You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 79

You Have Been Defended – Episode 79

Jeong Young-joon looked noticeably agitated.

Kang Min-jae brought him a cup of hot water with a tea bag to calm him down.

“Mr. Jeong Young-joon, please have some warm tea and calm down.”

“What if it really is my father-in-law and mother-in-law? If they’ve planned this, it won’t be easy to find a way to prove it’s them… And if Jin-ah finds out, will she choose me over her parents? They’re still her parents, after all…”

“Mr. Jeong Young-joon, I’m just mentioning one of many possibilities. We can’t conclude it’s your in-laws right now.”

“Ah, no. Listening to you, attorney, there’s no one else with a clear… what do you call it? Motive? It seems right. It really seems right…”

“Then, how about this situation? I understand you’re currently involved in the convenience store business at Yangjin Retail.”

“Convenience store business? Yes, that’s right. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Mr. Jeong Young-joon, you were planning to move from Yangjin F&B to Yangjin Retail.”

“Yes, my wife is supposed to become the president of Yangjin Retail…”

“I heard that the 24/7 convenience store, which came from overseas, has decided to withdraw from Korea. Several companies, including Yangjin Retail, are in a bidding war to acquire the 24/7 convenience store’s Korean business unit.”

“Yes, the bidding competition is fierce because the company that acquires 24/7 will become the number one convenience store market share holder in Korea. That’s why my wife is going to Yangjin Retail, and me too…”

“Yes. In that case, we could consider the possibility that a rival company in the bidding war did this to Mr. Jeong Young-joon, right? After checking the articles, it seems Yangjin Retail was trying to secure the acquisition funds by selling some of its own shares. It seems they were trying to sell up to the limit of their controlling stake… With the stock price falling more and more over time due to that video, they might not be able to meet the expected acquisition amount.”

Jeong Young-joon blinked.

He furrowed his brow and pondered for a long time, holding his forehead as if confused.

I watched him silently until he sorted out his thoughts.

“That’s right. I guess I really am as stupid as my father-in-law and mother-in-law say. I didn’t even think of that…”

“No. The current situation itself is preventing you from thinking straight. That’s why people like us are needed.”

Kang Min-jae added a word to Jeong Young-joon, who looked depressed.

Jeong Young-joon sighed.

“Then is it back to square one? I need to know who did it so I can at least tell Jin-ah that I was framed…”

“The divorce process isn’t as simple as you think. There’s still time, so don’t be too impatient.”

“If I don’t keep thinking that I can’t get a divorce, my head will be filled with that video. After the first few days, I haven’t even looked at the articles or tried to go online, but I’m going crazy because of the countless malicious comments and ridicule I encountered during those first few days. I’m ashamed, and I just want to die. I really can’t do anything. If I don’t at least think that I have to protect my family, really…”

Now that I think about it, the reason he looked so neat yesterday might have been because his younger sibling was with him.

The sibling looked to be in their early to mid-20s at best, and he wouldn’t have wanted to show a broken appearance in front of them.

It was only natural in this situation, but Jeong Young-joon suffered a great deal of mental damage.

“Mr. Jeong Young-joon, if it’s too hard to bear, I recommend visiting a neuropsychiatrist. You’ll need a psychiatric diagnosis later anyway when proving the facts of the damage.”

“Haa… Yes. I will.”

“You may be confused right now because it hasn’t been long since the incident occurred, but you can’t continue to be disorganized. We want to get you the results you want, and to do that, we need your statement.”

“I understand. Really, phew. Thank you so much, attorney.”

“First, we need time to watch the video and understand the situation, so it would be best if you went back today.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Be sure to visit the hospital, and if you hear from Go Jin-ah’s side in the meantime, let us know. Go Jin-ah’s side said they only want to talk through a lawyer, but if you want, we can talk to them.”

“No, not yet… I don’t want to let them know that I’ve hired a lawyer. Then it really feels like I have to file for divorce.”

What he wants most is to reveal that the situation in the video was fabricated before it even goes to trial.

But to put it coldly, that’s not the job of a typical divorce lawyer.

The reason why the lawyers he had met so far had subtly induced him to divorce, saying ‘you can be honest,’ was probably for that reason.

It’s a case that takes too much effort to do what Jeong Young-joon wants.

But if they can persuade Jeong Young-joon to agree to a divorce, they can secure a generous retainer fee with the money they receive from the division of property, right?

“I wish I could talk to my wife at least once and have an open-hearted conversation. Ever since I talked about that video, she hasn’t even tried to have a proper conversation with me. Haa.”

Generally, in this situation, Jeong Young-joon, who is the guilty party, must pay alimony if the case goes to trial.

However, just because the fault lies with Jeong Young-joon does not mean that the property does not have to be divided.

Go Jin-ah’s side said to divorce without any conditions, but they probably know that they will have to divide the property if they sit at the negotiating table in the end.

They don’t really want a divorce where not a penny changes hands.

In the end, what Go Jin-ah is waiting for is for Jeong Young-joon to accept the divorce and negotiate the division of property.

From the beginning, she probably didn’t even think about going to trial.

Go Jin-ah has no intention of maintaining this family at all, so she is putting pressure on Jeong Young-joon to give up quickly by saying that she has hired a lawyer.

However, whether it goes to trial or ends at the negotiation stage, we have a duty to ensure that Jeong Young-joon suffers the least amount of damage.

Above all, it’s even more so because we know that he has never committed adultery.

“Okay, I understand for now. Please go back carefully, and if you think of anything, please contact us at any time.”

Jeong Young-joon nodded and walked out of the office powerlessly.

Kang Min-jae watched him until he got on the elevator, then returned to the office when the door closed.

“This case is going to be very difficult.”

“I know.”

“Which side do you think it is, attorney? The person who leaked the video.”

“Well, nothing’s really come out yet.”

“You mentioned the in-laws and other competitors to Jeong Young-joon earlier.”

“I did. But those were the variables I could think of on the spot. I was going to get a list of suspects from Jeong Young-joon, but since he’s not thinking straight, I just gave him some examples.”

“Rather, Jeong Young-joon said that every example you gave seemed right, so you couldn’t get a proper list.”

“Right. And I couldn’t say it because the timing wasn’t right, but Jeong Young-joon is an ordinary person, a commoner. But suddenly, he’s marrying a *chaebol* [a wealthy, family-controlled conglomerate] heiress, so it could be the work of people around him who felt inferior.”

“That could be the case. Actually, the in-laws thing is too dramatic… That side is a bit more realistic to accept.”

Kang Min-jae nodded.

But I don’t feel that the in-laws’ actions are that dramatic.

As I explained to Jeong Young-joon, Yangjin Group did not suffer any major image damage.

Rather, they are trying to create a friendly image by secretly giving nicknames to the head of the company or sharing personal anecdotes through viral marketing on the Internet.

With this incident, people were openly saying that Chairman Go Sang-kyung had suffered damage by taking in a son-in-law who was not well-educated.

In addition, Go Jin-ah’s image has also improved to some extent.

To borrow a cliché I learned in my previous life, she has become a kind of ‘tragic lover’ image.

The stock price has temporarily fallen, but it will soon recover because it is not an issue related to corporate operations.

Rather, if someone from the head of the family is trying to secure more shares, they can buy back their own shares while the stock price is down and profit from it.

From Yangjin Group’s point of view, it was a win-win situation in many ways.

They tore Jeong Young-joon, who was like a thorn in their side, away from their daughter, and the *chaebols*, whom the public unconditionally views with suspicion, became somewhat more familiar, which could remove a layer of resistance.

And if we consider the case where they sweep up the treasury stocks on the market and hold a little more of the controlling stake, which is just my guess, it was not just a win-win situation, but a win-win-win situation.

Of course, it is not known how the funding for the acquisition of the 24/7 convenience store’s Korean business unit will be secured.

We’ll have to wait and see if that’s really a win-win-win situation.

“Anyway, I told Jeong Young-joon that I hope he doesn’t contact that lawyer for the time being, so we’ll have to find out as much as we can on our own for now.”

I nodded.

I’m also suspicious of the in-laws, but maybe it’s because of the negative thoughts I have about *chaebols*.

The situation must be viewed broadly and objectively.

“Okay, then…”

Kang Min-jae picked up the USB on the desk and carefully plugged it into the laptop.

As I looked at him, Kang Min-jae placed the laptop on the consultation table.

And he said to me.

“Then, inevitably… Really, inevitably, we have to watch that video. Right?”