You Have Been Defended - Chapter 92
An hour later, Kang Minjae returned to the office.
"Did you see Jeong Yeongjun off properly?"
"Yes. His parents live nearby, so I figured his family must be worried sick. I went all the way into the house to say hello, just to make sure he didn't slip off somewhere else."
"Good work."
Kang Minjae grinned sheepishly as he shrugged off his jacket. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and nodded toward the balcony. I nodded back and stepped outside with him.
He lit up, leaned against the railing, and let out a long sigh.
"Now that he's back home with his family, at least he won't try to kill himself again, right?"
Kang Minjae looked pretty down. Witnessing a suicide attempt isn't something that happens every day. Fortunately, he hadn't seen Jeong Yeongjun thrashing around with a hose around his neck, but it must have been shocking enough as it was.
"Man, I'm really worried. What if something happens to him for real?"
"We revealed who the cameraman was today, and we made it clear we have ways to track him down. Jeong Yeongjun won't just despair completely—he'll hold onto some hope."
"Yeah, you're right?"
Truth be told, even I wasn't entirely reassured as I said it.
"I should tell Taesik to keep an eye on him."
"Yeah, that sounds good. Like with Na Eun-seong back then. Thinking about how Taegwang Law Firm suddenly approached her and pulled that stunt..."
Hearing Kang Minjae brought it home how we'd run into Taegwang Law Firm as enemies again, of all coincidences.
I wondered how President Yoon Wonhyeong was doing. With his personality, he'd probably been gunning for me ever since I turned down their recruitment offer last year.
"But now that he's at home, at least he won't be harboring any dark thoughts. Before heading in, he checked his neck meticulously for hose marks and even tucked a handkerchief under his shirt collar to hide it."
Considering he'd moved out separately to spare his family the ugly sight, it was obvious enough.
I stubbed out my cigarette, filter and all, in the ashtray and headed back inside. As I sat at my desk and grabbed the mouse, Kang Minjae glanced at my laptop screen while passing by.
"Still watching that video?"
"The NIS hideout... well, 'hideout' might not be the right word. Anyway, just checking if I missed anything."
"Got it. I should watch it too. Hey, why not put it on the TV? The big screen might show more details."
Kang Minjae, heading to his seat, pivoted toward the sofa.
I glanced up at him.
"Like the NIS guy said, it'd feel weird sitting side by side watching something shady."
"...Damn. Way to make it sound like I'm suggesting we watch porn together. We're not high school kids."
Kang Minjae huffed and spun back to his desk.
"Kang."
"Yeah?"
"There was something I couldn't say in front of Jeong Yeongjun earlier. You said there were a ton of reporters camped out in front of headquarters when you went there with him."
Kang Minjae nodded nonchalantly.
"Yeah?"
"Doesn't that strike you as odd?"
"Hm, reporters are like cockroaches—they pop up no matter where you hide. Didn't think much of it. But if you say it's weird, then yeah, it is."
He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, probably replaying the scene at headquarters.
"With that many reporters swarming, shouldn't security have contacted you? Like, 'Reporters are here, go around' or 'Don't come'?"
"Exactly."
"But no call at all. Go Jin-ah chewed Jeong Yeongjun out for not getting caught and causing her trouble, right? Someone like that wouldn't give security instructions? If she really thought his media exposure would hurt her, she'd have been constantly checking if reporters were on his entry route."
I nodded, and Kang Minjae's eyes widened as something clicked.
"...You think Go Jin-ah deliberately exposed him to the press?"
"Just a hunch."
"But why? It'd backfire on her too."
Kang Minjae shook his head in disbelief.
But it wasn't that unbelievable.
"What would Go Jin-ah gain from Jeong Yeongjun getting media exposure?"
"...Dragging down the company image? The incident's old news now, interest was fading, but this stirs it up again."
"We already confirmed his image tanking doesn't hurt Yangjin Group."
"Right. So, what does she gain from his exposure?"
"Breaking him mentally."
Kang Minjae fell silent for a beat. His expression said it all: he thought Go Jin-ah was vicious.
"After that video leaked, she'd know how shattered he was, at least for a few days. She's lived with him for seven years while he was already worn down by his in-laws. She'd have a rough idea how he'd react to crumbling."
"...So you're saying she pushed him over the edge hoping he'd get so exhausted he'd agree to divorce?"
"Speculation. But there's no good reason reporters were swarming his exact entry route. Even if Go Jin-ah didn't tip them off and it was security's screw-up—or if Chairman Go Sang-gyeong's side got the report and directed them there—it doesn't change things. If she truly hated him going public, she'd have been monitoring like you said."
Kang Minjae raked back his bangs and scowled.
"Back at the officetel, you said Go Jin-ah might know her parents orchestrated the whole thing."
"Yeah."
"Could be. The way she's acting..."
"On that call today, hearing him dig in for evidence, she might've realized amicable divorce was off the table. So she played hardball."
Honestly, confronting Go Jin-ah and using my ability would be more reliable than guesses. I'd know right away if Chairman Go Sang-gyeong put Jo Hyeon-seok up to it.
Problem was, Jeong Yeongjun didn't want her knowing he'd hired a lawyer.
"It's getting late. You can head out first. I need to watch more of the video."
"Nah, I'll watch too."
After that, silence settled over the office. He was glued to his laptop, head practically inside the screen, replaying the video intently.
I was on my fourth loop at 0.5x speed.
Jo Hyeon-seok waved excitedly in the footage, and as his arm dropped quickly, a ring glinted faintly.
Hand shows up here too.
It was brief compared to the one at the end, barely showing the hand—mostly the arm.
Lighting might play tricks, but it looked like a navy hoodie. Banded at the wrist. If not a hoodie, then a hooded zip-up or sweatshirt. Something in that vein.
No telling when it might come in handy, so I jotted it down.
"Hm?"
Restarting the video, I spotted something light brushing Jo Hyeon-seok's arm.
"A hand."
"Huh?"
Kang Minjae piped up at my mutter.
"Come here."
As he sidled over, I rewound to the spot.
"That's a hand?"
"But this is Jo Hyeon-seok's arm."
"Yeah."
"If he's grabbing his own arm, his fingertips should face outward."
"Whoa, but they're facing toward his body?"
"And he couldn't hold the camera if he was grabbing his own arm."
Someone else was there.
Not one of the women Jeong Yeongjun was with—no way they'd gotten that close to Jo Hyeon-seok in the video.
Which meant his filming partner.
In other words, an accomplice.
I called the NIS guy right then.
-Ah, what now? Lawyer, quit working me to death, seriously.
The hacker's weary voice came through the line.
"Just emailed you a photo. Analyze it. And check the cameraman's clothing color."
-Right now? Is it urgent? I'm eating.
"Urgent."
-Shit. Hold on.
He hung up irritably.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, an email pinged in.
"...Looks like he brought his girlfriend to film? Out for fun, that bastard. Wow, what a total perv!"
Kang Minjae yelled as he scrolled through the email.
But I saw it differently.
"Not because Jo Hyeon-seok's a perv. What if his girlfriend is someone under the Go Sang-gyeong couple, like we suspected?"
"...Secretary Kim Eunhasu?"
"Whether it's her or not, identifying this woman tells us if the chairman's behind it. We just need to find Jo Hyeon-seok's girlfriend."