You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 381

You Have Been Defended – Episode 381

The next day, Heo Min-woo informed me that Customs Team Leader Kim Ki-cheol had not yet left the country, so he had issued a travel ban.

He also requested Kim’s presence as a key witness, but said that Kim hadn’t answered the phone and he was unsure whether he would appear.

If they contacted him after the travel ban yesterday, there’s still time, but it seems more likely that he won’t show up willingly.

But doing so would only hurt himself.

As a key witness, he could be placed on a wanted list if he continues to fail to appear.

Kim Ki-cheol would know that, so he will show up eventually.

He also told me what he had learned about Kkangchi, which was not much different from what Yoon Se-yeon had told me.

In addition, Jun-beom, who initially followed the taxi driver and the repair shop owner, contacted me periodically.

He said he was hiding in a motel in a rural area with a view of the sea, and not showing his face.

He seemed to be mainly eating delivery food.

It seems these two were instructed to hide until the case is over.

I was about to get up, wanting to have a smoke.

That’s when I got a call from Tae-shik.

Oh, right, I hadn’t told Tae-shik that I found Kkangchi.

-Attorney Niiiiiiiiim!

Tae-shik shouted as soon as I answered.

I almost went deaf.

I held the phone a little further away and replied.

“What.”

-I found Kkangchi!

“He’s at the Gangnam Maiden, right?”

-The owner of a club called Maiden in Gangnam… Huh, how did you know?

“I heard it from a reporter I know yesterday.”

-Then you should have told me! I did all that work for nothing!

“I only found out late yesterday, so I didn’t call you. I was going to tell you today.”

-You were really going to tell me, right? You weren’t trying to make me do unnecessary work, were you?

“No. Anyway, do you know anyone from your past who deals drugs?”

-Huh? Why are you asking that all of a sudden… Are you trying to mess with me?

“No, I need some help from that side.”

-What kind of help?

“I’m going to pretend to buy a large quantity of drugs and meet Kkangchi, but I don’t think he’ll meet me if I just go. If you know people around you, it’ll be more credible if I say I contacted them through their introduction.”

-Oh, that… Hmm, I cut off contact because you told me not to do bad things, but I’ll try to contact them again. I wonder if their contact information has changed.”

He listens so well when it comes to this.

“Okay. Call me back after you contact them.”

-Yes, sir.

And before long, Tae-shik called.

“Did you find him already?”

-It was really hard to find him. Really, really hard. You have to give me a good bonus for this case.

“It’s only been 20 minutes, though? Even before I could tell Attorney Kang.”

-I’m just so friendly and have so much charm that the older guys still like me even if I haven’t contacted them for a long time, haha.

“Is he trustworthy?”

-Yes. Coincidentally, he’s been dealing drugs with Kkangchi for a long time, so Kkangchi trusts him. He readily agreed even though it was the first time I’d contacted him in a while? I’m doing a great job again, haha!

Normally, I would have been satisfied with throwing that person in jail, but I couldn’t do that to someone who helped with the investigation, so I quietly accepted Tae-shik’s guidance and hung up.

Then I headed to Attorney Kang’s office.

“Oh, Attorney Cha. What brings you to my humble abode… I’m touched.”

He must have been playing Minesweeper, as a Minesweeper window was open on the screen.

When my gaze turned there, Kang Min-jae turned off the monitor and smiled awkwardly.

“I don’t have anything to do right now, haha.”

“Who said anything? Why didn’t you answer when I called you yesterday?”

“Oh, I was tired and went to bed early. But why did you call?”

“Yoon Se-yeon knows Kkangchi.”

“Wow, really?”

Kang Min-jae said, jumping up.

“So, it looks like we’ll have to work late tonight.”

“Work late? Are we going to find Kkangchi?”

“That’s right. He’s the owner of Gangnam Maiden.”

“Gangnam Maiden?”

“I’m going there tonight.”

At my words, Kang Min-jae crossed his arms and said with a puzzled look.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to meet him if we just go without a plan.”

Even when they are wanted, fugitives usually do what they need to do.

When they go outside, they wear hats and masks, and in their base, they act as if they are not wanted and are busy taking care of their own interests.

I’ve seen countless guys like that when I was a prosecutor.

“I’m going to lie and say I’m buying a large quantity of drugs and meet him. I found someone who has a trusting relationship with Kkangchi through Tae-shik.”

“Oh… then he might meet us.”

“So, get ready today.”

“Yes, sir. Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve been to a club. I remember meeting Chan-young’s group at a club before and getting into a big fight.”

It pisses me off to think that he called me, a lawyer, out in the middle of the night back then.

If I hadn’t caught the big fish named Kim Chan-young, I would have nagged Kang Min-jae about it for a long time.

Anyway, I went back to my office and turned on my phone.

I was flipping through the phone book when I stopped at Heo Min-woo’s name.

I found it funny that I kept thinking I didn’t want to get involved, but now the person I needed right away was Heo Min-woo.

[Prosecutor, I’m just doing my job. So, I hope you don’t worry too much about me. Ah, I mean… it’s not like, don’t nag me, haha. I’m very grateful for your words, but I also have a sense of duty.]

Heo Min-woo’s voice echoed in my head from my previous life.

I sighed, rubbing my forehead.

Just this once, it’ll be okay.

With that thought, I comforted myself and called Heo Min-woo.

-Ah, Attorney Cha, I was just about to call you. It’s about Kkangchi.

“I think my side was a little faster. I heard he owns Club Maiden.”

-Ah, yes. That’s right. But he hasn’t shown up since the warrant, so we haven’t been able to catch him.

“Kkangchi will show up today.”

-Yes? Where?

“If all goes according to plan, he’ll show up at Maiden. Then, I think you can have the officers raid and arrest him.”

-Ah, you’re doing our job for us. I’m embarrassed.

“We’re going to Maiden at 11 PM. I’ll contact you as soon as Kkangchi shows up.”

-Yes, I understand. Thank you. Then I’ll have to go brief them quickly. I’ll head in first.”

If we can successfully arrest Kkangchi, we’ll be one step closer to proving Park Jin-sung’s innocence.

Even if he had agreed with Kim Ki-cheol in advance, it was an agreement based on his confidence that he would not be arrested.

Now that he’s been arrested, he won’t falsely confess that he agreed to receive drugs from Park Jin-sung to increase his own charges.

If Kkangchi simply confesses that he doesn’t know Park Jin-sung, we may be able to prove Park Jin-sung’s innocence by gathering all the clues we’ve collected so far.

* * *

The loud music from outside the club was so intense that I felt it would fill my eardrums and spill out.

This is my first time coming to a crowded club on the weekend.

It’s not a place I’m familiar with, and it’s not an atmosphere I like.

The sight of people swaying their bodies in unison while drunk sometimes makes me think it’s grotesque.

But Kang Min-jae seemed familiar with it and wriggled to the beat as if he was excited.

“How may I help you?”

We bypassed the people lined up to enter and went straight to the security guard. The guard stared intently at our faces and subtly blocked the club door with his body.

“We’re here to see Kang Chi-hyun. We were introduced by Oh Sang-moon.”

I handed him a fake business card, and the guard looked at the card as if he had been told in advance and led us inside the club.

We went up to the second floor where the tables were lined up, and at the far end, there was an area where guards were standing again.

The guard who had guided us huddled close to the guards there and spoke inaudibly, and the guard there asked us for a business card.

“He’s a customer of Sang-moon hyung [older brother/respected male figure].”

“Ah, I heard about it. Boss, this way.”

I gave him the business card, but he moved aside as soon as I said the name, which showed that Oh Sang-moon was trusted by Kkangchi.

As Tae-shik said, Tae-shik had done a great job.

The guard led us into a room, and a man with tattoos on his arms stood up.

“Hello. I received a call from Sang-moon hyung.”

He asked to shake my hand, and although I didn’t really want to, I accepted the handshake.

Facing each other across the table, Kang Min-jae placed a bag on the table.

Then he opened the bag.

It was full of 50,000 won bills.

Of course, we have no intention of actually buying drugs or giving them money here.

It’s just a device to show them that we have a lot of money and that we’re willing to give it to them.

“You’re buying meat, candy, and sticks.”

Meat, candy, and sticks are slang for drugs.

Tae-shik had told me that I had to call them that to make it look plausible.

“Yes. But where is President Kang Chi-hyun?”

“Ah, hyung is out for a while on business.”

“We came to buy from President Kang because we trust him, but it’s a little… uncomfortable to do business without him.”

Kang Min-jae closed the bag again and pulled it towards himself.

Then the tattooed man waved his hands in a flustered manner and began to explain.

“Ah, as you know, our boss doesn’t come to the club often because he’s busy.”

“I heard from President Oh that he’s wanted, but we came after being introduced by President Oh… I heard rumors that after President Kang was wanted, the employees who skim money in the middle increased, so I want to deal directly with President Kang.”

“Ah, the skimming incident was because that employee was crazy… We fired that employee.”

“Still, we came all the way here to deal directly with President Kang… We can wait as long as it takes, so please tell him to show his face for a moment, give us the goods, and take the money.”

The employee hesitated as if he was in trouble, then began to discuss it with another employee.

I couldn’t hear most of the conversation, but I could hear snippets of ‘If you miss a big customer, the boss will kill you.’

They glanced at us and had a long conversation, and then called another person to talk.

After consulting for a long time, they soon made a decision and made a phone call somewhere.

“Yes, hyung. There are people here who were introduced by President Oh and want to buy meat, candy, and sticks. But because of the incident with the punks who skim money in the middle, they want to meet hyung directly and do business. Yes. Ah, Wolhwajeong? Are you having an important conversation? Yes… You’ll be about 2 hours. I understand.”

The tattooed man hung up the phone and looked at us.

“Hyung is meeting someone important right now, so he said it will take about 2 hours. Will you wait? Or should we schedule it for another day?”

The tattooed man asked, but I couldn’t hear anything.

I was just stuck on the word ‘Wolhwajeong’ that came out while he was on the phone.

Wolhwajeong is the name of a restaurant that Hwang Young-chan frequents.

I think I know who this case is related to now.