Chapter 169
As I swiped my card at the counter, Kim Chan-young and his group bowed their heads politely.
"You could say 'ppobai' though."
"What 'ppobai' with a student? Just say 'thanks for the meal.'"
I was footing the bill, but Kang Minjae was stealing the show.
"This is why you seem like such a boomer sometimes."
Lee Seongjin said it with a face full of mischief, and Kang Minjae scowled.
"Hey, don't call me a boomer. I'm old enough to be called 'hyung' by you guys, aren't I?"
I got his reluctance to be treated like an old man just yet, but a guy in his forties getting called 'hyung' by college kids felt a bit off to me—a reincarnated mid-thirties soul or not.
"How are you lawyers heading back?"
"The lawyer brought his car, and I'm planning to grab a taxi."
We stepped out of the restaurant, and the group started drifting apart. They headed to the main road, waving frantically for taxis.
In the meantime, Kim Chan-young, who'd been hanging back quietly, sidled up to me.
"Lawyer, could I maybe get your contact info?"
"My contact?"
"Yeah. You never know. If I ever need legal help, I'd like to reach out to you. Haha."
He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
It was a win for me. I'd planned to keep ties with Kim Chan-young anyway, so if he was asking first, I wouldn't need some flimsy excuse.
I pulled a business card from my wallet and handed it over.
"Oh, and... about that Myungwha Pharmaceuticals thing we talked about earlier."
Kim Chan-young glanced at the card and lowered his voice.
Kang Minjae was busy waving goodbye to the others as they piled into taxis one by one.
"What about it?"
"If there's really a problem like you said, I might have to think about selling. I'm just investing a little pocket money I saved up, but I don't want to take a loss."
I gave a faint smile.
This wasn't pocket-change territory—Go Sangjun had personally dumped a hefty chunk of shares on him.
He must be dying to know what issue Myungwha Pharmaceuticals had that prompted my warning. And how did Kim Chan-young feel about his father now? Did he resent him enough to expose evidence that would ruin him, like he did back in 2018?
"And?"
"If you heard it from somewhere solid, could you tell me the source?"
He added awkwardly that he'd rushed back in when the fried rice was ready earlier and missed the chance to ask.
"Well, I'm not really supposed to share that."
"Aw, come on, why not?"
"I could probably verify if the info's legit, though."
"Really? Then could I ask you to check and let me know? This is my first stock, bought with all the New Year's money I've saved since I was a kid. I really don't want to lose it."
He emphasized again, like he was just your average retail investor.
All his childhood New Year's cash dumped into a freshly listed biotech stock? Hard to buy it, but I let it slide.
I handed him my phone, and he punched in his number.
"How long do you think it'll take to check?"
"Not sure. I'll look into it, but it might take a bit."
"Got it. Thank you so much."
Kim Chan-young bowed deeply, practically folding in half.
"I'll head out then. Please call me!"
He climbed into a taxi and waved one last time.
Only after everyone else had gone did Kang Minjae finally hail his own cab.
I offered to wait with him, and he pulled that same touched expression again.
"Call me for something like this again, and I'll ring up Director Kang right away."
"Please, Lawyer—no, really."
"Then don't get tangled up in crap like this, Kang Byun."
"Ugh... Honestly, I'm not mad that you found out about my grandpa because he helped you out. But man, I regret it now."
"Taxi's here. Get going."
I pointed to the model taxi pulling up in front of him.
"I'll head in first. See you Monday."
"Yeah."
"Thanks a ton today—and sorry!"
"You know it, so hop in."
"Yep!"
Myungwha Pharmaceuticals would launch Antrozol Alpha in the second half of this year. Not much time left.
I'd checked recently—the approval was already through, info public, and they'd issued a press release saying production was underway.
How should I kick this off?
"Juhan! Over here!"
I'd come back to Daebak House, still thriving as ever, after a while.
Since opening the law office, I hadn't had much time to meet up with Yang Dongjin.
We used to catch up quarterly before, but last year it was just one face-to-face and a few calls.
I'd made time to treat him after he helped with Nurse Seo Hyejin and Nurse Han Youngseon's job switch.
"So you're buying today?"
"Obviously."
"Knew it—starved myself since morning. Haha. But no booze for me today."
"Why? Got to head back later?"
"Yeah. No connections means I gotta grind as an assistant professor."
"Tough gig."
I snatched the tongs from his hand as he grilled.
"I'll handle the grill—you just eat."
"Nah, forget it. You suck at grilling."
...He snatched them right back, though.
"How's your mom and dad?"
"Great. And your folks? Curious how your wife and kids are doing."
"They're good, of course. Wife and I just got back from Thailand."
"Just her?"
"Nah—wife, kids, my parents, in-laws. Whole crew. I got stuck with a sudden surgery."
I was busy, but Dongjin made me look like a slacker.
I could coast on small cases after big ones or even pause work; he couldn't.
Watching him fight for that assistant professor spot was kinda pitiful.
A bitter smile crossed my face, thinking of his fate in my past life.
"How's work? That director's son still being a pain?"
"Don't get me started. Total psycho. You'd think he was my senior. We're the same year."
"What now?"
"Those nurses you introduced? After they joined, our Myeongdae Hospital finally beat Wooshin Hospital in the evaluation, right?"
"Yeah."
"Director and department head been nicer to me because of it. Owe you one. Hey, lemme pay today."
Dongjin shoved the cooked meat onto my grill.
"No thanks. So what?"
"Head introduced me to one of his VIPs."
"VIP?"
"Yup. Han Young Group's third son. Huge deal. Their hospital's always runner-up to Wooshin Hospital like our Myeongdae Hospital, so kinda bonded. Heh."
Han Young Group—number two chaebol.
Landing that VIP was big for Dongjin.
I didn't know hospital politics well, but he'd said before they hooked up big shots with favored fellows.
"Nice."
"It is, but now the director's kid's watching me closer. Gotta suck it up as the ace, right? Sigh."
Dongjin thumped his chest like King Kong, then kept pushing meat my way, yelling it'd burn.
"Eat up properly, man. You're skinnier than last time."
"Aigoo, Lawyer Cha. I eat fine—take my red ginseng. You're the worry. You even cooking proper meals solo?"
"You saying I should get married too? Single guys don't magically eat more after."
"Lemme find you a nice girl? With your specs, marriage agency would rate you perfect. Book a consult when you're free."
"Mention marriage again and I'm out."
Mid-thirties guys at a barbecue joint, and we wrapped up without a single bottle of soju.
I dropped Dongjin at the hospital, then headed home.
That's when my phone rang. Choi Jonghyeon.
"Yes, Cha Juhan speaking."
"Cha Byun, whatcha up to?"
"Heading home. What's up?"
"Nah, just asking if you know any developers around."
"Developers?"
"Yeah, thinking of making a small site but no clue who to hire."
"Don't you know tons of people, Reporter?"
"Plenty, but no devs. Mention a site and they snort—digital age and they're all dinosaurs."
"A site like an online media outlet?"
In my past life, he'd actually launched one. Friends tried talking him out, but he was right. Started niche, exploded with smartphones, SNS, and video shares.
"Cha Byun, it's like you got possessed by a shaman or something."
After quitting Iljungilbo, he'd freelanced—columns, mag pieces, investigations. No media gigs.
Didn't expect him to jump on online media so soon. Good news.
"Anything else you need a dev for besides that?"
"So, you know someone or not?"
"I do. Can introduce you."
"Sweet! Costly?"
"I'll cover it."
"You?"
"Yeah. A visible radio-style regular show wouldn't be bad. Ads everywhere could draw crowds. You handle guests—plenty of connections."
"Sounds good? Oh, there's these internet streaming sites now. Could use one?"
On the drive home, we brainstormed his online outlet.
He had ideas galore—some wild, but tweakable.
"Target our generation, go full Wooshin-bashing show. Name it something funny like 'The Broadcast Those Bastards Won't Air, So We Made Our Own.'"
"Long, but we can shorten it."
"And get this—our age group's obsessed with finance, right? Got a stock whiz buddy. Real expert. Day-traded while working, now full-time. Cult following. Lock him as regular guest, kick off with stocks. Hates Wooshin too. Matches my vibe. Whaddya think?"
"Great. Any real estate pros?"
"Yeah—you, Cha Byun."
"Me?"
"Who else? You scooped Gyeonggi North land before the new city news, pocketed 3 billion in gains. News hyped you. Gotta be you."
"...I'm no expert. Just lucky."
"C'mon, do one ep."
"Finish dev first, talk later."
We chatted till I hit the parking lot.
Shut off the engine, about to hang up—then a lightbulb.
"Reporter."
"Yeah?"
"You mentioned that stock expert buddy?"
"Yup."
"Introduce me."
"Why? You're no slouch in stocks. Getting greedy?"
"Not that. Got a Wooshin play in mind."
"Play? What kinda play? Spill the fun stuff. Our bodhisattva got marching orders from the general again?"
I chuckled at his teasing.
"It'll be fun. Free tomorrow? Got something urgent."