You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 89

You Have Been Defended – Episode 89 (89/641)

Jung Young-joon took the paper I handed him and stared intently at it.

The fact that he didn’t immediately recognize it suggested that the owner of the ring wasn’t someone in Jung Young-joon’s immediate circle.

After examining the ring for a long time, he put the paper down and sighed.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen this ring before. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry… I couldn’t be of help…”

Jung Young-joon’s eyes welled up with tears again.

Kang Min-jae patted him on the shoulder, comforting him.

“Crying and apologizing now won’t help, Mr. Jung Young-joon.”

“…Yes, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

“Stop saying you’re sorry, too. We’re fine.”

It might seem cold, but in this case, we don’t need a crybaby.

While investigating the Jung Young-joon video, a meaningful clue emerged for the first time.

We are slowly getting closer to the truth.

That’s why we need to stay calm.

“Then, is there a well-built man around 190cm [approximately 6’3″] tall? Someone from the Yangjin Group security team, or the secretary’s office—anything is fine.”

“…190cm?”

Jung Young-joon fell into deep thought again.

Then, he turned his gaze towards me.

“Lawyer, could you stand up for a moment? You seem tall, so I want to compare.”

At his words, I stood up, and Jung Young-joon also stood up and approached me.

He seemed to be gauging the difference in our heights.

“Excuse me, but how tall are you, lawyer?”

“187cm [approximately 6’1.5″].”

“Almost 190cm. So, it means they have to be taller than you… I don’t think there is anyone like that, no matter how much I think about it.”

There is no one around Jung Young-joon who is 190cm tall.

I thought that if it was the in-laws’ doing, they would have used internal personnel from the Yangjin Group.

Since it’s a case where they absolutely shouldn’t be exposed, hiring external contractors or gangsters would make it harder to keep their mouths shut.

But if even Jung Young-joon hasn’t seen them, what could it be?

Jung Young-joon lived in Chairman Go Sang-kyung’s house for seven years.

The fact that even he hasn’t seen them means they are either not an internal member of the Yangjin Group or someone Go Sang-kyung keeps in extreme secrecy.

The ring, the physique—two out of the three clues we obtained became meaningless.

Then, the third.

“Then, is there anyone around with a long name?”

“Someone with a long name?”

“As I mentioned, the ring you’re looking at is presumed to be a custom-designed couple ring, and we suspect that the dark patterns on it might be lettering. Couple rings usually have phrases about love or the other person’s name engraved on them. If it’s a name, the letters are somewhat long. So, I thought it might be a person with a long name or a phrase.”

“Ah, I see. Someone with a long name…”

Jung Young-joon stroked his chin and fell into thought.

Then, as if he remembered something, he widened his eyes and exclaimed, “There is! There is someone!”

“Who is it?”

“Kim Eun-ha-soo, the chairman’s wife’s personal secretary.”

At those words, Kang jumped up and examined the ring photo.

“If the name is Kim Eun-ha-soo, it would be written as KimEunhasoo. Roughly, the length seems to match?”

Kang Min-jae drew a rough line over the ring photo, estimating the size of the alphabet.

The quality wasn’t good, so we couldn’t be sure, but in the current situation, it was the most plausible guess.

“So, to summarize… The chairman’s wife ordered her secretary, Kim Eun-ha-soo, to create the video of Jung Young-joon, and the secretary worked with her boyfriend to carry out the plan… And that boyfriend might be an employee of Yangjin Group who is having an office romance. Is that it?”

“Kim Eun-ha-soo is married. It must be her husband, probably…”

Jung Young-joon said with a heavy face.

“Then, they might have thought they could trust Kim Eun-ha-soo’s husband without worrying about external leaks, so they entrusted him with the job.”

“The chairman’s wife trusts Secretary Kim very much. She makes Secretary Kim do everything, and she buys Secretary Kim things when she goes shopping, saying she’s pretty.”

As if he understood now, Jung Young-joon’s voice gradually rose.

“You’ve never seen Secretary Kim Eun-ha-soo’s husband?”

“No. Not even once… But it’s certain that he’s a Yangjin Group employee. He works under the chairman, so… he’s in the strategy department, and I heard the chairman uses him like his own hands and feet.”

“If it’s the strategy department…”

“That’s where they handle all sorts of behind-the-scenes operations that chaebols [large family-owned conglomerates] carry out.”

Jung Young-joon frowned and touched his forehead.

And he clenched the paper with the ring photo printed on it.

“It’s definitely the in-laws’ doing. I have to tell Jin-ah about this. I have to tell Jin-ah,” he repeated, referring to his wife.

“It’s too early.”

He, who had been excited, drooped his shoulders at my words.

“First, we need to confirm whether Kim Eun-ha-soo is wearing that ring, and we need to find out if Kim Eun-ha-soo’s husband’s physique matches the man in the video.”

And even if all of that matches, there’s really no way forward if Chairman Go Sang-kyung and his wife deny knowing anything about it.

What if Kim Eun-ha-soo and her husband usually enjoyed deviations [referring to extramarital affairs or unconventional activities] with Jung Young-joon and just filmed the situation?

If I were Chairman Go Sang-kyung and his wife, I would never admit that it was my doing.

I would promise them a future and tell them to just cover it up like that for now, and then give them sufficient rewards.

Since the chairman’s wife usually cherished Secretary Kim Eun-ha-soo very much, their loyalty would be extraordinary.

It’s fully plausible.

‘Is there a way to sway public opinion?’

If we reveal to the world that the cameraman in the video is from the Yangjin Group’s strategy department, the public will instantly recognize Jung Young-joon as a victim.

Even if Kim Eun-ha-soo and her husband later reveal that they had been enjoying such parties with Jung Young-joon, the public would likely not believe it.

But the problem was that it wouldn’t necessarily hold up in the legal realm.

It’s not enough to just reveal the identity of the cameraman.

And Go Jin-ah would also trust her parents’ words more than Jung Young-joon’s.

Even if he gains public recognition, he won’t be able to gain Go Jin-ah’s recognition.

But Jung Young-joon wants to be recognized by Go Jin-ah more than by the public.

“Mr. Jung Young-joon, can you find out about Kim Eun-ha-soo’s husband?”

“…I’ll try.”

Jung Young-joon nodded strongly.

“We shouldn’t give the impression that we suspect them. Do you have a way to confirm?”

“I’m still the managing director of Yangjin F&B [Food and Beverage]. They said they’re going to dismiss me next week, so I still have the authority.”

“Isn’t the strategy department in a different affiliate?”

“Yes. But I have several titles, so I’m also an advisor to the Yangjin Group. I can do a personnel inquiry.”

“Can you query the data from outside the company?”

“…I have to go to work and check.”

Jung Young-joon said with a determined look.

“It’s still far from evening. Since the dismissal is confirmed, I’ll go to work and say I’m going to pack my things today and check.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

He was someone who had attempted suicide an hour ago.

If he went to work and met Go Jin-ah there, I didn’t even want to imagine what would happen.

“Mr. Jung Young-joon,”

“Then I’ll accompany Mr. Jung Young-joon.”

Before I could stop him, Kang Min-jae stepped forward.

When I turned my head towards him, Kang Min-jae also said with a determined face.

“I’ll go to Yangjin F&B with Mr. Jung Young-joon myself to make sure nothing happens. I’m still a pretty quick-witted guy. I know what you’re worried about, lawyer.”

Jung Young-joon, seeing my displeased expression, added cautiously.

“I heard that Jin-ah hasn’t been coming to work since the divorce issue arose. There won’t be a chance to run into Jin-ah.”

“What about the reporters?”

When I asked, Jung Young-joon sighed.

He hadn’t thought of that.

After the video was leaked, reporters were camped out in front of Yangjin F&B and Chairman Go Sang-kyung’s house.

It was a struggle to get an interview with the Yangjin Group family or Jung Young-joon.

Previously, Jung Young-joon said that after choosing to separate, he was persistently chased by reporters even when he moved out to the officetel [a small apartment or studio often used as both an office and a residence].

Fortunately, Go Jin-ah gave instructions to the security team to shake off the reporters chasing Jung Young-joon’s car, and I heard that this officetel was not discovered.

But if Jung Young-joon shows up at headquarters today, the reporters might recognize him again and chase him.

“Isn’t there a place like an underground parking lot? If you contact the security team and ask them to help you pack your things without being exposed to the reporters, I think they’ll help. You received help when you came out to this officetel, right?”

Kang Min-jae asked Jung Young-joon, as if he had the same thought.

“Until now, Mr. Jung Young-joon has been refusing the divorce, but if he accepts the dismissal and says he’s going to pack his things, they might think he’ll accept the divorce and help him. Without contacting Go Jin-ah directly, if you contact the security team, they’ll report to Go Jin-ah on their own,” Kang Min-jae added.

In fact, there was no other way.

Even if we used Tae-shik to find out about Secretary Kim Eun-ha-soo’s husband, it would take a lot of time, and there was a possibility of failure.

Even Jung Young-joon, who lived in the same house as Chairman Go Sang-kyung, had never seen him, who was said to be used like his own hands and feet.

It’s a high-level mission for Tae-shik right now.

“What Lawyer Kang said is right. If we arrive around 6:30, it should be okay. The employees who work overtime will be going out for dinner around that time. If we go into the underground parking lot and take the executive elevator, we can go and come back secretly.”

Since the two of them answered with such confidence, I had no way to object.