Chapter 46 : Ari

“Based on my guess, you recently met with my mom. Since you also work, it must have been late evening or on a weekend. The location of the incident was…”

Ari, listening to my explanation, picked up her phone with a bewildered expression.

She quickly began to dial a number.

“Oh, come on! No, it’s not like that. If you’re going to keep spouting such nonsense, I’ll just tell Auntie I can’t do it!”

“Ack!”

Ultimately, I surrendered before Ari could even press the call button.

“I apologize. Please feel free to do whatever you want now, without any hesitation.”

“I wasn’t hesitant from the start, you know? Come over here. Even if it’s not lipstick, just choosing a good lip balm can completely change the vibe.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Unnie, are you going to keep being sarcastic?”

“No, I promise to apply it diligently.”

In the end, under the belief that ‘there’s nothing quite the same under the sun,’ I was only finally released after applying several more lip products, including lipstick, multiple times.

With an exhausted expression, I carried the shopping basket, overflowing with products, to the checkout.

“How much money is all this? It’s such a waste since I’m not even going to use it anyway.”

“You’re not going to use it?”

Ari’s voice was sharp, as if she had just discovered a hidden crime scene.

It was understandable, given that Ari had spent two hours helping me choose these cosmetics at my mom’s request.

“I’ll do my absolute best to use them.”

“I’ll be watching.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So, you should doll yourself up sometimes and go on dates. Auntie is doing this because you just work all the time.”

“I do doll myself up, though?”

“Ugh, you just put on basic makeup and foundation, don’t you?”

“Isn’t that everything… Oh, I guess not. I knew it, too.”

Indeed.

Where would I find the time to apply anything else in the morning?

If I said I’d rather go to the office and read one more document in that time, it felt like it would cause a huge problem.

I nodded with all my might, showing my firm resolve.

“I’ll do everything well, exactly as you taught me. So don’t worry.”

“When you say that, it makes me worry even more. Don’t I know you, unnie?”

“Yes, you know me well.”

Until I went to college, we were practically best friends.

We’d spent over a decade together since childhood.

That’s how well we know each other.

“No, let’s not worry about that. You worked so hard choosing cosmetics, so let’s go eat something delicious. My treat.”

“Hmm, that’s a good idea. Since it’s an awkward time for dinner, let’s just hit up dessert first.”

“You’re actually saying something sensible for once in a long time.”

And so, we headed to a nearby cafe.

It had been quite famous for its desserts for ages, and thankfully, it was still in business.

“Ah, this is it. I feel like I can live now.”

“I know, right?”

Ari exclaimed, her mouth full of strawberry shortcake slathered with whipped cream.

Watching her, I also cut a large piece with my fork.

“It really has been a long time since I’ve been here.”

“Right? You got really busy after you went to college, so we couldn’t do anything.”

“That’s… right.”

Ari wouldn’t know, but it had been over 20 years since I was last here.

That’s how much time had passed since my previous life.

With trembling hands, I put the cake into my mouth.

The sweetness that gently spread was so incredibly delicious it brought tears to my eyes.

“This is truly delicious.”

“Why are you crying in the middle of eating cake?”

“Crying? Something just got in my eye, that’s all.”

“Okay, let’s say that’s true. So, don’t just work all the time; go out and about more often.”

Ari pretended not to notice, handing me a tissue from the table.

“I don’t not understand why you live the way you do, you know.”

The crushing debt.

Knowing each other’s family situations inside and out, I immediately understood what Ari was trying to say.

And that she certainly wasn’t saying it with any ill intent.

After all, wasn’t she a kind younger sister who took time out of her precious weekend to go through all this trouble for me?

“But it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, isn’t it? Don’t you regret spending your prime years just stuck at work?”

“…I know. But I still can’t stop.”

I’ve only just left the starting line.

I can never forgive those who not only ruined my life but also caused my parents’ deaths.

But.

I looked up at the sky.

The early autumn sunlight was so beautiful it seemed to sting my eyes.

In my previous life, I lived without even the time to look up at the sky like this…

I sat on the cafe terrace and reached out my hand toward the street.

The rainbow-colored sunlight felt warm, as if I could grasp it.

“But I can always make time to eat dessert like this.”

“Exactly, unnie. You can pay back the debt slowly. With your company, you can totally do that, right?”

“Of course.”

In my previous life, it just took some time, but I paid off everything, and even though there was a loan, I managed to get a proper jeonse house.

If my family hadn’t died on the trip I sent them on to celebrate that, we would have surely lived happily.

Moreover, at my current pace, it’s possible to clear all debts simultaneously with passing the bar exam.

Because when I return as a lawyer, I’ll receive what has been steadily accumulated as my share.

However, even that is only a part of the compensation for my previous life.

Because the real game will begin after I become a lawyer.

I will stand at the pinnacle of Lee & Yeon and utterly crush Go Jong-tak and those above him.

Exactly as I was wronged.

“This time, I’m really going to do well.”

“No, is it really that serious?”

Ari pointed to the slice of cake she had already devoured more than half of.

“Yeah. Let’s not do that. When we go home, let’s get one of these packed for each of us. Mom and Auntie like sweet things too, don’t they?”

“Now that’s something good to hear.”

If it were the old me, I would have chosen to save money by stocking up on bread from the supermarket instead of spending it on things like this.

‘I died without even being able to spend all of it.’

But now, it’s different.

This time, I’m going to spend what I need to spend and eat what I want to eat.

I thought of the money in my bank account before I died and steeled my resolve.

Quite a large sum had accumulated.

Since I didn’t have time to spend it, it just kept accumulating.

But compared to what I’ll earn in this life, that’s nothing.

“When I go to work on Monday, I have to push for Yoon’s case no matter what.”

I’m actually looking forward to it a bit since Lawyer Seo Il-hwa said he’d review it over the weekend.

Although I couldn’t find much time after the ruling, I still handed over materials that were close to the correct answer.

He’s quite competent, if not as much as Lawyer Ahn, so with that amount of data, he must have come to an excellent conclusion.

That we should do it.

Lawyer Seo Il-hwa wasn’t the type to give up on a case that looked winnable.

“Unnie, work again!”

“No, I need to earn money to buy things like this lavishly.”

This is absolutely true.

Someone said happiness can’t be bought with money, but I died because of money.

Go Jong-tak didn’t see people as people; he only saw them as means to fill his own wealth.

I became his obedient dog, was exploited, and made his belly full.

Until I was no longer worth the money.

Once I became worthless, I was immediately slaughtered.

In some remote warehouse I didn’t even know.

I was killed worse than a dog.

“And I have a debt to repay.”

“I know. But Uncle is also doing his best…”

“No, this is my part.”

A huge debt to repay Go Jong-tak.

I will definitely return the pain similar to death.

That is the only atonement for my parents, who were killed for no reason, and for myself, who could do nothing.

“We’ve eaten everything now, should we get up?”

“Oh, yeah. Then what about dinner?”

“After all this trouble, of course, we have to eat. Let’s eat something very expensive.”

“Heh heh. Good!”

I need to be full to do anything.

This time, I’ll be fully prepared and fight.

So that no one around me gets hurt.

A man sat in a large office, meticulously cleaning a golf club.

“Hmm.”

The man, engrossed in cleaning for a long time, held the club up and examined it in the sunlight streaming through the window.

“It’s finally usable now.”

“Representative, you shouldn’t do such things yourself; assign them to your subordinates.”

“Why should I do that?”

“Because it’s a waste of your precious time, Representative.”

“Is that so? But sometimes I enjoy such useless tasks.”

Useless. Doesn’t that literally mean ‘of no use’?

Go Jong-tak felt a prick and flinched at the barb in Representative Lee Han-woong’s words.

Reading his movement, Lee Han-woong slowly rose from his seat.

Then he swung the well-polished golf club powerfully once.

“Even something useless can become a masterpiece again if polished like this, can’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Of course. Even if it got a little dirty, this fellow was a masterpiece from the start.”

Swoosh. As Lee Han-woong returned the golf club he had raised to its original position, there was a sound of it cutting through the air.

As if whipping someone.

Go Jong-tak felt a heavy heart, as if the golf club’s head was pointing directly at him.

But he couldn’t just keep standing there.

Suppressing his discomfort, he approached the representative.

In truth, from the moment he entered the room, he knew well that Lee Han-woong had called him to reprimand him.

It would be stranger not to know when someone just stands there while the other person keeps cleaning a golf club without saying a word, wouldn’t it?

But he couldn’t show it on his face.

Because under no circumstances could he displease Representative Lee Han-woong.

He had no children to inherit this law firm.

Go Jong-tak wanted to take over Lee & Yeon, even if it meant licking Lee Han-woong’s feet.

“The matter with Team Leader Cha Kang-hyuk. Why did you handle it that way?”

“At the time, that was the best option. You know that, don’t you?”

“I do. I know very well.”

The representative carefully placed the golf club down and sat back in his chair.

And with a benevolent expression, he gestured to Go Jong-tak.

It meant to come closer.

He swallowed hard and moved closer to him.

Then Lee Han-woong urged Go Jong-tak further.

It meant to come right up to the desk.

Go Jong-tak kept approaching.

Until his legs touched the desk.

Only then did Lee Han-woong smile contentedly and say,

“But does someone who ‘knows’ handle things so poorly?”