“Do you have any idea how many nights Yoo-hee couldn’t even leave work on time and stayed late?”
“How would I know that…?”
“You wouldn’t. You’ve rarely been here that late.”
Considering that it’s common for associates at Lee & Yeon, even those with the same years of experience as Hyun Ah-jin, to work until midnight, Hyun Ah-jin’s working hours were indeed miraculously short.
“Don’t even think of denying it, because I was there almost every night at that time.”
“If you’re faulting my working hours, I went home to…”
“That’s none of my business. I have no intention of interfering with other people’s working hours. I’m just saying that Yoo-hee, as a secretary, had an abnormal workload.”
Attorney Ahn said with an expression of indignation.
“Actually, I know. A significant part of that is my fault. But I know my work well. That alone doesn’t explain all the frequent late-night work.”
“Ah, Attorney Ahn.”
Hyun Ah-jin, feeling guilty, stepped back.
She knew well that if she delved deeper, most of the blame would fall on her.
“And this personnel change is a company directive. Furthermore, it’s only a temporary assignment. So I don’t think Attorney Hyun should come running to Yoo-hee to complain about it.”
“That’s not it. I was just flustered by the sudden personnel change and asked Yoo-hee about it.”
“Then that’s fortunate.”
All three people present knew.
That Hyun Ah-jin had come to complain to the secretary.
Even thinking about it for a moment, the situation was quite strange.
The company’s HR team took the action, so it was like taking out her anger on an innocent secretary.
And that too, for a temporary personnel change.
‘Damn it.’
Hyun Ah-jin quietly hid the CCTV CD she had confidently brought.
It was footage to be used as evidence for the written submission this time, and she needed to extract only the data favorable to the plaintiff from two months of recordings.
In short, no matter how fast she fast-forwarded, it was a task that would make her eyes pop out.
‘If I had known this, I would have had her do it sooner.’
As always, what do I care about Kim Yoo-hee’s situation?
It was data she had received over a week ago, but she only brought it now.
Because she could just have her do it when she needed it.
But who knew she would suffer such a disaster.
In fact, she had taken this to the new secretary and been rejected.
‘Attorney, it’s impossible to do this within two days. More than anything, if I do this, the work of other attorneys will come to a complete stop.’
Kim Yoo-hee had always done it well.
But Hyun Ah-jin quietly turned away, unlike how she had snapped at her own secretary.
This was because other attorneys included senior associates at Lee & Yeon.
There was no way an associate, barely in her second year, could hinder a senior attorney’s work.
Even though she knew that her assigned people, specialized in consulting, had plenty of capacity compared to Kim Yoo-hee, she couldn’t even make a peep and just said okay.
And it wasn’t as if she had no fallback.
Since it was only a temporary assignment anyway, she judged that Kim Yoo-hee would do it if she asked.
Hyun Ah-jin subtly glanced at Ahn Gyeong-hun.
But he stood firm like Mount Taesan, not even thinking of moving.
‘Ugh. I was going to quietly leave it when he left.’
As if reading Hyun Ah-jin’s thoughts, Ahn Gyeong-hun’s cold voice was heard.
“Do you still have business with Yoo-hee?”
“Oh, no. Not that, but since she’s not my assistant temporarily, I just wanted to say goodbye.”
“It’s temporary, as the word implies, so is that necessary?”
“But Attorney, you’re still here…”
“I have a mountain of instructions regarding Director Cha’s work right now, don’t you think I’m unable to do it because of Attorney Hyun?”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
In the end, Hyun Ah-jin swallowed tears of blood and returned to her room.
Kim Yoo-hee had always done these things for her, and she had no idea how long it would take, which made her feel overwhelmed.
No, the problem was that there were too many other tasks to assign.
‘Oh, and associates usually do this themselves. Since the attorney writing the brief finds it, it’s more accurate and they can only use what’s strictly necessary compared to a secretary doing it.’
Hyun Ah-jin staggered, recalling what the senior partner’s secretary had said.
In fact, she wasn’t unaware of it.
But Kim Yoo-hee had understood things perfectly and done them well, even when explained poorly…
Ah-jin finally understood a little bit of Yoo-hee’s value now.
Before the full-scale meeting began, I organized my thoughts based on the laptop data and told Attorney Ahn.
“Hmm, hearing that, it makes sense that Yoo-hee would think that.”
“Yes, I think it would be good for you to refer to this when you have your meeting with Director Cha Kang-hyuk. And if you give me the tasks I need to do, I’ll prepare them as quickly as possible.”
Why else would he bring me into the meeting room?
It was a case everyone avoided, so they were truly short-staffed.
More than anything, according to my briefing, this was not something that could be done by just sitting quietly in the office.
So, he must have intended to hear their conversation directly and give instructions right away without separate explanations.
‘It’s urgent, so of course.’
It would be best if I could discuss and proceed directly.
But it would be too much for a secretary to expect that.
More than anything, if I think about whether Cha Kang-hyuk would even discuss it with me, I’m skeptical myself.
But my thoughts didn’t even last a minute.
“Oh, does that mean you want me to dance in front of a blazing fire alone?”
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t know what the meeting room was like before Yoo-hee came in today, do you? It was truly hell. So much so that even associates, let alone partners, all fled.”
Even before I returned, the associates’ work was not easy, but at this time, the associates at Lee & Yeon were like soldiers.
If told to fall, they had to fall.
Still, no associate readily volunteered.
For those with little experience, the harsh public criticism was already overwhelming, and now they had to endure Director Cha’s temperament?
It was much better to just endure and be split among partners.
It wasn’t for nothing that Attorney Ahn had requested the company to make me his dedicated assistant.
Thanks to that, if things went well, all the credit would go to us, as per my plan.
“Well, that’s because Director Cha is hot-headed and says what he thinks right away…”
“Hahaha, Yoo-hee, you know him well. Director Cha’s personality is no joke, is it?”
“So you mean…”
“Aren’t the Team Rocket a duo?”
“…They are.”
“Then we should dance together in front of the blazing fire. Isn’t that the essence of a two-person Team Rocket?”
Why does that “essence” come out in a place like this?
I felt like it was somewhat fortunate, but also not.
‘I was wrong.’
I should have just said he was a villain.
But it was a little too late to turn back now.
Back in the bright spring conference room.
Cha Kang-hyuk alternated glances between me and Attorney Ahn Gyeong-hun with a tilted posture.
“Did you just say secretary?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Why is a secretary sitting at the same table?”
Right.
It would be embarrassing for a secretary, who was just cleaning up the chaotic conference room until this morning, to be sitting at the same table.
No, maybe he didn’t even remember that I was cleaning the conference room.
“Because we’re going to have a meeting together.”
“Hah… I’m not that unobservant. It means I know that no attorney is willing to take on this case.”
You are that unobservant. You only have the bare minimum of awareness!
Of course, unlike my thoughts, my expression was calm. Maintaining a poker face was essential to avoid burning up in front of the blazing fire.
“But a secretary? Isn’t there a limit to how much you can disregard me?”
“What if it’s respect, not disregard?”
“How is this respect, no, it’s not?”
Cha Kang-hyuk, who had been speaking respectfully since entering the conference room in the afternoon, paused and then continued.
It meant he was slowly getting started.
I gazed at Attorney Ahn with a tense look.
However, the person who actually brought this up had a calm expression that was hard to believe was the same person who had been struck by lightning this morning.
“To be honest, I initially had no intention of taking on this case.”
Oh my, Attorney.
You said you’d dance in front of the blazing fire, not jump directly into it.
I swallowed hard and slowly turned my head towards Cha Kang-hyuk.
Sure enough.
Cha Kang-hyuk’s face was flushed red.
“What did you just say?!”
…This is bad.
The morning’s ruffian had descended upon the conference room again.
However, Attorney Ahn Gyeong-hun’s expression remained calm as he continued to speak.
“The one who persuaded me to do so is Secretary Kim Yoo-hee, sitting here.”
“So you’re saying you’re sitting here just because of a secretary’s persuasion?”
“It’s not ‘just.’ Half of the Guksun Grandmother case, which Director Cha was so deeply moved by, was my secretary’s work.”
“What? How can a secretary do such a thing?”
When the Guksun Grandmother case was mentioned, Cha Kang-hyuk’s tone calmed down a bit.
Attorney Ahn didn’t miss the opportunity and continued speaking.
“My performance is at rock bottom despite a high win rate. Why do you think that is?”
“How can your performance be at rock bottom if your win rate is high?”
“It’s precisely because I’ve taken on many cases that don’t make money, like the Guksun Grandmother case.”
“…I see.”
Cha Kang-hyuk, his voice even lower, picked up his teacup and pretended to drink tea.
Even if he was simple and ignorant, he knew that performance was important for an attorney.
It was also proof that Cha Kang-hyuk wasn’t a bad person who would crush others’ weak points.
“That’s why, unlike other partner attorneys, I’ve worked with a secretary, not an associate. Because there was no performance for an associate to gain. So half, no, even more than half, of my win rate is thanks to Yoo-hee here. She has quietly handled that work without any compensation.”
“Is that possible without compensation?”
“The only employee in our company who can do that is Yoo-hee right here.”
Attorney Ahn calmly recounted the work I had done.
Then Cha Kang-hyuk’s voice gradually returned, eventually reverting to respectful language.
“…Isn’t that almost Mother Teresa level?”
“It’s not that much, Director. I just wanted to be recognized… because I’m the only one from a local university at Lee & Yeon.”
“A local university. It seems you weren’t very good at studying when you were in school.”
That wasn’t true, but I didn’t deny it.
Because I knew Cha Kang-hyuk’s complex well.
He was inherently fond of physical work and disliked desk work.
But that was like a flaw for him.
He was the sole heir of Cha Han Construction. That meant he had to do work that used his mind, not his body.
“Hmm, hmm, but you still worked so hard and even solved cases with Attorney Ahn. Hearing this, you’re quite an impressive person.”
“Thank you for thinking so.”
That’s it. Cha Kang-hyuk’s view of me had changed entirely.
Perhaps he saw his own reflection in me.
Because “not good at studying” would be an understatement to describe Cha Kang-hyuk during his school days.
“I’d like to put in that much effort for this case too. Could you give me a chance?”
“Hmm.”
Cha Kang-hyuk stared intently at me, lost in thought.
Then, with a troubled expression, he opened his mouth.