You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 497

You’ve Been Defended – Episode 497

#497

“It’s unusually quiet today.”

It’s the first time it’s been this quiet in the morning since Kang Min-jae came to our house.

Is it unintentionally quiet because we’re sleeping in on the weekend?

I put the cup down at the water purifier and looked around.

“Kang Attorney went out this morning to Pyeongchang-dong to get some things,” Tae-shik replied, entering the kitchen, holding a cup, and lining up behind me.

“Pyeongchang-dong? Why all of a sudden?”

“He said he was going to get some clothes and other luggage. So he asked for your car keys because he needed a bigger car.”

“And you gave them to him?”

“Yes. It’s not like the car wears out just because someone uses it. And Kang Attorney’s car is a bit small for carrying luggage.”

I was dumbfounded.

Since Tae-shik started living with me, he’s been doing most of the driving, so I did hand over the car keys.

But to lend the car without even asking me.

Besides, cars *do* wear out when you use them.

That’s why you have to keep replacing consumables and put in the effort to maintain them.

“Then what am I supposed to drive if I need to go out?”

“He said you could use *his* car and left the keys.”

“I don’t have insurance on it.”

“Come on, you both have plenty of money. And I’m a great driver, so I won’t get into an accident.”

Tae-shik waved his hand and approached the water purifier I had stepped away from.

Then, as he filled his cup with water, he added, “Kang Attorney bought the water purifier, didn’t he? Just think of it as a daily rental fee.”

“I don’t need a water purifier. Kang Attorney bought it because he was too lazy to make ice.”

“But you’re using it comfortably now, aren’t you?”

Of course, it’s convenient that ice keeps coming out without having to freeze it myself.

But it wasn’t essential.

“And Kang Attorney said he’d be back soon. It’s not like you have anything to go out for in the meantime, right?”

That’s true, but I don’t like that Kang Min-jae keeps crossing the line, and I keep missing the right timing to point it out, so a safe distance isn’t being maintained.

“Kang Attorney said he’s bringing back takeout from a famous *kalguksu* [Korean noodle soup] place nearby.”

“It’ll be all soggy by the time he gets here.”

“He said he’s bringing it so you can just boil it at home and eat it right away.”

I prefer *soba* [thin buckwheat noodles] to *kalguksu*, but that doesn’t excuse Kang Min-jae’s transgression.

But it didn’t seem like anything would change if I said something to Tae-shik right now, so I quietly put down my cup and went to take a shower.

As I stood under the falling water, Kang Min-jae’s singing, which he does every morning, began to echo in my ears like a hallucination.

I couldn’t understand it at all.

Why does he sing in the shower?

It’s not like he’s listening to music, why does he sing himself?

No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think I’ll ever understand Kang Min-jae.

“When is Kang Attorney leaving Pyeongchang-dong?”

After drying my hair, I came out to the living room and asked Tae-shik, but he shrugged nonchalantly.

“I don’t know.”

“Ask him. How long it will take. If he’s going to be late, let’s eat.”

“Well, packing and stuff, it probably won’t be too late. He left about 30 minutes before you woke up. Should we eat something if you’re hungry?”

“Then it’ll take a while.”

“It’s not really enough time to eat anything substantial, should we have ramen?”

Did a ghost who died without eating ramen possess him?

It’s amazing how he maintains his figure when he eats ramen so often.

Besides, he’s bringing *kalguksu*, but he wants to eat ramen.

But I didn’t think I could offer an alternative, so I quietly nodded.

“Call me when it’s done. I’ll be in the study.”

I turned away from Tae-shik, who was humming as he went to the kitchen, and entered the study.

There wasn’t anything to review right away.

Choi Jong-hyun is preparing the documents to join ICIJ [International Consortium of Investigative Journalists], Heo Min-woo is checking where Choi Jae-hoon was on the night of the 9th, and Kim Mi-ja is sorting out the useful parts of the wiretapping content for us.

In the end, all I can do now is wait for them to gather information, but I don’t like just waiting, so I keep sitting in front of the computer.

I habitually went to my inbox.

I have several email accounts, but the first one I always check is the one publicly available on the Jeongdo official website.

It was because I thought someone might have made a report or something.

Of course, when I open it, most of the emails are interview requests or advertisements, so I don’t expect much; it’s just a habit.

[Cha Joo-han | 6 Received Emails]

I deleted a bunch yesterday, but more emails have piled up again.

What kind of advertisement is it this time?

So far, the most common ones have been from companies that offer to create related search terms so that we can rank higher when searching for law firms in Seocho-dong.

It’s probably natural since it’s an official email, but even if I keep throwing them in the spam folder, they keep coming.

[Attorney… Please help me.. ㅠㅠ (Angel House Issue)]

As I deleted the emails one by one, one email title caught my eye.

The email was sent yesterday at dawn, and the sender’s name was Son Jeong-min.

It was a name I had never heard before, but the words “Angel House” in parentheses caught my attention.

[Hello, Attorney.

My name is Son Jeong-min, and I live in Angel House. I am a first-year student at Seungwi High School…

I have escaped from Angel House, and I don’t know what to do on my own. I am in desperate need of help, so I searched and found out about you, Attorney…

Do you know that Angel House sends children to study abroad in Japan after giving them giftedness tests? ㅠ I am going to study abroad this time, but I don’t want to go ㅠ

I don’t speak Japanese, and I don’t really want to study ㅠ And I don’t want to go and live there without any friends…ㅠ So I told the teacher that I didn’t want to go, but they keep saying I have to. I really don’t want to go..

So I just ran away, but I don’t have much money, so I went to the terminal and found a bus to Hojung in Gangwon-do, which was the cheapest. So I’m writing this email from a PC cafe near there..
If you can help me, please call me at 010-1234-1234. I can’t stay in this PC cafe forever, so I have to leave now.. Please contact me on my phone.. I will never forget this kindness..]

He didn’t want to go to study abroad, but they’re forcing him to go?

I frowned.

I thought that studying abroad wouldn’t resume until Onodera killed me, but it was happening sooner than I thought.

Of course, that’s if the protagonist in this email is really a student named Son Jeong-min.

I hesitated for a moment, then wrote down the phone number in the email on a burner phone.

There’s no risk of danger just from making a call, so I thought it would be good to talk to him.

If the contents of the email are true, it’s better to communicate by email than by phone.

If a child from Angel House selected for studying abroad suddenly disappeared, Angel House would have tried to track their location.

If so, they would have realized that Son Jeong-min is in Hojung, Gangwon-do, and may have already headed to Hojung to catch Son Jeong-min.

So I want to send a reply telling him to turn off his phone immediately and move to another location, but it seems like he sent the email just before leaving the PC cafe, so he might not be able to check it right away.

Even though it’s the age of smartphones, data charges were expensive in 2012, so children at Angel House would have been provided with youth plans with extremely limited data.

So he might not be able to check the email because he doesn’t have data.

Besides, there are limited places where he can get Wi-Fi…

[Reporter, I received a message from a student named Son Jeong-min saying that he ran away because he was being forced to study abroad by Angel House and asked for help. He is a first-year student at Seungwi High School. It seems that there was no separate report because the students who volunteer cannot check attendance on weekends. If there is a volunteer who can contact the child at Angel House right now, please ask them to confirm whether Son Jeong-min has disappeared.]

I sent a message to Choi Jong-hyun, and he checked the message immediately.

Now that Choi Jong-hyun will move to confirm the facts, I should try to contact Son Jeong-min in the meantime.

Angel House has already identified that Son Jeong-min is in Hojung through GPS tracking.

Therefore, I need to contact him as soon as possible and make contact before he is caught.

─Hello?

As soon as I made the call, a voice was heard as if he had been waiting.

It was definitely a youthful voice.

“Is this Son Jeong-min’s phone?”

─Ah, yes. Are you Attorney Cha Joo-han?

“That’s right. Son Jeong-min, how much money do you currently have?”

─Huh? Why all of a sudden? Money? Uh… I have 11,600 won right now.

“Then do as I say. Angel House knows that Son Jeong-min is in Hojung.”

─Huh? How do those people know that?

“They can quickly check by tracking your phone’s location. Have you contacted any other friends at Angel House?”

─Not once. I ignored all the calls… My battery keeps draining because I’m getting so many calls.”

“Then that’s good. Don’t tell anyone, and don’t answer any calls, just like you’ve been doing. Turn off your phone as quickly as possible and don’t turn it back on until you meet me. And you need to go to another location from Hojung now.”

As I said that, I checked where I could go from Hojung Terminal with 11,600 won or less.

I don’t think I can tell him to come to Seoul; I should tell him to go to a nearby area in Gangwon-do.

“Are you near Hojung Terminal now?”

─Yes.

“Is it within walking distance?”

─Yes. I can get there in 10 minutes.”

“Then there is a bus from Hojung Intercity Bus Terminal to Munyeok Intercity Bus Terminal. It seems to cost about 5,000 won, so take that and move to Munyeok Intercity Bus Terminal.”

─Munyeok? Uh, is it far from here?”

“It takes about an hour. Take the fastest bus you can get on right away. And when you get off at Munyeok Terminal, there is a Munyeok Health Center nearby. It’s right next to it. You can find it easily.”

─Munyeok Health Center. Okay.

“There is a public phone booth inside the Munyeok Health Center. Stay there, and I’ll pick you up. It will take about three hours to get there from here. The traffic will be heavy.”

─I can wait!

“Are you hungry?”

─Ah… A little. But it’s okay.”

“Then I’ll send you a mobile gift certificate by text message… Ah. There’s a fast food restaurant across from Hojung Terminal. Get something to eat there and then head straight to Munyeok Terminal. Ah, do you have data to receive MMS [Multimedia Messaging Service]?”

─I have a little data left, so I’m saving it, but, ah, you don’t have to do that… I’m so sorry… And if the bus ticket is 5,000 won, I’ll have a little money left, so I can buy something like an egg to eat. You’re coming to get me anyway, Attorney.”

“It’s better to keep the remaining money as an emergency fund, just in case. Did you get the gift certificate text message?”

─Yes, Attorney… Thank you so much…”

Son Jeong-min’s voice began to sound tearful.

It was an unexpected reaction, and I wondered if I had made him cry for no reason, but there was no time, so it would be better to talk about the next thing when we meet.

“Turn off your phone as soon as you use the mobile gift certificate. You *must* turn it off. If you’re worried while waiting at the Munyeok Health Center, don’t use your phone; write down this number now and call from a public phone. You must never turn on your phone. It might get erased if you write it on your palm, so get a receipt from the fast food restaurant and borrow a pen to write it on the receipt.”

─Yes, I will…

“Then I’ll leave right away, so Son Jeong-min, you move too. I’ll hang up now.”

I hung up the phone and checked the message that arrived from Choi Jong-hyun.

[One of the students who was in charge of high school classes just called the child at Angel House, and they said that a child named Son Jeong-min disappeared last night and hasn’t been seen since, so Angel House is in chaos. Are you going to pick him up? Should we go together?]

And Choi Jong-hyun attached a photo.

[The second boy from the right here is Son Jeong-min.]

When I zoomed in on the photo, I could clearly identify his appearance.

I replied to Choi Jong-hyun.

[Son Jeong-min is currently in Hojung, Gangwon-do. I told him to turn off his phone and move to Munyeok Terminal and stay inside the Munyeok Health Center public phone booth. I’m going to go now.]

Then a quick reply arrived from Choi Jong-hyun.

[You mean Munyeok in Gangwon-do, right? ㅇㅇ We’re heading to Munyeok Health Center too. If you arrive before us, check his face carefully with the photo I sent you and make contact. You never know.]

I jumped up from my seat.

When I came out of the study, the smell of ramen filled the house.

“Ah, Attorney. You’re coming out just in time. The ramen is ready.”

“We’re going out now. Throw away the ramen and come out.”

“Ugh, what is it this time!”