You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 68

“Should we just start digging into the principal from today?”

Taeshik asked with a determined look on his face.

He even cracked his knuckles to create a menacing atmosphere.

“Don’t dig into him, just follow him.”

“Yes, we just need to catch him in the act of leaking the exam papers, right?”

When I nodded once, Taeshik chuckled and said,

“Just leave it to me.”

“It would be best to secure a video if possible.”

“A video?”

“He’ll probably go to school in the early morning hours when all the faculty members have left to leak the exam papers. Since no one will be at school, you need to be careful. It’s easy to get caught by the principal.”

Taeshik leaned back deeply into the sofa for a moment and groaned.

He seemed to be picturing the situation in his head.

After thinking for a while, Taeshik straightened his back and asked with a serious face.

“Ah, but I’m worried… The angle has to be right. To film it, we’d have to shoot from across the window, or hide in the faculty office beforehand. I’m not sure if the timing will work out. Going in advance seems difficult no matter how I think about it. Should we have Sangil take his motorcycle and send him to school in advance if the principal moves towards Jangmyeong High in his car?”

I chuckled at those words.

I never thought I’d hear those words from the great Jang Taeshik.

Certainly, in my previous life, it was two years later that I started working with Taeshik.

He hadn’t built up that know-how yet, it seemed.

Before, he understood everything with just a hint.

Instead of answering, I headed to my desk and gestured for him to come over.

As I sat in front of the computer, Taeshik approached me with a puzzled look.

I played a video that I had saved in a corner of the desktop.

It was a news report I had seen a few days ago, and I had saved it separately because I thought it would be useful for this case.

[This is one of the tools secured from a gang of burglars caught red-handed around the end of October. On the surface, it looks like a thin wire, but if you look closely at the cross-section, there is a small lens attached. It’s a camera. The gang of burglars stated that they insert this camera through the milk slot installed in the front door, check the inside of the house, and start the crime when they confirm it is empty.]

Around 2008, it was a camera commonly used by burglars for their crimes.

They often called it a ‘snake cam’.

It is a state-of-the-art device that can be pushed into the milk slot in front of the door, controlled from behind to adjust the camera lens to the desired position, and even record video.

Burglary using milk slots has been a long-standing method, but this camera has evolved more and more each year.

That’s why it has become as thin as a wire, and invisible in dark places, as it is now.

It seemed that this much effort was nothing to them in order to commit a crime.

“Get this. It will be easier to find if you look it up as a snake cam.”

“Wow, you’re really a prosecutor, aren’t you? You even know the detailed name. That’s awesome.”

“If you need product photos, I’ll send you the video by email.”

At my words, Taeshik shook his head and replied.

“I can find it if I know the name.”

To Taeshik, who was acting like he couldn’t even do that, I didn’t give any further explanation.

Now that I’ve left it to him, the principal leaking the exam papers will arrive in front of me soon.

And then, the following weekend.

In the early morning of Friday, ten days before the final exam date posted on the Jangmyeong High School website, a text message arrived from Sangil.

Coincidentally, Kang and I were having a late-night snack at a pork back-bone stew restaurant near the office.

[Principal suddenly took a taxi and left. The direction he’s going seems to be Jangmyeong High dddd]

“Lawyer!”

Kang Minjae must have received the same text message, as he held up his phone in front of me.

He looked quite nervous, but seeing that he had emptied two bottles of soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] and his face was bright red, I was worried that he would be twice as over the top as usual.

“That bastard is finally going to commit the crime.”

I had roughly expected that the crime date would be from tonight until this weekend.

I thought that Hyukmin would not be the only one benefiting from the exam paper leak.

The grades of all the students Kim Hakseong was in charge of had improved dramatically.

Leaking exam papers is such a sensitive issue that he wouldn’t have made multiple accomplices, but it would have been a waste to leave it at that.

Since he was doing high-priced group tutoring, he must have felt pressured to raise their grades.

It was highly likely that he provided some of the questions on the leaked exam paper, with only the numbers changed, as expected questions to students other than the one he had marked as number one.

And in order to do that, he needs time to solve the leaked exam paper in advance.

One week before the exam is too late, and two weeks before is a bit early.

Exactly this time.

The point about ten days before the exam is the most stable.

“It has to go well.”

Kang Minjae rubbed the hand holding his phone on his pants.

He seemed to be sweating without realizing it.

[Arrived at Jangmyeong High, the principal just got out. We’re getting off now and following him dddd I don’t think I can text from now on until I secure the video. Turning off the phone]

Soon, another text message arrived from Sangil.

Kang quickly checked the text message and gulped down soju like it was a drink, as if he couldn’t stand it.

“Ah, I’m too nervous to be sober.”

Kang Minjae, who was drunk, swayed and ate the pork back-bone stew.

Even though he had clearly seen Sangil’s text message that he couldn’t contact him until the video was secured, he tapped his silent phone several times and waited for a text message.

“Is my phone broken?”

“It’ll be at least an hour before you hear from him.”

I sighed as I covered the broth he had spilled all over the table with a tissue.

“No, seriously, are you a robot? Aren’t you nervous?”

“I am.”

If this works, we can destroy Hyukmin’s kingdom and return Jincheol to his original place, so how could I not be nervous?

Leaking exam papers is a major crime, and from the perspective of a lawyer who has to realize justice, it is a fault that must be uncovered.

However, it is only a secondary issue for us.

Our primary goal is to have Lee Hyukmin, who committed school violence against Park Jincheol, punished.

“Ugh. I’m tired of asking this question every time.”

Kang Minjae repeatedly opened and closed the flip of his phone, constantly going in and out of the text message inbox.

“Ahhh! I’m going crazy! It’ll be okay, right?”

“Of course, unless there’s a big mistake.”

* * *

Cold weather always came when the college entrance exam began.

Since the 2009 college entrance exam, which was held last month, the biting cold has continued until now, at the beginning of December.

Nearby beauty salons and restaurants were holding events to give discounts if you brought your college entrance exam ticket, and the news was still covering the college entrance exam as a main topic, even though a month had passed since the exam ended.

However, you can’t let your guard down just because the college entrance exam is over.

Only high school seniors can enjoy the freedom after the college entrance exam.

First and second graders invariably take their final exams in early December.

And today is just three days after the end of the Jangmyeong High School final exams.

The Jangmyeong High School students, who were happy and looking forward to the approaching winter vacation, were bewildered by the unexpected news.

“Did you hear? Exam paper leak?”

And that news was invariably delivered to the 2nd grade, 5th class classroom as well.

“Exam paper leak? I haven’t heard. Which exam paper was leaked? The college entrance exam?”

“No, you idiot. Not the college entrance exam, but our school. There’s a fuss about our school’s final exam paper being leaked.”

“Our school’s final? Really? Who leaked it?”

“It hasn’t been revealed, but someone must have reported it to the Office of Education. There’s a video of the leaking scene uploaded on the internet. It’s so creepy.”

“A video? Crazy, is it real?”

The story that started with the conversation between two students quickly caught the attention of the class.

“What’s going on? Leak?”

“Ah, haven’t you heard? There’s a fuss right now that our school’s exam paper was leaked.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Ah, I saw it too. I saw it while secretly using my computer this morning, and it’s the number one real-time search term right now.”

As the classmates gathered one by one, more and more children began to appear.

“Someone uploaded a video on the internet with the title ‘Exam Paper Leak Site’, and a attendance book with ‘Jangmyeong High School’ written on it was filmed in the video. So there’s a fuss about the Jangmyeong High School exam paper leak. The quality is a bit poor, but ‘Jangmyeong High School’ is very clear. The face of the culprit was blurred out.”

“Wow, it’s real. What grade? Is it our grade?”

“I don’t know, that’s it. But if it’s revealed, will we have to retake the exam?”

“Probably, wouldn’t we?”

“Ah, shit, I guessed three right on the Korean language exam this time. I was happy that it was a fluke, but I shouldn’t have been happy.”

In an instant, the students’ topic turned to the exam paper leak.

The originally quiet morning self-study time was filled with the children’s murmurs, and the homeroom teacher, who had already entered the classroom 30 minutes ago to calm the children down, had not yet arrived.

“Class president, why isn’t the homeroom teacher here?”

“I don’t know. I went to the faculty office, but there was a ‘Students Prohibited’ sign on it.”

“Wow, awesome. They must be talking about the exam paper leak right now.”

At one student’s words, all the children agreed and added a word each.

“But the one who leaked the exam paper, it must be a teacher, right?”

“Of course, it must be a teacher.”

“Then who did the teacher leak it to?”

“I don’t know that. He must have sold it to a student or a cram school.”

“Wow, shit, that sucks. I studied hard, but someone studied so easily with the leaked exam paper and did well on the exam?”

“I know. We have to retake the exam even if it’s unfair. It’s so creepy.”

At that time, a student entered with the sound of the noisy classroom back door opening.

“Oh, Hyukmin! You’re late, you’re lucky. The homeroom teacher hasn’t arrived yet.”

As the student waved his hand and greeted him, Hyukmin smiled faintly and said.

“Ah, really? That’s a relief.”

Hyukmin, who was lucky enough not to be caught even though he was about to miss the perfect attendance award for his first tardiness, still looked strangely bad.

With a stiff expression, Hyukmin unpacked his bag, sat down, and plugged earphones into both ears.

Then, he turned on his MP3 and found and played the loudest music.

“Wow, that bastard who did well on the exam with the leaked exam paper is really living an easy life.”

“He’s a complete jerk. If he gets caught, he’ll be expelled, right?”

“Of course. I hope he gets expelled and his life is ruined.”

He pretended not to know the voices of his classmates coming in between the loud music.