#212

The the man who had finished his interrogation at the prosecutor’s office was immediately imprisoned in the detention center that day. The the man had verbally confessed to killing Kim Cheol-soo and had even written a statement himself. Unfortunately, the prosecutor in charge was in Lee Seok-doo’s line, so it was difficult to have hope.

Baek Gyu-ri, the prosecutor who had missed Oh Dae-ho right in front of her eyes, hurriedly requested an arrest warrant for Lee Seok-doo the next day for the murder case from 11 years ago, but it was rejected. The reason for the rejection was that his identity was certain, there was little concern about him fleeing, and the evidence of the alleged crime was insufficient. Even though there was no more definite evidence than that, they nitpicked, saying it was insufficient. It was a pathetic way of adding, “I’m a judge who’s taken money from Lee Seok-doo, so I can’t give you an arrest warrant.”

Unlike the prosecutors who were in a dilemma, Lee Seon-jae was overcoming difficulties in his own way. Except for Uncle Lee Seok-doo’s affair.

Uncle, who should have been indicted by now, as well as any high-ranking officials in the prosecution, police, and politics who had taken bribes from Uncle, had not been summoned. Even though there was undeniable evidence that Seon-jae had risked his life to steal, the investigation was sluggish because the prosecutor in charge, Jeong Jae-jin, was in a coma.

Since when did the prosecutor’s office operate with only one prosecutor? There were no seniors or superiors who would take responsibility for the aftermath, let alone take over.

If things continued like this, he would have to wait for Lee Seok-doo to self-destruct. It wouldn’t be as fast as he had hoped. Unless Lee Seok-doo had an accident and died or suffered from dementia, it could take at least 10 years, or even 20 years.

Who knew if Lee Hyun-joon would come to his senses and be reborn as a wonderful successor after waiting that long, or if Director Choi Dong-jik would seize power instead of Lee Hyun-joon and make the dying Il-gwang the number one in the gangster world. No one knew the future.

Seon-jae didn’t like having to rely on that vague future.

Above all, it was worst that he had to fully bear the threats that Il-gwang would throw at Seon-jae every moment. Chairman Shin would protect him, but Lee Seon-jae was the only one he would protect.

But Seon-jae had the child and Man. He didn’t want to live in constant fear of what would happen to those two, and he didn’t want the man and the child to be deprived of their right to live freely because of him.

If reality was no different from prison, there was no value in betraying Il-gwang.

Seon-jae planned to deal with Man’s situation first and then finish things with Lee Seok-doo. He was going to push ahead even if the only way was death. He would never die alone. He vowed to take Lee Seok-doo with him, even if he died.

“Sir, we’re here. Sir?”

Seon-jae returned to reality at the taxi Driver’s shout.

It was in front of the Suwon Detention Center, where the man was being held. It was a newly built detention center four years ago, so the building was clean and gave the impression of being a shopping mall rather than a detention center at first glance. Attorney Park Soo-nam’s car was already parked in the parking lot. It was 8:30 a.m. for the visit, so there was still time.

When he knocked on the driver’s seat door, Attorney Park gestured for Seon-jae to get in the passenger seat. He had even thoughtfully prepared coffee for Seon-jae. Seon-jae, who was already thirsty, thanked him and immediately sucked the drink through the straw.

“Look at this, look at this. Who the hell wrote the indictment? The statute of limitations for abandoning a body and illegal confinement has already passed, but it’s still included. They don’t even check this. Who is this bastard?”

Attorney Park began to rant as soon as Seon-jae sat down.

According to Attorney Park, the only crime that could currently be applied to the man was murder. Even that could be overturned because there was no proper evidence other than the confession. Of course, under the premise that the man would help.

“Is the girl in the picture the the child’s mother?”

As expected of someone who had been in this business for a long time, he was sharp.

“Otherwise, he wouldn’t have suddenly confessed. He had been holding out well until then.”

“Well, Na Jin-soo says he doesn’t know her, so maybe they really don’t know each other? Ki-beom may have an obligation to protect that girl, but Na Jin-soo doesn’t.”

Seon-jae flatly denied it.

“That’s true, but I really don’t know how this is going. No matter how I look at it, it seems like the Detective threatened him. But I have no clue what they said to win Yoon Ki-beom over.”

Attorney Park tilted his head, saying this.

“Still, the predecessor was an excellent Detective. Thanks to Seon-jae, the Detective was so helpful, it was a great help.”

Seon-jae just smiled.

He was so nervous that he couldn’t hear what Attorney Park was saying. His mouth kept drying up and his hands were sweating at the thought of meeting Man.

“By the way, you look like a completely different person like this.”

Attorney Park pointed out Seon-jae’s appearance and was amazed. Seon-jae was wearing a neat short-sleeved shirt, dark suit pants, had his bangs down, and was wearing thick-rimmed glasses.

“I tried to look like a law firm employee as much as possible. Is it okay?”

“Is it just okay? Actually, that face isn’t going anywhere. Anyone can see you’re handsome. But if you looked like a delinquent before, now you look like a nerd.”

Attorney Park laughed heartily.

The two of them talked in the car for nearly 20 minutes before getting out of the car to prepare for the visit.

“Oh, and this. The photo is a bit crude because I made it in a hurry, but use it for now.”

It was an employee nameplate for a law firm that he had hastily made for Seon-jae.

Seon-jae made sure to hang it around his neck.

Unlike general visits, attorney visits did not have guards or contact blocking facilities in the visiting room. In other words, he didn’t have to meet the man with that damn partition or bars in between. That’s why Seon-jae asked Attorney Park for an employee card. It was a bit of a trick, but it happened occasionally and there wasn’t much of a problem, so Attorney Park readily agreed.

Every second waiting for the man in the visiting room felt like an eternity. Seon-jae wrapped his hands around the vending machine coffee he had bought for the man to keep it from getting cold. Originally, drinks were prohibited, but they turned a blind eye to vending machine coffee. He bought two cups for Man.

At exactly 8:32, the man entered the visiting room. As soon as Seon-jae saw the man walking to the table under the guidance of the guard, he almost ran out in excitement. He almost shouted the Man’s name.

On the other hand, the man hesitated when he realized Seon-jae was there, but slowly walked to his seat. The guard unlocked the handcuffs on the Man’s wrists and left the visiting room.

As soon as the guard left, Seon-jae handed the man the paper cup.

“Drink this, Ki-beom.”

Seon-jae almost forced it into the Man’s hand, and the man reluctantly accepted it.

The Man’s face was a mess. His complexion was paler than yesterday, and his clear, white eyes were bloodshot as if he hadn’t slept a wink. His lips were also dry and cracked. Not to mention that his cheeks were hollow.

The the man cautiously looked at Seon-jae and the lawyer as he sipped the vending machine coffee.

“Does it taste okay?”

“Yes. It’s good.”

Man’s voice was even hoarse.

Had he been crying all night?

Seon-jae clenched his fist when he realized that Man’s eyes looked more swollen than usual. He couldn’t help but look up at the ceiling because his eyes were getting hot.

“How’s the food? Is it edible?”

Seon-jae deliberately put on a bright face for Man. He spoke in a light tone, as if being imprisoned in a detention center was no big deal.

“…Yes.”

“Did you eat it?”

“…Yes.”

The the man answered Seon-jae’s questions with a beat delay.

Just like when he first met Man.

“Ki-beom, listen to me carefully. Whatever it is, retract your confession. Even for Ji-hye’s sake.”

“…….”

“You don’t want Ji-hye to be the daughter of a murderer, do you?”

“…….”

“Ki-beom is everything to Ji-hye. Not that woman in the picture, but Ki-beom is a father and a mother to Ji-hye. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Instead of answering, The the man bit his lip.

“Are you going to make Ji-hye an orphan? Do you want to send her to an orphanage! That’s not it. So please retract your confession.”

Orphan and orphanage.

Seon-jae deliberately chose words that would provoke a strong reaction from Man. Then the man raised his head and glared at Seon-jae. As fiercely as if he wanted to punch him right away if he could.

“Okay, okay, Yoon Ki-beom. Let’s think in a hopeful direction. You were a minor at the time, right? And you hung out with that friend, Na Jin-soo. Is that right? When you hang out with bad friends, you try to show off to them. Do you think I wouldn’t have done that? I was the same. That’s why you took the picture together, right? You wanted to look cool to your vocational school friends. Right? But you know what, the most important thing here is the murder weapon. None of Yoon Ki-beom’s blood type or fingerprints match the murder weapon. What does that mean? It means Yoon Ki-beom didn’t kill him. Isn’t that right?”

Attorney Park poured out words fluently, but the man didn’t budge.

He didn’t even drink his coffee and just sat there with his head down. The the man who had glared at Seon-jae a moment ago was nowhere to be seen.

He wanted to know what the man was thinking.

He wanted to ask if he didn’t feel anything even after seeing the note he had given him.

You are not Yoon Ki-beom, are you?

But why do you insist on being Yoon Ki-beom?

He was frustrated. He was even more frustrated because he knew the reason.

man had entered Galilla Orphanage at the young age of eleven and had been exploited, oppressed, and mentally and physically abused by Director Kim Young-ja and Vice Director Kim Sung-hwan until he was twenty years old. He must have closed his ears and mouths and held his breath to survive.

Kim Sung-hwan wasn’t the only person who killed Kim Cheol-soo.

Seon-jae already knew three names.

Before Kim Cheol-soo, there was Lee Sang-hoon, and then Yoon Ki-beom, the owner of the name the man was borrowing. And what about the unknown boys and girls Kim Young-ja had told him about?

It was perhaps natural that the man was terrified.

It was presumptuous to advise him to think about the child. Nevertheless, Seon-jae continued to give presumptuous advice.

Attorney Park approached him rationally, while Seon-jae tried to use Man’s psychology.

“Attorney, would you mind leaving Ki-beom and me alone?”

“Five minutes.”

Jeong Jae-jin had said that too, and so did Attorney Park, five minutes.

Seon-jae nodded.

“Yoon Ki-beom, I’ll assume you’ll do as I advised, so let’s cheer up. Restaurant food is better than detention center food, and home-cooked food is a hundred times better than restaurant food. We need to go home and eat home-cooked food soon. Isn’t that right? Fighting!”

After shouting a hopeful slogan, Attorney Park left first.

Even before Attorney Park left the visiting room, Seon-jae got up and held Man’s hands tightly.

man tried to pull his hands away, but Seon-jae held on tightly so he couldn’t.

“Ki-beom, look at me. Huh?”

Seon-jae pleaded.

Then Man, who had been hanging his head like a criminal, slowly raised his head. He stared at Seon-jae silently. His eyes contained a lot. At the same time, there was nothing.

Seon-jae was overwhelmed with sadness.

He only had five minutes, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak.

He was going to call him Shim Gang-woo, but he couldn’t utter that name.

He just held his hands tightly and stared at Man, unable to do anything or say anything.

Chapter 213