You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 520

You Have Been Defended – Episode 520

The director was visibly agitated.

She was so flustered that even her fingertips were trembling.

Kim Hyun-jong sighed and closed his laptop.

The director stared blankly at him for a moment, then, as if regaining her senses, asked in a sharp voice.

“If you had this video, why didn’t you say so earlier? And… what are those glasses? Are they a camera? If they are, have you been filming our children without permission all this time? You know that’s illegal, right?”

The director pressed Kim Hyun-jong again.

However, he answered calmly, as if he had anticipated her reaction.

“To answer your first question, I was hoping to have a mature conversation with you, Director. I thought I would explain the situation first and then show you. But you kept using abusive language and didn’t seem to want to listen, so I ended up showing it to you right before being kicked out.”

When Kim Hyun-jong defined the director’s remarks as abusive, her face turned pale.

Just as she had initially questioned his qualifications as a teacher and suggested reporting him for child abuse, Kim Hyun-jong subtly revealed that he, too, had recorded evidence of her verbal abuse with the camera in his glasses.

“And yes, these glasses are a camera, and I won’t say when I started using it.

Also, filming with a camera isn’t illegal.”

“Not illegal? Do you think that makes sense? You filmed someone without their permission; how can that not be illegal? There’s a limit to how shameless you can be!”

“Of course, if the intention of the filming is impure, and the footage is as well, then it’s definitely illegal. But my camera didn’t capture any specific body parts or private scenes. If that were the case, wouldn’t it be illegal for broadcasting stations to film streets full of pedestrians without consent?”

“……”

“Also, for the footage to be a problem, I would have to post it somewhere and infringe on someone’s portrait rights [the right to control the commercial use of one’s likeness], which I haven’t done yet. Even if I do upload the video, I’ll put a mosaic over the faces.”

Kim Hyun-jong pressed on once more.

Hearing that, the director thought about what might have been captured by Kim Hyun-jong’s glasses camera.

She had already confirmed that Sung-yoon’s self-harming behavior was filmed, and after that, there would be scenes of her unilaterally accusing Kim Hyun-jong of child abuse and verbally attacking him.

What would happen if Kim Hyun-jong, harboring resentment, uploaded the video to the internet with mosaic and voice alteration as he said?

“Of course, I don’t think you were waiting for an opportunity to kick us out and jumped at the chance to corner me, Director. If there’s a possibility [of abuse], it’s right to separate Sung-yoon and me immediately. But you saw in the video that I didn’t hit Sung-yoon. Should our entire club still have to stop volunteering?”

The director rubbed her forehead.

She seemed to have never anticipated this situation.

Kim Hyun-jong waited for her answer.

The director stood up abruptly, turned her back, and walked around the director’s office for a while.

After a few minutes, she returned to the sofa and sat down.

“I understand that Kim Hyun-jong didn’t hit Sung-yoon, and I also know that Sung-yoon engaged in self-harming behavior. But I still think it’s right to stop in this situation. I’ll talk to the club president about the details, so please leave, Kim Hyun-jong. Whether we continue to support the club or not, it’s not something that can be decided by talking to you alone, right?”

“……Can I ask why?”

“I’ll tell the club president the reason, so please go back. The club president is on their way here, so you’ll be able to receive our position.”

It wasn’t that she refused to talk, but there was no way to stay in the director’s office any longer.

Kim Hyun-jong put his laptop in his bag and went outside the director’s office.

“Oppa!”

As he came out of the administrative office, the volunteers were gathered, waiting for him.

“The club president is coming here now……”

“I heard. It looks like they’re going to tell us to stop coming.”

“No, seriously…… How did the conversation go? You definitely didn’t do anything.”

“I didn’t.”

“Then, were there any marks on Sung-yoon?”

Kim Hyun-jong shook his head.

He didn’t want to go into detail.

He didn’t want everyone to know that Sung-yoon had engaged in self-harming behavior.

“You have video evidence that you didn’t hit him, right? Did you show it?”

When Kim Hyun-jong didn’t answer, another volunteer asked, as if understanding his intention.

“Yeah. That’s why it ended like this; otherwise, it would have been a real disaster.”

“I didn’t understand why we suddenly had to film, and even secretly……. Did the club president know this would happen in advance?”

Kim Hyun-jong didn’t know either.

Starting last week, the leader of the Angel’s House volunteer team suddenly handed out cameras that looked like glasses or watches and told them to wear them right before starting the volunteer work.

When asked why, they simply replied, ‘The president said the world is scary these days, and you never know when a problem might arise, so we have to wear them from now on.’

But he never imagined that a situation would arise where it would have been a disaster if they hadn’t had the cameras, just a week after they started filming.

“I don’t know, what……”

“Ah, but if we didn’t have the camera, it would have been a real problem. The club president said to wait at a nearby cafe if we can’t stay inside the Angel’s House, what are you going to do?”

“Should we wait at the playground? Anyway, it’s almost time for the kids’ meal, and they know we didn’t do anything wrong, so they can’t force us to leave.”

“Yeah. And we don’t know if the president is coming alone or with someone, but if they’re coming alone, we might have to go in together.”

Kim Hyun-jong headed to the playground with the volunteers who were praising the club president’s foresight and took out his cell phone.

And he typed a message.

[Thanks to the lawyer, I’m okay. And I also captured the director verbally abusing me as you said. The rest is being discussed with the president, so we came out… I was so flustered that the message is a bit disorganized, but thank you so much for your help.]

After pressing the send button, Kim Hyun-jong decided to reread the messages he had exchanged with him from the beginning.

[Cha Joo-han: Are you Kim Hyun-jong? I received a call from the club president and am sending you a message. I am lawyer Cha Joo-han. I understand that a phone call is not possible.

Kim Hyun-jong: Ah, hello, I received a call from the president… I don’t know how much of the situation you’ve heard, but the student is falsely claiming that I hit them, and the director asked to talk, so I’m going to the director’s office. But if things get out of hand here, I’m graduating soon and have to prepare for the teacher certification exam, so I’m scared that there might be a problem…]

He had been so flustered at first that he wrote whatever came to mind, but now that he looked at it, it seemed like it would have been difficult for lawyer Cha Joo-han to understand at a glance.

He was too rushed at the time to pay attention to such things, but now that he saw it again, his face flushed.

[Cha Joo-han: I heard that you have video footage. There is clear evidence that the student showed self-harming behavior, not that you hit the child, so you don’t have to worry about that part. I don’t know how they will talk at Angel’s House, but they probably won’t take legal action such as reporting or suing you.

Kim Hyun-jong: How do you know if they will take legal action or not…?

Cha Joo-han: I guarantee it. And the director will probably try to talk to you after branding you as a child abuser no matter what. So you have to capture that image on camera as well. Don’t reveal that the glasses were a camera as soon as you enter the director’s office. The image of the director unreasonably trying to frame you as a child abuser must be captured so that we can take the lead even if a problem arises with a 1% probability later.]

Kim Hyun-jong felt greatly relieved that lawyer Cha Joo-han referred to the parties involved in this matter as ‘we.’

At least it meant that there was a lawyer who would help him if things got out of hand.

Moreover, Cha Joo-han seemed confident that the Angel’s House would not escalate this matter, which also reassured him.

He didn’t know why he thought so, but he thought there must be a reason why someone who was a lawyer was speaking so definitively.

[Kim Hyun-jong: So you’re saying I shouldn’t show the video right away and talk first? Can I just say things as they are…?

Cha Joo-han: Yes. It would be fortunate if the director tries to resolve it amicably through conversation, but it’s good to prepare for the worst-case scenario. And the director will try to kick the students out of the Angel’s House because of this. Once that story comes out, logical conversation will be impossible, so show the video then.

Kim Hyun-jong: Yes, I understand… But… We filmed because the president said it wasn’t illegal, but is it really okay? If the director finds out that we filmed, I’m worried that they’ll make an issue out of that too…]

Other students had already asked the team leader who handed out the cameras about this.

The team leader had given a rough explanation at the time, but he became anxious when the time came to show the footage.

[Cha Joo-han: If you filmed without impure intentions and the result doesn’t contain private scenes or specific body parts, then it’s not a problem at all, at least in our country. Also, they may try to make an issue out of it, claiming it’s a violation of portrait rights [rights protecting a person’s image]. But that’s also a problem that only arises after posting the video without mosaic processing, and it’s an area to be disputed through civil litigation, so it’s not a crime either. If you’re curious about the relevant legal provisions, I’ll find them and send them to you soon, so if the director brings this up, say it as it is.]

It was only a conversation that lasted about 10 minutes, but with this alone, Kim Hyun-jong was able to have a conversation with the director, who was pouring out abusive language, in a much more stable state.

While waiting for Cha Joo-han’s reply, Kim Hyun-jong searched for his name on the portal [search engine/website].

When the president, who heard the news, sent a message saying that he had contacted a lawyer he knew and that he would help, even when he received a call from Cha Joo-han, he didn’t have time to check his name.

Now that he looked at it, it seemed like he had heard the name somewhere, but even if he was hearing it for the first time, he wanted to know what kind of person he was.

If he wasn’t a famous person, he should spread good stories and give him some small help.

“Wow, what.”

And he widened his eyes as he looked at the numerous press releases that came up in the search results.

Was this the person?

“Hey, do you guys know lawyer Cha Joo-han?”

“Lawyer Cha Joo-han? Who’s that?”

“Oh, I know him. He was all over the news for a while. He’s the person who was falsely accused of murdering Lee Jung-chan.”

“Ah, right. If my memory is correct, he was really handsome.”

“That’s right. My mom saw him on the news and said he didn’t have the face of a lawyer. So my dad said, ‘What’s so handsome about him, he looks like a gigolo [male prostitute].’ He’s obviously really handsome, but my dad was just jealous. Kekeke.”

Listening to the other volunteers, it seemed like lawyer Cha Joo-han was the right person.

He wondered if it was a person with the same name, so he searched further, but there was only one lawyer named Cha Joo-han.

How does the president know such a famous person…….

“Doesn’t our club also have a close relationship with reporter God Jong-hyun, who sponsors us? So I was feeling personally close to him.”

The leader of the Angel’s House volunteer team added.

It seemed that the president had sent an SOS to Choi Jong-hyun, and Choi Jong-hyun had connected him to Cha Joo-han.

“Guys!”

At that time, someone was seen struggling to climb the stairs with a familiar voice.

It was the club president.

“Oh, it’s President Hyung [term of endearment for older brother/male friend]!”

“I came as quickly as I could, did you wait long?”

“No. We didn’t wait long. Hyung, you’re out of breath.”

He ran towards the volunteers gathered in front of the playground.

“Hyun-jong, you were very surprised, right? Are you okay?”

And he approached Hyun-jong and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m sorry that things turned out strangely because of me.”

“Why is it because of you? If you’re okay, let’s go in together. I think it’s better to have the person involved. You don’t have to go in if you’re uncomfortable. Then I’ll just go with the team leader, so don’t feel pressured.”

“No. It’s uncomfortable to talk without the person involved.”

He had experienced small troubles several times while running the club, but this was the first time something this big had happened.

The president was also quite nervous, but he tried to calm himself.

Lawyer Cha Joo-han had told him this and that, so if the situation really got bad…….

Wouldn’t he help then?

Having something to rely on is quite important.

Of course, he owes Choi Jong-hyun a great debt, so he should do his best to resolve it without asking for help.

“Let’s go in.”