You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 606

You’ve Been Defended

“Yoon Se-yeon! What are you doing wandering around there?”

Yoon Se-yeon turned around at the sound of someone calling her.

She had only gone to the restroom for a moment, but she was nearly lost in the crowd. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“Seriously, if there aren’t enough seats, people should just step back. Why do they keep standing between the desks, blocking everyone’s way?”

As Yoon Se-yeon grumbled and sat down, the reporter next to her chuckled and replied,

“It’s an unprecedented situation. What can you do if there aren’t enough seats?”

“Have we only had one or two unprecedented situations in this country? Why is everyone acting like this, like amateurs?”

“This size is rare, though.”

“That’s true.”

Yoon Se-yeon nodded and placed her laptop bag on the desk.

The reporter next to her kept glancing at Yoon Se-yeon, as if he had something to say.

Yoon Se-yeon clicked her tongue and turned to him.

“What is it? Just say what you want to say.”

“Well, weren’t you close to Senior Choi in the past, Yoon?”

He lowered his voice as he asked.

Although she guessed what he was getting at, she pretended not to know and asked back,

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Why? You know why.”

“So, you don’t have any news from Senior Choi?”

“Right. Iljung Ilbo [a fictional newspaper] can’t cover that much anyway. But my situation is a bit different. Who doesn’t know that Senior Choi has all the scoops? There’s even talk that Senior Choi knows the whole story but is releasing it cautiously. Who’s a better source than Senior Choi?”

Yoon Se-yeon sighed.

Neither Choi Jong-hyun nor Cha Joo-han were the type to tell everything as it is.

Choi Jong-hyun wasn’t usually like this, but it seems he only learned the bad things from Cha Joo-han.

Still, Yoon Se-yeon had been a great help in the case, so it was true that she knew more than others.

If she hadn’t been affiliated with Iljung Ilbo, she would have pestered Choi Jong-hyun to write a few exclusive articles, but it was a shame she couldn’t.

“How can I leak what Senior Choi risked his life to cover? That’s against professional ethics. And you get a salary, but Senior Choi isn’t a salaried worker. He has to make as much as he can now, or he’ll end up on the streets.”

“He’ll be able to live off what he earned this time for years. And Jo Bong-joon, who he’s broadcasting with, is also rich.”

“Jo Bong-joon isn’t going to support Senior Choi. Senior Choi has to find his own way to make a living.”

“Ah, who’s asking you to tell me something big? Just share something small, something insignificant. What’s it matter if we write something that Iljung Ilbo can’t? I’ll harshly criticize them for you.”

“Senior, you’ve become quite sharp since you transferred to Dogyeong Ilbo [another fictional newspaper], haven’t you?”

*But if I can’t get the Wooshin scoop, no one can.*

Yoon Se-yeon answered firmly.

“I really don’t know anything. Senior Choi has some annoying aspects, you know. You know, Senior, he only sucks information from me, and when I try to suck from him, he doesn’t let me.”

*Still, when I talked to him on the phone a while ago, he did say he wanted to pass on information that was too trivial to cover on the broadcast to a reliable reporter.*

Yoon Se-yeon looked at the senior reporter with a subtle gaze.

*Come to think of it, I think that senior’s daughter is preparing for art middle school.*

*He must be struggling with the tuition fees.*

“I don’t know. Let’s talk later. There are too many people here.”

Even though they lowered their voices and spoke in whispers, she could feel the ears of the surrounding reporters turning towards them.

It was already suffocating with so many people, and the aisles were packed. If she misspoke here, who knows what rumors might spread.

“Ugh, I don’t know what those Wooshin guys are doing. Didn’t they expect it to be this crowded? They should have held it in a bigger place, or at least managed the traffic better. I’m getting a headache from the lack of oxygen.”

Yoon Se-yeon grumbled and opened the laptop she bought with Cha Joo-han’s card.

After doing some preparation and exchanging necessary contacts, the scheduled time arrived.

The crowded venue seemed to have been somewhat organized in the meantime.

The board members of the welfare foundation entered in a group through the door.

They all had serious faces.

The reporters were glaring at them, ready to write down anything they said.

The people standing in front of the podium briefly exchanged glances, then one of them approached the microphone.

“…We have arranged this meeting to address the allegations surrounding our Wooshin Welfare Foundation. Chairman So Myung-woo of the Wooshin Welfare Foundation will speak.”

So Myung-woo stood in front of the microphone.

Since the issue involved not only the hospital but also the House of Angels, it seemed they had decided that the foundation’s chairman should step forward rather than the hospital director.

A few years ago, Go Sang-joon was also serving as the foundation’s chairman. If that were the case, would Go Sang-joon be in that position?

Yoon Se-yeon clicked her tongue in disappointment.

*Well, if Go Sang-joon were the chairman, he would have left it to the hospital director.*

“There has been an announcement from the police that some medical staff at Seoul Wooshin Hospital, under our Wooshin Welfare Foundation, and officials from the House of Angels have been involved in illegal organ trafficking. We deeply apologize to the victims who have experienced great threats to their safety and suffered emotional distress due to the inadequate management of our Wooshin Welfare Foundation’s employees. We also sincerely apologize for disappointing the public.”

With the sound of flashes, So Myung-woo began to read the script.

She felt like she knew what they were going to say without listening to the end.

The message was clear in the phrase ‘due to the inadequate management of employees.’

“Our Wooshin Welfare Foundation has dismissed all suspects involved in the case. We will also actively cooperate with the police investigation. We will conduct our own rigorous investigation to eradicate the root of the problem so that no internal members of the Wooshin Welfare Foundation will ever conspire to commit such crimes again. We will overhaul the management system.”

So Myung-woo continued, turning the script.

“However, we express our deep regret regarding the speculation and distorted reports that the Wooshin Welfare Foundation was involved in organ trafficking at the foundation level. We clearly state that the organ trafficking case is a case in which the suspects personally used their positions at the hospital to recruit accomplices. The Wooshin Welfare Foundation has been working to promote public health and contribute to society since its establishment. Also…”

Although they didn’t spell it out in detail, the following is a summary of what followed.

1. We need to keep doing business (especially the Chairman), so stop criticizing us. We’ve spent so much money, so please acknowledge us. We’ll do even greater things like this and that in the future, so let’s just call it even.

2. It’s not our fault, but we’ll compensate the victims. (We’ll slip them some money.)

“…We humbly accept the criticism given to our Wooshin Welfare Foundation and will do our best to restore trust.”

After the statement, the board members stood side by side and bowed their heads.

But that was the end.

There was no Q&A session.

The board members, who had entered with very solemn expressions, left the press conference, leaving only the reporters behind.

“They’re not saying anything about the slush fund.”

“Would they? They didn’t even mention that the land for the illegal medical facility in Miseong [a fictional location] is owned by Go Sang-joon. They’ll talk about it later when it’s handed over to the prosecution.”

It was somewhat expected from the moment they said they would make a statement.

And making such a statement only provides fodder for criticism.

For Wooshin, it was a better choice to just keep their mouths shut in many ways.

That’s what they must have thought.

So they tried their best to bluff and bluff, but the problem only got bigger, so they had no choice but to open their mouths.

“Looking at how the subject is always the Wooshin Welfare Foundation, it seems like they’ve created an escape route.”

“They timed the announcement well. If Go Sang-joon were being investigated, the subject of that statement would have included Go Sang-joon, but Go Sang-joon is only being talked about in the media, and the police haven’t directly named him yet.”

The investigative authorities hadn’t openly said that Go Sang-joon was involved, and he hadn’t even been investigated yet.

From Wooshin’s point of view, it would be embarrassing for the chairman to make an explanation just because people were talking about it.

Besides, once they make a statement, they’ll be clamoring for them to make a statement every time something happens.

So, if they had to make a statement someday, they probably thought it would be better to make it before Go Sang-joon became a suspect.

“But Senior Choi handed over the evidence he revealed on the broadcast to the police. The paper company and the account. But why is there still no news?”

“Didn’t you see the evidence Senior Choi handed over? It’s all overseas documents. They have to verify the authenticity and translate them, and they need specialized personnel, so it seems like it will take a long time.”

The reporter frowned at Yoon Se-yeon’s words.

“I wonder if they’re trying to pass this on to the prosecution. They’re transferring the medical staff caught in Miseong to the prosecution. Isn’t the prosecution a breeding ground for Wooshin scholars? If the whole case is handed over, Go Sang-joon will be investigated by the prosecution first, but they might drop the organ trafficking charges and just wrap it up with the creation of a slush fund.”

If she didn’t know anything, Yoon Se-yeon would have agreed with the reporter’s words.

The reporters don’t think that Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon have revealed all the information they have.

But they don’t know that the information they’re holding onto is more valuable.

Well, it’s understandable that they would think it doesn’t make sense to hold onto more information without releasing it.

If another media outlet smells something in the meantime, they might lose the scoop, so they would generally want to publish an article as soon as possible if there are no restrictions.

The reporters don’t know that Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon’s goal isn’t to ‘break something huge first,’ but to ‘break the case in the most effective way and hand it over to the investigative authorities.’

“I guess so.”

Yoon Se-yeon shrugged her shoulders, pretending not to know anything.

* * *

“It’s troublesome that those Wooshin guys keep helping the broadcast.”

Jo Bong-joon chuckled as he watched the Wooshin Welfare Foundation’s statement video.

The police had revealed that there was a mastermind behind it, called NP and BB1, but they hadn’t revealed who NP and BB1 were.

So people were just waiting for NP and BB1 to be revealed.

But like all waiting, even if it starts with excitement, it becomes boring over time.

In particular, the time it takes for excitement to turn into boredom for the public is very short.

Therefore, we were planning to start the broadcast as soon as the police briefing came out.

But suddenly, Wooshin said they were going to make a statement.

So we decided to wait.

Because proving that Wooshin lied is more fun for viewers than unilaterally telling the truth.

Oh, it’s more fun for us too.

“Let’s start the broadcast early today. I try not to do it for too long, but for some reason, it always takes longer than expected. If we start early, we’ll finish early.”

*You don’t know why?*

*Have you never thought that it takes so long because you’re joking around with viewers or making fun of people who are talking nonsense?*

“What time does Daebak House [a fictional restaurant] close?”

“Why Daebak House all of a sudden?”

“I’m going to have some grilled small intestines at Daebak House for the first time in a while today. I’m trying to time it so I can go to Daebak House after it’s over.”

“You have to order around 9:30 to eat and leave comfortably.”

“Then let’s do it at 6.”

In the past, I used to analyze commuting times and consider various conditions to start at the time that would attract the most people.

Now that we’re getting over 30,000 viewers, it seems like we’re getting complacent.

“I posted the announcement.”

At Choi Jong-hyun’s words, I checked the announcement on my phone.

[Broadcasting today at 6 PM.

Topic: Who are NP and BB1?

It’ll be fun, right?]

It seems like we’re definitely getting complacent.