You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 477

“So, you’re saying Choi Jae-hoon had that kind of relationship with the guy named Jiwoo?” Kang Min-jae asked, his voice surprised.

Yoon Se-yeon nodded. “He wasn’t heterosexual.”

“Are you sure they were really in that kind of relationship? They could just be friends.”

“Friends don’t say such dirty things.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop it! Stop it!” As Yoon Se-yeon was about to repeat the curse she had mentioned earlier, Jo Bong-joon jumped up, waving his arms wildly.

Yoon Se-yeon tilted her head, feigning innocence, but seeing their reaction, she relented, her shoulders drooping. “Anyway! There’s no way he’d say such a thing to a friend. It sounded like the kind of curse you’d reserve for someone you’ve been intimate with.”

She explained, “Korean curses often contain sexually demeaning meanings. The way he said it, it strongly implied a lover’s quarrel or something similar between Choi Jae-hoon and this Jiwoo.”

“If you listen to the entire recording, you’ll hear that Choi Jae-hoon kept telling people he was single and went on several blind dates. If he was hiding his true sexuality, putting up a smokescreen to avoid judgment, doesn’t that sound plausible?”

“I guess so. So, did you find this Jiwoo guy?”

Instead of answering directly, Yoon Se-yeon played the audio file.

[─Anyway, do you know what kind of relationship Jiwoo had with Choi Jae-hoon?

─Well, I thought they were either very close friends or living together.

─He seemed to come and go from the house often.

─Yes. When I contacted them to move their car, that person would come out instead of the person in 301, and I ran into them in the elevator a few times, like they were going somewhere together. That’s when the person in 301 called him Jiwoo, so I remembered his name.

─Hmm, I see. Do you happen to know Jiwoo’s contact information separately?

─Oh, I did talk to him about the car issue… I’ll probably have to look for it. I didn’t save his number separately, so I’ll have to search through my call history.

─Oh, wow. Could you please check the number and let me know? I gave you my business card earlier, right? You can send it there.

─Yes, I understand.

─And one more thing.

─Go ahead.

─Jiwoo, do you happen to know his profession or what he looks like… what kind of impression he gives?

─…Well, he’s very handsome. But… why are you asking about this?]

The man, who had been forthcoming, grew suspicious as Yoon Se-yeon’s questions became more specific and personal.

The audio file ended, and Yoon Se-yeon moved to the next, playing it immediately. Apparently, she had smoothed things over, as the testimony continued naturally.

[─Anyway, yes, as I said, he’s very handsome. And he really dresses up? To be blunt, he seemed like someone who likes to ‘play around’. He has a lot of tattoos. He’s about 178 cm tall? I don’t think he’s quite 180 cm. I’m 176 cm, and he felt a little taller than me.

─I see. How old did he look?

─I’m not good at guessing ages, so I could be wrong, but I thought he was in his 20s.

─20s. Did you ever see any signs of violence on Jiwoo?

─Signs of violence? So, you mean Jiwoo was the one being hit? Not the one hitting?

─That’s right.

─Oh, he seemed to have some bruises. He also wore a lot of bandages on his face. So, I thought he was a bit of a tough guy. And he always went out at night and came back early in the morning. He sometimes parked there too, and his car wouldn’t be there at night, but when I went to work in the morning, it would be there.]

The recording stopped. Choi Jong-hyun, who had been listening intently, stroked his stubbled chin and said in a low voice, “Could that Jiwoo guy be involved in the nightlife scene?”

“I had the same thought. If he works at night and is a handsome guy who dresses well, I thought he might be a host or something,” Yoon Se-yeon replied.

“If he’s a gay host, Choi Jae-hoon might have been a customer who met him personally. And if he continued the relationship with Choi Jae-hoon even while being cursed at and beaten, maybe Choi Jae-hoon was sponsoring him or something?”

“That seems likely, doesn’t it?” Yoon Se-yeon agreed.

“So, did you get Jiwoo’s number?” I asked.

Yoon Se-yeon nodded, but her expression wasn’t cheerful. “I got it, but he changed his number. When I called, it said the number doesn’t exist. The last call with this resident was about eight days before the accident. So, he was using that number until recently. It seems he changed his number as soon as Choi Jae-hoon died.”

“Then he really might have been a host getting sponsored. And ordinary people often use a service that forwards calls to their new number when they change numbers.”

“Right. But it seems he didn’t register for that service either. So, I thought it would take some time to find Jiwoo, so I stopped there and brought it here.”

Choi Jong-hyun and Yoon Se-yeon’s speculation wasn’t definitive, but it seemed plausible. Initially, the resident’s testimony suggested Jiwoo was ‘flashy’ and worked at night, but it wasn’t enough to conclude he was in the nightlife industry. However, changing his number immediately after Choi Jae-hoon’s death suggested a desire to avoid involvement.

“I think that Jiwoo name might even be a stage name,” I mused.

“I guess so. Hosts don’t use their real names. Wow, then it’ll be even harder to find him. We might have to ask the madam of a large club in a host bar district to dig up information…”

“Should we ask Tae-shik to look into it?” Kang Min-jae suggested. After all, Tae-shik, who used to run a private investigation agency, is an expert in this field.

“Tell Tae-shik to come in,” I instructed.

“Okay.” Kang Min-jae left to fetch him.

Since Tae-shik started working with me, I had a room made for him in the company. He chose the room closest to the entrance, avoiding music or television to remain alert for intrusions. He only played mobile games on silent mode, bothering me with boasts about breaking my scores or begging for hearts. I suggested watching a movie, but he refused, insisting on keeping his ears open. I wasn’t sure how effective that was.

After all, focusing on a game would likely hinder his ability to hear outside sounds. Anyway, Kang Min-jae soon returned with Tae-shik, who, after receiving materials from Yoon Se-yeon, promised to find Jiwoo.

“Oh, and you told me to check on the relationship between Im Hyun-il and Choi Jae-hoon,” Yoon Se-yeon reminded me as Tae-shik left.

Yoon Se-yeon played the conversation she had with the resident she had introduced earlier. “He said he couldn’t say specifically, so I asked him to just tell me roughly, and this is what he said.”

“So, he made him work his ass off, is what he’s saying,” Kang Min-jae summarized.

“The important point here is Im Hyun-il’s attitude. It was like, ‘Let’s see if you can handle this,’ that kind of feeling,” Yoon Se-yeon emphasized.

“I guess so. If it looked that way to others, it seems like Im Hyun-il wanted Choi Jae-hoon to quit on his own.”

Wanted him to quit on his own? Then, when Im Hyun-il saw Choi Jae-hoon on the list of candidates before coming to the main hospital, he didn’t like him? So, to exclude Choi Jae-hoon, he made him ‘work his ass off’ with the intention of making him quit? Or, he might have deliberately given him an excessive amount of work to make Choi Jae-hoon make a mistake. In any case, it became clear that Choi Jae-hoon and Im Hyun-il were not on good terms. To be precise, it was certain that Im Hyun-il disliked Choi Jae-hoon.

Then, what was Woo-shin’s reason for eliminating Choi Jae-hoon? If Im Hyun-il thought Choi Jae-hoon was unsuitable, he could have simply not included him in the organ trafficking business. Even so, if he deliberately eliminated him, it must be because Choi Jae-hoon found out about the organ trafficking business, as initially expected.

Ah, maybe Choi Jae-hoon was already a member of the organ trafficking business. They were already sharing secrets, but Im Hyun-il might have tried to exclude Choi Jae-hoon from the business because he didn’t like him. However, if he suddenly excluded him, there was a possibility that Choi Jae-hoon would leak the secret, so it makes some sense to say that he eliminated him to silence him.

‘But even so…’ I don’t know yet who is involved in the organ trafficking business, but I don’t think Im Hyun-il is the top dog. Even about 10 years ago, Im Hyun-il was just an attending physician who couldn’t even perform surgeries and only took care of patients. In other words, Im Hyun-il is not in a position to exclude Choi Jae-hoon from the organ trafficking business at will just because he doesn’t like him.

If this assumption is true, then the one who caused the gas explosion accident should be seen as Im Hyun-il personally, not Woo-shin. Even Woo-shin, who takes other people’s lives lightly, wouldn’t try to kill a skilled and useful doctor for various reasons. But it’s hard to see Im Hyun-il as someone who would do something so bold. How would he handle the aftermath?

‘Then, should I assume that the first assumption is correct after all?’ Choi Jae-hoon was already a member of the organ trafficking business, or he was deemed suitable for the organ trafficking business and was told about the business, but he suddenly opposed it. For now, it’s best to focus on this and investigate.

“Attorney Cha, what are you thinking so hard about?” Lost in thought, I suddenly raised my head at Yoon Se-yeon’s voice. She had a dissatisfied look on her face. “Isn’t it time you told me a little bit? I roughly know that you suspect Woo-shin caused the gas explosion accident. But why do you think so? You don’t know much about Choi Jae-hoon either, so you told me to investigate. How can you be so sure that Woo-shin did it when you don’t know much about Choi Jae-hoon? And why did you tell me to check on his relationship with Im Hyun-il?”

Yoon Se-yeon’s questions poured out. I told Choi Jong-hyun not to tell Yoon Se-yeon about the organ trafficking, so it’s not surprising that she’s suspicious.

“When I personally checked, the only thing that Im Hyun-il and the attorneys could be involved in is, well…” Yoon Se-yeon looked at Kang Min-jae.

Kang Min-jae shrugged and replied, “That’s right. He was our grandfather’s surgeon.”

“…Yes. I’m sorry for bringing it up for no reason. But I wanted to address it. Please understand.”

“It’s okay.”

“Anyway, that’s the only thing that could make Im Hyun-il a target for the attorneys. What kind of picture are you drawing? I want to know too. That way, I can help you better, right?”

It’s not that I don’t trust Yoon Se-yeon. But that doesn’t mean I completely trust her without a shred of doubt. In other words, I don’t know if she’ll keep her mouth shut even when she’s in a situation where her life is threatened. More than anything, isn’t it possible that she could be in danger just by knowing the information? I don’t want to create such a situation for no reason.

“You’ve helped us a lot already. We’ll take care of the rest. You said you wanted me to buy you a meal, right? Let’s go eat. It’s dinner time anyway.”

“Ah, why are you changing the subject? Tell me too!”

“What do you like? Meat? Fish?”

“…Fish.”

“Then I know a good place. Let’s go there. Pack your things.” As I stood up, Yoon Se-yeon pouted and glared at me. Seeing her just glare without budging, it seemed like she thought she could kill me with her laser eyes.

“Didn’t you say you bought a new laptop? You better take good care of it. If you keep doing this here, I’ll just think you donated it to our office.”

“…No way!” Yoon Se-yeon hugged her laptop and glared at me until the end.

Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon also slowly got up, tidying up the paper cups in front of them. And they asked very carefully, “Are you buying us dinner too, by any chance?”