Chapter 27 : Illiterate

“Company attire? Of course, Attorney Yoon has a bit of that going on, but not me.”

“Wow, Yoo-hee, your outfit is clearly for work. Is this really the time for friendly fire?”

“That misunderstanding is truly unfair.”

I was genuinely upset.

And I didn’t forget to be bold, unbuttoning three buttons.

The skirt was also so short that, considering my usual attire, it was hard to look at without shedding a tear. It was easily a fist’s length above my knee.

But what about Attorney Yoon Yi-hoon?

‘I couldn’t bring myself to say it, but I was so appalled.’

He appeared in a suit of a color I’d never seen him wear at the office, with his hair plastered with wax.

‘Seriously, where does one even buy a suit like that?’

“This is really me. The skirt is so short it’s embarrassing. I wish I could button one more…”

“What’s wrong with green? It’s the symbol of youth! Yoo-hee, this is absolutely club attire.”

“Both of you, stop.”

Director Cha Kang-hyuk, who had been watching us criticize each other’s outfits, finally exploded.

“Ha, I have so much I want to say, but I’ll give some advice for you two fashion illiterates.”

“Il-illiterate…”

“Me, a Korea University graduate who passed the bar exam in one go, being called illiterate.”

Both of us were mentally devastated by Cha Kang-hyuk’s emphasis on the word “illiterate.”

It seemed he was taking out his pent-up frustration on us.

Because we are absolutely not illiterate.

Sharp criticisms continued to be leveled at us.

“First, that skirt. Who goes to a club wearing black formal bottoms?”

“There’s no law saying you can’t wear a formal skirt to a club.”

“Yes, there is! Especially that skirt, it looks like something you’d wear to a job interview. And where on earth did you get that pink blouse?”

“…I purposely bought it this afternoon.”

“Wow, it’s even more surprising that you bought it specifically to go to a club.”

“You told me to dress flashy…”

“Yes, I said dress flashy, but who told you to pick a cute, bubbly color?”

“Gasp.”

“See, Yoo-hee. Club attire isn’t like that…”

“You, Mr. Grasshopper, just shut your mouth. You’re not even worth discussing.”

“Kkuaaaak.”

Thus, thoroughly assaulted from head to toe, we collapsed onto the sofa in Director Cha Han Construction’s office.

We had met here because the main office wasn’t far from the Gangnam club.

“Damn it, I think it’d be fastest if I just went.”

“If it gets out that you went to a club at a time like this, it’ll be a huge mess, you know?”

“I know that, alright? You fashion illiterates, just stay quiet. No, it seems I’m the only one who can solve this right now.”

To think that Cha Kang-hyuk was offering a solution, after all this time.

It was truly something to live to see.

“Both of you, write down your clothing sizes here. I’ll have my secretary somehow get clothes for you.”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Like obedient lambs, we wrote down our sizes and sank into the Director’s office sofa.

Though, strictly speaking, it was mostly just me…

“But Director, you said you don’t go to clubs often either. So our outfits aren’t necessarily wrong…”

“Yes, they are! I told you!”

“Understood!”

Attorney, please just stay put until the clothes arrive.

We had both suffered a major blow to our pride, so I couldn’t bring myself to say that much.

But I wasn’t entirely without words.

“Director, then you don’t know the club’s layout very well, do you?”

“That’s right. I don’t go often, and when I do, I drink so much that I don’t remember well.”

Well, that was probably true.

Clubs didn’t suit Cha Kang-hyuk’s personality.

There was something else he couldn’t live without.

“But you know the general layout, right?”

“I do. The first floor is the stage, and the second and third floors are rooms. My friends and I usually go to the third floor.”

“Meaning the VIP rooms are on the third floor?”

“That’s right.”

Listening to Cha Kang-hyuk’s explanation, I quickly organized the tasks we needed to do today in my head.

It was absolutely necessary if we wanted to properly screw Woo Jin-gon over.

And it was impossible with just us.

“Director, there’s something I need to ask of you.”

“What is it?”

“I’d like you to meet with Mr. Woo Jin-gon as soon as possible.”

“I’m not sure I can look at that bastard’s face and smile.”

“Hmm, you don’t have to smile. If you really can’t stand it, grabbing him by the collar is fine too.”

“…Did you put on the wrong clothes today or has something happened to your head?”

“No, I’m perfectly fine. Oh, and if you’re going to grab him, please grab somewhere other than his collar.”

“Somewhere else? Where?”

I pointed to my head.

“You want me to smash his head in?”

“That would be a disaster…”

“Ahem. I thought so too.”

It was definitely not what I meant, but let’s just move on.

If he put his friend in the intensive care unit in this situation, Cha Kang-hyuk would be finished.

“I meant you could grab him by the hair a bit.”

“Grab him by the hair? A man has his pride, how can I do that?”

“Because it’s absolutely necessary.”

Urgently seeking Woo Jin-gon’s hair.

Cha Kang-hyuk finally straightened his posture, understanding my meaning.

“Ah, you want to test that?”

“Of course.”

“But why go to the club? Can’t we just test it and confirm the results?”

“I want to make sure he’s thoroughly sent off.”

“Thoroughly?”

“Yes.”

Specifically, to create a story that the media would go crazy for.

For that, a club investigation was essential.

Of course, in the process, I suffered an unexpected blow to my pride.

The sound of Cha Kang-hyuk calling me illiterate still echoed in my ears.

Just then, Director Cha’s secretary entered the office.

“Wow, you’re fast. You really seem capable.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

My awe made Director Cha Kang-hyuk’s secretary puff up by another inch.

Gratefully, I took the shopping bag from the secretary who had worked so hard that evening.

Then, I opened the bag, expecting to find something wonderful.

“Oh, you picked out the right thing. As expected of Secretary Yeon.”

“Thank you.”

Had the meaning of “the right thing” changed without my knowing?

With vacant eyes, I lifted the clothes—no, the scraps of fabric.

In the meantime, the secretary who had presented me with such a shocking outfit gracefully vanished from the director’s office.

“I need clothes, not just fabric…”

“They are clothes! The club outfits I’ve seen were exactly like that.”

“I’ll wear the clothes I brought.”

“You might get rejected at the entrance if you do that, are you sure? They’re very strict about appearances there.”

“…Was my face that bad that I’d be rejected at the entrance?”

I hadn’t known, but I had just learned a shocking truth.

I trembled and lowered the scraps of fabric.

“Well, if it’s just your face, you’d probably get a free pass. You’d be welcomed anywhere. What I mean is, they’re particular about clothes as well as faces.”

“It’s fine. No need for comfort.”

What could I do if my face wasn’t good enough?

I had to win with my clothes, at least.

And so, tears of blood in my eyes, I picked up the scraps of fabric.

Fortunately, as if to prove that people aren’t doomed, a cardigan was neatly folded inside the shopping bag, enough to cover the scraps of fabric.

It was a bit short, but it was enough to cover the “main parts” somehow.

“Cheer up. We have to get into the club somehow.”

“I don’t want to hear it from Attorney Yoon, whose face wasn’t criticized.”

“Hahaha. I do get told I’m quite dashing sometimes.”

“Hey, Attorney Yoon, you’re not that much.”

“Sniffle, but I am…”

Director Cha Kang-hyuk, after dismissing Attorney Yoon Yi-hoon as well, sent us off with a satisfied expression.

He told us to change into our outfits ourselves.

It was clear that Attorney Yoon’s remark about him being a hooligan still bothered him.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Entering the club, my head began to throb.

I swear, this was truly the first time in my life I had ever been in such a noisy place.

As soon as we entered the reserved room, our eyes became hollow.

“I feel like my energy is being drained. I can’t stand being in a place like this for even a moment.”

“Me too. Ah, it doesn’t suit me.”

Attorney Yoon Yi-hoon opened a bottle that looked like water on the table and chugged it down.

“Wow. What is this? It was alcohol, not water.”

“Oh, really? What is it?”

“Of course, Yoo-hee, wearing such cute company clothes, wouldn’t know about the alcohol sold here. I guess you’ve never been to a club before.”

“It’s not cute, okay? It was just plain pink. It’s you, Attorney, who probably hasn’t been here before, isn’t it?”

“To pass the bar exam in one go, you have to study from your university days. And you know that the Judicial Research and Training Institute is even harder than the bar exam, right? That’s why the most frightening thing to an institute trainee is the phrase ‘sentenced to one year at the Institute.’”

“Well, that’s true.”

One’s life is determined by their rank at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

This is because you need high grades to be appointed as a judge or prosecutor or to be able to present your business card to a large law firm.

So, it wasn’t wrong.

“And I’ll skip over the workload of our firm’s associates. I’m still working right now, after all.”

“I”

“I”

We both became solemn at the mention of work hours.

Even though they said the workload had been reduced, it didn’t feel like it had decreased much when working in the field.

I took two beers from the ice box on the table.

And I quietly handed one to Attorney Yoon.

“Cheer up.”

“You too, Yoo-hee.”

We drank our beers and looked around the room.

This was the room where Cha Kang-hyuk and Woo Jin-gon’s group had stayed on the day of the incident.

“Hmm, there’s nothing particularly special, other than how flashy it is.”

“I know. It’s too dazzling.”

It was natural, considering it was a club and a VVIP room.

Cha Kang-hyuk said it didn’t cost that much to reserve this place, but since that was based on Director Cha’s standards, I decided to ignore it.

Attorney Yoon Yi-hoon had fainted once when he heard the price trying to reserve this place.

“How can one room cost as much as my monthly salary?”

“It’s really immense.”

Even for a new associate who hadn’t been working for a year, it was well over three times my salary.

It was only natural, given that this was a place that gathered only the best among professionals like lawyers.

Since I receive about the salary of a typical office worker, this meant spending more than three times my monthly salary in just one night.

‘And that’s just for entry.’

People who enter a room of this caliber don’t just drink the alcohol piled up there.

They order snacks and better alcohol.

When you do that, it easily adds up to the cost of a decent compact car.

Truly, the more I thought about it, this place was another world.

“But what if we spend all this money and don’t get anything?”

“That shouldn’t happen.”

Of course, Director Cha Kang-hyuk would bear the cost.

However, the reality that we paid a high price doesn’t change.

At least, not by my standards.

I cracked my neck and said,

“Then, shall we start getting our money’s worth?”