Chapter 43
The shantytown in Samchang-dong, Iyang-gu, was exactly as depicted in the drama. The road leading up by car was bumpy and uneven, and the staircases people climbed were so steep they evoked sheer cliffs. Beneath a fence punctured with holes here and there, the downhill path was lined with dilapidated villas pressed right up against each other. It felt like the 1980s.
Then, upon reaching the flat ground, Samchang-dong transformed into a modern space, like stepping into another world. Along the main road stood high-rises intermittently flashing red aviation lights. In the back alleys, a neon-lit commercial district had developed.
Perhaps because the drama had shown this panoramic view so many times, it felt familiar despite being my first time, as if I'd been here several times before.
"That's the high-rise from the inspiration notebook."
We walked slowly along the fence toward the spot where Jeong Hyejin must have written her notes.
"[...] Clearly, long ago, this wooden bench must have been a stylish green one, but now the paint had peeled off, leaving it shabby. Hardened paint stains clung to the wood grain, getting in the way. I sat on that bench and looked down at the area below the fence [...]"
Walking along the path under the flickering orange streetlights, we drew closer to the bench described in the notebook. And there, someone was sitting on it.
"Kang?"
"...Lawyer?"
Kang Minjae, who had been deep in thought on the bench, jumped up with a dumbfounded look. I couldn't hide my own surprise at running into him so unexpectedly. I'd thought it odd that he hadn't insisted on tagging along all the way.
Taesik looked like he'd seen a ghost. He knew why I'd left Kang behind and had him drive instead. I'd told him on the way here, after he'd grumbled nonstop about why I was making him play chauffeur.
"What brings you here?"
"I just... What about you, sir?"
"Just... Answer first."
"I wondered if there was anything I missed in my investigation, so I came back to check... You're doing the same, right?"
Kang Minjae sighed and hung his head. He clearly felt disappointed in himself.
I lit a cigarette and replied.
"Everyone makes mistakes."
"..."
"Even if I came here myself, I might not find anything. I'm human too."
I didn't want Kang Minjae feeling unnecessary guilt or helplessness. He was plenty capable. Sometimes I even thought he might suit the "good lawyer" image I was aiming for even better. Above all, he was always so upbeat—I didn't want to see him down in the dumps.
"I wish you'd be the one to find it, sir."
"..."
"Proof that my investigation fell short—that Jeong Hyejin's inspiration notebook was fabricated. Not someone else. You find it, sir. For me."
Kang Minjae stood from the bench as he spoke.
"I still have a lot to learn, but if you do, it'll make me even more certain I made the right choice joining you."
A lot to learn. I stubbed out my cigarette and glanced at his back.
What would he think if he knew I wasn't the good person he imagined? That my goal came before anything else, and I was just biding my time in disguise for now? I'd initially thought I could groom him into a colleague, but lately, I wasn't so sure. Was it right to drag someone like him into something this dangerous?
"That building. It gets the most description in Jeong Hyejin's notebook too."
Kang Minjae changed the subject. I turned my gaze to where he pointed—the same building I'd been watching.
"The part about the cola ad on the top billboard. And from what I checked, that ad really was up back then."
Jeong Hyejin's inspiration notebook mentioned the billboards on that building quite a bit. There were five in total, but only one was described. I'd read the notebook so many times I had it memorized.
"[...] The high-rise with fifteen blinking red lights has an electronic billboard displaying a cola ad dotted with red, as if matching the color. And below it, the red light of the traffic signal at the crosswalk on the main road. The red lights of the cars [...]"
The notebook's focus on red made it seem like it was foreshadowing the "flames" from the drama—though it didn't explain the foreshadowing convincingly. Maybe she'd added it deliberately to justify its repeated appearances. There'd even been online forum posts speculating as much.
"The cola ad aside. Car lights are obviously red sometimes. But the traffic light?"
"Checked that too. It was there last year, same spot."
As Kang Minjae explained while staring at the building, a flicker from the upper floors caught my eye. High-rises have blinking red aviation lights for planes at night. They stand out better than steady ones.
"Two, four, six, eight, ten, fourteen, sixteen..."
But right now, the building had sixteen lights blinking. Not the fifteen Jeong Hyejin mentioned.
I pulled up the photo Kang Minjae had sent me via text when he'd come to investigate. It showed fifteen red aviation lights, just like in the notebook. The rectangular building had lights at each of the four corners, in sets of four—totaling sixteen.
He'd taken the photo after receiving the notebook. Not long after Jeong Hyejin supposedly fabricated it.
But would they leave aviation lights—required by law—unfixed for so long? Normally, all sixteen would be on, like now.
And if, on that day in 2006 from the notebook, all sixteen had been blinking normally?
"Sir, what're you doing?"
"Those blinking red lights up there."
"Aviation lights, right?"
I pointed at the building.
"Look closely. There should be sixteen. Four by four is sixteen."
"Huh? You're right—one's out."
"Fifteen in Jeong Hyejin's notebook, fifteen in your photo. But what if all sixteen were blinking fine back in 2006?"
"Ha... Proof of fabrication."
She couldn't claim she'd just miscounted the visible lights. If so, the four on the unseen opposite corner should've been invisible too—making it twelve lights total.
"Whooooa!"
Suddenly, Kang Minjae let out a whoop and bolted down the alley, yelling.
"Sir."
Taesik spoke up from behind him.
"I'll look into it."
"What?"
"The print shop. Proof it was printed."
"No need."
I cut him off. It wouldn't prove plagiarism, but it could serve as evidence the defense fabricated the notebook. Enough to refocus on the core issue.
Taesik had already spent ages at print shops without luck. Time to wash our hands of it. Lingering would just breed regret.
"No, I will. You two are working so hard, and I feel like I'm slacking. How much time do we have?"
I recalled the trial date the judge had announced. If he insisted, I wouldn't stop him. If it turned up, it'd bolster our case obviously.
"One week."
"Sir!"
A few days later, Kang Minjae rushed straight to me the moment he arrived at the office. I nearly dropped my coffee cup while smoking on the balcony.
"Loud as hell this early."
"I think I found something huge."
He pulled a bound stack of papers from his briefcase—the full copy of Jeong Hyejin's inspiration notebook we'd requested from Blue Island Media.
"We already confirmed the aviation lights were all sixteen that day."
The notebook's role was done. If Taesik didn't find the print record in that week, I'd file to reopen arguments immediately.
What more was there to dig up from it now?
"Jeong Hyejin had a habit. Look through the copy—whenever ink bled through to the back page, she skipped it. Only used clean sides."
Kang Minjae flipped through the flagged pages. Sure enough, every page with bleed-through on the back was blank.
"...Wait, but that page had ink stains too."
I took the copy from him. I'd pored over it hundreds of times; I remembered clearly. I'd even thought the marks proved it was well-used.
"Yes. Looks like they filled in that blank page. Not by melting the binding and inserting it—just a blank page. They wrote on an existing blank one!"
Kang Minjae practically shouted, bouncing like he might dance.
"Ha, I found this at dawn and almost called right away, but figured you might be sleeping. I killed time somehow and raced straight here!"
I couldn't help chuckling. The lights were solid proof of tampering, but this made it ironclad. It would discredit not just the evidence, but their entire credibility.