The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 138
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 138
“What’s wrong, hyung?”
Sung Tae-jun approached me with a puzzled expression.
There were more than enough strange things happening.
Kim Do-seop and A Nursing Hospital, that is.
The investigation was still only in its early stages.
So only a very small part had been revealed, and the fact that there could be many more victims was also a latent reality.
“I think you overdid it too, hyung. Going back and forth to Gangwon Province.”
Sung Tae-jun, who had approached right in front of me, reached out his hand.
When my body unconsciously moved greatly and stepped back, Sung Tae-jun froze as if startled.
“Ah, sorry.”
I reacted too sensitively.
When Sung Tae-hyun’s weak body acted as if it had developed trauma, Sung Tae-jun dropped his hand downward as if he felt unnecessarily sorry.
Really, this body’s reflexes are remarkable.
To have such a reaction just from experiencing something of this level.
“Since you’re at the hospital, get examined if anything hurts.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t just say it.”
Family is family.
Sung Tae-jun looked ready to start a second round of nagging with concern.
I opened my mouth first before he could actually drag me to the health examination room.
Sung Tae-jun sighed and shook his head back and forth.
“How far has the investigation progressed?”
“We’ve wrapped up everything from the scene to the hospital director. I told you it was a collaboration between A Nursing Hospital and Kim Do-seop, right?”
“You did.”
“But it’s obvious these bastards are trying to cut off their tails.”
It seems things have gotten complicated.
I glanced at the closed door of Room 404.
That child should get some sleep.
It’s better not to get involved with the police anyway.
“They’re trying to cut off the tail?”
“Yeah. Bastards.”
Sung Tae-jun muttered some brief curses for a moment, then showed an awkward smile when our eyes met.
“No, hyung. These bastards all do the same-”
“This is a hospital. Lower your voice.”
“…thing anyway. All these dirty bastards are like this, you know?”
He lowered his voice considerably as if whispering a secret.
“That caregiver referral center that introduced Kim Do-seop like you said earlier, hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“I looked into that place briefly too, but they already fled.”
Word travels fast.
When they gave me information about Kim Do-seop, they were probably already preparing to run.
These types of people are excellent at sniffing out danger.
“The hospital director is vehemently denying the incident.”
“What?”
“He says he doesn’t know. Something like that.”
“Wasn’t he burning evidence?”
“Right. He ordered the employees to do it. That’s how he got caught, but now he’s saying that evidence was destroyed to protect the employees since he’s the hospital director.”
Protecting employees?
That’s an amusing story.
“But you did secure some evidence, right?”
“Right. However, the remaining evidence isn’t anything special…”
Sung Tae-jun took out his notebook and flipped through it, then showed a somewhat troubled expression.
“…What are you hiding at this point.”
When I scolded him, he scratched his head vigorously and began speaking again.
“The hospital used excessive amounts of sedatives on patients on the 5th and 6th floors, putting them to sleep every day.”
“Yeah.”
“Just records like that. There’s no evidence that the Hospital Director was involved.”
There’s no way the management didn’t know about it.
They’ve been continuously using two floors of that building. If they didn’t know, it’s deception.
“…Anyway, the evidence is weak.”
“If we just look through the CCTV footage, we’ll find something. If it’s the Hospital Director, there should be records of him coming and going.”
“Hmm. That’s also a bit… the Hospital Director didn’t come to work every day… The CCTV records only go back a month, and to go through all of that….”
Lacking passion.
As I looked at him with an unconsciously cold gaze, Sung Tae-jun continued as if making excuses.
“If this was something I was doing alone, I would have done it all. But hyung.”
“Never mind, let me summarize. The Caregiver Agency Director fled, and there’s weak evidence of the Hospital Director’s involvement?”
“Exactly. And also….”
Sung Tae-jun had a troubled expression.
“A Foundation is trying to downplay this incident.”
“A Foundation?”
Come to think of it, Professor Yoo Pil-chang had said something like that to me.
Did the foundation send you.
That angry voice suddenly flashed through my mind.
A Foundation and A Nursing Hospital.
There’s definitely something more.
“Look at this. The investigation hasn’t even proceeded properly yet, but they’ve already released press materials to the media.”
I took the mobile phone that Sung Tae-jun handed me.
There were several articles that seemed to have just been posted on online platforms.
“Too fast.”
Suspiciously fast. As if they knew this kind of thing would happen.
「A Nursing Hospital, Deviant Behavior by Some Medical Staff Confirmed… Foundation Expresses ‘Regret’」
“…Fast indeed.”
Sung Tae-jun also nodded as if he thought the same.
This is a case where a proper investigation hasn’t even been conducted yet.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t the nursing hospital that was directly involved, but A Foundation that released the news article directly.
「A Foundation discovers evidence of patient abuse… immediate charges filed」
“Did the foundation really file charges?”
“Huh? Um, well. Not that far yet.”
Look at this.
“Medical staff misconduct, patient abuse evidence immediately reported.”
This means only one thing.
Cutting off the tail, just like I suspected earlier.
And.
“A Foundation must be hiding something more.”
“…I think so too.”
Such excessively quick response indicates a deep understanding of the matter that was handed over to the police.
If it really was just misconduct by ‘some’ medical staff at A Nursing Hospital, they couldn’t have responded this quickly.
Is that all?
Rather, they took the initiative to file charges themselves, first acknowledging what happened inside the nursing hospital.
“Did you happen to see Professor Yoo Pil-chang at the hospital?”
“Professor Yoo Pil-chang?”
“Yeah, he was the doctor in charge of the 5th floor.”
Sung Tae-jun thought for a moment and then let out an exclamation.
“Ah. That person.”
“Yeah.”
“He didn’t come to work today, apparently?”
Oh no. This is troublesome.
Moreover, Sung Tae-hyun’s diary had already predicted his death in tomorrow’s entry.
The doctor in charge of the 5th floor.
If the person who might be most deeply involved in this case were to be eliminated, it was clear as day which side would benefit.
“Find that professor first.”
404 was also a victim.
If a proper investigation wasn’t conducted, it was clear that the perpetrators wouldn’t pay the proper price for their crimes, let alone pay damages.
“We’re going to investigate soon anyway. Since there are so many victims, the case has gotten too big and it’ll probably be transferred to the Regional Investigation Unit.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll have to cooperate with them too, so I’ll be running around like crazy… I mean, I’ll probably be pretty busy for a while.”
That’s good news. It seems I’ll be able to hear about the investigation process for 404’s case fairly quickly.
But Sung Tae-jun seemed to misunderstand my intentions, awkwardly dropping his gaze to the ground and scratching his head vigorously.
“What?”
“…I just thought that hyung is still hyung.”
Why is this bastard acting like this?
I couldn’t figure out exactly what point had moved him, but Sung Tae-jun’s eyes were moist.
The sight of this mountain-sized guy acting awkward was very unpleasant, but there really was nothing I could do about it.
“Thanks for worry-”
“Tae-jun.”
“Hm?”
I studied his face for a moment.
Let’s just leave it alone.
Sometimes misunderstandings are more comfortable.
Especially seeing how Sung Tae-hyun’s body no longer shows any reaction.
“It’s nothing.”
The guy who seemed like he was about to shed tears as if feeling some brotherly affection smiled brightly and put away his notebook.
“When work’s done, I’ll buy you a meal.”
“Forget it, I know what your salary is.”
“…That hurts a bit, hyung.”
I guess that wraps things up roughly.
To completely finish the job, I’ll need to start digging into A Foundation, which is suddenly accelerating their activities.
It was just as I was organizing things and about to stand up.
[010-XXX0-XXXX]
My mobile phone was ringing with an unknown number.
I turned away to avoid Sung Tae-jun’s puzzled gaze.
“This is Sung Tae-hyun from Law Firm Ilchul.”
-Lawyer Sung….
A voice that seemed both familiar and strange echoed in my ear.
-I’m ashamed to face you, but… I have a request….
“….”
-I’d like to, ask a favor. If I may….
It’s Yoo Pil-chang.
The very Old Professor that Sung Tae-jun and I had mentioned.
He had called me.
[Professor Yoo Pil-chang has died.]
Damn it.
Sung Tae-hyun’s terrible handwriting overlapped with his voice, creating an optical illusion as if I could see it before my eyes, and I briefly closed my eyes.
“Please go ahead.”
-Could you, perhaps… meet with me for a moment…?
Avoiding Sung Tae-jun’s persistent gaze that seemed to sense something, I gave him my answer.
“Where should I go?”
Since Sung Tae-hyun had predicted his death, if he dies like this, the truth might be buried.
Yoo Pil-chang’s trembling voice continued.
* * *
“…Thank you for coming to see me like this.”
It was already late.
Somewhere in Gangwon Province, Yoo Pil-chang’s residence.
I was sitting face to face with Yoo Pil-chang instead of Sung Tae-jun.
When was the last time I saw him.
Right, I had gone to his office to confront him about 404’s case.
Yoo Pil-chang had even collapsed from anger.
Considering that, it was almost absurd that he and I were now sitting face to face.
“…The number, I mean. Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun. Your number… I didn’t find it through the hospital. I didn’t even look at the guardian card or anything like that.”
The words he suddenly blurted out like an excuse were completely unexpected.
I swallowed a hollow laugh at his sudden words and looked at the Old Professor.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Just by going to the Ilchul website, my work number is displayed on my profile.
That profile that Kim Ji-oh had decorated with sunflowers and such.
Thinking of that website made me sigh again.
Indeed, 404 needs to return to work quickly.
Only then can our website survive the competition by escaping Kim Ji-oh’s terrible aesthetic sense.
“…Right, right. Just in case… Lawyer Sung.”
“Please go ahead.”
“…I, I mean. I…”
Yoo Pil-chang endlessly moved his lips while pondering something.
He was wrapped tightly in an old blanket and trembling despite the indoor temperature being over 23 degrees.
He really looked like someone who should be lying in a hospital right now.
Nevertheless, he fumbled with a document envelope he had placed beside him with his trembling hands.
That’s the problem.
Yoo Pil-chang is still agonizing.
“Professor Yoo Pil-chang.”
“…Y-yes. You speak first, Lawyer Sung.”
“Regarding what happened at A Nursing Hospital, it will be difficult for you to avoid responsibility as well, Professor Yoo Pil-chang.”
Yoo Pil-chang’s face quickly darkened at my words that I had laid out from the start.
“…I, I know too. I know. That kind of thing… that much…”
“I already mentioned this regarding patient Lee Yeon-woo. There were ridiculous things written on the hospital bill detailed statement.”
“…”
“Besides that, since you were the person in charge of the 5th floor, you’ll have to take responsibility for what happened there.”
Professor Roh looked up at me silently.
The document envelope in his fingertips was getting slightly crumpled.
“I have no intention of avoiding such, such things.”
“Then what’s the reason you called me here?”
I cannot become Yoo Pil-chang’s defense attorney.
I am 404’s representative, and therefore if I represent Yoo Pil-chang, who was a perpetrator against 404, it could create conflicts of interest.
But if the information he has is connected to A Foundation’s secrets.
“…That is…”
Professor Yoo Pil-chang finally seemed to make up his mind and held out the crumpled document envelope to me.
“I never intended to ask you to become my defense attorney. A person should have some shame.”
“…”
“It’s not everything, but these are secrets the Foundation hid… and I…”
He slowly lowered his head.
“The Foundation will try to eliminate me anyway, so before that happens, I… I…!”
Yoo Pil-chang’s wrinkled eyes gradually turned red.
“Please tell the patients I’m sorry one last time. I won’t be around after today anyway.”
As if the conversation was over, Yoo Pil-chang stood up first.
This bastard really.
What’s with that face that looks like he’s going to die after calling a lawyer?
“What do you mean you won’t be around anyway?”
“…Exactly what I said. I mean, how significant could it be for one sinful life like mine to end?”
He just said everything now.
Really, I don’t want to get involved in the tragedies of these damn people.
Yoo Pil-chang had to stay alive.
The death foretold by Sung Tae-hyun’s Diary?
Screw that. Such things can change anytime.
I’ve already experienced it.
“Let’s do it this way.”
I grabbed Yoo Pil-chang who was about to leave and sat him back down on the sofa.
After all, Yoo Pil-chang was the owner of this house.
Even if someone had to leave, it should be me.
Besides, I’d rather not be investigated by the police as the last person to meet him before his death.
“I’ll help you.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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