You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 383

Click.

The sight of the two of them together was captured on my phone, steady as could be.

“Ah, shit!”

Just then, Kkangchi seemed to notice me. He shoved his shoulder between me and Kang Min-jae, then took off running like a madman.

Kang Min-jae immediately chased after Kkangchi. After confirming their direction, I radioed in.

“Kkangchi is fleeing towards the exit.”

Catching Kkangchi is now the police’s problem.

Now, the one I need to deal with is Hwang Young-chan.

Hwang Young-chan is the key to proving that Park Jin-sung’s drug distribution frame-up was orchestrated under Woo-shin’s orders.

“Haha……”

Hwang Young-chan laughed, seemingly dumbfounded. He picked up his glass of liquor and took a sip.

Then, pointing to the seat across from him, he said,

“Sit here, Cha Pro.”

I sat across from him and retorted,

“It’s Cha, *Attorney*.”

“Does it matter?”

“It does.”

The fact that I left that corrupt group and am no longer Hwang Young-chan’s lackey *is* important.

“Being here with Kang Chi-hyun, who is wanted for drug distribution, will make it difficult for you to avoid responsibility, Chief.”

“Kang Chi-hyun? Ah, was that the name of the friend I was just having a meal with? He’s a friend I ran into by chance, and he’s wanted for drug distribution… I had no idea.”

I knew he would deny it.

In fact, Hwang Young-chan’s response wasn’t bad.

If he had run away like Kkangchi, it would be the same as admitting he knew Kkangchi was wanted for drug offenses and that he had a meal with him without reporting it, despite being a chief prosecutor.

Pretending not to know anything and leisurely drinking makes it seem like he hasn’t done anything wrong… *for now*.

“I figured you would say that.”

“Did the picture come out well? I guess you can’t hide your age; whenever my daughter takes pictures of me, I look so old.”

“It came out very well. Although you weren’t smiling.”

“Anyway, that friend Kang Chi-hyun will be arrested. Good. If he’s a wanted criminal, he should be caught.”

Hwang Young-chan said, looking at the radio in my hand.

It wasn’t hard to guess that I came here with the police.

“You said you met Kang Chi-hyun by chance. How did you meet him?”

“Do I have to tell you that? It’s like an interrogation. A mere lawyer questioning a chief prosecutor like me. Don’t you think so, Attorney Cha?”

Hwang Young-chan emphasized the word ‘attorney’.

He’s not wrong.

I don’t have the right to investigate.

But I know how to screw Hwang Young-chan over.

“I apologize for my rudeness.”

I said with a snort.

Then Hwang Young-chan chuckled again and poured himself another drink.

“Since you had a meal with a wanted criminal anyway, you’ll have to appear at the police station, no matter what you talked about. Goodbye.”

“Cha Pro.”

“It’s Cha, Attorney.”

“Can I give you a piece of advice? For old time’s sake.”

Hwang Young-chan leaned back in his chair and looked down at me.

“I don’t have any old feelings left.”

“I do. That’s why I’m telling you this.”

I didn’t really want to hear it, but I looked at Hwang Young-chan.

Then Hwang Young-chan smiled slightly and continued,

“You… you’re going to die.”

Wow, even giving me a warning. I don’t know what to do. I wish you had given me a warning in my previous life.

It’s just a shame that I can’t say that.

“I’m saying this because I’m worried.”

Hwang Young-chan’s directive from Woo-shin is to frame Park Young-ki’s son, Park Jin-sung, as a drug dealer so that Park Young-ki will be forced to resign.

At first, I thought this case would be assigned to the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crimes Division, which handles drug investigations.

But if Hwang Young-chan is involved in this case, drug investigations are often assigned to Criminal Division 3, so it seems it was scheduled to be assigned to Criminal Division 3, where Hwang Young-chan is the chief.

Hwang Young-chan probably promised Kkangchi that if he was caught, he would confess to receiving drugs from Park Jin-sung and then get probation through a plea bargain [an agreement where a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge].

He would say, ‘I’ll reduce your sentence, so tell me the names of the people behind you,’ and Kkangchi would give Park Jin-sung’s name.

Then Park Jin-sung would instantly become a big shot in drug trafficking.

Hwang Young-chan would order that Park Jin-sung be given the maximum sentence, and the court, which had been bribed by Woo-shin, would accept this, leading to Park Young-ki’s resignation. That’s probably the scenario they planned.

“……”

The moment I thought this far, I felt a chill.

Maybe Kkangchi’s goal from the beginning was to get caught.

What customs officer Jung Yong-man said before,

[There’s a guy distributing drugs around the Gangnam clubs… Kim Ki-cheol said that if something happens, we can say Park Jin-sung was caught trying to pass drugs to Kkangchi.]

This might have meant that.

Catching Kkangchi, who had been wanted for a long time, is definitely a good achievement, but it becomes problematic if that Kkangchi mentions Park Jin-sung’s name.

Maybe I’ve fallen into a trap.

“You seem to be thinking a lot, but who wants to die? Especially someone like Cha Pro, who has achieved so much. It’s not too late yet. Apply to become a career prosecutor and return to the prosecution. They’re currently recruiting. There might be some backlash from some quarters, but I can cover that.”

Hwang Young-chan said calmly.

“At first, it might have been fun to keep getting outsmarted by Cha Attorney’s tactics. But how long will they keep watching that? It’s easier to just kill you. They must be reaching their limit of patience.”

“……”

“I’m saying this because I’m genuinely worried. I’m weak when it comes to old friendships.”

I hesitated for a long time before opening my mouth.

* * *

“Ha, shit. Huff, I didn’t expect, huff, the cops to suddenly, huff, raid the place.”

Meanwhile, Kkangchi was running towards the entrance.

When he checked the exit while hiding behind a pillar, he saw plainclothes police officers loitering in front of the exit.

So he was running back towards the entrance along the Wolhwajeong hallway.

“Ouch!”

At that moment, he collided with an employee pushing a cart and serving food.

Crash, the cart fell to the side, dishes broke, and food spilled onto the floor.

But Kkangchi insincerely repeated the word ‘sorry’ and headed back towards the entrance.

“Who are those people?”

“I don’t know. They don’t answer when I ask.”

He was about to stand behind the wall in front of the entrance and check outside when he heard the conversation between the manager and the employee.

There were police at the entrance as well.

Getting caught at the entrance is amateurish.

To make it look like he was trying to escape, he had to show some effort by getting caught while trying to escape through a window.

Kkangchi backed away and approached the employee who was picking up the food debris again.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

The employee, who was cleaning up the food, raised his head and frowned when he saw Kkangchi’s face.

He was annoyed but couldn’t say anything.

“Is there a big window around here?”

“Huh? A window?”

“Yes. One that a person can get out of……”

“Ugh, try the bathroom.”

The employee sighed deeply and answered insincerely before picking up the food again.

Kkangchi crossed the hallway towards the bathroom as the employee had said.

There, unlike the rooms, was a large window that opened by sliding sideways.

Kkangchi stepped on the radiator and leaned his upper body into the window.

The moment his body was halfway out of the window.

“Kang Chi-hyun, you are under arrest for drug distribution.”

A handcuff was placed on his wrist.

Kkangchi was startled and reflexively pulled his hand back, but he was surprised when he felt someone grabbing his leg and turned around.

“Hello. I see the famous Kang Chi-hyun here.”

It was Kang Min-jae, who had stormed into the room with Cha Joo-han earlier.

“Damn it, let go!”

“I don’t think I can.”

Kang Min-jae pushed from behind, and the police dragged the handcuffed Kkangchi out of the window.

Kkangchi, who had plunged under the window, got up and tried to run, but he fell because three police officers grabbed him and clung to him.

“You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to an attorney, and anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand?”

Kkangchi glared at Heo Min-woo, who was reciting the Miranda rights [rights read to a person being arrested], with a snarl.

“Let’s go.”

Startled by the sudden commotion, the Wolhwajeong employees gathered in an empty room and looked out the window, and the police took Kkangchi away and put him in a van.

“Kang Chi-hyun is secured.”

He radioed Cha Joo-han and closed the door of the van with Kkangchi inside.

“Head out first. I’ll follow behind.”

“Yes, sir.”

Heo Min-woo smiled with satisfaction as he watched the van drive away.

Arresting Kkangchi, a big shot in the drug distribution world who had been wanted for three years, was a great achievement for a detective in charge of drug investigations.

Heo Min-woo was smoking a cigarette under a utility pole outside Wolhwajeong when he called Cha Joo-han.

Then he spotted Cha Joo-han and Kang Min-jae coming out of Wolhwajeong and waved his hand.

“Attorney Cha! Attorney Kang!”

Cha Joo-han raised his head at the sound of someone calling him.

And approached Heo Min-woo.

“What happened to the person who was with Kkangchi? Didn’t you say he was someone you knew well?”

“Ah, that,”

“He must have gotten information from somewhere and ran away beforehand.”

Cha Joo-han cut off Kang Min-jae before he could answer.

Kang Min-jae looked back at Cha Joo-han with a strange expression.

Clearly, Hwang Young-chan was there, and they even took a picture of Hwang Young-chan and Kkangchi together, but he ran away.

“That’s a shame.”

Heo Min-woo seemed to believe the words without question.

Kang Min-jae hesitated for a moment before closing his mouth tightly.

There must be a reason why Cha Joo-han was saying that.

Cha Joo-han’s actions always had a valid reason.

This time too.

“I didn’t see anyone running away. He might still be inside. I’ll do another internal search with the patrol officers. I should at least ask the employees who he came with.”

If it’s Hwang Young-chan, he would have already slipped money to the manager and asked him to make it as if he had never been there.

While the police were gathered under the bathroom window trying to catch Kkangchi, he would have leisurely left Wolhwajeong.

“Go ahead. Then we’ll head out first.”

Kang Min-jae approached the valet employee to pick up the car he had parked, and Cha Joo-han handed the radio he had received from Heo Min-woo back to him.

“You’ve worked hard today. Thanks to you, I’ve pulled out a thorn in my side. Thank you, Attorney Cha.”

“You’ve worked hard too, Detective Heo Min-woo.”

Heo Min-woo entered the Wolhwajeong building for the final search, and Kang Min-jae, who had received the car, stopped in front of Cha Joo-han and honked the horn.

As soon as Cha Joo-han got into the passenger seat, Kang Min-jae immediately opened his mouth as if he couldn’t stand it.

“Why didn’t you tell Detective Heo Min-woo that Hwang Young-chan was there? You even took a picture.”

Cha Joo-han glanced at Kang Min-jae and then turned his gaze back to the front.

“I’ll tell you slowly.”

“Ah, I’m curious.”

“I said I’ll tell you slowly.”

“Okay. Ha, you really have a way of making people curious, Attorney.”

A white sedan slid down the Wolhwajeong alleyway with Kang Min-jae’s grumbling voice.

“……”

Cha Joo-han turned his head to the window as if lost in thought.