After an emergency meeting with Lawyers Ahn Gyeong-hun and Yoon Yi-hoon on Saturday evening, another meeting, attended by Cha Kang-hyuk, was held at Lee & Yeon on Monday morning.
He couldn’t hide his excitement after seeing the black box footage we’d acquired.
“I… you got this for only 450,000 won?”
Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun spoke with a proud expression, as if he had accomplished it himself.
However, this was definitely not something I achieved alone.
It would have been close to impossible without excellent assistance.
I reported in detail everything that happened in the club parking lot, the days I staked out the place for it, and what happened inside the club.
Of course, I heavily praised Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon in the process.
“This grasshopper… I mean, Lawyer Yoon, worked that hard?”
“Yes. Even at the club, his acting as a nuisance was so realistic. Anyone would have thought he was for real.”
“Hoo hoo hoo.”
At my praise, Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon’s shoulders straightened.
I swear, it was the first time I’d seen someone so proud of acting like a nuisance.
“Uh, um. Yes, good job. Anyway, if it weren’t for the two of you, this case would have been really tough.”
“It was only natural to do my best because I wanted to take on the Director’s case from the beginning! I’ll work even harder in the future.”
…If only he hadn’t said that.
At first, his expression was clearly that of someone being dragged to the slaughterhouse, but I decided to attribute it to his past accomplishments.
Even Director Cha Kang-hyuk himself only twitched an eyebrow and let it pass.
He cleared his throat, looking back and forth between the fully played video screen and me.
He hesitated for a long time before finally opening his mouth.
“Th… thank you.”
A mosquito-like voice brushed past my ear.
I paused as I was getting up to hand out the materials I had organized.
“Excuse me?”
“No, I mean, thank… no, if you didn’t hear it, then never mind!”
“Ah, were you saying thank you?”
“Well, something like that.”
If he’s thankful, he’s thankful.
What in the world does “something like that” mean? As if thinking the same thing, I heard a chuckle next to me.
It was Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon, who often got himself into trouble.
“Director Cha Kang-hyuk, the great one, is even getting embarrassed. This is a truly rare sight…”
“Do you want to die?”
It wasn’t a joke; he truly looked like he was about to kill someone.
In the end, Lawyer Yoon immediately performed a dogeza.
“I have misspoke, please grant me an ocean-like generosity!”
“If only you couldn’t speak…”
Cha Kang-hyuk shook his head and lowered his fist, with prominent veins, beneath the table.
Only then did Lawyer Yoon sigh in relief, patting his chest.
Seeing that, Cha Kang-hyuk fiddled with the materials I had given him and said,
“Actually, you were the only one, Secretary Kim, who genuinely believed what I said. Even my father… couldn’t.”
Cha Kang-hyuk’s normally confident gaze didn’t leave the documents.
He whispered quietly, as if making a confession.
“But not only did you believe me, you even found the video to prove it yourself. I’m somewhat proud of my choice to entrust this case to Secretary Kim.”
“I’m even more grateful that you say that. But it’s too early to be surprised by just this.”
“There’s more than this?”
“Of course, Director. Can you give me the item I prepared generously?”
“Ah, right. I was so surprised by the video that I forgot that was the first thing I was going to give you when you came here.”
Cha Kang-hyuk quickly searched his pockets.
He then pulled out a small envelope from the inside pocket of his suit jacket and handed it to me.
It was the envelope containing Woo Jin-gon’s hair.
“You’re going to test Woo Jin-gon for drug reactions with this, right?”
“Yes. Marijuana tests are usually done with hair. Then, could you tell me in detail what happened in the club room on the day of the incident?”
“Thinking about it now, that day was a bit different from usual.”
Cha Kang-hyuk’s expression twisted as he rewound his mental clock to that day.
“It’s noisy outside and stuffy inside the room, so I don’t go to clubs much. I only go occasionally if friends call me. So, usually, I go when the gathering is about to end, drink a bit, and come back.”
“I see.”
“But that day, Woo Jin-gon called me when he was in the middle of enjoying himself. I just went, thinking there might be something to celebrate, but there was a foul smell in the room.”
Hmm, so my hunch was right.
According to my investigation, it smelled foul and unpleasant.
“Looking at the thick smoke in the room, it was cigarette smoke. There were quite a few butts in the ashtray too. But the smell was so foul. I told that guy to smoke less in the room. Then he chuckled and told me to have a smoke too.”
Kang-hyuk shivered, as if recalling the smell from then.
“Didn’t you usually smoke behind the club? It was recorded that you smoked there on the day the incident happened too.”
“I do smoke there. But it’s more of a place to clear your head. You can smoke inside the club anytime, but because you’re drinking and smoking in an enclosed space, if you stay too long, the air gets stuffy and your head aches.”
“That’s completely understandable.”
I shivered, recalling the club I went to last Friday night.
It was a place I absolutely never wanted to go to again.
“Exactly. So, I endured and endured, then pushed away the cigarette he gave me and dragged the kids outside. I couldn’t stay in the room any longer because of the smell. After that, it was just as shown in this video.”
“So, you’re saying you were more aggressive than usual because of the suspected marijuana cigarette?”
“Yes. Woo Jin-gon is usually out of his mind, but he’s not the type to hit a random passerby without thinking. But that day, he said a few words and then immediately threw a punch. And his movements weren’t ordinary. That guy, he’s actually not good at fighting. But you see it in this video, right? He’s flailing his arms like a madman.”
At Cha Kang-hyuk’s words, I moved the mouse to fast-forward the video. It was the scene where Woo Jin-gon started fighting.
“Hmm, he definitely doesn’t seem to be in his right mind at this point.”
“Right. Thinking about it, it was full of strange things. I don’t know why I never suspected him even once until you, Yoo-hee, told me.”
“Because you trusted your friend that much.”
“…Annoyingly, that’s true. He was someone I’d trusted my whole life, but I don’t even know what I saw in him that made me trust him so much.”
“If you’ve realized it now, you can correct it.”
“Of course. I’m the kind of person who repays both favors and grievances.”
I know.
Cha Kang-hyuk is that kind of person.
Actually, I didn’t believe him from the start, despite what he said.
After reviewing the testimony of the victim who woke up during the second trial, I felt something was off.
From then on, I examined the case records from beginning to end.
Only then did it become clear.
That Cha Kang-hyuk was wrongly accused.
That’s how I gathered clues to the case and arrived at my current conclusion.
Now that I look back, it was closer to the truth than a mere guess.
“I’ll definitely help you with that revenge.”
I winked and looked at Lawyer Ahn.
He cleared his throat and summarized the points from the weekend meeting.
“First, I plan to hand over this hair and the black box footage to the prosecutor in charge of the Director’s case.”
“Are you planning to submit both as evidence?”
“The video is evidence, but the hair is not.”
“Then?”
“Director, please hear the details from Yoo-hee. This was Yoo-hee’s idea.”
Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun, who handed the case baton to me, adopted an attentive posture.
Cha Kang-hyuk’s gaze naturally turned to me.
“First, before I begin my explanation, Director. Do you know anyone in the current affairs department of a broadcasting station? They don’t have to be someone you know directly.”
“Hmm, I think that’s possible. Is there a specific current affairs program or station you’d prefer?”
“There is a program I want most.”
“What is it?”
“Curious That Day.”
We plan to report Woo Jin-gon’s hair to the prosecution.
At the same time, we’re going to expose the truth of that day through a broadcast.
Then, coinciding with the announcement of Woo Jin-gon’s investigation results, the impact will be beyond imagination.
“I’ve even decided on a title in advance. Would you like to hear it?”
“Can we decide the broadcast title?”
“No, but wouldn’t we be able to offer an opinion with such a big catch?”
“That’s not wrong. So, what title did you have in mind?”
“The Deviance of a Third-Generation Conglomerate – What Happened at the Club That Day.”
“Just hearing that, I’d be the first person that comes to mind right now, wouldn’t I?”
“Of course. That’s why I came up with the title.”
“Huh?”
Selling off the hottest person on air is a basic among basics.
Director Cha Kang-hyuk left Lee & Yeon, promising to quickly secure and hand over the contact information for the broadcasting station’s representative.
However, our meeting was just getting started.
“First, tonight’s dinner is on the company card. You all worked hard out in the field and you’re eating because you’re working overtime, so don’t hesitate and just eat.”
“Yay! Lawyer, can I ask what the dinner menu is?”
“I eat anything well, so pick something that Lawyer Yoon and Yoo-hee like.”
“I’m not picky about food either.”
“Yes! Then I’ll decide dinner!”
“Alright. Then let’s go wherever Lawyer Yoon wants to eat.”
Lawyer Ahn nodded lightly and then brought up the top priority.
“You all know that the prosecution scheduled Director Cha’s second investigation for this Wednesday, right?”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
“At that time, we’ll submit the evidence video to the prosecutor and report the Woo Jin-gon case.”
“Lawyer Ahn, isn’t this more like a negotiation than a report?”
“That’s right. The faster Woo Jin-gon’s investigation results come out, the more favorable it is for us.”
Currently, Director Cha Kang-hyuk is seen as a scoundrel who turned a person into a vegetable.
And he has become the main culprit who led the fight, not only according to Woo Jin-gon and his group but also the testimonies of the other victims.
“Before hearing the Director’s statement, I was a bit skeptical why the other two friends testified in a way that was so disadvantageous only to Director Cha. But it seems they did drugs together, and that became their weakness. They probably didn’t want the arrow of the incident to turn towards themselves.”
“Exactly. Even I honestly couldn’t fully trust Director Cha Kang-hyuk’s statement before seeing the black box footage. This is a bit embarrassing as his defense lawyer.”
“That’s natural. Only one person was claiming the truth, and everyone else was pushing him into being a scoundrel. It’s inevitable that the majority’s claims carry weight.”
“But now that we know everything, we cannot tolerate a distorted truth leading to an innocent person being wronged under any circumstances.”
Lawyer Ahn’s eyes sharpened.
“I’ll go to the prosecutor’s office this time and turn everything upside down.”
It was a declaration of war from a genuinely enraged Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun.