You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 57

[Truth]

I stared at the words that appeared above Kang’s head for a moment.

Now I understood why he had been so reluctant to take on this case.

Kang wasn’t comfortable taking on Jin-cheol’s case because it mirrored a past he wanted to forget.

He might have wanted to help Jin-cheol, who was in a similar situation, but doing so meant reliving past traumas.

“…I don’t know what kind of trick you’re trying to pull. I’m not some naive kid who’s suddenly going to trust you because of some obvious lines. Try that somewhere else,” Jin-cheol retorted coldly. He had seemed momentarily shaken, but now he was pushing back.

He seemed to think Kang’s words were a lie to manipulate him.

Kang Min-jae looked at Jin-cheol and sighed briefly.

Then, he took off his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves.

He pointed to a round scar near his wrist.

“This is a cigarette burn from the guys who used to bully me. The rest faded over time, but this one remained.”

Jin-cheol bit his lip tightly as he stared at the wrist held out in front of him.

“Being bullied for doing nothing wrong… I know better than anyone how that feels. Ah, well, maybe I did do something wrong. But even so, I don’t think I deserved to be beaten and ridiculed to that extent, even now.”

Kang Min-jae lowered his sleeves again and said.

I never imagined that he, who always had a smiling and playful face, had such a past.

Since he was trying to connect by revealing a painful memory, I decided to watch without interfering.

“Still think it’s a lie? Then, I’ll tell you more details. Aside from the fact that I want to help you, Jin-cheol, this is only possible if you trust us.”

A look of bewilderment flashed across Jin-cheol’s face.

But Jin-cheol still looked skeptical.

Stubbornly hiding the emotions that were trying to surface, he glanced at Kang Min-jae.

“When I was 17, I went to study in the United States. Somehow, I ended up going to a private school in America, and I was the only Asian in that school. Everyone else was white, and their families were well-off.”

Kang Min-jae began, his expression troubled.

“I was pretty good at studying, but to them, my English was awkward, and my pronunciation was ridiculous. From the moment I arrived, I felt like I was being ostracized.”

“…”

“I continued my lonely school life like that. At that time, I was doing a homestay [a program where students live with a local family], so I didn’t have any family in the United States. Once, when it was too hard, I called Korea, and they told me it was because I hadn’t been there for long, and to study hard.”

Jin-cheol’s eyes wavered at Kang Min-jae’s words.

I could understand his attitude during the conversation with Jin-cheol’s mother before coming here, in this context.

Kang Min-jae had already experienced a similar situation.

“Then, it was exam period. I did pretty well on the exams. I had studied a bit in Korea too.”

Kang Min-jae smiled slightly.

Jin-cheol stared blankly at Kang Min-jae and then looked away.

“Maybe it bothered them, but the guy who was kind of a big shot in the class called me out separately. And then, it was as expected. After that, school life was hell. I was openly ridiculed for being Asian, and I was beaten after school. There wasn’t a day my body was intact. This scar on my wrist was also from that. But do you know what was even harder?”

Jin-cheol was still turned away, but it was clear that he was listening to everything Kang Min-jae was saying.

He had a miserable expression, as if he knew the answer to the question of what was even harder.

“It was that it was no use telling the teachers. The teachers were on their side. I later found out that the teacher didn’t want to accept me, an Asian, and had accepted me reluctantly. So, when I applied for counseling about such problems, the teacher dismissed it as nothing. I don’t know what your homeroom teacher was like… but that’s how it was for me.”

I quietly thought of Jin-cheol’s homeroom teacher.

I didn’t have a bad impression of her when I first met her in the emergency room, but I suspected she couldn’t have been unaware that Jin-cheol was being bullied.

It was also suspicious that she had assured Jin-cheol’s mother that there were no problems with her son’s school life.

Maybe that suspicion was right.

If the homeroom teacher had actively helped or had no idea that he was being bullied, Jin-cheol should have shown a slightly surprised reaction to Kang Min-jae’s story.

But Jin-cheol didn’t.

“I endured like that without anyone to help, and eventually, after a few months, my father came to the United States to see me. That’s when my father found out everything. That I had been assaulted too.”

With those words, Kang Min-jae paused to catch his breath.

Jin-cheol slowly turned his head towards Kang Min-jae.

And quietly asked.

“…Your father knew. What happened?”

“I told you, I couldn’t do anything properly. My father tried to request a fact-finding investigation from the school through his own channels, but as a result, my words were not taken seriously. Why? Because the white kids who bullied me were also from families that were quite influential in that state. Even if my father was the president, that influential person in the state would have been considered more important to those teachers.”

At Kang Min-jae’s answer, Jin-cheol laughed as if he was in despair.

“In the end, it means it’s useless even if an adult knows.”

“No, my father tried to do more. Whether it was by bribing or hiring a lawyer. But I was so exhausted, and I didn’t want to live on that land anymore, so I told him to stop and came back to Korea.”

“So, are you okay now?”

Kang Min-jae looked at Jin-cheol and smiled slightly.

“Yeah. It was nice to come back to where I used to belong. But, funnily enough, it was only for a short time.”

“…What do you mean by ‘a short time’?”

“The school I came back to was where I used to get along well, where my friends were… but if there were small troubles with those friends that I wouldn’t have cared about normally, or if those friends were just a little more indifferent than usual, I would become incredibly anxious.”

“…”

“I also had nightmares where my friends turned into those white kids and lynched me, and it was hard every time I saw the scars on my body. I had a lot of regrets. I should have somehow made sure those bastards got what they deserved there. I should have just quietly followed my father’s advice to hire a lawyer.”

Kang Min-jae took a long breath and smiled faintly.

“But after enduring for about 10 years, it’s faded a bit. But recently, I heard that the guy who bullied me the most graduated from Harvard Law School and got into the best law firm in the United States, and I felt like my insides were turning upside down. Who is that bastard going to defend? If I had taken legal action back then, that bastard would never have been able to rise to such heights, I thought.”

I, who had been listening to Kang Min-jae’s words, also ended up sighing.

I knew very well what it felt like to have to watch someone who had destroyed the things that made me who I was living a life of success.

“Jin-cheol. We don’t want you to live like that. If you explain your situation, then the lawyers will take care of it. Because they know your situation best, they won’t harm you. They will make those kids who bullied you get the punishment they deserve, and they won’t let them make you like this again.”

At Kang Min-jae’s words, Jin-cheol covered his forehead with a trembling hand.

Jin-cheol didn’t say anything and just kept his mouth shut for a long time.

We waited for Jin-cheol.

“…Can you really keep that promise?”

Jin-cheol’s voice, who opened his mouth after a long time, was trembling slightly.

Jin-cheol, whose nose was red, lowered his head and caught his breath.

“Really, can you promise that there will be no harm to me?”

Kang Min-jae looked at me.

I nodded once.

“I promise.”

“Ah, damn it, really…”

Jin-cheol turned his head away and began to sob.

He struggled to wipe away the tears with his bandaged hand, but it was not enough to stop the crying.

Eventually, Jin-cheol said in a voice full of tears.

“Hyuk-min, that bastard, that bastard… he really, always, always torments me, bullies me, and makes me a laughingstock. He beats me like a dog, he treats me like a real cripple, sob, sob.”

Jin-cheol began to cry loudly.

I gestured to Kang Min-jae towards the tissue on the side table.

Kang Min-jae understood and tore off a piece of tissue and handed it to him.

“Ha…”

Only after crying for a long time did Jin-cheol blow his nose and calm down.

Kang Min-jae watched the scene with pity.

I, who had been silent all along, looked at Jin-cheol, who was now ready to talk.

Now Jin-cheol would have realized what the priority was.

The means that Kang Min-jae’s father had tried to use, but couldn’t because of Kang Min-jae’s refusal.

Those means were now in front of Jin-cheol, begging to be used.

“Jin-cheol. That lawyer was originally a prosecutor in the criminal division. He was also in charge of juvenile crimes.”

Kang Min-jae said.

*Had* I ever been in charge of juvenile crimes?

I was in the criminal division, so it wouldn’t be strange if I had.

Maybe I was in charge of such a case when Kang Min-jae came in as a trainee.

It was only a few years ago for Kang Min-jae, but it was more than 10 years ago for me.

The memory was not complete.

“He’s my boss, and he’s a bit prickly. You understand. But his skills are the best in Korea. If he’s too prickly with you, badmouth him to me. I’ll badmouth him with you.”

Jin-cheol chuckled at Kang Min-jae’s words.

The atmosphere had eased, and Jin-cheol was now ready to open his mouth.

It was time to start the investigation in earnest.

I opened my mouth, which had been quietly closed.

“Jin-cheol, I want you to tell me now. Why did you fall from the classroom?”