Chapter 38 : Child’s Heart (3)

“Have you been well…?”

At Lawyer Ahn’s greeting, Mr. Lee Chil-hong simply stared into space without answering.

His son, who was watching, answered for him.

“Is there anything we could have done?”

“No, Lawyer. After watching the broadcast last time, many acquaintances supported my father. They all said it wasn’t my father’s fault.”

“I see.”

Lawyer Ahn Gyeong-hun picked up the cup in front of him and wet his throat.

It seemed his chest was heavy.

He composed himself and then gestured to me. It meant to hand over what I had prepared.

“Before handing over the incident disposition result notice, I’d like to give you this first.”

I handed the bundle of letters I had prepared to the son, Lee Kang-ho. He then asked with a questioning look in his eyes.

“Lawyer Ahn was interviewed as the lawyer in charge on the broadcast, right? Many people sent letters encouraging him after watching it.”

His son took one of the letters I handed him and read it.

Then, he checked the other letters one after another.

“They all… say it’s not my father’s fault. There are also words of encouragement for my wife and me.”

“Yes. All the letters here have the same sentiment.”

Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s eyes wavered as he listened to our conversation. Seeing that, I handed him the disposition result notice.

“And this is the final disposition from the prosecution.”

This time, the son didn’t read it first himself but handed it directly to his father.

He lifted the disposition result notice with hands full of the traces of time. Then, he held his breath and confirmed the prosecution’s decision.

“Disposition of no charges due to insufficient evidence.”

“Cough, Father…”

“Ohhhhhhh.”

At his father’s declaration, Lee Kang-ho and his wife began to shed tears.

Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s voice trembled as he alternately looked at his crying son and daughter-in-law next to him and the notice.

“Lawyer, I don’t know if I really deserve this disposition.”

“Yes, of course you do.”

“But, our baby…”

“She will be wishing for your happiness from up there.”

“Haeum-ah. My puppy.”

In the end, Lee Chil-hong also burst into tears.

Many emotions, difficult to express in words, were contained within them.

But one thing was certain.

“You don’t have to blame yourself anymore. You’ve been recognized as having no guilt.”

“…Right. If the officials say so, it must be true.”

“Yes, that’s right. The country has declared you innocent, so there’s no mistake.”

“Heeheeheeheehee.”

The conference room became a sea of tears.

I quietly wiped away tears amidst it.

It went according to the initial plan.

This case had no chance of winning if it went to court.

The victim, Mr. Lee Chil-hong, would have to prove negligence against a massive manufacturer.

That was impossible even in South Korea in 2023.

We had to sway public opinion and end it at the prosecution level unconditionally.

“In the end, the elder achieved it.”

With this, I paid off the debt from my previous life.

Because Mr. Lee Chil-hong, who had been weakened and even served time in prison, ultimately didn’t make it past three years and followed Haeum.

In the agonizing guilt of being the one who killed his granddaughter.

He couldn’t grant Haeum’s last wish, which was for her grandfather to be happy for a long time.

And now.

“It’s truly fortunate. Haeum’s wish came true.”

“Baby…”

Lee Chil-hong wiped his tears while clutching the disposition result notice.

He barely swallowed his cries and opened his mouth.

“Before I came here, I watched the broadcast yesterday. I didn’t have the courage to watch our baby appear, but my son told me to definitely watch it before going to the lawyer’s office.”

“Elder.”

“Secretary, that’s the young lady’s work, isn’t it?”

“Oh, no. I just reported it to the broadcasting station, that’s all.”

“Haha, no matter how uneducated I am, I know very well that broadcasting stations don’t accept just any report. It must be that the lawyer and the secretary here put in effort.”

“That’s right, Father. Lawyer Ahn said the secretary went through a lot of trouble.”

“Thank you, truly thank you, Secretary. You wouldn’t believe how much I cried watching that broadcast.”

It’s probably because Haeum’s image from when she was alive appeared on the broadcast.

It was a video of the whole family having a modest 70th birthday party for Mr. Lee Chil-hong.

“It’s the only video of Haeum our family has. That day, my son said he was going to film a video, and I told him not to waste money. But now that I think about it, it was something we absolutely had to film, even if it cost a fortune.”

“Haeum was really pretty.”

“Right. How pretty she was, sticking to my side and not leaving. I watched the broadcast video my son got me all night.”

Wiping away tears, Mr. Lee Chil-hong fumbled in his pocket for something.

It was a white paper envelope. He handed it to me.

“This is my sincerity to the two of you.”

“Yes? What is this?”

Lawyer Ahn lifted the envelope with surprised eyes.

There were green banknotes inside.

“I’m not well off, so this is all I could prepare. But please, please accept it.”

“No. As for the retainer, your son already deposited it this morning.”

We had agreed to receive the retainer if there was a non-indictment from the prosecution or an acquittal from the court.

In the sudden acceleration case, this practically meant not receiving anything, but the son, who heard about his father’s disposition result yesterday, prepared the retainer and deposited it as soon as he woke up today.

I quickly wiped my chest as I watched Lawyer Ahn hurry to return the envelope.

At that moment, a furious reprimand came from in front.

“Are you looking down on the amount because it’s small now?”

“No. It’s because I don’t deserve to receive something like this.”

“Don’t you think that’s even more dismissive of me?”

“Yes?”

“I told you. I watched the broadcast.”

Mr. Lee Chil-hong also knew what Lawyer Ahn’s intentions were in returning it.

It was because he knew that this was someone who had run around tirelessly without even receiving money for a case that was clearly going to be lost from the start.

That’s why he really wanted to show his gratitude.

Even if he couldn’t do more than this due to his circumstances right now.

“Do you know what I realized while watching the 70th birthday party video? Our Haeum was smiling along when I smiled.”

“Father…”

“That little one, what did she know? She was smiling along with this old man.”

“I see.”

I looked up at the sky, swallowed my tears, and spoke.

“That’s the secretary’s work, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I really wanted to convey Haeum’s feelings.”

Before reporting to ‘That Curious Day’, I asked Lee Kang-ho and his wife if they had any videos of the child’s life.

I don’t know how much I cried watching that video then.

And I thought I should send this video too.

This was something I wanted to tell Mr. Lee Chil-hong, not the world.

“Yes. I cried watching our Haeum, and at the last moment, Haeum’s diary came to mind.”

“…Yes.”

“Then I truly realized. Our baby sincerely wished for her grandfather’s happiness.”

“Sigh.”

In the end, tears flowed.

I quickly wiped my eyes and covered my mouth.

“It felt like she was telling me it wasn’t my fault.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s what the secretary wanted to say on the broadcast, right?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. I’m truly grateful. If it weren’t for that broadcast, I would have lived my entire life consumed by guilt,” Mr. Lee Chil-hong said, swallowing his tears this time.

“But you shouldn’t do that. It would hurt our Haeum’s feelings. Our baby, who smiled along with me, would cry if her grandpa cried, wouldn’t she?”

“Yes, of course. Haeum would.”

“My child has to be happy even up there, so I shouldn’t be like this. That’s why I pulled myself together. And my wife and son said they feel the same way.”

Mr. Lee Chil-hong pointed to his son and daughter-in-law, and they nodded vigorously while crying.

“So, from now on, we will live even more diligently. For our Haeum and for our one remaining son.”

“You mean Hajin?”

“Yes.”

Mr. Lee Kang-ho said, wiping away tears.

His eyes full of determination.

“We thought about what to do, and we remembered that we’ve often been told we’re good cooks.”

“A restaurant… you’re thinking of opening one, it seems.”

“Yes, that’s right. My wife, if nothing else, has an amazing touch with food. If we open a restaurant, we won’t starve anywhere.”

“It’s embarrassing, but his words are true. Most importantly, if we open a restaurant with a room attached, we can also see our son directly whenever we want.”

“You won’t be seeing him anymore, Elder?”

“…Honestly, we’ve really overworked my father until now. He needs to recover more, and now we want him to rest a bit. If we earn well, we’ll even send him on a filial piety trip.”

“I told you I don’t need anything like that.”

“Father, please listen to us now. That way, Haeum can also watch over us from heaven without worrying.”

“Alright.”

At Haeum’s name, Mr. Lee Chil-hong finally surrendered.

I wiped my eyes and then lifted the corners of my lips.

“Have you decided on a name for the restaurant?”

“Ahsim. It means a child’s heart.”

So, this life also turns out this way.

The difference is that the beginning is faster this time.

Because the case ended without a trial.

I sincerely blessed the couple and said,

“You’ll do well. This isn’t just empty words, so even if it’s a bit difficult for a while, I truly hope you’ll persevere.”

Because it will become a famous restaurant sought out by South Korea’s most prominent figures.

If they can just hold out for the first year, the restaurant will spread by word-of-mouth and prosper day by day, and then there won’t be a seat for people like me even if I want to just walk in.

This is because there will be too many people to handle, leading them to switch to a reservation system, and in that process, they will provide higher quality food, becoming a top-class Korean traditional restaurant.

“Thank you. No matter how difficult, you two will always be our restaurant’s top VIPs. Please always feel free to come and use our services.”

“Yes, soon I’ll even bring other lawyers and significantly boost your sales.”

“Oh, then we’ll provide free meals for them too.”

“No. How could we have the nerve? We’ll pay full price for everything.”

“Are you looking down on our restaurant because it’s small?”

“Yes?”

What is this déjà vu?

It’s exactly like Mr. Lee Chil-hong getting angry while handing over the envelope a moment ago.

‘So this is what it’s like between father and son.’

“If you come and try to pay, I’ll get angry, so know that.”

“No, that’s…”

This isn’t right. I looked troubled, not knowing what to do.

Then Mr. Lee Kang-ho burst into hearty laughter and said,

“So, you just need to come comfortably whenever and enjoy the delicious food.”

“Then only accept it for one year.”

“Yes?”

“I think with your skills, you’ll surely be established by then. Instead, after that, I’ll shamelessly come empty-handed. So please bear with me.”

“Ahem. Then truly, from then on, you’ll only come empty-handed.”

“Yes, of course.”

As I nodded vigorously in response, his wife next to him said with sincerity,

“We will never forget your kindness throughout our lives. We’re doing this because we want to repay it somehow, so please really come comfortably.”

“Yes. We will.”

“Me too.”

This is how I gained a strong ally.

Ahsim.

Because I have gained the full support of the restaurant owners who will start the storm in South Korea.

This had immense value that money couldn’t buy.