The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 137

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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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Chapter 137

 

“This patient was lucky.”

 

“You can say that again.”

 

Such words were exchanged inside the swaying ambulance.

 

“He almost died. Can’t even move his body.”

 

“…Then wouldn’t it be better to just die? I don’t think I could live like this.”

 

I don’t even know who said those words.

 

In fact, I’ve heard such words so many times that they don’t even hurt anymore.

 

Did I want to die? I don’t know.

 

Did I want to live? I don’t know that either.

 

But when I really thought it was the end, my eyes met with Sung Tae-hyun’s.

 

“It’s okay.”

 

I think he said something like that.

 

The 5th floor of A Nursing Hospital, no, the 6th floor.

 

The patients left neglected in the darkness weren’t just 404 alone.

 

Unlike 404 who was moved from the VIP room, the majority were patients in poor condition.

 

“If he was really lucky, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

 

After the chatter had gone on for quite a while, Sung Tae-hyun finally added a word.

 

404 didn’t die.

 

His body couldn’t move, but his ears were open.

 

Even so, people didn’t hesitate to treat him like a dead person.

 

“Oh, sorry.”

 

One of those who had been chattering away read the room and shut their mouth.

 

“We were dealing with other urgent patients, so being mobilized for this kind of transport… There are many more urgent patients.”

 

However, the other person didn’t seem to agree.

 

404’s eyeballs rolled around.

 

At times like this, anxious feelings would surge up for no reason.

 

A sense of helplessness dominated my entire body.

 

Because I couldn’t do anything.

 

In fact, they were right.

 

404 thought of himself as a soul trapped in a dead body.

 

So what if the death they spoke of was better than this life.

 

Was being discovered by Sung Tae-hyun good luck or bad luck.

 

With his clouded mind, it was hard to tell the difference.

 

“I’ll give you freedom.”

 

Suddenly, Hyung’s voice brushed past his ears.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Had Hyung apologized?

 

“Freedom…”

 

Hyung said he would give him freedom.

 

That much was certain.

 

He became a patient because of Hyung.

 

404 thought even that wasn’t certain.

 

It wasn’t because of Hyung.

 

What made him like this. It wasn’t Hyung.

 

It was the people who hated Hyung.

 

Now even the names of the perpetrators weren’t clear anymore.

 

“Patient Lee Yeon-woo is mentally alert.”

 

Then Sung Tae-hyun’s voice was heard.

 

After Hyung went to prison, there was no one who could be identified as a guardian.

 

Just a few people Hyung had left behind would visit the nursing home as if it were a bother.

 

After being transferred to A Nursing Hospital, even that stopped.

 

“….”

 

An ominous silence settled inside the car.

 

I could feel my heart, which I usually didn’t notice, pounding loudly and heavily.

 

404 rolled their eyes to look at Sung Tae-hyun.

 

The Sung Tae-hyun that 404 knew was from videos on TV or photos on the homepage.

 

He was always smiling.

 

As a junior lawyer, he always seemed relaxed under the public’s gaze, even though it should have been awkward.

 

As if he had already experienced it hundreds of times before.

 

However, the current Sung Tae-hyun didn’t look relaxed.

 

Yes, that seemed to be the case.

 

“Telling such a patient that it would be better to die.”

 

“….”

 

“Isn’t that a violation of professional ethics?”

 

“….”

 

“You should only think such things to yourself.”

 

It was just a valid argument.

 

Nevertheless, Sung Tae-hyun’s profession made them shut their mouths.

 

Because when they got in the car claiming to be guardians, Sung Tae-hyun had already revealed his identity.

 

Another person grabbed the shoulder of the man who was moving his lips as if to make some kind of rebuttal and stopped him.

 

404 wasn’t naive.

 

These were people who would have made them shut up at any time if they had made such claims.

 

“Oh my, yes. Yes. I’m sorry. I misspoke.”

 

Someone said that.

 

Sung Tae-hyun stared intently at 404 as if he had no intention of listening to their words.

 

“Sleep more.”

 

It seemed like I heard those words.

 

/”I’ll give you freedom.”/(flashback)/

 

Hyung’s words overlapped from somewhere.

 

The freedom that hyung spoke of didn’t exist in reality.

 

Hyung gave me the best equipment to eliminate his guilt, and even introduced me to a hacker worthy of being called a master.

 

However, that wasn’t everything.

 

“Seo…”

 

A hoarse sound leaked from his throat.

 

Though no proper words came out, 404 stared intently at Sung Tae-hyun until he fell asleep again from the effects of the medicine.

 

Guardian.

 

Before hyung left for prison.

 

“…Hyeon.”

 

He told me about Sung Tae-hyun.

 

Knowing in advance that he wouldn’t be able to turn away from me.

 

* * *

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

At the words that flowed out through the silence, 404’s gaze turned toward me.

 

“For not being able to prevent this beforehand.”

 

I didn’t know it would be this serious.

 

Even if 404 had been stubborn, I should have somehow taken him to Seoul.

 

If not that, I should have at least moved him somewhere else.

 

“They said the medicine was just a sedative.”

 

It felt like my throat was filled with sand.

 

404 was an adult who knew how to take care of himself.

 

He was a hacker, and his mind was perfectly sound.

 

His body simply couldn’t move, but even that wasn’t a problem when he had his tools.

 

Was trusting him the problem?

 

“They didn’t use that much medicine, so they said there’s no serious risk to your body right now.”

 

It was still puzzling.

 

For me too, this was my first time encountering someone like 404.

 

Until now, he was just a hacker, a business contact.

 

I used him because it was convenient and occasionally passed along greetings to Hwan, thinking I had done everything I needed to do.

 

But now.

 

“….”

 

The blank space in the chat window remained unfilled.

 

404 looked at me with eyes that were impossible to interpret.

 

The young guy, having experienced countless hardships, had eyes that could belong to an 80-year-old man.

 

“What do you want to do.”

 

Still, I eventually gave him the choice again.

 

Because it was 404’s matter.

 

Even if 404’s decision would involve troublesome consequences.

 

Ah, right.

 

I was no longer a judge, but a lawyer.

 

I didn’t have the right to judge his entire life.

 

That’s right. My job wasn’t to judge.

 

It was to trust my client.

 

That was exactly the point where my colleagues who became lawyers suffered endlessly.

 

‘Trusting the client’s words.’

 

And starting from that trust, bringing about the best possible outcome.

 

That’s what a lawyer was.

 

Even if he told lies. Even if he gave up on himself, frustrated by the misfortune that followed.

 

[404]: Why are you asking me?

 

So when 404 suddenly asked, I was able to answer.

 

“Because it’s your matter.”

 

[404]: Do you trust me?

 

“Yeah.”

 

404 didn’t speak again for quite a while.

 

[404]: Do you also think it would be better if I died?

 

“No.”

 

[404]: Why?

 

404 was persistent.

 

He turned his gaze and stared at me intently, as if he absolutely had to hear my answer.

 

“Because those aren’t your words.”

 

The answer is simple.

 

“Those are people’s evaluations. And they don’t know your life.”

 

Same goes for me.

 

So he didn’t need any advice or worthless evaluations from anyone.

 

404 is alive.

 

He’s still young, so even if he had his accident when he was even younger, becoming a hacker would have been his choice.

 

That was a will to live, not despair.

 

[404]: Don’t you feel sorry for lawyer Sung Taehyun? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

[404]: Everyone says it’s better to die lol why are you the only exception lololol

 

“Then you tell me.”

 

404 no longer looked at me.

 

His gaze was directed toward the chat window.

 

But he didn’t type any new words.

 

“Do other people’s words matter to you?”

 

I moved a little closer to 404 and sat down.

 

A creaking sound escaped from the chair beside the bed.

 

“Would you prefer if I pitied you?”

 

That was really unexpected.

 

404 had never once been a pitiful person from the moment we first met until now.

 

She was my website administrator.

 

Sometimes she was a business partner who handled annoying tasks for coins.

 

And now she’s a client.

 

If I had to choose which of these was pitiful, it would take quite a long time.

 

[404]: Ah

 

[404]: lol what, you know that’s not what I meant

 

[404]: Is it because you’re a lawyer that you keep trying to slip away? lolol

 

“You’re not pitiful.”

 

I spoke with sincerity.

 

To be honest, it was a pointless discussion.

 

“You’re more annoying than anything.”

 

[404]: ???????

 

[404]: You’re saying I’m?? annoying???

 

“Yeah. Annoying. Going back and forth to Gangwon Province, I think it’s a waste of time.”

 

[404]: ??????????suddenly???

 

“Let’s move you to Seoul. They said you’re healthy anyway and don’t need any special treatment.”

 

[404]: ????I’m healthy???

 

“Well, they said you’re healthy except for the paralysis?”

 

[404]: That’s… true? But suddenly Seoul????

 

“We signed a contract. It’s annoying to go back and forth to Gangwon Province for customer management.”

 

[404]: …

 

404 was silent for quite a while.

 

Is she still worried about Hwan?

 

But Hwan is in prison, and all we need to do is inform him that the facility has been moved.

 

It wasn’t that I couldn’t guess why 404 had been so stubborn about it.

 

[404]: If I move, will you visit often?

 

…This client is quite a troublesome person.

 

Nevertheless, I nodded my head.

 

404’s face brightened a little.

 

“I’ll look into facilities. Let me know separately if you have any preferences.”

 

[404]: …ㅠTo be so kind to a consul like this

 

[404]: Lawyer Sung Taehyun is unexpected ㅠ

 

“You need to work.”

 

At my words, 404 froze slightly.

 

[404]: The consul almost died just nowㅠ

 

[404]: Work? Work right now? You want me to do something like that?

 

“Yeah. You can’t pay the lawyer fees right now.”

 

[404]: …how petty, using money to buy people ㅠ

 

“Who was it that pettily extorted coins every time I did work?”

 

[404]: Ah fine I get it, this isn’t a lawyer contract but a slave contract

 

A smile spread across 404’s face.

 

Having difficulty managing his expression, he contorted his face and rolled his eyes toward the chat window.

 

[404]: But I can’t work because there’s no consulate computer ㅠ It’s such a shame ㅠ

 

“Ah, that thing.”

 

I had already retrieved the computer that had been stuck in the hospital storage.

 

It was a patient’s personal belongings unrelated to the hospital search and seizure.

 

I had Sung Tae-jun take it out in advance, so it didn’t take long either.

 

“I retrieved it.”

 

[404]: !

 

“You just need to work.”

 

Should I call him an unofficial employee of Law Firm Ilchul?

 

No, in times like this, the word freelancer sounds better.

 

I didn’t want to get that entangled anyway.

 

Indeed, it was better for 404 to exist as a client and business partner.

 

[404]: …Are you trying to exploit the consul using money as bait, lawyer Sung Taehyun?

 

Does it really come to that?

 

“You’re making working sound so grandiose.”

 

404 burst into laughter.

 

Even in his voice that leaked out like wind, laughter was evident.

 

Though it wasn’t proper speech, he looked at me instead of the chat window and spoke.

 

“…I’ll… do it.”

 

It seemed like he casually added ‘hyung’ or something after that.

 

I pretended not to hear and smiled back.

 

* * *

 

[Professor Yoo Pil-chang has died.]

 

[It’s unsettling, but there’s nothing we can do.]

 

[It would be best to wrap up the A Nursing Hospital matter here.]

 

[Before both I and 404 become more dangerous.]

 

“What?”

 

In front of 404’s hospital room.

 

“Hyung?”

 

While heading toward Sung Tae-jun who was waiting, the diary spat out words.

 

“Dangerous…?”

 

Yoo Pil-chang dies?

 

Tomorrow?

—————
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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