Chapter 45 - St-St-St-St, Lawyer!
Jang Taesik's voice came stuttering violently over the phone.
"Straighten up and speak properly."
"I-I-I found s-s-something huge, Law-Law-Lawyer!"
"You found something huge?"
"Y-Yes!"
"What is it? Did you find Na Eun-seong's script?"
At those words, not only Kang Minjae but even Assistant Director Cho turned to look at me in surprise.
"I-I think I f-found it. I found it!"
"You found a printed copy?"
"N-Not printed, but the print shop owner had a USB... and there were a few scripts on it, including Na Eun-seong's!"
Taesik shouted as if he might pass out from excitement.
"Wh-What do we do? What should I do? Should I bring it to the office first?"
"Do that."
I hung up.
If the owner of the print shop that dealt with Blue Island Media had that file, it was clear proof that Blue Island Media had sent it to him for printing. That naturally meant Na Eun-seong's manuscript had made it to the second round of selections. Convincing the print shop owner to use it in court wouldn't be too hard. Before the trial, we'd known it existed but couldn't approach him rashly because of his ties to Blue Island Media. Now that we had physical evidence, though...
Circumstantially, it seemed the owner had accidentally failed to delete the file, but he couldn't escape responsibility either way. Files from print jobs were supposed to be deleted immediately after completion. I'd heard stories of print shops getting busted for secretly selling old files overseas.
"Did the boss find it?"
"Not a printout, but he found the file."
"The file?"
"It proves they sent the script to that print shop."
"Ha, haha! Whoa! Whoa!"
Kang Minjae jumped to his feet and rushed over, throwing his arms around me and hopping up and down. I just stood there, watching him.
"What are you doing?"
"Huh?"
"What do you think you're doing?"
"...Sorry."
Only then did Kang Minjae seem to realize his blunder. He backed away, bowing his head.
"Did you find some evidence?"
Assistant Director Cho, who had been sitting on the sofa, perked up and asked.
I didn't answer right away, so he waved his hands hurriedly.
"I'm not some spy or anything."
TRUTH
I hadn't really suspected him, but it was a nice unintentional confirmation. I gave a faint smile in response.
"I didn't think you were a spy—I was just organizing my thoughts for a second. Yes, our investigator found something. He's on his way here now."
"That's such a relief. I was really worried that my no-show might have messed everything up..."
Assistant Director Cho patted his chest in relief. His face brightened as he grabbed his jacket from the sofa and stood.
He took off his baseball cap, smoothing down his flattened hair.
"Well, I'll get going then. You must be busy."
"Sure, see you out."
Kang Minjae bowed deeply, his face beaming. Assistant Director Cho returned the bow and headed for the door.
"Director."
"Yes?"
"Hang on a bit longer."
"...Pardon? Is there something I can do?"
He looked puzzled. Kang Minjae glanced at me, equally confused.
"If you really feel bad about missing your witness call, how about a chance to make it up?"
"...A chance to make it up?"
"It's nothing difficult. No harm to you either."
"What is it?"
"I'll explain later."
Not long after, Taesik arrived. He clutched the USB like a baby, looking suspiciously protective as he entered the office. I sighed at the sight, while Kang Minjae—forgetting his usual fear of Taesik—rushed over.
"B-Boss!"
"Kang Lawyer..."
The two embraced in the middle of the office. Assistant Director Cho smiled warmly, while I was the only one looking annoyed.
"Enough. Hand over the USB."
"Yes, sir."
Taesik quickly detached from Kang Minjae and passed me the USB. When I plugged it into the computer, there was only one folder inside: named P.
And within it were four manuscript files submitted to Blue Island Media's contest—including Na Eun-seong's. No matter how I looked at it, this didn't seem like an accidental leftover.
"Taesik."
"Yes, Lawyer?"
"Does the print shop owner speak good English?"
"Nah, just your average dumb old guy."
Then the folder name P was probably for Blue Island Media's P—Parangseom, written simply. Sure, if it were proper English, it'd be Blue Island or B, but he's just your average dumb guy, right? This meant the owner had deliberately kept it for some reason.
"Where'd you find this USB?"
"In the boss's desk drawer."
"How'd you open the desk drawer?"
"A few nights ago, an urgent print job came in after the other employees left. I was cleaning up, and the boss said he was on his way and told me to grab the key from his desk drawer and turn on the machine. That's when he told me where the key was."
But to let someone else open the drawer where he was stashing a USB for some reason—and so recently, to Taesik no less. Maybe it was a one-time rush. He'd have figured Taesik knew nothing, and since he was hurrying to the shop himself, no one would suspect anything shady. But after that, shouldn't he have moved the key somewhere else?
"I copied the key back then. Heh heh heh."
Ah. Right... Taesik was more thorough than I'd given him credit for.
"This guy's perfect for a plea deal, right? Huh? Haha!"
"Plea? What's that...?"
The director started paying attention to Taesik's nonsense, so I turned away from them and examined the folder's files again.
Na Eun-seong's scenario was exactly the one she'd first brought us for the contest submission, with the per-episode synopses unchanged. The other writers' files below it were formatted the same way as hers. I hadn't watched the dramas, so I couldn't tell if they'd been plagiarized the same way...
"Director."
"Yes."
"You said you used to work in the drama department, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Could you take a look at these?"
I hadn't kept Assistant Director Cho around anticipating this exact situation, but it worked out anyway. He pulled a chair over and scrutinized the manuscripts closely, then started breaking them down one by one.
"This one's exactly like Jeong Hyejin's You Are There. This one's just like The One Fate Points To... Hmm, this one isn't exactly the same, but it sure looks like it referenced it heavily. Similar to In Front of Your House. And this one's straight-up Off the Radio."
Assistant Director Cho rattled off drama titles. I didn't know the plots, but I'd heard of some—the ones Jeong Hyejin had turned into hits.
"Things are getting interesting."
Kang Minjae sidled up, murmuring.
The reason we'd scoured for proof of Na Eun-seong's script being printed was simple. Even if Jeong Hyejin claimed she'd forgotten what she'd seen and written it unconsciously—making it subconscious plagiarism—the identical progression across every episode, down to the dialogue, was impossible. And now we'd proven the defendant had read these aspiring writers' scripts. Plagiarism confirmed.
The print history was the best evidence to back that claim. Even if they insisted Jeong Hyejin hadn't plagiarized—as per their defense—once she knew someone else had written the same content first, she should've revised it.
But this situation...
This could let Yoo Jeongwon deploy Lee Hayoung again to nullify Seong Minjeong's testimony. Things might escalate, but what if I tracked down every aspiring writer in those files? Tell them I won't take a dime, but I'll get them full damages if they sign affidavits?
Jeong Hyejin's reputation would tank in no time. And this trial's dynamics would flip—like giving her a prior conviction.
"Kang, come here a sec."
I pulled him out to the balcony. We had more cards than expected. First things first, we needed to secure them.
"We have to get that USB from the print shop owner legitimately."
"Yeah. But why's he keeping it?"
"Folder's named P. Probably Blue Island Media's initial."
"Right, makes sense."
"He's got all their potentially damaging manuscripts. They're all linked to Jeong Hyejin, but if he held a grudge against her, he'd have named it J."
I clicked my tongue. I could guess why a long-time print shop partner of Blue Island Media was holding onto these. But how did he know they were damaging? We'd find out by asking directly.
"We need to meet the owner first."
"And then what?"
"We can't use it as evidence as-is. Can't say we stole it. Can't claim employee whistleblower either—Taesik's too valuable long-term."
I crossed my arms, leaning on the railing. The reason I wanted Assistant Director Cho's help was to negotiate for the owner and USB. It'd be a good deal for him too.
As we headed back inside, I told Taesik, who was staring blankly at me.
"Taesik. Get the print shop owner over here. And from now on, you act like I burst into the shop and threatened you into handing over the USB."