The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 36

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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 36

 

 

…Is that thing even human?

 

I hesitated for a moment.

Though I had seen countless materials while working as a judge, this time was on a different level.

Sage’s wailing-like sounds echoed like tinnitus in my ears.

 

“Da, Da… Da-ye… Da-ye…”

 

The room was dark.

 

In the abandoned Single Room without a single window, a small Ventilation Fan was spinning.

The Ground was damp with some foul-smelling liquid that had rotted and given off a terrible odor.

 

There were piles of Plastic Bottles that seemed hastily shoved in without proper organization.

Used Syringes and IV Pouches were scattered about messily, and the stagnant, rotten smell was nauseating enough to make one retch.

 

“…Hyung, what the hell.”

 

Sung Tae-jun looked at me with a confused face, then immediately rushed toward Shin Da-ye.

Even while collapsed on the Ground, Sage’s face was completely consumed by panic as he crawled toward her.

 

“She’s not dead.”

 

It seems the remnants including ‘Hwan’ were in a hurry.

 

They had hidden things they couldn’t take with them in this small room.

Quite boldly, at that.

If we hadn’t come here, everything would have disappeared before this night was over.

 

I carefully approached Sung Tae-jun’s side, avoiding the trash in the room.

 

“Hyung, this is really…”

 

Even someone who had been through all kinds of hardships wouldn’t have easily seen such a horrific scene.

 

Shin Da-ye, it was indeed her whom I had only seen in Photos.

Her face looked so young that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her still a child.

However, judging by her appearance alone, she didn’t look alive.

 

“…”

 

Her pale face was mostly unchanged, but dried blood scabs clung to her lips.

 

Despite wearing ordinary cotton clothes and pants, all the exposed parts were covered in bruises, bloodstains, or wounds.

The Woman’s feet, so thin that the bone structure of her wrists was visible from lack of proper care, had dried IV lines connected to them with blood flowing backward.

 

I carefully placed my hand near the nose of the Woman who appeared dead.

 

“Her breathing is stable.”

 

Then the dried IV Fluid connected to her feet must have been some kind of emergency treatment.

 

After Sage escaped, those who suddenly had to prepare to relocate temporarily dumped things they couldn’t take with them in this room.

The Woman who couldn’t regain consciousness was treated the same way.

 

“The reason Hwan came personally instead of sending his subordinates was probably because of this Woman.”

 

Not much time had passed since Shin Da-ye went missing and the Media pointed to Sage as the culprit, publishing speculative articles.

 

In that short time, Shin Da-ye had withered away to just a shell.

Why?

Because of the secret Sage mentioned when he first came to the Office?

 

Then now that we had found Shin Da-ye, her lifeline would become even more precarious.

 

“…Hyung, I don’t care what you’re trying to do, this is dangerous. Back out here.”

 

Of course, that’s also right.

 

I scanned around the Bed where Shin Da-ye lay abandoned.

Besides the Plastic Bottles, there were no particularly suspicious-looking objects.

 

Then in the end, is Shin Da-ye everything?

Everything surrounding her was so strange that it was difficult to pinpoint any one thing specifically.

 

“Hyung.”

 

It was the moment when Sung Tae-jun was shaking his head with a completely hardened face.

An animal-like wailing burst out from Sage, who had been leaning on Noh Hae-min.

 

“Da, Da-ye!”

 

He pushed Noh Hae-min away with surprising strength and rushed to embrace Shin Da-ye.

He seemed to have become a completely different person from the Man who had collapsed on the Ground just moments before.

 

“Da-ye, Da-ye… are you okay? Are you okay?”

 

Sage’s face was already so wet it was hard to recognize.

He wailed like someone who could only say one thing. And.

 

“…Op… pa…”

 

A thin voice flowed out from between the dry lips where bloodstains had dried.

 

She regained consciousness?

Even as Sung Tae-jun and I quickly approached to check the Woman’s condition, Sage continued crying endlessly, wetting Shin Da-ye’s face with his tears.

 

“I…”

“Don’t speak. Don’t, it’s okay. It’s okay. Everything’s okay…”

 

Shin Da-ye’s condition was not good.

Even I, who had virtually no medical knowledge, could tell that much.

Sung Tae-jun composed his hardened expression and stepped back a few paces.

 

“…I’ll request backup first.”

 

He quickly walked out of the room, scanning me, Noh Hae-min, and Sage collapsed on the ground in turn.

 

“Don’t touch anything. We need to preserve the scene.”

 

However, no one paid attention to his words.

 

Shin Da-ye, the girl like a dried twig, moved her lips toward Sage as if she had something more to say.

 

But it didn’t last long.

The woman, seeming to be in severe pain, clutched her stomach and curled up, then lost consciousness in Sage’s arms.

 

* * *

 

[ ‘Trainee Disappearance Case’ Miss S, Miraculously Survives]

[Shin Da-ye Was Alive… Rescuer is Sage? Police Call It ‘Major Turning Point’]

[ Missing Trainee Found in Abandoned Building, Elus Entertainment ‘Confirming’ – No Comment]

[‘I Thought I Had Imprisoned Her’… Will Sage Clear Suspicions by Rescuing Shin Da-ye?]

 

I knew this would happen.

As soon as the police got involved, the media went into a frenzy.

Of course, from my position as Sage’s defense lawyer, this was actually favorable.

 

“…Hyung.”

 

After the police and rescue team that Sung Tae-jun called arrived.

We focused on moving Shin Da-ye to the hospital without having any conversation.

 

Sage, who had nearly fainted, stubbornly insisted on staying by Shin Da-ye’s side throughout, and Shin Da-ye felt the same way.

 

The woman, who kept losing and regaining consciousness, rejected the medical staff with a terror-stricken face, perhaps a traumatic response.

 

In the end, she agreed to receive treatment only on the condition that Sage would be present.

 

“Seriously, back off.”

 

Sung Tae-jun had been whining for a while now.

He must have instinctively known this situation was dangerous.

 

But it was hard for me to understand.

Wasn’t Sung Tae-jun not particularly interested in Sung Tae-hyun’s well-being?

 

Seeing how quiet Sung Tae-hyun’s heart, which used to race wildly before, had become, he seemed to have no particular thoughts either.

 

“I don’t interfere with whatever hyung does, but-“

“This is what you call interference.”

 

Sung Tae-jun’s face scrunched up at my words.

 

“Hyung, you know you’re really strange, right?”

“I know.”

“You never used to argue like this. And lately with mom too-“

 

That again.

 

Sung Tae-jun’s usefulness was already over.

His role ended with bringing the police car at the right timing.

 

Though perhaps his role as a brother remained, as he whined tediously.

I pointed to the door in front of Shin Da-ye’s hospital room, which had just been stabilized.

 

“Guard them well.”

“…Hyung!”

“Both of them. Especially, Shin Da-ye is an important witness.”

 

Hwan already knows I rescued Shin Da-ye.

So it’s obvious what kind of danger might befall the woman.

 

“They might really come to kill her.”

 

This time Sung Tae-jun stopped whining.

 

Well, regardless of what kind of person Sung Tae-jun was, he was still a police officer.

Having seen Shin Da-ye’s condition directly inside the abandoned building, he probably already had this level of crisis awareness.

 

“…What do you think this is, some movie?”

“That’s why you need to be more careful.”

“…”

“Reality always exceeds your imagination.”

 

Including me in front of you.

Of course, I didn’t voice the latter part. Sung Tae-jun let out a long sigh and nodded.

 

* * *

 

-The contact came a bit late, didn’t it?

 

Lee Na-yoon’s voice, tinged with laughter, rang in my ear.

 

She was right.

 

I was just before confronting Hwan.

Just in case, I had sent Lee Na-yoon all the photos I took in that building, including the pictures of the wall filled with plastic bottles.

 

I cleanly deleted the photo album because the insurance I held was that I was a reporter obsessed with scoops.

I was the goose that laid golden eggs for Lee Na-yoon, and I could always get this much back anytime.

 

“Still, you broke one scoop. The view count came out pretty well, didn’t it?”

 

At my words, Lee Na-yoon burst into hearty laughter.

 

As expected, it must have done well.

 

Just before articles about Sage and Shin Da-ye poured out like a flood, Lee Na-yoon was the first to report this incident as front-page news.

 

The matters related to the plastic bottles were still secret, but she was the fastest to report that Sage had saved Shin Da-ye.

The photos I took also played a part.

 

-The response was pretty good. It has to be dramatic after all.

“Ellus must be going crazy. How’s the agency side?”

 

At my question, Lee Na-yoon couldn’t stop laughing for quite a while.

 

…Is this person okay?

Lee Na-yoon, who had been giggling as if she had some grudge against Ellus, suddenly stopped laughing.

She really was a strange person.

 

-Ah, that side…

 

Lee Na-yoon, who had paused for a moment as if building suspense, rattled off the situation in a pleased voice.

 

-For now, they’re only giving reporters the answer ‘under confirmation.’ BelVix, excluding Sage, is also keeping their mouths completely shut.

“Typical.”

-Typical indeed. Hmm, Kim Wan-gil and Kang Hwan-pil’s sides are also quiet for now. They’re probably planning to cut off the tail, right?

 

She was even keeping watch on Kim Wan-gil and Kang Hwan-pil’s sides?

This much help without even being instructed.

It was scary to think what and how much she’d try to extract later.

 

“About that bottle.”

 

Before I could even finish the question, Lee Na-yoon’s voice filled with laughter rang in my ears again.

 

-Ah, that was really interesting, wasn’t it?

“…Did you find out the source, by any chance?”

 

That quickly?

 

The bottle itself was a collagen drink bottle.

It was a common drink you could get anywhere.

 

Deputy Yoon Ha-young had investigated even the manufacturing plant, but there were no particular peculiarities.

So ultimately, it would mean there’s a third ‘drug manufacturing plant’ different from the beverage manufacturing side.

 

-Unfortunately, it’s hard to confirm.

 

Of course.

The label itself didn’t show any text that could specify a particular company or individual.

 

-But…

“But?”

-Haha, well. There is something like that. First, it’s not an officially registered project.

“I know that too.”

 

Who would have registered something like that?

However, Lee Na-yoon continued with a relaxed laugh.

 

-Right? It’s a project that doesn’t show up in the Korea Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, or pharmaceutical clinical data. It’s certain there were human clinical trials, and despite being an injectable medicine, mixing it in a drink means they risked oral administration.

“Was there no particular information regarding the source?”

-It’s only circumstantial evidence, but…

 

Did she find it?

 

-This label composition looked familiar, so I looked it up…

“Concisely, just tell me the answer.”

-Nexarum Bio.

 

It’s not direct evidence.

You can’t be certain of a crime based on just a label.

However.

 

“…Label specifications and such, they’re different for each company, aren’t they?”

-Correct! That’s why I looked into it. Nexarum has previously…

 

Right, I remember.

 

“The one that caused controversy for using humans as clinical subjects directly without going through animal testing.”

-Wow, you’re really sharp about this stuff, lawyer? Even my juniors don’t know about this.

 

They can’t help but not know.

Nexarum is the changed name of a pharmaceutical company that was once overturned in the past.

 

It was a very long time ago.

It was before I even became a legal professional.

 

So kids these days might not know.

Some crimes are forgotten like that.

 

“Let’s dig into that side a bit more.”

 

The call ended.

It was before I had heard Lee Na-yoon’s answer.

The mobile phone slipped smoothly from my hand and settled into someone else’s palm, swaying gently.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

An unknown woman with a polite smile handed my mobile phone back to me.

The call with Lee Na-yoon had been quietly disconnected after the end button was pressed.

 

“You’re Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun, correct?”

 

Like a well-orchestrated play.

By the roadside, a pitch-black sedan with its hazard lights on slowly came to a stop.

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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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