You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 51

“Hoo, Jin-cheol. Park Jin-cheol.”

“Ugh…….”

“I wish you’d stop making me angry. Huh?”

Park Jin-cheol was clutching his stomach, coughing incessantly, and rolling on the ground.

In a deserted alley, several students were snickering as they watched Park Jin-cheol.

Some were filming Park Jin-cheol’s writhing in pain, while others spat phlegm around him, mocking him.

“Hey, I heard you used to be a big shot at your old school. But you’re a pushover, aren’t you? Huh?”

Thwack!

A kick landed on Park Jin-cheol, who was gasping for breath while clutching his stomach.

“Ugh!”

His body flinched, and the onlooking male students seemed amused, chuckling among themselves.

“Let’s get along well in the future. Come when I call you, and stop making excuses.”

The male student who had beaten Park Jin-cheol squatted down in front of him.

He casually straightened out his disheveled uniform and tapped his cheek.

“Answer me.”

“Haa, haa, I, I understand…….”

When Park Jin-cheol barely nodded, the male student smiled with satisfaction and stood up.

“Let’s go.”

“Hey, this guy has a lot of money in his wallet? Let’s borrow some money from our rich Jin-cheol and go get something to eat.”

The group gathered around Park Jin-cheol, flipping through his wallet, said.

But the male student shook his head.

“Are we bullies? Why would we do that? I’ll pay, let’s go.”

“Awesome, Hyeok-min is the best.”

“Hyeok-min! Hyeok-min!”

A group of students playfully cheered Hyeok-min’s name as they left the alley.

Park Jin-cheol, left alone, barely straightened his hunched body and lay sprawled on the ground.

“Damn…….”

His body ached all over from the beating.

After lying down and catching his breath, Park Jin-cheol finally got up, using the wall for support.

He picked up his bag and the wallet they had thrown aside, stuffing them inside.

Then, he straightened his uniform as best he could and looked up at the sky.

“Ah, what am I going to tell them at home…….”

His lip was already busted, and his face was scratched from falling on the asphalt.

Even if he washed up and tidied himself up, his parents would definitely notice.

“Damn……. Sniff.”

The tears he had been holding back flowed out.

Since it was a deserted alley, no one would see him even if he cried here.

Jin-cheol leaned against the wall and cried for a long time.

He had to go to school tomorrow, and he would meet those guys again…….

He couldn’t bring himself to face them again.

* * *

“Ah, even though we signed an MOU [Memorandum of Understanding, a formal agreement], I have to beg you to come visit. You’re really too much.”

Tae-sik smiled brightly as he placed aloe juice in front of us.

Instead of answering, I looked around the office.

He had boasted about redecorating, so I came, but it was nothing like I had imagined.

I expected it to be a bit more stylish, but it was just a matter of replacing the yellowed wallpaper and the worn-out leather sofa.

“No, Lawyer Kim, everyone knows you’ve been slacking off since the Na Eun-seong case, so why are you acting so expensive?”

“President, don’t poke at my sore spots…….”

Kang Min-jae put down his juice glass with a gloomy expression.

Since the Na Eun-seong case, we had actually been enjoying a leisurely time.

We had taken on two pro bono [legal work undertaken without charge, especially for a client on low income] cases, but they weren’t big deals, so they didn’t take up as much time as before.

I was quite proud because it was a case I took on after being contacted by a human rights organization, but Kang Min-jae, a true attention seeker, was not.

Whether it was because it wasn’t profitable or because he didn’t get the media spotlight.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t working hard, but he was always thirsty for new cases, even while working.

I told him to correct that attitude, but Kang Min-jae only said he understood and then searched for new cases with his eyes blazing.

He seemed to be calling acquaintances to see if there were any cases that other law firms had rejected because they were too burdensome, or if there were any cases happening in the prosecutor’s office.

So, I came to Tae-sik’s office, which he had been telling me to come to for a while, to give him some fresh air, but even here, he didn’t stop 영업 [Yeongeop – Korean term for business development/sales].

“President, do you have any cases we can take on? Our lawyer seems satisfied with making a lot of money and isn’t thinking about finding new cases, only doing pro bono.”

“Bonobono? What’s that?”

“Ah, Bonobono is a cartoon character. Pro bono. I mean, it’s like free legal aid for social contribution.”

“Wow, Lawyer Kim, you’re doing good work. Bonobono.”

“Pro bono.”

Kang Min-jae seemed to be afraid of Tae-sik, but after they hugged and rejoiced a while ago, he was treating him quite comfortably.

Since they were in a business partnership anyway, it was good to see each other often and get along well, but…….

“Lawyer Kim is secretly annoying, you know? Right?”

“Ah, Attorney Kang, you felt that way too? He’s really annoying. He’s such a 재수탱이 [Jaesu-taengyi – Korean slang for someone who is irritatingly smug or lucky]. And he’s so full of himself.”

“I know, right? But the more annoying thing is that he’s really good, so there’s nothing to say……. Haha, haha.”

When I, who was looking around the office, looked at them, Kang Min-jae smiled awkwardly.

Tae-sik was the same.

Talking behind someone’s back, no, talking to their face.

I figured it was a sign that they had become comfortable with me, so I didn’t say anything else.

“Are you making sure they’re listening to you about cleaning up the illegal stuff?”

When I asked, Tae-sik nodded proudly.

“I’m doing pretty decent work these days. It’s nothing much. Just a few cases of helping to gather evidence because the husband cheated, and nothing else……. Ah.”

Tae-sik, who was thinking while folding his fingers, said as if he had remembered something.

“I recently took on something, and that is,”

Thud!

A sudden loud noise came at an unexpected time.

Our eyes all turned towards it.

It was the office entrance.

Tae-sik reflexively jumped up, and I sighed.

He said he had stopped all illegal work, but if someone like that appeared, it would naturally be associated with that kind of thing.

“Ah. Jin-cheol’s mother and father, aren’t you? What brings you here…….”

The words that came out of Tae-sik’s mouth, who seemed like he was going to yell about what he was doing, were more polite than I thought.

Beyond the roughly opened door stood a middle-aged couple in suits.

Tae-sik seemed very flustered and ran towards them, bowing.

But they didn’t seem very pleased, crossing their arms and looking at Tae-sik with dissatisfied faces.

“What happened? Jin-cheol came home beaten up yesterday!”

“Jin-cheol, you say? No, I contacted Jin-cheol because he didn’t come out of the school gate after school, but he said he went home early. We thought that’s what happened…….”

“Then shouldn’t you have reported that to us?”

“Ah, didn’t you receive the call? I think the employee forgot. I’m really sorry.”

When Tae-sik bowed again, the other underlings simultaneously bowed and shouted loudly.

“We’re really sorry!”

“……Ha, I entrusted him here because you confidently said that this wouldn’t happen. We’ll just look for another company. Your service is really bad!”

Judging from the situation, it seemed that Tae-sik had been commissioned to protect a student named ‘Jin-cheol.’

It seemed that the parents had come to the office to complain because it didn’t go well.

They seemed like people from a moderately wealthy family at first glance.

The wife was carrying a high-end brand bag, and the husband was also wearing a luxury watch.

“Ma’am, please calm down and sit over here.”

“Sit? Do you think I’m in the mood to talk to you guys right now? Our Jin-cheol was beaten up so badly, his uniform was torn, and his lip was busted……. I paid you guys a lot of money to avoid seeing him like that, but what is this!”

“Ma’am……. I’m really sorry. Let’s talk to our employee about what happened and find a solution to prevent this from happening again……. Ah!”

Tae-sik, who was quickly making excuses, suddenly raised his head as if he had remembered something.

Then he pointed to me and Kang Min-jae, who were sitting on the sofa and watching the situation.

“These two here are lawyers who have a business partnership with our office. We were just about to have a meeting to talk about Jin-cheol, so this is perfect. Let’s talk together.”

Tae-sik looked back at us and gestured as if begging us to say something.

It was true that we had a business partnership with Tae-sik’s detective agency, but we had just come to see the newly renovated office.

“Ah, that’s right, ma’am. We were just about to start talking about Jin-cheol. Please sit down. Our lawyer is very skilled. He’s active in both civil and criminal cases……. I think you’ve heard of him, the inhumane murder case of Kim Cheol-hwan and Yeo Hee-sook, right?”

Kang, who didn’t miss the opportunity and smelled the scent [sensed an opportunity], got up and stood next to Tae-sik, starting 영업 [sales pitch].

“……I know it. Why?”

“Our office handled that case. Our lawyer was the one who uncovered the real culprit. And, I think you know this too……. You know the drama , right? Our lawyer also handled that plagiarism case.”

The couple’s expressions seemed to soften a bit at Kang Min-jae’s words.

She stared at me intently, cleared her throat a few times, and then walked to the sofa and took a seat.

The husband followed her and sat next to her.

“Let’s hear what kind of plan you have. Go ahead, tell me.”

Tae-sik sat next to me and poked my side.

It was as if he was telling me to say something quickly, so I couldn’t help but look at them.

Since we had a business partnership with Tae-sik, it wasn’t difficult to give them a consultation.

“We just arrived, so we don’t know the details of your son’s situation yet. We were going to listen to the situation and then discuss it, but you came at an unexpected time. Would you mind explaining it to us?”

At my words, Jin-cheol’s mother, who had calmed down a bit, sighed deeply.

“……Okay.”

She paused as if thinking for a moment, then slowly opened her mouth.

“A few months ago, I transferred him to a school in an area with a good academic atmosphere to get him to study. That’s when it started.”