You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 402

The next day, I received a call from the Hwagun Police Station.

They informed me that a pocket watch engraved with the plum blossom symbol had been found and was being held at the police station.

I headed to the Hwagun Police Station without delay.

“Is this the watch?”

The officer brought out the watch and showed it to me.

As Lee Se-hyung had said, the plum blossom symbol was indeed engraved on the back.

“Yes, it is. Could you check who turned it in? I’d like to thank them.”

The officer smiled and said,

“The police brought it in, so there’s no need to thank anyone.”

The police?

The man I met at Hwagun Reservoir clearly had the pocket watch.

But a police officer?

‘……Heo Min-woo?’

I had never told Heo Min-woo about the pocket watch.

It wouldn’t be a problem if he knew, but that would mean Heo Min-woo would be deeply involved in our activities, so I deliberately didn’t mention it.

But how?

‘Did Kang Min-jae ask him?’

Kang Min-jae is the only explanation for how Heo Min-woo found out.

Come to think of it, Kang Min-jae said he was going out for a bit yesterday. Did he meet Heo Min-woo then and ask him?

I touched my forehead.

I think I need to say something to Kang Min-jae.

After receiving the pocket watch, I went straight to a watch shop near the office.

Inside the store, the walls were filled with clocks, and the owner was sitting in front of the television, dozing off.

I walked up to him and placed the pocket watch on the glass counter.

“……Oh, a customer.”

The watch shop owner yawned and spoke slowly, as if he had woken up from the sound of me placing the watch down.

I didn’t know much about watch shops, so I found this place through an internet search. I heard that it’s a place where people often come to repair expensive watches.

Since the owner is called a master craftsman, I thought he would be able to disassemble the SD card without damaging it.

Since so many people supposedly visit, I expected him to be repairing a watch, but he was just dozing off.

My trust in him decreased a bit, but I couldn’t find another place to go, so I opened my mouth.

“There’s an SD card inside the watch. I don’t care what happens to the watch, just get the SD card out safely.”

“It’s been submerged. How did you manage to submerge something this expensive?”

The owner identified the submersion with just a few glances at the watch.

“That’s what happened. When can I come back?”

“Come tomorrow evening. I have other things I need to do first.”

“Okay.”

When I returned to the office, Kang Min-jae popped out of the room, as if he had been waiting for me.

“Did you find the watch?”

“I left it at the watch shop. He told me to come tomorrow evening.”

“Wow, so we’re finally finding the data Lee Jung-chan left behind.”

“That’s right, but Kang, come to my room for a moment.”

“Why? Did you find an important clue?”

I did.

A clue that Kang Min-jae is colluding with Heo Min-woo.

“What is it?”

Kang Min-jae came into my room with an excited expression.

I sat down in my chair and looked up at Kang Min-jae.

“Did you ask Officer Heo to find the watch?”

“…….”

Kang Min-jae suddenly became quiet.

He seemed to have lost his words, biting his lips.

“Officer Heo received the watch from the man you met at the reservoir and reported it as lost property at the Hwagun Police Station, right?”

“No……. Yes.”

“Is it no or yes? What kind of answer is that?”

“No, I thought Officer Heo could find it quickly, but I thought you wouldn’t like it, so I asked him secretly…….”

Kang Min-jae answered in a barely audible voice.

As expected.

“Don’t ask Officer Heo to do our work.”

“Are you worried that Officer Heo will be uncomfortable? He seems to find it very rewarding to help us…….”

Kang Min-jae’s words are not wrong.

In my previous life, Heo Min-woo wanted to help Choi Jong-hyun, and he even said he would repay me when I suggested the possibility that Yerim had left the country with a forged passport.

This time, he helped arrest Kkangchi, Hwang Young-chan, and Go Sang-joon’s chief of staff, so he will want to help us.

But it’s better to stop him from getting involved in our work here.

He was killed by Wooshin in my previous life.

I need to make sure that doesn’t happen in this life, so it’s better to keep our distance.

“Even so, it’s dangerous. Kang, Choi Jong-hyun, Jo Bong-joon, and Tae-sik are all risking their lives, do you think Officer Heo is ready for that? Wooshin killed Lee Jung-chan because they knew he was trying to pass the data to us. Officer Heo helped the data get into our hands. Don’t you think Officer Heo will be in danger?”

“……I’m sorry. I didn’t think that far. I just thought that you said you needed a colleague in the investigative agency, so I thought Officer Heo would be a good fit…….”

“Don’t think like that. Officer Heo can’t do it.”

Kang Min-jae seemed to have doubts about my words and hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“What if Officer Heo also wants to risk his life to catch Wooshin?”

“Still no.”

“Why?”

In my previous life, Choi Jong-hyun was safe.

Kang Min-jae is safe because he is Kang Kwan-woong’s grandson.

I don’t know what will happen to Jo Bong-joon, whom I met in this life, but I will protect him as much as possible.

But Heo Min-woo died so absurdly in my previous life, without even knowing why he had to die.

I don’t know why he died, other than that he died while investigating Yerim.

In short, I don’t know when or how he will die, so even if I want to protect him, I don’t know how to protect him.

Unless I can protect him for sure, it’s better not to be on the same team from the start.

“We haven’t known Officer Heo for very long, and we don’t know what kind of person he is. Even if he is friendly to us, I don’t want to put him in danger. Don’t rely on Officer Heo. Let’s do as much as we can.”

“……Okay.”

Kang Min-jae answered with a slightly dejected expression.

He seems to like Officer Heo quite a bit.

I like Officer Heo too.

I just hope he doesn’t die again.

“Still, you introduced Officer Heo to Jong-hyun and Bong-joon, and you told him that we were supporting the broadcast……. Don’t you trust Officer Heo?”

Kang Min-jae, who was about to leave the room, suddenly turned around and asked me.

I trust Officer Heo.

Choi Jong-hyun also said he was trustworthy in my previous life, and I felt the same way.

Under Choi Jong-hyun’s influence, he also had great doubts about the Wooshin Welfare Foundation, and he even agreed to help with the investigation after finding Yerim.

But if I say I trust him, Kang Min-jae might try to ask Heo Min-woo for something secretly again.

“I don’t trust him.”

“You don’t trust him?”

“Yeah. Anyone with good eyes knows that we’re supporting the broadcast, and anyone who knows knows that Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon are close. We solved the last case together, and Officer Heo is a fan of the broadcast, so I just made a place for him. How can I trust someone I just met?”

“But he was on our side in the Park Jin-sung case too…….”

“That’s obvious. It was obvious to anyone that Park Jin-sung was framed.”

“Prosecutor Jung and Deputy Director Park Young-gi said they were trustworthy too.”

“That’s based on their standards. Don’t you know that security is the most important thing in our work?”

“…….”

“Anyway, get out now.”

I said, turning my gaze to the computer.

“Yes.”

Kang Min-jae answered in a dejected voice and left.

I made sure he was completely gone and leaned back in my chair, sighing.

I also think we need Heo Min-woo for our work.

But I can’t tell someone who might die to get closer to death again.

* * *

The next evening, I went to the watch shop again.

“Welcome.”

This time, the owner was not dozing off but was looking at a watch with a magnifying glass.

“I’m the one who left the pocket watch. How did it go?”

“The SD card is here, and the watch works fine too. The submersion caused rust inside, so it took some effort to fix it. I dried the SD card well, but this isn’t my specialty, so I don’t know if it will work or not.”

With those words, the owner entered the watch repair cost into the calculator and showed it to me.

I didn’t care how much it cost as long as the SD card was alive, so I handed over my card without checking properly.

“Here you go. Handle the watch carefully. It’s expensive.”

I’ll keep the SD card, and it’s best to return the watch to Lee Se-hyung as it’s Lee Jung-chan’s keepsake.

I went back to the office.

“How did it go? Is the SD card alive? Should we put it in right away?”

“I don’t know if it’s dried properly, so wouldn’t it break if we put it in right away?”

Office Manager Oh said, looking at the SD card.

“Should we go ask the NIS [National Intelligence Service]?”

Kang Min-jae said.

That’s a good idea.

I don’t know if the NIS knows this well, but considering they can make eavesdropping devices so easily, wouldn’t it be possible?

We went straight to the NIS.

I didn’t tell him in advance, but he’s a hikikomori [a recluse], so he’s always in his workshop, which used to be that karaoke room.

“Ugh, the musty smell is still there.”

Kang Min-jae shook his head, covering his nose.

I knocked on the tightly closed iron door, and there was a crashing sound from inside, and then the door opened slightly.

“Who is it. ……Oh, it’s you, Attorney!”

“I have something to ask.”

“What is it?”

“It’s an SD card that was submerged in water.”

When I took out the SD card and showed it to him, the NIS agent crossed his arms and nodded.

“Did you ask me last time if the submerged one was working well?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if it’s dried properly now, so I’m trying to get it checked.”

“Ah. Come inside. It’s a bit dirty, but there’s room to step.”

“A bit dirty? You mean very dirty.”

Kang Min-jae added, and the NIS agent glared at Kang Min-jae.

“I might really not do it for you.”

Anyway, the NIS agent went to his room and started examining the SD card.

I didn’t know what he was doing, but he connected it to the computer, checked the messages that appeared, and fiddled with it for about an hour. Soon, he turned the monitor towards us and said.

“It’s recovered. All the data is alive.”

There were four files on the monitor.

[Lee Jung-chan – UHB Bank Account Transaction History]

[Lee Jung-chan – KDL Company Stock Certificate]

[KDL Company Shareholder List]

[KDL Company Information]