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Chapter 4 - Conflict
After he enrolled as the youngest student at Korea University, he graduated from law school and entered Doguk. For the years after, he stood out with his skills as a junior associate before going to study abroad in America. After he was admitted to the Bar in the state that he was in, his net worth increased significantly by the time he returned.
At the time, most other large law firms attempted to recruit him, but he chose to return to Doguk where Mihee, his senior from his alma mater, was. Afterward, his income was significant enough to swiftly rise to the top as a partner of the firm.
In a law firm, a skilled partner’s words were absolute, especially to an associate.
Naturally, Yoonshin thought back to the words aimed at him.
“I hate when something that has no causal link to me happens.”
Sehun looked like the type of person to be bothered about it, as he had said. He looked like a cold and rational person who detested all things that couldn’t be explained logically. Yoonshin had heard many things about him over the years and wondered if any of them were true, but after meeting him in person and conversing, Yoonshin started to think that Sehun was colder than the rumors claimed.
Yoonshin already knew that he would have a hard time at the firm even if everyone welcomed him there, but for Sehun to have a bad first impression of him made the situation even worse. Sehun was a valuable partner at the firm, so Yoonshin sincerely hoped that he wouldn’t run into Sehun at work. On top of that, they lived in different buildings, so as long as the time they went to work didn’t overlap, there weren’t very many chances for them to cross paths.
Strangely enough, Yoonshin still got a bad feeling about the situation.
“What a predicament.”
Yoonshin tapped on Sehun’s picture and sighed softly.
* * *
On the small reception couches in Mihee’s office, the room’s owner sat across from Sehun. Sehun, watching the other side sitting with her legs crossed, looked completely astonished. Behind his head, the monitor was displaying the news. On-screen was the sharp and fierce face of the second son of Soohan Group, who was also Yoonshin’s brother-in-law.
The reporter’s voice flowed out of the screen, “This afternoon, in a conference room in Soohan Group’s headquarters in Gangnam, Director Jeongwon Yoo of Soohan Holdings opened a press conference addressing his position regarding the recent controversy on the assault of one employee.”
Beep. Mihee turned off the television monitor playing behind Sehun with her remote. Sehun spoke when the tranquility of the room was restored.
“I don’t understand why you chose the associate that I would supervise without consulting me first,” Sehun spat out in a sluggish tone.
Mihee grinned awkwardly. “Sehun, I heard that Yoonshin is quite meticulous. Not only does he see things through to the end, but he is also detail-oriented, good at finding precedents, and great at reading investigation reports on file. Plus, he says everything he needs to without getting intimidated by seniors with more years of practice. You like associates like that, ones who are good at work and are tenacious.”
“Of course, I admit that I do—that is if they understand what I say.”
“Sehun, how about having an open mind
”
“If you wanted my mind to be open, you should have asked for my opinion. You already gave him an apartment.”
Mihee couldn’t retort to that, so she stopped talking. Sehun took that chance to add, “I clearly told you that I didn’t want him. If you were going to recruit him while ignoring my opinion, the least you could do is not send him my way. Can’t you gauge his personality at all? He can’t work under me. ‘This is against the law.’ ‘This is against professional ethics.’ ‘Don’t you feel sorry for the other company that will be absorbed in this M&A?’ He’s going to interfere with each and every little thing. I can’t stand an associate on the lookout coming at me and wasting my time like that. Send him away.”
“See, that’s not possible,” Mihee replied.
“Then send him to the litigation group. That, at least, would be a better fit for him. I can’t keep him. Is work a joke to you?”
Sehun was coming out pretty strong, and Mihee replied, trying to persuade him, “Senior Attorney Kang—no, Team Leader Sehun Kang. There are jobs for juniors to do in each team. But your team is the only one without any junior lawyers. I repeat, the corporate law group, the most important team in our firm, has no junior associates. Guess why?”
“Because none of the b*stards meet my standards.”
“Exactly! All the lawyers that I sent to you raised their white flags! Because of your twisted personality, they become unconfident, cry, and quit. It’s happened so often that there are no young lawyers, and only durable senior lawyers survived, you know? I recruited and accepted Yoonshin Do because I sized him up, and I think he’s a good fit. Don’t you think that you need at least a couple of juniors to assign small and tedious tasks to?!”