CH 39

Chapter 39 - Essence of the Test

All people had multifaceted personalities.

Maybe—just maybe—the facet that Yoonshin was looking at could be just one of many. Sehun must have been annoyed by Yoonshin when he disrupted his walk, yet the older man listened attentively, guided him in the right direction, and created a new path for Yoonshin.

Oddly enough, Yoonshin believed that he could somehow win if Sehun stepped forward to help him. Sehun was absolutely on the client’s side.

Yoonshin knew that Sehun ultimately wanted personal victory, but true to the saying “the end justifies the means,” Yoonshin would hire Sehun if he were the client, no matter how high his fees.

“Your client feels the same,” Sehun had said.

Yoonshin thought, ‘He does anything to win. He’s also a man of a thousand faces… But maybe one of those faces can empathize with clients who are victims.’

Yoonshin placed one long finger on the end of the envelope and drew a circle over it.

Then, resolutely, he opened the envelope and pulled out a memory card.

Act 06

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on his door from outside. Preoccupied with reading documents, Yoonshin lifted his head slightly to check the clock. It was already lunchtime. He didn’t expect to have time to go down to the cafeteria today, so he asked Secretary Tak in advance to buy a sandwich for him. It seemed like it was Secretary Tak at the door.

“Yes, come in.” The door opened, and someone entered the room. Yoonshin waved at the coffee table to tell the person to leave the food there. “If you leave it there, I’ll eat it at some point. Thank you and have a nice lunch.”

“Honey, are you very busy? Can’t I eat with you? I haven’t eaten yet either,” an unexpected voice said. Surprised, he looked up and saw Mihee with a paper bag containing the packaged sandwich and a drink carrier.

“Attorney Song? What brought you here?”

“I was on my way down when I bumped into Secretary Tak. He told me that you’d be eating in your office. I wanted to have lunch with you, so I bought these myself. Come here if it’s all right with you.”

Smiling, Yoonshin stood up and approached the older woman. They sat across from each other and took out their sandwiches from the bag. Although it didn’t quite exceed Sehun, Attorney Song’s workload made her nearly as busy as Sehun. She must have had a specific reason to visit just another junior lawyer. Yoonshin pushed a coffee cup in her direction and asked, “I don’t think you came to visit me for fun.”

“I just came to chit-chat with you. How’s work going so far?”

Yoonshin took a sip from his cup and smoothly replied, “It’s all right so far. I’m not in charge of any big files. I’m just doing tasks of various sizes when Attorney Kang asks or skimming through the public interest case that he gave me.”

“Your team is corporate, but most of the files are M&A, so a labor law specialist will be useful. You’ll be able to participate in team meetings soon. You know what I mean, right?”

“Of course. I’m grateful that he even accepted me and raised my salary to that of a fourth-year associate. I think I would also find it suspicious if a nepotism hire suddenly dropped from the sky. I’m sure he’ll call me if he thinks I’ll be helpful. I’ll just keep going at it.” As he replied, he couldn’t help but glance out his window for no reason. Yoonshin opened the plastic lid to his disposable cup and inhaled the scent of the coffee. Then, observing him, Mihee asked, “Is your sister doing well?”

“My sister? She seems pretty busy these days. We used to call each other up to twice a week, but I haven’t been able to contact her these days. I’m starting to miss her children, but it’s not working out.”

“To be honest, I was surprised when I was first contacted by Ms. Ikyung. We work closely with Soohan Group, but most of our communications are through their legal department—I didn’t have the opportunity to personally meet the second wife. I did see her once in passing at Professor Do’s funeral a few years back, but I thought that was the end of our relationship.” It was a roundabout question of his sister’s intention for sending him here.

Quite frankly, Yoonshin didn’t have the answer—only a hunch. “This is just my guess, but I think that my father told my sister about you. He occasionally told us about his most outstanding students when he came home from work and cracked open a bottle of soju. I didn’t appreciate what he was talking about at the time, but… In any case, since she contacted you, I suppose she thought that you were trustworthy enough to take care of me.”

“Oh, she has a lot of confidence in our firm, then.”

That was one thing he knew for sure. Yoonshin was always very near and dear to his sister’s heart. His sister felt their mother’s warmth until she was in middle school, but Yoonshin had never been held in their mother’s arms. She had always felt sorry for Yoonshin and took good care of him.

Yoonshin smiled, affirming Mihee’s comment, and took a bite into his sandwich. While he was chewing the contents thoroughly, Mihee grinned and stared at him intently like she was examining him through a microscope. Slightly astonished, Yoonshin wiped the corners of his clean mouth and tilted his head. “Is there something on my face?”