You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 531

The man shifted his gaze between the prone Cheon Jong-nam and his colleagues, who were incapacitated by the electric shock.

More precisely, he was eyeing the kitchen knives his colleagues had dropped.

He was clearly considering whether to grab a kitchen knife and finish off Cheon Jong-nam before Woo-cheol and Ho-yeong got closer.

“What’s this? Planning to carve up Cheon Jong-nam?” Woo-cheol chuckled, kicking the kitchen knife out of reach with his boot.

“So, what kind of reward are the Woo-shin guys promising you for this little contribution?” Woo-cheol pressed.

Ideally, they’d just shock this guy too and be done with it, but even if this dragged on, he was trapped anyway.

Five Woo-shin underlings had come to Munyeok in total.

Three were inside the inn, and the other two were supposed to be waiting outside.

But there was still no word from those two.

That meant the employees already stationed outside had successfully dealt with them.

So, Tae-shik would probably let this much slide.

“You’re a small fry, aren’t you? Bringing five guys all the way out here just to grab one dump truck driver? Must be pretty low on the totem pole. Three would have been plenty. Who told you to bring five? Was that your boss’s call?”

“…….”

“Judging by what you said earlier, you didn’t even know Cheon Jong-nam was being watched. Well, Jong-nam didn’t know either, so how would you guys? A kitchen knife… what a joke. Have you ever actually used a kitchen knife on someone? You just brought it to scare him, didn’t you, you moron?”

Woo-cheol glanced at the discarded kitchen knife and clicked his tongue.

“You even brought a drug-soaked handkerchief to abduct an old man alone in the countryside. Honestly, three guys is overkill. Right? How little does your boss trust you to send five of you?”

Woo-cheol gleefully began to dismantle the man’s ego.

“You probably think you’re being recognized because you were entrusted with a secret mission, but to your boss, you’re just an expendable idiot. Want to know why he gave you this job? I’ll tell you. It’s so easy that it would be a net positive for everyone if the guy who fails just disappears.”

The man’s face contorted.

Ho-yeong sighed, watching Woo-cheol’s relentless needling.

Come to think of it, Woo-cheol had been a master at breaking in newbies back in his detective agency days.

Most of them had seen so much that they were immune to ordinary insults, but some even broke down in tears from Woo-cheol’s harsh words.

Honestly, Ho-yeong doubted they’d send a complete idiot to handle a guy who was hired to commit murder overseas.

But the way Woo-cheol was talking, it sounded like this guy really was a nobody in the organization.

“All you had to do was knock out the old man, stuff him in the trunk, and deliver him. Even a middle schooler could do it. Hey, you think they’d praise you for killing Cheon Jong-nam when you can’t even manage that? Besides, Cheon Jong-nam is the guy who ran over the former president’s grandson with a car, so don’t you think things would get even messier if that attempted murderer turned up dead? It’d be way too suspicious. So, the order was just to deliver him, not kill him. Got it?”

“…….”

“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen to you. Do you even know your boss’s name?”

“…….”

“You don’t, do you, you idiot? Then you can’t even become a vengeful ghost. You’re just going to take the fall and go to jail. Well, you might get off easy since you only managed to knock him out because we interfered. Still, your boss might kill you to shut you up before you even get to jail. And if you’re lucky enough to go to jail, you might get stabbed as soon as you’re released. Didn’t know that, did you? Oh, poor you. Oh, poor you.”

The man’s expression was utterly defeated.

In fact, the man looked older and more worn down than Woo-cheol in every way.

He seemed genuinely affected by Woo-cheol’s words, unable to offer any rebuttal.

Everything Woo-cheol said was true, after all.

“Still, cooperate with the police as much as possible if you get caught. Then, who knows? You might even get a chance to rehabilitate and live a decent life. Sigh, poor you. Ho-yeong, shock him.”

At Woo-cheol’s signal, Ho-yeong jammed the electric shocker into the man’s stomach.

Of course, the man had tried to bolt as soon as Woo-cheol gave the signal.

He’d even raised his foot to kick Woo-cheol.

But it was all for naught.

Ho-yeong was a powerhouse, handpicked by Tae-shik for his physical prowess.

He swiftly deflected the man’s raised leg and knocked him off balance.

“Hey, outside!” Woo-cheol shouted, after gathering the three unconscious men on one side of the room.

One of the employees waiting outside rushed in.

“Yes, hyung-nim [term of respect for an older male].”

“Got any duct tape?”

“Ah, yes. Here.”

Woo-cheol took the duct tape and began binding the arms and legs of the unconscious men.

“What about the two guys outside?”

“They were sitting in the car in the parking lot. We took care of them as soon as hyung-nim burst in here.”

“Really? How’d you handle them?”

“We just opened the car door, dragged them out, and beat the crap out of them.”

“You left the car door open?”

“No, we pried open the window with a crowbar and opened it.”

“Good job. They didn’t try to run?”

“Ah, they tried to start the car.”

“But what did you do?”

“We were faster.”

“Good job. Any of our guys hurt?”

At Woo-cheol’s question, the employee hesitated for a moment, then said coolly, “Some of the kids got bumped by their car. But they seem okay.”

“Bumped?”

“Well… it wasn’t a hard hit. And not many of them. Just the guys who were prying open the front window with the crowbar….”

Well, that barely counted as an injury.

A few bandages at home and they’d be fine.

Attorney Cha Joo-han would probably tell them to go to the hospital, but it was more profitable to just take the hospital bill and skip the visit.

“Really? How are the two guys you caught doing? Are they okay?”

“No. They’re bleeding a bit, but they’re fine. We handcuffed them and put them in the car.”

“Hmm… I wonder what the lawyer will say? Hyung-nim would probably say we did a good job, but that lawyer is too much of a pacifist. I’m a little worried.”

Woo-cheol tilted his head, finishing up the taping.

Then Ho-yeong started dragging the men out.

One of them hit his head hard on the doorframe, but barely reacted, probably because he was completely knocked out.

Still, he’d wake up in a few minutes, so best to move him quickly.

“The innkeeper’s sleeping pretty soundly, huh? Didn’t even come to check with all this commotion.”

As he was about to leave after loading the men into the car, Woo-cheol peered into the owner’s room near the entrance.

The building wasn’t as damaged as he’d expected, but he still had to compensate for breaking the doorknob.

Woo-cheol took a few 50,000 won bills from his activity fund envelope and slipped them inside the counter.

“You guys head to the Mangok warehouse.”

The Mangok warehouse was the place prepared to imprison Shoulder-to-Shoulder [a former target] before. It was left untouched because it was a waste to destroy, even though it had been carefully constructed with bulletproof glass.

Shoulder-to-Shoulder was imprisoned there, but he doesn’t even know where the Mangok warehouse is because he was always blindfolded and put in a car when he came and went.

There’s no risk of being discovered.

“Ah, it’s been a while since the Mangok warehouse. Suddenly, the place where I got stabbed at Oseong Landscaping is throbbing.”

As Ho-yeong chuckled, clutching his stomach, Woo-cheol shrugged.

Woo-cheol was the brains, so he hadn’t been involved in the capture of Shoulder-to-Shoulder.

“Be careful of being followed, just in case. I don’t think there will be, but you never know.”

If they were being tailed, the pursuers would have intervened a long time ago, but it was better to be safe.

“Where do we take Cheon Jong-nam?”

“The Indeok warehouse.”

After confirming that the other vehicles had safely departed, Woo-cheol got into the car heading to the Indeok warehouse.

The Indeok warehouse was a container warehouse in southern Gyeonggi that was newly scouted last month, anticipating future needs.

As the car entered the IC [interchange], Woo-cheol called Tae-shik.

“Ah, hyung-nim. This is Woo-cheol. We’re on our way now.”

* * *

“When did you get a place like this?”

After hearing the news that the team dispatched to Munyeok had caught the dump truck driver, we headed to the Indeok warehouse.

Tae-shik would normally be off shift and asleep at this time, but due to the special situation, he did not leave work and accompanied us.

“Ah, that’s because… well, things got a little complicated, so I thought it would be necessary, and what was it….”

“It’s just that only important things are left now, so I prepared it because it seemed like there would be a lot of guys to ‘persuade’,” Sang-gil quickly answered, using a euphemism for torture.

Come to think of it, Sang-gil seemed strangely excited.

“Why are you ‘persuading’ them?”

“‘Persuasion’ is the best way to get guys who keep their mouths shut to open them, right?”

“You still haven’t learned your lesson.”

“Ah, why? I’m good at pulling out ‘this’.”

‘This’ probably refers to information, not teeth?

I hoped it wasn’t teeth.

“Are you going to beat Jong-nam?”

“Why would I beat him? I can’t beat him.”

“Ah, why? He tried to kill the lawyer, and he put Lawyer Kang in the hospital!”

“Even if I do this kind of thing, I’m still a lawyer, so I shouldn’t beat him, should I, Sang-gil?”

At my question, Sang-gil pouted.

“Oh, he’s coming! Hyung-nim, I think it’s Woo-cheol?”

At that moment, headlights appeared in the distance.

I couldn’t see the license plate, so I was tense, but fortunately, the employees were right.

The car stopped right in front of the container, and one of the employees got out of the passenger seat and bowed to me.

“Lawyer, how have you been? This is Woo-cheol.”

“It’s been a while.”

“I only saw you in passing, but you remember me.”

“Actually, I don’t remember. I’m just pretending to know you. Where’s Cheon Jong-nam?”

I passed Woo-cheol and looked at Cheon Jong-nam being dragged out of the back seat.

His eyes and mouth were covered, and his wrists and ankles were wrapped in duct tape.

Seeing that appearance made me feel like I was committing a crime.

Ah, well, it *was* a crime for now….

“Ah, seeing that bastard’s face reminds me of that day again,” Tae-shik said, suppressing his anger as he watched Cheon Jong-nam being tied to a chair inside the container warehouse.

At the time of the accident, I was busy taking care of Kang Min-jae, so I didn’t have time to see Cheon Jong-nam, but Tae-shik had seen him in person to check whether he had escaped, so he would remember.

“Take off the blindfold. Take off the duct tape on his mouth too,” I said, sitting across from the chair where Cheon Jong-nam was tied.

Woo-cheol immediately removed Cheon Jong-nam’s blindfold at my signal.

Cheon Jong-nam, suddenly exposed to the light, squeezed his eyes shut, then slowly opened them and looked around.

“……Heok!” [Gasp]

And as soon as he saw me, he gasped as if he had seen a ghost.

There was no way he wouldn’t recognize me.

I was the target, after all, so he must have seen pictures of me.

“Th-there… Wh-where is this… Wh-why am I….”

Cheon Jong-nam stuttered badly and looked around the warehouse again, even though he had already done so once.

It was a meaningless gesture.

He must have already confirmed that this was inside a locked container, and that the only other people present were scary-looking guys and me.

Nothing would change if he looked again.

However, seeing that terrified face made me angry too.

He’s so scared now, but he tried to kill someone?

“…….”

I took out a cigarette to calm myself down.

Otherwise, I felt like I might assault Cheon Jong-nam myself.

I lit a cigarette and took a deep breath, but…

I didn’t feel any better?

“Th-there… There’s some kind of misunderstanding….”

I was pondering why I didn’t feel better, but Cheon Jong-nam interrupted, oblivious.

“Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?”

At my question, Cheon Jong-nam bit his lip.

According to Woo-cheol’s report, he probably didn’t even know why he was here right now.

He thought he could go home with 200 million won [Korean currency], but suddenly Woo-shin knocked him out, and when he came to, his limbs were tied and his eyes and mouth were covered.

He regained consciousness on the way here, but no one answered him, so his fear must have amplified in the meantime.

Until the blindfold was removed and he saw me with his own eyes, he must have thought he had been dragged away by Woo-shin.

So, I decided to be patient with his stupid reaction.

“……I, that, I didn’t try to run away….”

“Didn’t?”

“That’s, that, I, that, belatedly… That, I realized that the victim was President Kang Gwan-woong’s grandson, so I was scared, and I needed time to sort out my thoughts, so that’s why, I wasn’t trying to run away….”

He seemed busy making up lies.

Ah, no.

It probably wasn’t a lie.

He thought he could just kill me, but he actually ran over the former president’s grandson, so he must have been terrified.

“I thought he would beg for forgiveness, but he’s not even begging.”

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! I think there’s really some kind of misunderstanding! I really nodded off and didn’t realize it, that, the accident happened… Ah, no! First of all, I’m really sorry. I’m really sorry. Is the victim okay… I’m really sorry. I really did wrong.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Cheon Jong-nam started begging for forgiveness.

He still seemed to be pushing the drowsy driving story.

Even if I told him that I already knew everything, he would obviously deny it to the end, so I decided to cut to the chase.

“Woo-cheol. Play a few of the recordings.”

Woo-cheol played the recording file on his phone.

It was the record of Cheon Jong-nam overhearing his conversation with the other party at the Munyeok Inn.

Very clearly, it contained his brazen words: ‘I failed to kill Cha Joo-han, but they said they would give me a failure allowance, so give me the money,’ and ‘I didn’t know the former president’s grandson would pop out, and he didn’t die anyway, so isn’t that okay?’

“Th-there, that’s… That… This is fabricated!”

“Yeah, that’s all you can say.”

I stomped out the cigarette and approached Cheon Jong-nam, standing right in front of his face.

“Eueok!”

Then I kicked his chest, knocking the chair over backwards.

If I remembered correctly, the first person I hit after starting this life was Shoulder-to-Shoulder, and Cheon Jong-nam was the second.

One guy killed me, and the other guy almost killed me, Kang Min-jae, and even Tae-shik.

Honestly, I think this much should be taken into consideration.

“Euheu, eueu….”

Cheon Jong-nam, staring at the ceiling as the chair lay on its back, rolled his trembling eyes towards me as I looked down at him.

And he shouted, his face so red it was almost black.

“Th-there, Lawyer, it’s really fabricated. Really, really, I never said those words!”