Chapter 144
"......"
"Kim Eui-cheol was verbally abused by Go Yunseong for making a small mistake back then. Oh Sanghyeon pointed out Go Yunseong's rudeness right there on the spot. What did Oh Sanghyeon say at that moment? You can say that much, can't you?"
If I asked Kim Eui-cheol, who had already taken the money, what Go Yunseong had said to him, he'd clam up. Even if it was something everyone already knew, hearing it straight from Kim Eui-cheol's own mouth would be different.
It was better to ask what Oh Sanghyeon had said. Kim Eui-cheol chewed on his lower lip before slowly opening his mouth.
"......Mr. Oh said, 'It was just a mistake—aren't you being too rude to an elder?'"
"Yes, that's right. But Go Yunseong claims the criticism was too harsh. He says Oh Sanghyeon scolded him so severely in front of everyone that he felt humiliated."
"......"
"But it wasn't that bad, was it?"
Kim Eui-cheol hadn't even witnessed the assault firsthand, so this was all he could testify to in court. It would lend legitimacy to the claim that Oh Sanghyeon harbored clear hostility toward Go Yunseong, leading to the assault.
Kim Eui-cheol had to know that. I planned to remind him once more that what he was about to do was blatant perjury—a crime.
"You must have felt it too, Mr. Kim. If Oh Sanghyeon hadn't stepped in, do you think Go Yunseong would have stopped at just that?"
"I-I wouldn't know."
"Good. Then, between Oh Sanghyeon and Go Yunseong at that moment, who used the harsher words?"
"......"
"You don't seem to remember, so let me remind you. You had just made a simple mistake, but Go Yunseong told you something like, 'You half-dead bastard should stay holed up at home—why crawl out here and be a nuisance?'"
Even to me, it was shocking. Hearing it again would wound Kim Eui-cheol deeply. But hadn't he forgotten the humiliation of that day?
Go Yunseong was the one who insulted him, and Oh Sanghyeon had tried to protect him. Yet here he was, selling out Oh Sanghyeon for money and helping Go Yunseong.
"Th-that... I already got an apology for that!" Kim Eui-cheol shouted.
"When did you get that apology? You didn't get one at the scene. Ah, right—you got it when you visited the hospital room."
Kim Eui-cheol hung his head, realizing his slip-up.
"So Go Yunseong gave you five million as an apology. But that's far too generous for mere remorse."
"......"
"Did they ask you to give false testimony in court?"
"Th-they did ask me to testify. But whether it's false or not—"
"Then why give you money if they just wanted the facts?"
"They said it was hazard pay in case perjury got exposed? Let me explain since you seem clueless—perjury is a crime, and the punishment isn't light. Five million won't cover the risk."
"No, that's not it! It's not!"
I nearly burst out in admiration. That excuse had to be a joint effort between Go Yunseong and the Taegwang lawyers. How could anyone be this devious?
"Stop it! Get out! I have nothing more to say! Go see the foreman! He's the site supervisor! He knows better than me!"
Kim Eui-cheol kept shoving the blame onto the foreman. The foreman had taken money too, after all. I planned to meet him separately anyway, but I hadn't expected Kim Eui-cheol to point us there so insistently. Were they in cahoots? It wouldn't be surprising if they'd coordinated stories, both on Go Yunseong's payroll.
"Asking a powerless guy like me a thousand times won't help. You're barking up the wrong tree. Go see the foreman!"
Kim Eui-cheol repeated himself, herding us toward the door.
"Go to the foreman! Stop harassing me!"
With surprising strength, he pushed me and Kang Minjae back to the front door. Conversation was hopeless today. I slipped on my shoes, glanced back as I stepped out.
"Don't come back! Ask the foreman!"
His eyes met mine as he bellowed and shoved me out. I paused at the threshold. That fleeting glance lingered in my mind.
"......The foreman, you say?"
"Finally getting it. Yeah! The foreman! I'm just a day laborer!"
He slammed the door behind those words. I stood there for a moment, letting out a hollow chuckle. I'd been the fool this time.
"Lawyer, I told you to be nicer. You're great otherwise, but this is the problem. Well, maybe not great overall, but anyway—"
"Kang Min-jae."
"Yes?"
"We need to set up a meeting with the site foreman."
"The site foreman?"
"He told us to go ask him."
I should have caught on sooner. Kim Eui-cheol had been dropping hints about the foreman from the start. We headed straight back to the office. Kang Minjae barely took off his jacket before briefing Oh Yanghun, the office manager, on the day's events.
"......The lawyer's right," Oh Yanghun nodded. "The foreman knew there was CCTV at the site back then."
I rolled up my shirt sleeves and pointed to the construction site photos pinned to the whiteboard—especially the one of the alley where the assault happened.
"Kim Eui-cheol telling us to go to the foreman might be connected to that CCTV. Just a hunch, but maybe the foreman handed it over, or got orders from Wooshin to delete it. Either way, he might have evidence about the CCTV."
"But didn't we decide the foreman took money too? What good will talking to him do?"
That was exactly why we hadn't prioritized him from the start. CCTV footage of the scene would be decisive evidence—even proof the prosecution covered up the truth. Go Yunseong's side couldn't have overlooked the foreman's knowledge of it. Leaving him alone would make him a ticking time bomb if he sided with Oh Sanghyeon. So they'd bought him off, turning him into an accomplice in hiding the truth. That's why I hadn't seen him as a priority early on—he clearly wouldn't cooperate.
"Yes, but the same goes for Kim Eui-cheol."
Kang Minjae nodded at my words.
"Exactly. He could've just stayed silent, but he kept hinting to go to the foreman. Probably some conscience nagging at him. The foreman might talk too."
He paused thoughtfully, then added, "Hearing you grill him like that, my mouth wanted to open on its own. Office manager, you should've heard—you'd have felt the heat too."
"You've been famous for that since your prosecutor days."
Not the most nutritious conversation. I tuned out their banter and kept thinking. One thing puzzled me: How did Kim Eui-cheol know the foreman was hiding the CCTV? Ordinary laborers wouldn't notice cameras in a back alley like that. Had the foreman told him?
"There might've been some conversation between Kim Eui-cheol and the foreman."
"Conversation?"
"Maybe the foreman admitted knowing the truth."
"Why?"
No way to know. Were they friends? Or did the foreman approach Kim Eui-cheol after learning he'd taken backroom money from Go Yunseong as the incident's trigger? Or had some laborers already sniffed out that the foreman knew something?
"Not sure, but we can find out."
I held up my phone.
* * *
5:30 a.m. The men warming themselves by the heater all turned toward the entrance. Sanggil, fiddling with his hand warmer as he stepped inside, flinched at the stares.
'They must be staring 'cause I'm too handsome. Ha, damn. Grew my hair a bit and my hidden good looks came out.'
He'd done day labor at construction sites before, so he filled out the form smoothly and sat on a bench in the corner. Wait for the van, then hop on the one heading to the Wooshin Construction apartment site.
'But why they keep staring?'
Handsome only explains so much—why the death glares? Did Lawyer Cha live like this? Must be exhausting. Sanggil ignored them by firing up Mini Game Heaven on his phone. Focus on high scores, forget the eyes.
"Hey."
An uncle slurping coffee approached.
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"What about me?"
Sanggil licked his dry lips and looked up.
"Your fly's open."
Sanggil glanced down between his legs.
"Gah!"
Why did Hello Kitty peek out right through the open zipper? Why hot pink panties drawing all the eyes? Cursing his pants, he spun around and yanked the zipper up. Face burning, his secret taste exposed.
"Young punk wandering around brain-dead."
"......"
Can't lose face. Sanggil crossed his legs casually on the bench. Inside, hot tears flowed.
'Ah, fuck... mortifying.'
They boarded the van before dawn, but by the time they arrived, it was light out.
"Eek! Foreman, take one off! Just one!"
"60-year-olds haul five each—young buck can't handle it?"
Sanggil emptied his mind. Taesik hyung said he'd make it easy working together—total bullshit. After five hours (feeling like ten), dying to bolt, lunch hit like clockwork. Perfectly timed, suspiciously so.
He piled rice high at the lunch spot, slid next to the clingy uncle, who pulled out a chair.
Over food, stories flowed: kids, wives, everything. The uncle, silent till now, wouldn't shut up. Sanggil played along, then timed his opener perfectly.
"By the way, heard from some uncle earlier—the Wooshin Group's youngest maknae threw a fit here?"
"Oh, that? Two months ago. Heard he's hospitalized now, sick or something."
"Hospital? Whoa, why?"
Sanggil's reactions egged him on; the uncle lit up, spilling details as an eyewitness.
"So the deputy really punched Go Yunseong?"
"Dunno. Didn't seem the type."
"No evidence or anything?"
The uncle headed to dump his tray; Sanggil trailed, peppering questions.
"Nah, Go Yunseong dragged the deputy off saying 'talk a sec,' but took too long, so the foreman rushed into the site office."
"Site office? Why there?"
"CCTV monitors are there. Checking if something happened."
Sanggil nearly yelled. Finally!
"So the foreman checked the CCTV?"
"He went in alone—no one knows but him. He said no camera in that fight spot."
"Aw, too bad. If he'd seen, it'd clear everything up."
The uncle nodded, puffing his smoke deeply.
"Honestly, among us, some doubt the deputy punched him. But we saw Go Yunseong staggering out bloody, so who knows. Sigh, gotta piss. Wait here."
As the uncle vanished to the porta-potty, Sanggil whipped out his phone.