You Have Been Defended – Episode 489
#489
Not long after Kim Mi-ja left, the staff came in and began to fill the table with dishes.
In the early days of the restaurant, they provided a course menu so that guests could fully enjoy the original taste of the food. However, they changed the format because of complaints that the frequent comings and goings of the staff carrying dishes kept interrupting the flow of conversation.
While the staff set the dishes on the table, the guests shared stories, not minding if the staff overheard.
Most of it was useless content consisting of gossip about other politicians or boasting about themselves.
And when the staff, who had finished setting up all the dishes, bowed and stepped back, they finally got down to business.
“What’s this about the Angel House being monitored?” Onodera asked, raising a glass of whiskey.
“I remember telling you that there was a bit of a problem in Korea before, am I misremembering?” Oda Satoshi asked, looking slightly embarrassed.
Oda Satoshi was a business partner who connected Wooshin with various politicians to expand his business in Japan.
Of course, in return, he received various rewards, including political funds, so he had no major complaints about playing the role of a go-between.
But that was only when things were running smoothly in Korea.
These days, things weren’t like before.
When complaints leaked out from the Japanese side, it naturally fell to Oda Satoshi to appease them, and such instances had been happening frequently lately.
It hurt his pride that he, who held such a social position, had to keep a low profile because of Wooshin’s mistakes, not his own.
He had received a lot in the meantime, so he had no choice but to put up with it, but if things continued like this, he was even considering reconsidering his cooperative relationship with Wooshin.
But that was something to discuss separately with Go Sang-jun.
Right now, he had to do his job.
“I didn’t hear the details, but…”
“It’s just as Ishida said earlier. Chairman Go is siphoning off money from the Wooshin Welfare Foundation and lining his own pockets, and it seems a lawyer found out about it. You know, the one who sent Go’s children to jail one after another.”
“Ah, yes. I heard about it. I don’t remember the name, though.”
“Yes. And that lawyer smelled something fishy and sent people to the Angel House.”
“I don’t quite understand. What do you mean by ‘sent people’? Isn’t the Angel House under Wooshin’s control? How can a mere lawyer send people? Can’t you just kick them out?” Onodera asked in an even more unpleasant voice, and Oda Satoshi sighed and said.
“He mobilized college students, saying he would provide educational volunteer work, for the purpose of helping children in orphanages who have difficulty receiving quality education. It’s a proposal that the Angel House can hardly refuse. He even brought a reporter and reported it in the media, so if the Angel House tries to stop it unilaterally, they will somehow find fault with it.”
“Ha, so you’re calling it surveillance just because college students are coming and going? You’re not kidding me…”
“If he was only suspected of lining his own pockets, Chairman Go wouldn’t be so flustered. That lawyer even contacted someone who came to our country from the Angel House to study abroad.”
“Ah, are you talking about the case where you had to use your influence on the former president? Chairman Go gave me a rough explanation…”
Oda Satoshi nodded heavily.
Onodera sighed, sweeping back his graying hair.
“So, that lawyer thinks it’s suspicious that they’re bringing kids here under the guise of studying abroad?”
“Probably. Of course, he probably doesn’t know about using them as spare organs. But, he said that one of the girls who came here to study abroad and then returned to Korea mentioned a place to greet the sponsors. He described the atmosphere in detail, so he probably noticed that there was entertainment involved.”
“Now that you mention it, I remember. But didn’t we take care of the former president? We silenced him to prevent the data from leaking, so there’s no data now, right? So why are you putting things off so much because you’re afraid of something? What does it matter if they notice?”
Onodera’s voice rose a little more.
Whether it was because he had been drinking or because he was impatient, he seemed definitely angrier than before.
“So, to explain in a little more detail, the former president knew that the former chairman had been supplying women to Japan during his tenure and launched an investigation. At that time, the former chairman also took care of the former president’s secretary and blocked the investigation. I thought that was the end of it, but that lawyer I mentioned earlier, is the grandson of the former president. That’s why the former president kept looking after that lawyer…”
“No. Listen to me. I understand what Oda is saying. So, you silenced the former president to prevent the evidence he had secured during his tenure from being passed on, right? Then that’s it. No matter how much they suspect, it’ll just end in suspicion, right?”
“That’s…”
Oda Satoshi thought so too.
However, Go Sang-jun reacted more sensitively than expected.
He had sent three of his sons to jail because of that lawyer, and he had even made a public apology, so I guess that could be the reason.
But no matter how much that lawyer struggles, he’s just a lawyer.
If he’s going to use the media, then shut the media’s mouth, and if that doesn’t work, just eliminate him.
Go Sang-jun said he had tried, but it ended in failure.
Oda Satoshi told him to keep trying until he succeeded, but Go Sang-jun said that if he pushed it that far, he would end up destroying himself.
“Being suspected in itself doesn’t amount to anything. Being suspected by those guys and being tracked is common in our country, in the United States, and everywhere else. But you can just turn that into a conspiracy theory and make them look like fools writing novels on their own, right? No, is it worth putting in that much effort? Just eliminate him.”
“I already tried…”
“If you failed, you have to keep trying until you succeed. What’s going to happen if that lawyer dies? There will be people who protest loudly, but they’ll stop eventually. Koreans have a unique trait, you know. Hot-bloodedness.”
Oda Satoshi also thought the same way, so he investigated the lawyer in his own way.
Well, I know his resume is impressive.
And I know that his goal is to smear Wooshin with dirt.
I also know that he’s landed a few effective blows.
But I haven’t found the reason why Go Sang-jun is approaching him so cautiously.
Therefore, Oda Satoshi couldn’t think of any words to calm Onodera down.
What more could he say when his own thoughts were the same as Onodera’s?
“Is that lawyer immortal or something? Ha, well. Let’s say he is. But even so, how can someone in business do business like this!”
“Onodera, please calm down a little…” Isobe, who had been watching quietly, forced a laugh and poured wine into his glass, but Onodera didn’t even look at him and continued to speak.
“Do those guys have a base in Japan? Do they have anything? Just say you’re sending them to study abroad and bring them here, and that’s it. What can they do? Can they even track how they’re living in Japan?”
“I said that too, but Go keeps… If you wait a little longer, Go won’t keep dragging his feet. He’ll come up with something.”
“Listen, Oda. You keep blaming Go, but isn’t it Oda’s job to persuade Go? Then, how long do I have to wait for my grandson?” Onodera stood up as if he was about to overturn the table.
Then Ishida and Isobe carefully grabbed his arm and repeated words of appeasement.
“Onodera, Oda didn’t mean it that way. How could he think that way? It would be better to sit down and talk. Yes?”
They coaxed and persuaded Onodera to sit down again.
But Onodera still turned his upper body to the side with a displeased expression and said.
“If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have entrusted the work to Go. All I had to do was send them to another country. How long have you been dragging your feet, saying it’ll be possible soon, it’ll be possible soon? I was stupid to believe and wait! A skilled doctor? Are there only skilled doctors in Korea?”
The reason Onodera had been waiting until now was to be supplied with the healthiest organs from the best facilities and the best surgeons.
Onodera himself had suffered from various allergies, and unfortunately, his grandson was born with the same constitution.
To make matters worse, he had a heart defect for some reason, and as a grandfather who had passed on the genes, he felt like a sinner.
He found out that there were many cases of death due to allergic reactions to the drugs used during the surgery, so if he made a slight mistake, he might lose his grandson.
That’s why he couldn’t entrust the transplant surgery to just anyone.
It had to be the best.
In addition, the Go Sang-jun family also had a genetic heart defect, and he thought he could trust them more because they had performed the surgery on their own children.
There were also ways to send them to another country, but for various reasons, he wasn’t satisfied, so he waited quietly for the time being.
Of course, this was possible because his grandson’s condition was not that critical.
“Seeing that young child panting without being able to run properly at an age when he should be running around makes my heart ache. How hard must it be for that young child? How long do I have to watch that? I’m a grandfather, how can I not do that for him? I’m a member of the National Assembly in this country! Is it because I don’t have enough money? Should I give you more money?”
“Oh my… It’s not about the money, Onodera. I will somehow persuade Go to make every effort to schedule Onodera’s surgery as soon as possible.”
Onodera had already paid an astronomical amount of money as a down payment.
He had put down money that others would pay as the total cost as a deposit, so there was no way he would be short of money.
In addition, Onodera was the closest person to becoming the next prime minister, and he was a very important customer to Go Sang-jun.
He wouldn’t want to incur Onodera’s wrath either, so he must be anxious.
“If that lawyer is the problem, can I eliminate him? It seems like Go is scared for some reason and can’t eliminate that lawyer, so it’s come to this. I’ll eliminate him for you, so tell him to give me my grandson’s heart!”
Onodera 벌떡 일어났다 [Onodera stood up abruptly].
This time, not only Isobe and Ishida, but also Oda Satoshi stood up.
Onodera stormed out of the drawing room with a face full of anger.
Ironically, those who were called some of the leading politicians in Japan followed Onodera closely.
But Onodera didn’t look back and shouted to the employee waiting in the hallway.
“Tell them to get the car ready!”
“Onodera…”
Onodera, who had been walking with a thud for a while, turned around to look at the three people who were still following him, watching his every move.
“The next time you contact me, you must bring news that you have set a surgery date.”
And he suddenly got into the car prepared in front of the restaurant and left.
Those who followed him leaned against the wall as if they had lost their strength and sighed.
“Oda, you need to talk to Go strongly.”
“…I’ve never seen Onodera get so angry.”
Oda Satoshi bit his lip.
He became anxious at the thought that the anger might be directed at him.
“I’ll have to do something…”