Chapter 58

Samsong-dong, in the heart of downtown Seoul.

Continent Law Firm, first floor of the main building.

Even after darkness had fully fled, the building was still packed with drab lawyer zombies producing their own kind of darkness from within.

They’re all the type to rake in money, so I guess it makes sense. But when I worked at Continent, was I like that too?

Strange, thinking about it now.

I supposed I had swallowed down my anger and depression and all the rest.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

It had been the perfect storm of my mother’s case piling up layer after layer, and work that never stopped pouring in.

In most law firms, people say, “You work a lot, don’t you?” when you’re pulling around 190 to 210 hours a month.

But I’d logged more than 230 hours of pure billable work a month.

And even on weekends, I’d never slept more than four hours at a stretch.

“Attorney Cha Do-hyuk?”

Someone called my name from reception.

It was Lee Yuri, secretary to Attorney Kim Ju-young.

“It’s been a while, Secretary Lee.”

“Has it been a year?”

“About that. How have you been?”

“Better than I was at Continent, I think. And you, Secretary Lee?”

“As you can see, I’m exactly the same as ever.”

She covered her mouth and laughed. A warm breeze seemed to ripple through the chill air-conditioning.

“Please take this elevator over here.”

I followed her lead.

She said she’d only just heard from Attorney Kim that I’d opened my own office, and that although it was late, she’d already sent a potted plant to the office as a gift.

Unlike Attorney Kim Ju-young, Secretary Lee Yuri was a woman who truly knew how to do business.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Secretary Lee opened the door to Conference Room A.

Inside, there was no one but Attorney Kim Ju-young.

“Hey. Cha, you’re here?”

“Attorney Kim, have you been well?”

A really kind man when it came to work, though he was obsessed with his hair.

Attorney Kim Ju-young poured every last penny of his salary into making his thin hair look lush and full.

He was the sort of person who would talk about his own hair, but fly off the handle if someone else said, “Looks like your hair’s really been planted well.”

“Sit, sit. You’ll drink barley tea, right?”

“Yes.”

Attorney Kim ordered an Americano and a barley tea from Secretary Lee.

The moment she was gone, he tilted his head toward me.

“Attorney Kim, where’s the client?”

“Having tea with President Kim.”

So the victim’s family is a bigger deal than I thought. Or maybe there’s information worth digging up all the way up to President Kim.

“We’ll talk after the tea arrives.”

“Understood.”

“Anyway, I could tell even over the phone, but you look much better. So work really was the inhibitor?”

“It’s because I’ve been getting proper rest.”

“Should I rest too? Haa…”

As he said it, he rubbed his hair.

Something I had learned while working under him:

Danger signal!

Was it at the year-end party? Attorney Kim had once idly touched his hair exactly like this, and when one of the team members made a comment about his hair, he’d dumped the man straight into the liquor barrel.

If I don’t want to get my head dunked, I need to read the room.

I looked at Attorney Kim with an expression of deep respect.

“Attorney Kim.”

“Hm?”

Don’t even look at the hairline.

“If you’re not here, the Continent High Criminal Team is going to wobble. That just can’t happen.”

When I added that even the firm’s CEO wouldn’t be pleased, Attorney Kim’s hand fell away from his head.

“You’re saying something useless again, Cha. No matter how good I am, there’s still Attorney Geuk Ji-ham.”

“Attorney Kim has his own unique strengths. You’re excellent at building rapport with clients, aren’t you?”

“Cha, but I’m not about to let the crumbs fall off the table.”

Seeing him grin so brightly, the tension in my shoulders loosened.

Phew. Dodged that one.

I’d nearly ended up leaving without even seeing the client’s face. That was a huge relief.

Attorney Kim started talking about how things had been going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at Continent lately.

He asked whether I had any intention of coming back, starting with how the new associate had piled up credentials but had no real substance to speak of.

When I said that, for personal reasons, it would be difficult for now, Attorney Kim let his eyebrows droop with a hint of disappointment.

“What kind of personal reason is that?”

If I used my health as an excuse, I had a feeling the conversation would circle right back to hair, so I laughed awkwardly.

Then—

Knock, knock.

Secretary Lee, who had gone to get the tea, knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

But the person who entered was not Secretary Lee.

“…Director Ham!”

Attorney Kim shot to his feet to greet Director Ham.

There was a crisp handshake and the faint scent of smoky cologne.

In his plain, understated clothes, he looked like the kind of man who would smoke without ever making a show of it.

He gave off the impression of having been trained not to let any habit show on his face. It was the sort of behavior worn only by someone who had survived an ecosystem where a single weakness could bring you down.

“I was on my way back, but I stopped by for a moment. You said you were meeting Attorney Cha, so I thought I’d drop in.”

“Perfect timing, then. This attorney here is Cha Do-hyuk.”

For a moment, Director Ham’s eyes met mine. The cold gaze that swept from head to toe was assessing me.

I set aside any curiosity about what judgment he might be forming and reached out to the man who had come bearing an arrow and a mission window.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Cha Do-hyuk.”

“I’ve heard a great deal about you from my grandmother. I’m Ham Won-gyeong from Midam.”

Midam.

A food conglomerate that was all over the news these days.

Why are they looking for me there? And the grandmother he means is his paternal grandmother, isn’t it?

Even digging through my memory, I couldn’t think of a single victim I’d met during my days as a public-interest attorney from such a wealthy family.

So I was curious.

The connection between Midam and the victimized grandmother.

“Back when you were a public-interest attorney, didn’t you save an elderly lady who had dementia?”

“An elderly lady with dementia?”

“Yes. You remember the woman who said she’d been walking barefoot around Hapjeong Station?”

Dementia, Hapjeong Station, barefoot?

Ah. I remembered.

“You’re the grandson of Ms. Lee So-won.”

“That’s right.”

So it was like this:

Near the end of my public-interest service, after drinking with Min Ho-jun and Choi Jae-woo at our hideout, the two of them had suddenly changed their minds about going out for a second round, and the gathering broke up.

Min Ho-jun because his girlfriend had called him.

Choi Jae-woo because he had to meet some younger guys from an online gaming clan, or some nonsense like that.

After sending them off in taxis, I was left standing alone and went down to Hapjeong Station to catch the subway.

…?

Then I thought I must have been seeing things.

An elderly woman was walking barefoot through the station, and people were slipping past her the way they’d avoid a beggar.

On any other day, I would have hurried off to catch my train too, but that day, for some reason, I thought of my own grandmother.

I watched her for a long time, and something about the way she spoke in a strangely childlike manner, while her face remained oddly clean, made me uneasy enough to call the police.

Fortunately, I’d later heard that a missing-person report had already been filed…

So that grandmother was Director Ham’s grandmother. What a shock.

I wiped the surprise from my face, but Director Ham seemed to catch it and lifted the corner of his mouth in amusement.

“You’re probably wondering. If we’re a chaebol family, wouldn’t we have bodyguards? So why was a grandmother with dementia wandering around barefoot?”

“……”

“She’d remembered living with my grandfather in a tiny one-room place near Hapjeong, and had gone out to visit.”

Now that I think about it, Midam started from a noodle shop near Hapjeong Station.

“According to the guard on duty, she went into a large café restroom and wouldn’t come out, so he eventually forced himself to enter the restroom—and she was gone.”

“That happens.”

Even with a guardian right beside them, it wasn’t uncommon for an elderly person with dementia to vanish in an instant.

“Thanks to your sharp eye, we were able to find ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her, Attorney Cha.”

“Even if it hadn’t been me, someone else would have reported it.”

Local precinct officers, officers from the police box, and station staff all patrolled the area at intervals, and the college students sitting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the bench at the time had also been watching her.

“No.”

Director Ham Won-gyeong shook his head.

“That day, we checked the subway CCTV. Your grandmother never left the station for four full hours.”

And all the while, even as she was being stripped of her shoes and clothes by homeless people surrounding her, no station personnel had been dispatched.

“They were astonishingly uninterested in the old lady. Everyone except you, Attorney Cha.”

Wasn’t it a few students who reported it, too? Or am I remembering that wrong?

“We did intend to commend you for your good deed at the time, but you refused.”

“……”

“So this time, I contacted Continent, thinking I should repay the favor to Attorney Cha as well—but I found out you’d resigned. It’s my fault for not updating my information, though at Continent, once someone joins, they don’t usually leave.”

Now I finally understood what had happened.

After finding the grandmother, he had already learned what kind of person I was.

And when I refused the commendation for my good deed, he must have intended to repay me in the form of an engagement fee. He’d made a mistake at the very end, but still.

I glanced upward into empty space.

The arrow pointed to Director Ham Won-gyeong.

His attorney retainer case.

Midam was a conglomerate, and it wasn’t as if they lacked an in-house legal team. Since he had come all the way to Continent to meet the president, the odds that I’d be the one taking the case were extremely slim.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no way.

If I swallowed my pride and, as he’d said, asked to be included on ethical grounds and through a cooperative arrangement, then it could work.

Attorney Kim, awkwardly scratching his nose.

Could it be he told me to give him my contact information so we’d end up handling it like that?

That was certainly possible with Attorney Kim.

It was unexpected that I’d come here in person, but judging by the fact that Director Ham had come looking for me, this wasn’t a bad sign.

I looked straight at Director Ham.

“So, Attorney Cha.”

“Yes.”

“Would it be all right if I asked you to handle this on your own? The kelp case that’s been in the news.”

“……!”

Midam’s seaweed-processing supplier had taken kelp harvested in Korea to China.

They were under investigation on suspicion of mixing it with Chinese kelp and selling it.

Midam, which had its own legal team, had requested the matter through Continent, but to entrust such a major case to a private attorney...

It would be easy for rumors to start that Director Ham is spending money recklessly or pulling strings through backroom lobbying.

“President Kim from Continent told me you’ve taken a number of cases on your own and that your win rate is high, as is client satisfaction.”

It felt strangely surreal to hear the firm president, the man said to control the legal world, praising me.

Maybe I should try rescuing Attorney Kim, who looks like he’s having a nervous breakdown right now.

“As you know, Director, the kelp case is more than I should take on by myself.”

“Your ability isn’t the issue, is it?”

“It’s not about ability. It’s that cases constantly splashed across the news are a matter of speed.”

“Oh?”

“So the more people there are to handle the work, the better. From the perspective of the one hiring the lawyers.”

“Hmm.”

Director Ham seemed to fall into thought, pressing his lips into a firm line.

I, for one, would have preferred to handle it alone. It was money, yes, but it would also mean working more comfortably.

But if I was thinking of the client, cooperation was essential.

“Director Ham, what if Continent and I worked together on this? Although your headquarters has an in-house legal team, you still came to a law firm to ask for representation. If a private individual takes it alone, it’ll stir up talk.”

“……”

“I only recently left Continent, so the team chemistry isn’t bad either. Wouldn’t that be the best choice for everyone?”

Director Ham tapped his fingers lightly.

And behind him, Attorney Kim circled his fingers in the air.

I need to owe Attorney Kim one for this.

Even as a partner attorney without equity, he’d have far more opportunities than I did to access Continent’s confidential files.

“Very well.”

“Thank you.”

“But Attorney Cha Do-hyuk must set the direction.”

It was a better condition than I could have hoped for.

Director Ham handed me his business card.

“If anything comes up, contact me at this number.”

At the implication that I should call him directly if things went wrong with Continent, Attorney Kim startled slightly.

So he’s saying he’ll treat me as above, or at least on equal footing with, Attorney Kim, who’s a partner there.

Not a bad deal at all.