You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 490

“You’re all defended.”

#490

“What a load of crap.”

Jo Bong-joon shouted as the playback of the wiretapping file sent by Kim Mi-ja ended.

“Kill him? He’s going to kill him? What the hell does he think a human life is that he can just kill him?”

“Besides, it’s horrifying that he feels heartbroken that his own grandson can’t run properly, but thinks it’s okay for the children at Angel’s House to die. How can someone with that kind of mindset be in politics? No, how can there be more human beings on this earth with trashy thoughts like Go Sang-jun? And so many of them…”

Office Manager Oh muttered in disbelief.

I agreed.

It was also amazing how Wooshin managed to surprise me every time.

Having lived through two lives, I had repeatedly and continuously witnessed the crazy things they had done.

Even though I knew they were trash from the start and had no expectations whatsoever, the fact that they still managed to shock me was a talent in itself.

“I wish Kim Mi-ja had just mistranslated it. How many children have been used to fatten Go Sang-jun’s pockets?”

She had even enclosed a script with a very meticulous Korean translation of their conversation for those of us who didn’t understand Japanese.

There was no way she, who wanted Wooshin’s downfall more than anyone, would have deliberately mistranslated it.

There might have been minor mistakes, but the content would be the same.

“And what the elder said, really… Ugh, damn it. What am I going to do with my limited vocabulary? I just feel so, so bad. Is Min-jae okay?”

Jo Bong-joon asked, turning to Kang Min-jae, and Choi Jong-hyun also put his hand on Kang Min-jae’s shoulder and gently rubbed his arm.

Then, Kang Min-jae forced a smile, his hardened expression softening slightly.

“I already knew. That those guys were trying to stop Grandpa from cooperating with us. It’s not surprising because I already knew. No, it’s better this way. It’s proof that Wooshin killed Grandpa, not that he was killed by an Lee Sang-woon supporter. Until now, it was just a suspicion…”

Fortunately, Kang Min-jae was trying to break free from the shock, not dwell on it for too long.

Kang Min-jae is a truly strong person.

Seeing this, I felt a little embarrassed for having pushed him so hard, telling him not to be consumed by guilt.

Who was lecturing whom?

“The children who have already been sacrificed, and Grandpa, and the chief of staff who died investigating the comfort women case a long time ago, and the people who have been sacrificed in places we don’t even know about… There have been so many victims. I’m so angry and sad, but our job isn’t to stop at anger.”

Kang Min-jae said slowly, with emphasis.

“This might sound a bit harsh, but what’s done is done. We can’t bring back the people who have already died. Instead, we need to work to prevent any more victims and make sure those bastards all receive just punishment. That’s what we need to do.”

“Yeah, Min-jae is right. Thinking in that context, the file Kim Mi-ja sent us will be quite meaningful evidence. Min-jae, you’re amazing. You’ve grown up so much, my boy.”

Choi Jong-hyun patted Kang Min-jae’s butt, and Kang Min-jae laughed shyly, saying, “What are you doing?”

That’s right.

We can’t just keep venting our anger and sadness forever.

Even the time we spend venting our anger and sighing should be used to come up with measures to prevent more victims.

“Kim Mi-ja added that Onodera is one of the leading candidates for the next prime minister. Isn’t that why Oda Satoshi and the other guys are so flustered? Especially Ishida, who was in that position, is the son of the former prime minister and quite influential himself, but he’s still acting like that.”

“That’s right. His political base is so solid that many people see it as just a matter of time before he becomes prime minister. Soo-il hyung [older brother/male friend] says that in Japan, you need to have the ‘three bans’ to seize power.”

“Three bans?”

“It means three ‘bans’ in Japanese, which are ‘jiban’ (base), ‘kanban’ (signboard), and ‘kaban’ (briefcase). They call it the ‘three bans’ because the last syllable of these three words ends in ‘ban’.”

“So, you’re talking about inherited constituencies, name recognition, and financial power?”

“Yes, that’s right. Onodera is a very powerful person with those three ‘bans.’ Come to think of it, I think I saw that name when I was looking up Japanese politicians.”

“Looking it up, it seems Onodera’s grandson, who he’s trying to get a transplant for, is his youngest grandson. He’s old, so his other grandsons are all grown up, but his youngest daughter had a late child a few years ago, so he has a very young grandson. And he loves that grandson so much that he even takes him to local events.”

Office Manager Oh turned the laptop screen towards us.

It was a page from a Japanese article, with a picture of Onodera holding his young grandson’s hand and smiling broadly at the top.

Besides that, there seemed to be quite a few pictures of him with his grandson.

You could tell how much he cherished his grandson.

That’s probably why he’s pressuring Go Sang-jun so much, even saying he’ll kill me instead.

“By the way, looking at the email Kim Mi-ja sent us, it feels like she’s worried about Cha-byun [Cha-lawyer, a respectful way to address a lawyer]. Are you going to be okay?”

“Didn’t Onodera say he’d kill me instead? So, he’s saying to be careful because a ninja might appear anytime, anywhere.”

“No, is this really the time for jokes? Kim Mi-ja said that Oda Satoshi also said that Onodera is the type to do something if he really gets upset.”

Perhaps Go Sang-jun, upon hearing the news, is hoping that Onodera will really kill me.

Of course, he can’t openly say, ‘Then please kill him for me,’ because it would make him look incompetent, but wouldn’t he have a sense of anticipation that if he stalls a little longer, Onodera might actually kill me?

From Go Sang-jun’s perspective, it’s like killing two birds with one stone, so how easy would that be?

Even if the person who killed me is caught, the mastermind would be Onodera, and even if that fact is revealed in our country, it would be difficult to bring Onodera in for investigation.

“Do you really think Onodera will try to kill you, Attorney Cha?”

“Maybe.”

Go Sang-jun doesn’t know that we’ve secured evidence of their conspiracy through wiretapping, so he probably thinks that even if I die, no mud will be slung at him.

So, he might further provoke Onodera to really try to eliminate me.

But I can’t just sit still because I’m afraid of that, can I?

“We should strengthen security. Even if Tae-shik is by your side, it won’t help if someone suddenly shoots you.”

Choi Jong-hyun said, looking at me with a worried expression.

“You should always wear a bulletproof vest or stab-proof vest, Attorney Cha.”

“I don’t know if that will be enough. Last time, Go Sang-jun kidnapped Cha-byun [Cha-lawyer, a respectful way to address a lawyer] from his home while he was sleeping and tried to encase him in concrete. It’s a house that’s already been breached once, shouldn’t you move?”

“The management company has replaced the front door and security system with the highest-grade ones, and they’ve been tested. So, I don’t think it will be easy to break into the house. Besides, Go Sang-jun already used that method once and it didn’t work, so I don’t think Onodera will use the same method again. No matter where you move, it will be the same unless you live in a bunker.”

“This sucks. How about living in a hotel instead? Wouldn’t the security be tighter there?”

“It’s more dangerous there because anyone can come and go if they pay.”

“Ugh, how about hiring a security company and increasing the number of guards?”

That could be a solution, but it’s not something we can do for a short period of time, and we can’t always live like that.

Besides, if we move around with a large group when we need to move discreetly, it will be even more noticeable.

More than anything, Wooshin might notice that information is leaking if they see that I’ve increased my security personnel.

“I’ve always been carrying the risk of dying at any moment anyway. And it’s not just me. You know that, right?”

“That’s true, but we’re a bit lower in the pecking order. Attorney Cha is first, Min-jae is second. Isn’t that how it’s decided? We can start preparing when Attorney Cha and Min-jae die.”

“That’s a bitter joke…”

Kang Min-jae said with a gloomy expression.

“Anyway, this isn’t the time for this. Whether Onodera kills me or not, Go Sang-jun will soon try to send the child from Angel’s House to Japan to avoid losing Onodera. Of course, the surgery will be performed at Okashima Hospital, and Lim Hyun-il, an expert in heart transplants, will be involved. So, we need to focus on this.”

We recently obtained evidence through the blog of Choi Jae-hoon, who died in a gas explosion, that Lim Hyun-il ordered Choi Jae-hoon to extract organs from a living person.

There is also other evidence that Wooshin is engaged in organ trafficking.

But with that alone, we can’t completely prove that they are running an organ trafficking business.

It might be enough to raise suspicion, or even open a special investigation, but it might be difficult to lead to punishment.

Go Sang-jun will soon be preparing for a heart transplant for Onodera’s youngest grandson, and we need to shed light on this process.

Soon, a child from Angel’s House of a similar age to Onodera’s youngest grandson will be sent to Japan.

College students are dispatched there, so we can immediately identify if they disappear.

In addition, Lim Hyun-il’s business trip will be scheduled at the same time, so we can check Lim Hyun-il’s departure through Heo Min-woo.

Lim Hyun-il, the child to be sacrificed, and Onodera’s grandson will all gather at Okashima Hospital.

We need to catch them red-handed here to definitively prove organ trafficking.

But it will probably take time to get to this stage.

No matter how much Onodera is raging, I don’t think Go Sang-jun will schedule the surgery right away.

If it’s Go Sang-jun, he’ll stall until Onodera really decides to kill me, as I predicted earlier.

So, until then, we need to be fully prepared.

“What’s the status of the Okashima Hospital investigation that you entrusted to Chan-young?”

“I haven’t heard from him yet, but I’ll check how much progress has been made. To summarize, the three places we need to focus on now are Okashima Hospital, Lim Hyun-il, and Angel’s House.”

“That’s right. We were already investigating Lim Hyun-il while investigating Choi Jae-hoon. Chan-young is in charge of Okashima Hospital, and the college students are in charge of Angel’s House, so it seems right for us to focus on Lim Hyun-il.”

“It would be good to find out where Lim Hyun-il ordered Choi Jae-hoon to extract the organs of the child named Yoo Jong-eun. I’ll contact Detective Heo.”

If we’re lucky enough to prove that Lim Hyun-il is involved in organ trafficking before Onodera’s grandson’s heart transplant, things will be easier.

Because the purpose of Lim Hyun-il’s departure to Okashima Hospital becomes clearer, we might be able to move the investigative authorities.

If we report to the higher-ups as if we are investigating Lim Hyun-il’s personal crime, which has nothing to do with Wooshin, the police might not be afraid and support us.

Once we catch the tail of Lim Hyun-il, it won’t be difficult to bring down Wooshin as well.

“We need to start preparing for the special investigation in earnest now.”