will easily take the #1 spot and stay there.

ChoiJonghyun’sWig: Are you serious? I really didn’t expect this, lol.

BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer: Is this the day my wish comes true? Is this a dream or reality…

♥1000♥

BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer has sponsored 1000 star balloons!

DongguOutsideOrchardShot: Wow, 1000! ㄷㄷㄷ He has to come out with that kind of donation, lol.

♥100♥

BongjoonAndTheKids has sponsored 100 star balloons!

BongjoonAndTheKids: Is Attorney Cha not coming out even for the money? Everyone, attack!

♥500♥

Kim삿갓삿갓 has sponsored 500 star balloons!

♥1000♥

BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer has sponsored 1000 star balloons!

♥1000♥

BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer has sponsored 1000 star balloons!

♥1000♥

BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer has sponsored 1000 star balloons!

BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer: Need more? I’ll recharge right now.]

“Hey, Attorney Cha! Our big spender wants you to come out! Why aren’t you coming out? Come on!”

Regardless of the user ‘BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer’ donating star balloons, if I didn’t want to go out, I wouldn’t.

I never said I would appear if someone donated star balloons in the first place, so why would I force myself to do so against my will?

I didn’t move.

But Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun moved.

They each grabbed one of my arms and started dragging me towards the studio.

They even brought the chair I was sitting on and placed it in the middle of the studio, practically throwing me onto it.

Jo Bong-joon was so strong that I felt like my arm would be bruised.

“Alright, everyone. This is Attorney Cha Joo-han. Please welcome him with applause.”

[Kim삿갓삿갓: Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk

dlawlghks: Tsk tsk tsk tsk

BongjoonaLet’sGoToSchool: Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk

ApolloWorshiper: Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk]

I didn’t say anything for a moment and just read the rapidly scrolling chat.

[BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer: Ah… I feel like my eyes are being blessed. Why is he so handsome… I don’t regret the 400,000 won [approximately $300 USD] I spent today at all.

BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer: Attorney, if you don’t mind me asking, can I create a fan cafe?

BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer: Attorney… why are you a lawyer?? It’s a national loss for you to be a lawyer… Please… please become a celebrity… Advance into Hollywood and promote national prestige…

BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer: Attorney, you’ll become a ten-million-viewer actor even if your acting is bad. If you appear in an action movie, stuntmen will collapse from your eye beam without needing CG [computer-generated imagery]… They will melt from your appearance that burns like the sun… You can breathe even without oxygen… If you want, this small planet called Earth will change from 3D to 4D… When you said, ‘Let there be light!’ this world was created.]

“Is that person crazy, really? It’s so funny.”

I was wondering about the identity of the big spender who was spamming the chat window with such rapid typing.

Could they be a professional stenographer?

“Well, you’ve been brought out here against your will, but please say hello. These viewers have greatly helped Attorney Cha return safely.”

Choi Jong-hyun said, looking quite proud.

I had no intention of denying his words.

It was true that they created content that would attract the interest of the majority, and it was also true that Kim Jung-woo wrote articles to help spread this content widely, but in the end, it was thanks to the numerous viewers who spread the word even further that it was able to reach the top of the real-time search rankings.

Jin Hye-kyung also said something similar.

Before I filed a complaint with the press, she said that she had received quite a few complaints that using video footage that could identify me from the viewers as is would violate reporting guidelines.

When I met with an official from the Korea Communications Standards Commission, I also heard that they were having trouble because they had received so many complaints.

Although it was a small broadcast, the power created by the viewers was by no means insignificant.

“Hello. I am Attorney Cha Joo-han.”

[BringBackTheHandsomeLawyer: Is that voice real???????????

凸MyungHwaPharmaceutical凸: He even looks cooler because he lost weight after being in a temple, compared to when he appeared before… I’m jealous. He’s tall, studies well, handsome, rich, and has a good voice. This world must be so worth living in. I’d want to live for 500 years if I were him.

KimSangjoonIsHere: Please be small… please be really small… please be really, really small…

ParkDaegam: ㄹㅇ [short for ‘real’] be small.. must be small…]

“What should be small?”

Praise is just given to me to cheer me up since I’ve been through a lot, but I couldn’t understand what it meant to “be small.”

When I looked at Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun, their faces were already red as they struggled to hold back their laughter.

But I still couldn’t understand.

“Guys, don’t tell him.”

“Don’t tell him. Seriously.”

[ReturnMyStocks: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ [Korean equivalent of ‘lololololol’]

TearsOfTheMinwooParty: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ My stomach hurts

MessiHyung: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

OppaIsHere: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

Even while the chat was being spammed with ‘ㅋ’ [short for ㅋㅋㅋ, the Korean equivalent of ‘lol’], I couldn’t figure out what was so funny that they were laughing.

Only after a long time were Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon finally able to hold back their laughter, gasping for breath and wiping away tears.

“Everyone, don’t be jealous. We’ve just given up. He’s just… a person from another world. Yeah. He’s not our competitor. He’s just a perfect person. So don’t tell him to be small.”

“What are you telling me to make small?”

“……Heart.”

“That’s right. Heart. They want his heart to be small. Since Cha has so much, they want his personality to be bad, that’s what they’re saying.”

Only after a long time was I able to understand the meaning.

It seemed like they were saying it because they wanted me to have no 여유 [yeoyu – leeway,余裕 in Korean, meaning a relaxed and easygoing attitude] in my heart and have a narrow-minded personality.

“Hoo……. Hoo……. Everyone. Stop talking about it. Let’s talk about something else. This doesn’t seem right. He’s a bit different from us lowlifes. We should be grateful that he even came on our show. For example, it’s like Brad Pitt came on our show. Anyway, so we shouldn’t ask rude questions. Especially since Attorney Cha has filed complaints against about 30 media outlets, so we really need to be careful.”

“Well, shall we talk about something else? If you have any questions for Attorney Cha, we might filter them a bit before asking. We’d like to apologize in advance for any lack of preparation since this was done so spontaneously.”

This is the first time I’ve appeared in a way other than simple video footage since I was framed as a suspect in the murder of Lee Jung-chan.

All the time I spent worrying about where and how to appear most effectively has become useless.

But I thought I would have to come on this broadcast sooner or later anyway.

Most people who are interested in current events knew how much Jo Bong-joon, Choi Jong-hyun, and Kang Min-jae had done for me, so if I didn’t appear on the broadcast, they would criticize me for being ungrateful.

Personally, I’ve already been criticized so much that it doesn’t bother me, but considering my image, it’s better to avoid it if possible.

“Oh, this is a good question. When you first came down from the hermitage, you heard the news that you had become a murder suspect. How did you feel at that time?”

Since that never actually happened, I had to put myself in that situation and immerse myself in it from now on.

But that’s not easy.

I pondered for a moment before opening my mouth.

“I was surprised. Both that I was named as a suspect and that former CEO Lee Jung-chan had passed away. I felt bad.”

“……That’s it?”

“I felt wronged.”

“That’s it……?”

“I thought I needed to resolve it quickly.”

[凸MyungHwaPharmaceutical凸: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Please talk a little longer ㅠㅠ

KimSoohanmoo: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He sounds like he’s talking about someone else ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

AcuteColitis: No fun…

LiteraryWorld: NF… [No Fun]

IAmAFirefly: NF…]

“Ha, Attorney Cha is originally a bit of a boring character……. Talk a little longer. Of course, you thought it was a problem that needed to be solved, but you must have had your own feelings, right?”

“That’s right.”

“So, I needed to figure out how this happened, what evidence there was if I was going to be publicly identified as a suspect, and what misunderstandings I was currently under. But since there wasn’t much time, I think I went to a nearby supermarket to exchange some change, called Attorney Kang, and kept putting money in while talking for hours. Attorney Kang explained the situation in the car while picking me up.”

When I spoke a little longer, Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun also perked up.

“Oh, good. That’s it! So, what happened after you met Attorney Kang?”

“Attorney Kang brought documents that summarized everything for me to see at a glance. It seemed like he had printed out the presentation materials that were used in your broadcast. The format was like that.”

“Oh, our materials were used like that. I feel rewarded. Right?”

“Yeah.”

“After understanding the nature of the case, Attorney Kang showed me the prepared exculpatory materials. It included things about the meter reader, the situation when Attorney Kang and I split up inside the reservoir to look for the deceased, and the fact that the witness’s testimony didn’t make sense. After looking at the documents, I re-watched the broadcast that the three of you had done to confirm it in more detail. So, I felt that the current situation was very urgent. Since I was wanted and even had an arrest warrant issued, I thought I shouldn’t delay.”

“Oh……. So you went straight to the police station?”

“Yes. The exculpatory materials were brought to explain to me, and I judged that this was enough. To avoid wasting time, it’s best to go straight there. I went to the police station with Attorney Kang as my lawyer and was investigated. And I was immediately imprisoned in a detention center. I had anticipated being imprisoned before arriving at the police station and bought the necessary items, so I lived comfortably inside the detention center.”

“And who else helped you?”

Jo Bong-joon narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

“Ah, the next day, Jo Bong-joon and Reporter Choi brought me chocolate snacks to recharge my energy. I don’t like sweets, so I didn’t eat them…….”

[ChoiJonghyun’sWig: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Didn’t eat it ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

IAmAFirefly: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Disregarding sincerity]

“What? You didn’t eat it?”

“I prefer chocolate over pie.”

“Wow, that’s too much. People put in the effort, you should at least pretend to eat it!”

“Is pretense enough?”

“No, but…….”

He huffed for a moment, but I chose to continue speaking instead of paying attention to him.

“As soon as I entered the detention center, I applied for a review of the legality of the detention. The reason why an arrest warrant was issued for me was because I failed to respond to the summons, but I didn’t fail to respond, I didn’t even know the summons had been issued. And I submitted sufficient exculpatory materials that were completely unrelated to the deceased’s case. So the court also granted the request for review of the legality of the detention and I was released. It wasn’t bail, it was a cancellation of the detention.”

After that, there were trivial questions such as what I did in the hermitage and what I did after my release.

“Now, we’ll slowly take the last question. Hmm. Oh, this is good. Attorney Cha Joo-han, you must have heard the news that Secretary Sung of Wooshin Electronics CEO Ko Yoon-soo’s office ordered the murder of Lee Jung-chan. Do you really think that Secretary Sung commissioned the murder because of personal feelings, as reported on today’s current affairs program? Or do you think he was instructed by someone higher up?”

This is probably the question they wanted to ask me the most.

Even if everyone already considers this a foregone conclusion, they are curious about how I, as the person involved in the case, feel.

Then shall I start a public opinion campaign too?