The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 102

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 102

 

 

“The fact that this story reached the department head’s ears means not everyone has crossed over yet.”

 

Before Noh Hae-min could fall into panic, I spoke preemptively.

Manager Lee burst into laughter.

 

“Wow, that’s right. Our lawyer. It’s good that you’re so quick-witted.”

“You flatter me.”

 

So there were people who didn’t fall for Lee Jin-seop’s secretive job offer.

 

In any case, it wasn’t a bad sign.

If he had approached the CEO’s direct team members to this extent, the amount Biga Furniture offered must have been quite substantial.

 

“Well, some of the guys that Lee Jin-seop approached said this.”

 

Manager Lee let out a long sigh.

 

“They said what’s the point of giving them money when their conscience feels uneasy.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah. And well, this is just between us-“

“Yes.”

“That guy, even before he quit, Team Leader Lee, um. I mean Lee Jin-seop wasn’t exactly well-regarded in employee evaluations~”

 

I see.

Now I’m starting to understand a bit.

The reason Lee Jin-seop chose betrayal.

 

‘There are often cases like that.’

 

People who can’t objectively assess their own abilities.

 

“But you never know. People are… well, even though I’ve been rolling around in the HR team for over thirty years…”

“…”

“What’s inside people’s hearts is still difficult to understand.”

 

That’s also true.

Changing jobs for better conditions is an employee’s right after all.

 

However, this case was a bit different.

The people Lee Jin-seop approached this time were those who directly handled the designs that Yoon Sang-do plagiarized.

Moreover, they were people who knew all the undisclosed related information.

 

Lee Jin-seop’s reason for approaching those employees must lie here.

 

If he’s someone who prioritizes his own safety above all else.

He probably thought they would naturally take his hand when he offered good conditions, just as he had done.

 

‘While also gathering information about trade secret leaks.’

 

The saying “a thief’s feet tingle” didn’t come from nowhere.

 

“How did the matter I asked about earlier turn out?”

 

Before coming to Wooa Furniture headquarters, I had made several requests in advance through Noh Hae-min.

Department Head Lee Seon-ho nodded as if he understood and pulled out a USB drive and a printed file.

 

“Just as you said, lawyer, it was still there.”

“…!”

 

That was really important information.

Evidence that Lee Jin-seop had stolen company information he possessed just before quitting.

 

“I made a request to our IT team. Then… let me see.”

 

He examined several pages of printed documents.

 

“Our IT guys said that log records remain anyway.”

 

Of course they would.

As long as he used the company’s computers and Wi-Fi, traces would remain no matter how hard he tried.

Lee Jin-seop was no exception.

 

“So all of Lee Jin-seop’s data theft was recorded.”

 

Department Head Lee Seon-ho continued with a hollow laugh.

 

“Really. Our representative treated Lee Jin-seop so well.”

“…I see.”

“Yeah. There’s a limit to being ungrateful. When a long-time employee was quitting, he even had a gold appreciation plaque made and presented to him.”

 

…An appreciation plaque? Gold?

Department Head Lee Seon-ho sighed and pressed his neck firmly.

 

“Our management support staff had quite a hard time looking up vendors for that.”

“You must have been dumbfounded.”

“That’s right. I was dumbfounded. Really, I’m not saying this because I’m a department head, but our representative always treated the staff well so they wouldn’t feel disappointed about such things.”

 

This truly showed Lee Jin-seop’s character best.

I nodded in agreement while pretending not to know.

 

“Anyway, the company atmosphere is unsettled, very unsettled.”

“You haven’t received any separate contact from the representative, have you?”

 

Lee Seon-ho nodded at my question.

 

“That’s right. Same goes for the other executives. There hasn’t been any announcement within the company yet.”

 

I see.

Several days had passed since the incident occurred.

 

Roh Tae-sung hadn’t given any instructions since his collapse,

and it seemed that except for a few employees directly under the representative who had produced the problematic furniture line, the company didn’t know much about this incident.

 

“Still, we should keep our mouths shut until the representative’s instructions come down.”

 

Lee Seon-ho let out a long sigh.

 

“Still, it’s really fortunate. When did our dear~ col~ league~ grow up so much to even handle legal work.”

 

Ah.

Nevertheless, seeing Lee Seon-ho not forget the humor typical of people my age, I applauded inwardly.

 

* * *

 

“Here.”

 

I spread out the materials I had received from Manager Lee Seon-ho so that Roh Tae-sung could see them.

 

“This is evidence that Lee Jin-seop leaked materials through the company’s internal network.”

“Hmm….”

 

Roh Tae-sung swallowed a sigh.

 

“According to Management Support’s explanation, they had blocked all USB ports on some employees’ computers for security purposes.”

“…That’s right.”

“So it was easier to find because of that.”

 

The materials Manager Lee Seon-ho had delivered contained traces of Lee Jin-seop gradually sending compressed files to his personal email through his PC starting a few weeks before his resignation.

 

All of it was material protected as trade secrets within the company’s internal network.

In addition to that, the evidence I had separately requested was also preserved.

 

That is, there was even CCTV footage remaining that showed Lee Jin-seop sitting at his desk during the time the emails were sent.

In short, the evidence itself was undeniable.

 

“…Jin-seop did….”

“Yes.”

 

I had already informed Roh Tae-sung through Noh Hae-min that Lee Jin-seop had taken his business materials and fled to Biga Furniture.

 

So these pieces of evidence now only made that more certain.

Nevertheless, Roh Tae-sung had a devastated expression.

 

“…I see.”

“Yes. That’s what happened.”

 

And to wrap up this circular conversation, I opened my mouth again.

 

“So I’d like to know what the representative’s intentions are.”

“Right… that’s right.”

 

I roughly expected this.

 

I don’t know Noh Hae-min that well, but if he’s the one who raised Noh Hae-min.

I thought there might be feelings like wanting to believe in his old friend until the end.

 

From the beginning, there had been enough time to pressure Yoon Sang-do either personally or through the company with the evidence I had delivered.

Yet the fact that there were no instructions within the company meant.

 

“…I just wanted to wait and see once more.”

 

I barely managed to hold back the sigh that was about to escape.

See, I knew it would be like this.

 

“There’s still time.”

“…Time, you say.”

 

Perhaps sensing the frustration in my tone, Roh Tae-sung smiled slightly.

 

“You might find it frustrating. I understand. Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun. I know how smart you are too.”

“Representative.”

“But there are times when feelings arise that are hard to explain with such things.”

 

Roh Tae-sung let out a long sigh.

 

“At first, I felt betrayed. How shocked must I have been to collapse right there on the spot.”

 

Roh Tae-sung’s hand trembled slightly.

It seemed like memories from that day were flooding back.

 

“And even when I woke up. I first thought that I had really lived my life wrong.”

“…Yes.”

“But when I thought about it.”

 

Roh Tae-sung fiddled with the handle of his tea cup.

Noh Hae-min looked at his father like that, keeping his mouth shut the entire time.

 

I was the same.

From when Roh Tae-sung started speaking, I had been thinking of someone, which wasn’t like me.

 

“I’m already over sixty years old.”

“….”

“That man Yoon Sang-do is someone I’ve known since I was born.”

 

Roh Tae-sung couldn’t continue speaking for a long time, then slowly opened his mouth again.

It was a voice that seemed to carry very long regret.

 

“So if I’m going to cut away someone I cherished as much as a part of my own life.”

“….”

“Shouldn’t I at least know the reason, don’t you think?”

 

Roh Tae-sung didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down.

 

…A reason.

Yes, a reason.

He would be curious. I had been too, after all.

 

But I couldn’t ask.

When I existed as myself, I had to die without being able to ask anything.

 

…Well, it can’t be helped.

If the client wants it that much.

 

“I think there must be some reason.”

“I understand.”

 

I didn’t try to persuade him any further.

 

After all, both the gun and bullets were on this side.

All preparations were complete, but ultimately pulling the trigger depended on the client’s will.

 

“…Thank you for understanding.”

“Not at all. Representative, for now….”

 

I examined Noh Hae-min’s face.

 

As expected, this is a bit problematic, isn’t it?

When it comes to family matters, he wouldn’t be able to make proper judgments.

 

“I’ll formally contact Mr. Yoon Sang-do’s side.”

“…!”

 

Roh Tae-sung smiled broadly, his wrinkled eyes crinkling.

 

“That’s right? As I thought. Dialogue first-“

“But we’re only giving one chance from our side.”

“…Yeah, well. I’ll do whatever our Lawyer Sung tells me to do. That.”

“If Mr. Yoon Sang-do or Biga Furniture refuses to talk-“

“Oh, then! I’ll just do it by the law then! By the law! I’ll do everything our Sung Tae-hyun tells me to do!”

 

* * *

 

I don’t judge my clients.

A client is a client, and I’m just a lawyer.

 

Even so, perhaps because I worked as a judge for so long….

 

“Huh? Why? Is there something on my face?”

 

I sighed while looking at Noh Hae-min’s blank face.

 

So, this young, sometimes frustrating, and even fragile side.

I end up hoping for an ending where people like this get hurt less.

 

“Senior, just don’t talk.”

“…Huh? Are you angry by any chance?”

 

We were on our way out after finishing the meeting with Noh Hae-min’s father.

 

“Why would I be angry?”

“No, but it’s strange. Sung Tae-hyun seems angry?”

“Just shut up, Senior.”

“You always talk to your senior like that-“

 

I stopped walking while we were exchanging our usual meaningless banter.

 

As Roh Tae-sung said, requesting a meeting with Yoon Sang-do wouldn’t be difficult.

 

Since I received the retainer fee, I was officially Roh Tae-sung’s defense attorney.

Even if they had sent me something like content-certified mail, it would be difficult for them to refuse dialogue.

 

However.

 

‘There’s no need for two people to be this emotional.’

 

Roh Tae-sung would try to ask Yoon Sang-do for the reason.

I couldn’t say I wasn’t curious about that either. But I also wasn’t that curious about it.

 

Eventually, I spoke calmly to Noh Hae-min, who was staring at me blankly.

 

“For this case, Senior should step back now.”

“…!”

 

Noh Hae-min’s expression froze.

 

* * *

 

“Did I… do something wrong?”

“No.”

 

What could you have done wrong?

The person who really did wrong is someone else.

 

I looked at Noh Hae-min, who seemed ready to dig down to the 90th basement floor if left alone.

This was the first time I had directly spoken of excluding him, so he seemed quite shocked.

 

“Then why?”

 

I could tell without even looking.

Noh Hae-min was probably retracing all his actions up to this point, calculating backwards in his mind.

 

Of course, this exclusion wasn’t his fault.

There wasn’t any special reason either.

 

“…Am I getting fired?”

 

Look at this.

Now he was even interpreting Ho-shin Senior’s intentions on his own, and I almost let out an inappropriate laugh.

 

“Senior, you know that Ilchul is Ho-shin Senior’s office, not mine, right?”

“Huh? Oh, I know.”

“Does Ho-shin Senior seem like the type to just fire people carelessly?”

“That’s…”

 

Noh Hae-min’s eyes wavered. He looked anxious.

 

“No…? But somehow I feel like even when you fire someone, you’d just say ‘Thank you for your hard work’ and end it there.”

 

That’s correct.

But I didn’t bother answering.

 

“Ho-shin Senior won’t fire you. Unless he sells the entire office to someone else.”

“…Ha, I even imagined becoming unemployed just now. Writing on my resume that I worked at and assisted with various cases in multiple areas… I imagined writing stuff like that.”

 

Wow, this is quite serious.

Even with a rich imagination, there should be limits – he actually imagined writing his resume.

 

“I’ll let you know about case progress separately, so I’ll just handle going to meetings like this myself.”

“Why?”

 

A rich family’s son fearing unemployment.

Anyway, he asked quite desperately.

 

“Huh? Is it awkward for me to get involved in Father’s case?”

“That’s part of it.”

 

After all, lawyers needed to be objective.

 

“I have a rough idea of what to expect when facing Yoon Sang-do.”

 

Noh Hae-min’s face was still full of question marks.

 

“There’s no need for both the client and lawyer to be emotional.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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