Chapter 236
Sudden words of reprimand hit me, and I quickly racked my brain. What could I have done to deserve Hwang Youngchan accusing me of meddling in his affairs? He rarely ever raised his voice at me, so this had to be something serious.
As I hesitated, the clear answer soon came from his mouth.
"The Hanyeong Group second case—what the hell are you digging into it for? Do you even know how much trouble you've stirred up for yourself?"
"Trouble? What do you mean by that, sir?"
All I'd done at the prosecutor's office was ask Prosecutor Shin Eunhye how the case was shaping up. Outside of that, I'd only met Dongjin privately to discuss what to do next and advised him on what to request from his lawyer.
"Prosecutor Shin is furious right now! If she decides to make an issue of it, who knows what could happen?"
"I was just asking out of personal curiosity about the case's progress. And I thought Prosecutor Shin was satisfied with my explanation."
I deflected for now. Letting on that Dongjin and I were friends wouldn't do me any favors.
"Personal curiosity? She bought that? Then explain why the suspect in that case showed up in your office on the day you met her. Go on, explain!"
Hwang Youngchan's words left me speechless for a moment. Thinking back, he was right. Dongjin was already a suspect, and him coming and going from my office was a problem in itself. I hadn't thought it through that deeply.
That day, I'd been half-asleep when he showed up out of the blue, then got hit with shocking news right after. In my panic to help Dongjin somehow, I'd been too frantic to consider the implications.
"Prosecutor Shin told me. At first, she figured you were just curious when you asked about the case. But then one of her investigators spotted the suspect leaving your office. Said you even walked him out, looking all chummy."
"……."
"You're lucky you didn't say anything stupid, or this could've been twisted into you taking bribes for the case. Got it?"
I could see his point completely. I stood with my hands clasped behind my back and bowed my head.
"I'm sorry, sir."
"I smoothed things over with her, told her it wasn't like that, so you're in the clear. Understand? You came this close to a real disaster!"
Even when I'd asked Prosecutor Shin about the case, I'd been careful not to give her any reason to suspect influence-peddling. I'd thought that would be enough to avoid misunderstandings, but an investigator spotting Dongjin?
"I'll apologize to Prosecutor Shin personally."
"You know I'm saying this because I care about you, right?"
"I do, sir."
"I'm worried you'll tarnish your career over something like this. Lucky for you, she came to me first out of old loyalty from when she was under me. If she'd gone to her section chief instead? This scolding might not have been the end of it. If word of solicitation got out and they launched an internal probe? You're done for!"
"……I understand."
Hwang Youngchan let out a long sigh, rubbing his forehead.
"What's your deal with that suspect anyway?"
"He's a friend."
"Close?"
"Childhood friends."
He clicked his tongue in pity.
"You should've come to me first. I could've cleared it up for you."
"……I'm sorry."
At the time, I was in Hwang Youngchan's good graces, and there were no issues between us. But reporting to my superior felt wrong, and asking him for a favor would've smacked of exactly the solicitation I was trying to avoid. That stubbornness was my mistake.
"From what I've checked, the facts the prosecutors have don't match the suspect's story at all. Prosecutor Cha, you're taking his side?"
Hwang Youngchan softened his tone as he asked. He'd clearly come here after getting a grasp on the situation.
"That friend of mine isn't the type to barge into someone else's OR out of ambition. The section chief is framing him to cover his own negligence."
"Evidence?"
"None. He says the chief bribed the witnesses."
"Ha, what a mess."
For days, I'd told Dongjin and his lawyer to approach the witnesses and persuade them somehow, but they kept striking out. I didn't know what the chief was offering, but Dongjin couldn't compete with it.
The hospital's internal CCTV didn't show any proof of the chief forcing Dongjin to take over the surgery. If anything, it only backed the claim that Dongjin had stormed in recklessly—footage of him rushing to the OR after hanging up a call.
And the person he'd called at that exact time? The chief. It lent credence to the chief's lie that Dongjin had insisted on doing the surgery himself.
"If you're right, the suspect's in a tough spot. But as things stand, there's no way out. Might be better to push for a reduced sentence. Looks like Hanyeong Group's chairman is throwing a fit, parading his kid around and vowing to see the suspect rot in jail."
I wasn't saying Dongjin was blameless. But he insisted the surgery had gone as well as it could; it wasn't malpractice. The patient died on the table because their condition was too advanced—not due to any error.
The chief had known the risks were high and ducked out. But with the VIP threatening to go elsewhere and the hospital director needing backing for a nursing home project—plus the chief eyeing a promotion through the director—he couldn't afford to lose that patient.
Dongjin had explained this power dynamic to the prosecutors, but Shin Eunhye bought the story that he was desperate to avoid a demotion to a branch hospital and crashed the OR to snag the VIP.
(Though Dongjin swore he was never in danger of a transfer in the first place.)
"Prosecutor Cha, I get wanting to save your friend. I can imagine how much it hurts. But throwing your own future away for him? That's just foolish."
"……."
"You've helped as much as you can. Time to back off."
In the end, I said I understood. But I didn't follow through.
Right up until Dongjin's trial, I called him almost daily, double- and triple-checking for anything that could serve as evidence.
In the process, we even secured a witness. A faint light seemed to glimmer, and Dongjin started regaining some spirit.
But then, just days before the trial:
"……Juhan, what do I do?"
Dongjin came to see me. His voice was choked, ready to break at the slightest push.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"……The junior who agreed to testify says he can't anymore."
"What? Out of nowhere? Why?"
"Just... can't. Won't say why…… Hic, Juhan, I'm done for, aren't I? That's it, right?"
"Don't talk like that. Go back to the lawyer and that junior. This isn't the time to despair. We need to know what happened before we can figure out how to bring him around."
"He took leave until the trial date. Won't pick up his phone……."
With that, he broke down sobbing.
We'd barely found that witness. To avoid the chief getting wind before trial, we hadn't even listed him formally as a judicial witness.
"Juhan, one last favor. Please."
"Name it. Anything."
"Your section chief is buddies with my lead prosecutor, right? And he likes you. So... could you just ask him to put in a good word? Just once? It's the same criminal division, not some unrelated department. If he leans on the guy, maybe the prosecutor reconsiders……."
I sighed. In my desperation to find witnesses, I'd considered it myself.
"If that's too much, could you at least pass a message to the prosecutor? Please? My kid's not even in school yet. If I get branded like this, I'm sidelined for years. Career in ruins is one thing, but I gotta put food on the table……."
I couldn't respond. Finally, Dongjin dropped to his knees on the floor.
"Hey, what the hell! Get up!"
I jumped, trying to pull him up, but he wouldn't budge.
"Juhan, help me just this once. I'm begging you. I'm really done if this goes on. Please……."
"Dongjin."
"I never wanted to put you in this spot…… But I've got nowhere left to turn. So please, Juhan. Save me."
Dongjin uttered words I'd never imagined from him. His voice was so raw with despair that I could feel how cornered he was.
A storm of thoughts swirled in my head.
—If word of solicitation gets out and they launch an internal probe! You're done for!
Hwang Youngchan's scolding voice tormented me most. Maintaining my reputation to climb high and topple Wooshin—that goal would crumble.
A montage flashed before my eyes, ending with my father's smiling portrait photo.
"Sorry, Dongjin."
That was all I could say.
In the trial that followed soon after, Dongjin's side argued for leniency as expected. But the court didn't reduce the sentence—not even a little. They handed down exactly what the prosecutor had requested.
Judges usually went lighter than the prosecution's demand, so Hanyeong Group's influence must have weighed heavy.
News and the internet spread the tip—"Myeongun University Hospital neurosurgeon Y, graduate of Dong University"—pinpointing Dongjin in no time.
Sentenced to prison, he was taken into custody on the spot and shipped off. Naturally, Myeongun University Hospital fired him too.
Guilt over turning my back on a desperate Dongjin gnawed at me. Meals tasted like sand; sleep evaded me. When I did drift off, nightmares haunted me.
I tried visiting him in prison, but was refused every time. I met his lawyer to check on an appeal—only vague answers. I even went to his house to see if his family was okay, but the security guard said they'd moved out like they were fleeing.
Every day was agony. Should I have said something to Hwang Youngchan? Did I doom Dongjin? My head knew it wasn't my fault, but the guilt wouldn't fade.
Then one day, a text arrived.
Dongjin had hanged himself in prison.