The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 12

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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 12

 

 

At eight in the evening, the office door was locked.

 

“…Did you have an appointment today?”

“No, not at all…”

 

Noh Hae-min, his face pale as a sheet, shook his head.

Soon after, someone knocked on the door again with loud banging sounds.

 

“Should we call Attorney Yoon Ha-young?”

“…What? Why?”

“Attorney Yoon… she’s a 9th dan in martial arts combined…”

 

Noh Hae-min, who had somehow pressed close behind me, whispered with his voice lowered completely.

A sigh escaped me naturally.

When I ignored Noh Hae-min and approached the door, he urgently grabbed the jacket covering my back.

 

“Our building has a legend. After seven o’clock, ghosts-“

“Legend or whatever, where in the world is there a ghost that knocks?”

“Gasp. Now that I think about it…”

 

I shook off Noh Hae-min and approached close to the door.

 

Under the broken sensor light, an old man’s face was visible.

 

The old man who had been banging on the already locked door pressed his face close to the opaque office door as soon as he saw me.

 

“…Shin! Ho-shin!”

 

Is he looking for my senior?

I turned my head and gestured toward the frozen Noh Hae-min.

 

“See? Where’s the ghost? It’s a person.”

 

Noh Hae-min, who had subtly moved his feet to approach the door, had his expression change completely.

Outside, the old man was shaking the door while clutching a crumpled paper bag to his chest.

 

“Oh? Isn’t that the fruit store owner?”

“…Do you know him?”

 

At my words, Noh Hae-min nodded.

He immediately opened the locked door and stepped back.

At the same time, the old man with his completely reddened face thrust the crumpled paper bag toward Noh Hae-min’s arms.

 

“Well, you see…”

 

The old man hesitated as he looked up at Noh Hae-min and me alternately.

Despite me stepping aside by the door for him, he didn’t even enter the office.

 

“That, Kim Ho-shin said he was a lawyer here…”

 

His words trailed off as if he wasn’t certain.

Either way, I could clearly see that Ho-shin Senior was the problem.

 

Debt collection? No.

It didn’t feel like that kind of situation.

Then just an acquaintance?

 

Judging by the old man’s shabby appearance, he certainly wasn’t a big shot that every law office would want to grab.

 

“If you mean Lawyer Kim Ho-shin, he is indeed the representative lawyer of our office.”

“That, that’s right…?”

 

What crossed the old man’s face for a moment was inexplicable relief.

 

“I don’t have money though.”

“Yes.”

“Before, that… Kim Ho-shin made me a promise…”

 

Whatever it was, I should hear it first.

I guided the hesitating old man into the lit office.

Noh Hae-min, who had inadvertently taken the paper bag into his arms, also followed behind us.

 

“What kind of promise was it? Could you tell us?”

 

I asked while walking ahead.

However, the old man didn’t answer.

 

“Sir?”

 

When I turned around to meet his eyes, the old man was startled and opened his eyes wide as if he had been lost in deep thought.

 

Could it be? I examined his appearance carefully again.

As if anticipating my suspicion, Noh Hae-min suddenly spoke up.

 

“His hearing is quite poor. It’s a well-known fact in the neighborhood… I forgot that Lawyer Sung wouldn’t know.”

“…”

“Usually he reads lips well, so you can just have a normal conversation.”

 

The old man, who seemed completely unaware of the conversation between us, was just wiping away tears.

 

“…Please sit here.”

 

Indeed, he seemed to read my lips and nodded naturally.

 

A trembling voice flowed from the lips of the old man who was staring endlessly at the empty table with his head down.

 

“That, well… please help me, help me…”

 

A trembling voice flowed from the old man’s lips.

 

“Boss?”

 

Noh Hae-min grabbed the old man’s shoulder in confusion, but the old man collapsed even further.

The man who had been speaking in a boiling voice from below his throat began to cry out loud.

 

“O-our child was a-arrested, what, that… he was taken away…”

“Pardon?”

“P-please help… help me…!”

 

* * *

 

“Please calm down and tell me slowly.”

 

When consulting with a lawyer, there’s a basic consultation fee.

If the previous me had become a lawyer with my judge background intact, I could have charged a pretty decent consultation fee. However.

 

“W-well…”

 

I couldn’t be that cold-blooded.

It was different from when I sat on the judge’s bench in the courtroom looking down at people.

 

The old man who had been crying as if he would collapse finally calmed down and sat on the sofa.

But he still couldn’t say anything and just wiped away his flowing tears.

 

I handed him the tissues that were lying around behind the sofa.

This much is essential equipment for a law office.

 

“Please feel free to speak.”

“…Thank you. Well…”

“I’m Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun. I’ll be working together in this office starting today.”

 

The old man who had stopped crying was endlessly staring down at the ground.

 

“You said a child was taken away, could you tell me what happened?”

 

The old man kept moving only his lips.

As if imagining something terrible, he couldn’t continue speaking for a long time.

 

“If it’s difficult today, you can come back tomorrow and tell me then.”

“…Mur…”

“Murder?”

“Murder…”

 

Murder?

 

“O-our child…”

“…”

“They said he committed murder…”

 

It’s quite a heavy matter to take on as a first case.

 

If a child, meaning a minor, committed murder as the old man said, it would have been handled by the Juvenile Court.

Generally, Juvenile Court cases don’t pay well.

 

So even if I took on and handled this case, it wouldn’t remain as particularly good experience.

 

“P-please help me…”

 

Tears that had stopped began flowing again from the old man’s wrinkled eyes.

 

A senior who handled the Juvenile Court when I worked at the District Court used to say this.

You only take on Juvenile Court cases out of a sense of mission.

I tended to agree.

 

Though it might be a generalization, children who caused enough trouble to have trials in Juvenile Court didn’t hire proper lawyers.

This was because even the parents who should care for the children often gave up on them.

 

Since there was no demand, most law offices rarely hired lawyers specializing in Juvenile Court.

 

In the end, it was all about supply and demand, following the flow of economics.

I made eye contact with Noh Hae-min and then turned my gaze back to the old man.

 

“…First, please tell me the details. Murder, you said.”

 

The old man spoke while tears streamed down his face.

 

“According to our child… well, our child is my grandson. Grandson. I raised him with my grandmother for 17 years… the child was really good. I’m not just saying this because he’s my grandson, he was really good.”

 

The old man spoke without hesitation, saying the child was good even though he was taken away for a murder case.

Of course, such talk is useless in this situation.

 

“…I see.”

 

But there are things you can’t say as a lawyer.

I pulled out a few more tissues and handed them to him.

The old man continued speaking while sobbing.

 

“But to be taken away overnight for killing his friend, I really… this doesn’t make sense… I can’t believe it…”

“What did the police say?”

“O-our Seung-jun… they said he killed his friend…”

“Did you check for witnesses or evidence?”

“I was too flustered… That small child was being taken away… I abandoned the store I had left open and ran after them, but…”

 

Tears flowed endlessly from the old man’s eyes.

If he was even detained, quite some time must have passed, but there was no lawyer until now?

 

“By any chance, was there no defense attorney before?”

 

The question wasn’t even finished yet.

The old man’s eyes, which had been tearful just moments before, now gleamed with a sharp, fierce light.

 

“…That, that damn bastard, I can’t trust him. I can’t trust him…”

 

It seemed he had been severely betrayed.

The old man now began pounding his chest repeatedly, unable to control his boiling voice.

 

“I looked everywhere to hire him. I scraped together every penny I had and didn’t have to hire him…”

“…”

“He won’t do the work. I don’t know why. No matter how much I ask, visit, and try…”

 

Oh no.

 

“He won’t even do visits, won’t listen to what I say. Ever since he signed the contract, it’s like he’s trying to kill me…”

 

So a lawyer who wasn’t even court-appointed wasn’t doing his job.

It was quite difficult to understand.

 

“Sung, Sung Tae-hyun lawyer. Please help me. I’ll definitely repay this favor.”

“That’s…”

“Kim, Kim Ho-shin said so. He said he’d help with anything, anything at all if I asked. I, I scraped together every penny I had and didn’t have into that bag. I even took the money for our grandmother’s medicine at the hospital…”

 

The old man’s desperate voice rang in my ears.

 

“Our kid is absolutely not the type to do that. Absolutely not.”

“…”

“Our Seung-jun, he can’t even kill a single ant. He can’t even kill a mosquito flying around the house and sends it out the window instead…”

 

I didn’t sympathize with the old man.

I didn’t believe everything he said either.

I didn’t think claims about a child arrested by police for murder being good were proper evaluations.

 

However, I did respect his courage in coming to a second law office carrying that worn-out yellow paper bag.

 

It’s rare in juvenile court cases.

 

The truth of whether the child had committed murder was still difficult to determine, but even so, it was hard to turn away from this case.

 

“Ho-shin Senior told you about the office, correct?”

“…Yes, yes. I run a small fruit store just across the way…”

“Yes.”

“Kim Ho-shin often came and bought on credit.”

 

…So, taking this case was purely because of my senior.

 

“Understood. Let’s meet with that friend first.”

“…Really? Really? Oh my… Sung, Sung Tae-hyun lawyer. Thank you so much, really thank you. Really…”

 

The old man cried for a while before returning with Noh Hae-min’s support.

Through the window, I could see them walking together.

 

“…More useful than I thought.”

 

I opened the yellow paper bag that the old man had pushed into Noh Hae-min’s arms earlier.

A black plastic bag was rolled up on top of several large apples.

When I opened the rustling bag, 10,000 won bills and 5,000 won bills were mixed together messily.

 

“Kim Ho-shin will take responsibility.”

 

Since Ho-shin Senior had bought on credit, he could handle any excess amount over the retainer fee.

Of course, my salary was separate.

I planned to collect every last won from Ho-shin Senior without any concessions.

 

“Tsk.”

 

There are people like Sung Tae-hyun’s mother.

How could anyone turn away an old man who came with such a bag to save his grandson.

 

* * *

 

[I’ve taken on my first case.]

 

In the morning, I sent a text to Ho-shin Senior as soon as I arrived at work.

 

[Already?]

 

The reply that came shortly after wasn’t very satisfying.

 

[Good. Just please report the results later.]

 

He didn’t seem curious about what kind of case it was.

 

Is he following Park Ji-hwan around again?

Anyway, since he had given me full authority, I had a duty to meet those expectations.

 

“…Murder, murder indeed.”

 

I had handled criminal trials before, but this was my first juvenile murder case.

I had been far from juvenile court to begin with.

Most importantly, judging from what was written in Sung Tae-hyun’s diary, there was a high probability that the murder charge wasn’t completely fabricated.

 

“But did the fruit store owner’s grandson really commit murder?”

 

Noh Hae-min, who had arrived at work at some point, was skillfully peeling one of the apples the old man had brought and offered it to me.

 

“Who knows.”

“That’s strange. If it’s that family’s grandson, Seung-jun… I’ve seen that kid before.”

“…”

“That kid’s really nice. He couldn’t even kill an ant-“

 

I let out a sigh.

Noh Hae-min fundamentally lacked the mindset of a lawyer.

 

Whether someone is good or bad in any given matter isn’t important.

What’s most important is understanding the facts of an incident that has already occurred.

 

Especially in criminal cases, one must examine the constituent elements, grounds for illegality, and even responsibility, then coldly assess the case in light of precedents.

Not making moral judgments about whether someone is good or bad.

 

“Only the parties involved would know the truth.”

“Still… damn, they say there’s no one in this world you can trust…”

 

Instead of responding to Noh Hae-min’s muttering, I bit into the apple he offered.

He mentioned the client runs a fruit store, and it tasted quite good.

 

“They say several police officers were dispatched too. Did you really not know, Lawyer Noh Hae-min?”

 

Yesterday, according to the old man who requested the case, the murder took place in a house right above his fruit store.

 

The old man lived there with his wife and grandson.

After his wife, the grandson’s grandmother, collapsed from a chronic illness long ago and was hospitalized, it seems he had been living alone with just his grandson.

 

If the police were dispatched here and the child was taken away, drawing quite a crowd, it would have been close enough to see from our office window.

 

“Uh… was that so?”

 

This bastard is really no help.

Noh Hae-min started scratching his bleached yellow hair and pondering.

 

“Well… I’m not sure?”

“I found it when I looked it up.”

 

A cold voice followed, pushing aside Noh Hae-min’s stupid tone.

It was Associate Yoon Ha-young, who had returned today after going to court yesterday.

 

“Really? Where?”

 

Noh Hae-min put down the fruit knife and rushed over to Associate Yoon Ha-young.

After looking at her mobile phone screen for a short while, Noh Hae-min’s mouth fell wide open.

 

“Huh?”

“…Is there some important information?”

 

Noh Hae-min’s eyes widened greatly.

 

“…There was a victim murdered by a classmate in this area.”

“…”

“And that victim is supposedly the only son of National Assembly member Kim Wan-gil?”

 

At that moment, a passage from Sung Tae-hyun’s diary flashed through my mind.

 

[I will lose.]

—————
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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