You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 405

You Have Been Defended – Episode 405

Kang Min-jae insisted on ordering all sorts of things on the plane, but then he promptly fell asleep and didn’t eat a single bite.

He even made me promise to wake him up for dinner, but he was so deeply asleep that he didn’t stir even when I nudged him. He ended up missing dinner altogether.

I did my civic duty and ate Kang Min-jae’s portion of the in-flight meal, and when I got hungry again later, I ordered ramen.

Just like he’d said, ramen at 30,000 feet was surprisingly delicious.

I was just about to close my eyes for a bit before breakfast when Kang Min-jae suddenly lowered the partition between our seats and started talking to me.

“…How long was I out? Is it still before dinner?”

“Dinner’s already come and gone. Breakfast is the next event.”

“Dinner was served? I told you to wake me up! You didn’t wake me up, did you?!”

Kang Min-jae said, looking genuinely aggrieved.

“I did try to wake you. You were out cold.”

“Ah! No way! I was too hyped up last night and couldn’t sleep, so I missed my meal and crashed….”

Kang Min-jae sighed dramatically, checked the time, and then frantically scanned the menu inside the seat pocket.

He flagged down a flight attendant.

“Excuse me, is it possible to order a snack right now?”

“Ah… breakfast will be served shortly. Would you still like a snack?”

“Haa… No, thank you.”

Kang Min-jae slumped back in his seat, utterly defeated.

He’d fallen asleep before the plane even took off and missed both the in-flight meal and the coveted snacks he’d been raving about.

“Did you eat, Attorney?”

“I did.”

“Even the ramen?”

“Yep.”

“Haa… If breakfast is coming soon, that means we’ll be landing in an hour or two, so no ramen for me….”

Kang Min-jae looked genuinely heartbroken.

The ramen was good, but I think the novelty of eating ramen on a plane was the main draw. The taste itself wasn’t that different from eating it on the ground.

“I’m going to try and get some more sleep. Wake me up when they serve breakfast.”

I said, pulling down my eye mask and reclining my seat, leaving the dejected Kang Min-jae to wallow in his misery.

“I’m not going to wake you up.”

“Why not?”

“You didn’t wake me up either.”

“I told you, I did! You just didn’t wake up!”

“You should have kept shaking me until I got up!”

He conveniently forgot that he’d grumbled and swatted me away when I tried to rouse him. Now he was blaming me.

I shook my head.

“That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

“What’s too much?”

* * *

“Would you like breakfast?”

The flight attendant’s voice offering breakfast was what finally dragged me back to consciousness.

I took off my eye mask, gave a slow nod, and glanced over at Kang Min-jae.

Kang Min-jae, who had been harboring such resentment towards me, was sound asleep again.

“Kang Attorney.”

I gently tapped Kang Min-jae’s arm.

“Umm….”

Kang Min-jae mumbled and tossed, turning his back to me.

“Kang Attorney, wake up. They’re serving the in-flight meal.”

I spoke a little louder this time.

Kang Min-jae just waved his arms blindly and pulled the blanket completely over his head.

He’d done the same thing earlier.

Why ask me to wake him up if he was just going to act like this?

“How can I help with your companion’s meal?”

I figured Kang Min-jae would just throw another tantrum if he woke up, so I pulled the blanket off his head and shook his shoulder once more.

“Leave me alone….”

Kang Min-jae mumbled sleepily.

“He says he doesn’t want to eat.”

“Yes, I understand. You mentioned earlier that you would like scrambled eggs for breakfast, so should I prepare scrambled eggs for you?”

“Yes.”

“Very well, please wait a moment.”

If Kang Min-jae woke up later and blamed me, he’d have no conscience whatsoever.

I tried my best. I made a genuine effort.

“Ugh….”

Kang Min-jae finally stirred shortly before the plane began its descent.

I looked up from the book I was reading and glanced at him.

“Is it almost breakfast time? When are they serving it?”

“I already ate breakfast.”

“What? No! Why didn’t you wake me up?!”

“I did wake you up. Several times.”

“Liar.”

“Ask the flight attendant. Ask her how many times I tried to wake you.”

“Haa… I can’t believe I didn’t get to eat anything, even though I was flying first class. Wouldn’t anyone be upset?”

“You should have woken up when I tried to wake you.”

“I should have gone to bed earlier last night….”

Kang Min-jae said, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

Just how excited was he that he couldn’t sleep the night before?

It was the first time I’d seen someone so thrilled about a business trip that they couldn’t sleep.

He was acting like he was going on vacation.

Besides, it’s not like Kang Min-jae was going abroad for the first time.

Was he just naive, or simply childish….

[Passengers, our plane will be arriving at Zurich Airport soon…]

“Haa, I’m arriving without eating a thing… I’m starving….”

“You can eat something after we get off the plane.”

“I will. But you’re not allowed to eat anything, Attorney.”

“Why not?”

“Because you ate alone without me.”

It’s not like Attorney Kang didn’t wake up because of me.

But I didn’t want to get into a pointless argument with him, so I just kept quiet.

After a quick immigration process at the airport, we collected our luggage.

To get to Liechtenstein, we needed to go to Zurich Central Station.

Zurich Central Station was a 15-minute subway ride from Zurich Airport.

It wasn’t far.

“There are quite a few trains from Zurich Central Station to Sargans [a town in Switzerland, near the border of Liechtenstein]. About one per hour. Let’s head to Central Station first, fill Kang Attorney’s stomach, and then catch the 11 o’clock train.”

I showed Kang Min-jae the search results on my phone.

“I found a really good restaurant in Zurich….”

“You can try that on the way back. Let’s eat near Central Station for now. You probably don’t want anything too heavy for breakfast anyway.”

“I didn’t even eat dinner!”

“Where is this restaurant you found, Kang Attorney?”

“It’s a Rösti [a traditional Swiss dish made of grated potatoes] place. Um… I marked it on the map… Oh! It happens to be near Central Station.”

“Then let’s go there.”

In the end, I took him to the Rösti place that Kang Min-jae had his heart set on.

I was just glad it was close to Central Station so we could eat without wasting too much time.

“Ah, I’m stuffed!”

Kang Min-jae, who had been lamenting his missed in-flight meals, seemed to be in much better spirits now.

Honestly, it felt like raising a child.

We took a train from Central Station to Sargans, and then caught a bus from there.

Because it was an express bus, we arrived in Liechtenstein in about 30 minutes.

Since we both had suitcases, we decided to drop off our luggage at our accommodation before heading to KDL Company.

I thought he might want to rest for a bit, but Kang Min-jae was surprisingly energetic, probably because he’d slept so much on the plane.

“I think we can just grab a taxi here and show them the address of KDL Company.”

The address was listed in the company information, so we were able to head to KDL Company without much trouble.

“Do you really think KDL Company is just a paper company?”

“I hope so.”

If KDL Company turned out to be a real company with a legitimate structure, unlike what I remembered from my previous life, the situation could become much more complicated.

Generally, paper companies that are set up to launder money often create multiple layers to make it difficult to trace the flow of funds.

We were able to access it relatively easily thanks to the data left behind by Lee Jung-chan, but if we hadn’t received that information, we might not have been able to investigate KDL Company at this time.

If we can prove that KDL Company is a paper company, it will be much easier to exploit Woo-shin’s weaknesses.

Of course, that’s only possible if we can definitively prove the connection.

Even the special investigation team in my previous life couldn’t manage that, so I have to make it happen this time, no matter what.

“This place is like the middle of nowhere.”

The taxi, which had been driving smoothly, suddenly turned onto an unpaved road.

The ride became bumpy and jarring.

Kang Min-jae looked out the window with a suspicious expression.

“Do you think they’re taking us to some strange place because we’re foreigners?”

I couldn’t completely dismiss Kang Min-jae’s concern, so I asked the driver in German if the address was correct. He assured me that he was taking us to the correct address.

I looked out the window.

The sight of cows grazing in a wide, green field came into view.

Was KDL Company really located in a place like this?

It was my first time here, so the scenery was completely unfamiliar to me.

“I think we’ve arrived.”

The taxi came to a stop before I knew it.

I double-checked the surroundings.

It was still a rural village.

I knew I had to get out, but thinking about how to get back, I doubted I’d be able to hail a taxi out here. I handed the taxi driver some Swiss francs and asked him to wait for us, explaining that we’d only be a few minutes.

The taxi driver readily agreed.

“Attorney, I heard you only studied German for a short time, but you seem quite fluent.”

“I’ve forgotten most of it. I just read a German book on the plane, so I can only say a few basic phrases.”

“You can speak that well with just that little bit of practice?”

“Isn’t that the case for everyone?”

I replied, checking the address and street number on the building.

“…That’s definitely not the case for everyone.”

Kang Min-jae replied, looking dumbfounded, and stood beside me.

“I think this is the right address?”

“It’s just a farmhouse?”

The address for KDL Company led us to an old log cabin.

A weathered wooden fence surrounded the log cabin, and the wood was warped and damaged, as if it hadn’t been maintained in years.

I opened the dusty gate and stood in front of the log cabin.

Then I called out in German.

“Is anyone there?”

But there was no response.

I knocked again.

The fact that I had to touch the dirty door because there was no doorbell was irritating.

Meanwhile, Kang Min-jae walked around the log cabin, peering inside through the windows.

“Attorney, come here.”

At Kang Min-jae’s summons, I went over to him. Kang Min-jae pointed through the window and said.

“There’s nothing inside. Except for one old chair. There’s no one here, and there’s no sign of anything. This doesn’t look like a company at all. It’s a paper company, right?”

“It’s a paper company.”