You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 473

#473

The gas explosion was consumed as a spectacle. A video taken by a passerby in front of the villa at the time of the accident spread on social media, but it didn’t cause a major stir.

Perhaps because there weren’t many victims, no traces of foul play, and follow-up reports kept stating that the cause of the accident was under investigation, people quickly lost interest, thinking, ‘Oh, something like that happened.’

However, the news that the deceased, Choi Jae-hoon, was a highly skilled doctor only evoked brief regret.

Unsurprisingly, there was no contact from Heo Min-woo.

The reason I gave Kang Min-jae a hint about the incident seemed to be simply because he was at the scene when he answered the phone. I just told him to explain what I was doing.

In other words, Heo Min-woo hasn’t yet caught Woo-shin’s scent in this case.

I’m both relieved and conflicted. I don’t know whether I should hope Heo Min-woo remains unaware, or if it would be better for him to become suspicious and investigate alongside us.

I didn’t volunteer with a sign saying, ‘I want to help ruin Woo-shin,’ but I still struggle greatly when approaching people I want help from.

Kim Mi-ja did, and Heo Min-woo does too.

And I sometimes wonder if I’m irresponsibly acting as if I’ll leave it up to their choices, but in the end, I’m subtly pushing them to act as I want.

It’s a truly difficult task.

I don’t believe the things I’ve done so far and the means I’ve used are entirely moral, but I wonder if it’s hypocrisy to still want to maintain a minimum ethical line.

Perhaps a part of me wants them to help, even knowing they’ll be in danger, but my learned ethics are suppressing me from explicitly asking.

“I’ve looked into everything Choi Jae-hoon’s ID was used for, but there’s nothing special. Just… rather than writings that reveal personal thoughts, there are things like purchase reviews. I even found one or two insincere reviews that seemed to be written for a promotion. Something like, ‘The product quality is good.’”

“I didn’t find much on Facebook either. Just that he had good relationships? There isn’t a single post that infers his personality or tendencies. His friends were having heated debates on various issues, but he remained quiet.”

After exploring the digital traces Choi Jae-hoon left behind for several days, we eventually gave up.

To find out about Choi Jae-hoon, it seems we have to investigate offline rather than online.

“Maybe Woo-shin chose him because of that kind of personality.”

“A personality that doesn’t leave traces?”

“Yeah. And a personality that doesn’t necessarily let others know his opinions.”

A few days ago, while speculating on why Choi Jae-hoon was chosen by Woo-shin, I considered what criteria Woo-shin would have used.

One of them was likely, ‘A person who silently pretends not to see, even when they do see.’

Isn’t that right?

Woo-shin doesn’t want ordinary people who express opinions.

They want technicians who will mechanically extract organs from the bodies of children at the House of Angels and insert them into the bodies of wealthy children.

If this were a time when robots could perform precise surgery from start to finish, Woo-shin wouldn’t have looked for a doctor in the first place.

What they want is either a psychopath who doesn’t feel guilty about what they do, or someone who can suppress and digest the guilt themselves without expressing it externally.

Ah, psychopaths would probably be excluded from the list because they are difficult to control.

Anyway, they want someone who can internalize their thoughts and feelings.

It’s common for individuals to express their opinions in online spaces such as social media.

It doesn’t have to be a political debate.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a trivial argument, such as, ‘I failed to split a Twin Bar [a type of Korean chocolate bar] evenly, should I give the bigger one to my friend or the smaller one?’

There are many people on social media these days who get heated up and express their opinions even on such trivial matters.

But the fact that even such traces cannot be found proves that he has the personality suitable for the technician Woo-shin wants.

“He has a very closed-off personality.”

Office Manager Oh sighed.

That’s right.

It’s difficult to hear meaningful testimony even if you dig around these people.

“But on the other hand, if you find the outlet that such people use, you can hit the jackpot.”

Not expressing one’s opinion also means enduring during the time it is not expressed.

Unless you are an enlightened monk, there is a limit to patience.

Emotions and thoughts that are not expressed during the time of endurance will accumulate and wait for the time to be released.

When the moment comes when they cannot bear it, it will be expressed raw and unrefined, as if a volcano is erupting.

If we can know how Choi Jae-hoon expresses himself, we can understand him more easily than people who freely express their thoughts.

Of course, we cannot guess the method of expression right now.

Because it is so diverse.

If it goes in a really bad direction, it can be expressed as violence. If it goes in a healthy direction, it can be exercising, going to a karaoke room and singing until your throat is hoarse, or something like that.

However, if he is the kind of person who can turn a blind eye to the negativity that Woo-shin demands of him, it doesn’t seem like the direction of expression will be healthy.

I think there will be some kind of outlet.

“Well, we’ve caught criminals that way before.”

Office Manager Oh nodded as if he knew what I meant.

Anyway, it is true that there was no noticeable activity on the Internet, which is within our tracking range.

To find out how he expresses himself, it would be best to dig into the people around him first.

“Like you said, Office Manager Oh, the person who put Choi Jae-hoon on the candidate list wouldn’t be Im Hyun-il. What if we try to figure out who that person is?”

“Should we find out who was in that position before Im Hyun-il came to headquarters?”

“Then should we assume that the person in that position is also involved in organ trafficking?”

“Well, we can’t know that. Actually, hospitals are still companies, so they would have evaluated the medical staff themselves anyway. And they would have reported that to the higher-ups. So, it could have proceeded in a way that someone involved in organ trafficking would confirm it.”

As Office Manager Oh said, we cannot know whether the person who was in that position before Im Hyun-il came was involved in organ trafficking or not.

But even so, it is necessary to understand him.

We need to know what Choi Jae-hoon’s relationship was like with that person, and whether Choi Jae-hoon’s position changed after Im Hyun-il came.

“But we can’t just go and find that person. If that person is involved in organ trafficking, we could end up exposing our investigation to Woo-shin if we approach him rashly……”

“We have to dig into his colleagues first. Rather than us directly stepping in, it would be better to send someone else as if we need to ask questions because an investigation is needed. For example…”

“……Detective Heo is perfect, but.”

Kang Min-jae looked at me and said in a small voice.

I was so dumbfounded that I stared coldly at Kang Min-jae.

“Kang, you seem to be mistaken. Detective Heo is a police officer. And he is not someone who has the idea of doing something about Woo-shin with us. Above all, he is not someone we can move around as we please.”

“But if Detective Heo knows why we are trying to dig into the people around Choi Jae-hoon, he will definitely use the method we thought of. Detective Heo will also know that this is the best.”

“We are lawyers. Detective Heo belongs to an investigative agency. From our perspective, we might think we are making a plausible tip, but it is no different from trying to control the police at will. If you mention Detective Heo one more time, Kang will be…”

“Out? Ha, I understand. Really, you fire me at the drop of a hat, you take me out at the drop of a hat, you out me at the drop of a hat. It’s really too much, really. I’m really, really upset. Office Manager, I think I’m really going to cry.”

Kang Min-jae’s eyes looked dry, but he covered his face with both hands and pretended to sob, leaning on Office Manager Oh’s shoulder.

Office Manager Oh was busy stroking Kang Min-jae’s shoulder and comforting him.

“It’s not that he thinks you’re someone who can be left out, it’s that it’s the most effective threat for you. Don’t be upset.”

“Sniff, I’m so sad, I can’t live. I’ve never been treated like this anywhere……”

“Shut up and think about who would be good to approach.”

“Yes.”

Kang Min-jae, who had been pretending to cry while leaning on Office Manager Oh’s shoulder, straightened his posture again.

“Well, Jong-hyun or Bong-joon… are a bit much, right?”

“They are people with clear connections. And their faces are known to some extent.”

“Then how about Jung-woo?”

“Oh, Jung-woo seems like a good fit. He is known as an assistant PD [production director] in the broadcasting industry, but no one knows Jung-woo’s face. They don’t even know his name. And he used to be a reporter, so he’ll be good at interviewing.”

“But Kim Jung-woo doesn’t belong to an agency right now, so I doubt doctors will easily agree to an interview.”

“That’s true. Then should we ask Jong-hyun? If there is anyone suitable.”

I have a feeling that if I ask Choi Jong-hyun, the only person he will recommend is one person, but I should still ask just in case.

I called Choi Jong-hyun and switched to speakerphone.

He is someone who usually answers the phone on time, but the ringing tone was getting longer. I checked the time and it was 11 AM.

I guess he’s still sleeping.

Just when I thought I should hang up, Choi Jong-hyun’s voice flowed from the speaker.

─ Oh, Attorney Cha… What’s going on from early in the morning…….

Indeed, it was clearly the voice of someone who had just woken up.

“It’s 11 AM.”

─ I know.

“I have something to ask you. Wake up.”

─ I can’t wake up.

“Then I’ll help you wake up.”

─ What should I do…….

“Raise your right hand.”

─ ……I raised it.

“Hit your cheek as hard as you can. If that’s not possible, I’ll ask Jo Bong-joon.”

─ Ah, I think I can wake up anyway. Yeah. I woke up. That bastard’s hands are really spicy. I don’t want to get hit.

Choi Jong-hyun’s voice was definitely clearer.

─ What do you want to ask?

“Did you get the story about the gas explosion?”

─ Ah, yeah. I met some reporters I know yesterday to ask if there were any stories going around, and I stayed up until dawn, so I’ve been passed out until now.

“So, didn’t you get anything?”

─ There was a story that the accident site was a bit strange. I was going to talk about it today anyway.

“How is it strange?”

─ You know, when city gas leaks, it smells.

“That’s right.”

─ But the other victim, the other person besides Choi, said he couldn’t smell it.

“Yes.”

─ But a reporter brought a gas concentration meter to the site and measured it, and the ppm [parts per million] was a bit high.

“Can you check the gas concentration even after the explosion? The gas would have been burned.”

─ I don’t know. I don’t know, maybe there was something left after it burned. The fire truck came and put out the fire, so wouldn’t there be something left that didn’t burn? Anyway, that means quite a lot of gas leaked, right?

“Yes.”

─ But why can’t he smell it?

“That’s a bit strange.”

─ What’s interesting here is that gas is originally colorless and odorless. But they deliberately add a smell during the process. They add something called an odorant. To make it possible to recognize when gas is leaking.

“So, the cause of the accident is gas that didn’t have the odorant added, and since that kind of gas is not generally distributed, are you saying that someone artificially leaked the gas?”

─ That could be the case. Actually, the gas leak was in the house of the deceased Choi, and the other victim was affected by the fire that occurred in Choi’s house, so he may not have been able to smell it. He lives in a different house, right?

“I see. So, the fire department or the police didn’t mention that point? There was no such story in the news.”

─ I don’t think so. I don’t know yet. It hasn’t been that long since it happened, so I don’t know what will happen. Anyway, what do you want to ask?

I’m glad I called Choi Jong-hyun.

Hasn’t the probability that our assumption is close to the truth increased?

“I want to ask the people around Choi Jae-hoon about Choi Jae-hoon, but since there is no justification, it seems that a reporter’s status would be appropriate.”

─ That’s right. Should I go find out?

“It seems like there are people who would recognize you, Reporter Choi.”

─ But I have the same last name as Choi. Can’t I just say I’m a relative?

“We may have to interview Choi Jae-hoon’s family, and it would be very untrustworthy if we said we were a relative that Choi Jae-hoon’s family doesn’t even know.”

─ How many relatives are there in the world who don’t even know each other’s faces?

“Besides you, Reporter Choi, isn’t there anyone else? Someone trustworthy, and it would be good if they belonged to a reasonably sized media company.”

─ What, are you kidding me?

“……I have never joked. Why are you asking that question?”

─ Of course, there is a suitable person that I know and Attorney Cha knows. Right, right, right!

“…….”

─ It’s Yoon Se-yeon. Contact Se-yeon. She will be very excited and immediately dispatch to Woo-shin Hospital.

I knew it.

I knew this would happen.