Chapter 94
"Lawyer Kang, Lawyer Kang! Pull yourself together!"
Lee Ye-jin shouted as she patted Kang Minjae, who was staggering against my shoulder. But he didn't seem to hear her at all, just burying his face in my shoulder without a word.
"Minjae, did you drive?"
Lee Ye-jin asked, glancing around the parking lot. I nodded toward his foreign car parked in the corner.
"Looks like we'll need a designated driver."
"Do you know his address? He doesn't look like he can even tell us himself right now. Lawyer Kang! Hey, Lawyer Kang! What's your home address?"
Lee Ye-jin poked him several times, but there was no response from Kang Minjae. She even tried kicking his butt to wake him up, but that failed too.
Lawyer Kang's address was on the contract, but unfortunately, getting back to the office on foot would take too much time.
"Ugh, guess we have no choice but to crash him at your place?"
We had planned to send off the heavily drunk Lawyer Kang after wrapping up and then dive into the details about Jo Hyeonseok. A café felt wrong for that kind of talk, and a room salon was awkward too, so we'd settled on my apartment.
I sighed as I draped his persistently clinging arm over my shoulder.
"Yeah, let's do that. Did you bring your car, sunbae?"
"Nah, I figured I'd be drinking tonight, so I didn't."
I hadn't brought mine either, expecting Lee Ye-jin to insist on drinks 100%.
"Then let's call a driver and take his car."
The owner spotted us settling the bill and leaving, so he quickly called a designated driver for us—we didn't have to wait long. The driver waved from across the alley.
While handing over the keys and waiting, the owner gave us hangover remedies for our group.
"Thank you, boss."
"No need to thank me. You guys have been busy lately? Feels like it's been ages."
"Yeah, something like that."
"You and Dongjin used to come once a month without fail, but I haven't seen you the last few months."
"Oh, his second kid was born last month."
"Aigoo, really? With a newborn, the dad's probably losing his mind."
We were chatting with the owner while waiting for the driver when—
"Wheek!"
"Hey, Lawyer Kang!"
Kang Minjae, who'd just taken his hangover remedy, was vomiting in a corner of the parking lot.
"......Sorry."
The moment we got home, I dumped Kang Minjae onto the sofa. He landed in an awkward position but somehow adjusted himself comfortably in his sleep and started snoring away.
Lee Ye-jin shook her head and sat at the dining table, looking around the apartment.
"Look at this place. Just like Lawyer Cha's style, right? Totally screams 'Lawyer Cha lives here.'"
"Haha, sure does. Anyone could tell it's Lawyer Cha's pad."
I wasn't sure what that said about my place, but I handed them small bottles of water and took a seat at the table.
"Shall we get straight to it?"
"Yeah. Gotta wrap this up quick and head home—my husband's been blowing up my phone asking when I'm coming back. As if he doesn't come home later than me, the prosecutor, all the time."
Lee Ye-jin gulped down her water like it was booze and crushed the bottle.
"Not sure where to start. Hmm, you know about that sex video of Jeong Yeongjun that leaked right after the Ji Myeong-ho sex-for-favors scandal blew up?"
"Any Korean who doesn't know that must be a spy."
"But what's that got to do with Jeong Yeongjun's video?"
Lee Ye-jin shot back, as if wondering how it connected to the info I was about to share.
I went to the study and came back with a few printed captures from the video I'd left on the desk.
"I'm handling Jeong Yeongjun's divorce case right now."
"......Jeong Yeongjun's divorce? You mean from Go Jin-a?"
"Yes."
"Lawyer Cha, you're not telling us this info while defending Jeong Yeongjun just to dig up dirt on Yangjin Group offering sex favors to Jo Hyeonseok, are you? To blow it up and gain the upper hand in the divorce?"
Lee Ye-jin asked sharply, her voice edged.
I chuckled softly. Her prosecutor's stance should've irked me, but it did the opposite. Seeing her commitment to ethics actually put me at ease.
"No. My client doesn't want a divorce from Go Jin-a."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Prosecutor. Lawyer Cha's not the type."
Oh chimed in, and Lee Ye-jin smacked her lips awkwardly.
"Sure, but people change after becoming lawyers, you know... Just considering the possibilities."
"Take a look at these photos."
I spread out the prints from the study. Shots of Jo Hyeonseok's build reflected in the balcony window, his ring visible, that sort of thing. I deliberately skipped the one showing the woman's hand grabbing his arm.
I trusted them, but I couldn't share evidence whose source I didn't fully know yet.
"What are these? From Jeong Yeongjun's video?"
"Yes. Clues about who filmed it. Our video analyst says the cameraman reflected in that balcony window is over 190 cm tall."
The words "over 190" had barely left my mouth when Lee Ye-jin snatched up the ring photo.
"Doesn't that ring look familiar?"
"......What, this is the cameraman's hand too?"
"Yes."
I slid over the enlarged ring photo from the journalist's shot and the NIS comparison image.
"Exact match, and it's a custom design. Meaning the cameraman was—"
"Jo Hyeonseok?"
"Correct."
Lee Ye-jin leaned back in shock, silent. Oh scrutinized the photos, comparing them repeatedly, weighing if this conclusion held water.
"Hold on. So Jeong Yeongjun was receiving sex favors from Jo Hyeonseok? And this video proves it? Then why show it to me while defending him?"
Lee Ye-jin wasn't letting go of her suspicions.
I shook my head.
"The sex in that video wasn't my client's choice. Jo Hyeonseok drugged him and forced it. Jeong Yeongjun has no such tastes, no ties to Jo Hyeonseok. They just crossed paths once by chance at some event unrelated to favors. Someone set it up to smear him—probably to force the divorce."
Lee Ye-jin crossed her arms, lost in thought. Then she looked up at me.
"You sure? Not Jeong Yeongjun's claim?"
"Positive."
"Verified fact?"
"Verified."
She glanced at Oh with her hand over her mouth. The alcohol haze gone, Oh sighed back at her.
"Lawyer, mind if I ask why you're telling us this?"
I didn't answer right away, so Oh awkwardly smiled, thinking he'd been rude.
"I mean, are you hoping we'll merge the cases, or...?"
"Not asking for an immediate investigation. A public probe would brand Jeong Yeongjun as another sex-for-favors recipient, no matter how the prosecution spins him as victim."
"True... Public's mostly pitying Go Jin-a from how it's playing out."
"Plus, he's in a very fragile mental state right now. He couldn't handle a public investigation."
I trusted Lee Ye-jin, not the prosecution. Once they officially probed, Yangjin Group would launch cover-ups. That would've made sharing this a blunder.
"But we have to investigate this. We're going crazy not knowing what Jo Hyeonseok's done, and this could connect. If he's abetting rape, we can push for heavier sentencing."
"Jo Hyeonseok had no reason to do that to Jeong Yeongjun."
"Doesn't mean he didn't abet the rape."
"Of course he should face charges for that. But what I want to know is who put Jo Hyeonseok up to it."
Lee Ye-jin frowned, piecing together what she knew.
"The ones who wanted Jeong Yeongjun and Go Jin-a divorced most were her parents, Chairman Go Sang-gyeong and his wife."
"......So you're saying Chairman Go Sang-gyeong put Jo Hyeonseok up to it now?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I explained the tensions between Yangjin Group's owners and Jeong Yeongjun. How the group's supposed massive damages were minimal, and they'd even profited from the scandal.
"Prosecutor, didn't Jo Hyeonseok recently buy up Yangjin Group shares under nominees?"
Oh spoke up, and Lee Ye-jin nodded slowly.
"Yeah, figured he scooped them up cheap after the stock tanked......"
"Could be Chairman Go Sang-gyeong's second pocket. We thought Jo was padding his own, but maybe it's the chairman's."
A fresh angle. I'd assumed Jo ruined Jeong to earn Go's trust on orders. But maybe Go trusted Jo already, seeing him as the right man for the job.
"That tracks a bit, Inspector. Even if Jo's been offering sex favors to elites, the money scale was huge. We figured hidden nominee assets made it bigger."
"Exactly. Spending like a chaebol heir. Owned multiple yachts, rare cars barely imported to Korea. Bragged during interrogation about custom-ordering luxury brand pieces for his girlfriend. Bought two luxury penthouses per floor, knocked down walls to make one mega-home? Money-burning like no other."
Oh said it with exasperation. He'd clearly wanted to vent about Jo's "money-burning," but what caught my ear was the custom luxury brand order.
Couple rings custom-made, obsessed with one-of-a-kind items. Collected ultra-rare cars, bought dual units per floor and merged them into unique homes.
Find who that exclusive custom piece was for, and we'd know Jo's real girlfriend.
"Did you check who this girlfriend is?"
"Yes. Phone forensics showed texts with some woman, so we summoned her. She had no idea about his dealings—flipped out when she saw the news."
"Sure about that?"
"Positive. Just a regular college student. Met at a club, not dating long."
No way. That woman beside Jo in the video watched him drug Jeong Yeongjun and assault countless women without batting an eye. How's that "regular"?
Couldn't be he'd broken up with the video girlfriend and started fresh with the student. He was still wearing the couple ring even when turning himself in.
Either he's seeing both at once, or the real one's a decoy to shield her from becoming a target.