You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 350

“Then I don’t think there’s much more to say. Ms. Kim Hwa-young was dismissed because she distrusted Taekwang. There’s no reason to meet with someone from Taekwang, especially someone who was originally part of the defense team.”

-Regardless of being affiliated with Taekwang, I have something to say as Kim Hwa-young’s former lawyer.

I don’t have great expectations for her, but I know her to some extent since we lived side-by-side in my previous life.

She’s not the type to not feel guilty doing something like this.

But the situation is more complicated.

I know her well from my previous life, but I don’t know her well in this life.

If she were the same as I knew her in my previous life, I would have met her without much hesitation.

In my previous life, she was just an ordinary citizen, not someone with malice towards others.

If such a person had something to say about Kim Hwa-young, I would have been willing to listen.

Since she’s just here to threaten me as ordered from above, why not listen to her grievances once and then say what I have to say and be done with it?

But I don’t know her now.

Unlike my previous life, she’s working for Taekwang and has become a fragment of Go Sang-jun’s dirty schemes.

Does she really have no malice?

If she does, should I bother listening to her?

-I won’t take up much of your time. I’m near Ju-han’s house right now. Jaei Elementary School intersection. I don’t know exactly where Ju-han’s house is, but I heard it’s around here.

I was about to hang up, saying we could meet next time if there was an opportunity.

But I hesitated for a moment.

I don’t expect much, but I thought she might have some useful information.

She wouldn’t have done this in my previous life, but she might be different in this life.

The night is long anyway.

There will be other ways to change my mood.

“I’ll send you the address, so come over there and contact me.”

My ex-wife contacted me again in less than 10 minutes.

After changing my clothes and going outside, my ex-wife was sitting on a park bench in a suit.

“Hello.”

“Sorry for the late hour. Were you resting?”

My ex-wife said, looking at me.

She seemed to have guessed from my hair and clothes without wax.

“I was, but you called. At Taekwang, no, it must be Wooshin. Wooshin seems to be still working hard to stalk me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just surprised that Jo A-young was chosen as the second card to threaten me.”

“……”

“I guess they thought I was meeting with Jo A-young because I went up to the hotel.”

“I have nothing to say about that. I don’t know anything either.”

[Lie]

When I met my ex-wife at the hotel again, it must have been when she was already in charge of the Kim Hwa-young case.

They would have been worried about information leaks, and Jo A-young would have explained that she wasn’t meeting me.

Since she wasn’t fired from the team, it seems Taekwang decided to trust Jo A-young.

Even so, the reason she came here is probably because she’s the closest person to me among those Taekwang can mobilize in this situation.

“Get to the point.”

“Yes. I heard you took on Kim Hwa-young’s case, Ju-han.”

“I did.”

“I don’t think you took it on without knowing what that means.”

Even though she said she didn’t think so, she was waiting for my answer.

But I only answered, “Yes.”

“You must know that Chairman Go is furious about that. I know you only handle Wooshin cases, Ju-han. But don’t you know that this case shouldn’t be approached so simply?”

Is it finally time for the threat?

Earlier, Kim Yun-hee didn’t say how Go Sang-jun reacted after I took the case.

She only said that Go Sang-jun and Kim Hwa-young were connected like a married couple and were only experiencing a temporary crisis, but if we took the case, it would be like completely tearing them apart.

It seems the words she couldn’t say directly to Kang Min-jae are finally coming out.

“I saw Kim Hwa-young get very agitated and leave our office in shock. I understand why Kim Hwa-young went to you. She wanted to go to someone who was against Chairman Go. But isn’t it a bit much to take on the case as if you’ve been waiting for this?”

“You said you came as the lawyer who was in charge of Kim Hwa-young, not as a Taekwang lawyer. Why are you questioning my attitude of taking the case right away?”

“You should have sent her back.”

“Why should I have?”

“I don’t know the relationship between you and Chairman Go very well, but judging from Chairman Go’s reaction, it seems the two of you are on very bad terms, as rumored. Besides, Kim Hwa-young thinks Go Yun-ho and Go Yun-seok killed her… There are too many bad conditions. It’s Ju-han of all people, and Kim Hwa-young suspects Chairman Go’s sons.

In this situation, didn’t you guess that Chairman Go wouldn’t stay still? Kim Hwa-young is very unstable right now, though you may not know it. You know that dragging out her case for a long time won’t do her any good. Didn’t you really know that Chairman Go is the only one who can quickly end this whole situation and get Kim Hwa-young out of this nightmare?”

My ex-wife fired off quickly.

I don’t like what she’s saying, but it’s somewhat in line with why I kept Kim Hwa-young at Taekwang.

I also kept Kim Hwa-young at Taekwang for that reason.

Seeing her dig into that point, I think she tried hard to be persuasive.

“Jo A-young, did you just say that Kim Hwa-young thinks Go Yun-ho and Go Yun-seok killed the butler…?”

“Yes. Didn’t she tell you that?”

“She did. But then, does Taekwang not think so?”

“……Yes, of course.”

[Lie]

She knows too.

That Go Yun-ho and Go Yun-seok are the real culprits in this case.

I thought this fact would only be shared among some of the defense team.

They were planning to quickly put up a fake culprit, get Kim Hwa-young out, and cover up the case, so there would have been no need to tell everyone who the real culprit was.

So I thought she might really not know, but that’s not the case.

She’s just saying that because she can’t tell me it’s true.

She used to be someone who had a clear sense of right and wrong, but now even that’s gone.

Either she can’t judge right and wrong, or she can judge but just closes her eyes.

“Is that why you took the case? You fell for the words that the real culprits are Go Yun-ho and Go Yun-seok….”

“You still think only your thoughts and words are right.”

“Still? How much have you seen me?”

“That’s not why I took it. I was also aware of the kind of interests Jo A-young mentioned, so I told Kim Hwa-young to get a Taekwang lawyer. But Kim Hwa-young felt a great distrust of Taekwang and said she’d rather die, so I had no choice but to take the case.”

“No, you should have sent her back. It wouldn’t be difficult to get a not guilty verdict due to lack of evidence. But if Ju-han is in court, it will be difficult. Because Chairman Go won’t stay still.”

“I don’t want to hear advice from Taekwang, who ended the first trial like that.”

“If Ju-han really didn’t take on Kim Hwa-young’s defense for his own purposes… I understand. But I’m sure that Kim Hwa-young will be in more trouble if she joins hands with Ju-han. Wouldn’t it be better to introduce another lawyer? It’s not that we’re sad that she’s out of our hands.

The moment Kim Hwa-young says that she suspects Go-ho and Go Yun-seok, the moment that gets into Chairman Go’s ears, this fight becomes not the prosecution versus Kim Hwa-young, but Go Sang-jun and the prosecution versus Kim Hwa-young. I want Kim Hwa-young to clear all disgrace and be free as soon as possible. I really mean it. And the fastest way to do that is for us to take the case.”

Maybe she can’t judge right and wrong.

Like I did, she’s already become a sacrifice, so if you only look at Kim Hwa-young, she might think it’s right to free her as soon as possible.

I had the same thought, but that doesn’t mean she was trying to reveal Go Yun-ho and Go Yun-seok’s corruption.

She’s still an ordinary citizen.

Some might say that’s realistic, but at least that’s not what a lawyer should aim for.

“With that attitude, I think it’s even more appropriate for me to take the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“Earlier, lawyer Kim Yun-hee said that Kim Hwa-young and Go Sang-jun are like a married couple. I don’t understand why they’re trying to corner her right away just because they had a misunderstanding. They should be trying to clear up the misunderstanding, not cornering her. How can you trust such a person, and Taekwang, who takes orders from such a person, and entrust your life to them?”

“You’re not giving them a chance to clear up the misunderstanding. Kim Hwa-young is hospitalized and not even allowing visitors.”

“Is that the end of your efforts?”

“……”

“Then is immediately turning your back on them because you think, ‘Oh, they don’t want to talk to me,’ what a married couple does? You should at least try to cling to them. I can’t trust them even more. In the end, the word ‘couple’ is just an exaggeration of the two people.”

“Are you going to fight a rock with an egg?”

I didn’t expect to hear this question from her again.

In my previous life, I said I would.

I think I gave a very clichéd answer.

Something very clichéd, like piercing a rock with a drop of water.

But this time, I’m going to answer differently.

“Why am I an egg?”

“Then what are you?”

“A stone.”

Even though the size may be infinitely smaller than a rock, it’s a stone that’s incomparably more solid than an egg.

Made from the beginning to carve stone.

“I have many shortcomings, but I don’t think I’m at the point where I need to listen to advice from Jo A-young. And this time, I’ll give you a piece of advice.”

“What advice?”

Her overall words ultimately concluded that I should hand it back to Taekwang, but I think it contained some concern for Kim Hwa-young.

Maybe she couldn’t convey Taekwang’s position as it was, which was to let her go free on her own, so she was just trying to smooth things over.

If all those words are really for Kim Hwa-young, then it means that it’s right to give up ethically because it’s impossible for an individual to stand up to a huge power.

In the end, she thinks her thoughts are realistic, and my plans are just chasing after a pipe dream.

Even though her personality has changed, it’s the same conclusion as in my previous life.

“You’re not the only one who thinks right. Other people can think the same way you do. But they still do it.”

“……”

“I think we were on different paths from the beginning. If the paths are different, just pass by. Don’t assume that others can’t do what you think you can’t do. If I was afraid of Go Sang-jun, I wouldn’t have started in the first place. I’m saying this because you said you came as a lawyer who really cares about Kim Hwa-young, not because you received instructions from Taekwang.”

“You’re more arrogant than I thought.”

“It’s not arrogance, it’s that your vision is narrow.”

Jo A-young seemed indignant, but I had no intention of taking back my words.

Why should someone who hides criminals and sends innocent people to jail by giving them money be called a lawyer?

She was a little different in this life and my previous life, but I don’t think the essence has changed much.

She probably knows it too.

That I am closer to the concept of justice than they are.

I am also trying to get closer to justice, so I know that I am far from being able to talk about justice.

Even so, I am infinitely confident in front of Taekwang.

When I saw the lie judgment pop up when she said that Go Yun-seok and Go Yun-ho were not the ones who killed the butler, I couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

She who abandoned me, telling me not to fight a rock with an egg, eventually chose to become a rock in this life.

“Jo A-young’s method won’t save Kim Hwa-young. What if a fake culprit exposes it in prison someday? So if you request a retrial? Kim Hwa-young must be afraid of being dragged back to the square.”

Will Taekwang take responsibility for Kim Hwa-young then?

If Go Sang-jun orders it, they can prepare another fake culprit.

At that moment, everything is repeated.

Until the statute of limitations expires.

“A fake culprit, what are you talking about?”

[Lie]

Well.

If I admitted that I was trying to mobilize a fake culprit at the point when Kim Hwa-young came to me, it would be a big problem later, so it’s natural to pretend not to know.

“If you don’t know, then there’s nothing I can do.”

“I’m glad to know that Ju-han won’t use Kim Hwa-young as a tool. I’m relieved. But I hope you’ll be careful not to let the purpose be subverted. Don’t use Kim Hwa-young as a tool to hit Chairman Go. And you must be prepared that Kim Hwa-young may have to go through even greater hardships because of Ju-han’s choice.”

“Jo A-young, be careful not to let the purpose be subverted.”

“What purpose?”

“The purpose of becoming a lawyer.”

I bowed briefly and left the park.

On the way home, I checked the time.

11:50 PM.

There are 10 minutes left in the day.

Is there a way to change my mood in 10 minutes?

Beep-.

At that time, a text message arrived from Kang Min-jae with a short vibration.

[The gallery staff wants to meet tomorrow]

There is.