You Have Been Defended – Episode 439
#439
Kang Min-jae moved like a broken machine.
His movements were jerky, and his gaze felt unnatural.
His reddened eyes showed he’d been crying, but all traces of tears were gone.
He’d clearly been there a while.
Probably, like me, he’d driven to the National Cemetery straight from the office, weeping while burning incense at Kang Kwan-woong’s grave.
I paused at a distance, then continued walking.
After burning incense and bowing briefly, I turned to Kang Min-jae, who stood there blankly.
He’d been watching me, and our eyes met as I turned.
“What brings you here?”
“I don’t think I’ve been here once since he passed. I didn’t expect to see you here, Attorney Kang.”
“This is my first time since I brought him here.”
Kang Min-jae sighed deeply.
“I think you felt sorry for me. You came to apologize to my grandfather. Shouldn’t you be apologizing to me?”
“I came to apologize to the elder [Kang Kwan-woong] for hurting you, but I have no intention of apologizing to you.”
“Does that make sense?”
“The elder must have asked me and Chief Kang to take care of you, and I made you cry, so I should apologize to him. But I said what I thought was right, what you needed to hear, so I won’t apologize to you.”
“Ha.”
Kang Min-jae let out a breath, dumbfounded.
But what could I do? It was the truth.
I wouldn’t retract my words, and I didn’t think it would change anything if I did.
To sincerely retract them, I’d have to believe I misspoke or changed my mind, right?
Neither applied.
“You won’t apologize to me, and you’ve apologized to my grandfather, so you’re done. You can leave now. Goodbye. I’ll be here longer.”
He was deeply hurt.
It was the first time he’d been so prickly with me, so I sighed.
“Attorney Kang.”
He looked at me with a displeased expression.
I sat on the marble floor in front of his incense burner.
People occasionally passed on the stairs, but they were too far to hear us, and no one paid attention.
“Let’s say there’s a parallel universe where Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals released Antrozol Alpha without problems.”
“Huh? Out of nowhere?”
“The risks were the same, and no one suspected side effects, except those who hid the truth. Not even the doctors.”
“……”
Kang Min-jae, who had been standing, slowly sat a little away from me.
I leaned back, supporting myself with my hands.
I couldn’t look at him, so I focused on Kang Kwan-woong’s grave.
“People with arthritis started spending a lot on injections when they heard about the upgraded Antrozol. They were putting poison into their bodies without knowing it.”
“Antrozol Alpha wasn’t released. We stopped it.”
“That’s why it’s a parallel universe. It has nothing to do with us.”
“……Anyway, so what?”
“Let’s say there’s someone in that universe. He lives in Seoul for work, alone. His parents live in Gyeonggi Province, so he could visit on weekends, but he’s unfilial and only visits on holidays, claiming he’s too busy.”
“Is that really unfilial?”
“His father had arthritis and was taking Antrozol. When he heard, he offered his credit card. He asked a doctor if Antrozol was good and felt relieved. He wanted to think he was being a good son.”
“Antrozol costs millions of won, so it’s filial piety.”
“Is it? Anyway, he sent his credit card and thought his father’s arthritis was improving. Then, he had to go into a warrant review for a suspect he’d been watching.”
“Someone from our side?”
“Yeah. Before the review, his father called, but he was in a bad mood and went to court without answering. During the proceedings, the clerk urgently handed him a note.”
“A prosecutor, I guess. So what?”
“The note said his father had passed away.”
Kang Min-jae clicked his tongue.
“Was it Antrozol Alpha? Was the cause of death a heart attack?”
“That’s right. But he didn’t know. He took a car to the funeral home, and even there, he couldn’t accept it. He was the eldest son and had to be the chief mourner, but he couldn’t even think about guarding the funeral home and ran to a PC cafe. He started searching like crazy about Antrozol, finding a cafe for people who experienced Antrozol Alpha side effects.”
“I know how he feels. Without you, Attorney, and Hyuk Soo-il, it would have been hard to watch over the mortuary…….”
“He stayed up all night reading posts on the Antrozol Alpha side effects cafe. He went back to the funeral home, grabbed his mother, who was crying, and shouted. Was it Antrozol Alpha, not Antrozol? He didn’t know his father had switched and was just living his life, comforting himself that he was doing everything he could by paying for the expensive medicine. He didn’t even know his father was taking poison.”
“……”
“He started investigating Antrozol Alpha like crazy. He learned about the problems surrounding its release and Wooshin’s ambition.”
Kang Min-jae was silent, staring intently at me.
I felt his gaze, though I didn’t look at him.
“Not long after, his mother died from grief. He couldn’t bear it. He started digging into Wooshin like crazy. Antrozol Alpha killed his father, and Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals and Wooshin recklessly released it, but he also felt responsible. If he’d called his father or mother regularly, he would have known about the switch to Antrozol Alpha. But he was too busy, didn’t make a single call, thinking it was okay because he was paying, and didn’t answer their calls. Guilt weighed him down, driving him to dig into Wooshin.”
It was difficult to recall this event, which now only lived in my memory and had become an event that never happened.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
My previous life flashed through my mind.
“He didn’t rest until he brought down Wooshin. He lost a lot and faced life-threatening situations. He watched his only friend die because he was focused on Wooshin, and his wife left him. Nothing was left but bringing down Wooshin. There were no days off, no comfortable sleep. His body was ruined, his mind exhausted. If he stopped, guilt and anger would rush in, and he couldn’t stay sane. So he clung to work even more, thinking he’d get better after bringing down Wooshin. He’d escape this hell. If he punished the guilty, wouldn’t he be free?”
“……”
“He ran with guilt and revenge. He collected a lot of data to bring down Wooshin, leading to the Wooshin special investigation.”
“So……. What happened to Wooshin?”
“I don’t know. He died at Wooshin’s hands before the end of the special investigation.”
“Yes?”
Kang Min-jae looked confused.
I told him this story so he could objectively see the path someone else in a similar situation had taken and realize how absurd his guilt was.
But now, I wondered if I just wanted to tell someone I was living a second life.
“……Is that your story, Attorney?”
Kang Min-jae carefully asked after a long silence.
I turned to him and smiled slightly.
“Why do you think so?”
“It’s just……. Some conditions seem like your story. And it’s too specific to be a story you made up…… Uh, you’re not the kind of person who can describe someone else’s feelings as if they were your own, but you’re doing that.”
“But Antrozol Alpha wasn’t released.”
“Yes.”
“Our parents are still alive, aren’t they? You saw them, Attorney Kang?”
“Yes.”
“And the Wooshin special investigation didn’t happen, did it?”
“Yes.”
“And I’m alive.”
“……But you said it’s a parallel universe.”
“Then, are you saying I came from that parallel universe?”
Kang Min-jae tilted his head.
“Do you believe in parallel universes?”
“I haven’t thought about it, but if you came, Attorney, I’ll try to believe it. No, I’ll have to try to believe it……. Didn’t you tell me before when you were drunk that you were in your second life? Was that real too?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, wait a minute. Then it seems like some puzzles are fitting together? Your foresight, Attorney…….”
I chuckled.
He was throwing questions at me, even though he was angry and about to storm out.
“No?”
“You have a rich imagination. Do you think that’s possible? Then, are you saying I’m an alien or something?”
“That’s not it.”
“It’s not.”
“So is that a yes or a no? The parallel universe story, you made it up, right?”
To be sure, I felt relieved after speaking.
I never intended to confess my previous life, but I’ve always thought that if I were to tell the story of that time, the first person to hear it would be Kang Min-jae.
But perhaps, it’s too early to definitively say that I’m living a second life.
Even if it’s Kang Min-jae, he might feel a sense of alienation from me.
Above all, I still don’t have the courage.
The courage to show all of me, even my deepest depths, to others.
“Attorney Kang. That’s not what’s important right now.”
“……I know why you brought up that story, Attorney.”
“Do you?”
“It’s not that person’s fault that his father died. It’s Wooshin’s fault. That person was burdened with unnecessary guilt and suffered for a long time. Ha, I see. That’s how it would feel to a third party.”
Kang Min-jae laughed like a sigh.
“I was thinking foolishly.”
“Then I don’t have to apologize?”
“It’s annoying, but yes.”
“Then let’s go. It’s almost closing time.”
As I got up, dusting off my pants, Kang Min-jae looked up at me and said.
“I want to tell that person too. Don’t have the foolish thought that you drove your father to his death.”
That person already knows.
He just doesn’t know how to shake off the guilt.
I only answered in my heart.
“But.”
Kang Min-jae dusted off his pants and quickly followed behind me.
“Is that really not your story, Attorney?”
“Think as you please.”
“No, just tell me yes or no.”
“If I say yes, will you believe it?”
“Yes?! Is it real?”
“Conversely, if I say no, will you believe it?”
“Ah, what is it…….”
Kang Min-jae followed me down the stairs with a disappointed look.
But still not giving up, he blocked my path and shouted.
“If you say yes, I’ll believe it’s yes. If you say no, I’ll believe it’s no.”
“Yes.”
“Liar.”
“See? You don’t believe me.”
“Ugh, what is it!”
Kang Min-jae was jumping around, but I walked past him.
“Attorney!”
“Don’t talk to me. It’s annoying.”
“Ah, Attorney!”
Kang Min-jae persistently chased after me, chattering.
Ah, should I not have said anything…….