Chapter 268
I'm managing to keep my composure, but my body is still on edge. I woke up just before 5 a.m. Even though I'd gone to bed at my usual time, I was up a full hour earlier than normal. I tried to go back to sleep, but it wasn't happening, so I just got up. Darkness still blanketed the world outside the window. After a quick shower, I headed downstairs, thinking I'd smoke a cigarette.
"You're up already? You must be hungry. Want some breakfast first?"
The housekeepers were already bustling about preparing the morning meal; the aroma of cooking rice filled the first floor.
"No, thanks. Just stepping out for a smoke."
"Oh, right. How about I whip up a fresh juice for you?"
"I'm good."
As I passed through the living room, my eye caught the stack of morning newspapers neatly arranged on the table.
"......"
They subscribed to every major paper, with seven or eight editions laid out. I picked up the top one—Iljungilbo—because a massive photo dominated the front page.
A photo of Lee Jeongchan's face superimposed against a reservoir backdrop.
I reflexively scanned the article below it.
The body of former Minwoo Party Chairman Lee Jeongchan was discovered in a reservoir in Gyeonggi Province on the 4th, just a week before his trial. The deceased had gone out with his driver, citing an appointment, and after two days with no word, his housekeeper grew suspicious and reported him missing, prompting a search. Coincidentally, a passerby who had visited the reservoir spotted the body and called it in. Fingerprint analysis confirmed it as Lee Jeongchan. See page 2 for details.
The back-page story matched what I already knew. They'd pinpointed a suspect from his phone texts.
[...Authorities identified a suspect—lawyer Cha of a certain firm—whom the deceased was scheduled to meet at the reservoir and attempted to summon. However, Cha has vanished and is now on the run.]
And there it was, naming me as the prime suspect. My full name and age weren't given, but with a surname like Cha—not all that common—and tied to Lee Jeongchan recently, anyone in the know would point straight to me. It might as well have been plastered in lights.
I sank onto the sofa and flicked on the TV.
Flipping channels, I saw Iljungilbo had broken the embargo first, sparking a frenzy across every news outlet. Some even aired my old TV appearances with a mosaic over my face.
"Lawyer Cha!"
At that moment, thudding footsteps echoed as Kang Minjae barreled downstairs. Freshly woken, his hair was a bird's nest, and he was still in pajamas.
"Lawyer Cha, Iljungilbo broke the embargo..."
He rushed over, yelling, but froze upon reaching me, staring blankly at the TV.
"......Fuck, have they lost their minds?"
Just then, footage of my broadcast appearance played, and he couldn't contain his rage.
"No solid evidence yet, and they're already doxxing you? Are they insane?!"
"Iljungilbo dropped 'lawyer Cha' first. Now everyone's scrambling with Lee Jeongchan breaking news, and someone decided not to miss out on the suspect angle by recycling my clips."
"Waking up to this bullshit... A buddy called me out of the blue, asking if it was you."
Kang Minjae flopped onto the sofa and checked the Iljungilbo on the table. The other papers had honored the embargo—their front pages covered different stories. Once today's Iljungilbo hit, the stations must've rushed out prepped footage.
"This'll light a fire under the police. Expect search warrants today—they'll hit my place and the office first."
"......I'll call the office manager. Tell him to stay home today."
"I'll handle it."
I reached for the burner phone Kang Minjae had given me yesterday but stopped. Oh Yanghun was my closest ally. In my absence, cops would check his call logs first. Calling him right after the news broke would flag this number as suspicious.
If Kang Minjae called, it'd look like office chatter in a crisis. That's the story for any investigation.
"Call the manager and hand me the phone."
"Got it."
Early as it was, he picked up quickly.
"......Kang? What's up at this hour?"
"Sorry to call so early, Manager."
"Lawyer Cha?"
"Yes, it's me."
"Everything okay?"
His voice sharpened, fully awake.
"Lee Jeongchan, the ex-chairman—he's dead."
"......What? The one I know?"
"Yes. And I'm the prime suspect."
"What the—?!"
His voice spiked. I heard his wife asking what was wrong in the background. He brushed it off and stepped out—door click.
"What do you mean? You, a suspect?!"
"Don't worry—I'm not the killer."
"Of course not! As if!"
"There was an embargo on reports, so we had prep time. I learned last night, was gonna brief you this morning."
"......They broke it?"
TV announcer faint in the background—he'd turned it on.
"Ridiculous......"
"Iljungilbo jumped first, triggering a reporting war. They're all naming 'lawyer Cha' pretty specifically."
"You okay? Where are you? Kang's number means you're together...? News says you're fleeing—status?"
"Not fleeing exactly, but hiding at Kang's place."
"......Smart move."
A beat of silence.
"Even suspicious, they can't search the ex-president's house without evidence."
"Right."
"......Expect raids on your home and office today. Skip work?"
"No—come in. Kang too."
Kang Minjae yelped beside me, "This situation?!"
"Yeah, emptying the office now would look bad for us all."
"True. Gotta act uninvolved—because we are."
"Exactly. Prove your innocence by showing everything. Sorry in advance—you'll get grilled because of me."
"Nonsense. Anyway...... Anything to hide at the office? I can head in early."
"Wipe the back of the whiteboard. Take down the photos."
"Got it."
"Thanks. And for the record, this call was Kang freaking out over the news."
"Understood. Glad we share an office—no need to suspect each other."
I handed the phone back to Kang Minjae after it ended.
"What about your place? Anything to hide there?"
"Nah."
I'd kept Wooshin docs and notes at home before, but after the office bugging, I rented a small storage unit. Even if seized, nothing critical—but optics matter. With Wooshin influence everywhere, cops finding Wooshin files at my house could raise flags. And if it reached Wooshin's ears, they'd know exactly what I had.
"Call Yun Se-yeon? Get a read on media vibe."
"Better you do it. Pretend you don't know where I am—call once."
"On it."
As Kang Minjae grabbed his phone, it rang. The screen lit up: [Yun Se-yeon].
"Persistent woman."
"......Time for jokes? Sigh. Taking it?"
I nodded. He hit accept and speaker.
"Lawyer Cha! Seen the news? The papers?!"
"Yun! How could you? Warn a guy before dropping a bomb like this!"
Kang Minjae jumped in hot.
She fired back louder.
"I didn't know! Swear!"
"You didn't know either?"
"No! They forced me to burn vacation days... Couldn't reach Cha— you okay?"
"Phone's off. No contact."
"I know it's bullshit, but gotta confirm. Right?"
"Yun, you calling to pump me for info?!"
Kang Minjae was genuinely pissed. She backpedaled softly.
"Sorry. Not like that. I know it's not him— just covering bases so I don't look stupid if it is. Honest."
"......No way it's him. I was with him at the reservoir that day. Alibi!"
"Phew, thank God......"
She exhaled heavily.
"I'll testify that. He rode with me—CCTV caught it. If you run a story, play nice."
"Will do. I'll push hard. What a mess......"
"Any new reporting guidelines? Email me—I can check, pass to office. He might see it."
"Sure. I'll email him too."
Kang Minjae slumped against the sofa back after hanging up, still dazed. I was rattled too. Two more days, I'd thought—then this.
"Driving me nuts. Thought even post-embargo, no suspect details yet."
I'd hoped the same but prepared otherwise. One outlet blabs, they all follow. Apologize small later if wrong.
"Nuts...... Cops'll call you and the manager today?"
"Yeah. And my parents... Call them for me. Say I'm safe, not guilty, have proof—ask 'em to wait it out. If police ask about your call logs, say you were checking on me. No telling anyone."
He jotted notes on newspaper margins, pen down.
"You sure you don't wanna do it yourself?"
Mom would cry hearing my voice—no way.
"You do it."
"......Got it."
"Heads up from now on. Both of us."