You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 479

You Have Been Defended – Episode 479

The meeting with Heo Min-woo was set at the studio where Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun broadcast their show.

He’d mentioned yesterday that he was a fan and wanted to visit, but that wasn’t the primary reason for choosing this location.

We, especially me, are still under Woo-shin’s surveillance.

I don’t feel that gaze constantly, of course.

More often than not, I don’t sense it at all, which is understandable.

If the person being watched is always aware of it, it defeats the purpose, right?

Woo-shin isn’t foolish; he’s likely an expert in surveillance and wouldn’t make such an obvious mistake.

However, I always operate as if I’m being watched.

It’s costly and cumbersome, and sometimes I question if I’m overdoing it, but recent events have proven it’s worthwhile.

Remember the black car that followed me like a ghost when I went to Japan to persuade Kim Mi-ja?

Therefore, the meeting with Heo Min-woo required extreme caution.

I’ve collaborated with Heo Min-woo before to bring down Hwang Young-chan, but Woo-shin probably hasn’t added him to the watchlist yet.

Still, he likely believes Heo Min-woo shouldn’t be completely ignored.

And once they discover that Heo Min-woo is the detective in charge of the gas explosion accident, they’ll remember the previous case.

They’re probably at the point where they think they should be monitoring Heo Min-woo.

In that context, meeting with me, who is under constant surveillance, would be like pushing Heo Min-woo off a cliff.

Of course, the studio isn’t entirely free from Woo-shin’s eyes.

Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon are also likely being monitored.

However, they haven’t been broadcasting since the incident where I almost became fish food, and they’ve been meeting at Jung-do’s office, so they haven’t visited the studio in a while.

Therefore, if Heo Min-woo arrives at the studio before us and leaves after us, they won’t know about our meeting.

The studio is in a large building with many tenants, so there’s a lot of foot traffic, allowing him to claim he had other business there.

Also, the studio is filled with broadcasting equipment and briefing materials, making it ideal for quickly explaining the situation to Heo Min-woo.

“Wow, the studio is even more professional than I imagined.”

Heo Min-woo, who had arrived earlier with Kim Jung-woo, exclaimed as soon as I arrived, looking around the studio.

He sat in front of the camera like a child on a field trip to a broadcasting station and asked to see the broadcasting software.

He genuinely seemed to be a fan of the show.

“Jung-woo, you wanted a blueberry smoothie, right?”

Then, Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun, who opened the studio door as soon as I sat down, were carrying a carrier bag with a cafe logo.

It seemed Kim Jung-woo had asked them to run an errand, further solidifying his position as the real power behind the broadcast.

“Oh, Attorney Cha is here too. Detective Heo, did you enjoy looking around the studio?”

Choi Jong-hyun seemed to have dropped the honorifics with Heo Min-woo in the meantime.

While they were close in their previous lives, they were definitely using honorifics the last time they had drinks together.

“Yes, it’s really cool. It must have cost a fortune to soundproof this place, right? You’ve got plenty of sound-absorbing material.”

“We have a sugar daddy, you know.”

Jo Bong-joon pointed at me with his chin.

“Let’s start as soon as Min-jae arrives. Wow, it makes me feel so secure knowing that our Detective Heo is going to be on our team.”

“I know, right? We’re pretty good at digging up information on people, but we can’t compete with the police. You’ll be a great help, right?”

“…Well, I can help if it’s not an unreasonable request.”

Heo Min-woo answered awkwardly.

That’s just his personality.

He embodies the ideal police officer, frustrated with the organization but unwilling to cross certain ethical lines.

He would adamantly refuse if we asked him to look up personal information without a legitimate reason.

Besides, if he recklessly accessed information as a police officer, it could cause problems with his record later, so I wouldn’t ask him for such a favor anyway.

“I couldn’t sleep last night. I can’t imagine why you guys are digging into the gas explosion accident. I guess it’s because of Woo-shin, but I really, really don’t know why specifically.”

“I understand why you’re confused. It really doesn’t make sense. To be honest, we’re digging into it, but I hope our suspicions are wrong. I hope we’re just barking up the wrong tree.”

“Is it that serious?”

“It’s beyond anything you can imagine.”

After receiving a call that Kang Min-jae was parking, Kim Jung-woo checked the prepared materials and turned on the screen.

Although the broadcast is on hiatus, Kim Jung-woo keeps all the materials organized in a template, just in case we need to resume broadcasting quickly.

I thought it would be shown on the broadcast first, but I never expected to show it to the police.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Kang Min-jae appeared, bowing obsequiously, as Kim Jung-woo was finishing his preparations.

“It’s okay. Attorney Kang, we’ve talked on the phone often, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen you in person. Is it the first time since we had a drink at my house about two months ago?”

“Huh…”

Kang Min-jae immediately looked at me, as if he hadn’t expected Heo Min-woo to say that.

He claimed he was just keeping in touch with people regularly to maintain his network, but it seems he genuinely befriended Heo Min-woo with his unique sociability.

Looking at the situation, it seemed everyone except me was looking for an opportunity to team up with Heo Min-woo.

I didn’t even have the energy to nag anymore, so I pulled out the chair next to me and gestured for him to sit down.

“Then, please welcome Jo Bong-joon, who will be giving today’s presentation, with a big round of applause.”

Jo Bong-joon, approaching the screen, took out a laser pointer that looked familiar.

“Oh, isn’t that what Reporter Yoon uses?”

“It looked good, so I bought one too. They sell it at the stationery store in front. If you pull this, it stretches out so you can point directly at the screen, and if you do this, you can use it as a pen.”

“Wow, that’s really good. I want to buy one too. How much is it?”

Even though they see each other often, they’re always chatting away when they meet.

I was about to tell them to hurry up, but Kim Jung-woo spoke first.

“Why are you guys chatting for so long when you have busy people sitting here? Do you think Attorney Cha and Detective Heo have as much time as you two? Hurry up and start.”

I really like Kim Jung-woo.

* * *

“…No, does this make sense?”

Heo Min-woo muttered with a pale face after listening to the briefing in silence for an hour.

“It’s a big company. The number one company in the business world, and it’s well-known overseas. But why are they doing this…? Why are they doing this? I don’t understand it logically. Why do people with so much money have to do this to make money?”

“Money may not be the only goal.”

“Then what is the purpose of doing this…? No, the kids… What did the children at the orphanage do to deserve this? No, I really don’t understand… Not only sexual favors, but also organ trafficking? How is this possible in the 21st century? Not some gangster organization, but a big company?”

“We believe Woo-shin started offering sexual favors to gain support from Japanese companies before rising to his current position. That’s how their cartel was formed, and then they exploited the children of Angel House because of the heart defect problem, a genetic disease unique to the Go family. Of course, organ transplant technology wasn’t as advanced then, so we believe they started this business relatively recently.”

“So, roughly speaking, this is what happened. After the cartel was formed, they were all getting along well, but suddenly one of the members needed an organ transplant. But Go Sang-joon heard that it was difficult to find an organ donor. So he said, ‘Then why don’t you use our kids?’ That’s how it started, and it seems to have grown to what it is now.”

“It doesn’t make sense, really… This doesn’t make sense. But weren’t the people who frequented that ‘fairy’ [a type of exclusive club] mainly Japanese political figures? Of course, you said there were also business figures, but it seems that almost all of the famous people whose names were revealed were politicians.”

“We’ve been considering the reason for that. Maybe Woo-shin is involved in shady dealings in Japan, so they’re taking care of him. For example, the issue of trading with Shingaku Medical University and Okashima Hospital. Above all, Woo-shin significantly expanded his business to Japan before crossing the Pacific. So maybe he needed the influence of Japanese political figures in the process.”

“I see…”

Heo Min-woo said that, but he still seemed unconvinced.

He sat blankly, staring at a spot in the air, lost in thought.

We’ve always been shocked for a long time each time we uncovered something.

We were able to cushion the shock because we accepted it gradually, but Heo Min-woo had to absorb all that information at once, so it will be difficult for him to process it.

“…So you guys are investigating this case because you think Choi Jae-hoon was involved in the organ trafficking business?”

“That’s right. But it’s not entirely accurate. The reason we started suspecting this case was very simple: a doctor at Woo-shin Hospital who worked under Im Hyun-il died. That was the initial trigger.”

“And gas explosion accidents are rare these days.”

“That’s right. We started there and investigated further. The gas concentration at the scene was unusual, and it was strange that most of the twenty or so households that moved in happened to be away from home. So we dug deeper, and Choi Jae-hoon’s personality made him a perfect fit for the organ trafficking business. His skills too. In addition, Im Hyun-il hated Choi Jae-hoon.”

“It’s worth suspecting since Im Hyun-il has a history.”

Heo Min-woo nodded slowly.

“You found that person named Ji-woo because you wanted to check if Choi Jae-hoon had said anything to him while he was alive?”

“Yes, that’s right. So please, tell me. That person’s personal information!”

Kang Min-jae pleaded, and Heo Min-woo took out a USB drive from his bag.

“Jung-woo, can you put the information in here on the screen?”

Kim Jung-woo connected the USB drive he received from Heo Min-woo and checked the files inside.

“Which file should I open?”

“The file that says Jung Ji-min.”

“Okay. Opened it.”

As the file loaded, Heo Min-woo picked up the laser pointer that Jo Bong-joon was holding.

“I wanted to use this too. It’s my turn this time.”

He said as he approached the screen.

“Ah, first of all, before I tell you. The reason I’m sharing this information is because, as I told Attorney Cha yesterday, you guys have more information than our police can access, and I don’t think we can investigate effectively without considering all that information. It’s something I shouldn’t be doing, but I’m doing it because I believe it’s right to expose Woo-shin’s atrocities.”

“I know, I know. We don’t think of Detective Heo as a police informant.”

He’s telling a white lie while thinking that.

“The name is Jung Ji-min. The stage name is Ji-woo. He’s a host in the entertainment industry… a gay host bar.”

“We know that.”

“…How do you know that? Didn’t you fail to identify him?”

“How many years have I been in this business to not even make that guess? Surely that’s not all, is it?”

Choi Jong-hyun asked, narrowing his eyes, and Heo Min-woo raised his voice as if his pride was hurt.

“Of course not! I’ll go to the next page!”