You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 95

Seeing Oh Gye-jang and Lee Ye-jin so sure that he was just an ordinary college student, it seemed they probably dated him without even knowing he was a smokescreen [a deceptive facade].

I looked at the two of them.

It would be best not to reveal that the college student was a smokescreen.

I decided to change the subject.

“Getting back to the main point, do you two think that Jo Hyun-seok is like Go Sang-kyung’s vault [a person holding secrets or valuable information]?”

Lee Ye-jin nodded at my question.

“For now, yes. No matter how much we dug, there was nothing to suggest that Jo Hyun-seok and the Yangjin Group owner’s family had a close relationship. But this changes things a bit, doesn’t it?”

“When we interviewed the trainee victims who were forced to give sexual favors by Jo Hyun-seok, there were all sorts of corporate executives at the drinking parties they were dragged to, but the Yangjin Group was never mentioned.”

“Go Jin-ah told Jung Young-joon that Jo Hyun-seok was bad news and that he shouldn’t associate with him. That makes it seem like she had no idea that Jo Hyun-seok and her father were close.”

“Maybe he was someone they used so secretly that they didn’t even tell the only heiress.”

Lee Ye-jin stroked her chin and fell into thought for a moment.

I wanted to ask them if they knew what was engraved on the ring Jo Hyun-seok was wearing, but I couldn’t.

They would think it was suspicious for me to be interested in a former lover I was no longer investigating.

Especially Oh Gye-jang, who knows my investigation methods best.

“Cha Byun [short for Cha Byeonhosa, meaning Attorney Cha], thanks for the information. Is there anything else you can tell us?”

“No, not yet. I’ll share anything new as soon as it comes up.”

“Good. We’ll contact you if we find anything that might help with Cha Byun’s case, within what we can share. And let me know when it’s okay to make Jung Young-joon’s video public.”

Lee Ye-jin stood up with a refreshed look on her face.

“Ha, thank goodness. The judge rejected the arrest warrant for Jo Hyun-seok and told us to investigate him without detention, so we had to let him go after 50 hours. We hadn’t gotten anything for 22 hours, so I was getting anxious, but I got some high-quality information from Cha Byun before that. Thanks.”

She reached out and patted me on the shoulder before starting to pack her bag.

“Are you leaving?”

“I have to. My phone is blowing up.”

She showed me her phone, which was full of messages from her husband.

Oh Gye-jang also stood up with her.

I went down to the first floor and watched them each get into a taxi before going back up.

I put a blanket over Kang Min-jae, who was sound asleep on the sofa, and then went into the bathroom.

I thought I should share the conversation from the early morning with him when he woke up.

I woke up early in the morning.

Kang Min-jae wasn’t awake yet.

I thought about sleeping a little longer, but I figured our bathroom use times would overlap when Kang Min-jae woke up, so I washed up first.

I made a cup of coffee and even read the morning paper, but I still had plenty of time.

It was 7:30 when I took out the suit I would wear to work.

‘He’s going to freak out when he wakes up.’

Considering how much he threw up yesterday, I knew what he would whine about when he woke up.

Since I had time anyway, I went to the famous hangover soup restaurant across from the officetel [a studio apartment often used as both an office and residence] and packed two servings to go.

“Uh, ugh… Attorney.”

Kang Min-jae raised his upper body with a puffy face, as if he had woken up to the sound of me opening the door lock.

I put the hangover soup on the table and sat down on the one-person sofa.

“The bathroom is over there. Go wash up and get some hangover relief.”

“…Is this your place, Attorney?”

“Yes.”

Then Kang Min-jae started looking around diligently.

He patted the sofa for no reason and picked up the blanket he had kicked off and smoothed it out.

“Wow, your house is so nice. I want to live in a house like this too. Anyone can tell this is your house. It’s so much like your house.”

“Lee Ye-jin and Oh Gye-jang said the same thing yesterday. What does that even mean?”

“Huh? Those two came here too?”

He must have been sleeping pretty deeply.

I don’t remember speaking quietly yesterday to be considerate of Kang Min-jae while he was sleeping.

Looking at him with a blank expression, I just pointed to the bathroom.

It’s not too late to tell him about the morning’s earnings while he’s having hangover soup.

-Attorney, do you happen to have any old t-shirts?

I was watching the television news and smoking a cigarette on the veranda when I heard Kang Min-jae’s voice from inside the bathroom.

Kang Min-jae was desperately looking for extra clothes through the slightly open door.

I took out a t-shirt and underwear that I had bought but never worn from the dressing room.

And I pushed it through the bathroom door.

“Thank you… Was I very drunk yesterday? Ha, I remember throwing up. I’m such a nuisance. I’m sorry.”

“It’s a relief you know. Go get some hangover relief.”

As soon as Kang Min-jae took a spoonful of hangover soup while sitting across from me at the table, he leaned his upper body against the backrest and closed his eyes.

“Ah, I feel like I’m going to live.”

“From now on, Kang Byun, if you’re going to meet Lee Ye-jin, meet her without me.”

“Why?”

“It’s too much of a hassle to have Kang Byun sleep at my house every time he gets drunk.”

“Ah, hurt…”

Kang Min-jae clutched his chest, but when I didn’t react, he buried his nose in the bowl and began to eat the hangover soup aggressively.

“But, Attorney. Why did Lee Ye-jin and Oh Gye-jang come yesterday?”

“To talk about Jo Hyun-seok.”

“Ah, why did I have to be so drunk at that important moment…? So, did you get any good information?”

Kang Min-jae put down his spoon and asked.

I handed him a small bottle of water and answered.

“I think I can find Jo Hyun-seok’s lover.”

“Really? Wow, that’s great, isn’t it?”

I told him in detail about the stories I heard yesterday and my attitude towards them.

“But if you’re commissioning a custom design from a luxury brand, wouldn’t you have the product delivered in person? Then, even if Taeshik’s kids are stationed in front of Jo Hyun-seok’s house, they might not be able to tell which brand it is. Then it might be difficult to know who the item is going to.”

That was the problem.

Even though it’s a one-of-a-kind item in the world, it won’t be easy to tell at a glance that it’s a custom-made product.

Of course, if you know the brand, you can check the catalog, but if it’s delivered in person, there’s no way to know.

“No. If you commission a custom design from a luxury brand, you’ll go pick it up. It’s not just a few hundred dollars; it’ll cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of millions. You have to check that it came out properly in front of the store staff.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And from what you’ve said, Jo Hyun-seok seems to be a very vain person. Besides, he’s a nouveau riche [newly rich] case. Then he’s the type who tries to feel a sense of superiority while being treated by luxury store employees. And the brand side might have a delivery accident, and if there’s a defect in the delivered product, it’s not clear whose fault it is, so it’s difficult to handle the claim, so they won’t even order delivery, no matter how personal it is.”

Kang Min-jae seemed to know a lot about those kinds of people.

Explanations flowed from his mouth as if he were talking about his major.

“And the brand wouldn’t send a responsible employee to Jo Hyun-seok’s house to show him the product, unless he’s the owner’s family of the department store where the brand is located or a leading chaebol [a large South Korean business conglomerate]. From the brand’s point of view, they probably didn’t want to customize it for a nouveau riche like Jo Hyun-seok. They’re only doing it because his connections are no joke.”

“Kang Byun must like luxury goods.”

“Huh?”

“You know a lot about that kind of stuff.”

At my question, Kang Byun smiled awkwardly and replied.

“No… I just happened to overhear it. Anyway, when Jo Hyun-seok is released from the prosecution and the brand contacts him, he’ll go pick it up himself. So all you have to do is ask Taeshik to stick close to Jo Hyun-seok and check which brand store he picks it up from.”

“Good. Things have gotten easier than I thought. Then tell Taeshik that later. Let’s get ready to go to work.”

* * *

As Lee Ye-jin said, the prosecution released Jo Hyun-seok two days later.

I had already told Taeshik to follow Jo Hyun-seok closely from the prosecutor’s office and watch his every move.

It was a pretty difficult mission because there were so many reporters trying to follow Jo Hyun-seok, but Taeshik carried out the mission well.

He properly identified where he was currently staying, and every time he left the house and headed somewhere, he tenaciously stuck to him and sent me several photos.

That’s how a week passed.

“Come here! Hahaha!”

10:30 a.m.

Taeshik opened the office door wide with a loud voice and swaggered in.

“Don’t be so loud, just give me the results.”

“I didn’t say I got the results.”

“You must have gotten them; that’s why you’re saying things like ‘Come here.’ Give them to me.”

Taeshik, who was walking with his hands behind his back and a swagger, pouted at my words.

Then he turned away from me and put the envelope on Kang Min-jae’s desk.

“I don’t like Attorney Cha, so Kang Byun can look at it.”

“Hehe, yes.”

Kang Min-jae smiled brightly and held the envelope upside down and shook it.

Several photos fell out of it.

“Hmm, it’s H company. The brand Jo Hyun-seok commissioned. The dust bag size must be for a bag.”

Kang Min-jae, who was rummaging through the photos, looked up for a while as if looking for something.

When he met Taeshik’s eyes, who was looking at him with a triumphant expression, Kang Byun asked.

“Is this all?”

“That’s all.”

“What about the product’s appearance, or who it was given to? Don’t you have that?”

“I don’t. That white bag,”

“Dust bag.”

“Yeah, that. White bag. After the employee showed it to him, he went inside with Jo Hyun-seok? But when he came out, it was all gift-wrapped. So I didn’t have a chance to see the design.”

“So you still don’t know who he gave it to?”

“That’s right. I confirmed that Jo Hyun-seok received the item at the department store today and came straight here.”

Kang Min-jae sighed, and I shook my head.

I thought he had found out all the information I had requested because he appeared so triumphantly, but it was an interim report.

“Go back. Report only by phone and email until you find out who he gave it to. Why are you suddenly giving an interim report when you never did that before?”

“That’s right. You made me excited for nothing.”

Kang Min-jae, who usually took Taeshik’s side, also added a word.

Taeshik glared at me and Kang Min-jae as if he was upset, and then walked towards the office entrance with a thud.

“Ha, I really didn’t think Kang Byun was like that. I guess he got infected from working with Attorney Cha. It was wrong of me to expect humanity from these people,”

“Wait.”

Before Taeshik could finish speaking, the office phone rang.

I put my hand on the receiver and put my index finger to my lips.

He puffed out his nose as if he was upset, but he didn’t make a sound.

“This is Attorney Cha Joo-han’s office.”

-Hello. This is Taekwang Law Firm.

I frowned.

There was only one reason for Taekwang to call me at this time.

Divorce lawsuit.

But they probably don’t know yet that Jung Young-joon has hired me for the case, do they?

-Are you Attorney Cha Joo-han, the litigation representative for Jung Young-joon?

“……”