You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 370

“Huff… !”

I had another dream.

In the dream, I was once again on the fishing boat, inside the drum.

This time, it wasn’t CEO Shin, who should be in jail by now, threatening me.

Go Sang-jun was sitting right in front of me.

I hurled insults at Go Sang-jun again, and Go Sang-jun, like CEO Shin, mocked me and ordered them to pour cement.

Just like before, cement seeped into every hole in my body, and I died again in that suffocating pain.

I’ve had this kind of dream more than once or twice.

I had occasionally dreamed like this before, but it got worse when I was hiding in Kang Min-jae’s house, and I’ve been having these dreams intermittently ever since.

It’s the first time the other person has changed to Go Sang-jun, though.

“…Ha.”

I rubbed my dry face and checked the time on my phone.

6 o’clock.

I usually wake up around 7 o’clock to go to work, so I woke up earlier than usual.

I went to the kitchen, moistened my dry lips, and glanced at the room where Kang Min-jae was sleeping.

I don’t know what I was like while I was dreaming, but I probably swore like I was talking in my sleep…

Fortunately, the house is big, so he probably didn’t hear me.

While brushing my teeth, I shook my head several times to try to scatter the vivid memories of being on the fishing boat.

When will I be free from this dream?

Once I put Go Sang-jun in jail, will I be okay then?

Even in the lingering memories of the past, it’s as vivid as if I experienced it yesterday.

I want to cut it out.

[Going to work out]

I left a note for Kang Min-jae, who might wake up early, put it on the table, and headed to the gym inside the villa.

Some people were already out early in the morning, running on the treadmill.

I joined the ranks and ran with the speed turned up like crazy.

Until the thoughts that had taken over my head were torn apart by the pain in my body.

“Huff, huff…”

I turned off the treadmill and got off when I felt like my heart was about to explode for the tenth time.

I thought my heart was going to explode when I had a PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder] attack.

I don’t know if this will help, but I thought that if I got used to that feeling, it would be easier to deal with.

Looking in the mirror, I was already panting and soaked in sweat.

I stared intently at the mirror for a long time, and then I suddenly had a thought.

Am I alive, or am I dead?

Am I already dead, and am I dreaming after death?

The futile thoughts stretched out endlessly.

Even as I was dying, I was so focused on catching Go Sang-jun and Wooshin that my wish was being projected like a dream.

Then what am I doing now?

“Are you okay? You’re running on the treadmill for two hours… Don’t overdo it, man.”

I must have staggered for a moment.

The gym trainer came up and grabbed my shoulder.

Still breathing heavily, I took his hand off my shoulder.

Just because I had a shitty dream doesn’t mean I have to have shitty thoughts.

It’s ridiculous to say this is a dream.

I shook my head and left the gym.

“Lawyer, good morning.”

As I entered the house after entering the password, Kang Min-jae opened the front door and greeted me happily.

“What time is it now?”

“It’s 8 o’clock. Ah, I don’t feel well. Do you want to have hangover soup on the way?”

“Okay.”

“But do you work out like this every morning? You’re covered in sweat.”

“When I have time. I’ll take a shower and come out. Kang, get ready too. It’ll be a little late if we’re going to eat hangover soup.”

“Yes, sir.”

While taking a half-bath that I couldn’t do yesterday because of Kang Min-jae, I tried not to think about anything.

I should be thinking about how to catch Go Sang-jun and how to hit Wooshin.

I didn’t want to question this life at this point, several years after coming to this life.

And even if it’s a dream, there’s nothing wrong with the dream ending with a happy ending.

“Lawyer, if I wear the same clothes I wore yesterday, won’t the secretary look at me strangely?”

Kang Min-jae asked while tying his tie.

“No one in our company cares what you wore yesterday, Kang.”

“Huh. Won’t the secretary care? She told me my suit was pretty yesterday.”

“She just said that out of courtesy.”

“How do you know, lawyer?”

“I think so. Give me the car key.”

I reached out to Kang Min-jae, who was putting on his jacket.

Then Kang Min-jae waved his hand and said.

“I’ll drive.”

“You drank too much until late yesterday. What if you get caught in a checkpoint and the numbers are off [referring to blood alcohol content]?”

“That’s true…”

Kang Min-jae handed me the car key.

I went down to the parking lot and found Kang Min-jae’s car.

Maybe it’s because Kang Min-jae always drove when we were in the car, but it felt awkward to get in the driver’s seat.

“Seatbelt.”

“I fastened it.”

With those words, Kang Min-jae turned on the radio.

While I was driving, Kang Min-jae tuned into a channel that played morning news.

I missed the evening news yesterday because of Kang Min-jae, so I listened to the radio.

[Next news. This morning at around 9 a.m., Wooshin Group Chairman Go Sang-jun held a press conference to express his apology for the manslaughter case committed by Wooshin Card CEO Go Yoon-seok and Wooshin Securities CEO Go Yoon-ho.]

“Ah, that’s what Chan-young said yesterday. I didn’t see the news, but I almost missed it. I have to watch the video too. I have to watch the video when I get to the office.”

Kang Min-jae said excitedly.

[I am sorry for causing concern to many people due to the manslaughter case committed by Wooshin Securities CEO Go Yoon-ho and Wooshin Card CEO Go Yoon-seok.]

Go Sang-jun’s voice flowed out.

[…I visited the bereaved families in person and apologized, and despite the grief of losing their families… Cha Joo-han, do you think you can hold out until the end?]

Beee─.

A ringing sound echoed in my head.

I reflexively grabbed my temple.

Splash, splash, swish─.

The ringing sound had already turned into the sound of rough waves, covering my head.

The car I was driving was nowhere to be seen, and I was back in the drum.

─Keep going if you want to die.

The same voice that came out of the radio recited different words.

─Do you think I’ll leave your mom and dad alone? You crazy bastard. You arrogant bastard who doesn’t know how high the sky is. You’re dying now, but how do you think your mom and dad will live? Heh heh, heh heh heh, you must be scared. Die trembling like that.

“Lawyer, lawyer!”

By the time I heard Kang Min-jae’s piercing voice, I had regained awareness of the situation surrounding me.

I was sitting in the driver’s seat, taking both hands off the steering wheel and covering my ears.

Originally, I was going to cover my nose, but then I realized that I wouldn’t be able to secure my breath until the end, and I remembered how terrible it felt when cement entered my earholes when I died in my previous life, so I reflexively covered both ears with my hands.

As a result, Kang Min-jae was precariously holding onto the steering wheel that I had let go of.

“…”

Kang Min-jae’s voice was faint, but the video kept playing in my head.

I was still blankly staring.

I couldn’t get out of my thoughts.

I saw Kang Min-jae turning the steering wheel urgently, but I still couldn’t let go of the hand covering my ears.

It was because I felt like I would really die if I let go of this.

Even though I knew I wasn’t in a drum right now, even though I could see the steering wheel and the roadside tree getting closer and closer, my body wouldn’t move as I wanted it to.

Bang!

With the sound of the car hitting something, my body lurched forward.

And Kang Min-jae shouted loudly.

“Lawyer! Lawyer!”

My breath reached the top of my head.

The breath I started taking with the thought that I needed to secure enough oxygen before falling into the cement started to quicken in a completely different direction than I intended.

“Huff, huff, ugh, huff…”

I heard a rustling sound from somewhere, and then Kang Min-jae brought a plastic bag right in front of my nose.

“Lawyer, relax first. Slowly… Breathe slowly. Nothing’s wrong. Nothing happened.”

With a dizzy feeling, my breathing gradually began to subside.

Only then did I grab the plastic bag and start breathing.

Like the tide going out, the anxiety that had risen to the top of my head gradually subsided.

“…”

Once I calmed down, I noticed that the gear was in park.

Kang Min-jae must have changed gears and applied the side brake to stop the car.

The car had already crashed into a roadside tree, but there weren’t many cars on the road and it was a narrow road, so it didn’t lead to an accident.

That was a close call.

“…Sorry. I caused an accident because of me.”

“Lawyer, you’re going to the hospital, right?”

“I’m going. I took my medicine this morning too.”

“Ha… Why the hell…”

What must Kang Min-jae have thought when he saw me covering my ears?

I didn’t feel good because I felt like I had shown him the deepest parts of me that I had never shown anyone.

“I keep showing you this side of me.”

“Is that important? This won’t do. I’ll introduce you to a professor I know. Just a moment.”

Kang Min-jae took out his phone and started searching his phone book.

“It’s okay. I can go to the hospital I’m going to now.”

“There are only patients waiting to see an outpatient at this hospital for three months. He’s a very good professor.”

“I said it’s okay.”

“Someone I know got treated here and got better. You know that the cure rate for panic disorder is usually around 30 percent. So let’s go here. It’s not far either. It’s in Gangnam-gu [a district in Seoul].”

Kang Min-jae didn’t even think about listening to my opinion and made a phone call.

At the end of a conversation that felt somewhat intimate, Kang Min-jae opened the passenger seat door and knocked on the driver’s seat window.

I couldn’t say I would drive after almost causing an accident, so I sat quietly in the passenger seat.

“I’ll go to the hospital. He said to come now. He said we only have to wait about 30 minutes. I’ll tell the secretary.”

“Haa…”

When I sighed, Kang Min-jae opened the driver’s seat door and said.

“You have medicine if you need it, right? Wait a moment. I’ll go buy some water.”

Instead of answering, I took out the medicine from my pocket and swallowed it dry.

“How long are you going to leave the car crashed into the roadside tree? Let’s go first. The car must be dented a bit. Stop by a repair shop and get an estimate. I’ll pay for it.”

“That’s not important…”

“That’s important.”

“I’ve only seen it twice. Then how many times would there have been when you were alone, lawyer?”

Surprisingly, what Kang Min-jae saw was everything.

Until then, there was nothing but psychological anxiety.

I guess the problem was that I had a dream this morning, that the main character changed to Go Sang-jun, and that I heard Go Sang-jun’s voice on the radio this morning.

“You won’t believe it, but what you saw, Kang, is everything.”

“…You’re lying again.”

“If this happened often, would I have said I’d grab the steering wheel?”

“You said that because you were worried I’d get caught for drunk driving!”

“Then I would have said let’s take a taxi.”

“That’s true…”

Kang Min-jae answered quietly with a slightly subdued spirit.

“I’ll start driving to the hospital.”

I sighed as I looked out the window.

Now I can’t even drive properly alone.

Kang Min-jae, who was in the driver’s seat, started the car and immediately called Secretary Oh.

“Secretary, it’s me. I’m on my way to work with the lawyer, but we had a minor fender bender. Ah, no. It’s not that bad, we’re okay. So I think we’ll be a little late. Yes. Yes. I understand.”

When Kang Min-jae hung up the phone, a scary silence flowed in the car.

Kang Min-jae glanced at me every time the car stopped at a light, perhaps to check if I was okay.

“Stop staring.”

“…Yes.”

“How much further to the hospital?”

“It’s right there. We’re almost there.”

I parked in the hospital building and got on the elevator, and news was playing on the monitor in the elevator.

It was news about Go Sang-jun, and it seems that ‘Cha Joo-han, do you think you can hold out until the end?’ was just a hallucination.

There’s no story about him making a sudden remark.

Even if I search on my phone, there’s nothing but the content of his apology.

While going up to the 15th floor where the hospital is located, the news continued.

[Breaking news. Early this morning, Park, the eldest son of Park Young-gi, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, was arrested on charges of possessing drugs.]