You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 595

[Wooshin, Organ Trafficking, Slush Funds, Murder… Will Wooshin Announce Their Position?]

[Wooshin Crime Exposure… What Will Be the Impact?]

[Go Sang-jun’s Slush Fund Exceeds Hundreds of Billions]

[Unprecedented Large-Scale Crime by a Major Corporation… What Will Be the Punishment?]

[Wooshin Inevitably to Comment on Organ Trafficking, Slush Funds, and Murder Allegations]

[Attempted Organ Trafficking Victim, Again from C Orphanage?]

[Whereabouts of the Political Funds Received by the Late Lee Jung-chan?]

[Attempted Organ Trafficking, What are the Penalties?]

“Ugh, I’m going to burn the meat staring at these articles.”

Everyone sitting around the barbecue grill was too busy looking at their phones to pay attention to the meat.

Considering how engrossed they usually are in articles and comments, today it’s like they can’t even spare the time to eat meat.

The content we revealed in this broadcast can be summarized into three main points:

1. The owner of the hospital site where organ trafficking occurred is RND.

2. And that RND belongs to Go Sang-jun.

3. Go Sang-jun tried to have me killed when his slush fund was about to be exposed but failed.

Each one is like a nuclear bomb.

The police swiftly set up an investigation headquarters due to the organized organ trafficking case, and it garnered immense attention as it was a rare occurrence in the country.

And the mastermind behind it is Wooshin, the number one conglomerate in Korea.

Moreover, not long after the incident where I was almost killed during the Angel’s House case became a hot topic, it’s revealed that even that was Go Sang-jun’s doing.

It’s not so much that I’m the victim, but the shocking part is that the chairman of a major corporation like Wooshin tried to bury a lawyer because his slush fund was at risk.

At this point, it would be strange if things were quiet.

“The meat’s burning! What are you doing? You ordered expensive meat and aren’t even eating it!”

Kim Jung-woo quickly grabbed the tongs and started distributing the cooked meat onto everyone’s plates.

Since it was right after the broadcast, we came into a private room to avoid being noticed, and we even declined the staff’s offer to grill the meat, so Kim Jung-woo was the only one paying attention to it.

“The reporters must be confused too. It must be difficult for them to figure out which topic to focus on in their articles.”

Kim Jung-woo, having finished distributing the meat, pulled the salt dish closer to himself and said.

“I know, right? If I were them, I’d put the emphasis on Wooshin being behind the organ trafficking.”

Choi Jong-hyun finally put down his phone and picked up his chopsticks.

“Me too. The slush fund stuff, the economic reporters will chew on that diligently.”

“But I wonder how Iljung Daily will respond. It’ll be hard for them to hold out and not write an article at this point.”

“Right now, only the fact that Lee Jung-chan’s ‘Big Brother’ in the phone is Go Sang-jun has been revealed, but Iljung Daily has a ‘Little Brother,’ you know. They must be trembling.”

Kim Jung-woo chuckled.

The two, who had a lot of animosity towards Iljung Daily, wore quite satisfied expressions.

“Should I contact Se-yeon?”

“Se-yeon must be swamped right now. By now, instructions must have come down not to write any sloppy articles, and she must be furious. I bet she’s sent a message.”

Kim Jung-woo mumbled, chewing on the meat, and picked up his phone, which he had set down for a moment.

Then, he grinned and started reading the message.

“Why isn’t Senior Choi replying? Oppa [an affectionate term for older brother or male friend], are you with that Senior Choi right now? Are you all celebrating? Am I the only one getting worked up? Ugh, so pissed. They won’t even let me write the articles the way I want. I’m going to change jobs. Iljung Daily, screw them! But who’s ‘Little Brother’? Feels like it’s someone from our company. Is it the chairman? Why aren’t you replying either, Oppa? Cha Joo-han and Kang Min-jae aren’t answering either. That’s too much, seriously. …That’s what she says.”

While I was busy checking the news articles, I saw a notification that a message had come from Yoon Se-yeon, but I hadn’t read it.

“Se-yeon’s having a hard time.”

“I wanted to somehow involve those Iljung Daily bastards because I hated how they acted, always hiding like loaches whenever Wooshin was getting criticized. This worked out well. I naturally laid the groundwork too.”

Choi Jong-hyun seemed genuinely pleased.

Indeed, as he said, Iljung Daily had either avoided reporting news unfavorable to Wooshin or subtly distorted the truth in a way that was favorable to Wooshin, but until now, there hadn’t been any majorly exposed corruption facts.

However, with Lee Jung-chan’s hidden phone revealed, even if they are less criticized because they are overshadowed by Go Sang-jun, they would end up frequenting the prosecutor’s office.

“Lee Se-hyung did a great job. Right? I didn’t expect it.”

“Indeed.”

Lee Jung-chan’s second son, Lee Se-hyung.

He is a top contributor who helped us obtain evidence that KDL Company and L&B were Go Sang-jun’s back pockets [secretly controlled companies].

If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have been able to get Lee Jung-chan’s phone.

The timing was also good.

I met Lee Se-hyung right after the broadcast announcement went up.

* * *

─ Lawyer, there was a phone call for you at the office.

It was about 10 minutes after I posted the announcement.

About 4 hours before the broadcast was scheduled to start.

The call came from Secretary Oh.

Behind his voice, I could hear people shouting loudly, telling others to come and look at the toys.

He said he went to the mart to buy things that So-eun needed, so it seemed he was still there.

Since I was out of the office, the main phone line was forwarded to Secretary Oh’s phone, and he seemed to have called me right after receiving that call.

“What kind of call was it?”

─ I just sent you the phone number, Lawyer. It’s Lee Se-hyung. He says he wants to meet.

“The Lee Se-hyung I know?”

─ Yes, that’s right. Lee Jung-chan’s second son.

“He called directly?”

─ Yes. He said he was released from prison 3 months ago.

Lee Se-hyung, who once pretended to be a paraplegic to gain special admission to a prestigious university and receive exemptions from military service, and staged a national fraud to improve his father Lee Jung-chan’s image, was imprisoned after all the facts were exposed.

But his sentence is already over?

“I understand. I’ll contact him.”

I immediately called the number that Secretary Oh sent me.

─ Hello.

“This is Cha Joo-han.”

─ I’m sure you’ve heard, but this is Lee Se-hyung. It’s been a while.

“What’s the matter?”

─ Let’s meet.

“What’s the purpose?”

─ Don’t be so prickly. You’ll be glad you did once we meet.

Lee Se-hyung spoke quite arrogantly.

I wasn’t being prickly.

I’m just naturally like this.

“I need to know the purpose to decide whether to meet or not. I’m a bit busy these days.”

─ I know. That’s why I’m contacting you because you seem busy. You’re broadcasting today, right? I have something to hand over to you before that. You’ll need it.

I frowned.

Lee Se-hyung had already told me about Lee Jung-chan’s pocket watch, and I’ve come this far using the information inside it.

But he says he has more to give?

I was suspicious.

I was also worried that someone might get hurt again if I let my guard down at a time like this.

“Come to my office.”

─ Asking someone to come and go… This is going to be quite tempting, you know. You’ll regret it later if you act like this.

“Judging by the timing of this call, it seems like it’s data that came out between Wooshin and former CEO Lee Jung-chan. It’s not like Lee Se-hyung is giving it to me for my sake. Isn’t it like you said before, you want to use me to get revenge on Go Sang-jun, who killed former CEO Lee Jung-chan? It seems like Lee Se-hyung is the one who’s desperate.”

─……

“Am I wrong?”

─ Can I meet you if I go to your office now?

“Yes.”

─ It’ll take 30 minutes.

Lee Se-hyung replied curtly and hung up.

And I headed to the office with Tae-shik.

In the meantime, I looked up when Lee Se-hyung was released from prison, but interest in Lee Se-hyung had decreased since Lee Jung-chan’s death, so there weren’t many articles about him recently.

Still, the few articles I found contained information that he was on the list of parolees and that he had been living in seclusion at home since his release.

“……”

After waiting for about 10 minutes.

Lee Se-hyung arrived at the office 30 minutes after hanging up, just as he had said.

“It’ll be awkward for each other, so I won’t bother with long words. What’s the purpose?”

Lee Se-hyung held the bag he brought tightly and remained silent for a while.

“…The KDL Company and L&B case. You found it in the pocket watch I told you about when you came to visit me back then, right?”

“That’s right.”

“When you couldn’t even use that enormous evidence properly and stopped the broadcast, I wondered if I had expected too much from you.”

I remember what Lee Se-hyung said to me back then.

[Please, make sure to take down Wooshin. Take down all those sons of bitches who made my father like that. …It seems like you guys are the only ones who can take down Wooshin.]

The SD card left by Lee Jung-chan contained information related to KDL Company, but there was no information on L&B.

The information that L&B was a company owned by Go Sang-jun was found directly by us when we went to Liechtenstein, where KDL Company’s location was.

And the only thing we couldn’t reveal on the broadcast at that time was that content.

It was absurd to say it as if he had provided even that, but strictly speaking, if it weren’t for the KDL Company information left by Lee Jung-chan, we wouldn’t have been able to find that data either, so I decided not to point it out.

“I wondered if I should have just reported it to a broadcasting station or newspaper, or even the prosecution or the Liberty Justice Party. I thought I had chosen the wrong person.”

“I’m not sitting here to listen to Lee Se-hyung’s feelings right now.”

“I know! I know, damn it. Anyway, after seeing you guys post the broadcast announcement after the organ trafficking report today, I wanted to say that I decided to trust you one more time because I realized you hadn’t been doing nothing all this time. That’s why I’m giving it to you.”

What is he trying to give me that he’s being so hesitant about?

Just because Lee Jung-chan died doesn’t mean Lee Jung-chan’s faults disappear.

It’s not like both of them decided to provide me with information with the meaning of deeply reflecting on their mistakes.

Lee Jung-chan intended to self-destruct, thinking that he couldn’t die alone because he had been abandoned by Wooshin and his political life was over, and Lee Se-hyung intended to take revenge because Lee Jung-chan was murdered.

It’s true that I feel a kind of camaraderie and pity in that he was killed by Wooshin, but that’s it.

Lee Se-hyung’s unnecessary stories made me feel repulsed because it seemed like he wanted to be re-evaluated or pitied now.

“This.”

Lee Se-hyung took out a feature phone [a basic mobile phone with limited features] from his bag and placed it on the table.

“What is it?”

“I found it in my father’s study while packing to move after being released from prison. I didn’t give it to you because I was trying to gauge you; I couldn’t give it to you because I didn’t know it existed back then.”

“I asked what it is.”

“It’s a phone my father used to use during his lifetime. The name on it is someone else’s. He used it when contacting people like Wooshin’s Go Sang-jun and Iljung Daily’s Yoon Young-kwan.”

As I was about to pick up the phone, Lee Se-hyung covered the phone with his palm before that.

“The organ trafficking case, will it really blow up?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“Because if it really blows up, it seems like Go Sang-jun will really be finished. I can’t give you this phone unless Go Sang-jun is really finished. From your perspective, you’d think that my father is already dead, so it won’t change anything even if more of his wrongdoings are revealed. You’d think that he’s already a corrupt politician, so what’s the big deal if a few more things are revealed. But I’m not. I’m willing to smear my already deceased father’s face because I want to take down Go Sang-jun. I think my father can rest a little easier only if I see Go Sang-jun get screwed over.”

[Truth]

Lee Se-hyung’s voice, emphasizing each word, was already trembling.

His eyes were red, and a few tears welled up.

It certainly seems like he’s been grinding his teeth while living in prison.

“Are there any other intentions?”

“No. I just want to see Go Sang-jun get screwed over. But if I fail after making this decision and handing over the phone… I don’t think I can tolerate that.”

[Truth]

Considering his history of staging a national fraud, I wondered if he was putting on a show with his acting skills, but seeing that it continues to be a truth judgment, there’s no room for doubt.

“I won’t fail. Because I’m doing this risking my life too.”

When I answered, Lee Se-hyung’s hand, which was holding the phone, flinched.

“And the reason I risked my life is because Go Sang-jun is a person who should disappear from this society. Also, I think former CEO Lee Jung-chan was also a person who should disappear from this society. If there are any hidden flaws that haven’t been revealed to the public yet, they should be revealed so that he can be properly evaluated.”

“Your personality is messed up too. How can you say that right now?”

Lee Se-hyung let out a hollow laugh as if he was dumbfounded.

“But the word ‘disappear’ doesn’t mean that kind of death. He should have received the punishment prescribed by law. I sincerely feel sorry for his death in that way by Go Sang-jun.”

“……”

“You said it yourself, Lee Se-hyung. That you’re giving it knowing that you’re smearing former CEO Lee Jung-chan’s face. I will somehow isolate Go Sang-jun from this society. But that method may not be as satisfying as Lee Se-hyung thinks. Because I’m not trying to kill or torture Go Sang-jun.”

“……I know.”

“Is it still okay even so? I’m not taking revenge on behalf of Lee Se-hyung. If you’re expecting that, I won’t accept this. The result may not be as satisfactory as you thought, considering you’re willing to smear former CEO Lee Jung-chan’s face.”

Lee Se-hyung hesitated for a moment.

But the hesitation wasn’t long.

“It doesn’t matter. But you can at least promise one thing. A promise to do your best so that Go Sang-jun can be punished as much as he committed.”

“Of course, I will.”

“Then that’s enough.”

Lee Se-hyung said, pushing the phone towards me.

And he jumped up.

“I’ll be going now.”

He grabbed his bag as if snatching it and left the office.

I folded my arms and stared blankly at the phone on the table.

“But, Lawyer.”

At that time, Tae-shik, who had been standing silently, suddenly opened his mouth.

“What.”

“I don’t know what’s inside, but it’s like a gold mine. Why did you keep scaring Lee Se-hyung in case he chickened out?”

Was I scaring him? Is that how it came across?

I said that because it would be troublesome if Lee Se-hyung had strange expectations of me.

I also have personal feelings towards Go Sang-jun.

I think it’s too much to only punish him as much as the law prescribes.

I also think that our country’s sentencing standards need to be changed.

Nevertheless, I can’t create the perception that villains should be punished beyond what is prescribed by law, can I?

“It’ll be troublesome if Lee Se-hyung doesn’t give you that phone after hearing what you said, Lawyer.”

“Even if Lee Se-hyung doesn’t give it, we found out that there’s such evidence. It doesn’t matter because we can get it by searching and seizing it.”

I answered briefly, picked up the phone, and stood up.

Then Tae-shik stared at me blankly.

“What are you doing? Let’s go. We have to gather people and open it together.”

As I went out of the office and fiddled with the security device, Tae-shik muttered and headed to the elevator.

“……When you look at it, he’s the biggest thug.”

Do you think I can’t hear you?

Considering that, your voice was a bit loud; I hope it’s just my imagination.