You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 547

You’ve Been Defended

“The lawyers were right. I don’t think it’s that serious.”

Eom Seong-yoon, who hadn’t said a word while moving from the cafe with Kim Young-ji, spoke in a dispirited voice as soon as he met us.

Unlike us, who thought it was a 100% predictable outcome, Eom Seong-yoon still seemed to have expectations for the group called Angel’s House.

Well, I guess it’s understandable.

He doesn’t know about the heinous criminal activities they’re carrying out there.

Moreover, Angel’s House, at least for children who aren’t targets of their criminal enterprise, was very different from the violence and abuse seen in some orphanages that are exposed through the news.

They often resolved conflicts between children, and there was no violence.

Of course, I think they would have inflicted emotional abuse without the children even realizing it.

Some children even had a kind of pride in being at Angel’s House rather than other orphanages.

Having seen such things all along, it wasn’t strange that he believed Angel’s House would keep its promises, even if it dragged its feet and made him anxious.

“It turned out as the lawyers said, but wouldn’t they have said that because it’s something that can’t really happen? Jung-min doing drugs… I still can’t believe it. It’s not like it’s easy to get… It really doesn’t make sense, so they didn’t take it seriously.”

“That might be the case, but then shouldn’t that person have at least pretended to look up what the symptoms of drug addiction are when you first brought it up?”

“……”

“And shouldn’t they at least agree when you say his condition looks serious for just a cold? Anyone can see that. They should at least say they’ll take him to the hospital because he looks a bit severe.”

Doesn’t it feel like they’re brainwashing you into thinking that everyone else sees it as just a cold, and you’re the only one being overly sensitive?

I’m sure that even Son Jung-min’s appearance then was the most normal he could be.

If he showed Eom Seong-yoon a more broken 모습 [moseup – appearance/state], he might become suspicious.

“And you said Jung-min couldn’t possibly get drugs. How can they be so sure of that?”

“I did say, how would they know since I’m not with him all the time…”

“Exactly. How do they know what he’s doing or where he’s getting drugs during his free time? You don’t always need money to get drugs. How can the orphanage staff dismiss that so lightly?”

“…I guess so.”

“Besides, if they were really so sure, wouldn’t that also imply that they’re confining Jung-min? Unless they’re controlling his every move, there’s always a possibility. Either way, it’s clear that Jung-min isn’t receiving proper protection.”

Seong-yoon rubbed his forehead with a troubled look, biting his dry lips.

In that action and gaze, I could read anxiety and fear at the same time.

“Self-harm. Why did you do it?”

“……”

“It’s gone too far to think of it as your solo act. The fact that they only showed you Jung-min, who they had hidden away like that, is because you hold the key to threatening them.”

“……”

Kang Min-jae, who had been silent, reached out and held Seong-yoon’s hand on the desk.

“We’re both prosecutors-turned-lawyers. We’ve seen countless friends ruined by adults’ greed. Jung-min is a very typical case. If you don’t tell us, we have no way to help Jung-min. Jung-min will continue to suffer at their hands. To save Jung-min, you need to be safe too.”

“Hoo…”

Seong-yoon sighed deeply.

“……”

We watched without saying a word.

“One day, the director called me.”

And he opened his mouth as if giving up.

The director said that college students were committing a significant wrong at Angel’s House, and he was having trouble because he couldn’t get evidence and couldn’t receive outside help.

He needed to kick out the college students before they extended their reach to the children of Angel’s House, and he asked if Seong-yoon could help.

Seong-yoon, having heard the director’s specific plan, said he couldn’t do it.

But the director, as if waiting for it, made a call somewhere and then switched the phone to Seong-yoon.

The voice heard over the receiver then was Jung-min’s.

Jung-min persuaded him, saying, ‘Hyung [older brother/male friend] won’t have any legal responsibility, and he just has to feel a little sorry for those college students, and they’ll let him out of Angel’s House earlier than others and give him support money to live together, so what’s there to worry about?’

After hanging up the phone, the director told them about the living expenses that would be paid later, and he showed him pictures full of high school students’ 로망 [roman – romance/fantasy] for having their own place, stimulating his heart.

Just then, Seong-yoon was feeling more lonely after Jung-min disappeared, with no place to turn to in Angel’s House, and he was worried about him.

In addition, he realized that he could shake off all his worries about the future of having to wander around 고시원 [goshiwon – small, inexpensive rooms often used by students studying for exams] when he became an adult, as long as he felt a pang of conscience for a brief moment.

In the end, he did as the director told him.

However, when Seong-yoon’s self-harm was revealed by the camera, the situation became complicated at Angel’s House, and they kept postponing his release.

They kept avoiding it with the excuse that the paperwork was complicated and there were many things to prepare, so it would take a lot of time.

“…That’s what happened.”

“Judging from Jung-min’s condition, it doesn’t seem like he started doing drugs just a few days ago. When you talked to Jung-min before accepting the offer, what was his voice or tone like?”

“Back then… when I think about it, it wasn’t exactly clear, but it wasn’t too noticeable or strange…”

“Then let’s say he started doing drugs then. Would they have tried to show you that side of Jung-min? Let’s say they chose the times when he was in good condition for the brief moments you saw him, so you wouldn’t know. I don’t think they would have let you continue to live with him?”

“……”

“Besides, wouldn’t it be very troublesome for Angel’s House if it were revealed to the outside that they made Jung-min or you do such things? If it had succeeded, maybe not, but it failed both times.”

Eom Seong-yoon looked at me, biting his fingertips.

“…Then what should I do? What about Jung-min…? You approached me because there’s some way, right? What is it? What can I do for you to tell me?”

Listening to Seong-yoon’s urgent question, I didn’t feel good.

What does he have to do for us?

He doesn’t have to do anything.

It’s about saving a minor in danger, who would ask for something in return?

I felt like I knew how he had been treated so far.

“You said you wanted to get out of there, right?”

“Yes. But Jung-min…”

It’s Jung-min again.

Moreover, seeing him worry about Jung-min even though I’ve repeatedly reminded him that he’s in a dangerous situation, I despise those who made this kind-hearted child do such cruel things even more.

“There are several ways, and I’m still thinking about what the best way is. We’ll save Jung-min no matter what, so don’t worry too much for now and relax. I think you’re neglecting yourself a little because you’re so worried about Jung-min. I hope you don’t forget that you’re in a dangerous situation too.”

Kang Min-jae said kindly, but Seong-yoon still didn’t seem relieved.

It’s only natural since we didn’t reveal a specific method.

But we can’t tell him right now either.

We’re still searching for the best method, and there’s no point in recklessly sharing it if the plan might change in the middle, only to be seen as an adult who keeps changing his mind.

“First, you need to go off the rails a bit.”

“Go off the rails?”

“You’re running away from home starting today.”

* * *

Seong-yoon came to live in a 30-평대 [pyeongdae – a unit of area, approximately 3.3 square meters] shared house where three of Tae-shik’s employees stayed.

From the moment we decided to contact Seong-yoon, we had been 고민 [gomin – worrying/agonizing] about where and how to prepare a place for him to stay, but we came to the conclusion that if he had to be with the employees anyway, we should choose the safest and most comfortable place among those where they were staying.

Of course, because of that, the employee who had been using the cleanest and nicest room had to leave temporarily, but it went smoothly as he decided to stay with Sang-gil, who was leaving the house at night to guard me.

“You live in a better place than I thought.”

I thought it would be good for Seong-yoon to live here when I saw the pictures, but it was even better in person.

In particular, I was worried that the house would be full of cigarette smoke, but one of the employees is a non-smoker, and he made such a fuss that he would cut off his fingers if he was caught smoking in the house, so smoking is prohibited even in the bathroom.

“But I feel sorry for the 형 [hyung – older brother/male friend] who had to empty his room because of me.”

I told him to leave in advance so that Seong-yoon wouldn’t feel sorry when he saw him taking out his luggage, but Seong-yoon said hesitantly, as if my consideration was in vain.

“It’s okay. It’s not like I’m going to live here forever anyway.”

“That guy nags so much, I feel so relieved. Seong-yoon, stay here for a long time. Don’t let him come back.”

I thought the employees were saying that to reassure Seong-yoon, but I discovered the word [Truth] floating above their heads.

“But I couldn’t bring any of my luggage, what should I do? The lawyer said I have to stay here until the situation is sorted out. I don’t know when that will be, but it won’t be just a day or two. I can’t keep wearing this… Can’t I go in and out for a bit?”

Seong-yoon said, fluttering the school uniform he was wearing.

“Do you think Angel’s House will just let you go while you’re packing your luggage? If there’s anything you need, buy it new with this. It’s still dangerous for you to go out yourself, so buy what you want online if it’s not urgent. If it’s urgent, ask the 형들 [hyungdeul – older brothers/male friends] to buy it for you.”

I handed Seong-yoon a card.

Then Seong-yoon didn’t even think about taking it, and looked at me with a dazed expression.

“You can take it. The lawyer has a lot of money.”

Kang Min-jae said with a смех [smekh – laughter] voice.

“Still…”

“You said you’d testify that the director ordered you to do it.”

“…Yes.”

“Think of it as giving and receiving what each other needs. If you’re really bothered, pay it back later when you become an adult.”

“Ah, yes. I will.”

Only then did Seong-yoon take the card and scratch his cheek awkwardly.

“Just in case, leave your phone with 형 [hyung – older brother/male friend]. I can give you another phone if you’re bored, but can you promise not to contact your friends?”

Seong-yoon shook his head at my question.

“No, just… I don’t need a phone.”

Seong-yoon took out his phone, which was already turned off, and handed it to the employee standing next to him.

“If I contact someone, Jung-min might not be saved.”

“That’s right.”

“Would you rather take away the computer in the room too? You never know. I might suddenly change my mind and want to contact someone.”

Seong-yoon pointed to the desktop computer on the desk.

“I think the 형들 [hyungdeul – older brothers/male friends] would be more comfortable with that too.”

“Hmm, you’ll be bored. Then tell me when you need it, and for now, there’s a TV in this room, so watch that. The cable payment password is 0000, so pay for whatever you want to watch.”

The employee said, unplugging the power cord of the desktop computer on the desk.

“…Thank you.”

“Can you tell me now if there’s anything you need? 형 [hyung – older brother/male friend] is going out to buy the basics now. A few clothes to wear comfortably, underwear, hmm… You can use the toiletries at home.”

“No, that’s enough.”

“And I need to buy some snacks for Seong-yoon to eat. Do you like comic books? Should I borrow some comic books for you?”

The employee started writing down what to buy on his phone.

It seems like the conditions are in place so that Seong-yoon won’t be uncomfortable while living here.

He’ll contact me if he needs anything else.

“Tell the 형들 [hyungdeul – older brothers/male friends] if anything happens. Then they’ll connect you to me or that 아저씨 [ajeossi – a term for older man, like ‘mister’].”

I pointed to Kang Min-jae, who was sitting on Seong-yoon’s bed, bouncing his body to see if it was comfortable.

“Yes… Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

Seong-yoon bowed his head.

“What are you talking about.”

“Still. I’m the 개새끼 [gaesaekki – a derogatory term, literally ‘dog bastard’] who even tried to frame Teacher Hyun-jong…”

“You said you’d apologize to that student separately later.”

“…Yes.”

“Then that’s enough. And we’re making you miss school, right? It’s almost summer vacation, but missing school is missing school. If you think about it that way, we’re sorry too.”

“That really doesn’t matter, anyway. I didn’t have the attendance to get a perfect attendance award, and I didn’t study well enough to think about going to college. I was even thinking about dropping out. And it’s not because of the lawyers. If I hadn’t fallen for the director’s words in the first place, this situation wouldn’t have happened…”

“Don’t blame yourself. We’ll try our best to make sure there are no problems with your school life.”

I think I heard that when I was in charge of a school violence case a few years ago with a student named Park Jin-cheol, you have to fill two-thirds of the total attendance days to avoid failing.

Now that one semester has passed, I’ve filled half.

I’ll have to make sure he can fill at least the number of attendance days in the second semester.

“Don’t worry about that at all.”

Seong-yoon waved his hand, but it’s inevitable that I’m worried.

“Take good care of Seong-yoon.”

I said to the employees, putting on my shoes.

Then the employees laughed and replied.

“Of course. Hey, Seong-yoon. Do you play League of Legends? Want to play League of Legends together later? I’m top tier 1,500. I’ll carry you.”

“I’m 1,700…”

“What? Then you carry me.”

Well, I think they’ll take care of him even if I don’t say anything.

Even though the kids have had rough lives, they’ve been properly brainwashed under Tae-shik, so they won’t have a bad influence.

Tae-shik has told the employees that I’m some kind of demon drill instructor, so they’ll be even more 신경 쓰겠지 [shingyeong sseugessji – be mindful/concerned] because they’re watching my every move.