The Plot Thickens

It was a call from HJ, one of the top three conglomerates in South Korea.
And from the legal team, no less. But the pieces fit together.
The rare surname, and no matter how I thought about it, it had to be the HJ owner’s family.

‘A supercar of which there are only a few in South Korea, a case buried without a trace, and an attack on the lawyer in charge.’

A conglomerate of this size was certainly capable of such things.
Was it a call to take down the article?
Or?
As I was connecting one thought to another in that short moment, a calm voice continued from the other end of the line.

[It’s nothing else, but we heard the news of the righteous person who was injured this time. We also heard that he was detained without proper treatment. We would like to present him with the ‘Righteous Person Award’.]
“Ah, the Righteous Person Award.”
[Yes. We would also like to support him with all legal procedures and compensation issues, and we called to ask for his opinion.]

The HJ Group has a strange tradition that has been going on for several years.
It is to give the ‘Righteous Person Award’ to people who have become ‘righteous people’ for doing the right thing, on behalf of the public, and to provide them with appropriate compensation.
Now that this suspicious accident had surfaced with Baek Soeun’s article, it wasn’t a strange picture.
However, given the situation, I should be suspicious, not less so.

‘The culprit’s side might have deliberately approached us because of the client.’

It’s easier to manage when you’re close, and with this level of case concealment and external pressure, a great power must be involved.
I couldn’t guarantee right now that it wasn’t HJ.
I checked the time on my watch once and then deliberately mumbled a reply.

“Ah, just a moment. I’m out on another schedule right now. I’ll call you back soon.”
[Yes, I understand. In that case, since it might be slow if you call this number, I will send you my personal contact information via message.]
“Yes, thank you for the call.”
[Thank you for your reply.]

Yeo Taerim hung up the phone cleanly without asking for a reason.
Immediately after, she sent a picture of her business card via text message.

Vibrate.

My phone is busy today.
This time, it was a call from Won Youngoh.

“Yes, Lawyer Won. I just received a call from the HJ legal team.”
[Ah, they must have contacted you right away. But I didn’t call because of HJ.]
“What? What do you mean? Is something wrong at the hospital?”
[No, I just got another call. This time, it’s ‘Korea Defense’.]
“What? Korea Defense?”

Korea Defense, commonly known as ‘HanDi’.
Unlike HJ, it was a place that had never shown its name in things like the Righteous Person Award.
In the first place, it was a defense company that supplied to the state rather than a consumer-friendly company.
But I was surprised for another reason.

“What did Korea Defense say?”

‘Of all times?’

As soon as I heard that name, a thought flashed through my mind.
Won Youngoh continued in a voice that sounded somewhat annoyed.

[They just said they wanted to see my face. Did you find something out, Lawyer Cha?]
“No, that’s not it. But it seems like things are starting to work out.”

I met my sparkling eyes in the rearview mirror.
Because the place where I had seen the car of the same model was also the huge mansion of the chairman of Korea Defense, ‘Jo Hyeokjun’.

I drove to a place I already knew instead of just killing time.
But I continued the call with Won Youngoh, pretending I didn’t know.

[What do you want to do? I said I’d call them back.]
“I’ll go and see them.”
[It seems you’ll have to go alone, Lawyer Cha. Will you be alright?]
“Yes, well. There must be a reason they contacted me first. And since they reacted so quickly, it seems like there’s something to it. Please tell them I’ll be there.”
[I’ll contact them right away and call you back.]

I didn’t have to hear Won Youngoh’s answer to know.
The answer would probably be ‘come right away’.
So I just stepped on the accelerator.
It didn’t even take ten minutes for the callback to come.

[They said to come right away. They said it’s fine with them. Is this the situation I’m thinking of?]

Won Youngoh was asking if I thought Korea Defense was behind this.
I nodded my head as if it were a habit, even though Won Youngoh couldn’t see me.

“If both your thoughts and mine are in agreement, then the possibility is high. Though it’s a bit suspicious that it fits together so perfectly, as if it were planned.”
[It seems like a way out is in sight, but on the other hand, I’m anxious. If they’re the ones behind this, then they’re the ones who put me in this bed. Are you really okay going alone? Chairman Jo Hyeokjun is famous, after all.]

Won Youngoh’s words were becoming unusually long.
His concern felt valid.
Jo Hyeokjun was a man who had been in the news several times for assault.

[This won’t do. I’ll send Mr. Lee Ilwoo to you right now.]
“No, Lawyer Won. It’s fine. There must be a reason why Chairman Jo allowed me to come to his mansion. It could also mean he wants to talk secretly. The probability of him not letting Ilwoo in is higher.”

At least, that’s what the Chairman Jo I had met a few times would be like.
And while he’s meeting with me, he’ll search this car.
A body search is a given.

“Instead, I’ll send a courier to the hospital. I found some evidence.”
[Evidence?]
“It’s a piece of a broken car. I think it’s better to be careful. What wouldn’t a man who dragged a person to a remote mountain because his son got into an accident do? I might get it taken away.”
[With Chairman Jo’s personality, he would do that and more, but, no. Wait a minute. Lawyer Cha, how did you know that?]

A hint of bewilderment crept into Won Youngoh’s voice over the Bluetooth speaker.

“What do you mean?”
[I mean the son. Chairman Jo Hyeokjun officially only has a daughter. Only a very small number of people know about his illegitimate son.]

‘Ah, I made a mistake.’

Information I knew from my Yoon Eunho days had slipped out of my mouth without me realizing it.
At that moment, a call came from the courier I had called when I started the car.

“Uh, I have a call from the courier right now. I’ll call you back after I meet Chairman Jo.”
[Lawyer Cha, Lawyer Cha!]

Beep, beep, beep.

Ah, I just had a close shave.
I sighed and handed the paper bag I had placed on the passenger seat to the courier through the car window.
Inside was the only piece of evidence in this case, a piece of the bumper.

“Please take good care of it.”

Ah, I need to be more careful from now on.

Swoosh.

As I rolled up the window and sighed, the hologram spoke to me.

[So you have a side like this too.]

‘You seem a little surprised?’

[It was the first time I saw it.]

Well, I guess Won Youngoh just felt like my senior again.
The one thing I had been constantly disappointed about since becoming Cha Yohan was that I couldn’t meet the people I knew as my original self.
As I was discussing and talking about cases with Won Youngoh as before, I seemed to have let my guard down without realizing it.
Because what I knew, Won Youngoh usually knew too.

‘A person has to have a side like this.’

The hologram didn’t say anything more to my light rebuttal.
Just then, a familiar alley appeared.

‘Every time I come to Pyeongchang-dong, it feels like a collection of fortresses.’

Though it’s a place where only people who deserve it live.
By the time I arrived, the garage of Chairman Jo Hyeokjun’s mansion was slowly opening.
In front of it stood a middle-aged butler who had come out to greet me.
Instead of entering the garage, I parked the car horizontally in front of it.
Because I had done so before.

Tap.

The butler opened the door before I got out of the car.

“Good afternoon, Lawyer Cha Yohan.”
“Hello.”

This butler was like a limb of Chairman Jo.
Since he had been with Chairman Jo in every move since he started this work, he would be no different from a limb.

“Please follow me.”

After passing through the gate, I had to walk for a few minutes.
Because it was an area closer to a sports field than a house.

‘It’s still amazing to see it again.’

The large artificial pond where carp swam, the garden large enough to accommodate any kind of sports game, and the beautifully landscaped trees were reminiscent of a large art museum.

‘And there’s a reason he shows all this and makes you walk for a few minutes.’

It was to intimidate you.
Because wealth and power were visible like this.
Looking at the butler’s unwavering back, I slowly stepped on the neatly trimmed lawn.
And so, I passed the mansion.
But I didn’t ask.
The butler also said nothing.
After walking for a long time in silence, I saw the annex located in the innermost part.

‘And because I already know what’s in there.’

I followed the butler’s guidance, who opened the door and stepped aside, and went inside.
Between the back of Chairman Jo, who had his hands behind his back, dozens of cars were lined up at intervals, as if in an exhibition.
It was a ‘collection’ and an ‘exhibition’ that anyone could recognize.
Because Chairman Jo Hyeokjun was a renowned car enthusiast, to the extent that he used an entire annex just to collect cars.

Swish.

The butler quietly retreated as if he had never been there.
The huge door closed without a sound.
In this huge space, dozens of cars, Chairman Jo, and I were left alone.
Instead of turning around, Chairman Jo stroked the classic Aston Martin in front of him once.
It was silence again.
I waited patiently at the door until Chairman Jo turned around or spoke first.

‘This method worked before.’

Jo Hyeokjun had been quite fond of ‘Yoon Eunho’.
He had even given Hyeon Yeongje a backhanded compliment that he had a useful friend with him.
Come to think of it, that’s why he had shown me that car too.

“You know, a car.”

A quiet, low voice echoed through the huge space.
Chairman Jo still hadn’t turned around.

“It’s a thing that changes completely depending on the person who drives it. Do you know that saying? That old things have a soul.”
“…I’ve heard of it.”

Chairman Jo turned his body slightly and stroked the old but clean classic car with an affectionate touch.
He was smiling with a pleased expression.
He was a man who, despite being in his 70s, looked to be in his 50s-60s.

“I like that saying. In the end, if a human pours affection into something for a long time, it’s no longer just a thing.”

Swish.

Only then did Chairman Jo turn around completely and face me.
There were exactly seven cars between me and Chairman Jo.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jo Hyeokjun.”
“I’m Cha Yohan.”

At my neat greeting, Chairman Jo raised his left eyebrow and looked interested.

“Was the journey not uncomfortable?”
“It is an honor to be able to meet you so soon.”

While Chairman Jo was observing me, I observed this garage, which was like an exhibition hall.

‘I was wondering, but as expected, it’s not here.’

The last time I came, the supercar that had been displayed in the prime spot in the middle of this garage was nowhere to be seen.
It was unlikely that Chairman Jo had sold the car because he was short of money, and with his personality, it was unlikely that he had sent the car somewhere.
Even though he was speaking in a polite tone on the surface, Chairman Jo’s personality was like fire.

‘The circumstances are starting to fit now.’

Chairman Jo stood where that car had disappeared.
And I felt like that was a warning.