Episode 10
Reincarnation Trial (8)
“Defendant! Be quiet!”
“Aaaargh!”
The judge slammed the gavel, but Woo Soo-jin didn’t stop.
“Defendant!”
“I didn’t kill him! I didn’t! Believe me!”
“Bailiff, remove her!”
The court bailiff rushed in and dragged Woo Soo-jin away.
Even as she was being dragged, Woo Soo-jin screamed and struggled.
“Aaaargh!”
Her voice faded away.
The courtroom she left behind was as silent as a storm had just swept through.
The judge sighed and spoke.
“We will take a 10-minute recess. The decision on whether to accept the evidence will be made after 10 minutes, prosecutor.”
The three judges stood up and left, and Seo Jin also left with Lee Jung-woo.
The only one left in the room was Gu Sang-jin.
“Damn.”
In that brief moment, Gu Sang-jin’s face had turned dark.
His eyelids trembled, and his lips were dry and cracked.
He had watched Woo Soo-jin, who was behaving like a madwoman, and he knew for sure.
“It’s over.”
This trial felt like one-sided violence.
Instead of presenting arguments, it ended with stammering and silence.
The problem was that his opponent was a greenhorn whose ID card ink hadn’t even dried.
Customers would doubt his abilities, and he would likely lose his desk at the company.
But Gu Sang-jin didn’t give up.
There’s a saying that even if bitten by a tiger, one can survive if they regain their senses.
He pondered his path even when pushed to the cliff edge, and…
“I found it.”
Gu Sang-jin’s eyes lit up.
He turned his gaze towards the defendant’s seat.
Imagining Woo Soo-jin sitting there, he muttered ruthlessly.
“If you’re going to die, die alone! I’m not going to die!”
***
“Prosecutor, and defense attorney, please come forward.”
The trial resumed after 10 minutes.
Woo Soo-jin, who had returned, had a look of resignation, and defense attorney Gu Sang-jin stood before the judge, letting out a deep sigh.
The judge spoke.
“Now we need to decide whether to accept the mobile phone as evidence or not. Begin.”
Seo Jin had adjusted the volume of the phone so that only they could hear, and when she found the recording file, she pressed play, revealing the voice of an unfamiliar man.
“I did beat him. But, oh, he still seems to be breathing. What should I do? Should I wait? Waiting feels like he’ll die… Oh, damn. What if someone sees? Hey, Woo Soo-jin! It’s 300 million. Got it. I’ll definitely finish him off. So don’t forget.”
The judge, as well as Attorney Gu Sang-jin, swallowed dryly.
Woo Soo-jin’s name was mentioned, and the agreed-upon amount was revealed.”
“This is definitive.”
Seo Jin opened her mouth towards Attorney Gu Sang-jin.
“The attorney knows. This voice is Jang Dong-ik’s voice. What will you do?”
Since it’s not a pre-agreed evidence, it can be rejected.
But rejecting it in this trial is just a formality; it’s certain that it will be adopted as evidence in the next trial.
When Attorney Gu Sang-jin didn’t respond, Seo Jin asked again.
“Will you do it by the book?”
Rejecting the evidence and preparing counter-evidence until the next trial is the conventional approach.
Sometimes, efforts need to be made to invalidate the evidence itself.
But Attorney Gu Sang-jin didn’t act by the book.
“I admit it.”
Attorney Gu Sang-jin gave up on this case.
From now on, he plans to insist, ‘I thought this was a traffic accident.’
‘That’s the only way to survive.’
Losing this trial means losing clients.
But he can’t afford to lose public opinion as well.
If he gives up the income from appearing on broadcasts, he might as well suck his thumb.
Attorney Gu Sang-jin returned to his seat with a heavy heart.
Then the judge spoke.
“We will adopt the evidence. Now, prosecutor, continue.”
Seo Jin stood in front of Woo Soo-jin, holding the phone, looking down at her with cold eyes, and spoke.
“Defendant, do you know whose phone this is?”
Woo Soo-jin looked at Seo Jin with unfocused eyes.
“… My sister’s?”
“Do you know what is recorded on it?”
Woo Soo-jin didn’t answer. And as Seo Jin stared at her, she pressed the play button.
“This life is damn tough. He’s still not dead. Ha… Su-jin, what will you do if you get money? A bag? You want Chanel in this situation? Are you really crazy? If I have 300 million…”
Jang Dong-ik’s voice filled the courtroom, and people murmured.
“Really… waited until he died?”
“That guy is insane.”
“Killing the younger sister and buying Chanel with that money?”
And then, it happened.
“Damn!”
A man’s voice filled with frustration shook the courtroom.
It was the husband of the deceased Woo Soo-kyung, wearing a factory jumper.
He rushed towards Woo Soo-jin, shouting like a wild beast.
With bloodshot eyes, he screamed like a beast.
“Are you even human?”
Leaving to earn a living for a humble household, he left his wife alone, trying hard in the factory.
But unlucky as he was, his salary got delayed, the company collapsed…
Still, his wife remained resilient.
“We’ll be fine even without that money. We’re happy together. So, can’t you just come back? From next year, let’s be together. The kids need their dad. I’ll work even harder.”
That voice still echoed in his ears.
Knowing the struggles, he couldn’t even buy her a single piece of clothing.
“Die! Damn it!”
The court bailiff restrained the husband rushing forward.
“Let go! Please, let go…”
Woo Soo-jin’s gaze slowly turned towards her husband.
With a cold look, she opened her mouth.
Her voice was brazen.
“Su-kyung’s death is all your fault.”
“…What?”
“Why did you leave and live? Why couldn’t you earn money? That’s why we took out insurance. Because I couldn’t trust you, I put it in my name! It’s all your fault!”
“Damn!”
He struggled to rush towards Woo Soo-jin, but he was held back by the bailiff.
Unable to do anything, he had to be dragged outside, still thrashing.
“Let go! Please! Please!”
In a choked voice, the courtroom fell into silence, and the judge’s sigh broke the stillness.
The judge wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
He had been in the courtroom for a long time, but such a noisy trial was not common.
With a weak voice, he spoke.
“Counsel, will you present a rebuttal?”
“…No. I will not.”
The judge waited as if expecting this response.
“With this, we will conclude the first trial. The next trial will be held in 10 days at 2 PM.”
The trial panel quickly left, and the courtroom filled with the tense breaths of the spectators.
Seo Jin started to tidy up her belongings.
Ignoring the glare from Attorney Gu Sang-jin on the opposite side, she casually picked up her bag and turned away.
She had no intention of having a confrontation with the lawyer even after the trial ended.
Walking down the corridor, Seo Jin checked her phone.
During that short time, quite a few messages had come in.
First from Lee Jung-woo.
“Suddenly got some work. Leaving first.”
Seo Jin wanted to buy him a meal as a thank you for bringing the evidence, but he left without waiting.
Seo Jin continued to check her phone.
The next message was from Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo.
“Call me when it’s over.”
Pressing the call button, Seo Jin placed the phone to her ear.
“Yes, Prosecutor. It just ended.”
“Oh? Did you make any mistakes?”
As Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo didn’t attend the trial, he didn’t know what had happened.
He was curious if Seo Jin had made any mistakes against the veteran lawyer Gu Sang-jin, that’s all.
And Seo Jin had no intention of explaining anything to him.
After all, once the results were out, everything would be known.
“No mistakes…”
It was as she descended to the parking lot.
A large number of reporters who had been waiting for her gazed at Seo Jin with cameras raised.
Simultaneously, they snapped their shutters, bombarding her with rapid questions.
“They say it was Prosecutor Lee who uncovered the suspicion of attempted murder in a traffic accident! Where did you notice anything unusual?”
“It was your first case, but were there any difficulties?”
“Please tell us something!”
***
Seo Jin’s father, Kim Joon-man, came home, loosening his tie forcefully.
Seated on the sofa, his mother turned her head and looked at her father.
“Why? What’s going on?”
Without answering, her father’s gaze pointed towards his hands.
The newspapers were filled.
The reason her father entered the house with newspapers like this was always the same – whenever a major issue like strikes or accidents at construction sites occurred.
Father opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“These darn reporters…”
“Are you okay?”
“The prosecutor…”
“Yes? If it’s a prosecutorial issue, I can talk to my husband…”
“Never mind. The prosecutor isn’t someone who can solve this kind of problem. Ugh.”
Furrowing his brow, her father unfolded one newspaper after another.
The front page was filled with political stories.
Silently, he turned one page, then another.
The rustling sound of paper seemed anxious, and her mother observed her father’s expression.
Tightly closed lips and furrowed brows were visible.
Her mother had many questions but held them back.
With an anxious face, she only waited for her father’s explanation.
Then, her father stopped flipping the newspaper and pointed with his finger at a small article.
“Read this aloud.”
Her mother read the small print aloud.
“Traffic accident nearly conceals an attempted contract killing in Dongnam County. The mother of two children couldn’t leave this world with resentment. However, Prosecutor Kim Seo-jin harbored suspicions based on a small clue…”
Raising her head, her mother looked at her father.
“What is this?”
“What is it? Our son’s name is in the newspaper. Kim Seo-jin.”
“Yes?”
Father frowned and spread out one thick newspaper.
“All the newspapers with my son’s name engraved are bought. This is the evening edition, and tomorrow’s morning edition will all be bought too. I told the secretary to print all the articles that came up on the internet.”
“Wasn’t there any other problem?”
“Problem? There’s no problem! Newspapers with my son’s face are also there! Do you think he can handle all those calls from the little brokers who will contact him, claiming to be the parents of well-behaved kids? Hahaha!”
***
At that moment, Dongnam County Local Office.
After leaving the court, Seo Jin stopped by the main office, finished Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo’s errands, and finally arrived at the local office.
She had to express her gratitude for the assistance during the first trial.
Buying coffee for the investigators, field officers, and Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo, she filled her carrier bag and entered the elevator.
Seo Jin pressed the button for the 6th floor where her office was located and, as the elevator ascended, she momentarily lost herself in thought.
‘What was that?’
It happened this morning while riding with Lee Jung-woo to the court.
Seo Jin experienced a psychometric phenomenon while listening to Jung-woo’s call.
Until now, Seo Jin had determined that something would emerge only when she touched an object.
But now, she had to reconsider.
‘Does it only come out when I hear relevant stories, not when I touch an object?’
Seo Jin squinted her eyes in contemplation.
However, the elevator’s doors opened with a ‘ding,’ interrupting her thoughts.
There was no use pondering over it; she wouldn’t find any answers.
She immediately headed to her office, unlocking the door.
“I’m back.”
“Well done!”
The brusque Prosecutor Lee Myung-soo pulled Seo Jin into a tight hug.
Beside them, the field officers and investigators applauded.
