You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 507

Sleepless, but I didn’t want to sleep any more.

It was 6 AM when I opened my eyes.

I checked my phone for news about Kang Min-jae waking up, but there were no messages from Kang Su-il or Dong-jin.

“You’re already up?”

Sang-gil, who was sitting on the sofa, asked as I washed up and went to the living room.

I realized it was still two hours before Tae-shik’s shift change.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“But why do you have a bandage on your face?”

“I cut myself a little while shaving.”

This was unusual, except for when I was first learning to shave.

I didn’t even realize I had cut myself at first.

I only knew after seeing the blood.

“Did you cut yourself badly?”

“No, the bandage is small. It’s just a small cut.”

“That’s a relief. Oh, I put the porridge you bought yesterday in the fridge. Eat it.”

“I don’t really feel like it. Any news overnight?”

“Are you talking about the dump truck driver?”

“Yeah.”

“He seems to be holed up in the inn. He hasn’t come out yet.”

“He could jump out the window. Are they watching the windows?”

“The window is surrounded by a wall, and the gap is only big enough for a cat to squeeze through, so it’s unlikely he’ll get out that way. But they’re still watching just in case.”

“Okay. Any other movements?”

“Not yet. Oh, and I copied the black box footage the lawyer gave me yesterday and submitted it to the police.”

I had checked the black box footage before bed. The dump truck driver ran a red light, and Kang Min-jae had a green light, so the fault seemed to be with the dump truck driver.

I don’t know how the dump truck driver will react, but I think he’s also worried because the situation has become more complicated than expected.

If I were to guess, since the dump truck driver tried to escape, he’ll likely try to run away completely.

According to traffic law, I’d have to see Kang Min-jae’s medical certificate to know for sure, but it seems like he’ll easily get at least 6 weeks of treatment, and the dump truck driver committed a fault that falls under the 12 major negligence categories [serious traffic violations].

In this situation, if the dump truck driver doesn’t try to compensate Kang Min-jae and tries to run away, he’ll be arrested for sure.

It would be better to keep contacting the dump truck driver and leave circumstantial evidence that he’s avoiding contact so that he can be arrested.

“But are you not hurt anywhere?”

Sang-gil followed me closely, even standing behind me as I got water.

Come to think of it, I feel a throbbing pain in my upper body, probably because my muscles are strained.

The throbbing area is exactly where the vest tightens when I adjust it.

When I showered yesterday, I noticed that the area was unusually red.

I moved my upper body, holding my waist.

It doesn’t seem too bad, though.

I hope it gets better in a day or two.

I thought I should prepare for primitive methods like stabbing with a knife or shooting a gun because they were so eager to kill me, but I didn’t expect them to try to run me over with a dump truck in such a classic way.

Can I even drive a car in the future?

“Then go to the hospital this morning. Aren’t you in a lot of pain?”

“There are no external injuries, it’s just that my muscles are strained.”

“Then you should go to a traditional Korean medicine clinic. If you leave it like this, it’ll become a chronic disease. I’ll tell Hyung-nim [term of respect, like ‘elder brother’] to take you to a traditional Korean medicine clinic with the lawyer this morning.”

“It’s okay… No, okay.”

I thought that constantly dismissing it as nothing would be frustrating, so I nodded obediently.

“Keep trying to contact the dump truck driver’s number. Send texts and make calls. Oh, and I need to change my burner phone to a new one. Bring me a new phone when you come tonight.”

“Yes, sir.”

I used a burner phone while contacting Son Jeong-min, but now that I know Son Jeong-min was bait from the House of Angels, I can’t use this number anymore.

I feel betrayed by goodwill, but that’s not a big factor that disappoints me.

I’ve experienced it countless times in my previous life, so it’s not the time to fall into such leisurely emotions.

I knew that I shouldn’t expect even the minimum level of ethics from that group, so I’m not surprised, but the problem is that the range of actions I can take is greatly reduced by what they’re doing.

Even now, I’m using all sorts of methods to be careful in order to avoid threats within my predictable range.

Because of this, I have to tap every stone before crossing, even on roads that others can easily take [be extremely cautious].

Even this method I’m using now would have been impossible if I hadn’t accumulated a huge fortune thanks to my knowledge from my previous life.

Even though I faced a threat that an ordinary person couldn’t even handle, Kang Min-jae went to the brink of death, so it’s a meaningless assumption, but I think I would have been dead a long time ago if I didn’t have my previous life.

Well, maybe that’s why my previous life failed.

It was amazing that I survived until 2018.

Ah, maybe it was possible because I wasn’t as reckless in my previous life as I am now.

Anyway, there’s no more time.

The more time I allow them, the more this fight will turn into a tedious war of attrition.

And in that environment, it’s obvious that Wooshin, who has as much as an inexhaustible treasure trove, will seize the victory, isn’t it?

* * *

Compared to Kang Min-jae, my injury was insignificant because of the bulletproof vest, but I had no choice but to wear it even when going to the Korean medicine hospital.

I was already in a bad mood, and the discomfort index was slowly rising as the season was passing through early summer, so I became so sensitive that I felt like I wouldn’t be able to hide my cold gaze if anyone said anything unreasonable to me.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t take off the bulletproof vest.

Judging from Wooshin’s actions so far, they would be quiet for a while to prepare for the backlash if their nonsense against me failed.

However, this time it originated from the madness of the old man Onodera, who was eager to give his grandson a fresh heart, so we’ll have to wait and see if a ninja suddenly pops out this time.

“You can get dressed now.”

After various tests, I was able to confirm that there was no major problem with my body.

Still, I said okay to the doctor who recommended acupuncture and lay down to get all the needles.

I thought I was free from here now, so I tried to close the curtain to get dressed, but the doctor who was putting in the needles couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked cautiously.

“You’re Lawyer Cha Ju-han, right?”

My name is written on the medical chart, so I can’t say no.

“Yes.”

“You’re a lawyer, but you usually wear a bulletproof vest.”

He looked at me with eyes that seemed to suspect I had anxiety.

It could be my imagination.

I admit that I’m not in a state where I can calmly and rationally look at others right now.

Originally, I would have ended the conversation by not responding, but I keep wanting to say something prickly like, ‘What’s it to you?’

So I did my best to shut my mouth.

“Excuse me, Lawyer.”

Even though I closed the curtain, the doctor didn’t leave and lingered around.

“Could you take a picture for me when you leave? You saw it when you came in, but we also have pictures of celebrities who visited our hospital. I want to put it up there with them… Oh, of course, you can refuse if you’re uncomfortable.”

“I’m uncomfortable.”

“Oh, I see. I’m sorry. Our nurse will guide you when you come out.”

The doctor’s tone was polite, but his voice seemed quite upset.

What can I do?

Later, when the news comes out that I’ve become a candidate for special prosecutor, it won’t have any impact on me except for one comment saying, ‘I actually saw Cha Ju-han, and he was a jerk.’

“Oh, what’s up? Let’s go together.”

When I came outside, Tae-shik was paying my hospital bill at the desk.

As I passed him and went outside the hospital, Tae-shik hurriedly took the card and followed me.

“I thought your expression was bad from the morning, but it’s still bad.”

“Did you get any calls while I was getting acupuncture?”

“No. And I’m contacting the dump truck driver every two hours as you said. I’m also sending texts.”

“No reply?”

“No. But well, it’s not strange if he was still sleeping. And just so you know, I’m not hurt.”

I wasn’t the only one in the car that swerved to avoid the dump truck.

“That’s a relief.”

“Oh, and I asked the police if they could contact the dump truck driver, but they said they still can’t get in touch with him.”

“Looks like he’s going to run.”

“I guess so?”

“Well, I’m sure he was promised some compensation even if he failed the mission, but it wouldn’t have been a huge amount of money. If he shows up in front of the police, he’ll have to compensate with that money, and even if he compensates, he might go to jail, so he’ll want to run.”

“But wouldn’t that Japanese old man have given him enough money as a cover-up fee? I don’t think he’d run away just because he’s stingy with money. When I investigated that driver, he had a wife and children. There’s a lot that would hold him back from running away alone. He likes mahjong, so he must have taken the job because he had some gambling debts.”

“He probably proceeded in a way that wouldn’t require a cover-up in the first place. They wouldn’t have revealed who they were, and they would have just promised him about 100 to 200 million won [approximately $75,000 to $150,000 USD], which would have been enough to make his eyes light up. I guess I forgot for a moment because I was handling a lot of money, but that’s a lot of money for ordinary people. But he can’t compensate with that money. He has to compensate for property damage and personal injury.”

“If he gets some money from insurance, it seems like he’ll have some left over… Well, even if he has some left over, he wouldn’t want to go to jail just to eat that money.”

“Surprisingly, rich guys are stingy.”

I replied without taking my eyes off my phone.

Tae-shik sighed and checked his watch.

“Chief Kang said he could go in for a morning visit from 11 o’clock, so he went in right away. I wonder if he’s out by now. Should I call him? To see if Kang is getting better.”

“If there was any change, he would have called me already.”

It’s already noon.

That means 30 minutes have passed since the visit ended.

Even if he spent the entire visit time seeing Kang Min-jae and took some time to manage his sadness, he would have thought of me even for a moment in those 30 minutes.

But if he didn’t say anything, wouldn’t it be because he didn’t want to remind me of Kang Min-jae’s situation?

Besides, if there was any news that would make me happy or sad, Dong-jin would have given me a hint.

I didn’t want to bother Kang Su-il unnecessarily.

“Will he wake up today? He said he’d see him today or tomorrow.”

“He regained consciousness right before the surgery, so I thought he might wake up a little sooner, but I don’t know.”

“Lawyer, let’s just go see your doctor friend? It’ll be more comfortable to just ask than to keep holding on like that.”

Tae-shik’s gaze was directed at my phone as he said that.

He caught me going in and out of the message room with Dong-jin.

“He might be in surgery right now.”

“Just call him.”

“Forget it.”

“Geez. Then I’ll do it.”

Tae-shik snatched the phone from my hand and started calling Dong-jin.

“Ah, hello, doctor friend of the lawyer. This is Jang Tae-shik.”

Tae-shik switched to speakerphone and put the phone on the console box.

─Ah, uh, wait, wait. Yes, Tae-shik.

Dong-jin’s voice, which seemed urgent, came out.

I was a little nervous because it was an unexpected reaction.

Dong-jin has a lot of urgent things to do, but I was worried that something might have happened related to Kang Min-jae in this situation.

“The lawyer keeps doing stupid things next to me, so I’m calling instead. How’s Kang doing?”

─Ah, well, I’m actually on my way to the intensive care unit because I got a call. I’ll call you back later!

“ICU call? Is it about Kang?”

I interrupted and asked, but Dong-jin had already hung up.

I shouted at Tae-shik, who was making a bewildered expression.

“Go to Myungdae Hospital. Quickly!”

“Yes? No, but Kang isn’t the only one in the ICU, and wouldn’t he have told us if there was a problem?”

“Didn’t you hear what he said before? He said ‘anyway.’ Then it must be related to Kang. Go quickly.”

The road to Myungwoon University Hospital was too far.

In fact, the physical distance isn’t that far, but that’s how I feel.

Today, the red lights came on too often, the pedestrian signals were very long, and every car in front of me was going unusually slow.

“Drop me off here. You park and come to the front of the ICU.”

As soon as I arrived at the parking lot, I got out of the car and ran towards the elevator.

The morning visiting hours were already over, and there was still a long time before the afternoon visiting hours, so there was no guarantee that I would be able to see Kang Min-jae even if I went, but I felt like I had to go anyway.

The road conditions that didn’t help me today were at least decent.

The elevator didn’t come as terribly as I thought.

I immediately ran to the emergency exit stairs and ran up to the 3rd floor where the ICU is located.

When I arrived in front of the ICU, there was nothing I could do from then on.

I hesitated and put my hand in my pocket to call Dong-jin.

“…”

The phone won’t turn on.

It seems to be out of battery.

I rubbed my forehead and paced in front of the ICU.

I couldn’t decide whether to wait until Tae-shik came, or to say something to the nurse.

“Lawyer?”

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind me.

Reflexively, I turned my head, and there was Kang Su-il, catching his breath in a similar state to me.

“Chief, wasn’t your visit over? Why are you here…? Did something happen to Kang?”

“Didn’t you get a call and come here too, Lawyer?”

“Me? I can’t receive calls even if they came because my phone battery is dead…”

It was then.

The ICU door opened and Dong-jin came out.

I and Kang Su-il forgot that we were talking to each other and instantly fixed our eyes on Dong-jin.

He saw me and Kang Su-il standing side by side and shouted with a very bright expression.

“Min-jae, he’s regained consciousness!”