Chapter 12 : Ha-eum’s Diary

The fact that Attorney Ahn readily conceded on the retainer fee percentage for Attorney Ahn shows he’s already halfway through becoming a team member.

Moreover, though it’s less than the retainer, the success fee distribution is also considerable.

This was like an angel without wings in a law firm where performance is the top priority.

Of course, assuming we achieve a near-win result.

Because that would be the best for the CEO who’s hospitalized after a suicide attempt.

I was muttering while looking at the desk monitor when I heard a voice beside me.

It was Attorney Ahn Gyeong-hyun, who had just returned from a compensation trial in the afternoon.

“What trial are you talking about?”

“Oh, the Ahn Eum case.”

“If it’s that, the trial atmosphere isn’t bad. It means our arguments are being accepted.”

“That’s a huge relief.”

The more I worked on the case, the more I understood why the CEO made such an attempt.

It really seemed like there were many aspects where he was unfairly treated.

However, this was a case that was easy to misunderstand without extensive knowledge and investigation into food hygiene.

Because, in the end, it was true that carcinogens were found in the food.

“I need to prepare even harder for the lawsuit from now on.”

“If that’s the case, you’re already doing more than enough. You’ve completely changed the direction of the case. You’re doing something that most lawyers couldn’t manage.”

“You’re making me dizzy with your compliments, Attorney. Is there anything you need me to do?”

“As expected, I can’t beat you, Ms. Yoo-hee. But what I just said was sincere.”

“Yes, I know.”

Because Attorney Ahn is never someone who makes up things he doesn’t mean.

Meanwhile, he hesitantly opened his mouth with a troubled expression.

“Actually, it’s shameless of me to ask such a difficult favor in this atmosphere, but it’s about Mr. Lee Chil-hong…”

I can tell what he’s trying to say from the way he trails off.

It was the same in my past life.

He hasn’t been discharged yet, but we need to prepare for his defense.

To do that, we need to meet Mr. Lee Chil-hong himself and hear his statement, including the circumstances at the time.

“Please give me the hospital address. I’ll go right after work hours.”

“You’re really asking for a shameless favor.”

Overtime. Also known as working late.

Moreover, this is no different from going on a business trip using personal time after work.

It’s not a request to make of a secretary.

Client contact must be made directly by the lawyer.

In short, going to the hospital is not an employee’s job.

“You’re having a hard time handling it alone, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Mr. Lee Chil-hong is very unyielding. He completely refuses to talk to me.”

“I see.”

“Ms. Yoo-hee is better at these things than I am, so I was hoping you could help. Your ability to make clients comfortable is superior to mine.”

I think he’s referring to my good listening skills.

Partly because I was a secretary, but also because I had experienced being poor and powerless, so I understood their feelings to some extent.

And he must have seen my case-handling ability through the Ahn Eum case.

In many ways, I was the only person Attorney Ahn Gyeong-hyun could rely on right now.

“If we can’t hear from Mr. Lee Chil-hong, we can’t save him.”

“That’s right. Hearing the party’s statement is fundamental to defense.”

Attorney Ahn had already visited him three times.

However, Mr. Lee Chil-hong said he had nothing to say and drove Attorney Ahn Gyeong-hyun out.

‘How can I make excuses when I’m the one who made Ha-eum like that?’

He already knows that his granddaughter is in the intensive care unit.

“His son and daughter-in-law tried to hide it, but it wasn’t easy.”

Attorney Ahn sighed and recalled what he had heard from Lee Chil-hong’s son and daughter-in-law.

‘Father, Ha-eum is recovering well, so why do you keep insisting on receiving all the punishment?’

‘If you hurt someone, you naturally have to be punished. And I’m a sinner who hurt our precious Ha-eum. I should have been punished a thousand times over by now. More than anything, why can’t I see our puppy when she’s getting better!’

‘I’ve told you many times that you need to recover first, Father.’

‘Then why did you talk about a lawyer last time? If I’m not guilty, I don’t need a lawyer.’

‘Well… anyway, you caused the accident, Father… so you should meet with a lawyer, shouldn’t you?’

‘Enough! I’ve already recovered, so I won’t see a lawyer until I see our Ha-eum.’

Attorney Ahn’s face, as he relayed the story to me, grew even darker.

They had barely managed to get him to agree to the case by persuading him, ‘How sad would Ha-eum be if she recovered and was discharged but her grandfather was in prison?’ But because he was hospitalized in the same hospital, he heard the news that Ha-eum wasn’t getting better but was in the intensive care unit.

Since then, his emotions would intensify even more when Attorney Ahn came, so he eventually had no choice but to back down.

Hearing that, I quickly began to tidy up what I was doing.

Because today was the first time I would leave work on time since returning.

Late spring.

Arriving at the hospital, 50 minutes from the company, the sun slowly began to set.

I took a deep breath and headed for a bench inside the hospital.

Mr. Lee Kang-ho, Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s son, had promised to bring his father out for a walk at this time.

“He said he’d be on the first bench you see if you go straight in from the hospital entrance.”

I walked as naturally as possible, so as not to appear to be looking around.

My eyes, however, moved quickly regardless.

‘Ah, there he is.’

I saw an old man in a wheelchair and a middle-aged man standing behind him.

It was Mr. Lee Kang-ho, the son, who had visited our company last time.

‘Let’s do this…’

I intend to use the media for this case.

However, with my current abilities, it’s impossible.

But the future me is different. At least if I’m given a few more months.

‘So, I need to buy as much time as possible.’

Against Mr. Lee Chil-hong, who wants to pay for his sins as quickly as possible.

Currently, it’s sending his granddaughter to the ICU, and later, it will be the sin of outliving his granddaughter.

I can’t even imagine how great the price of the sin he bears is, having made Ha-eum, whom he cherished more than his own children, into that state.

I rubbed my tingling nose bridge and forced a bright smile.

And headed for the wheelchair where Mr. Lee Chil-hong was sitting.

“Looks like you’re out for a walk.”

“Yes, my father was feeling stifled.”

At my words, Mr. Lee Kang-ho nodded in greeting and said.

“What is it? Someone you know, dear?”

“Yes, Father. She’s someone I met because of Ha-eum.”

I didn’t say she was a lawyer’s secretary right away.

Grandfather would have jumped up and down.

And it wasn’t wrong.

We all got to know each other through Grandfather and Ha-eum.

“Is she perhaps Ha-eum’s teacher?”

“No, but she cares for Ha-eum as much as Ha-eum’s teacher does.”

“Is that so.”

From the moment Ha-eum’s name was mentioned, Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s eyes trembled pitifully.

In that, I could easily read his heart.

‘Deep guilt.’

I subtly turned my head to the side and composed myself.

Then I knelt down on one knee, meeting the gaze of the elder in the wheelchair.

“There’s something I want to give you.”

“What is it?”

“This…”

I handed him the diary that I had received in advance from Lee Kang-ho’s wife.

In the previous life, I had found it much later, after Ha-eum had passed away, while sorting through her belongings.

‘I didn’t have time to look at this.’

Of course, when a child is fighting for their life, there’s no time to look through a diary.

In the previous life, this diary was what caused the biggest change in Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s feelings.

Though it was too late then.

But now it’s different. I can convey Ha-eum’s feelings before the child leaves.

“Th-this is…”

On the cover of the diary, Ha-eum’s name, written by a first grader, was scrawled crookedly.

Lee Chil-hong couldn’t even think of opening the diary; he gently stroked the letters as if they were Ha-eum herself.

“Oh, my child. What will happen to our puppy…”

The coarse hand on the diary trembled slightly.

I clenched my fists, trying not to cry.

Because I already knew the contents of that diary.

“It’s your granddaughter’s diary. Won’t you read it?”

“What right do I have to read this?”

“Please read it. Ha-eum wrote it for you, Grandfather.”

“Our Ha-eum did!”

At my words, Mr. Lee Chil-hong quickly opened the first page.

And inside was a grandfather with a round face and square clothes, holding a plate full of food and chopsticks.

“What is this?”

A smile bloomed on his lips as he looked at the adorable drawing.

Next to him, Ha-eum, drawn in a triangular skirt, was holding her grandfather’s hand.

[Today, Grandfather grilled sausages for me. Grandfather’s sausages are the most delicious in the world!]

“Ha-eum…”

The child’s handwriting was crooked, and there were some spelling mistakes.

This was probably because she wasn’t used to Korean yet.

But the feelings within it were real.

[Tomorrow, I’m going on a picnic from school! So Grandfather said he’d put lots of really yummy sausages in. I’m so happy!]

Tears welled up in Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s eyes as he read through the diary.

He pretended to look elsewhere, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, and said,

“That day was the day before the picnic. I told her I’d put lots of ham, which our Ha-eum loves, in the kimbap. I didn’t know she’d write it here.”

“Father, how excited our Ha-eum must have been to do that.”

“That’s right…”

In the end, tears streamed down Mr. Lee Chil-hong’s cheeks.

“Our puppy liked it so much, but in the end, she couldn’t even eat that kimbap.”

“Father.”

“It’s all my fault. Our Ha-eum is lying in that hospital room, and I’m perfectly fine.”

“What kind of talk is that? You were hurt so badly too, Father.”

The end of the wheelchair where Mr. Lee Chil-hong was sitting began to tremble.

Mr. Lee Kang-ho, holding the handle, couldn’t control his emotions and burst into tears.

“No! That’s not true! What are the police doing? Why aren’t they arresting someone like me quickly?”

“Calm down. You’re not well right now.”

Mr. Lee Chil-hong struggled in the wheelchair as if he was about to run to the police station.

Then Mr. Lee Kang-ho hugged his father and began to plead.

“If something happens to you too, Father, I really can’t bear it. So please…”

“Don’t say such things. I feel like I’m going crazy right now.”

If left like this, the elder would truly suffer.

I quickly spoke up.

“Grandfather, please don’t do that, and would you please read the rest of the diary written for Ha-eum?”

Ha-eum’s last words that Mr. Lee Chil-hong absolutely had to hear were still unread.

“For Ha-eum?”

At the mention of his granddaughter’s name, he finally calmed down.

I pointed to the part the elder hadn’t read yet with my finger.

“Yes, look here. The diary isn’t over yet.”