You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 537

“……”

Kim Chanyoung grew anxious when Koh Sangjoon didn’t respond immediately.

Broaching the subject was Cha Joohan’s idea.

He was certain that Koh Sangjoon had created secret spaces not only in Okashima Hospital and Ribbon Medical Center but also in his own home or other buildings, and that only one architect would have designed them all.

There was no reason for him to spread his weaknesses among multiple people.

Knowing the architect would make the next step easier.

Kim Chanyoung asked if Wooshin Group’s internal staff might have been involved, but Cha Joohan stated very firmly that they would not be.

Using Wooshin Group’s internal staff would inevitably lead to rumors spreading within the company, and Koh Sangjoon would certainly be aware of that.

So, for now, he had done as Cha Joohan suggested, but…

He wasn’t sure if Koh Sangjoon would tell him, or even if he would avoid arousing suspicion.

“Finding an architect to do such a thing is a task in itself, and even if someone agrees, I doubt they would keep it a secret until the end. My father will make sure nothing happens, but I think there might come a day, even in the distant future… when how I was born and whose child I am might be revealed. Me being a target means the attack could shift to Father at any time. The thought of my father’s traces, like the paper company you’re giving me this time, being exposed makes me feel faint.”

Kim Chanyoung decided not to give Koh Sangjoon time to think.

He continued to pour out words, inputting new information into his mind.

Of course, he was extremely careful with his tone and voice to avoid giving the impression that he was just running his mouth out of impatience.

“If any problems arise, I need to be able to cut them off at my level… so that Wooshin’s name doesn’t get dragged through the mud. And, of course, I need to save myself at the same time. That’s why I can’t trust banks or private vaults. They have to open up if a search warrant is issued. But if I have a space in my house that no one knows about, it’s a different story. Even if the police search my house, they’ll have to leave empty-handed.”

“You’re thinking quite far ahead.”

“I know that the paper company established in the British Virgin Islands is a major weakness for Father. I may have acted cute and begged you to include me, but you wouldn’t have just included me for no reason. I need to be just as careful, and I need to take responsibility for that much.”

Koh Sangjoon’s stiff face began to soften little by little.

Kim Chanyoung couldn’t tell what was bothering Koh Sangjoon so much that he had made such a face.

He could only vaguely guess that he might have realized that he knew something.

Still, he couldn’t have figured out that he knew about Okashima Hospital and Ribbon Medical Center, right?

Even if it was Koh Sangjoon.

“And actually, I was wondering if Father might have set up something like this in the main house.”

Kim Chanyoung decided to delve a little deeper.

It might have been something he didn’t need to say.

But he was determined to become ‘the child who most resembles me’ to Koh Sangjoon, and he felt that this was working quite effectively.

Perhaps it would help Koh Sangjoon accept Kim Chanyoung into his deeper inner circle.

“Why did you think that?”

“It’s nothing much, but if someone like me is thinking about this, I figured Father would have considered all sorts of things. Of course, you could use a space under someone else’s name, but if it were me, I’d want to keep it in my own house. There’s the issue of accessibility. If you put it somewhere else and your comings and goings get caught on camera, if things go badly, that place might not be spared from a search and seizure.”

Koh Sangjoon nodded slowly.

Kim Chanyoung couldn’t tell if he was admitting that he had also created secret places in that way, or if he simply agreed with Kim Chanyoung’s words.

“I understand why you need it. I know someone who can do what you want. I’ll give your contact information to that architect. They’ll contact you soon.”

In the end, Koh Sangjoon didn’t reveal his innermost thoughts.

That meant he still couldn’t confide everything in Kim Chanyoung, but that didn’t matter much.

He hadn’t expected it to happen overnight anyway, and he had already gained the unexpected reward of being adopted into the Koh family.

Besides, the initial goal was to be introduced to the architect who did Koh Sangjoon’s work.

He had succeeded in that as well, so he was satisfied enough.

“I’m glad you seem to know very well what it means for me to hand over the Virgin Islands paper company to you.”

Koh Sangjoon said with a faint smile.

“Did you think I would have begged you to include me without this kind of resolve?”

When Kim Chanyoung winked and replied, Koh Sangjoon laughed along.

However, in one corner of his mind, he began to worry if he had aroused Koh Sangjoon’s suspicion with this.

Once the special investigation begins, it’s over with Koh Sangjoon anyway.

He hadn’t told Cha Joohan that he had made up his mind yet, but Kim Chanyoung was planning to self-destruct spectacularly.

People’s gazes are something you only need to endure for a short time, as Koh Sangjoon said, right?

If Koh Sangjoon’s sentence is lengthened even by a day in exchange for receiving those gazes, Kim Chanyoung would have nothing more to wish for.

He just had to hold out until then.

* * *

“Wow, what is this?”

“A get-well-soon cake.”

On the day Kang Minjae was discharged from Myungdae Hospital, we gathered at a nearby restaurant.

It was because of Kang Minjae’s strong desire to treat us for his discharge.

Usually, the patient receives a discharge gift, but this was the first time I’d seen someone offer to treat us for their discharge.

So, I thought gathering like this was an overreaction, but Choi Jonghyun and Jo Bongjoon were just as enthusiastic.

“No, why a cake of all things!”

I don’t know when they started calling a Choco Pie tower a cake, but they even stuck a candle on top and lit it.

Kang Minjae blew out the candle with a very happy expression.

“I was originally going to buy a cake, but as you know, I had to return my card to Cha Byeon [Cha, short for lawyer, Byeon, short for Byeonhosa], so I don’t have any money. Bongjoon is also saving money because he’s spending it on preparing for his broadcast.”

“Hey, don’t even mention it. It’s all tied up in stocks, so I’m barely making ends meet with my living expenses. The dividend I received a while ago is already down to only 100,000 won. Money is just pouring out.”

Normally, I would have thought Jo Bongjoon was exaggerating, but unfortunately, what he said was true.

In order to break away from his existing internet broadcaster image, he decided to move to a different streaming platform and, at the same time, renovate his studio.

He said that the visuals had to change in order for viewers to recognize it as a different broadcast, so he was going to renovate at least the parts that were visible to the camera.

Naturally, he started to think about how much to expose to the camera.

In the past, broadcasts were usually conducted by two people, and even if I and Kang Minjae went out, only about three or four people appeared in total, so a large space wasn’t necessary.

But considering that the content to be covered in the future broadcasts would be serious and extensive, you never know what kind of guests you might invite.

For various reasons, the interior work, which was initially planned to be small-scale, ended up becoming quite large.

“If you’re so short on funds, wouldn’t it be better to just keep using the lawyer’s card?”

Secretary Oh asked.

But Choi Jonghyun and Jo Bongjoon answered very firmly.

“We’re going to do as much as we can with our own money from now on. Of course, we can’t really say anything since Cha Byeon has already made almost everything with his money, but this project isn’t just for Cha Byeon alone. It feels like we’re just taking without giving.”

I had glimpsed their determination not to use my money as much as possible since Choi Jonghyun refused the renewed card after his card expired, but they were more stubborn than I thought.

Everyone seemed to feel a great sense of responsibility for this, which I was grateful for, but it was also a burden.

I’m trying my best to make sure things don’t go wrong, but there’s no such thing as 100% in the world.

If only I were the one who suffered the loss if things went wrong, I would feel more at ease.

Even if it’s not in important areas like life or career, even just looking at the financial losses.

But in this case, everyone would have to suffer the loss together in the event of something going wrong.

Naturally, my mind becomes complicated.

Kim Mija, Taeshik, and Kang Minjae all pointed out that I was feeling an excessive amount of pressure and guilt, so I’m trying not to think too deeply about it, but I guess I can’t help being made this way.

“Anyway, come visit when the interior is finished. We need to do some simulations too.”

“Sounds good. Oh, then I should buy a potted plant or something to bring.”

“It’s not like we’re opening a business, or anything. Just come comfortably.”

“Anyway, I’m really happy that Minjae was discharged in good health. It’s a little sad that he got a bald spot on his head, but it’s okay since it’s covered.”

“Hey, hyung [older brother or male friend]. It’s not a permanent bald spot, and my hair is growing back, you know? It won’t even be noticeable in a little while.”

“Okay, who said anything? But anyway, you have a bald spot right now.”

And they found something to tease him about faster than anyone else.

“Ha, I was over being angry at Chun Jongnam, but I’m about to get angry again because of the bald spot……”

“Sue him for damages. Say your dignity as a lawyer was damaged because of the bald spot.”

“My dignity isn’t damaged unless you guys tease me!”

It was a good thing we had reserved a room at the restaurant.

How could it be this noisy when we didn’t even drink alcohol?

We almost caused trouble for the people who came to enjoy a quiet meal.

“Don’t go running around just because you’ve been discharged, and get some rest at home.”

Choi Jonghyun threw a word at Kang Minjae, who was about to get into the car driven by Junghyuk.

He had said so many times before his discharge that he couldn’t stand being cooped up, so I was worried that he might actually go running around as he said.

“Do you think I’m a child? I’ve become very precious to myself now. I’ll be going first, then!”

Kang Minjae grumbled and left for Pyeongchang-dong [a wealthy neighborhood in Seoul] with Kang Soo-il, and we also parted ways.

Even if he was discharged later than he should have been, it would be right to give him time to rest.

I should tell him to come to work next week.

He probably didn’t get to rest comfortably anyway, since we were gathering in his hospital room to have meetings throughout his hospitalization.

“Lawyer, where’s the delivery booklet?”

When I came home, changed my clothes, and came out, Taeshik was busily searching all over the living room.

“Why, are you trying to order something again?”

“Again? You ate steak elegantly at the restaurant, but I was protecting you, so I starved, you know?”

“That’s true. Isn’t the delivery booklet around there?”

“Yeah. Did Sang-gil throw it away? I told him to throw out some trash. Did he really throw it away? I’m going to die, how hard did I collect them.”

It wasn’t that he wasn’t, Taeshik was about to create a delivery booklet collection.

When a new delivery booklet came out, he would check if there was anything different from the existing booklet, and if there was even one store he hadn’t seen before, he would collect them together.

I always had no choice but to nag him to keep the collection out of my sight.

As is usually the case with delivery booklets, the design was so flashy that it hurt my eyes, so I didn’t want to keep it in my house.

“Ah, did Sang-gil really throw it away? Does he really want to die? I should give him some discipline for a change.”

“Just search and order from anywhere.”

“I’m in the mood to eat something incredibly delicious right now. I don’t want to just fill my stomach with anything……”

That’s when it happened.

The sound of someone entering the password at the front door.

Who could be entering the password to open the door to our house right now?

Sang-gil exchanged shifts with Taeshik in the morning and left work with a tired expression.

It was only 4 p.m., so it was still his time to sleep.

“Lawyer, stay here for now!”

Taeshik quickly went on alert and ran to the front door.

He seems to think it’s an intruder, but if it’s a real intruder, wouldn’t they be able to press the password so calmly, knowing that I’m home?

Anyway, I’m wearing a stab-proof and bulletproof vest, and Taeshik is in the lead, so I’m going to keep a reasonable distance and check, so I went to the front door as well.

“Lawyer, I’m here!”

And Kang Minjae came in with a plastic bag that seemed to be full of something in one hand.

It goes without saying that Junghyuk followed him in, looking sheepish.