Judge Park looked at the courtroom over his glasses. "Does the defense have any further witnesses or motions before we proceed to closing arguments?"
Heeyeon stood. "Your Honor, the defense requests a recess. New evidence has come to our attention that is directly relevant to this case. We need time to properly present it to the court."
Kim was on his feet before she finished. "Your Honor, the defense has been stalling since this afternoon began. First a recess to confirm witnesses, then a witness who testified against their own client, and now an adjournment request with no specifics attached to it." He gestured toward Heeyeon with open hands. "This is delay for the sake of delay. The prosecution objects."
"Attorney Hwang," Judge Park said. "What evidence are you referring to?"
"Your Honor, we have reason to believe a RICO filing is being submitted to this court today concerning Charles Choi and HNH Group. If accepted, it would materially affect the circumstances of this case."
Kim laughed once, short and dry. "A filing that may or may not exist, submitted by a party with no connection to this trial, concerning a matter that is entirely separate from the murder charge currently before this court." He looked at Judge Park. "Your Honor, the defense is asking you to pause a murder trial on the basis of a rumor."
"It is not a rumor," Heeyeon said.
"Then produce it," Kim said.
The courtroom was quiet. Heeyeon held Kim's gaze and said nothing.
Kim turned back to Judge Park with a calm, satisfied expression. "The prosecution requests that we proceed immediately to closing arguments."
Judge Park took his glasses off and set them on the bench. He looked at Heeyeon. He looked at Kim. He looked at Baki, who sat with his cuffed hands flat on the table and his eyes forward.
His clerk leaned over and said something quietly into his ear.
Judge Park listened. His expression did not change. He put his glasses back on.
"This court will take a ten minute recess," he said.
Kim's smile dropped.
---
Few hours earlier.
Heeyeon stepped into the hallway. The lunch break was over. The court resumes at 2:31 pm.
She stood with the phone at her side and looked at the far wall.
Her phone buzzed. An unknown number. She opened the message.
"My name is Seongji Yuk. I am Baki's friend. A RICO filing against Charles Choi and HNH Group is being submitted to Seoul Central District Court today. It includes documentary evidence confirming Charles Choi's direct dealings with the Yamazaki Syndicate. The document is called the Red Paper. Buy as much time as you can. It will reach the court."
Heeyeon read it twice. Then she went back inside.
---
The recess lasted four minutes.
When Judge Park returned, he carried himself differently. He sat down, arranged his papers once, and looked at the room.
"This court has received notification that a RICO filing has been submitted today by prosecutor Choi Kangmi against the estate of Charles Choi and HNH Group," he said. "The filing includes documentary evidence designated as the Red Paper. Given the potential relevance of this submission to the current proceedings, this court will review its contents before continuing."
Kim was on his feet. "Your Honor, a RICO filing against a deceased individual's estate is a separate civil and criminal matter entirely. It has no bearing on the facts of this murder trial. The prosecution strongly objects to any delay caused by an unrelated filing."
"Sit down, Attorney Kim," Judge Park said.
Kim sat down.
The clerk handed Judge Park a folder. Judge Park opened it and read. The courtroom stayed completely silent. Baki watched the judge's face. Heeyeon watched it too. Kim stared at the table in front of him with his jaw tight.
Judge Park turned a page. Then another.
He closed the folder.
"Attorney Hwang," he said. "You may speak."
Heeyeon stood. "Your Honor, the Red Paper is a document confirming a direct financial and operational alliance between Charles Choi and the Yamazaki Syndicate, a Japanese organized crime organization, dating back to the period known as the 0th Generation. It establishes that Charles Choi used this alliance to build HNH Group's financial foundation through criminal means, and that he specifically recruited and used minors to construct four criminal organizations for profit." She paused. "Charles Choi was not a private citizen. He was an active partner of a foreign criminal syndicate who used high school students as instruments of organized crime. That is who the victim in this case was."
Kim stood. "Your Honor, the victim's business history, however troubling, does not change what happened the night he died. The defendant attacked and killed him. That is the charge. The defendant's actions that night must be judged on their own facts, not on whatever Charles Choi may or may not have done in his past."
"The victim's character is directly relevant to the self-defense claim," Heeyeon said. "A man with Yamazaki connections, with a documented history of using violence through proxies, was present at the scene that night. The defense has argued from the beginning that the defendant intervened to stop an active threat. The Red Paper confirms that Charles Choi was exactly the kind of man capable of creating that threat."
"Capable of," Kim said. "Not proven to have done so on that specific night."
"Your Honor," Heeyeon said, "we also have confirmation that Gun Park, a direct agent of the Yamazaki Syndicate and the individual recruited by Charles Choi to build the four major crews, was apprehended today. His capture provides living testimony corroborating everything in the Red Paper." She set both hands flat on the table. "The prosecution built this case on the image of Charles Choi as a victim. That image is gone. The court now knows who he was, what he built, and who he worked for. Continued pretrial detention of my client under these circumstances is not justified."
The gallery stirred. One of the reporters in the front row was writing fast.
Kim looked at Heeyeon for a moment. Then he turned to face Judge Park directly. "Your Honor, even granting everything the defense has just said, the defendant still killed a man. The RICO filing does not prove self-defense. The Red Paper does not prove self-defense. The capture of an unrelated third party does not prove self-defense. What we have is a clearer picture of the victim's background, and nothing more. The law does not permit a defendant to kill someone simply because that person has a criminal history."
"No," Heeyeon said. "But it does permit a defendant to defend himself against an active threat. And it asks this court to consider who the people involved actually were, not who the prosecution wished them to be." She looked at Judge Park. "The prosecution presented Charles Choi as an innocent man killed without cause. He was not innocent. He was not without cause. And the evidence now before this court proves both of those things beyond any reasonable dispute."
The room went quiet.
Judge Park looked down at the folder in front of him. He was still for a long moment.
"Attorney Kim," he said. "Does the prosecution have any response to the newly submitted evidence that goes beyond what has already been argued?"
Kim straightened his jacket. "The prosecution stands by its position, Your Honor."
Judge Park nodded slowly. He picked up his pen and set it down again without writing anything. Then he looked at Baki.
Baki looked back at him.
"The court finds that the newly submitted evidence constitutes a material change in the circumstances of this case," Judge Park said. "The self-defense claim advanced by the defense carries significantly greater weight in light of the victim's confirmed associations and criminal conduct. The court further finds that continued pretrial detention of the defendant is not warranted at this time." He set his hands flat on the bench. "Bail is granted. The amount will be set at ten million won, with standard conditions. A full hearing on the implications of the RICO filing for these proceedings will be scheduled for the following week."
He picked up his gavel and brought it down once.
Heeyeon let out a breath and sat down. Her hands were steady on the table but her knuckles had gone white sometime in the last few minutes and she was only now noticing it.
Baki said nothing. He looked at his cuffed hands on the table for a moment, then looked at Heeyeon. "Good work."
"You too," she said.
Baki almost smiled.
Across the table, Kim Daeshik gathered his papers with careful, precise movements and slid them into his briefcase one at a time. His assistant sat beside him and said nothing. Kim clicked the briefcase shut and stood, straightened his jacket, and walked toward the exit without looking at anyone.
At the door he stopped. He turned and looked back across the courtroom at Heeyeon, then at Baki, then at nothing in particular.
Then he walked out.
The gallery broke into noise behind him.