You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 44

“You Guys Are Defended – Episode 44”

“Tae-shik, you still got a lot left?”

“No! This is the last one!”

Two days remained until the day he’d promised Cha Joo-han.

Jang Tae-shik frantically moved his hands, glancing at the clock.

He’d been impressed by Joo-han and his partner, who went straight to Samchang-dong to find evidence without even resting after the trial. He’d confidently declared he would find the printed copy.

But the next day, he immediately regretted those words.

How could he find something that hadn’t been found for so long?

He became like a regular employee, freely entering and leaving the print shop, but he couldn’t find anything.

Tae-shik sighed.

He was stuck helping others with their work, which felt like a detour from his true calling, let alone fulfilling his mission.

It’s the Seotda [a Korean card game] event period now!

“Please have this while you work.”

What made Tae-shik and his underlings smile was a young lady named Ha Ji-min, a print shop employee.

She was kind and had a pretty smile.

Although he didn’t dare to make a move on her.

If it weren’t for Ha Ji-min, he would have quit Cha Joo-han’s instructions and all that from the start.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Oh, did you find the cat?”

“No, not yet.”

“Oh, my. You have to find it quickly.”

“I have to.”

Jang Tae-shik tore off a piece of the red bean bread that Ha Ji-min handed him and ate it.

A faint smile appeared.

After all, complaining about one’s fate is useless.

A young man of Korea must fulfill his duty.

Anyway, these days, all the guys lack perseverance, which is a problem.

“I have to search hard.”

Of course, for the printed copy.

* * *

“Lawyer, you have a call.”

Kang Min-jae came in and handed me the phone while I was smoking on the veranda.

His expression wasn’t good, so I glanced at the screen and saw Yoo Jung-won’s phone number.

“Shall we make a simple bet?”

I asked him before answering the phone.

Kang Min-jae looked at me, surprised, but soon his face turned playful.

“I bet she’s telling you to withdraw the complaint. What about you, Kang?”

“Then I’ll bet she’s calling because she’s feeling uneasy. Is it a dinner bet?”

“Okay.”

“Let’s have beef. Because I think I’m going to win.”

Leaving Kang Min-jae’s words behind, I answered the phone on speakerphone.

“This is Cha Joo-han.”

– It’s Yoo Jung-won. How have you been?

“Were we ever in a position to ask each other that?”

– Oh, you’re being prickly.

“What’s the matter?”

– I was wondering if you had a good look at the copy of the Inspiration Note we sent you.

“I think it’s a bit late to call just to ask that.”

It had been a few days since I received the copy of the Inspiration Note.

She should have asked on the day she sent it.

It was clear that she wanted to talk about the obvious outcome on the trial date, so she was dragging out the introduction.

Since I had a bet with Kang Min-jae anyway, I was also curious about the main point.

“Let’s get to the point.”

– Yes, shall we? Anyway, there are still two weeks left until the trial date, so let’s stop now.

“What do you mean?”

– I mean, withdraw the complaint. Even if this is your first civil case, you should know the atmosphere. What kind of verdict will be given.

“I’m not a fortune teller, so how would I know that in advance? I’ll have to wait until the trial date.”

I answered Yoo Jung-won and gestured to Kang Min-jae.

The winner of the bet was me.

Kang Min-jae rubbed his forehead and stomped his foot on the floor.

– Rather than watching the already weak-hearted Na Eun-sung get upset waiting until the trial date, I would end it quickly if I were you. Anyway, I understand. I’ll see you on the trial date.

Yoo Jung-won hung up.

She might have noticed.

As she said, the outcome of the trial was obvious.

We failed to prove the dependence.

We sufficiently proved the similarity, but it was at a level that the judge could easily ignore.

If we only looked at that trial, it would conclude with a dismissal of the plaintiff’s claim.

But we had another card, and it was enough to create another opportunity.

But even if Yoo Jung-won noticed that, it didn’t matter.

No matter what else they prepared, the fact that Jung Hye-jin fabricated evidence remained unchanged.

“Did you say beef? Let’s go.”

I said to Kang Min-jae.

Kang Min-jae, who had discovered that the evidence they had presented was false, was already anticipating that they would be on edge because of the sense of accomplishment, even though he had not revealed the fact to them.

That was Kang Min-jae’s downfall.

“Damn it… Yes.”

“Thanks to you, I ate well.”

I patted Kang Min-jae on the shoulder as he came out after paying.

“Would you like to have a cup of coffee?”

“No, go home now.”

“I left my bag in the office. But, when are you going to file for a retrial?”

Kang Min-jae asked as we headed to the office.

In fact, I hadn’t told Kang Min-jae that Tae-shik had said he would look for more evidence at the print shop.

I didn’t want to see him disappointed after he had expectations.

That’s because I had already seen him blaming himself for his mistake in Samchang-dong.

“Three days later.”

Anyway, I gave Tae-shik until the day after tomorrow.

If he doesn’t find it by then, we have to assume it doesn’t exist and reopen the trial.

“By the way, have you still not been able to contact the assistant director?”

It wasn’t that I wanted to blame him for not appearing in court.

I just wanted to check if he had suffered any disadvantages because he had agreed to appear as a witness.

If that were the case, I wanted to solve the problem as much as my ability allowed.

“I sent him a text today, I’ll give him a call.”

Kang Min-jae replied as we went up to the office.

While he was rummaging through his phone in the elevator, I pressed the 5th floor button where the office was located.

The elevator quickly spat us out on the 5th floor.

“Huh?”

As we entered the hallway where the office was located, someone was pacing in front of the office.

Kang Min-jae, who found him first, ran towards him.

“Director!”

It was the assistant director with a dark face.

We unlocked the door and led him into the office.

The assistant director sat on the sofa in front of the consultation table with his head bowed.

Kang Min-jae offered him juice, but he refused.

We sat across from him, and the assistant director remained silent for a long time after that.

I wanted to give him a chance to speak first, but for some reason, he seemed unable to speak because he felt sorry.

“Did something happen?”

I asked.

“I’m sorry, lawyer.”

He replied in a subdued voice.

“It’s okay. It’s already in the past. Just tell me honestly what happened.”

The assistant director sighed, pressing his baseball cap tightly with both hands.

“I was threatened by Blue Island Media.”

Kang Min-jae was about to jump up, lifting his hips, and I pressed his thigh.

It wasn’t a good idea to show an excited appearance in front of the assistant director, who was already in a bad state.

“What kind of threats did you receive?”

“Didn’t I say that I was going to join a film company run by a senior I know? He’s a really close senior to me… It turned out that Blue Island Media was supposed to invest in that senior’s movie.”

[Truth]

Oh, dear. I didn’t know it was connected like that.

“I hadn’t heard that Blue Island Media was investing in movies, so I didn’t think it would have any impact… It seems like they’re trying to start that business from this time.”

WS E&M, the successor to Blue Island Media, certainly wields great power in the film industry.

But it seemed like they hadn’t reached out to the film industry yet.

If that’s starting now, and if the assistant director didn’t want to cause harm to the film company he was going to join, I could fully understand.

“I understand. Have you suffered any disadvantages just because you were going to appear as a witness?”

“No, there aren’t any. They just said I shouldn’t come out. Rather, I received more investment because I didn’t go out. I’m sorry.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Then, because of me… Did my not going to court cause any problems with the trial?”

The assistant director asked with a face full of guilt.

It was true that there was a setback.

Originally, the claim that Jung Hye-jin had been plagiarizing was supposed to be supported by the testimonies of Sung Min-jeong and the assistant director.

But because he was absent, it became only Sung Min-jeong’s claim, and that claim was broken by Lee Ha-young.

“No. It’s okay.”

“…That’s a relief. Really, I’m sorry.”

The assistant director said, bowing his head at Kang Min-jae’s answer.

“There was a bit of a blow, but it wasn’t that big.”

I said.

Kang Min-jae looked at me.

The assistant director’s face, which had been filled with relief, instantly turned to embarrassment.

“Lawyer!”

“That’s the truth.”

Understanding his absence and making it seem like there were no problems were different dimensions.

He gained more profit because he was going to appear as a witness but didn’t, let alone suffer any losses.

Then he should have that much guilt.

How would we know when and how we could get help from him with that?

Also, I realized painfully in my past life that people are ignorant of the law.

There were countless people who overlooked how heavy the weight of trials, statements, and testimonies was.

I was endlessly disappointed by the countless people who reversed their statements and didn’t stand on the witness stand for trivial reasons.

I resented this country’s education system, which doesn’t properly teach about the law, and I was disappointed in people.

Of course, the assistant director chose after a conflict between loss and gain.

But sometimes people don’t realize that weight.

So I wanted to tell the truth.

The consequences of his choice.

Just that much weight.

“But it’s okay.”

“…Lawyer. Really, I’m sorry. I have no face. I confidently said I would go out, and…”

“No. I didn’t tell you the truth to receive an apology. I just wanted to let you know how important a witness is in court.”

“Yes. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s a good thing that you got more investment in the movie.”

I replied with a faint smile.

I had told him enough, so I didn’t want to give him any more burdens.

Beeeeeep.

It was then.

The phone started ringing.

Thinking that I was getting a lot of calls today, I picked up the phone.

[Jang Tae-shik]