Lucky indeed.
Lucky indeed. Winter meant a spike in icy road accidents, packing orthopedics departments to the brim, but fortunately, there'd been an opening for that morning's slot. Arriving right at opening time, Cha Juhan was seen almost immediately. The doctor fitted him with a solid cast and instructed him to come back once a week to check progress.
He'd half-hoped—though it was unlikely—that the ER X-ray from last night had been a fluke and his bone was fine after all. A touch disappointing, but he'd barely slept through the predawn pain anyway, so his expectations had been unrealistic from the start.
"Attorney, what's wrong with your arm?"
As soon as he pushed open the office door, Oh Yanghun rushed over in a panic. Cha Juhan figured Kang Minjae must have spilled every detail the moment he'd arrived, but apparently not. Come to think of it, Kang Minjae was nowhere in sight.
"Has Kang not come in yet?"
"Oh, that fraud case client wanted to meet this morning, so he's stopping by there first before heading here... But seriously, what happened to your arm?"
"It's cracked."
"Did you fall?"
"Not exactly..."
If Kang Minjae had given him a heads-up, he wouldn't have to explain the whole ordeal at length. The guy's constant teasing got old sometimes, but moments like this made his absence felt.
Oh Yanghun took the briefcase from Cha Juhan's left hand, set it on the desk, and steered him toward the consultation sofa. No leg injury here—walking was fine—yet the man fussed like he was tending the gravely wounded. Somehow, their office seemed to attract the overly worrisome types.
"Oh, right—you went to see Chief Chu yesterday. I was tempted to call and ask, but figured you'd be wiped out, so I waited to hear it in person today. Did something happen?"
He fired off questions before Cha Juhan even sat. "That Go Yunseong crew might've put a tail on the chief, and you rushed out... Was it something there?"
"Office manager, give me a chance to speak."
"Ah, sorry! Slipped my mind."
Cha Juhan couldn't help chuckling. Even amid the barrage, the man's eyes kept flicking to the cast.
He gave Oh Yanghun a concise rundown: how he'd hurt his arm, how Chief Chu had handed over the CCTV footage capturing the incident, and how he'd asked Jang Taesik to watch the chief's back.
Oh Yanghun's eyes went wide at the part where the thug swung a bat at the chief's head from behind. Rightly so—it was beyond the pale, whether the prosecutor or Go Yunseong's side had bought the guy off.
"So where's that CCTV now? Did you get it?"
"Yes."
"Where is it?"
"...Kang has it."
With the half-cast on yesterday, Cha Juhan hadn't been able to slip his arm into his suit jacket or coat, just draped them over his shoulders. No way was he risking the USB slipping from his pocket, so he'd handed it to Kang Minjae for safekeeping, telling him to bring it to the office tomorrow morning. He'd wanted to check it right away, but circumstances hadn't allowed; they'd planned to review it together here today.
"I'll tell him to hurry back."
Oh Yanghun, clearly dying to see the footage, urged Kang Minjae to get to the office ASAP. No point twiddling thumbs waiting, so they each returned to their desks.
Boot up the computer, and now the real inconvenience hit: couldn't use his right hand. Mouse on the right side—what a pain.
Bzzz.
His phone, set aside, lit up with a welcome name.
"Cha Juhan speaking."
"Ah, Attorney. You picked up right away. It's Seo Hyejin."
It hadn't been long since returning from meeting her at Yeongwol Byeolma Hospital. He hadn't expected a call so soon, and it caught him off guard.
"How have you been?"
"Fine. And you, Attorney?"
"Thanks to you."
"Ah, it's nothing major... I should've