You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 414

You’ve Been Defended – Episode 415

#415

“I wonder if she’s changed her number?”

Choi Jong-hyun pulled out his business card holder from his inside pocket and rummaged through it for a while before finding Secretary Song Hye-ryung’s card.

“Do you know why she left?”

Choi Jong-hyun shook his head at my question.

“I don’t know. If she left on bad terms, she probably changed her number…”

He said, transferring the phone number on the business card to his cell phone.

Choi Jong-hyun switched to speakerphone and pressed the call button.

The call went through, and soon a young woman’s voice was heard.

─Hello?

“Ah, hello. Is this Secretary Song Hye-ryung?”

─Ah, yes. But if you have business with the House of Angels, it’s better to contact them directly. I’ve resigned.

“Ah, I see. But I was also looking for Song Hye-ryung, who used to be a secretary at the House of Angels, so I don’t think I need to call the House of Angels.”

─Pardon? Who is this?

“This is Choi Jong-hyun, a reporter. I don’t know if you remember, but we met a few times at the House of Angels…”

Song Hye-ryung paused for a moment, as if trying to recall.

Choi Jong-hyun liked her, but it took her so long to remember.

It’s a pity.

─Ah, yes. I remember. How have you been?

“I’ve been well, thanks to you.”

─So, what brings you here…

“I have a few things I’d like to ask you. Would it be alright if we met in person?”

─Ah…

Song Hye-ryung hesitated, drawing out the end of her sentence.

─Are you going to use it for your broadcast, Reporter Choi?

Oh, Song Hye-ryung knows that Choi Jong-hyun is on the air.

She’s not completely indifferent, it seems.

That was fortunate for Choi Jong-hyun.

“Even if I use it on the broadcast, Song Hye-ryung’s anonymity will be 100% protected. I will never use what Song Hye-ryung tells me verbatim.”

─Hmm… I understand. Then let’s meet in three days. I’m preparing for a job change right now, so I have a lot of interviews.

“Yes, let’s do that. You can decide on a convenient location, and we’ll come to you.”

─Okay, I understand.

After hanging up, Choi Jong-hyun hummed a tune and put his business card holder back in his pocket, seemingly in a good mood.

“You’re that happy to meet Song Hye-ryung?”

Jo Bong-joon said, narrowing his eyes.

Then Choi Jong-hyun bit his lip tightly, grabbed Jo Bong-joon’s shoulder in his fist, and squeezed it tightly.

“I should just… No, it’s not like that.”

“Anyway, if we meet Secretary Song Hye-ryung, we can get detailed information about the criteria for studying abroad and the selection criteria for gifted students. And since the House of Angels will be managing the students to some extent even after they go abroad, we can find out how the students are doing.”

“I guess so.”

“According to the promotional materials distributed by Wooshin, there was also a story about a child who went to study abroad from the House of Angels and is now working for a Wooshin affiliate. It might be a good idea to meet those people.”

“They’ve already benefited from Wooshin, so would they say anything bad?”

“Even if we don’t hear bad things, if we talk about their lives there in detail, there might be some points that are uncomfortable. If we dig into that, we might be able to find something.”

Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon nodded.

“Can’t Cha-byun [Cha-byun is short for Cha Joo-han, the lawyer] come with us?”

Jo Bong-joon said, putting the documents in the bag he had brought.

“How can Cha-byun come with us when his stomach is punctured? How many weeks has it been?”

“It’s been 11 weeks.”

“Then he’ll have to be hospitalized for at least a month. I wonder how Cha-byun is holding up.”

“There’s nothing we can do. Please come after we meet Secretary Song Hye-ryung. And leave this briefcase here.”

As I picked up the bag that Jo Bong-joon had packed, Jo Bong-joon snatched the bag away and said.

“No way. Cha-byun should rest. We’ll take care of it.”

“That’s right. Don’t you trust us?”

I trust you, but…

I can’t help it because I have a personality that only feels satisfied when my hands are on everything.

“Cha-byun, take a good rest. If you’re bored, call Min-jae. Listening to Min-jae’s noisy chatter will make you want to sleep because you’re tired. Then the day will pass quickly.”

“…No, thanks. I’ll just rest on my own. Please share any new information with me.”

“Okay. Get some rest, and Tae-shik, good work.”

* * *

The place where we were supposed to meet Song Hye-ryung was a cafe.

Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon had arrived about 10 minutes early and were sitting there.

It was because of Jo Bong-joon’s words that Song Hye-ryung would be more forthcoming if she had a good first impression.

“Ah, you’re here.”

“Yes, how have you been?”

Song Hye-ryung was dressed in a black suit, as if she was really looking for a job.

Unless she was deliberately trying to take a break, she would usually look for a company to move to before resigning, but somehow Song Hye-ryung didn’t seem to be doing that.

She may have been fired from the House of Angels.

If so, it was fortunate for Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon.

She might have a grudge against the House of Angels, so she might even tell them more intimate stories.

“What kind of coffee would you like? I’ll buy it.”

“No, I’ll pay.”

“No. I’m the one who asked you to take the time.”

Choi Jong-hyun insisted and went to order with Song Hye-ryung.

Jo Bong-joon narrowed his eyes and chuckled as he watched Choi Jong-hyun.

He really seems to like her.

He’s not usually like that.

After a while, Song Hye-ryung returned to her seat with Choi Jong-hyun, holding a coffee in her hand.

“So, I’m curious as to why you wanted to see me.”

Song Hye-ryung opened her mouth first.

Jo Bong-joon quietly turned on the recorder.

According to Cha Joo-han, if he participates in the conversation himself, he can record it without the other party’s consent.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was going to openly play this recording on the broadcast, and he had made the same promise to Song Hye-ryung, but conversations tend to have many parts that are forgotten once they’ve passed, so recording was essential to find clues in Song Hye-ryung’s words.

“Well, um… First of all, can I ask why Song Hye-ryung left the House of Angels?”

As if she thought it was a sudden question, Song Hye-ryung hesitated for a moment.

“I left because I didn’t think it was the right job for me.”

“You weren’t fired or anything?”

“No. I left on my own.”

“I see…”

“Is that important?”

When Song Hye-ryung asked as if she didn’t know, Choi Jong-hyun waved his hand and said.

“We contacted you because we wanted to ask you about the children who go to study abroad from the House of Angels. But since our broadcast is strangely connected to Wooshin whenever we get a case, we thought that if Song Hye-ryung was maintaining a good relationship with the House of Angels, our questions might make you uncomfortable.”

“Ah… No. It’s okay. I’m not uncomfortable. The House of Angels does send a lot of students abroad.”

“Yes. But according to our investigation…”

Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun told her honestly, as they had told Cha Joo-han.

The gender ratio of the international students was strangely skewed, some of the children were going to study abroad too late to be considered gifted education, and most of the children remaining at the House of Angels were infants and mostly boys, which was strange.

“We’re not sure if it’s strange to think this is strange. We don’t know much about gifted education, but we thought that if an organization like this was sending students abroad, they would at least match the gender ratio to some extent. But even though girls are more prominent in their early years, the gender ratio is too mismatched.”

“Hmm… I don’t know about that. We don’t select gifted students. Iljoong Ilbo [a newspaper company], which is supporting the study abroad program with us, and the Wooshin Welfare Foundation send experts to select them.”

“I see. Then I’m curious about how the students who go to study abroad are doing. They’re children who were sent from the House of Angels, so I think they’ll be taking care of them at least a little bit.”

“There’s a sister school in Japan. I know that most of the students who go to study abroad receive gifted education at that school, and I know that they live in a dormitory near the school.”

“It seems that it wasn’t Song Hye-ryung’s direct responsibility.”

“I was in charge at first, but I got a lot more emails from the kids than I expected, and I was a bit flustered, so they quickly changed the person in charge.”

“You got a lot of calls from the kids?”

“Yes. There were quite a few who said they wanted to go back to Korea.”

Life in a foreign country can’t be easy, but even though they went to study abroad, which others are desperate to go to, they got a lot of calls saying they wanted to return to Korea.

Are they being bullied or abused at the Japanese school?

“Ah, there’s a child who went to study abroad and came back. He’s 25 years old now, and he’s working for a Wooshin affiliate. Why don’t you meet him? I think it would be more helpful to meet him than to hear it from me.”

“Are you still in contact with him?”

“Yes, sometimes. First, I’ll ask him if I can give you his contact information, and then I’ll contact you again.”

We didn’t find many clues in Song Hye-ryung’s words, but we did get a few things.

That Iljoong Ilbo and Wooshin jointly determine the children to be educated as gifted,

And that many, if not all, of the children who go to study abroad want to return.

I don’t know why, but if we meet the person who went to study abroad and came back, we’ll be able to hear about his life in Japan.

Then it will be easier to find out more.

After sending Song Hye-ryung away, while Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun were talking for a while, a cell phone text message notification rang.

[Kim Seung-hee 010-××××-××××]