The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 16

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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 16

 

 

My faith in Sung Tae-hyun was dropping in real time.

 

Knock knock knock.

 

“Jun-tae!”

 

Knock knock knock knock.

 

“Baek Jun-tae!”

 

Noh Hae-min was pounding on the door with all his might.

Naturally, there was no response from inside the door, not even a sound of movement.

 

“Jun~ tae~ ya~ It’s your hyung!”

 

As if that would work.

 

A little while ago, Baek Jun-tae’s Mother had left the house looking troubled.

 

‘Oh my, look at me. I need to go to work right now…’

 

With two strange men claiming to be lawyers in her house, it would have been difficult to just leave for work.

However, contrary to our expectation that she would kick us out, the woman apologetically continued speaking.

 

‘This is the first time a friend has come looking for our Jun-tae.’

‘Is that so.’

 

As if that statement were true, Baek Jun-tae’s Mother didn’t forget to express her gratitude while looking at Noh Hae-min.

 

‘Thank you so much. Just knowing that our Jun-tae has at least one friend who would come visit him like this…’

‘…’

‘I’m being foolish, but if you can have a conversation with our child, please do so before you go.’

 

Baek Jun-tae’s Mother was desperately trying not to cry.

She pressed firmly on her eyes that were quickly swelling red as she spoke to Noh Hae-min and me.

Her voice was trembling throughout.

 

‘But if our child shows any violent behavior…’

‘…’

‘Just leave. He hasn’t opened his heart to anyone for this past year anyway.’

 

That was the entirety of our conversation.

 

She really did seem to be running late as she grabbed her bag and left the house.

 

A woman who left her house in the care of two complete strangers.

It was behavior I couldn’t quite understand, but then again, understanding everyone’s actions was nearly impossible.

 

It was experience I had gained from working as a judge for a long time.

The world is wide, and people are diverse.

 

“Jun~ tae~”

 

Of course, Noh Hae-min was also one of those diverse human types.

 

[However, Baek Jun-tae refused to have a conversation.]

 

Just as Sung Tae-hyun’s Diary had said, Baek Jun-tae wasn’t even making a sound of breathing from behind the tightly closed door.

Naturally, he didn’t open the closed door either.

Only Noh Hae-min’s hollow knocking sounds were echoing through the empty house.

 

“I brought the banana milk you like too!”

“…”

“Maybe you don’t like it anymore now that you’re older? How about comic books? I also have the Pocket Monster Baby Chick Season 3 Figure that you used to like!”

 

Should I call this thorough preparation?

Noh Hae-min was desperately trying to tempt Baek Jun-tae.

However, the room was still quiet.

 

“If you don’t like any of that, Seung-jun’s Grandfather gave me some banana-“

“AAAAAAAHHHHH!”

 

Noh Hae-min’s gentle voice stopped at the sudden loud scream.

I was equally startled.

 

From inside the door that had shown no reaction until now, a boy’s voice burst out like boiling water.

 

“Fuck! I told you to get lost!”

 

Baek Jun-tae.

His mother had certainly said it, that the child might show violent behavior.

 

The screaming that had burst out once didn’t stop easily.

From behind the closed door came seizure-like shouting along with the sound of banging against the wall.

Noh Hae-min’s face hardened instantly.

 

“…Jun-tae, it’s Hae-min hyung.”

“I don’t care if you’re Hae-min or whatever, get lost! Get lost! Just get lost!”

 

So this is how it turns out.

 

It was a predetermined result.

It was just as Sung Tae-hyun had already predicted in his diary.

 

[They said he was close with Jung Seung-jun, but just hearing the name made him have a seizure, so I couldn’t even have a proper conversation with him.]

 

It wasn’t that I had doubted it.

The house that had been silent to the point of desolation was suddenly filled with explosive shouting the moment it heard the word ‘Seung-jun.’

 

“Let’s come out and talk.”

 

I looked at Noh Hae-min, who still hadn’t given up and was carefully speaking to the door.

Noh Hae-min also seemed to have a quite serious expression, as if he hadn’t expected such an intense reaction.

 

“Just leave me alone! Please! Fuck, what did I ask you to do for me? I told you all to just get lost! Just leave me alone!”

“Jun-tae.”

“Fuck!”

 

The sound of banging on something burst out from inside the room.

Unable to watch any longer, I grabbed Noh Hae-min’s shoulder.

 

“Let’s stop.”

“But…”

“He might get hurt.”

 

Noh Hae-min, who had hesitated for a moment, soon nodded his head.

 

I had thought of several other directions.

Even if we couldn’t extract information from this side, the scattered fragments of information would surely exist somewhere else.

 

What bothered me was the diary’s reaction.

There must be a reason why it deliberately gave me this information even knowing it would turn out like this.

 

“Jung Seung-jun and Kim Jae-yoon, Park Hyung-il, and Baek Jun-tae.”

“…”

“Don’t you have some idea of the direction this is heading?”

 

I picked up my bag and spoke to Noh Hae-min.

Shouting filled with profanity was still pouring out from inside the room.

Noh Hae-min spoke with a worried expression, his gaze fixed on the door.

 

“He definitely changed when he heard Seung-jun’s name.”

 

That was true.

As the diary had said, the quiet Baek Jun-tae began struggling desperately the moment he heard the name Jung Seung-jun.

 

“Don’t tell me… really, Seung-jun…”

 

Noh Hae-min’s expression darkened.

I grabbed Noh Hae-min’s arm and dragged him toward the living room so the child shouting inside the room wouldn’t hear.

 

“Even if there’s the slightest chance… if Seung-jun really used violence…”

 

I shook my head.

Of course, it was a plausible speculation.

 

The evidence we had directly confirmed was the video that Attorney Yoon Ha-young had sent us.

A video containing scenes of Kim Jae-yoon and Park Hyung-il assaulting Jung Seung-jun.

 

However…

 

‘Baek Jun-tae’s presence is nowhere to be found.’

 

As if someone had deliberately cut him out.

 

Noh Hae-min must have speculated that violence continued from top to bottom after seeing Baek Jun-tae’s intense reaction.

Just as Kim Jae-yoon and Park Hyung-il had assaulted Jung Seung-jun, Jung Seung-jun might have also assaulted Baek Jun-tae.

It was a slightly different direction from my thinking, but it was good to keep directions open in multiple ways.

 

However, just as I was about to open my mouth, the closed door burst open with a bang.

 

“Fuck!”

 

A boy with bloodshot eyes rushed out the door and tackled Noh Hae-min’s body.

 

He was a boy with a larger build than expected.

They said he hadn’t come outside for about a year except for the bare minimum cases.

His face was covered with disheveled hair mixed with a terrible smell.

 

“…!”

“Jung Seung-jun! I told you not to mention Jung Seung-jun’s name!”

 

A voice filled with rage cracked in the air.

Noh Hae-min was pinned down and being strangled, unable to even resist.

I hurriedly put my hands between the boy’s arms and embraced him.

 

“Calm down.”

“Let go! Fuck, let go!”

 

This was elder abuse.

 

What flashed through my mind was worry about my shoulder joints and spine.

However, it was more manageable than I thought.

 

Come to think of it, Sung Tae-hyun’s body, not Kim Wook-han’s, was still vigorously young.

A mere ten-year difference was this significant.

At my age, I had to be careful even when coughing.

 

“Let go!”

 

I quietly spoke into the ear of Baek Jun-tae, who was struggling and thrashing about.

 

“Jung Seung-jun killed Kim Jae-yoon.”

 

I could feel the child’s body stiffen at the words that came out more decisively than I expected.

 

“Wh… what… what… did you just… say…”

“I told you. Jung Seung-jun killed Kim Jae-yoon.”

“…Wh, …what…?”

 

His struggling movements came to a complete stop.

A mad blue light flashed in Baek Jun-tae’s eyes.

 

“Attorney Sung Tae-hyun! Wait a minute. That’s a bit-“

“Kim Jae-yoon is dead.”

 

Baek Jun-tae began laughing like he’d lost his mind.

Laughter that burst from deep within his chest, echoing throughout the living room, colored Baek Jun-tae’s face.

 

At the sight that looked like some kind of ecstasy, Noh Hae-min stood up hesitantly, looking flustered.

 

“Kim, Kim… Kim Jae-yoon is dead…?”

“That’s right.”

“Jung… Seung-jun…?”

“That’s right, Jung Seung-jun killed Kim Jae-yoon.”

 

I deliberately continued speaking calmly, as if provoking him.

The boy’s face contorted strangely.

 

It was an odd expression that looked like he was holding back both laughter and tears.

 

Noh Hae-min reached out his hand to him in bewilderment, but Baek Jun-tae refused and stepped backward.

For several minutes of scream-like laughter, I kept my mouth shut and waited for Baek Jun-tae.

 

“Fuck, fuck!”

 

Tears poured down like rain from the eyes of the boy who had been cackling for a while.

 

Noh Hae-min carefully extended his arm again.

This time Baek Jun-tae didn’t refuse, and he was pushed into Noh Hae-min’s embrace.

 

By the time his renewed crying stopped, about thirty minutes had already passed.

 

“…You said you’re a lawyer.”

 

The boy who had finally stopped crying muttered quietly in a cracked voice.

Baek Jun-tae’s gaze was directed not at Noh Hae-min who had been comforting him, but at me.

 

His swollen eyes were still red and bloodshot, but now that the boy had calmed down a bit, I held out my business card to him.

 

“Ilchul Law Firm….”

“That’s right. I’m Attorney Sung Tae-hyun. I’m representing Jung Seung-jun in this case.”

 

The boy licked his dry lips.

When Noh Hae-min patted his shoulder comfortingly, his skinny shoulders trembled slightly.

 

“…What do you want.”

“Park Hyung-il.”

 

At the name that came out of nowhere, Baek Jun-tae’s shoulders flinched.

This time was a little different.

Cold sweat began flowing down Baek Jun-tae’s forehead.

 

“Park, Park….”

“That’s right. Park Hyung-il.”

“….”

 

Baek Jun-tae opened and closed his mouth several times.

As if just hearing that name terrified him, he began gasping for breath.

 

“It’s because of Park Hyung-il, isn’t it?”

 

I asked Baek Jun-tae as if stating a fact.

 

“Kim Jae-yoon too, but the one who made you suffer more was Park Hyung-il, wasn’t it?”

 

Baek Jun-tae’s expression turned deathly pale.

 

There was nothing more to say.

Perhaps the answer had been closer than I thought.

 

Jung Seung-jun didn’t kill Kim Jae-yoon.

My conviction stems from a sketch completed by connecting fragmented facts.

 

“Sung Tae-“

 

I stopped Noh Hae-min who stepped forward as if to block my words.

As I’d thought before, contrary to his cold-looking exterior, he was truly a person with a lot of compassion.

 

Noh Hae-min stood in my way, seemingly not wanting to stimulate Baek Jun-tae further.

 

“Let’s stop for today.”

“That was a little while ago.”

 

I moved a little closer to the boy who was trembling, completely terrified.

 

“Whatever is said here anyway, the secret will be kept.”

“…Park, Park….”

“If you’re afraid of Park Hyung-il and his father, you don’t need to worry.”

“….”

 

The general picture was already complete.

There just wasn’t any direct evidence.

 

I had come to find Baek Jun-tae to look for that ‘direct evidence.’

So I had no intention of pushing the boy who had just walked out of that door back Inside the Door.

 

“Attorney Sung Tae-hyun, let’s take some time and slowly—”

 

I highly respect Noh Hae-min’s heart wanting to protect The Child.

However, if Baek Jun-tae, who had finally come out, went back Inside the Door, there would be no chance to meet him again.

I pushed aside the hesitating Noh Hae-min and asked Baek Jun-tae.

 

“Tell me about Park Hyung-il. Everything you know.”

“….”

“If you don’t, Jung Seung-jun will take all the blame.”

 

Still no answer.

Baek Jun-tae, pale as a ghost, was trembling while looking at me with his mouth agape.

 

“The one who made it so you can’t come Outside the Door—it wasn’t Seung-jun, it was Park Hyung-il.”

 

As soon as those words ended, Baek Jun-tae’s body collapsed.

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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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