[But the person I like the most is my grandpa. I like playing with Grandpa the most!]
“Cough, cough, cough. Haeum…”
“Oh, my dear child. What am I going to do with this?”
“You saw, didn’t you? Haeum’s heart.”
Mr. Lee Chil-hong, who had been struggling to get up and go to the police station just moments before, collapsed into his wheelchair and nodded weakly.
“Haeum wanted you, Grandpa, to live long and happily.”
“Sob.”
“But if you, with your unwell body, were to go to the police station because of her, do you think Haeum would like that?”
At my words, Mr. Lee Chil-hong silently shed tears.
Then, his son, Lee Kang-ho, knelt beside the wheelchair and held his father’s hands with both of his own.
“What this person here says is right. If Dad knew about this, Haeum would be the saddest.”
“Yes. Our good little puppy would be like that.”
“Yes, so please help us, for the sake of Haeum who is lying down.”
“Help? Who? I’m not in a position to help anyone in the first place.”
“Yourself, sir.”
The answer came from behind me, not from me.
Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun, who had already arrived here first and was observing the situation, stepped forward.
Just as we had arranged from the beginning.
Because this whole situation was my idea in the first place.
‘Lawyer, then can I ask you a favor too?’
‘A favor?’
‘Yes, please bring Haeum’s diary.’
‘Diary? Why suddenly?’
‘I think I vaguely heard about it from Haeum’s mother at the last meeting.’
‘Is that so…? I don’t remember clearly. What did she say?’
‘That…’
I skillfully adapted what I knew from my past life and spoke.
I also said that the reason Lawyer Ahn didn’t remember was because he heard it right next to her when he was comforting her mother.
At that time, everyone was in tears, so there was no time to pay attention to every detail, and the sound of voices could easily be drowned out, so Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun readily understood.
If even the person involved can’t remember everything they said, then it says it all.
‘But what are you going to do with that? In the current situation, looking at Haeum’s diary might make his emotions more intense.’
‘I plan to use those intensified emotions.’
To be exact, the child’s heart within him.
How much Haeum cherished and loved her grandfather…
“Then, could you tell us about the situation that day?”
Mr. Lee Chil-hong also suffered injuries, so the police’s suspect investigation was postponed until his recovery.
No matter how serious the accident was, they couldn’t call an elderly man over seventy who was confined to a hospital bed to the police station.
That means this is the first time they are hearing Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s detailed statement.
This is also the first time I’m hearing it directly from the person involved.
In my previous life, I encountered his statement through the prosecutor’s interrogation report.
“That day, you see…”
Finally, Mr. Lee Chil-hong began to speak about the situation that day.
Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun took out a notepad from his bag and started writing down his words.
“The day was beautiful. As if to celebrate my child’s first picnic.”
One day, when spring was beginning to blossom like vibrant flowers.
Lee Chil-hong spoke with a distant look in his eyes, as if he had returned to that time.
“I don’t know how diligently I worked that day. I was more excited because it was our Haeum’s first picnic.”
“I see.”
Lawyer Ahn nodded heavily.
“Just in case even a small scratch occurred due to an unexpected accident while driving, I buckled her seatbelt two, three times.”
In the end, that seatbelt became useless.
Because the road structure that covered the car directly crushed Haeum.
Before Lee Chil-hong finished speaking, I quickly rummaged through my pocket.
Then, the handkerchief I had prepared caught my fingertips.
I pulled it out with a feeling of grasping at a lifeline and brought it to my eyes.
“At first, there were no problems. I was familiar with the road as I took Haeum to school every day.”
“Yes, in fact, it was a situation where inexperienced driving could not have occurred.”
“That’s right, Lawyer. My father has driven all his life and has never had a minor fender bender. But he gets an accident on a familiar road? That’s ridiculous.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted to say.”
Lawyer Ahn wrote something on his notepad and then kept circling it with his ballpoint pen.
Seeing him, I sent a look to Lee Chil-hong on his behalf.
It meant to keep speaking.
Understanding my intention, Lee Chil-hong continued to speak.
“But then I heard a loud noise from the car, and the speed increased. I was so flustered that I kept pressing the brake, but the speed only increased further.”
The brakes didn’t work, and the speed rapidly accelerated.
It was a typical sudden unintended acceleration phenomenon.
Although I already knew the story, it felt like a heavy stone was placed on my chest.
“At that moment, only one thought came to mind. It doesn’t matter what happens to me, as long as people and Haeum don’t get hurt. But I couldn’t turn the wheel towards my side. There were too many cars on that side.”
Cars were driving next to the driver’s seat.
But on the side where Haeum was sitting, there was a shoulder where the car could pull over, and there were no people there.
Lee Chil-hong ultimately made a decision, prepared to sacrifice himself.
“I thought if I absorbed the impact with my body, our puppy would be hurt as little as possible. But I never dreamed there would be a road structure.”
In a situation of rapid acceleration, it’s impossible to have the time to check the surroundings one by one.
Stopping the car in a way that wouldn’t hurt people would have been the top priority.
He wouldn’t have seen anything else.
“So I made that judgment, but who knew it would lead to such a result…”
In reality, it was the best judgment he could have made.
Considering the countless vehicles present during rush hour, he had saved many lives.
He just couldn’t save one person.
“I don’t care about trials. If I can just save our Haeum, I wouldn’t regret dying right now.”
“Father, don’t say such things.”
“No, it’s true. Please save my granddaughter, Lawyer.”
How desperate must one be to beg a lawyer to save them?
Everyone present held their breath and cried.
Monday arrived again.
As soon as I got to work, I headed to Lawyer Ahn’s office.
He, as if he had been waiting, immediately began discussing the situation.
“First, we need to secure the CCTV footage around the road that will support Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s statement.”
“The police might have already secured that.”
To prove his statement that he continuously pressed the brakes, road CCTV footage is needed.
And fortunately, that can be secured in the early stages of the police investigation.
Since the same investigator as in my previous life is handling this case.
“So, how about talking to the detective in-charge first?”
CCTV managed by the police station can be requested for viewing through proper procedures.
Lawyer Ahn, understanding my meaning, nodded and replied.
“Yes, I should. Anyway, the investigation needs to be postponed further.”
“Yes, of course. Although he says he’s okay, he’s still not in a completely sound condition.”
Compared to Haeum, Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s condition is also serious, even though he was relatively less injured.
He suffered fractures to his 3rd and 4th ribs on the left side, hairline fractures in his limbs, and a concussion from hitting his head hard on the car window while embracing Haeum.
He was still unable to move without a wheelchair.
“Anyway, thank you so much last Friday. If it weren’t for you, Yoo-hee, we wouldn’t have been able to secure Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s statement so quickly.”
“Yes.”
In my previous life, I was only able to hear his statement after he was summoned by the police.
This was because I ultimately failed to change Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s mind.
So, it was impossible to win an already difficult trial.
The best Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun could do by running around was a real prison sentence of 1 year and 8 months.
This was because Mr. Lee Chil-hong would get furious every time he stood trial.
‘Hey, judges, why aren’t you pronouncing the verdict?’
‘Defendant, calm down.’
‘Calm down? Do I look like I can calm down when my child is gone? Can a judge do that?’
‘If you keep causing a commotion like this, you’ll be held in contempt of court…’
‘Do it, put me in jail right now!’
In the end, Mr. Lee Chil-hong was taken into legal custody as he appeared for the sentencing.
Because he received a prison sentence.
That day, Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun couldn’t do anything after returning to the office.
This was because he felt self-blame despite doing his best.
‘If I had defended him more diligently, couldn’t I have changed Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s mind and made him cooperative in the trial? Then, considering his age, he might have received consideration for his sentence.’
‘You knew from the beginning that sudden acceleration accidents are unwinnable…’
Because there were virtually no cases where they won in court.
Even though I knew, self-blame pierced my heart. Because I was also present at the sentencing.
I, who had always lived without vacations, took a half-day off that day and went to the court to hear the verdict.
Around that time, Haeum’s parents were in a state where they could barely stand soberly, so I accompanied them to court.
‘I worked so hard, but in the end, I made him end up behind bars with a body that hadn’t even fully healed. I am truly a bad lawyer.’
‘If you’re a bad lawyer, then there wouldn’t be any good lawyers in the world.’
I said that, but I felt the same way.
Most of all, I felt so sorry for Haeum.
Because I sent her beloved grandfather to prison.
We all cried together while looking at Haeum’s diary that Haeum’s mother brought to the courtroom.
‘Judge, please, for the sake of our child, grant leniency just this once…’
No evidence or documents can be submitted on the judgment pronouncement date.
Because, literally, only the sentencing remains.
We knew that, but we couldn’t stop Haeum’s mother.
No one who saw that diary would have been able to stop her.
Even if the diary, held in her trembling fingertips, couldn’t reach the judge.
In the end, Mr. Lee Chil-hong, who was taken into legal custody, only received Haeum’s diary after he was incarcerated.
‘Did I abandon our puppy’s heart in the end…?’
It was already too late to understand Haeum’s heart and change course.
Because the first-instance judgment had been confirmed as is in both the second and third instances.
Reversing an already lost battle was an impossible fight.
And now.
“Lawyer, as I said before, we must end this fight before it goes to court.”
We will draw out the time as much as possible, but we will not take this case to court.
If it’s an impossible fight, not fighting at all is the best method.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.