You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 391

The chairs tangled in ropes and the chainsaw were left behind in the area the police had swept through.

I stared at the scene for a moment, then texted the address of the abandoned factory to Yoon Se-yeon and called her.

It was to keep my promise to give her an exclusive in exchange for information about Kkangchi.

– Oh, Attorney Cha, I just saw the text, what is this address?

“It’s what the reporter wanted.”

– What I wanted? What is it? An exclusive?

“It will be too late after tonight. The police have been here.”

– I, I, I’ll go now! It’s not that far from Seoul. I’ll be there soon!

I could hear a clattering sound from the other side of the phone, as if Yoon Se-yeon was hurriedly preparing.

– What’s the exclusive about?

“It’s about a current chief prosecutor and Woo Shin’s Chief of Staff, Ko Sang-jun, attempting to kidnap, threaten, and mutilate Kkangchi.”

– Oh my gosh. This is my exclusive! This is crazy, crazy. Are you at the scene now?

“Yes, but I’ll be leaving soon. I’m tired.”

– Oh, of course. You should go if you’re tired. I’ll take care of it. Thank you, Attorney!

Yoon Se-yeon said only what she needed to say and hung up.

I glanced at the blinking phone and put it back in my pocket.

“I guess you’re reporting it to a reporter.”

Heo Min-woo asked, looking at me.

“I have to pay back my debt. And it’s better for the report to come out quickly. In case there’s pressure during the investigation, it’s to inform the public and prevent them from doing anything stupid.”

“That’s true. I think there will be a lot of pressure because Chief of Staff Ko Sang-jun is involved, even if Hwang Young-chan is.”

“But it won’t be easy to get out of it since he was arrested as a criminal. I think they’ll cut off the tail like they did before… But even so, people will know, because there have been accumulated incidents so far.”

“Ko Sang-jun’s eldest son’s Chief of Staff’s overzealousness also ended up killing Lee Jung-chan.”

“Yes. It will be the same this time. But it doesn’t matter.”

I’ve never thought that I could catch Ko Sang-jun by catching Ko Sang-jun’s lackey [underling].

To catch Ko Sang-jun, you have to tie him to something Ko Sang-jun did directly, not someone underneath him.

But that doesn’t mean I want to say that this case has no gains.

As Heo Min-woo said, Ko Sang-jun’s misdeeds are accumulating.

“Park Jin-sung will be able to get out of this too.”

“Yes. And if it’s sent to the prosecution, Hwang Young-chan or the Chief of Staff won’t just get away with it. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Young-ki will be sharpening his knife.”

Park Young-ki will draw his sword because his innocent son has suffered like this.

Besides, the public sentiment will be with Park Young-ki.

If Park Jin-sung’s innocence is revealed, Park Young-ki will receive sympathy, and if he uproots it properly, that sympathy will lead to trust.

If that happens, it won’t be difficult for Park Young-ki to become a chief prosecutor.

“Let’s go now. Did you bring your car?”

“No, I came with Hwang Young-chan.”

“Then I’ll give you a ride.”

I wanted to refuse, but I didn’t know how to get home from here, so I ended up nodding.

“As soon as we go up to Seoul, I’ll let you know the location of the taxi driver and the repair shop owner who gave the false testimony. As I said before, our informant is tracking their location. If you tell them that Hwang Young-chan and the Chief of Staff have been caught, and that Kkangchi testified, they probably won’t be able to lie anymore.”

“I guess so. But I’m worried about what will happen if Hwang Young-chan denies being involved in this.”

“I guess so. If I were to guess, he’ll say that he heard the news that a crime was happening at the abandoned factory and went there to stop it, or that someone told him to go there without knowing why, and Kkangchi was there… There are many possibilities, but he’ll say something like that.”

“What do we do then?”

“Didn’t I take a picture? A picture of Kkangchi and Hwang Young-chan together at Wolhwajeong. You can use that. Then Hwang Young-chan will definitely be caught. Hwang Young-chan must have been the one who contacted the taxi driver and the repair shop owner, so there’s no problem in catching Hwang Young-chan.”

At my words, Heo Min-woo narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

“You did take a picture after all. Didn’t you say that you had already run away and were gone at that time?”

“I said that then just in case.”

“Tell me honestly. Weren’t you a little shaken too, Attorney Cha?”

Heo Min-woo said playfully, but I became quite serious.

From the beginning, I had no intention of siding with Woo Shin.

But I certainly hadn’t shaken off the fear of death.

Saying that I don’t want to side with Woo Shin but I don’t want to die either may be contradictory.

But I’ve already come a long way.

It’s too precious to turn back.

Besides, if my mind would change so easily, I wouldn’t have even started when this life was given to me in the first place.

The trauma I have will definitely be an obstacle in going this path, but the fact that I’m still moving forward despite that is proof that my will is strong, isn’t it?

“I wasn’t shaken. I’m a former prosecutor. At least I don’t want to hang out with gangsters.”

“Haha, I like Attorney Cha because you’re upright.”

I couldn’t find anything to say and turned my head to look out the window.

[I like you, Prosecutor, because you’re upright.]

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

“Detective Heo.”

“Yes.”

“How about passing the case on to someone else?”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

Even though it was a potentially offensive remark, Heo Min-woo asked without showing it.

I sighed.

“Are you unhappy with my handling of the case?”

A mere lawyer can’t just change a detective’s handling of a case if they don’t like it.

That’s why I kept my distance and didn’t say anything all along.

But as someone who knows the future, I couldn’t help but say this.

“No.”

“It’s true that I’ve relied a lot on you in this case, Attorney. I’m a police officer, but I’m very ashamed.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Don’t worry and leave it to me. I’ll finish it well and hand it over to the prosecution.”

Before I knew it, Heo Min-woo’s car had arrived in front of my house.

“Go in, Attorney Cha. You must be tired, get some rest.”

“Yes.”

I got out of the car and went home.

I was so tired that I couldn’t even bother changing my clothes, so I sat blankly on the sofa when I got a call from Yoon Se-yeon.

“This is Cha Joo-han.”

– Attorney, ha…

Unlike her cheerful, high-pitched voice from before, Yoon Se-yeon’s voice was drooping.

“What’s wrong?”

– I finished the interview, but the exclusive was rejected.

“Did they block it from above?”

– Yes. They told me not to report it. Ha, what do you expect from Iljoong Daily, those crazy higher-ups.

Yoon Se-yeon was seething.

I wanted her to report it in detail before the police announced it tomorrow.

If I give them time until tomorrow morning, pressure may already be applied and the content that should be reported may be cut.

This becomes difficult.

– You want it to be reported today, right, Attorney?

“That’s right. And anyway, it won’t be an exclusive tomorrow.”

– Haaa, I’m really going crazy. Should I just pretend I’m crazy and report it? And be gloriously fired? Then would Senior Choi accept me?

“Don’t think so extremely. Let’s find another way first.”

– Ah, to miss this jackpot exclusive! I really feel a sense of futility. Why am I even a reporter…

While Yoon Se-yeon was lamenting, I fell into thought.

There are big drawbacks to releasing the first report on Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon’s internet broadcast.

It’s because of the lightness that the medium of internet broadcasting gives.

Of course, I’m thinking of utilizing Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon’s broadcast as well, but the impact is greater when the first report comes from a broadcasting station.

Then…

“Reporter Yoon, could you possibly hand over what you’ve covered to me?”

– Are they going to report it somewhere else?

“I have to check.”

– Okay. I can’t use it anyway, so it would be nice if it was reported. I’ll send it to you by email.”

After ending the call with Yoon Se-yeon, I immediately called Jin Hye-kyung.

She, as the anchor of News 9, might be able to do it.

There are still 2 hours left until 9 o’clock.

It’s enough time to hand over the press release, explain the case, and get permission from her superiors.

– Yes, this is Jin Hye-kyung.

“This is Attorney Cha Joo-han, Anchor Jin.”

– Ah, Attorney. I didn’t know your phone number had changed. It’s been a while since you contacted me? What’s going on…

“I have a scoop right now. I’m calling to ask if it can be reported on News 9 today.”

– A scoop? What kind of scoop are you talking about? Ah, let me get a memo pad first.

“If you give me your email address, I’ll send you the press release.”

I said, moving to the study.

When I accessed my email, the press release that Yoon Se-yeon had sent was there.

The explanation was so well organized that I thought I could just show it to Jin Hye-kyung without having to explain it separately.

I sent the email to the address Jin Hye-kyung gave me.

– I’ll read it once.

“Please contact me after you’ve read it and let me know if it can be reported.”

* * *

Jin Hye-kyung hung up the phone and checked her email.

Putting on her glasses and reading the article that Yoon Se-yeon had organized along with a few photos from the scene, there was something unexpected written.

“This is crazy…”

It was an article that would guarantee viewership if it was released as an exclusive.

Cha Joo-han always brings tremendous scoops, but I didn’t think it would be this much.

In particular, regarding the distribution of drugs by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Young-ki’s eldest son, there were rumors in the world that it was Woo Shin’s mischief, so I knew to some extent, but I never thought that I would be able to capture the clear circumstances.

Jin Hye-kyung checked the time.

There are still 2 hours left until 9 o’clock.

The location of the abandoned factory where the incident occurred is 1 hour one way from the broadcasting station.

If I send a reporter now, I will be able to send it out on time.

Although the director’s permission has not yet been obtained, she immediately called the reporter.

“This is Jin Hye-kyung, I’ll put the data in your email now. Take a camera reporter and go there so that you can send it out right away today. Read the data while you go.”

Even if it becomes impossible to report, I have to send the reporter right now to be on time.

And she picked up her laptop on the spot and approached Kim Woo-jin, the anchor who hosts the news together.

“Senior, please read this.”

“What is it?”

“A scoop.”

Kim Woo-jin, who quickly checked the press release at Jin Hye-kyung’s words, opened his mouth on the spot.

The case in which Ko Sang-jun’s Chief of Staff and the current chief prosecutor were directly involved was quite large.

“Can we put this on News 9 today?”

“I don’t think so… Would the director allow it?”

“The police will announce it anyway tomorrow. If I miss this, how can I sleep well at night? And if you look at this in detail, it’s data that Iljoong Daily is preparing to release. You can see Reporter Yoon Se-yeon’s name here.”

“Iljoong Daily will never release this report. They’re close with Woo Shin. Isn’t that why this was tossed to Anchor Jin? It looks like Attorney Cha Joo-han’s work because it’s related to Woo Shin.”

“Senior, please persuade the director together, okay?”

“Hey, then all our ads will fall off.”

“Are you going to be like this, Senior? Ha… Okay. I’ll go and get permission by myself.”

Jin Hye-kyung picked up her laptop and went to the director, stomping her feet.

The director stared blankly at Jin Hye-kyung, who suddenly appeared.

“Why.”

“I want to release this as an exclusive scoop today.”

The director, who checked the press release at Jin Hye-kyung’s words, looked surprised, but shook his head without showing it.

“No. Do you want to be replaced as an anchor?”

“Director!”

“What are you going to do if Woo Shin takes out the ad? No.”

“I’ve already sent all the reporters.”

“Know that if it’s not allowed, it’s not allowed!”

As the director’s voice rose, the eyes of the people in the newsroom gathered there.

“You were worried that the viewership ratings were falling these days. People watch the news when you report things like this. No one watches because you only put out fashion news about political and business figures that no one cares about!”

“Ah, I’m telling you to know that if it’s not allowed, it’s not allowed. Withdraw all the reporters you sent.”

The director said firmly and turned his chair to turn his back on Jin Hye-kyung.

At that time, Kim Woo-jin, who was sitting in his seat, stood next to Jin Hye-kyung and said.

“If you don’t release this, I won’t host the news today.”

“What?”

“Is there anything wrong with what Anchor Jin said? You told me to bring a scoop every meeting. So why can’t we report this big exclusive?”

“Do you want to be replaced as News 9 anchors as a group? Even if I say it’s okay, the president won’t allow it!”

“It’s a chance to grab the hearts of viewers who are turning their backs. We have to release it!”

As the two main anchors pressured him, the director lost his words.

He also felt ashamed that the only reasons he could give for opposing were ‘It’s difficult if Woo Shin doesn’t like it, the ad will fall out, do you want to be replaced as an anchor’.

The director roughly washed his face and turned his chair towards them.

“Then you two take responsibility. I don’t know.”