You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 61

“Still no word from the boss?”

Kang Min-jae approached my desk, asking.

Despite several days having passed since I asked him to find out about the student who transferred schools because of Hyuk-min, he had no news.

With so little information, it wouldn’t be easy to find out, even for Tae-shik.

I even regretted that it was 2008.

If it were 2018, I could easily find out using various social media and messengers.

“It’ll take some time.”

“What about the homeroom teacher? When are they coming to drop off the handouts?”

Since taking charge of this case, Kang Min-jae had been meticulously checking the schedule, almost excessively so.

He had always been enthusiastic about cases, but this was an unfamiliar sight.

The reason he was showing this behavior even in a small-scale case was likely because his past and Jin-cheol’s present were connected.

“It looks like it’ll be a few more days.”

“Yeah, well… From what Jin-cheol’s mother said, they haven’t even been contacted about the investigation being over yet. Ah, I hope it’s soon. I’m getting impatient. We need to resolve Jin-cheol’s case quickly……”

Kang Min-jae fiddled with the stationery on my desk for no reason.

Then, very distractedly, he picked up his desk calendar and started counting the dates.

The calendar was entirely marked with when the accident happened to Jin-cheol, when Jin-cheol testified to us, and when I met with the principal and homeroom teacher.

“It’s only been three days.”

“I know. I know, but… I should call the boss again.”

“Kang, Attorney.”

I could read the anxiety in Kang Min-jae’s eyes as he turned to me.

I couldn’t tell how many days Kang Attorney had been like this.

He had been very excited since that day, and he kept pushing Tae-shik like someone who couldn’t wait.

I should have completely excluded Kang Min-jae when he gave off the vibe that he didn’t want to take on this case.

Of course, it is true that Kang Min-jae contributed greatly to this case.

He succeeded in persuading Jin-cheol, even revealing his past.

That was fortunate for Jin-cheol and for us who would defend Jin-cheol, but it didn’t seem to be the case for Kang Min-jae.

He was too immersed in the case.

“Kang, Attorney. Want to have a smoke?”

When I went out to the veranda, Kang Min-jae followed.

As soon as I put a cigarette in my mouth, he lit it for me and then lit his own.

Silence continued until we had smoked about halfway, and I was the one who broke it.

“Kang, Attorney.”

“Yes.”

“Get out of this case.”

At my words, Kang Min-jae’s eyes widened in surprise.

I could read the embarrassment on his face.

He thought for a moment, then gave an awkward smile and asked me back.

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. It would be better to get out of the case.”

“Why? Am I doing something wrong? Ah… If you’re annoyed that I was just asking about the schedule,”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Then why……”

I put out my cigarette and sighed briefly.

I leaned against the fence and looked straight at Kang Min-jae.

“It’s good to be enthusiastic about the case, but we are third parties. We are people who have to do what we can because we are third parties.”

“……”

“But Kang Attorney doesn’t seem like a third party.”

“Attorney, that’s……”

“Being able to understand the client’s feelings well is definitely an advantage. But right now, Kang Attorney is too immersed.”

“……”

“I know very well that the client’s situation is similar to Kang Attorney’s painful past. But on the other hand, it’s a completely different case. And we are people who have to be rational until the end.”

“Attorney, I know that too. It’s not that I’ve lost my reason, but……”

Kang Min-jae said in a somewhat rebellious tone, as if he found it difficult to accept.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then why do I see an excited Kang Attorney in my eyes?”

Kang Min-jae shrugged his shoulders.

Except for pro bono cases, this was only the third case he had taken on, but I had never seen him look anxious.

We had met victims of inhumane crimes and experienced the tyranny of large corporations.

But Kang Min-jae always showed flexibility and his unique relaxed demeanor.

He had never failed to control his emotions like this time.

And that was not good for Kang Min-jae either.

I don’t want Kang Min-jae to lose his original pace because of this.

“……I was short-sighted.”

After a long time, Kang Min-jae said.

“You’re right, Attorney. I think I was too over-involved. I won’t do that again in the future.”

“Is that something Kang Attorney can control as you please? I don’t think that’s a flaw. Anyone can have trauma, and there are bound to be cases you want to avoid. For Kang Attorney, that’s school violence cases.”

Perhaps I was wrong in my judgment.

Even if I didn’t know that Kang Min-jae was a victim of school violence, I noticed that Kang Min-jae was avoiding this case.

If so, I should have properly asked the reason.

Even if Kang Min-jae grumbled that he didn’t like it, he always tried to take on the cases I took on with me.

“No. I want to help Jin-cheol. If you’re worried that I’ll be emotional, if you think I won’t be able to control it, I’d rather avoid contact with the client.”

Kang Min-jae said with a very serious face.

“Kang, Attorney. It’s not that I don’t think Kang Attorney can control it.”

“I know. You’re pointing out something I didn’t think of. And, aren’t you worried about me?”

Kang Min-jae grinned, revealing his white teeth.

I was dumbfounded.

“Think whatever you want.”

I turned my back on him and left the veranda.

Then, I heard Kang Attorney’s excited voice from behind.

“Yes, then I’ll just think that you’re worried about me, Attorney.”

“……”

“And I’ll find my original pace well. I’m sorry for causing you concern!”

“I wasn’t worried.”

“Ah, you just told me to think whatever I want!”

Ah, I should have just left Kang Min-jae to be over-involved or not.

If a problem arose, I should have just notified him to get out of the case.

“The attorney is even worried about me. How about a drink to commemorate today!”

I was filled with regret.

After that, Kang Min-jae hummed and organized the precedents.

When I told him to leave because it was noisy, he took his files and went out to the veranda, where he sang pop songs.

Just when I was thinking that there would be no more gains today, so I should tell him to leave work early.

“Attorney, good afternoon!”

Another noisy guy came in.

Tae-shik whistled and sat on the sofa.

“Where’s the attorney’s sidekick?”

And when he didn’t see Kang Attorney, he started looking around the office.

“Oh, Boss!”

Kang Min-jae, who had been kicked out to the veranda, opened the door and waved.

“Did you find out anything?”

Kang Min-jae roughly put the documents on the desk and handed him a cup filled with a drink.

Tae-shik crunched on the aloe and put a small note on the desk.

“What’s this?”

“First, this is what Lee Hyuk-min found out about that bastard. Please wait a little longer for the transferred kid. Well, it’s hard to find out because there’s not much information.”

I quickly snatched the note before Kang Min-jae picked it up.

“Lee Hyuk-min’s dad’s job, Gyoyukkam……. Is this really the superintendent of education?”

I asked as I read what was written on the note.

“I think so? Ah, it wasn’t Gyoyukkam, it was the superintendent of education? I felt like something was wrong. I thought it was funny that it was called ‘kkam.’ Hehe.”

Tae-shik chose to sublimate his ignorance with laughter rather than reflect on it.

I shook my head and lowered my gaze.

“The academy he attends is Sangjin Comprehensive Academy.”

“Yes. And the entire Lee Hyuk-min group attends that academy.”

“Were the kids in that group good at studying too?”

Kang Min-jae, who had been bending over and reading the note behind me, answered coolly.

“Yes. According to his mother, the entire group is in the top of the school. At least in the top 30.”

“Lee Hyuk-min said he was number one in the school.”

“Yes. He’s never missed it. Since the first grade.”

Tae-shik answered.

I handed the note to Kang Min-jae, who kept peeking, and crossed my arms.

“To be number one in this area, you have to study really hard.”

Kang Min-jae muttered.

“What else is unusual?”

Tae-shik, who had been humming, shouted, “Ah!” as if something had come to mind.

“After the academy, the kids in that group all flock to Lee Hyuk-min’s house and come out at one in the morning.”

He boasted that Sang-gil had been monitoring in front of Lee Hyuk-min’s house until 1 a.m. that day.

“Come out after playing?”

“Yes. They ask the aunt to make them tteokbokki [spicy rice cakes, a popular Korean snack] or something. It seems like there’s a live-in housekeeper at home too.”

“That’s all?”

“Ah, and here. If you look here, it seems like the Sangjin Academy instructor is related to Lee Hyuk-min.”

Tae-shik handed me a pamphlet.

It seemed to be a curriculum table distributed by Sangjin Academy.

Seeing that there was an instructor with a large face printed on it, it seemed that this person was the academy’s star instructor.

“That person. They say that person went into the house an hour after the kids went in?”

At Tae-shik’s words, Kang Min-jae crossed his arms as if he was suspicious.

“And that instructor never came out again?”

“No? They said he came out before the kids left.”

Kang Min-jae laughed at those words.

“Ah, what is it? Then it’s not family, it’s group tutoring. With that academy instructor. There were a lot of those when I was a student. Secretly.”

“How does Kang Attorney know that?”

When Tae-shik asked, Kang Attorney dusted off his shoulders as if he was very proud and answered.

“I’m from this area too.”

“Wow, Kang Attorney is rich.”

“But, if it’s Sangjin Academy’s star instructor, the tutoring fee must be no joke. Looking at it, the subject is math, so the tutoring fee could really be thousands of dollars a month.”

In the first place, the name of the instructor plastered on the pamphlet was Kim Hak-seong.

Lee Hyuk-min’s surname was different, and if he came out of the house before the children left, it was more reasonable to see that he went to tutor rather than being family, as Kang Attorney said.

“Hmm, should we dig into that instructor too?”

“How many times has that instructor been to Lee Hyuk-min’s house in the past three days?”

“Twice.”

“Every time, Lee Hyuk-min’s group goes to that house together?”

At my question, Tae-shik nodded.

It seemed that there was another reason why Lee Hyuk-min, who didn’t seem to study that hard except for attending the academy, had good grades.

“Should we dig into that instructor too?”

At Tae-shik’s question, I nodded heavily.

“Dig into him separately. Have Sang-gil keep digging into Lee Hyuk-min, and have another employee dig into him. Lee Hyuk-min is the most important, and it would be good if something comes out about that instructor, but it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t.”

“Yes.”

I handed the note I received from him to Kang Attorney and had him organize it well.

“Also. Anything else. What Lee Hyuk-min does after school, things like that.”

“Well, it seems like they gather in groups and smoke. Ah, I also saw them stealing alcohol from the supermarket once. For now, we need to watch them for a few more days to see what Lee Hyuk-min’s group is like.”

I still regret that there is no social media in 2008.

It is certainly important to follow them and check now, but if there was social media, I would be able to know even more about their past 모습 [aspects/appearances]…….

“Ah, that’s right.”

I got up from my seat.

Kang Min-jae and Tae-shik looked at me, but I ignored them and sat in front of the desk.

Although the term social media did not appear in 2008, there was something that played the same role.

“Why are you going into Cyworld? Do you have a Cyworld account, Attorney? Then will you be my ‘ilchon’ [a term for ‘friend’ or ‘connection’ on Cyworld, a popular Korean social media platform]?”

Tae-shik, who came to my side like a shot, asked.

“I don’t have an ID.”

I entered Lee Hyuk-min’s name into Cyworld.

It was so long ago that I couldn’t even remember it.

Around this time, I used to go into Cyworld when investigating, but…….

If you search through the ‘ilchon’ comments, Cyworld titles, and even the introductions, you can find meaningful clues.

“Did you bring Lee Hyuk-min’s picture?”

“Ah, yes.”

Tae-shik took out a few pictures from his arms and put them down.

There were pictures of Lee Hyuk-min’s group smoking in the alley and going into Sangjin Academy.

“Which one is Lee Hyuk-min in this?”

“This one. The one with the asymmetrical haircut. Wow, it’s popular these days. Asymmetrical. The little punk knows what’s trendy. Bad guy.”

I compared the picture that Tae-shik pointed out with the Cyworlds of numerous Lee Hyuk-mins, and I was finally able to find Lee Hyuk-min’s Cyworld.

There were quite a few pictures of him with his friends in the photo album.

“Is this Lee Hyuk-min’s Cyworld? Kids like this usually upload smoking selfies on their Cyworlds, but he doesn’t have any of that.”

There was no way that Lee Hyuk-min, who was number one in the school and even the vice president of the student body, would do such a foolish thing.

Since the evaluation of Lee Hyuk-min is good even among parents, he will be thoroughly managing his image.

This was why I felt that Hyuk-min was uncharacteristically shrewd for a student.

“From here on, it’s pictures from the first grade.”

Kang Min-jae said.

Certainly, the scenery of the classroom had changed.

After flipping through it for a while, I suddenly stopped the mouse.

[Lee Hyuk-min: Took a picture with the student teacher~ㅋ [Korean internet slang for laughter, similar to ‘lol’] I miss you, Teacher

Posted: 2007-7-21

Kim Dae-seong: ㅋㅋ The picture came out well

ㄴLee Hyuk-min: I left a comment on the teacher’s ‘ilchon’ ㅎ [another form of Korean internet slang for laughter]]

“Student teacher……”

“Why the student teacher?”

I stopped at that page and looked at Kang Min-jae.

“Don’t university student teaching internships usually come out in May and last for about a month?”

“Uh……. Maybe?”

“If it was a student teacher in May of last year, they would have been interning when the poetry contest was held.”

At my words, Kang Min-jae’s eyes widened.

“Yes! Then I know who that transferred student is! Ah, why didn’t I think of Cyworld?”

“Kim Dae-seong seems to be that student teacher, so I should try to contact him.”

Kang Min-jae nodded wildly.

When I clicked on the name Kim Dae-seong, the send message button was soon activated.

Then, Tae-shik asked.

“But Attorney, you said you don’t have a Cyworld ID? How are you going to send a message?”

“……”

At Tae-shik’s words, Kang Min-jae quietly took the mouse and keyboard from me.

“I’ll send a message to Kim Dae-seong. Ah, and Boss. Why don’t you ask me to be your ‘ilchon’? I’m hurt.”