Chapter 148
I don't know whether it's legally possible to lock Lee Haru up.
I'm no legal scholar. How would I know the ins and outs of that complicated legal system?
If I knew that, I'd have gone to law school.
But one thing was certain: Lee Haru was trying to get away with as little punishment as possible by relying on her lawyer and her family's influence.
"Oh?! Teacher, you're here?"
"Yes. Haha. Aren't you busy? I just came by to say hello."
"Come on. It's not like I'm busy."
He glanced at the lawyer in a suit and Lee Haru, who sat there with an indifferent expression.
"Let's take a break and continue later."
"Prosecutor Gu. We don't have that much time. You know Ms. Lee Haru has physical and mental health issues."
Ah, so he'd come to get her released on bail for health reasons, at least for now.
She couldn't do anything until they got her out.
The lawyer spoke confidently, but Prosecutor Gu Nam-cheol merely waved dismissively and left with me.
As soon as we stepped out of the room, he sighed.
"That fucking bastard..."
"Isn't that man your senior, Prosecutor Gu?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. He's three cohorts ahead of me. He actually served as a prosecutor, too."
He'd been a prosecutor, but retired early and became a lawyer for Namhyeong Group.
Still scratching his head as if this were a nuisance, he walked with me to the vending machine.
"You'll have a coffee, right?"
"Yes. Huh? You're buying?"
"Heh heh. After you came all this way, how could I not at least buy you a coffee? Sorry it's just canned coffee, though."
He casually bought two cans of coffee and handed one to me.
Then he let out another deep sigh.
"The Lee Haru situation has gotten a little complicated."
"Are they putting pressure on you?"
"Yes."
Namhyeong Group seemed determined to do everything it could to save Lee Haru.
People in political circles were also trying to get her out.
"Senior Woo... Vice Chief Prosecutor Woo is basically telling them to quit talking nonsense, but..."
"But?"
"Senior Woo is aiming to become chief prosecutor. If the pressure keeps coming and they keep making an issue of this, it'll be hard for him to get the post."
"Is there any chance he'll make a deal with them?"
"No. He's far too strict."
The problem was the people above him.
They were more than willing to make a deal, and in the process, they'd try to push out the current vice chief prosecutor,
Woo Sang-mun.
"Can they actually push him out?"
"It's not impossible."
"Hmm. Then what would be the best thing to do?"
"The best thing would be to take down the people trying to go after Senior Woo."
The higher-ups were moving to push Vice Chief Prosecutor Woo Sang-mun out.
That alone would put a lot of pressure on him.
So if we could take those people out of the picture, we should.
"Would it be better if I stepped in?"
"Huh? You, Teacher? But don't you usually avoid people in that circle? They're all politicians, after all."
"I don't particularly like them."
"Then is there any need for you to get involved?"
"But I can't just sit back and do nothing, can I?"
Lee Haru was the girl who'd led the bullying of Han Yu-na back in high school.
I couldn't just let someone like that live carefree.
"Who's the biggest problem?"
"Assemblyman Han Myeong-guk. He's in his third term, and he's quite well-known."
"I see."
"Are you going to try to persuade him?"
"Why bother? Couldn't we just go after him?"
"Ah."
Han Myeong-guk had won election to the National Assembly three times.
Could a politician like that really have no corruption scandals?
"I'll dig up everything and send it over."
"Hahaha!! That's really reassuring! Yes! I'll pass it straight on to Senior Woo!"
Since Woo Sang-mun had already been quite worried about this, Prosecutor Gu Nam-cheol immediately picked up his phone.
Was he going to send him a text?
A little while later.
I saw someone running toward us from the end of the hallway.
"Goodness! Teacher! When did you get here?"
"Hello. How have you been?"
Vice Chief Prosecutor Woo Sang-mun.
Perhaps because the No. 2 man at the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office had personally hurried over to greet me,
people all around us began looking our way.
"Hey! Gu Nam-cheol! How could you make the Teacher wait around in a place like this?"
"Come on, Senior. The Teacher likes canned coffee. I've had several with him myself."
"Still, you shouldn't be doing this. Please, let's go to my office."
"Haha. It's fine. Prosecutor Woo, would you like a coffee, too? Prosecutor Gu will buy it for you."
"I'll gladly accept, Teacher."
"I'm the one paying, so why are you thanking the Teacher..."
"Quiet."
The two of them got along really well.
Grumbling, Gu Nam-cheol handed him a can of coffee. After carefully taking a sip, Vice Chief Prosecutor Woo Sang-mun spoke up.
"You're going after Han Myeong-guk?"
"Yes. He's attacking you, Prosecutor Woo."
"Wow... I'm touched."
"Then please be sure to subscribe to my channel, like the videos, and turn on notifications."
"I guess I'll have to watch you diligently from now on..."
"Yes. Then let's do that. Anyway, the important thing is taking down Lee Haru, so stay on your toes."
"By the way, seeing you go at this so passionately... do you have some personal grudge against that woman?"
"Yes. Lee Haru bullied my friend in high school."
I was trying to take her down for a very personal reason.
But was that really wrong?
It was only right for someone who'd committed a crime to pay for it.
"...Hah. She was rotten from the start, even as a kid."
"Yes."
"We have to lock her up somehow. I'd feel better if we got her the maximum sentence. Right, Prosecutor Gu?"
"That's exactly what I want to say."
"Anyway, I'll take care of Han Myeong-guk, so get ready."
"Get ready for what...?"
"I'll bring you the dirt on Han Myeong-guk."
Han Myeong-guk was at the center of the people trying to protect Lee Haru.
So if we took him down as an example, wouldn't the rest of those small fry keep their heads down on their own?
On top of that, let's take down Namhyeong Group, Lee Haru's home base, if we can.
"That's true. But, Teacher..."
"Yes?"
"Do you think Han Myeong-guk has any scandals?"
"He does."
Few people can be dug into without any dirt turning up.
Especially among politicians.
.
.
.
I didn't bother calling Han Myeong-guk's office.
Why would I call him?
Someone with skeletons in his closet would never agree to meet me.
So I contacted Chairman Han Jun-ho instead.
-Han Myeong-guk? I know of him, but we're not close.
As expected, Chairman Han Jun-ho knew him.
Then I'd ask him about it.
"Could you arrange a meal with Han Myeong-guk?"
-Are you thinking of joining forces with him? Hmm. I wouldn't recommend it. He goes around talking about what a clean politician he is, but he's even more of a scumbag than you'd think.
According to rumors among the chaebol, he's one of the politicians who subtly pressure them to cough up money.
And that's not all. He embezzles quite a bit from his campaign donations, and he doesn't hesitate to throw his weight around just because he's an assemblyman.
-I've even heard rumors that Han Myeong-guk associates with gangsters.
"Oh. Really?"
-Hmm. So, if possible, you'd be better off staying away from him...
"I'm trying to stay away from him."
-What do you mean?
I told him what had happened with Lee Haru.
Lee Haru had bullied Han Yu-na back in high school, and now Han Myeong-guk was trying to protect her.
I heard a groan from the other end of the phone.
-Our... Yu-na was bullied in high school...?
"Yes."
-I-I never heard anything about that...
"Ms. Yu-na didn't pay it much mind. People who don't have something are naturally jealous of those who do."
Han Yu-na was so talented that Lee Haru couldn't hope to compete with her.
Her looks went without saying.
And Han Yu-na barely paid any attention to people she wasn't interested in.
Knowing she couldn't even get Yu-na to notice her, Lee Haru became even more jealous and tried to bully her.
Even then, Han Yu-na didn't care much.
"Still, that doesn't change the fact that her high school years were difficult."
There had even been times when Lee Haru tried to physically attack her.
Of course, Han Yu-na beat the crap out of her.
But she'd tried, hadn't she?
Even if she could ignore it, I couldn't.
-In that case... I can't just sit by either.
I heard the sound of him grinding his teeth through the phone.
-I'll arrange a meeting for tonight.
"Thank you."
-There's no need to thank me. It's for my daughter.
"Ms. Yu-na is my friend, too."
-Hah. You keep finding ways to move me, don't you?
It was nothing.
.
.
.
The next day.
As promised, I joined Twin Enter's auditions, and we found one promising candidate today.
She was a seventeen-year-old girl named Yoo Se-hee. She had talent, and her past was clean, too.
And for good reason...
"You dropped out of middle school?"
"Yes!! I was homeschooled!"
"Why?"
"My dream is to become an idol!!"
Back in her first year of middle school,
she stopped going to school, full of lofty dreams.
She'd made use of the rule that students who didn't attend for more than three months could be classified as outside the school's official enrollment.
"Isn't middle school compulsory?"
"I took the equivalency exam!"
"Wow. Your family let you do that?"
"Yes! They actually supported me!"
Her parents had said they'd let her do what she wanted if she passed the equivalency exam, so she took it right away and passed.
Then she spent all her remaining time practicing singing and dancing.
She was genuinely talented, so her family supported her, too.
"Honestly, with skills this good, you could go to another big agency, couldn't you?"
"Taehyun did offer to scout me!"
Yoo Se-hee looked proud.
"Then why did you come to Twin Enter?"
Yoo Se-hee, who'd only been glancing around since entering the audition room, finally met my gaze confidently.
"Because Noah hyung is here!"
"Oh..."
"Wow..."
"As expected of our investor..."
I felt like the king of all teenagers.
Well, kids in elementary, middle, and high school really did like me a lot.
"Good. Go back for now, and I hope you get good news."
"Okay~!"
After Yoo Se-hee left, President Ha Yujeong grinned at me.
"We'll get a great talent thanks to you, Teacher."
"I hope so. Well, that's it for today, right?"
"Yes. We're planning to go out for dinner. Won't you join us?"
"I have dinner plans."
"Oh. With whom? Your girlfriend?"
"No."
I said with a smile,
"I'm going to meet someone I'm going to take down."
After saying goodbye to them, I headed to the address Chairman Han Jun-ho had sent me.
It was a Korean restaurant serving traditional set meals on the outskirts of Seoul.
When I went inside, Chairman Han Jun-ho's secretary and bodyguard was waiting for me.
"I'll show you in."
As I followed him inside,
“.........”
an old man, his face stiff, looked back and forth between me and Chairman Han Jun-ho in disbelief.
“K-Kang Noah!? What are you doing here!?”
I checked in the meantime.
Wow. This man was even worse than the rumors made him out to be.
Taking bribes and ordering assaults were just the start...
He'd even sold state secrets?
Unbelievable!
Looks like the NIS interrogation room is about to get another occupant.
One more guy to send off alongside Lee Haru.