A Trip to Japan and the First Clue

Won Youngoh was genuinely asking.

‘If I answer this wrong…’

Having been severely reprimanded in a similar situation during my training institute days, I hurriedly answered no.

“No, Lawyer Won. No.”

Lee Ilwoo, who was surprised by my reaction, looked back as he was about to start the car.

[Then how can you ask such a question? I’m upset.]
“It’s not a formally retained case, and since it’s a criminal case, advice would be all I could give, so I thought it would be right to use my annual leave.”
[Haa, I’m disappointed that you see me as such a petty person, Lawyer Cha. I’ll buy you a ticket, so go ahead. Let’s talk after you come in.]
“Yes, I’ll be right there.”

Ah, I just had a close shave.

“What’s wrong?”
“Mr. Lee Ilwoo, it’s unlikely, but if you hear the word ‘upset’ from Lawyer Won Youngoh’s mouth, please apologize first.”

That man, despite not looking like it, has a surprisingly long memory.
I had no choice but to swallow those words.

“Upset? Lawyer Won Youngoh?”

A question mark appeared above Lee Ilwoo’s head, but I buried myself in the back seat and spoke with a weak expression.

“Let’s go to the office for now.”

With the ticket that Won Youngoh had bought for me right away, I arrived in Japan in a day.

‘It’s been a few years since I’ve been to Japan.’

Of course, I wasn’t alone. Though I was alone now.

[Mr. Lee Ilwoo seems to be a little late. Ah, there he is.]

As Gram guided me, I turned around and saw an expressionless Lee Ilwoo approaching, pulling a suitcase.

“Did something happen?”

Unlike me, Lee Ilwoo had taken a long time at immigration.

“No, there was a small misunderstanding. Let’s go.”

I had come to Japan with Lee Ilwoo, not Jeong Donghyeok.
It was not only because of the work Jeong Donghyeok had to do, but also because Won Youngoh wanted me to go with Lee Ilwoo.

“You can’t let your guard down just because it’s a foreign country. In fact, they might see this as an opportunity.”
“Then what about Lawyer Won?”
“You don’t have to worry about that, Lawyer Cha. I have someone I can trust and leave him with. A colleague of mine happened to be free.”

Won Youngoh had already left a message in the morning saying that he was very fond of Lee Ilwoo’s colleague.
Still, as a decent person, I couldn’t help but feel sorry.

“I’m sorry to trouble you like this, Mr. Lee Ilwoo. And your colleague too.”
“Not at all. He was on vacation too, so he was happy to hear it was a part-time job.”
“A part-time job during a vacation? Is that legally okay?”

Lee Ilwoo smiled at my genuinely worried expression and added that I could be at ease because it wasn’t that kind of vacation.

“Then that’s a relief. First, let’s leave our luggage and then go to our final destination. To the night market that Kim Jeonghyeon talked about.”

Jeong Donghyeok was, as expected, very capable.
Because while Lee Ilwoo and I were returning to the office yesterday, he had contacted Lee Juyeong and found out the lodging where Lee Jimin and Kim Jeonghyeon had stayed.
We were staying in the room right next to the one where the incident had occurred.
I checked the location of the cameras at the lodging while checking in.

“I think we can pick up the car near the hotel.”
“Ah, you’ve already rented it? Can you drive, Mr. Lee Ilwoo?”
“Yes, the office manager asked me yesterday if I had an international driver’s license. He booked one nearby.”

Lee Ilwoo seemed to be quite used to Japan’s different driving style.
And so, we arrived at the night market without any delay.

‘I thought it was a Japanese problem because immigration took so long.’

But even when checking the lodging or the rental car, Lee Ilwoo had no trouble with the conversation.

‘And it was at a native level.’

I wasn’t bad at Japanese either.
I could do more than basic communication because I had handled a few cases related to Japan, including clients during my Yoon Eunho days.

[I feel like I’m seeing a lot of new sides of Mr. Lee Ilwoo these days.]

‘…I think so too.’

We parked the car near the night market and started looking for the yakitori, a skewer restaurant, that Kim Jeonghyeon had mentioned, at a cafe.

“I think it’s over there.”
“Yes, let’s go in.”

There were quite a few people around, but Lee Ilwoo found the wooden sign in an instant.

‘There are more CCTV cameras than I thought. I don’t know if I can get their cooperation.’

After checking the surroundings, I followed Lee Ilwoo, who was waiting, and went inside.

“Uh…”

The inside was different from what I had imagined.
It looked like a restaurant for tourists, not a local favorite.
Because it was full of Korean.
It was also full of customers, and indeed, I could hear Korean from all over.
As Lee Ilwoo said a few words to the staff while sitting at the bar, a man appeared, saying he was the owner.

“Hello. Are you Korean?”

At the welcome Korean, I answered reflexively.

“Yes, are you Korean?”
“I’m a Korean-Japanese. I go to Seoul once every one or two months. My girlfriend is also Korean.”
“Ah, I see. I’ve heard a lot that this place is a good restaurant, but I didn’t know that.”

I gave Lee Ilwoo a nod and ordered this and that.

[…Are you going to eat all of that?]

‘Eating is not what’s important.’

As if in response to my words, the owner’s face brightened up.
While he was grilling the skewers with an excited expression, I spoke to him like a normal customer.

“Do more Korean customers come?”
“Yes, I think so. Because you can order in Korean. They usually come on the first or last day of their trip.”
“I see. Actually, we’re not here for a trip.”

The owner, who was placing a few well-cooked skewers on a plate, asked with wide eyes.

“Oh? Then?”
“We’re looking for someone. Could you please take a look at this picture?”

I held out my phone and showed him a picture of Lee Jimin and Kim Jeonghyeon.

“Do you happen to remember?”
“Hmm…”

The owner stared at the picture for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Are you the police?”
“No.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter even if you’re the police. It’s not easy to meet such generous customers. I remember, vaguely.”

The restaurant was not large.
But considering the current situation of the packed restaurant, dozens or even hundreds of customers would be coming and going in a day.
For him to remember them in such a situation meant that something impressive had happened.

“Was there anything unusual?”
“Yes. It was about a month ago. As you can see, there’s no problem in this restaurant even if you don’t speak Japanese. But that man in the picture kept speaking Japanese.”

Swish.

The owner nodded a few times as he served newly grilled skewers on a new plate.

“And it was terrible Japanese. The accent, the pronunciation, everything was strange. That, the woman sitting in front of him looked quite young.”
“Is it the woman in this picture?”
“Yes, that’s right. He must have wanted to show off his pride in front of that woman. Well, I just let it go up to that point.”

Swish.

I nodded as I took a well-cooked skewer to my mouth.
As I reached for it, Lee Ilwoo also moved his hand.
As I took a bite, the savory juices burst in my mouth.

“I can see why there are so many customers.”

At my words, the owner burst out laughing and opened his mouth again.

“Right? That’s why, that man said something ridiculous. He said he was a regular at my restaurant and that he was ‘close with the owner here’.”
“Had he visited a few times before?”
“No, the other employees also said it was the first time they had seen his face. But since he was trying to look good in front of a woman, I let it go.”

This young owner seemed to be good at business.
While I was talking, Lee Ilwoo had already finished half of the skewers.
They were that good.

“He ordered quite a bit, so I gave him a service, thinking he would really become a regular. But when I spoke to him, the man was startled. I guess he didn’t know I was a Korean-Japanese.”
“What did you give him for a service?”

The owner, who shrugged at my question, shook a beer glass.

“He ordered so many skewers but didn’t order any beer, so I gave him a glass of beer each. Would you like a glass? I’ll give it to you as a service too.”
“Ah, it’s fine. We brought a car.”
“That’s a shame. Our beer is delicious.”
“Haha, I can tell just by looking at the skewers. Do you happen to remember their names? Or what they called each other.”
“Hmm, I don’t know their last names, but the man was Jeonghyeon? Jeongheon? And the woman was Jimi? I think.”

Lee Ilwoo, who had been silently devouring the skewers, looked up at the owner. I was the same.
When I had talked with Kim Jeonghyeon in the cafe, everything he said was close to a lie.
So much so that I couldn’t tell what was true and what was a lie.

“We were already drunk from the night market skewer restaurant. I woke up after a nap at the lodging, and Jimin was like that. I’m really wronged.”

But unlike him, there was no lie in the owner’s words.
But this couldn’t be a decisive testimony or evidence either.
As we talked and ate the skewers one by one, all of them were gone before we knew it.

“I didn’t even realize…”
“Did you enjoy it? I’m glad we ordered a lot.”

Thanks to that, I was also able to see Lee Ilwoo’s embarrassed face.
I smiled as if it were okay and took out my wallet from my pocket, taking out more money than the food I had ordered and handing it to him.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Huk, so much…”
“If you come to Korea often, could I see you around the week after next? There’s a trial on that date. You can just tell them in court what you told me today.”
“Court?”
“Yes. Actually, the woman in the picture has passed away, and that man has been identified as the suspect. But there are still not enough witnesses or evidence.”
“Hmm…”
“If you come to Korea around that time, we will cover all your airfare and accommodation expenses. I am the lawyer for the victim’s family.”

After handing my business card to the owner, who said he would think about it, I left the restaurant with Lee Ilwoo.

“I ate too much. I didn’t even realize I was eating so much. Shall we take a look around for a bit to digest?”
“Yes, lawyer.”

And so, we were walking around the night market and had reached the end of the market.

Swish.

Someone put his arm around my shoulder.
The man who had squeezed in between us seemed to have his other arm around Lee Ilwoo’s shoulder.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Before I could even react, the man was already lying on the floor.
When I turned around, five men were looking at us, unable to hide their surprise.
The problem was that they were all holding something shiny in their hands.

“–!”

I heard some curses.
Lee Ilwoo checked my back, which was blocked, once and then took a step forward in front of me.
That was the end.
Lee Ilwoo had barely moved a few times, and all the men were lying on the floor.

“I think they’ve been following us from the restaurant.”

It seems they saw me paying with cash.

“[What’s going on over there!]”

Was it because of the commotion? The police arrived quickly.
Lee Ilwoo raised both his hands and pointed to the knives rolling on the floor with his right index finger.
Next to them, the men were also rolling on the ground, holding their bodies.

“[They attacked us first.]”
“[Please cooperate until we have a clear understanding of the situation.]”

Then, a voice was heard in my ear.

[You’re not going to become a criminal while trying to catch a criminal, are you?]

‘You always talk to me at times like these.’

You’re so annoying.
And so, we headed to the police station.

‘No matter how you look at it, this feels more like an arrest than cooperation.’