Chapter 25 : Black Box

“Hey, no despair. Drive now.”

“Damn it. Why is this road so narrow again?”

There was only one way to the employee parking lot.

The single course that went past the club and wound down around the building.

It was still quite a while until opening time.

So we drove past the empty club front and down to the parking lot in the back.

Lawyer Yoon was restless, worried the car might get scratched on the narrow road.

“Lawyer, it’s not that narrow here.”

“To me, this is a cliff. It really feels narrow.”

Well, let’s just assume that’s how far Lawyer Yoon’s mind stretches.

It’s probably also because it’s such a nice car.

Because of that, Lawyer Yoon was crawling down the short hill that led from the club to the back.

‘It’s good for me since I can survey the parking lot.’

It wouldn’t mean anything if the employee hadn’t just arrived.

The goal is to cause a scene in front of the employee who’s smoking near his car.

I seriously surveyed the parking lot.

At that moment, I spotted a very welcome face.

I found a man who had just gotten out of his car and was going to smoke.

I shouted with joy.

“There is! There is!”

“I-I see him too.”

“Lawyer, are you very nervous?”

“Of course. I’ve only ever studied my whole life; this is my first time doing something like this.”

“It’s the same for me.”

“Ugh, h-h-h.”

Lawyer Yoon’s hands trembled on the steering wheel.

I patted him, telling him it was okay, and then composed myself.

I didn’t show it on the outside, but I was actually quite nervous too.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

“Y-yes….”

That’s right.

Then, Lawyer Yoon, who wore a look of utter defeat for the second time since meeting Cha Kang-hyuk, gripped the steering wheel tightly.

He mumbled something like a spell, then pressed the accelerator in the direction where the employee’s car was parked.

Screech!

With the sound of tires grinding, the car sped forward and stopped precariously in front of the employee’s car.

Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon cried out, his face pale.

“D-did it work?”

“Yes, I think we’re pretty much there.”

“Oh, no, did the car get scratched? No, it’s scratched. I’m sure of it.”

“I saw it; only the tire noise was loud, it wasn’t scratched. So get out quickly. This is where the real part begins.”

“Y-e-e-s.”

With what sounded like a wail or a battle cry, Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon got out of the car.

Then, the employee who witnessed our bizarre behavior crushed his cigarette and approached us.

“What is it?”

“We’re just trying to park here.”

“Here?”

“Yes, last time I had a hard time parking over there. I saw from the top of the building that we could park here too.”

Indeed, the building across the street seemed to be old, so the parking lot was very small.

It was practically as good as not having one at all.

I asked on the first floor, and they said visitors with cars used nearby parking lots for that reason.

Thanks to that, I thought of bringing the car here.

Even though the parking lot is small, there are still spots during the day.

“That would be difficult. This is a private parking lot for club employees.”

“Excuse me? There was no such sign.”

Hmm, just as I thought.

It was a fact I had guessed, but Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon pretended to be a little surprised.

“You have to pass in front of the club to get here. Isn’t that obvious?”

“Ahem. Anyway, there aren’t many cars during the day, so let’s just park for a moment.”

“No, you can’t. If we allow one or two cars like this, it’ll never end. And…”

The employee frowned and pointed at our car.

“Why are you driving the car like that?”

“I was just trying to park, what’s the problem?”

“What’s the problem? Didn’t you just scratch my car?”

“Ha, this person is falsely accusing me now.”

Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon said, stiffly raising his head.

At first, I thought it was acting, but as the cars got involved, the atmosphere felt more genuine.

I subtly tugged on Lawyer Yoon’s sleeve, pretending to hold him back.

“Calm down. From his perspective, he might think that.”

“No, it’s just that he’s misunderstanding me unfairly.”

“Ha, really. Stop it and move the car aside quickly. I need to see if my car is scratched.”

At the employee’s urging, Lawyer Yoon reluctantly moved the car to the side.

Then, the front part, which had been hidden by Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon’s car, revealed itself.

“Hey, I think it’s scratched here?”

The employee said, pointing to the left bumper of his car’s front.

There was indeed a scratch, as if the car had been scraped.

“W-what? That can’t be.”

This time, Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon genuinely jumped up and exclaimed.

“No, there isn’t. There’s a scratch here too.”

Though not as much as the employee’s car, Lawyer Yoon’s car also had marks that looked like scratches.

They weren’t real; we had made them appear that way.

We asked a company Lawyer Yoon knew, and they applied them perfectly.

In the meantime, Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon’s sense of injustice grew even stronger.

“No. I clearly stopped the car before it hit!”

“That’s just your claim. What are you going to do about this?”

The employee pointed at his front bumper and said.

As if he had caught us red-handed.

He couldn’t help it. This was an existing scratch.

I remembered the day I first came here.

‘Lawyer, but if someone drives such an expensive car, they must be capable, right?’

‘Probably.’

‘But could someone of that caliber not repair such a large scratch?’

I pointed to the distinctly visible front left bumper and said.

‘Usually, they’d fix it. My father, for example, maintains his car very cleanly. He doesn’t tolerate even small scratches. He always repairs them immediately.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Yes.’

According to Lawyer Yoon, that was considered a relatively affordable (?) German car.

To borrow his exact expression, it was like a semi-charter lease.

Still, from my perspective, it was undoubtedly an expensive car.

Then what about that person?

If they leave such a visible scratch unattended.

‘There’s a possibility they bought a car beyond their means.’

According to Lawyer Yoon, the cost of one bumper alone could easily swallow several months’ worth of an average salary, because expensive parts have to be imported from overseas.

He himself claimed it would be better not to awkwardly gold-plate an expensive car if it’s beyond your means.

And now.

I looked at that person’s expression and was sure.

They have a car that doesn’t fit their status.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t insist on a pre-existing scratch.

They’re trying to extract money from us to fix their car this time.

Fortunately.

Lawyer Yoon posed the question we had prepared.

“Do you have proof that I did that?”

The employee, seeing Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon’s reaction, looked back and forth between him and the car, then put on a confident expression.

“Of course. Unlike you, I don’t drive an expensive car like this without any precautions.”

Please.

“I wonder if you’ve heard of it. It’s called a black box.”

It really was there!

I clenched my fists, barely suppressing the urge to cheer.

“I drive a German car too, though from a different company, so how could I not know?”

‘…You have that too?’

No, even if you do, you shouldn’t.

That way, we can negotiate with your item.

“I mean I’ve heard of it.”

“Hahahaha. Of course!”

The employee’s voice rang out cheerfully.

“But does a black box work even when the car engine is off?”

“This person, you say you’ve heard of it, but you don’t know this? A black box is only truly good if it works even when the engine is off.”

Of course.

That’s what makes it a true black box.

I stepped between Lawyer Yoon and the employee, raising my voice.

“Oh, that’s impossible. I can’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes.”

“Have these people lived their lives being deceived? Just wait there. I’ll show you. And don’t even think about running away in the meantime. It’s all recorded on my black box.”

Even if it’s all recorded, you won’t be able to show it.

It was a pre-existing scratch anyway. That means there’s a chance we didn’t scratch it.

But why would he insist on showing us the black box?

‘He’s trying to threaten us with it, that’s all.’

That’s exactly what we want.

Why did we stop the car so precariously in the first place?

It was to make the accident itself ambiguous.

To the point where you’d only know after reviewing the black box.

We did our best to hold back the corners of our mouths, putting on worried expressions.

In the meantime, the employee got something out of his car.

It was an SD card.

I whispered so only Lawyer Yoon could hear me.

“That’s the same one in your car, right, Lawyer?”

“Yes, that’s right. We found it properly. No, not me, but Yoo-hee?”

Because this was all Yoo-hee’s idea.

Lawyer Yoon lowered his voice further as he watched the employee approach him.

“Here, this is the SD card from the black box.”

“Hmm, I can’t tell just by looking at it.”

“This young lady seems to know nothing about cars. Well, an expensive car like this isn’t exactly common.”

“What’s different about the one in an expensive car?”

“Seriously. Of course, it’s different. Can’t you tell just by the fact that it works even when the engine is off?”

“How would I know that? I can’t even check it right now.”

Yes. This is it.

The fact that you can’t play it back right now.

First, you’d need an SD card reader, and then a desktop or laptop to plug it into.

That person was aiming for that too.

“The person standing over there would know well what this item is.”

“Yes, it has the car logo here, and it’s a black box SD card.”

“Hahaha, as expected, you know a bit. Now we can talk.”

The employee confidently puffed out his chest.

With the scratch on our car and the black box, he must have judged that there was plenty of room for negotiation.

Just as I had wished.

I grabbed the hem of Lawyer Yoon’s suit jacket with a frightened expression.

“So, what do we do? Our car got scratched too, didn’t it?”

“I keep telling you, no. I really stopped before it hit. I’m sure of it.”

“Oh, it’ll all come out if you play this back.”

“See that? He says it’ll show up if we watch it.”

“Then let’s check it!”

Lawyer Yoon Yi-hoon nodded to the employee, as if telling him to take the lead.

Then the employee put on a somewhat troubled expression.

“I’d like to, but I have to go to work now. I’m already late because of you. If I want to check this right now, I need to get an SD card reader and find a computer. Do you know how long that will take?”

Of course, you would.

“But we can’t pay without even checking, can we?”

“No, your car is scratched too, do you really need to taste it to know if it’s poop or soybean paste? Of course, it’s your fault. So hurry up and pay for the bumper.”

He’s asking for cash, even though there’s an option for insurance processing.

Because the insurance company won’t compensate without evidence.

I smiled knowingly and said,

“Then how about this?”