You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 94

“Lawyer Kang, Lawyer Kang! Wake up!”

Lee Ye-jin shouted, tapping Kang Min-jae, who was leaning on my shoulder and staggering.

But Kang Min-jae didn’t seem to hear, burying his face in my shoulder without answering.

“Min-jae, did you bring your car?”

Lee Ye-jin asked, looking around the parking lot.

I gestured towards his foreign car parked in the corner.

“We’ll have to call a driver.”

“Do you know his home address? Judging by his condition, I don’t think he can tell us his address. Lawyer Kang. Hey, Lawyer Kang! Tell us your home address.”

Lee Ye-jin hit him a few times, but Kang Min-jae didn’t answer.

Eventually, Lee Ye-jin tried to wake him up by kicking his butt, but failed.

Lawyer Kang’s address is on the contract, but unfortunately, the office where the contract is located is a long walk away.

“Ugh, should we have Lawyer Cha put him up at his place?”

After leaving the gathering, we were supposed to discuss the Jo Hyun-seok story in detail after sending the very drunk Lawyer Kang home.

It wasn’t appropriate to have the conversation in a cafe, and going to a room salon [a type of Korean hostess bar] was ambiguous, so we decided to go to my house.

I sighed, putting Lawyer Kang’s persistently clinging arm over my shoulder.

“Let’s do that. Did you bring your car, Senior?”

“No, I didn’t bring it because I was planning to get drunk today.”

I didn’t bring my car either because I was sure Lee Ye-jin would ask me to drink.

“Then let’s call a driver and go in Lawyer Cha’s car.”

Thanks to the boss quickly calling a driver after seeing us about to pay and leave, we didn’t have to wait long.

The designated driver was waving from across the alley.

While waiting for the driver after handing over the car keys, the boss packed hangover cures for our group.

“Thank you, boss.”

“You’re welcome. But have you been busy lately? It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

“Ah, that’s how it is.”

“You used to come with Dong-jin at least once a month, but I haven’t seen you for the past few months.”

“Ah, that friend’s second child was born last month.”

“Oh, is that so? If the baby just born, the father must be out of his mind.”

I was talking to the boss while waiting for the designated driver to arrive.

“Puke!”

“Hey, Lawyer Kang!”

Kang Min-jae, who had taken the hangover cure, was throwing up on one side of the parking lot.

“……I’m sorry.”

As soon as we arrived home, I threw Kang Min-jae onto the sofa.

He fell in a rather uncomfortable position, but even while wandering in his dreams, he adjusted himself to a comfortable position and fell asleep snoring.

Lee Ye-jin shook her head and sat down at the table.

Then, she looked around the house.

“Wow, look at this house. It’s really like Lawyer Cha. Right, Chief Oh?”

“Haha, it is. Anyone would say it’s Lawyer Cha’s house.”

I don’t know what kind of house they think mine is, but I handed them small bottles of water and sat down at the table.

“Shall we get straight to the point?”

“Let’s do that. I need to finish talking quickly and go home. My husband has been asking me when I’m coming home since earlier. He often comes home later than me, who is a prosecutor, ugh.”

Lee Ye-jin gulped down the water like alcohol and crushed the bottle.

“Where should I start? Um, do you know that Jung Young-joon’s sex video was released not long after the Ji Myung-ho sex bribery case broke out?”

“If a Korean doesn’t know that, they’re a spy.”

“But why the Jung Young-joon video?”

Lee Ye-jin asked as if it had nothing to do with the information I was going to give her.

I went to the study and brought out a few video capture photos that I had placed on the desk.

“I am currently in charge of Jung Young-joon’s divorce lawsuit.”

“……Jung Young-joon’s divorce lawsuit? Are Go Jin-ah and Jung Young-joon getting divorced?”

“Yes.”

“Lawyer Cha. Don’t tell me you’re trying to find out that Yangjin Group is receiving sexual favors from Jo Hyun-seok while defending Jung Young-joon and that’s why you’re giving us information now? Are you going to expose that to make the divorce lawsuit favorable, or something?”

Lee Ye-jin asked in a noticeably sharp voice.

I smiled slightly.

I should have been upset by the prosecutor’s unfriendly attitude, but it was the opposite.

I was relieved to see her determination not to do anything that would violate professional ethics.

“No. My client does not want a divorce from Go Jin-ah.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Prosecutor. Lawyer Cha wouldn’t do that, would he?”

Chief Oh added, and Lee Ye-jin smacked her lips as if she was embarrassed.

“Well, that’s true, but he might have changed after becoming a lawyer, so, well……. I was thinking about the possibility. The possibility.”

“Take a look at this photo.”

I laid out the photos I had brought from the study in front of them.

They were parts of the video where Jo Hyun-seok’s figure was reflected in the balcony window, and scenes where Jo Hyun-seok’s ring was revealed.

I deliberately excluded the photo containing the woman’s hand holding Jo Hyun-seok’s arm.

It’s not that I don’t trust them, but I can’t reveal evidence that I still don’t know the identity of.

“What is this? Is this the Jung Young-joon video?”

“Yes. Among them, it contains clues about the person who filmed the video. According to the video analyst we commissioned, the cameraman’s height reflected in this balcony window is over 190cm [approximately 6 feet 3 inches].”

As soon as the words ‘over 190cm’ came out of my mouth, Lee Ye-jin quickly picked up the photo containing his ring.

“Isn’t that ring familiar?”

“……What, is this also the cameraman’s hand?”

“Yes.”

I pushed the enlarged photo of Jo Hyun-seok’s ring from the reporter’s photo and the photo compared by the National Intelligence Service in front of them.

“It’s an exact match, and the ring appears to be custom-designed. In other words, the cameraman is,”

“Jo Hyun-seok did it all?”

“That’s right.”

Lee Ye-jin was shocked and leaned back in her chair for a moment, speechless.

Chief Oh also looked at the photos several times, comparing them and trying to figure out if this conclusion was really valid.

“Wait. Then that means Jung Young-joon received sexual favors from Jo Hyun-seok. And this video is the proof. But why is Lawyer Cha showing me that evidence while defending Jung Young-joon?”

Lee Ye-jin did not let go of her suspicion.

I shook my head.

“The sexual act in that video was not done by the client’s will. Jo Hyun-seok drugged him and forced him to do it. Jung Young-joon has no such hobbies at all and has no connection with Jo Hyun-seok at all. He only happened to run into him once in a place that had nothing to do with sexual favors. It is believed that someone did this to slander Jung Young-joon. Perhaps, to induce a divorce.”

Lee Ye-jin crossed her arms and fell into thought for a moment.

Then, she looked up and looked at me.

“Are you sure? That it wasn’t Jung Young-joon’s will?”

“I’m sure.”

“Is it confirmed, or is it Jung Young-joon’s claim?”

“It’s confirmed.”

Then Lee Ye-jin covered her mouth and looked at Chief Oh.

As if the intoxication had completely disappeared, Chief Oh also shifted his gaze to Lee Ye-jin and sighed.

“Lawyer. May I ask why you are telling us this?”

Chief Oh asked.

When I didn’t answer, Chief Oh awkwardly smiled and added an excuse, as if he thought his question was rude.

“I mean, do you want us to merge the cases, or…….”

“I’m not saying to investigate this right away. If we conduct a public investigation, no matter how much the prosecution briefs that Jung Young-joon is a victim, the public will recognize Jung Young-joon as someone who received sexual favors.”

“That’s right……. Looking at how the Jung Young-joon case is going, there are overwhelmingly more people who feel sorry for Go Jin-ah.”

“Besides, Jung Young-joon is currently in a very psychologically vulnerable state. He won’t be able to withstand a public investigation.”

I trust Lee Ye-jin, but I don’t trust the prosecution.

If the prosecution officially starts investigating this case, Yangjin Group will carry out all sorts of cover-up operations.

If that happens, informing Lee Ye-jin of this fact and trying to get information about Jo Hyun-seok would be no different from a bad move.

“But this, we must investigate. We’re going crazy because we don’t know what Jo Hyun-seok has done, and there’s a connection here. Besides, if Jo Hyun-seok is a rapist, we can add charges.”

“Jo Hyun-seok has no reason to do that to Jung Young-joon.”

“Even so, it doesn’t mean he didn’t instigate rape.”

“Of course, he should be punished for instigating rape. But what I want to know now is, who made Jo Hyun-seok do such a thing?”

Lee Ye-jin frowned.

She seemed to be gathering the information she knew in her head.

“The people who wanted Jung Young-joon and Go Jin-ah’s divorce the most are Go Jin-ah’s parents, Chairman Go Sang-kyung and his wife.”

“……Then you’re saying that Chairman Go Sang-kyung instigated Jo Hyun-seok?”

I didn’t answer.

Instead, I explained a little more about the relationship between the Yangjin Group owner family and Jung Young-joon.

Also, the Yangjin Group, which is ultimately referred to as the biggest victim, has suffered very little damage, and rather, it has benefited from this incident.

“Prosecutor, hasn’t Jo Hyun-seok recently purchased Yangjin Group shares under a borrowed name?”

At Chief Oh’s words, Lee Ye-jin slowly nodded.

“I thought it was because Yangjin Group’s stock had fallen so much after the incident broke out…….”

“That could be Chairman Go Sang-kyung’s second pocket. We thought it was Jo Hyun-seok’s secret pocket, but maybe it’s Go Sang-kyung’s secret pocket, not Jo Hyun-seok’s.”

It was a new perspective.

I only thought that Jo Hyun-seok had dropped Jung Young-joon into hell and gained trust under the instructions of Chairman Go Sang-kyung.

But conversely, it is possible that Go Sang-kyung trusted Jo Hyun-seok, so he thought he was the right person for the job.

“Thinking that way, it seems a little more logical, Chief. Even if Jo Hyun-seok has been providing sexual favors to political and business figures, his wealth was too great. We expected it to be even greater if we considered the assets under borrowed names that we haven’t identified.”

“That’s right. He spent money like a chaebol [a South Korean family-owned business conglomerate]. He owned several yachts, and he had cars that weren’t available in Korea. During the interrogation, he even bragged that he had custom-made luxury brands for his lover. He bought two luxury apartments worth billions of won on one floor and used them like one house by piercing the walls? There was no such thing as spending money like that.”

Chief Oh said, sounding fed up.

He seemed to want to talk about Jo Hyun-seok’s ‘money spending’, but the part that bothered me was the mention of custom-made orders from luxury brands.

The couple rings were also custom-made, and he seemed to be obsessed with one-of-a-kind items.

He also collects rare cars that are not available in Korea, and he also bought two houses on one floor and made them into one-of-a-kind house by piercing the walls.

In any case, if we find out where that one-of-a-kind item ordered from the luxury brand is going, we can also find out who Jo Hyun-seok’s lover is.

“Have you checked who that lover is?”

“Yes. When we seized his phone, there were text messages exchanged with a woman. So we summoned that woman, but she didn’t even know that Jo Hyun-seok was doing this kind of work. She said she was shocked after seeing the news.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m sure. She’s just an ordinary college student. They said they met at a club. They haven’t been dating for long.”

That can’t be.

That woman was next to Jo Hyun-seok in the video.

How could someone who can calmly watch Jung Young-joon being drugged and sexually assaulted by numerous women be an ordinary person?

I can’t even think that he already broke up with his lover in the video and is meeting that college student.

He was wearing a couple ring even at the moment he appeared at the prosecution.

‘Either he’s meeting women at the same time, or it’s a smokescreen to prevent his real lover from becoming a target.’