You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 395

You Have Been Defended – Episode 395

2011, in my previous life.

It was when I was still working as a prosecutor.

The rain, which had been falling since morning, continued relentlessly, accompanied by thunder, pouring down like rods.

Annoyed that the weather forecast predicting the rain would stop at night was wrong again, I was about to leave the office when I ran into Lee Ye-jin passing by in the hallway.

“It’s raining a lot today, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“Did you bring an umbrella?”

“Yes.”

“We should have a drink on a day like this. In that spirit, Cha Pro, how about a drink tonight?”

Lee Ye-jin made a ‘click’ sound with her mouth, pretending to drink soju [a clear, Korean distilled spirit].

“I have a prior engagement.”

“Cha Pro always has a prior engagement. Be honest. You just don’t want to drink with me. I won’t be clingy if that’s the case.”

“I don’t want to drink with you, Prosecutor.”

“…….”

“Then, I’ll be going.”

“That’s too much.”

It was true that I didn’t want to drink, but it was also true that I had a prior engagement today.

Choi Jong-hyun had called last night, asking me to make time for him this evening.

Of course, Choi Jong-hyun would probably want to drink, but he added that it was important, and I also wanted to hear about the Angel’s House investigation we were working on together, so I agreed to meet.

I parked the car in front of the restaurant and was about to go inside when I made eye contact with someone smoking outside.

“Oh, Prosecutor Cha?”

It was Heo Min-woo.

We weren’t close, but Gangnam Police Station was under the jurisdiction of the Central District Prosecutor’s Office, so I had him testify in court a few times, and we were acquainted.

I nodded slightly in greeting.

“It looks like you have an appointment here.”

“Yes.”

“I have an appointment here too.”

“I see. I’ll go in first.”

I passed him and went inside the restaurant.

Looking around the bustling restaurant, I spotted Choi Jong-hyun sitting alone at a relatively quiet table inside.

I approached him.

“Oh, Prosecutor Cha is here.”

“Yes. What’s this important business?”

“Ah, you came as soon as I called. Why are you so uptight?”

“You asked to see me because there was something to discuss.”

“That’s right.”

“Then the business comes first.”

“Ha… God gave Cha Prosecutor everything, but took away too much social skills.”

Choi Jong-hyun lamented, hitting his chest.

“I’m introducing you to someone. He’ll be here soon.”

“Introducing me to someone?”

“I thought it would be helpful for Prosecutor Cha to know him in relation to the Angel’s House.”

He must have met someone during the investigation.

Because of the nature of the job, I’ve been selective about who I meet, but if Choi Jong-hyun was willing to introduce him to me, he must be someone trustworthy.

I nodded and drank the water in front of me to quench my thirst.

Before long, the ordered meat came out, and the staff placed the raw meat on the grill.

“We’ll grill it for you.”

Choi Jong-hyun took the tongs from the staff.

It seemed like he was going to grill the meat and talk, so I pulled my chair forward a little.

“I grill meat better than most of the staff.”

…I was wrong.

“By the way, when is the person you’re introducing me to coming?”

“That’s strange. Why isn’t he here yet?”

Choi Jong-hyun said, looking towards the entrance.

My gaze naturally turned towards the entrance as well.

“Oh, he’s here.”

At the end of my gaze was Heo Min-woo.

“Reporter Choi! Oh, Prosecutor Cha?”

After discovering Choi Jong-hyun, Heo Min-woo’s face, which had been smiling, flashed with surprise when he saw me.

Of course, I was surprised too.

I never imagined that the person Choi Jong-hyun was introducing me to would be Heo Min-woo.

“Was Prosecutor Cha the person Reporter Choi was introducing me to?”

“What, you two already know each other?”

“Gangnam Police Station, where Detective Heo is, is under the jurisdiction of the Central District Prosecutor’s Office. We’ve worked together on a few cases.”

“Ah, I see. It’s even better if you’re already acquainted.”

“But, why is Detective Heo involved with Angel’s House…?”

“Why is Prosecutor Cha involved with Angel’s House…?”

Choi Jong-hyun laughed heartily, looking at me and Heo Min-woo, who were full of questions.

“Let’s talk while we eat.”

Choi Jong-hyun pushed the grilled meat to the edge of the grill and grinned.

“Eat quickly.”

“I can’t eat until I know. What’s going on?”

“What do you mean, what’s going on? I was smelling money laundering at Angel’s House and taking daily shots [gathering information], and Detective Heo was hanging around there. That’s how we met. Detective Heo was also smelling something strange, and naturally, we became collaborators.”

Choi Jong-hyun was a Wooshin specialist reporter, and he had been investigating since he found something suspicious about Angel’s House, but Heo Min-woo was just an ordinary police officer.

I still didn’t understand why he started digging into Angel’s House.

“I’m curious why Detective Heo became interested in that place.”

I looked at Choi Jong-hyun and asked.

“Is that important? What’s important is that we have the same goal, and we have a helper.”

Choi Jong-hyun replied, making a big wrap and shoving it into his mouth.

But I need to know.

Why he started paying attention to Angel’s House.

I can’t completely rule out the possibility that he was ordered by Wooshin, or someone under Wooshin’s command, to infiltrate and interfere with us.

“I need to know.”

“Ha, I have to admit, Prosecutor Cha is very suspicious. Fine. Detective Heo, just tell him everything.”

Detective Heo sighed with a laugh at Choi Jong-hyun’s words.

“It’s a bit complicated… Well, I’ll tell you, so stop me if it gets boring.”

* * *

“Young-min! Uncle’s here!”

“Unccllee!”

Heo Min-woo briefly left the police station to go to the kindergarten his nephew attended, at his sister’s request to help pick up her child because she couldn’t make it himself.

Young-min seemed happy to see his uncle after a long time, running all the way from inside the kindergarten to the front door to hug him.

Heo Min-woo lifted Young-min up and hugged him tightly, rubbing his face all over his soft cheeks.

“Ah, it’s prickly! The beard is prickly!”

“Uncle hasn’t shaved for a few days.”

“Why not? Did you go to catch bad guys again?”

“Of course. Uncle smashed them all.”

As he was leaving the kindergarten entrance with Young-min in his arms, Young-min suddenly shouted.

“Oh, it’s Yerim’s aunt.”

“Yerim?”

“Yeah. She’s in my class, but she hasn’t been coming to kindergarten lately.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you close?”

“Yeah! Very! We live in the same apartment. So we often go to each other’s houses, and we went to the amusement park together!”

“You’re very close. Has Uncle ever seen her?”

“I don’t know.”

While chatting about Yerim, they arrived at the front gate of the kindergarten, and Yerim’s mother spotted Young-min and approached them.

“Hello, Auntie.”

“Oh, hello. Young-min, hello? Young-min, can Auntie ask you something?”

Heo Min-woo involuntarily observed Yerim’s mother.

Despite being a stranger, Yerim’s mother looked full of worries.

Her voice was trembling weakly, and above all, the hand holding a pile of flyers was shaking slightly.

“Young-min, have you seen Yerim?”

“When?”

“Since she left kindergarten three days ago.”

“Um, um, I haven’t seen her.”

“Really? Haa… Thank you.”

“Auntie, is Yerim gone?”

At Young-min’s question, Yerim’s mother sighed as if the ground was sinking.

“I don’t know where she went… I was playing with Auntie in the playground, but she disappeared while I took my eyes off her for a moment. If you see Yerim, can you contact Auntie?”

Yerim’s mother said, her voice choked up.

She seemed to be trying to hold back her tears in front of the child.

“Auntie, my uncle is a police officer. My uncle will find her. Right, Uncle?”

Heo Min-woo was taken aback by Young-min’s sudden assertion.

Because he had momentarily seen her eyes sparkle as soon as she heard the word “police officer.”

“Really? Are you a police officer?”

“Ah, yes…”

“Then please find our Yerim… Yerim hasn’t come home… sob, please find Yerim…”

She dropped the flyers from her hand and grabbed Heo Min-woo’s hand, bursting into tears.

“Ma’am, please calm down… Have you reported it to the police?”

“I did, but there’s no news yet, sob sob. What if something happens to our Yerim?”

“Then, have you received any calls from someone saying they have Yerim?”

“No, I haven’t. Was Yerim kidnapped? Does Young-min’s uncle think so?”

“No, it’s not that, but I’m asking because we need to consider various possibilities. Um… I’ll take Young-min home and come back, so please wait a little? Ah, just a moment.”

Heo Min-woo put Young-min down and took out his wallet from his pocket to get a business card.

He handed it to Yerim’s mother, and she received the card with both hands as if it were a precious object.

“This is my cell phone number. Please keep it, and I’ll take Young-min home and come back quickly.”

“Yes, thank you…”

Heo Min-woo took Young-min’s hand and headed to Young-min’s house.

“Uncle, are you really going to find Yerim?”

“I have to. That’s what police officers do.”

“I see.”

“Do you know any places that Yerim often goes to, or anything like that?”

“The apartment playground!”

“Any other places?”

“That stationery store.”

Young-min pointed to a stationery store located on the first floor of the apartment complex.

“Stationery store?”

“Yeah. I looked at a lot of toys there. Mom doesn’t buy them for me, so I just look.”

“Hmm, I see. I’ll have to talk to Yerim’s mother. You be careful too. Don’t go anywhere with strangers who tell you to go somewhere,”

“Don’t follow them even if they say they’ll buy you ice cream, and the only people who pick me up from kindergarten are Mom, Dad, Uncle, and Grandma.”

Young-min rattled off the next repertoire, as if he had heard it a million times.

Heo Min-woo sighed in relief and pressed the password to Young-min’s house and let him inside.

“Did you come, In-law?”

“Oh, Brother-in-law. I heard you weren’t here, so I brought Young-min, but you were here?”

“The meeting ended early, so I came straight home. You must be busy, In-law, go ahead. Thank you for today.”

“Ah, yes. That’s a relief. Then I’ll be going. Young-min, Uncle’s leaving.”

“Okay. Bye!”

Heo Min-woo went back to the kindergarten as soon as he left the house.

Yerim’s mother was still standing there, handing out flyers to passersby.

Most of them were thrown on the ground, though.

Heo Min-woo picked up a flyer that had fallen on the ground.

It had Yerim’s photo, her personal information, where she was last seen, and how much the reward was.