Chapter 23 : Including Lawyer Yoon

What’s with this reaction?

Yoon Yi-hoon tilted his head, then spotted Cha Kang-hyuk sitting at the head of the table and instinctively shrieked.

“Kyaaaaaaaah!”

I silently prayed for his repose in my heart.

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, rest in peace. Amen.”

‘My deepest condolences to the deceased, or rather, to the one who will soon be so.’

However, for some reason, Cha Kang-hyuk, who should have been throwing something by now, calmly poured sake into a glass and drank it down.

“Hmm, the sake is a bit bitter.”

“I’m sorry!!”

“If the sake is bitter, why are you sorry?”

“Th-that…”

Yi-hoon instinctively knew this was the calm before the storm.

He had a strong hunch that if he said one more wrong word here, he wouldn’t even be able to pick up his bones.

‘Please save me.’

Who would have guessed that the person he was meeting was Cha Kang-hyuk?

He swore that if he had known that scoundrel Cha was going to be here, he wouldn’t have even come near the place.

“I’m innocent!”

Seriously…

If he had known, would he have done it unless he was truly insane?

No, even if he were crazy, he’d think twice, wouldn’t he? One wrong word and he’d be in the ICU??

But the more he spoke, the darker Cha Kang-hyuk’s expression became.

“Whatever it is, it’s a misunderstanding!!”

“…Lawyer Yoon, just stay still.”

Why are you rushing your own demise?

I couldn’t bring myself to say those words.

“Today, because of that Cha. Kang. Hyuk. scoundrel, you suffered a lot. Which part of this is a misunderstanding?”

No, was Cha Kang-hyuk’s memory this good?

He recited exactly what Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon had said, not missing a single word.

He even remembered the delicate touch of emphasizing the key parts.

“…I have committed a grave sin.”

Finally, Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon performed a dogeza while standing.

Lawyer Ahn awkwardly laughed to salvage the situation, a sight that truly brought tears to one’s eyes.

“Ha ha ha ha ha, Department Head, why don’t you have a drink instead?”

Lawyer Ahn, it’s probably better if you don’t laugh…

Even a robot would laugh more naturally than that.

If he could use half of that brilliant study-oriented mind for quick wit, there wouldn’t be such a disaster right now.

In the end, only I could salvage this situation.

‘Lawyer Yoon, I’m sorry in advance.’

This meeting was called because Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon was needed anyway.

It’s hard for me to handle the field work alone.

Given the nature of the case, I needed reinforcements.

I just didn’t know that Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon would jump into the fire and even pour oil on it.

The initial plan to persuade Lawyer Yoon had to change course due to his self-destructive show.

“Department Head, this is a lawyer who will help me and work with us on our case, please be lenient just this once.”

“Eeeeeeh? M-me??”

Is he afflicted with some disease that prevents him from having a more modest reaction?

I gently shook my head, watching Lawyer Yoon practically jump through the ceiling.

Though a bit intense, such a reaction was actually within the normal range.

‘Why did you set off a bomb as soon as you came in?’

Otherwise, I would have given him time to prepare himself through various conversations.

I quickly offered my condolences to Lawyer Yoon once more in my mind.

“Yes, Lawyer. That way, Department Head Cha Kang-hyuk will believe your words about it being a misunderstanding.”

“Cough!”

Cha Kang-hyuk’s feelings were deeply hurt.

The veins in the hand gripping the sake glass were tense with anger.

It wouldn’t have been strange if he had slammed the glass into Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon’s head.

Still, if it had been this morning, he would have exploded immediately, so this was quite restrained.

It was probably because of what I said before we came here.

‘I’d like to strengthen our team tonight. I’m recruiting a very promising associate lawyer.’

‘Is the associate you’re talking about, Yoo-hee, Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon?’

‘Yes, Lawyer Ahn. He graduated from Korea’s top law school, not only passed that difficult bar exam in one go, but also has a brilliant mind with top grades from the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and a passion for cases. He is definitely one of Lee and yeon’s top talents!’

And he didn’t even know I had hyped him up this much.

I gestured for Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon, who was trembling like an aspen leaf, to sit down.

Just looking at him, he seemed far from having a brilliant mind, but rather quite lacking.

“Department Head, why don’t you give Lawyer Yoon a drink instead? Lawyer Yoon really loves sake.”

“…Alright.”

“Ha ha ha, Lawyer Yoon, if you take this, are we officially dating today?”

Lawyer Ahn, why would you use a line like that here…

‘No, if you’re going to do it right, at least don’t laugh like an AI.’

This person definitely learned about dramas from books.

No, I even had a reasonable suspicion that he learned it from legal precedents.

“I-if I take this, is today… the f-first day?”

Even watching the scariest horror movie wouldn’t make his expression brighter than that.

I felt a little pity for Lawyer Yoon, who was on the verge of tears with an expression like the world had ended.

‘But I couldn’t tell him in advance that Cha Kang-hyuk was with us.’

Because then Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon would never have come to this meeting today.

We just need to get through this hurdle.

If he agrees to take on this case, the company is likely to transfer other less significant cases to other associates.

Since the company has already reduced my secretarial duties, there’s no way they wouldn’t adjust the associate’s workload.

That’s how valuable applicants for this case were.

At least until the truth was revealed.

“H-help me…”

“What?”

Cha Kang-hyuk’s eyebrow twitched.

This was a sign.

A signal that it wouldn’t be strange if this room were turned upside down immediately.

Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon seemed to notice that energy and quickly pushed his glass towards Cha Kang-hyuk, shouting,

“I was almost dying for some sake! So I meant, please pour me some to save a life!”

It was the most pathetic excuse I had ever heard in my life.

But a life is precious.

And so, Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon swallowed his tears of blood and, of his own accord (?), joined our team.

He didn’t forget to stare intensely at me with resentment in his eyes.

‘How could Yoo-hee do this to me…’

I figured that’s roughly what it meant, but I quietly savored the appetizer porridge on the table with an expression of feigned ignorance.

Perhaps because it was an expensive restaurant, the food was meticulously prepared and truly delicious.

“Good morning, Lawyer Yoon.”

“Cough. I hate you, Yoo-hee.”

“Oh, why are you like this? You ate so well yesterday.”

“Yoo-hee, you probably wouldn’t know. It was disgustingly delicious, which made it disgustingly sad.”

Well, he did eat with an expression like the world was ending.

Yet, he didn’t leave a single bit of the final dessert.

As it was a restaurant chosen by Cha Kang-hyuk, the taste was certainly guaranteed.

“I told you yesterday, didn’t I? If we just get through this hurdle well, we have a good chance.”

“That’s an unconfirmed future, but if my father sees me handling this case plastered across the front page of a newspaper, I’ll be dead on the spot, won’t I?”

It was entirely possible for Lawyer Yoon’s father, a former Supreme Court Justice known for his integrity.

But we couldn’t make Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon, who was perfectly alive, into a deceased person.

I clenched my fist and said,

“As I said yesterday, if we resolve this case quickly and decisively, that won’t happen.”

“Ugh, ugh, save me.”

No, I’m not going to kill you!

Yesterday, during the second round without Cha Kang-hyuk, I think I heard “save me” at least a thousand times.

“I’m still too young to die.”

“Hmm, you’ll be thirty soon, so isn’t that not quite the case?”

“Ah-huh-huh-huh.”

“Right. Lawyer Yoon, you’re very young.”

Let’s just go with that.

I practically force-fed Lawyer Yoon, who was in despair mode, lunch until he was full to the brim.

Of course, I didn’t forget to eat my fill too.

Physical stamina was essential for thoroughly searching the crime scene starting this afternoon.

I held my still-full stomach and got into Lawyer Yoon’s car.

“Yoo-hee, be honest with me.”

“Hmm, I’ve always been honest with you, Lawyer Yoon.”

“Someone like that, yesterday, me…”

He glared at me as if I were one of the five Eulsa Traitors who sold out the country.

“That wasn’t being dishonest, it was just not revealing my companion.”

“That’s the same thing. Don’t you know that omissions are also punishable under criminal law?!”

Omission.

It literally means committing a crime by doing nothing.

Can doing nothing be a crime?

It can be if the person has a duty to prevent danger.

For example, like when an emergency room doctor, despite being able to save an emergency patient, takes no action, leading to the patient’s death.

Because doctors have a legal duty to treat emergency patients.

I felt a little sorry for Lawyer Yoon, but it didn’t apply to my case.

“That doesn’t apply everywhere. As you said, an omission only constitutes a crime when there’s a duty, right? Especially since I had no duty to inform you of that.”

“When my life was on the line, how could that be! I almost died yesterday with one wrong move.”

“Then why did you shout so loudly without even checking who was in the room when you entered…”

“Cough.”

I discreetly pulled something from my pocket and showed it to the gloomy Lawyer Yoon.

“It won’t be much comfort, but look at this and cheer up.”

“Of course. Nothing could comfort me… Huh, what is this?!”

“Yes, it’s the corporate card. We finally get to use this!”

“Kyaaa. Just… a little bit of motivation is returning.”

Hmm, from his eyes, it seemed a lot more had returned than just ‘a little bit,’ but let’s pretend.

Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon drove with more vigor than when he first started.

And he said in a serious voice,

“So, snacks are also on the table, not just dinner that breaks the table?”

“And we need to fuel up your car too.”

“Oh, we can do that?”

“Of course. I’m sorry to ask you to drive, so I should at least do that for you.”

“You also recruited me because of your driving, didn’t you? Because you can’t ask the vehicle team.”

“Oh, as expected, Lawyer Yoon. You knew.”

Mobility is essential for this case, given its nature, and I can’t drive.

However, as Lawyer Yoon said, we can’t use the vehicle team.

Security is paramount until we gather solid evidence.

It would be problematic if information about the investigation leaked from an unexpected place.

Furthermore, we might need to check out clubs.

To catch the big fish, Woo Jin-gon.

It’s too risky for me to go to all those places alone.

Because I’m not familiar with such places.

But if Lawyer Yoon, who has many friends, hasn’t he been to one of them, perhaps led by someone?

I may not know for sure, but he’s probably better than me.

I had that belief.

At least until we changed our clothes and met in front of the club.