You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 623

“The day before Ko Yun-soo was arrested was also the day before Kim Mi-ja’s academic forgery was revealed, right?”

─ Yes, that’s right. I got a call from my mom on the messenger that day. But when I answered, it wasn’t my mom, but a strange man. I instinctively thought it was someone from Secretary Woo Shin’s office. Could you play the video I sent you?

Kim Jung-woo immediately brought up the video on the screen and pressed the play button.

It was a computer screen with a messenger app, mainly used for international calls, popped up.

The sender was listed as ‘Mom.’

[─…Who is this?

─I think Kim Mi-ja knows best who I am. I want to meet you. I heard you’re in the States, where are you?

─Why are you using Mom’s account… What did you do to my mom? Don’t tell me you touched my family?

─I want to talk to you in person. I’ll come see you. Where are you?

─Did you touch them!]

While the video was playing, Kim Mi-ja opened her mouth.

─At that time, I urgently contacted my brother. I was trying to figure out if my mom was really in danger. Fortunately, my brother checked right away and confirmed that my mom was safe and sound.

To be exact, I got the call first, not her brother.

As soon as I received the message from her, I immediately contacted the staff guarding her family.

The staff confirmed that her family was safe and sound and conveyed that fact to Kim Mi-ja.

After Kim Mi-ja’s additional explanation, the video was played again.

[─Mom, I just confirmed that both Mom and Dad are safe. I have no intention of meeting you. If you have anything to say, say it now. I’m holding back from hanging up.

─Kim Mi-ja, I’m not contacting you to threaten you. I’m trying to let you know that there are other options.

─What do you mean?

─If you keep going, you’ll get hurt too. You know that best.

─I’m already prepared for that. Tell Go Sang-jun to prepare himself, too.

─Kim Mi-ja, when you first exposed it, you thought your life would end here, right?

─…….

─If you stop here, your life won’t end. We won’t make an issue of it. The fact that you forged your academic record won’t be revealed. We’ll take measures to ensure that your family can live comfortably for the rest of their lives. So, stop it.

─What do you mean?

─It’s as I said. I’m saying we won’t touch you. You’re scared now, aren’t you? Aren’t you worried about when it will explode?

The man spoke very slowly in a cold voice.

It seemed that he intentionally slowed down his speech so that Kim Mi-ja, who was in an excited state, could take in every word he said.

Perhaps it was because of the situation, but it even felt eerie.

Perhaps Woo Shin thought that Kim Mi-ja would accept these conditions.

And that thought wasn’t wrong.

Because Kim Mi-ja, whom they had been watching, would have definitely done so.

[─Kim Mi-ja, you haven’t forgotten, have you? You’re an accomplice too.

─So?

─If you stop here, nothing will happen. Didn’t you achieve what you wanted? There’s no need to do more.

─Who said I achieved what I wanted? Only the organ trafficking has been revealed so far. The sexual exploitation hasn’t even started yet!

─You prevented things from happening. These things won’t happen again in the future. Isn’t that why you threw away your life? But if you stop here, you don’t have to take responsibility for it, and you can live comfortably. Where else can you find a situation more favorable to you?

─I don’t need it.

─No one will believe you. And you’ll be very unhappy. You should also think about your family, whom you met after 30 years. It’s like driving a stake into their hearts. Will you even be able to hold your head up high? But you’re still going to continue?

─Are you going to make me a crazy bitch? But I’m not scared at all. I’ve endured you guys for 30 years, do you think I can’t endure this? Don’t try any tricks. You can’t stop me. Tell Go Sang-jun and Go Yun-soo that I’ll see them in court.]

The video ended here.

Because Kim Mi-ja immediately disconnected the call.

“So, because Kim Mi-ja rejected Woo Shin’s offer like this, the allegations of academic forgery and all sorts of rumors started to surface from the next day.”

─Yes.

[ApollonBeliever: Wow, that’s scary;

KimSooHanMoo: ㄷㄷㄷ [Korean slang for trembling or being scared]

WantToEatSauries: Academic forgery is wrong, but it seemed to be going too far… The purpose is just to kill Kim Mi-ja;

cownew: Seeing how many people are cursing Kim Mi-ja on today’s broadcast, the purpose has been achievedㅋㅋ [Korean slang for ‘lol’ or ‘haha’]

Vinilu: Can you prove that Woo Shin made the call?ㅋㅋㅋ

IDontBuyFromLiars: How do you know she didn’t fabricate it to make people believe her?ㅋㅋㅋ

WooshinElectronics: If you called with your mother’s account, did you hack it?;;]

─After the call, I asked my brother to check my mom’s phone. It turned out she had downloaded a phishing app. I think that’s how the messenger was hacked. Since they couldn’t find my contact information no matter how hard they looked, they used this method.

Woo Shin’s use of phishing techniques was within the expected range.

If they can’t get Kim Mi-ja’s contact information no matter how hard they try, the method they choose is obvious.

I was also persistently wiretapped by them, and my phone was copied, wasn’t it?

There’s no reason why they wouldn’t do that this time.

Moreover, if they use the phishing app techniques that are rampant these days, parents who are not familiar with smartphones can be easily fooled.

Even if the police investigate, it’s not easy to catch them, so Woo Shin had no reason not to use this method.

That’s why I could have prevented Woo Shin from contacting Kim Mi-ja even if they hacked her.

I could change the messenger account and prevent access to her account from her family’s phones.

They can always contact her with the staff’s phones.

But suddenly, I had this thought.

If Kim Mi-ja agrees, shouldn’t I just let them contact her…?

Even if it’s not legally proven to be Woo Shin, if this recording is released, the buzz alone will be amazing.

As a result, Woo Shin’s shady backroom dealings have become known to people like this.

“We directly accessed Kim Mi-ja’s account to check the records, and the dates and call history are all true.”

Choi Jong-hyun added to Kim Mi-ja’s explanation.

[FuckingCar: So whatㅋ [Korean slang for ‘so what’] You could have bought an actor and fabricated itㅋㅋ

KimJungHyun: What’s the point?

Vinilu: She said she was prepared for everythingㅋㅋㅋ She knew her academic forgery would be exposed, so she might have prepared it in advance before it broke out?]

Choi Jong-hyun chuckled as he read the chat.

“Ha, I really didn’t want to respond, but it’s so ridiculous that I have to laugh. If you’re going to fabricate something, it’s natural to make it safely before the organ trafficking is exposed, you idiot. How would Woo Shin know when to detonate it and postpone it until then?”

[WantToEatSauries: That’s right. If you wanted to fabricate it, you would have done it in advance. How would Woo Shin know when to detonate itㅋㅋㅋ

DrugAddict: Even if that’s real, can you prove that Woo Shin made the call?ㅋㅋ

Chris Park: You have to prove that this call existed before the academic forgery broke out for this evidence to be meaningful. Why would you fabricate it after so much time has passedㅋㅋ

OurMom: Stop shielding. What if Woo Shin didn’t detonate it, so you hurriedly prepared the fabrication thenㅋㅋ

WantToEatSauries: Oh, there are so many stupid bastards

ChoiJongHyun’sWig: What do you gain if this call is recognized as a fabrication? Sexual exploitation is realㅋㅋ]

“I know what you want to say. You mean, since it won’t be legally revealed that Woo Shin did it, don’t even think about doing anything with it.”

Jo Bong-joon waved his hand dismissively.

“Yes, yes. You’re all right. Proof? We can’t prove it. The person who called didn’t even reveal who they were, and they spoke vaguely. They only said things that the other person could understand, things that would sound like nonsense to a third party.”

“So, unless it’s revealed who induced Kim Mi-ja’s mother to install a phishing app and logged in to her mother’s account to make the call, it’s a mystery. But will that be revealed? It won’t be revealed. They would have bypassed it with an overseas IP. So, your beloved Go Sang-jun and Go Yun-soo will have a hard time being punished with this. So, rest assured.”

Choi Jong-hyun sighed heavily as if he was bored.

Occasionally, during meetings, Choi Jong-hyun said that he hoped those guys who were 태클ing [Taegeul-ing: Korean slang for ‘tackling,’ meaning objecting or challenging] in the chat were 알바 [Alba: short for Arubaito, a Korean loanword from German, referring to a part-time job].

He said that they should at least get paid for making such nonsense, and that it was a bit pitiful if they were doing it without getting paid.

Even now, Choi Jong-hyun’s eyes are full of pity as he looks at the chat window.

[Kim Kyungin: But why are you proudly revealing something that you can’t even proveㅋㅋ

Rabbit: Just throwing anything to try to smear Woo Shin’s faceㅋㅋㅋㅋ

GarbageReporterOut: That’s why they’re garbage reporters]

“If you can’t prove it, you can’t even reveal it? Can’t you even talk about actually receiving such a call? You guys are weird. Kim Mi-ja’s family also reported it to the police. If they find the results of the investigation, they’ll take legal action, and if they can’t find it, they can’t.”

They are responding to their words, but Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon don’t seem to be very angry.

Rather, they were teasing them.

“I guess when he goes somewhere and talks about his experiences, he only says things that are proven with evidence.”

“Oh, then life must be very tiring. You can’t even say you bought *bungeoppang* on the way home. The *bungeoppang* man doesn’t give receipts or cash receipts, so how can you prove it? Even if you take it out of your stomach and show it, it’s already digested, so you can’t prove whether it’s a *gukwa-ppang*, *bungeoppang*, or *danpatppang*.” [Bungeoppang: fish-shaped pastry filled with sweet red bean paste; Gukwa-ppang: flower-shaped pastry, also filled with sweet red bean paste; Danpatppang: sweet red bean bread]

[GiveMeMyCardValueCherry: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ [Korean slang for laughter, similar to ‘lol’]

ChoiJongHyun’sWig: The sarcasm isㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ [Korean slang for laughter, similar to ‘lol’]

PaSongSongGyeranTak: Oh, I thought you were broadcasting a bit gently these days, but you’re still aliveㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

“Anyway, Go Sang-jun and Go Yun-soo’s trip to jail is already decided without having to catch them one by one with things like this, so why are you desperately clinging to them like this? Don’t waste your energy on things like this.”

Jo Bong-joon shook his head.

At that time, Kim Mi-ja, who was watching the situation, opened her mouth.

─Those who don’t want to believe it don’t have to believe it. It doesn’t matter if it’s not revealed that Woo Shin did it. I just wanted to let people know that Woo Shin desperately wants to stop the sexual exploitation exposure.

“That’s right. Woo Shin would have thought that if they called Kim Mi-ja, it could be recorded and revealed like this. Even if they are confident that they won’t be punished, it’s still embarrassing. They contacted Kim Mi-ja even though they were willing to take all of that.”

─Yes, that’s right. And they must have been confident that I would accept this offer.

“That’s true. It’s definitely a risky situation, so they must have been really desperate.”

─There’s only one reason why Woo Shin is so desperate. It’s because this doesn’t end with simple sexual exploitation.

[nypd: It doesn’t end with sexual exploitation?

Shim heemin: What else is left

Kim Sung-cheol: I wouldn’t be surprised if Go Sang-jun turned out to be Hitler

Go Sang-jun: At this point, we should just execute him without investigation, regardless of the investigation

Kim Sung-cheol: Oh, the country is being turned upside down in real timeㅋㅋ

WantToEatSauries: Yeah, I was wondering why it wasn’t coming out. They do it to the Japanese, so why wouldn’t they do it to the Koreansㅋㅋ]

As soon as Kim Mi-ja finished speaking, Choi Jong-hyun took out several thick bundles of ledgers from under the desk.

“This is the ledger that Kim Mi-ja sent us. It details the Korean political figures who have frequented the *yojeong*. When they came to the *yojeong*, who they came with, what they like, what they took, and what the atmosphere was like. All of it.” [*Yojeong*: a high-end Korean restaurant that often hosts private parties with female escorts]

This is why the Special Prosecutor Act had to be passed, and why Go Yun-soo had to persuade Kim Mi-ja even at the cost of all kinds of bleeding.