You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 560

Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon looked bewildered at my words, but soon took off their shoes and came inside. Heo Min-woo and Manager Oh, who had been waiting, waved at them.

“We were the last ones.”

“But why do you guys have dark circles under your eyes?”

Kang Min-jae asked, taking the carrier with the coffee.

Of course, Kang Min-jae wasn’t in a position to talk.

When he was talking with Tae-shik about calling his mother in the morning, Kang Min-jae was lying in bed, frantically refreshing portal sites.

The problem is that Manager Oh and Heo Min-woo seemed to be in a similar situation.

“I told you to get enough sleep and meet again, but it seems like no one slept. Can’t you check people’s reactions after waking up in the morning?”

“You didn’t sleep either, Attorney Cha.”

Tae-shik added, taking his share of the coffee.

“Why couldn’t Attorney Cha sleep?”

“He couldn’t sleep because he was afraid of getting scolded by his mom.”

“Every time you talk nonsense, I’ll deduct 1 million won [approximately $750 USD] from your salary.”

“I’m sorry. You’re in a bad mood because you got scolded by your mom this morning, and I messed with you.”

Tae-shik bowed his head and ran away to the living room.

“You deserved to be scolded. You hid the fact that you were hurt so badly that your heart stopped. If I were a parent, my heart would have broken. But I’m glad she knows now, even if it’s late.”

Manager Oh rubbed his tired eyes and drank his coffee.

“…….”

I couldn’t say anything.

“What, you didn’t know his heart stopped?”

Choi Jong-hyun looked at me with a surprised expression.

“Since it’s the weekend, Wooshin will also be holding meetings over the weekend, and there will be some minor actions on Monday. Of course, public opinion will be even more heated over the weekend. When people gather, they usually talk about the most talked-about stories. Looking at the reactions, they don’t explicitly mention Wooshin, but everyone seems to think it’s Wooshin’s doing.”

“He’s changing the subject.”

“Some internet articles did mention Wooshin, but they only mentioned that’s what the netizens were saying, so Wooshin won’t officially respond. My case is just opened as a device to increase the credibility of our claims.”

As I tried my best to get to the point, the others seemed to have given up their misguided desire to tease me.

“I guess so. Since Chun Jong-nam confessed to falling asleep at the wheel, they’ll think we couldn’t get a confession from Chun Jong-nam. So, Angel’s House will continue to say that the dump truck accident and Jung-min’s runaway are unrelated.”

“How will Angel’s House respond to the email Jung-min sent us?”

At Kang Min-jae’s question, Heo Min-woo, who was putting a cup holder on his coffee cup, opened his mouth.

“First of all, they’re likely to keep saying they don’t know. Tae-kwang lawyers will tell them to do that. They claimed that college students had been bullying the children, so they’ll keep pushing that, or they might say that the children told them that, so they thought that was the case too.”

“Looking at the current public opinion, wouldn’t it be the latter? If they keep claiming that college students bullied the children, they’ll only lose more. Even if Angel’s House is a disposable card, if they make such absurd claims, this fight will end quickly.”

“I think so too. Kim Young-ji’s interview on the news also felt like they were creating an escape route, saying it was the result of a full investigation of the children.”

Choi Jong-hyun and Kang Min-jae said in turn.

I agree too.

At first, they thought that if they kept blaming the college students, we would step in as their lawyers, but as we revealed two attempted murders on the air, public opinion turned sharply against Angel’s House.

The statement released by the college students immediately after the broadcast was also quite effective.

The statement was simple.

1. We have never bullied them.

If we really bullied the children, there would be no reason for the children of Angel’s House to contact us even after we finished volunteering.

2. Law Firm Jungdo, having heard of our unfairness, said that if there is a need to be investigated by the police, they will participate in the investigation as lawyers.

That’s all it contained.

There were more things we could say, but we thought we could use them differently depending on how Angel’s House came out, so we wrapped it up like this.

In a situation where there was already public sympathy for us, who almost died doing righteous work, there were quite a few people who said that if we were willing to help, the college students must be victims too.

In this situation, it’s foolish to bring up the college students.

“Let them keep pretending they don’t know. People will get more angry the more they do that. People get the most pissed off when they think the other person is treating them like an idiot. That’s exactly what Wooshin is doing. Treating the public like fools.”

“The two of you raised a new topic on yesterday’s broadcast, and you said you would ask the police to verify the authenticity of various pieces of evidence, so we have a reason to call Kim Young-ji and the director in for questioning again. We’ll contact them right away on Monday. We’ll see how they react then. But they’ll probably just pretend they don’t know.”

Currently, Heo Min-woo, who first filed the Angel’s House case, is conducting the investigation, but it’s unclear what will happen in the future.

In order for Heo Min-woo to continue to hold the reins of this investigation, he needs to make the connection between Angel’s House and drugs a little stronger.

Right now, it’s being viewed as an abuse case, and it’s ambiguous for that department to take charge, so Heo Min-woo is in control.

“There’s more they’ll do besides pretending they don’t know.”

“What is it?”

“They’re going to start killing Son Jung-min from now on. That way, it won’t be Angel’s House’s fault that Jung-min got involved with drugs. Let’s wait until Monday evening. It won’t be too late to call the director and Kim Young-ji then.”

* * *

[The Reality of Drug-Using Juvenile Delinquents in Orphanages (Are They Really Victims? lol)]

And exactly on Monday evening, the first post identifying Son Jung-min was uploaded.

[The teachers are hush-hush, but the rumors have already spread, and the whole school knows lol It’s been over two months since he came to school, and he was already famous for running away from home before the articles came out lol

The orphanage high schooler who did drugs is Son Jung-min, a first-year at Seoul S High School.

I’ve seen a lot of articles saying that SJM [initials for Son Jung-min] was abused at the orphanage and by college student volunteers, but honestly, whether he was abused or not, it has nothing to do with him doing drugs.

SJM is a famous bully at SY High School. He smokes and extorts money. There’s a small park called HB Park near SY High School, and his gang always drinks there and harasses middle schoolers who pass by, so everyone who knows knows lol

He would have run away from home even if he hadn’t been abused, and if he was abused, he deserves it. He’s a real scumbag lol He’s already got a criminal record in his first year of high school~ Serves him right SJM Are you watching? Don’t live your life like that~]

Huh Min-woo, who was scrolling down, looked at me with wide eyes.

“Did you really receive a revelation, Attorney Cha? It’s exactly what you said.”

“Now you know? Attorney Cha has a shrine set up at his house. I saw it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know, I saw it, okay?”

This event didn’t happen in my previous life, but it’s a stretch to hear that I received a revelation for this.

Because it was too obvious.

Son Jung-min didn’t cooperate with the police investigation immediately after his arrest, but as time goes by, he will naturally tell the truth.

Wooshin was preparing for that time.

The moment Son Jung-min tells the truth as it is, Angel’s House, which already has a bad reputation, will be at a great disadvantage.

Then the game will naturally end quickly, right?

If they want to drag it out and even have surgery, they have to keep making it a muddy fight.

[I don’t believe it without proof lol

└Author: I certified my school uniform and student ID~

└Even if you certify your school uniform and student ID, you could be a graduate~

└Author: Are you suspicious? I re-certified with my birth year visible on my student ID~ㅋ [Korean internet slang for ‘lol’]]

As soon as the first post was uploaded, posts testifying that Son Jung-min was a very bad student popped up like mushrooms after the rain, as if they had been waiting for it.

Most of them said that they had been assaulted by Son Jung-min, that Son Jung-min had suddenly hurled abuse at them while passing by, or that they had been bullied by Son Jung-min.

“It’s ridiculous. Tae-kwang’s lawyer directly said that even though Jung-min’s behavior wasn’t always good, he wasn’t a delinquent.”

“Well, Angel’s House can just say that they didn’t know exactly about Jung-min’s school life.”

Kang Min-jae said, looking at the monitor seriously.

Looking at the current situation, Son Jung-min, who was a poor, abused teenager, will instantly be branded as a bully who instigated school violence.

No, should I say it already happened?

“A student who was beaten by Jung-min and suffered injuries requiring two weeks of treatment appeared, saying that his parents felt sorry for him because he was an orphan and let him off.”

“They’re going to create a frame that Jung-min is a bad student and claim that they’re slandering Angel’s House. Just like they did to Sung-yoon.”

From Wooshin’s point of view, the end of this case is not that important.

It would be nice if people believed them, but even if they don’t, they’re planning to clean up Angel’s House by blaming it on the director.

The key is just to keep our attention on them.

They will continue to ruin innocent people in this way and focus our attention.

“How’s Jung-min doing?”

“As you’ve been informed, he’s having a hard time because of withdrawal symptoms. But he’s getting better. The first three days were really hard to handle, but as time goes by, he doesn’t crave it as much as before. Instead, he’s become more depressed and irritable.”

Huh Min-woo has been recommending him to testify several times while living with Son Jung-min.

Not only Huh Min-woo, but also the staff he dispatched to his house.

He’s taking medication prescribed to control his depression and cravings, but it seems to have made him more lethargic and irritable.

“But it seems like he’s now in a state where he can confront Sung-yoon.”

“Then let’s start preparing. We need to do the next broadcast before people lose interest.”

We packed up and went our separate ways.

Kang Min-jae went to Jung-min with Huh Min-woo, and I decided to go see Sung-yoon.

“Sung-yoon likes chicken. Should we buy some? It’s a bit much to go empty-handed. He must be worried about Jung-min.”

Tae-shik asked as he drove the car towards where Sung-yoon was staying.

“Okay.”

I was lost in thought for a moment, watching Tae-shik make a pickup reservation at the chicken restaurant.

I think it’s time now.

Online and offline, the last broadcast has undoubtedly become the biggest issue in Korea right now.

In other words, this is the time when we would normally be running around trying to make this a big deal.

This is the timing Wooshin has been waiting for.

At least within a few days, there should be some movement on their side.

If not, it means we’re not monitoring them properly.

‘There’s no need to be anxious yet.’

I opened the window and lit a cigarette while waiting for Tae-shik.

I’ve done all the preparation I can.

I’m monitoring Lim Hyun-il, who will be performing the surgery, and I’m also checking the movement of So-eun, who was selected as the heart donor, in real time.

Reporter Kirihara’s side is watching Okashima Hospital and Onodera’s grandson.

For the surgery to proceed, there must be at least a small movement in one of these three areas.

When is it, Go Sang-joon?

I’m not going to miss the beginning of your end, no matter when it starts.