A turbulent two weeks, starting with the broadcast, had passed.
During that time, South Korea seemed as if a storm had swept through it.
After “That Curious Day” aired, the prosecution, as if waiting, secured the CCTV footage of the club’s VVIP room used by the group that day, along with drug tests for the four club members, including Cha Kang-hyuk and Woo Jin-gon.
There is an assistant.
As a result, more news articles about the club incident poured out than before.
[Shocking Revelation! The true perpetrators of the club incident were elsewhere]
[Cha Han Construction’s Cha Kang-hyuk, the managing director, was actually a victim? It was revealed that the punch that day was unintentionally thrown during self-defense]
“It’s really chaotic. The broadcast made a proper splash.”
Cha Kang-hyuk, who has been coming to Lee & Yeon at least once a week these days, checked the newspapers in front of him with a satisfied expression and gave a thumbs up.
He picked up one of the articles written based on the prosecution’s briefings that poured out over the past two weeks since the broadcast.
[The deviation of a media chaebol’s third-generation heir. Was the club incident started with marijuana?]
[The drug test results for three individuals, including Woo Jin-gon, came back positive, causing a shock. According to the evidence and testimonies secured by Prosecutor Woon Il-seung, who is in charge of this case, Woo Jin-gon’s group is known to have committed the incident after doing marijuana in the club’s VVIP room on the same day.]
[The more surprising truth is that Cha Kang-hyuk, who was being investigated for assault and injury in this case, was the only one found not to have smoked it.]
“Hahahaha. I can’t help but feel a thrill.”
“Yes, with this, we’ve not only proven the innocence of the Managing Director, but all attention has also shifted to Woo Jin-gon.”
Upon hearing my reply, Managing Director Cha Kang-hyuk drank the carbonated beverage in front of him and said.
“This is refreshing. Didn’t you say the old man is also going to be investigated for this?”
“Yes. It’s been confirmed that Director Woo was not only involved in the news about the Managing Director but also offered money to the victims for false testimonies.”
“Indeed. I had some inkling after hearing Secretary Kim’s thoughts, but I didn’t realize it was all true.”
Everything I said on the first day I met Managing Director Cha Kang-hyuk turned out to be true.
Even I was surprised that all my conjectures based on the trial records from my previous life were true.
This means that Woo Jin-gon and his father not only did terrible things to an old friend and his son but also intervened in the media.
“With this, Director Woo won’t be able to avoid additional investigations either.”
“That’s right. Usually, people don’t do these kinds of things just once.”
It’s highly likely that they have been gaining benefits in some form in exchange for articles.
With this incident, the probability of a widespread investigation focusing on charges such as instigating perjury (inciting false testimony) and breach of trust for personal gain (receiving financial benefits for news requests) has increased.
“I… I didn’t want to believe that the old man would do something like this to me. Honestly, the shock is quite big.”
“I understand.”
“But my father was even more surprised than me, so I can’t show any emotions.”
Before becoming the chairman of Cha Han Construction, they had been placing advertisements with KBN for a long time.
Cha Kang-hyuk’s loyalty was actually partly due to his father’s upbringing.
He thought they shared a friendship that spanned generations, but it turned out he had unjustly pushed his son into a dangerous situation.
Even without saying it, I could tell how shocked Chairman Cha must be.
“These days, he’s lying down and can barely get up. He must be quite shocked, having trusted someone his whole life.”
“Please comfort him well, Managing Director.”
“I should. In a way, it’s because of me that my father became like that.”
“It’s not your fault, Managing Director. This is just a joint work of Woo Jin-gon, Director Woo, and the people who were at the club that day.”
Everyone except Cha Kang-hyuk is an accomplice.
“Now that I think about it, my friends were also quite strange. While the office workers who were victims probably received money from Woo Jin-gon’s father, the other friends were too actively involved in the lies.”
“That’s right.”
At first, I thought it was because they were the ones who caused the disturbance and were trying to get away with it.
After all, it was Woo Jin-gon and the other two friends who caused the quarrel and participated in the assault.
However, if they were going to settle with money, there wouldn’t have been a big problem.
It didn’t escalate to a violent beating because Cha Kang-hyuk kept stopping them.
That’s why the 40-something office worker was able to hit Cha Kang-hyuk, who was trying to intervene.
“But if drugs are involved, it’s a different story. This is a cause for arrest.”
Indeed, Woo Jin-gon and his group are currently in custody.
The other office workers are also being investigated by the police for false accusation and perjury.
It was the crime of receiving money and falsely accusing Cha Kang-hyuk of something that wasn’t true.
“Attorney Ahn, at first, I simply thought it was an unfair case for Managing Director Cha, but it’s grown much bigger than I imagined.”
Attorney Yoon… You didn’t think that until you secured the black box footage, did you?
Why did you delete the memory of looking like you lost your country when you took on this case?!
…I swallowed those words in my heart, considering the warm atmosphere.
Attorney Ahn Gyeong-hun, knowing that Attorney Yoon had worked quite hard on this case, pretended not to know and said.
“That’s right. It’s an incident that occurred when a chaebol’s third-generation heir and his friends collectively smoked drugs.”
Thanks to securing Woo Jin-gon’s hair beforehand, the prosecution’s investigation proceeded quickly.
This was because Woo Jin-gon, as well as the other two, might have shaved their heads to destroy evidence.
And to prove his innocence, Cha Kang-hyuk willingly underwent the test as well.
From the start, Cha Kang-hyuk’s innocence was essential for the CCTV footage of the club’s VVIP room to be admitted as evidence.
‘The CCTV footage has no sound. It merely shows the situation in that room.’
Before Cha Kang-hyuk arrived, they calmly smoked drugs. The shape of the cigarette was a bit peculiar, but that alone couldn’t specifically prove that they smoked it there.
However, once Managing Director Cha arrived, the atmosphere in the room changed.
This was because numerous scenes were captured where he frowned, covered his nose, or waved his hand due to the peculiar foul smell.
I still spoke to Cha Kang-hyuk, who was looking at the article.
“You’ve somehow become a witness in a drug case.”
“Indeed. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about this.”
“If you don’t know, how about we all laugh together?”
Cha Kang-hyuk looked at Attorney Yoon Yi-hoon’s proposal with an expression that said he couldn’t stop him.
Then Attorney Yoon quickly added.
“Attorney Ahn and I have to do newspaper interviews soon anyway. It’s good to practice laughing at a time like this.”
“Hmm, Attorney. Weren’t you someone who didn’t like being in the newspaper in big letters?”
Who was that person who cried that they’d be killed by their father if they appeared in the newspaper as Cha Kang-hyuk’s lawyer?
Attorney Yoon, understanding my expression, vigorously shook his head and said.
“No, no. I, I like it. Really.”
“Ah, yes.”
“So, I won’t die now, right?”
Instead, he was likely to be praised by his father for doing well.
Because he had solved a more significant case than expected.
I looked at Cha Kang-hyuk and informed him of the future trial plan.
“Managing Director, even if your innocence is proven, it will be difficult for the case to conclude like this. After all, the victim is still unconscious, so you will continue to face trial.”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
But don’t worry.
It will take some time, but he’s expected to wake up perfectly fine.
…I held back those words, as they could instantly shatter the warm atmosphere we had built up.
It wasn’t as if there was absolutely no other way.
“Anyway, as long as the victim wakes up safely, you’re practically acting in self-defense, Managing Director. You were hit multiple times first.”
Of course, “practically” doesn’t mean it’s actual self-defense.
This is because the scope of recognition in our country is too narrow.
However, there is at least room to argue for innocence.
“Attorney Yoo-hee is right. The other person struck first, and the Managing Director had no intent to assault.”
“Does that mean that if that person continues to lie there like that… I could be found guilty?”
“Yes.”
Cha Kang-hyuk’s expression darkened again at Attorney Ahn’s reply.
“Even if it’s a guilty verdict, the possibility of probation is high, so the situation is much better than before.”
“Yes. At first, it was a definite prison sentence, so not going to jail is something…”
Cha Kang-hyuk trailed off, blurring his words.
Unless he was acquitted, a criminal record would remain even if he wasn’t detained.
“The human heart is truly fickle. At first, I just thought it would be good if my unfairness was resolved. Now that I think about probation, my heart feels a little heavy.”
I told you not to worry.
Why else would I have escalated the situation, even involving Woo Jin-gon?
Of course, the biggest reason was to punish the bad guy.
But if that were the only reason, there would have been no need to broadcast it and stir up public opinion like this.
All of this was to delay the trial as much as possible.
Until the victim opened his eyes, perfectly fine.
He had only lost consciousness from hitting his head; his body was not severely injured.
“Managing Director, the fact that we’ve come this far is practically a miracle, isn’t it?”
“Yes, I know that too.”
You were legally detained in your past life, my friend.
Compared to that, this current situation truly was a miracle.
I winked and raised one finger.
“Then shall we wish for one more miracle? Who knows? Maybe then that person will wake up.”
Let’s go for the full success fee.
Team Rocket, let’s go!
Unlike the previous life, we were able to delay the trial date.
This was because all the attention was drawn to Woo Jin-gon.
Also, he couldn’t completely escape the Managing Director Cha Kang-hyuk’s case from the beginning.
The prosecutor indicted Woo Jin-gon in court and applied for a merger of the cases.
Thus, the defendant in this case, who was initially just Cha Kang-hyuk, suddenly increased to four people with the addition of Woo Jin-gon and the others.
In such cases, the public hearing dates can be set differently depending on the progress of the case.
In Managing Director Cha’s case, the trial had already begun, and the other three had to deal with drug, false accusation, and perjury charges, so the public hearing date was naturally postponed.
“With this, we’ve exceeded our goal.”
“That’s right! For now, only those three will proceed with their public hearing dates.”
Attorney Yoon Yi-hoon, who had jumped up and exclaimed, suddenly clasped his hands reverently.
It seemed he had taken my words from the last meeting seriously.
“Now all that’s left is to wish for a miracle.”
“Hmm, I’ll wish for it too.”
“Attorney Ahn, you too?”
“There’s a need for it.”
“Haeum… you mean?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Attorney Ahn Gyeong-hun nodded heavily at my question.
He was wishing for an impossible miracle.
Because Haeum’s time was running out…
But another miracle could happen.
Because with this incident, it became possible to contact the media even without Cha Kang-hyuk’s help.
The long-desired sudden acceleration incident could finally be revealed to the world.