A Visit from the Defense Industry

Aegis, the invincible shield that always accompanied Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
Though nowadays, the word was more familiar as something that brings a warship to mind.

“Athena’s shield?”
“Yes.”

Ryu Taeju had the appearance of a model but spoke like a soldier.
He said it was because, like Lee Ilwoo, he had worn a uniform for a long time.
He stretched out a neat hand, pointed out the window, and added.

“I heard from Ms. Seonghui the other day that she named her cafe ‘Libra,’ the constellation, to follow ‘Dike.’ Because the goddess of justice holds a scale.”

As Ryu Taeju said, a scale was drawn on Libra’s sign.
Inside the cafe, it was also used as a prop, holding coffee beans and such.
Ryu Taeju smiled awkwardly and continued.

“But the goddess of justice holds a sword in her other hand, doesn’t she? Still, a sword doesn’t seem to fit the image of security… Haha, is it not good?”
“No, I like it. Aegis. What does everyone else think?”
“I like it too. How about you, Mr. Lee Ilwoo?”
“I like it as well.”

Feeling our gazes, Jeong Donghyeok finally nodded.

“Then let’s go with Aegis. It’s clean and nice.”

While the remaining three went upstairs, saying they’d check it out now that the name was decided, I spoke with Lee Ilwoo.

“Just between us, I’ve had a lot of thoughts while conducting the interviews these past two days.”
“Yes?”
“Among the reasons for applying, there were many who said they now wanted to live an ordinary life with their families.”

They must have gone through a lot to come to that thought.

‘And those are things I can’t even begin to imagine.’

They were people who, while dreaming of an ordinary life now, had no choice but to do this job because it was what they were used to.
And there must have been a reason Lee Ilwoo had called them.
He had remembered everything his colleagues had said in passing, and as soon as the opportunity to make their dreams come true arose, he had called them.

“Come to think of it, you probably haven’t been able to spend proper time with your family during your leave because of me… I had that thought.”
“Ah…”
“So I felt sorry. I’ll apologize now. And thank you, of course.”
“Not at all, Attorney. That’s my job.”
“Still, I’m glad I can take care of it for you now. I’ll do my best to ensure a good work-life balance.”

I added it as playfully as possible, but for some reason, Lee Ilwoo’s eyes were red.

“Uh, oh? No matter how moved you are, if you look at me with that face, it’s a bit burdensome for me, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”
“…You’re starting to sound more and more like Attorney Won, Attorney Cha.”
“Uh, that doesn’t sound like a compliment?”
“It must be your imagination. I’m sure of it.”

Chime.

When the three returned as the door opened, Lee Ilwoo changed his expression as if nothing had happened.
Seeing that, it once again hit me how much trust Lee Ilwoo was showing me.
Won Youngoh pointed upwards with his thumb and spoke.

“It’s decorated more professionally than I thought. Among them, I like the workout facilities the most. Can I use them sometimes?”
“Yes, of course you can.”

I smiled at Lee Ilwoo’s nod and questioned Won Youngoh.

“Attorney Won, can a tenant say no to the building owner?”
“I knew that when I asked.”
“Wow, that’s really mean.”

Won Youngoh shrugged confidently at my accusation.

“I’m not charging you rent. By the way, what were you talking about?”
“About a life with evenings.”
“Hmm, a difficult topic. I think that’ll only be possible for me in the next life.”

Jeong Donghyeok leaned towards me and whispered with a secretive nuance.

“This is a secret from Attorney Won, but I sometimes dream of it too, Attorney Cha.”
“I can hear everything, Office Manager.”
“You can?”
“Uh, Office Manager? We’re not even a meter apart right now.”
“Attorney Won’s hearing is better than I thought.”
“Haha, Office Manager? Now it’s not even fifty centimeters.”

As we were discussing the future in a joking manner, the door was violently thrown open.

Chime!

“Help, please help me. Attorney Cha Yohan…”

A middle-aged man appeared, panting as he opened the door.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand as if he had run up the stairs, looking for me.
Then he was taken aback.
Lee Ilwoo and Ryu Taeju were already standing in front of us, as if to block him.
I cleared my throat and asked the two men with good reflexes.

“Ahem, are you two okay?”
“…Yes.”

The two answered in unison and sat down.
I approached the man, helped him up, and returned to the table.

“I don’t know what the situation is, but let’s sit down and catch our breath first.”
“Thank you…”

Jeong Donghyeok calmly took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and handed it to the man.
But the man couldn’t even drink the water properly and continued to pant.
A few minutes later, he spoke in a calmer voice.

“I’ve been watching your channel from the very beginning, Attorney. Since before you even had a hundred subscribers. This, this is my ID.”

With trembling hands, the man took out his phone from his pocket and showed me a comment he had left on my video.

‘TwinHaeinHaerinDad’

It was a nickname I recognized.
Because he was someone who had always left supportive comments.

“I really enjoyed your broadcasts, Attorney, and also the Bar Association’s ‘Law in Everyday Life’ recently. I never thought I’d end up here like this…”

The man ruffled his hair in despair.

“I, I work as a finance manager at ‘Korea Defense,’ that is, HanDi.”

‘HanDi?’

Korea Defense was Chairman Jo Hyeokjun’s company.
The moment he mentioned the company’s name, the man looked as if he was about to burst into tears of anger and sorrow.

“Attorney, if it’s not you, if it’s not here, there’s nowhere in the Republic of Korea that will defend me. Please save me, Attorney. I have two kids…”
“Take your time and tell me. It’s okay.”

As I nodded and patted his shoulder, the man confessed the reason he had come to us.

How different could the life of a South Korean office worker be?
Just a few nights ago, Ahn Jeongho, who never thought he would be seeking a lawyer, was no different.
His daily life was sometimes boring, and for the most part, peaceful.

“Daddy!”
“Daddyyy!”
“Oh, my two daughters!”
“You’re home?”

He had two rabbit-like late-born daughters who welcomed him home, and the other half of his life, whom he had married after a long courtship.
Even without a ‘Sa’-titled profession, he had achieved quite remarkable success from an ordinary family and had become a finance manager at the large corporation, Korea Defense.

“Oh, is it kimchi stew today? It smells good.”
“Yes, I put in the fish cakes you like too. Hurry up and wash your hands.”
“Okay.”
“Haein, Haerin, you too, go wash your hands with daddy.”
“Okay!”

He wasn’t a graduate of a prestigious university that everyone knew, nor did he have any particular connections in the company, but Ahn Jeongho was satisfied with his current life.
So what if he sometimes felt looked down upon at work?
When he returned home, his loving family welcomed him with smiles like this.

“About our trip this weekend. I saw a better place to stay today than the one we booked. What do you think? This place is nice, right?”
“Yeah, it’s nice. And you’re better at finding these things than I am.”

Even if it wasn’t overseas, they made sure to go on a domestic trip as a family once every month or two to create memories for their young daughters.

‘Ugh, I’m tired even if I go to bed just a little late now. I should eat dinner and go straight to bed when I get home today.’

The day after staying up all night planning a trip with his wife, Executive Director Kim, who always looked down on him, approached him with a friendly face for some reason.
It was an expression Ahn Jeongho had never seen on Executive Director Kim before.
Because Executive Director Kim had always ignored Ahn Jeongho for being a graduate of a provincial university.

“Hey, Manager Ahn. You look tired?”
“Yes, sir? No, sir.”
“What do you mean no, you’ve been yawning nonstop. Drink this.”

He even opened the cap of the vitamin drink himself and gestured for him to drink it quickly.
Ahn Jeongho turned his body and quickly chugged the vitamin drink.

Swoosh.

Executive Director Kim kindly took the empty bottle back and asked a question.

“Hey, Manager Ahn, are you free this evening? If you have time, let’s have dinner.”
“Yes? Yes. I’m free.”
“Do you drink? As your superior, I don’t even know if my subordinate likes to drink.”

‘That’s because we’ve never properly shared a table.’

But Ahn Jeongho was a powerless office worker in South Korea, and the other person was an executive director at his company.
As dinnertime approached, he felt like his blood was drying up.
He got a ride in Executive Director Kim’s car and arrived at a high-end restaurant he had only heard of by name.

“Ah, I also invited Manager Go. Manager Ahn, you know him too, right? Even though you’re not from the same year.”
“…Yes.”

The man Executive Director Kim had invited was Manager Go Hanseong, who had joined the company a few years after Ahn Jeongho but was already at the same rank.

“Then let’s all eat well. The food here is so exquisite you’ll be thinking about it after you leave.”

After the three of them had a lavish course meal and arrived at a quiet traditional bar for a second round, Ahn Jeongho felt like he was going to throw up everything he had eaten for lunch.
He couldn’t even remember the smell, let alone the taste, of the splendid food that had been laid out before him.
And to come to a place so quiet that even breathing felt like noise.
He felt suffocated.

Swoosh.

“Here, Manager Ahn, have a drink first.”
“Thank you, Executive Director.”

Still, he couldn’t refuse a drink from his superior.
Just as he was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol, Executive Director Kim lowered his voice even further in the already quiet place.
Literally, secretively.

“There’s going to be a problem at the company soon. I’m telling you in advance, Manager Ahn. And Manager Go too.”
“It’s an honor, Executive Director.”

Manager Go answered quickly.
Ahn Jeongho felt an uneasy premonition creeping up behind him.
It was because Manager Go, who was receiving a drink from Executive Director Kim, had glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.
Sure enough, Executive Director Kim finally brought up the main topic he had been holding back.

“I’d like our Manager Ahn to take charge of this.”

Our?
It was a ridiculous word.

“Executive Director, what do you mean by that…”
“I mean exactly that, Manager Ahn, I want you to take charge and take some responsibility. The company will compensate you handsomely.”
“W-what does that mean…”

Executive Director Kim frowned and answered.

“Of course I don’t feel good about it either. But the higher-ups specifically pointed to Manager Ahn, so what can I do?”

Executive Director Kim’s words were undoubtedly a lie.
Manager Ahn was not a fool.

‘I’ve become the scapegoat because I have no connections.’

Executive Director Kim took a sip of the warm sake and spoke again.

“The prosecution has been digging into the company for some reason recently, and ‘that’ has been revealed.”

The prosecution.
If the prosecution was involved, this was not a matter that would end with a simple dismissal.
If he got involved in this, he would probably serve time.
Like the precedent from long ago, when he had just joined the company.

‘No, not probably, but definitely.’

For a moment, the faces of his wife and two daughters flashed in his mind.
Executive Director Kim, oblivious to what Ahn Jeongho was thinking, continued.

“But you don’t have to worry, Manager Ahn. The Chairman has assured us of it.”

Why would the chairman guarantee something like this?
And by revealing his identity?

“…Are you talking about Chairman Jo?”

Ahn Jeongho cautiously voiced his question.
Executive Director Kim clicked his tongue and spat out an unexpected, or perhaps expected, answer.

“Yes, because this is directly related to the Chairman.”