You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 474

>You’ve Been Defended – Episode 474

#474

“Oh, hello!”

With a blank expression, Yoon Se-yeon had been sitting on a bench on the first floor of Seoul Wooshin Hospital. As soon as she saw the doctor from the photo approaching, she shot up with a bright smile.

“Ah, by any chance, are you from Iljung Daily…?”

“Yes! Ah, I’m worried I might be bothering you with this interview when you’re busy. What should I do?”

Yoon Se-yeon quickly started talking to the doctor, pulling him toward the first-floor cafe.

“What kind of coffee would you like? Americano? Latte? Ah! Something more expensive is fine too.”

She spoke so quickly that the doctor inadvertently chose a strawberry yogurt Frappuccino.

Yoon Se-yeon ordered an iced Americano and a strawberry yogurt Frappuccino, then held out a card.

Of course, this card wasn’t Yoon Se-yeon’s personal card, nor was it Iljung Daily’s corporate card.

It was Cha Joo-han’s card, which Choi Jong-hyun had given her.

For reference, Choi Jong-hyun had said that there was assumed to be no limit, so she could use it as much as she wanted, and Cha Joo-han wouldn’t even know if she bought something she needed.

He had received and used this card before, and even when he spent about 1 million won, Cha Joo-han hadn’t said a word.

Yoon Se-yeon was thinking of buying a new laptop because of that.

Of course, a new laptop was more than enough reward for lending Yoon Se-yeon’s name.

But who cares?

Cha Joo-han is rich anyway.

There’s a high probability that he has a weak sense of money.

Besides, she’s helped him a lot so far, so he’ll probably let this slide without a second thought.

Thinking about the new laptop, coming out here to interview in his place and putting on a business smile didn’t feel hard at all.

“Oh my, it was so hard to see you, Doctor.”

“Ah… Well, it’s about my senior’s unfortunate death, and I’m a bit hesitant to add to that…”

“Again?”

“Again… what do you mean?”

“You just said ‘and I’m hesitant.’ Doesn’t that mean you have more to say?”

“Ah, no. There’s nothing like that…”

“Hmm, it seems like there is. Ah! The drinks are here. I’ll go get them. Think about what else you wanted to say in the meantime!”

Yoon Se-yeon winked and headed to the counter with the buzzer.

Just because someone is well-educated doesn’t mean they have good conversation skills.

For her, who has a job where she inevitably meets many different people from various professions, charming a young doctor who seemed to lack social skills was easier than eating a piece of cake.

How many years of experience as a reporter did she have?

She had managed to arrange a meeting with him even after he repeatedly refused her interview requests.

She would completely charm him.

“Here’s your strawberry yogurt Frappuccino.”

“Thank you.”

“So, have you thought about it?”

“Pardon?”

“The reason you didn’t want to meet me. That’s what you were originally going to say. But then you thought, ‘Is there really a need to say it?’ and it stopped you. Am I right?”

“Well… yeah, that’s kind of it.”

“Is it, like, a huge secret?”

Yoon Se-yeon leaned forward and whispered.

The doctor blinked and looked at her.

Yoon Se-yeon put her hand to her ear and leaned closer to the doctor.

“I’ll keep it to myself. I’ll never put it in the article. Well, I need to know the circumstances to adjust the level of the article.”

“That’s true. Um, then you really can’t put it in the article.”

“Yes. Promise. I’ll pinky swear.”

Yoon Se-yeon held out her pinky, and the doctor awkwardly linked his finger with hers.

“Okay, sign. Copy. Notarize. Laminate. Done!”

The doctor didn’t know when she had even gotten it notarized, but Yoon Se-yeon brazenly dusted off her hands and leaned forward again.

“Okay, tell me.”

“The higher-ups sent down a warning not to leak anything about Choi-ssaem [Korean honorific, similar to ‘Mr.’ or ‘Ms.’]. I mean, in the group chat.”

“Who posted it?”

“The chief posted it in the group chat, but it seemed like he heard it from the professor…”

“Professor, as in Professor Im Hyun-il?”

“Well, yeah.”

“I see… But why? Choi Jae-hoon died in an accident, and the cause of death has nothing to do with the hospital. Is there a reason to specifically say not to leak the story?”

“Still, he’s affiliated with the hospital, so if people keep talking about him, the hospital will get tied up in the story, wouldn’t it?”

“But the hospital also posted a memorial post for Choi Jae-hoon on social media. If they really didn’t want to be associated with it, wouldn’t it have been better not to post the memorial, since it was only revealed to the media as a doctor from a certain university hospital anyway? Then people who didn’t know wouldn’t have known.”

The doctor slowly nodded at Yoon Se-yeon’s words.

“That’s true. But well, Choi-ssaem’s death isn’t exactly a good thing. So… well, the chief said that reporters keep calling the hospital. Something about the gas concentration at the scene…”

Before he could finish the sentence that started with ‘gas concentration at the scene,’ the doctor covered his mouth with his hand.

That was the issue the reporters were latching onto, and if Yoon Se-yeon didn’t know that fact, he would have inadvertently given her a source.

Seeing him wide-eyed and flustered, Yoon Se-yeon waved her hand.

“Don’t worry. I knew it anyway. I’m a reporter for Iljung Daily, how could I not know that? And you know what kind of relationship Wooshin and our Iljung Daily have.”

“I heard that the chairman’s wife is a direct family member of Iljung Daily…”

“Exactly! So we would never write an article that would cause trouble for Wooshin. Honestly, don’t you think so too? All sorts of media reporters are trying to dig around, and if an article comes out from that side, it’ll be sensational.”

“Yes, I suppose so…”

“But if it comes out from our side, it’ll be toned down. Then, people will understand to some extent because their curiosity will be satisfied.”

“That’s true…”

“And I told you, right? Anonymity is definitely guaranteed. Also, I won’t publish anything you tell me not to, and I’ll filter out anything that seems a bit iffy. Anyway, our higher-ups won’t approve any articles that damage Wooshin’s reputation.”

You could see the doctor getting drawn in by Yoon Se-yeon’s words.

He was visibly relieved.

When they first met, he had the expression of ‘I’m just meeting you because there’s so much fuss,’ but now it seemed like he was getting eager to talk.

“The reason we’re doing this interview is to write an article to put an end to these floating controversies, like the gas concentration. So, please tell me everything you want to say, and I’ll weave it together appropriately. Okay?”

“Yes…”

“Then let’s start. I’m going to record this, but it’s not being reported to the higher-ups at Iljung Daily. I’m recording it in case I miss anything. Actually, I can record without your consent, but since you’ve taken the time to meet me, I thought it would be ethically right to get your permission. Is that okay with you?”

The doctor nodded at Yoon Se-yeon’s question.

The doctor was convinced that Yoon Se-yeon was someone who wanted to protect the interviewee and not create a big disturbance.

Not only did he lack social skills, but he also seemed to be the type to blurt out whatever he wanted to say.

“Then, first… I heard that Choi Jae-hoon was a very skilled doctor. What was he actually like, and are there any anecdotes you can share?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. Choi-ssaem was a truly gifted surgeon. He was a legend. He learned really quickly, and his surgeries were very fast and accurate. He even gave us tips, but even though we clearly saw them, not many of us could follow them.”

“Wow, really? Then the patients must have trusted him a lot.”

“Well… yes, I suppose so.”

The doctor didn’t answer clearly.

Yoon Se-yeon narrowed her eyes and asked.

“Or not?”

“Pardon?”

“Actually, just because someone is an excellent doctor doesn’t mean they have a good relationship with patients.”

“That’s true, but… well, it’s not that Choi-ssaem had any problems, but he wasn’t a very friendly person, so he wasn’t the kind of doctor that patients preferred, that’s all. There weren’t any problems. Really.”

“Ah, I see. Come to think of it, I heard that Choi Jae-hoon was the type to not show his emotions. It’s hard to know what people like that are thinking. It must have been difficult to deal with him.”

“Ah, you already know. That’s right. He was a bit of a difficult person. I mean, I know he was a good person. It’s just that he wasn’t the friendly doctor that patients wanted, but he wasn’t rude. He was nice to us, but somehow… hard to approach? Hard to get close to?”

“I know what you mean.”

“Yes. And usually, other teachers would have gotten angry at certain times, but he didn’t get angry. He was just quiet…”

“Then he must have had a good relationship with the higher-ups. Like, the professors.”

As soon as Yoon Se-yeon said that, the doctor’s expression darkened.

The doctor sucked on his drink for a long time and seemed to be pondering whether he could speak or not.

She couldn’t give him time to think like this.

Yoon Se-yeon quickly jumped in.

“Honestly, we have a senior at our company who has a similar personality to Choi Jae-hoon. He was very good to the higher-ups. There’s no reason not to be, right? He’s not the type to get angry at his juniors, so it would be strange if he was unpleasant to the higher-ups. But…”

“But what?”

“Well, one day, he was talking to the department head and suddenly raised his voice. It was so rare for him to do that, so everyone was surprised and stared. But then he swept everything off the desk and onto the floor, cursed, and yelled… He put his resignation letter on the spot, packed his bags, and went home! The amazing thing is, no one has heard from that senior since.”

“Wow… that happened?”

“We were in a complete state of anomie [social instability caused by the erosion of standards and values]. What is this? Was that senior possessed by a ghost? It was so sudden for someone who never did that.”

“I can imagine.”

“That made me wonder what Choi Jae-hoon was like.”

In fact, there was no such person at Iljung Daily.

But Cha Joo-han had told her the information he was inferring about Choi Jae-hoon and emphasized that she should check what kind of relationship Choi Jae-hoon had with Im Hyun-il.

Saying that there was a high probability that there was some conflict.

So Yoon Se-yeon decided to build rapport with the doctor in order to extract information from him.

By making up a story.

“The thing is, everyone has emotions. Even the nicest person gets angry, and if they can’t express their anger at the time, it builds up as stress. I think that senior couldn’t relieve that stress in time. So it just exploded.”

“Well, that’s true. When we looked at Choi-ssaem, there were many times when we wondered how he could just let things go, even if he was a saint. We joked that he probably had a punching bag with Professor Im Hyun-il’s picture on it at home. Or maybe he had a dartboard with Professor Im Hyun-il’s picture on it.”

Cha Joo-han said he was curious about how Choi Jae-hoon relieved his stress.

He said there must be an outlet.

If they found out what it was, they could gain a lot.

“So, was there some trouble between him and Professor Im Hyun-il?”

“Professor Im Hyun-il hasn’t been at the main hospital for very long. Of course, he’s a very skilled person, and I don’t want to say that there’s any disqualification or anything like that.”

The doctor quickly added, as if he thought he had made a mistake.

This alone showed how well she had chosen the interviewee.

Not only did he lack social skills, but he also seemed to be the type to blurt out whatever he wanted to say.

“Oh, of course. I know.”

“But that professor gave Choi-ssaem a lot of trouble. In the operating room, or wherever. I don’t think I can go into detail.”

“Ah, I understand. It’s an internal matter.”

“Yes. But Choi-ssaem endured it well, as expected. When we all said that the professor was being too harsh, Choi-ssaem was the only one who said it was because he was lacking. But one day, an intern overheard something like that.”

The doctor looked around and lowered his voice.

“Something like what?”

Yoon Se-yeon also asked, naturally whispering.

“The sound of him talking on the phone on the roof.”

“Phone call?”

“Yes.”

“What was it about?”

“He was swearing at someone and saying really bad things… It was such low-level stuff, I went up to see who was saying those things, and it was Choi-ssaem…”