You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 476

[Han Young Card 7*0* Approved
Cha*Han
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04/18 14:28
Han Young Store]

I checked the notification that suddenly popped up on my phone and found an unfamiliar charge.

Han Young Store is an offline store that sells Han Young Electronics products, but why was such a large sum charged there all of a sudden?

Now that I’m using so many cards, I’m starting to lose track of which one this was.

The message came in my name, so it can’t be a corporate card.

I don’t use a Han Young card for my personal expenses, so that’s ruled out.

I gave Tae-shik and Sang-gil debit cards, so there’s no way they could have racked up a charge like that.

After scrolling through my inbox and checking my payment history, I realized it was the card I had given to Choi Jong-hyun a while ago to buy anything he needed for the broadcast.

Now that he’s earning some money from broadcasting and generating revenue by running ads on the site created by the National Intelligence Service, he had said he wouldn’t need the card anymore.

I told him to keep it just in case, and it looks like he needed it after all.

That makes sense.

After I almost became fish food trying to expose the L&B case, Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon finished their additional investigation and haven’t resumed broadcasting, leaving only a short announcement that they would return.

Therefore, there’s no more Star Balloon [virtual gifts viewers can purchase for streamers] income, and as the broadcast became less frequent, the number of people visiting the site naturally decreased.

So, the advertising revenue on the site is bound to be lower than before.

According to Jo Bong-joon, viewers are still leaving comments asking them to return.

It’s frustrating that we can’t tell them what we’re doing.

Anyway, that’s why I don’t think he would have bought anything specifically for the broadcast.

Well, he must have used it for something he needed.

“Lawyer, have you heard from Reporter Yoon?”

I put my phone down again and was about to get back to work when Kang Min-jae suddenly burst into the office.

“You don’t even knock anymore.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Kang Min-jae knocked on the open door and looked at me sheepishly.

“Even now?”

“It’s okay. Anyway, there’s still no contact. It seems like it’s taking some time to find out.”

“It’s been a few days, and still? With Reporter Yoon’s personality, she would have already gone out to investigate.”

“I know. I wonder if the information isn’t coming together well.”

“No interim report either?”

The last time I contacted Yoon Se-yeon was to ask her to investigate as a reporter for Iljung Daily instead of us.

When I shook my head, Kang Min-jae noticeably drooped his head in disappointment.

“If it’s difficult to investigate even with a reporter’s name, it’ll be difficult for us to confirm even if we go directly.”

“It hasn’t been that long, and maybe she just hasn’t been able to meet the person she was supposed to meet for the interview because it’s hard to get an appointment.”

“I guess so. Then I’ll have to wait quietly. Would it be too much to contact her and ask how much progress she’s made?”

“Don’t push her.”

“Yes.”

As Kang Min-jae was about to leave the office, a small notification window popped up on the computer screen.

It was a notification that a new email had arrived from Yoon Se-yeon.

Kang Min-jae, who had taken a step outside, turned his head slightly back as if he had heard the notification sound.

“Who’s contacting you?”

“Reporter Yoon.”

“Wow. Did she finally find something? Let me see too.”

Kang Min-jae pulled a chair next to me and sat down.

I moved the chair to the left to distance myself from him a little more, then opened the mailbox.

[Subject: Hehe~

Content: dd

Attachments: 5]

The subject and content were difficult to understand.

I wondered if I could figure it out by opening the attachments, so I downloaded all of them.

There were 4 audio files and 1 document file.

I thought it would be best to check the document file first, so I double-clicked the icon, but suddenly the internal phone rang.

“Hello.”

─Lawyer. Reporter Yoon Se-yeon is here.

“Here, you mean?”

─Yes. Oh, Reporter Yoon! Don’t just go in.

“Lawyer! Did you get the email?”

Secretary Oh couldn’t stop her.

The office door burst open, and Yoon Se-yeon strode in energetically.

Secretary Oh, who followed behind, shook his head as if he couldn’t stop her.

“Yes. I’m opening the document file now.”

“Yes. Ah, I bought a new laptop, and the emails go so fast. It’s really great.”

“Is that so? Anyway, I haven’t looked at the contents in detail, but as I scrolled through, it seems like you’ve done a lot of research in the meantime.”

“Oh my. You really don’t know.”

“What don’t I know?”

“Haha. It’s nothing! I was going to explain it over the phone, but I came in person to see your face after a long time and get a meal. That’s enough for the fee now.”

I was willing to give Yoon Se-yeon some kind of fee if she wanted, but I didn’t know how much to set it at, so I didn’t bring it up.

If it’s just enough to buy her a meal, then something ordinary wouldn’t be enough.

I’d have to buy her something pretty expensive.

“But when is Senior Choi coming? I contacted him on the way here.”

“Senior Choi is here.”

At that moment, Choi Jong-hyun peeked his face out from my office door.

“Shall we go to the conference room?”

Jo Bong-joon gestured toward the conference room, and we all moved in that direction.

Yoon Se-yeon took out her laptop in the conference room and started connecting it to the beam projector.

Seeing how carefully she handled it, this must be the new laptop she was talking about.

“Then let’s start. I sent you 4 audio files, Lawyer Cha. That’s the entire conversation, so you can listen to it slowly when you need it, and this document file contains only the important parts.”

Yoon Se-yeon took out a portable laser pointer and pointed to the image on the screen.

“The first person I met was this person, a resident in the Department of Surgery at Wooshin Hospital. As you said, Lawyer Cha, Choi Jae-hoon was managing his image so well at the hospital that he was almost called a saint. He was also very talented. But!”

Yoon Se-yeon played a short audio clip inserted in the file.

It was a cut-out of some of the resident’s testimony.

“He allegedly made sexually explicit remarks to someone presumed to be his girlfriend, suggesting that he had been assaulting her. In my opinion, the swearing is kind of like this.”

Below that, there was an ‘ex)’ mark along with all sorts of sexual slurs.

I knew those words existed, but I wondered if there were really people who said those things.

If I had ever investigated sex crimes or prostitution when I was in the prosecution……

“Hey, why did you just write those swear words without any bleeping?”

Choi Jong-hyun shouted with a red face, and Yoon Se-yeon opened her eyes wide and retorted.

“What’s wrong with that? I wrote it because it’s necessary for the investigation.”

“I mean, you could have written it with consonants, and everyone here would have understood.”

“No way. I don’t think Lawyer Cha would have known.”

At her words, all eyes were on me.

If she had written it with consonants, it would have taken time to deduce, but I would have understood because there was a hint that it was a sexual slur.

“Yeah, that natural monument probably wouldn’t have known.”

I think it would have taken time to deduce, but not that long.

Why is this a natural monument [euphemism for someone inexperienced in relationships]?

Isn’t everyone like that?

When I made an incomprehensible expression, Yoon Se-yeon just sighed at me.

“Anyway, so I decided to find out who was meeting Choi Jae-hoon while listening to such abusive language and being assaulted. I thought that person might be the outlet you mentioned, Lawyer Cha, and if I met that person, I could hear all sorts of stories. First of all, I got the information that her name was Jiwoo from the resident. Also, Choi Jae-hoon often dated or cohabited with her at home.”

Then Yoon Se-yeon turned the page.

It was a current photo of the villa where the gas explosion occurred.

Of course, it was still not in a condition for people to live in.

“I contacted people who lived with Choi Jae-hoon in this villa and asked them about it. Fortunately, there were a few people who said they saw Choi Jae-hoon. Because they were people who had to find temporary housing due to the explosion, it seems that it was important to them where the responsibility lay. They cooperated well. This is the most useful testimony among them.”

Then Yoon Se-yeon played the audio file again.

This time it was relatively long.

[─A woman? I’ve never seen the woman from 301 with him. Actually, I’ve contacted him several times to ask him to move his car because of the parking space, so I saved his number and talked to him often.

─So you’re saying that Choi Jae-hoon’s girlfriend has never been to his house at all?

─Yes. Well, even if she was, I’ve never seen her. The house where the accident happened is on the 3rd floor, and there are only two households on the 3rd floor. But I live on the 4th floor, so I’ve seen quite a few people getting off on the 3rd floor while taking the elevator… 301 is the house where the accident happened, and 302 is where an aunt and uncle live together. If Choi Jae-hoon’s girlfriend was coming and going to 301, shouldn’t I have seen a young woman getting off on the 3rd floor at least once?

─That’s true, but… You haven’t seen her at all? A young woman getting off?

─No. I also saw a hospital sticker on the 301’s car, and the real estate agent told me that he was a doctor, so I thought he might have a girlfriend, but he never brought her. Ah! But I’m not being creepy or anything. Just as a passing thought…

─Ah, yes. That’s possible. But that’s strange… I heard that there’s someone who comes and goes to his house often.

─I don’t know at all.

─Then have you ever heard of someone named Jiwoo? Someone who Choi Jae-hoon calls Jiwoo. I wanted to ask if you’ve ever seen an older woman, even if she’s much older than you would think of as a girlfriend.

─Jiwoo?

─Yes. Jiwoo.

─Huh? Who said someone named Jiwoo was his girlfriend?]

The man’s voice in the audio file was mixed with laughter.

Then Yoon Se-yeon replied in a puzzled voice.

[─Oh, really? Ah, of course, it’s not confirmed that she’s his girlfriend. I know that Jiwoo is in a very close relationship with him.

─Huh? A close relationship? In what way?

─Just, a close relationship enough to think of her as a girlfriend. Do you know what I mean?

─Ah, yes. I know. But that can’t be.]

The man muttered, “That’s weird.”

[─Why can’t it be?

─The person named Jiwoo who came and went to 301’s house is a man.]