The Supreme Court Justice

I wasn’t the only one who went through a lot of changes after the ‘Wooyang Rayon’ broadcast.

First, the broadcast gave me the opportunity to help more clients.
PD Yu Jihyeong and Writer Lee Euno also contacted me recently, saying they were preparing a new program.

[Ah, Attorney. When you see Judge Hwang, could you please tell him I said congratulations? Writer Lee and I are so busy preparing the new program that we just can’t find the time to visit him.]
“Yes, I will. A new program from the two of you sounds exciting.”
[Haha, we’ll work hard so we can make you another offer.]
“I would be honored if you called on me again.”

The production of a new show by PD Yu Jihyeong and Writer Lee Euno, and Judge Hwang Yoonhak’s appointment to the Supreme Court, were all because the public desired justice that much.

[A former judge’s declaration of conscience on a recently aired program has become a hot topic day after day. Netizens are all saying that he is the judge the people have been waiting for…]

The public always wants a new and fresh image.
In that respect, Hwang Yoonhak’s appearance was perfectly timed.
A judge who admits his mistakes and sincerely apologizes.
A judge who had ruled on the side of the victims even in the past.
The more his past of delivering fair judgments instead of succumbing to power was revealed, the more the administration had no choice but to want him.

Swoosh.

Simple but neat side dishes were set before my eyes.
A fragrant kimchi stew was bubbling away on the burner in the center.
After telling me to sit, Judge Hwang didn’t speak for a long time, only opening his mouth after a good while.

“I thought there would be no more turning points in my life.”

Judge Hwang, whom I was meeting for the first time in months, seemed unchanged from last time, yet he also looked different somehow.
If he had seemed to have transcended everything a few months ago, today he looked full of resolve.

“This is all thanks to you, Attorney Cha Yohan.”
“I would like to understand what you mean.”

‘Thanks? Was there something I didn’t know?’

It was his own past that had placed him on the seat of a Supreme Court Justice.

Click.

Hwang Yoonhak raised his hand and turned down the heat on the vigorously boiling kimchi stew.

“There’s a famous saying, isn’t there? ‘Life is short.’ But in contrast, my life felt too long. Perhaps it was because I had fallen apart a few times.”

Swoosh.

He expertly ladled the stew into a bowl and placed it in front of me as he continued.

“It sounds ridiculous, but I had no will left in me. It had all been worn down and chipped away, and all I did was stay cooped up at home reading books.”
“……”
“After meeting you, Attorney Cha Yohan, I no longer wanted to waste my remaining time like that. The time I have left is now clearly shorter than the time I have lived so far.”

Judge Hwang smiled faintly and gestured towards my bowl with his chin.

“Hurry up and eat. It’ll get cold.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”

I followed Judge Hwang’s lead and picked up my spoon.
The deep and spicy broth warmly heated me from the inside.
Judge Hwang took a couple of spoonfuls of the broth and nodded.

“This place has been here ever since I was a judge. The taste hasn’t changed from then until now. It’s amazingly the same.”
“I didn’t realize it was a place you had frequented for so long.”

When I contacted him at the beginning of the year to offer New Year’s greetings, Judge Hwang had called me out to this place, saying we should just get a meal.
He smiled with eyes full of regret.

“Back then, this meal was two thousand won. Though it hasn’t gone up that much even now.”

After that, we focused on our meal without any conversation.
By the time we had emptied the pot full of kimchi stew, Judge Hwang spoke again.

“I know why the higher-ups offered me the position of Supreme Court Justice.”

A fleeting emotion crossed Judge Hwang’s eyes as he spoke.

“But I’ve already learned once that if you just stand rigidly, you will eventually break, so that experience is enough.”

A decision always requires a choice.
A choice is mostly derived from experience.
I watched Judge Hwang quietly.
He, too, stared right back at me.

“It may be difficult to prevent the same things from the past from happening again, but I accepted the offer with the thought that I must, if I can reduce them by even one.”

Just as the Bar Association had tried to use me as a figurehead, Hwang Yoonhak’s position was likely similar.
I nodded my head cautiously.
Judge Hwang then threw a question at me.

“Now it’s your turn, Attorney Cha Yohan. I’d like to know the reason you wanted to see me so urgently today.”
“I know it is a shameless thing to do, but I came here to ask a favor.”

Judge Hwang’s face hardened subtly as he stared at me.
I could feel his gaze turn cold in an instant.

“Are you planning to make a solicitation just like that? As much as I steeled my resolve again thanks to you, Attorney Cha, it’s hard to hide my disappointment.”

It was a natural reaction for someone to show when the person they had just been praising came asking for a favor like this.
I didn’t deny his words and waited for Judge Hwang to finish speaking before I opened my mouth.

“There is a case I am currently investigating. You must have heard of it as well, Your Honor.”
“……”
“It is the recent ‘Changil-dong Arson Case’ and the ‘Fake Post Office Case’ that the media is currently clamoring about.”

Judge Hwang blinked his eyes slowly, as if telling me to continue.

“On the surface, the two cases seem separate, but in truth, they were carried out under the direction of one person.”
“…Is that really true?”

Judge Hwang asked back with a look of disbelief.
His composure was already shattered.
But this was a story that would make anyone react that way.
He unknowingly pulled back the body he had been leaning forward.

“But no matter how much it is for revealing the truth, it cannot justify a solicitation.”

I slowly picked out the parts I could reveal and laid them bare.

“The Changil-dong incident was a clear act of terror. But we still haven’t found a single clue.”
“But how can you be certain that the mastermind of both cases is the same person when you haven’t found a single clue? Isn’t a clue tantamount to evidence?”

It was a sharp point, befitting a judge.
I brought out the words I had prepared.

“Last winter, my colleague, Attorney Won Youngoh, was attacked in the middle of the street. I chased the culprit and found the person above him.”
“……”
“Before that, both Attorney Won and I initially thought it was a simple revenge crime. It’s something that often happens to detectives or prosecutors from criminals who have been released.”

As ironic and absurd as that is.
Judge Hwang, who knew this fact, let out a low groan.

“Then I found out that several cases were intertwined with that person, and I went to Changil-dong to look for clues.”
“In that case…”
“Yes, that’s right. That terror attack was, in fact, aimed at me. They probably intended to dispose of me by making it look like an accident.”
“An accident…”
“Countless people were swept up in it, but that fact didn’t matter to that person. He probably thought of it as a necessary element for his plan.”

If you ask for someone’s help, you must be prepared to be rejected.
But persuasion was also my job.
I was telling Judge Hwang everything with all my heart.
That I needed his help.
So that he would not be disappointed later, hearing the truth from someone else’s mouth.

“Discovering the fake post offices was a coincidence. There is a detective who has been helping me since Attorney Won’s terror incident.”

I moistened my slowly drying lips and continued speaking.

“Recently, that detective’s partner was involved in a firearm accident while arresting a distributor of MH5.”
“Surely you’re not talking about that case that was on the news until a while ago, Attorney Cha?”
“If you are referring to the incident at the Songpa station, then yes.”
“A firearm accident…”

Judge Hwang’s expression darkened.

‘They must have hidden it even more thoroughly than I thought.’

If so, this could be the key to swaying Judge Hwang.

“It was an accidental discharge that occurred while arresting a distributor who was fleeing after shooting another detective with a gun.”
“Are you saying the distributor had a gun?”
“Yes, this is a part that was not revealed in the official announcement.”

Judge Hwang silently downed a full cup of water.

“While chasing another distributor, we discovered the fake post office. From this point on, it is as has been reported. The fact that they distributed and traded MH5 through the fake post office. But…”
“……”
“But if this was all, I would not have come so shamelessly to ask a favor of a Supreme Court Justice.”
“Does that mean there is a truth even more shocking than what I have heard so far?”
“Yes.”

I nodded once and slowly opened my mouth.

“Until recently, the only thing I had found out about the mastermind was that he uses the name ‘K.’ But today, I learned a new fact.”
“……”
“The fact that there is a connection between K and Prosecutor General Nam Eunsuk.”

Judge Hwang just looked at me silently, saying nothing.

‘It must be because it’s a series of shocking stories. He could dismiss it as nonsense. It could look like slander.’

That’s why I met his gaze even more squarely and brought up the story I most wanted to tell.

“The number of victims I have discovered is not small. It is a case that must be dug up, and a criminal that must be caught.”

What more was needed than the word ‘criminal’? There was no more concise way to explain it.

“However, if K’s connections reach the top brass, it will be difficult. No, it will be impossible.”

Judging by Jo Minsu’s attitude that he could get out at any moment, and considering that K had met with Nam Eunsuk…

‘To K, this situation is probably just an annoyance.’

All sorts of emotions flickered across Judge Hwang’s eyes.
He must have received countless congratulatory greetings after taking his seat as a Supreme Court Justice.
And when those greetings were over, he must have been plagued by solicitations.
Even on his way to meet me, he must have wondered endlessly if I would be the same, if I was just like them.
Even if I looked just like them, I needed Judge Hwang’s help.
Not for myself, but for others.

“To prevent that situation, I need someone who can stand against the Prosecutor General, and the only person by my side who can do that was you, Judge Hwang.”
“…Attorney Cha Yohan.”
“What I want is nothing more, nothing less, than just one thing. That there will be no external pressure while I am working on this case, just that one thing.”

The warm food had all gone cold.
Even though the meal had ended a while ago, that fact suddenly came into view.

“…I paid for the last meal, so Attorney Cha Yohan, you can pay for this one.”

That was the answer Judge Hwang gave after a long pause.

Chime.

“Attorney!”

As soon as I opened the office door and walked in, Lee Ilwoo came running like an arrow.
He grabbed me and began to inspect me from all sides.
I smiled awkwardly and waited for his observation to end.

“I’m perfectly fine.”
“…You’re not hurt. Still, what you did today was dangerous.”
“Mr. Lee Ilwoo is right, Attorney Cha. How could you just disappear like that without a word?”

I gently pushed Lee Ilwoo’s back and headed towards the table where Won Youngoh and Jeong Donghyeok were sitting.

“I left in a hurry, so I couldn’t say anything beforehand.”
“If you keep doing this, I will have no choice but to take matters into my own hands, Attorney.”
“…Are you going to put a tracking device on me or something?”
“Yes.”
“Haha, you’re joking…”

Lee Ilwoo stared at me intently.
His gaze seemed to ask what part of that seemed like a joke, and I had no choice but to turn my head away.
Won Youngoh nodded once and opened his mouth.

“I like the sound of that sincerity, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”
“Me too.”
“Uh, Office Manager? Is no one on my side?”

[I agree with them too.]

I was completely alone.
No one was on my side.
To change the subject, I hurriedly recounted what had happened with Jo Minsu today.
As soon as I finished speaking, Lee Ilwoo took out his phone.

“…I will report this to the company immediately. I will also request that security and vigilance be strengthened.”
“No, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”

The answer I was about to give came from across the table.

“In this situation, it’s difficult to fully trust even the NIS.”

It was a cold, rational judgment, just like Won Youngoh.