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Chapter 18 - Calm Before the Storm
“A simple comment?”
“He said, ‘Get out of my sight.’ Then, the junior got out of his sight, right into the corporate/commercial team.”
Yoonshin’s face grew so dark that Secretary Tak added quickly, “Well, thankfully he didn’t get fired.”
“Thank you for the warning.”
This jinx of sorts felt very plausible for a busy and temperamental person like Sehun. Yoonshin undid his necktie and shoved it haphazardly in his pocket before straightening out his shirt as neatly as possible. Thankfully, Secretary Tak handed Yoonshin his own necktie. As Yoonshin tied the knot, the image of Sehun’s frosty face as he undid his necktie suddenly popped up, so he tightened the tie extremely snugly.
Secretary Tak tilted his head slightly and watched him with amused eyes. “Did you perhaps imagine strangling Attorney Kang…?”
“No, not at all,” Yoonshin denied.
“Weird. All the other juniors do that. I sometimes do it too. He gives me too much work.”
Yoonshin felt too embarrassed to admit it now, so he changed the topic. “But what’s the relationship between you two? You seemed to be pretty comfortable around Attorney Kang.”
“Oh, me? I was the middle school underclassman of both Attorney Song and Kang. They’re my seniors.”
“Oh, is that so? It’s the first time I’m hearing this.”
“There’s quite an age gap, so the three of us never went to school at the same time. Before, Senior Attorney Song gave some financial aid to a few underclassmen who were children in need of protection. Thankfully, Attorney Kang and I were able to receive her assistance, and after that, we learned of each other’s existence through the organization. We weren’t that close.”
Yoonshin’s eyes grew wide upon hearing that—a child in need of protection.
Basically, it meant an orphan under the age of 18.
Yoonshin had heard several rumors about Sehun’s background. The majority said that Sehun’s parents were both doctors at “Doctors Without Borders,” or that they were professors at a prominent university overseas. When Sehun decided to become a lawyer instead of a prosecutor, stories started to circulate that Sehun was the illegitimate child of a famous law firm’s director. As far as Yoonshin knew, Sehun had never confirmed any of these stories.
“Attorney Kang’s parents… aren’t with him, it seems?” Yoonshin made an extremely complicated face.
Secretary Tak looked a bit troubled and asked, “Ah, you didn’t know? I thought that since you’re the brother-in-law to a conglomerate family and Attorney Song personally brought you here and stuck you next to Attorney Kang, you would know this for sure. Did I misspeak?”
“Is this something that Attorney Kang hides?”
“Not necessarily. But he doesn’t enjoy talking about it.”
“Then, this could be a slip of the tongue. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it,” Yoonshin assured the other.
The secretary smiled in appreciation. Even so, Yoonshin could tell that the other man seemed concerned that he exposed his superior’s personal information without permission, so Yoonshin couldn’t continue with this topic. He shifted the subject as naturally as possible. “So, this test. Does everyone go through it?”
Secretary Tak rejoiced and replied, “This is the most basic of them all. I could even call it a rite of passage. When an associate first comes into the firm, their respective teams open a mock trial and humiliate them. They do it to intimidate the newcomers. But Attorney Kang finds that annoying, so he doesn’t go as far as a mock trial. Even when he does, he leaves it to the other senior lawyers under him. Right, he’s attending today for once. I wonder why?”
“Maybe he’s dying to kill some time,” a third voice piped in.
In unison, the two who were conversing turned back to look at the source of the voice. Yoonshin had an inkling of a presence coming from far away, but the aforementioned Sehun was standing crookedly at the doorway. As usual, his meticulous three-piece suit befitted him. Even his long shadow stretching out from his toes looked excellent.
Behind Sehun was a long line of senior lawyers in Sehun’s team that Yoonshin occasionally ran into. Counting their numbers briefly, it looked like around 10 of the team’s lawyers were going to attend. Their ages ranged from the 30s to 50s and they had a spectrum of years of experience and specialties.
Yoonshin snapped to his senses when he saw the lawyers who came to evaluate him. The gravity that stemmed from their sharp attires and solemn faces made all the muscles in Yoonshin’s body freeze.
Yoonshin regretted too late that he threw a fit at Sehun to come when the older man held the reins of these experienced lawyers.
“Secretary Tak, uh, could you stay in the conference room during my brief…?” Yoonshin, who naturally felt threatened, reached out to Secretary Tak. However, the secretary cold-heartedly shot a look telling Yoonshin to keep his promise before he quickly slipped out of the conference room. Yoonshin had no choice but to look back at Sehun, who looked immensely displeased for some reason. Yoonshin felt his throat closing up.
Yoonshin coughed dryly, about to address Sehun, but the older lawyer was quicker to talk. “Fourth-year, is clinging onto anyone to stay by your side a hobby of yours?”
“Sorry? No, that couldn’t be.”
“‘That couldn’t be’ was what I just witnessed.”
“Ah, just now it was because I felt like I had no allies here—I don’t have any other special reason. Of course, that’s not to say that you’re an enemy, sir.”