The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 19
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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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Episode 19
Did I speak too harshly?
Jung Seung-jun’s expression changed as if he found it absurd.
To someone who had been going on about paying for his sins and even creating non-existent guilt to carry in his heart, it must have sounded like a fantasy.
Well, it wasn’t that I couldn’t understand Jung Seung-jun’s feelings either.
It would be for similar reasons as Baek Jun-tae.
I could tell without him saying anything.
“I already know that Park Hyung-il is the culprit.”
Perhaps that’s why.
Jung Seung-jun’s eyes widened at my words.
His previously calm attitude, as if wearing a mask, disappeared and The Boy’s body suddenly began trembling.
Anyone could see it was the appearance of someone paralyzed with fear.
“Th-that’s… h-how… n-no… uh…”
Actually, I was 90% certain that Park Hyung-il was the one who killed Kim Jae-yoon.
Wasn’t that right? I never held 100% certainty about anything.
It was a matter that would be finished with just adding a few more colors to the sketch I had drawn.
What was lacking was evidence, specifically direct evidence.
I said to Jung Seung-jun.
“You don’t need to be scared. I already know that Park Hyung-il’s Mother is the owner of that building.”
“…J-just with that much… such… such words…”
Clear moisture began filling The Boy’s eyes.
This was the same Jung Seung-jun as before.
It seemed someone had visited him before I came.
Kim Wan-gil, Park Ji-hyung, Park Hyung-il, or Haeil Law Firm.
There were countless people who wanted to shut Jung Seung-jun’s mouth.
Well, even without a visit, there would be many ways to make contact if they put their mind to it.
Just like how I had died disguised as suicide, there exist things in this world that one doesn’t want to understand.
“Who came to see you?”
Even at such a formal question, Jung Seung-jun’s body trembled.
Even while being so afraid, he said he was trying to protect his family, not himself.
Jung Seung-jun shook his head.
But he avoided my gaze while doing so.
“Fine. I’m not particularly curious anyway.”
“…”
I added the best advice I could give to Jung Seung-jun, who was just watching nervously without saying anything.
“You need to tell the truth to survive.”
To some extent, it was also an honest feeling.
“If you really want to be punished, I don’t want to stop you though.”
“…Ah…”
“It’s because I hate losing.”
* * *
A few days ago.
Before Jung Seung-jun’s visit, I examined his House once more together with Noh Hae-min.
The scene was already clean and naturally there were no traces of murder.
We took a few Photos inside the House with permission from our client, Jung Seung-jun’s Grandfather, and returned to the Office.
Soon, Associate Yoon Ha-young handed Noh Hae-min and me a USB Drive.
“This is…”
“The CCTV Footage you mentioned. It’s footage taken from our side’s building.”
The building where the incident occurred – that building where Park Hyung-il’s Mother was the owner – was just one Crosswalk away from our Law Firm’s Office.
What Associate Yoon Ha-young had obtained was CCTV Video received from the building manager on our side.
“Just like Lawyer Sung said, there’s no CCTV on the other side.”
Noh Hae-min said.
It was a fact I already knew.
The back of the Building where Jung Seung-jun lived with his grandparents faced another building, and neither side had CCTV.
The CCTV was on the front side where the Intersection was, and the back of the Building was so narrow that not even a single car could pass through, with only Gas Pipes and a Meter.
“The Video doesn’t show anything special either.”
The existing CCTV Video was the same.
As written in the Police investigation records and indictment, the Video only helped confirm Jung Seung-jun’s guilt.
Even with the slightly blurry quality, it wasn’t difficult to identify Jung Seung-jun and Kim Jae-yoon covered in blood.
The same went for the murder weapon in Jung Seung-jun’s right hand.
The Boy didn’t resist and was quietly taken away by the police.
“Isn’t this a bit strange?”
I said after watching the video about twenty times.
Noh Hae-min tilted his head as if puzzled.
“The sequence.”
“What sequence?”
I rewound the video back to the beginning.
First, Kim Jae-yoon was captured entering the building entrance.
After that came Park Hyung-il.
About an hour later, Jung Seung-jun was filmed entering the building, and shortly after, police cars and the ambulance team arrived in succession.
It didn’t take long from when the blood-covered Kim Jae-yoon was carried out to when Jung Seung-jun was dragged to the front of the building and loaded into the police car.
“Park Hyung-il doesn’t come out.”
In the video, Park Hyung-il only left the building much later, deep into the night.
Of course, the police didn’t completely dismiss suspicion of Park Hyung-il either.
That’s how this record came about…
“Park Hyung-il said he argued with Kim Jae-yoon, went up to the rooftop first, and fell asleep.”
Right, that was it.
Noh Hae-min sighed and tapped his foot.
“It’s not exactly evidence, but he did smoke on the rooftop for quite a while and… several cigarette butts were actually left there.”
“He slept until night despite all that chaos.”
“Well… actually, I was like that when I was young too. Attorney Sung might not have been, but during adolescence, once I fell asleep, I couldn’t notice even if someone screamed right next to me.”
“How admirable.”
Even at my sarcastic remark, Noh Hae-min laughed heartily.
Cheerful bastard. I turned my attention back to the video footage.
“It’s strange… there’s definitely something…”
That’s when it happened.
Deputy Yoon Ha-young, who had been quietly sitting and browsing the internet, spoke up.
“It is strange.”
“What is?”
At my question, Deputy Yoon Ha-young captured a blurry image file and showed it to us.
“Isn’t this person Park Hyung-il?”
It was a very blurry image.
The camera’s focus seemed to be elsewhere, as if capturing Park Hyung-il wasn’t the original purpose.
“Where did you find this?”
“Just on an ordinary video streaming site. The person who uploaded the video was kind enough to include the date too.”
Indeed.
■Month ■Day ■Hour ■Minute. #PinkBloom #Challenge
What Deputy Yoon Ha-young showed was a video of several teenagers dancing in the middle of a familiar street.
Noh Hae-min hummed along and sang the song.
“Don’t you know Pink Bloom? It’s a single by Yoo Hyun-je.”
I don’t.
The melody was familiar, but I didn’t know the song title or original artist.
“That’s not what’s important.”
Deputy Yoon Ha-young cut off Noh Hae-min’s words and pointed to the blurry part of the video.
“Over here.”
Deputy Yoon Ha-young enlarged the captured photo again.
“…Same clothing as in the CCTV footage, same date, and…”
“It looks right.”
Same person.
It’s Park Hyung-il.
This was circumstantial evidence that differed from the police investigation results in many ways.
Park Hyung-il had testified that he argued with Kim Jae-yoon before Jung Seung-jun arrived home that day, then went up to the rooftop and fell asleep.
He even presented the pile of cigarette butts as evidence, despite the building being cleaned daily.
Of course, the CCTV footage showed the same thing.
He actually came out of the building last.
“But this video was taken at the time he testified he was sleeping that day.”
Of course, this isn’t direct evidence of Kim Jae-yoon’s murder.
It’s only indirect, suspicious circumstances after all.
In that short video, Park Hyung-il looked around and quickly passed by.
A long tail will eventually get stepped on.
I received the link from Deputy Yoon Ha-young.
* * *
“There, now it’s the same.”
Jung Seung-jun’s eyes wavered at the photo I presented.
“You and Park Hyung-il are both telling the same lies.”
Of course, the fleeting glimpse of Park Hyung-il’s photo in that short video wasn’t everything.
The Boy finally shed the tears he had been holding back at what I handed him next.
“How… how did you…?”
“What Jung Seung-jun tried so hard to protect.”
At those words, Jung Seung-jun began to cry out loud.
“Grandfather…”
“That’s right. That House, that Fruit Store. Everything you held dear.”
“…”
“The owner is going to change anyway.”
I confirmed that a sales contract had already been concluded between the new building owner and Park Hyung-il’s Mother before the Kim Jae-yoon incident occurred.
The nearby Real Estate Office said the same thing – that contract is still valid.
The person who will become the new building owner had no particular comment about the Kim Jae-yoon incident.
There were even rumors of demolition, but the issue of lease contract renewal was separate.
In the end, only one thing mattered.
“What Park Hyung-il said to you means nothing to you.”
“…Hah, ha… huh… that… that’s…”
“That’s right. And your Grandfather already knows about the threats Park Hyung-il made to you.”
At that moment, Jung Seung-jun completely collapsed.
He seemed most shocked by the fact that Grandfather already knew about it.
[Jung Seung-jun is frightened.]
Jung Seung-jun’s attempt to carry the guilt to the end was probably due to his guilt toward Grandfather who raised him instead of his parents.
So I had to let him know.
Even if he took Park Hyung-il’s guilt in the Kim Jae-yoon incident, nothing would change.
The Boy who had been assaulted by Kim Jae-yoon and Park Hyung-il since elementary school probably couldn’t think properly.
He was just trying to protect his family.
“Baek Jun-tae, remember?”
The shoulders of The Boy who was crouched down crying trembled.
“He seemed to have a lot he wanted to say to you.”
“Jun…”
“That’s right, Baek Jun-tae.”
“…”
“Don’t you think you should go out and talk properly?”
For the first time, Jung Seung-jun nodded his head.
“I’ll do it.”
Light appeared in his clouded eyes.
“I’ll, I’ll tell everything. Everything.”
* * *
“I, I was never here…”
Jung Seung-jun continued his memories with a trembling voice.
“Park, Park Hyung-il… said that.”
“Then you mean the act was already finished when Jung Seung-jun arrived?”
Jung Seung-jun nodded at my words.
The Boy trembled as he dredged up memories he didn’t want to remember.
Tears flowed endlessly down his dry, rough face.
But his statement was calm.
“Hyung-il… put the Knife he was holding into my hand…”
“In your right hand.”
“I, I don’t know… I can’t remember…”
“And then?”
“In, in the Room already… Jae-yoon… no, he wasn’t dead yet then. He was warm.”
The situation of that day that Jung Seung-jun described was horrific.
Park Hyung-il put the Murder Weapon he was holding into Jung Seung-jun’s hands when he opened The Door and entered.
When Jung Seung-jun couldn’t think properly and fumbled, Park Hyung-il struck Jung Seung-jun’s face and chest several times.
Then he said to Jung Seung-jun who had fallen to the Ground while holding the Murder Weapon.
‘I was never here.’
“I fell to the Ground… on my body… on my clothes…”
“The blood got on you then.”
“…Jae, Jae-yoon’s blood….”
Jung Seung-jun contorted his face as if he was about to vomit.
“The smell of blood….”
This would be an unforgettable trauma for this boy.
“He said he’d kill, kill Grandfather too… That’s what he said, *sob*. Park, Hyung-il….”
He had threatened Baek Jun-tae with his house.
It would have been the most extreme threat a middle schooler could think of.
But Park Hyung-il, who had grown a bit more cunning, was different.
“At the hospital, Grandmother….”
“Yeah.”
“He said he’d kill, kill Grandmother too, and Grandfather….”
“….”
“Since he killed once, he asked if he couldn’t… couldn’t kill again….”
He was definitely vicious.
Victims who suffer prolonged physical and mental abuse become unable to think rationally, even if they’re normally reasonable people.
I had seen this countless times in many cases.
But Jung Seung-jun was too young.
From elementary school to high school.
Kim Jae-yoon and Park Hyung-il had continuously exploited Jung Seung-jun.
“So that’s why you took the blame for everything, Mr. Jung Seung-jun?”
At my words, Jung Seung-jun nodded while crying.
“They, they said they’d spare me if I did….”
“….”
“Grandmother too, and Grandfather too….”
Just like Park Ji-hyung’s child.
Swallowing my indifferent assessment, I spoke to Jung Seung-jun.
“Stop crying.”
“…*sob*….”
“Get ready to meet your grandfather when you get out of here.”
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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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