The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 25

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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 25

 

 

『The story of how a ‘victim’ became a ‘murderer’ – What is justice?』

『Assemblyman’s son murder case, an ending no one could have predicted』

『Wealth exempts guilt, poverty convicts. The rising star who broke the formula!』

『Murder case false accusation, evidence found in pet camera video?』

『Prosecution kneels before rookie lawyer and ‘unknown’ law firm』

 

“Wow.”

 

Going to work is terrifying.

 

Yesterday, or rather, as soon as the trial ended, hundreds of articles poured out in an instant.

All with provocative titles.

This was Kim Wan-gil’s karma for trying to use even his son’s death for politics.

 

『Assemblyman Kim Wan-gil’s Office, ‘No comment’ on trial results』

『Support ratings dropping… Where is Kim Wan-gil who cried ‘freedom from violence’?』

 

Not only the process and results of this trial, but also analysis of Kim Wan-gil’s past actions.

Thanks to the trial that heated up both online and offline, Kim Wan-gil was being thoroughly dissected and torn apart.

 

『Sanghwan Construction stock price plummets, was this a predetermined result?』

『Sanghwan Construction, CEO ‘out of contact’ despite 82% stock price crash just 3 months after listing』

 

Same story here.

Park Ji-hyung’s Sanghwan Construction was also in a bad situation.

However, things weren’t all good for me either.

 

[232 missed calls, 91 messages]

 

“Good grief.”

 

Because my mobile phone, which had been quiet since leaving Haeil, was ringing non-stop.

 

The battery was draining in real-time as if its lifespan had ended.

I can’t work like this.

 

It was an absurd situation caused by an article with my face prominently featured taking up the front page title of the morning newspaper.

 

I endured the pressure of scrolling and went through the missed call list.

 

[Lim Do-hyuk Senior]

 

“I figured as much.”

 

This was someone I’d forgotten about since he left looking deathly pale yesterday.

Even for me, that was the first time I’d seen a living human turn that white.

 

I was somewhat worried.

 

“He didn’t leave any separate messages.”

 

Lim Do-hyuk had left several missed calls but no other news.

 

-The customer is not answering the phone…

 

I called again, but his mobile phone was turned off.

 

If Park Ji-hyung went there, Lim Do-hyuk might be getting roughed up too.

I won the case, so I should be patient.

 

I briefly skimmed through the following messages with a light heart.

 

[Congratulations on your victory.]

 

“Ho-shin Senior…”

 

Fortunately, it seems he was properly watching the trial.

With so many articles out, it wouldn’t be easy not to know about it.

Is he still following Park Ji-hwan around today?

 

I roughly skipped through other messages and replied to Ho-shin Senior.

 

[The first proof is finished.]

 

It was a sentence deliberately composed of provocative words.

It didn’t take long for Ho-shin Senior’s reply to arrive after I sent the message like a confirmation.

 

[Good.]

[Please take care of the next case as well, Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun.]

 

* * *

 

“You’re here?”

“Yes, good morning.”

 

Surprisingly, the commute to work wasn’t rough.

 

The reporters who had swarmed like crazy waves when I left the court yesterday were nowhere to be seen.

There’s exactly one situation I can predict, but no. I shook my head instead of thinking.

 

It was a name I didn’t particularly want to recall.

 

“Reporter Lee Na-yoon from Jungseo Daily stopped by.”

 

Of course.

 

Assistant Manager Yoon Ha-young said with a meaningful tone.

 

A Jungseo Daily reporter entering Ho-shin Senior’s small office is quite surprising.

However, Deputy Manager Yoon Ha-young looked completely unfazed, as if this was a regular occurrence.

 

Should I say she’s as bold as her liver is big?

 

Even yesterday when she rescued Noh Hae-min and me from the crowd of reporters, her spirit was like a tiger’s.

 

“What message did he leave?”

“I wrote it down and left it on your desk, lawyer.”

 

Is there anything special about it?

 

Just as I was about to turn around and check Lee Na-yoon’s memo, an unfamiliar voice stopped me in my tracks.

It was a tall, handsome man walking out from the client consultation room at the very back of the office.

 

…Police?

Do I have business with the police? Even thinking back to previous trials-.

 

“…Hyung.”

 

…It seems he came for non-work related matters.

 

The police uniform combined with his large build created a strange sense of intimidation.

Nevertheless, Deputy Manager Yoon Ha-young continued speaking expressionlessly.

 

Rather, it was the police officer who called me hyung who looked anxious.

 

“Ah, Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun’s younger brother is waiting in the consultation room.”

 

…Younger brother?

 

“You may close the consultation room door.”

 

She has no interest in personal matters.

Deputy Manager Yoon Ha-young, having tidily wrapped things up, returned to her seat.

 

As for me, I’ve developed hand tremors that I never had before.

 

“…Hyung?”

 

Perhaps my condition looked strange, as the tall man strode over and grabbed my shoulder.

 

“Really, are you okay?”

 

I couldn’t fail to recognize him.

 

Though it was definitely a face I was seeing for the first time, he strangely resembled Sung Tae-hyun’s face that I’d grown accustomed to seeing every day.

 

Hyung, he called me hyung.

Did Sung Tae-hyun have such a grown-up younger brother?

 

Along with my rapidly spinning thoughts, my hands and feet were growing cold.

 

“…Let’s go inside first.”

 

I pushed the man claiming to be my younger brother into the client consultation room.

 

This was because I instinctively anticipated that topics too heavy to discuss would come up if we talked on the main sofa outside.

 

* * *

 

“Let’s have some warm tea while we talk.”

 

We had been sitting in silence on the luxurious chairs of the client consultation room.

 

The man claiming to be Sung Tae-hyun’s younger brother remained silent despite being the one who came to visit first.

 

It was a complicated moment as I tried to calculate what I should say.

The one who entered after knocking was Noh Hae-min.

 

“Ah… thank you.”

 

The younger brother, Sung Tae-jun, jumped up and took the tray from Noh Hae-min.

Noh Hae-min wore his usual good-natured smile and patted Sung Tae-jun’s shoulder.

 

“What are you talking about? If you’re Lawyer Sung’s younger brother, you’re like a younger brother to me too.”

 

Since when?

 

“It’s warm green tea. Well then, have a good conversation! Huh?”

 

Noh Hae-min winked at me as I sat quietly looking up at him.

 

I’m not sure what he wants me to do well, but I nodded for now.

And again, with the closed door, the consultation room sank into silence.

 

Sung Tae-jun was the first to speak.

 

“…Hyung.”

 

He had eyes that looked exactly like Sung Tae-hyun’s.

It was a face I saw every morning while getting ready for work in the bathroom, so there was no mistaking it.

 

However, aside from various other features, just looking at his appearance, Sung Tae-jun was Sung Tae-hyun’s blood relative.

They really did look remarkably similar.

 

“….”

 

What should I do about this?

 

My hands and feet grew cold again with the same tension I had felt before first entering ‘Mother’s’ house.

Perhaps it had been that way since I saw Sung Tae-jun’s face a moment ago.

 

I had no immunity to family.

 

Especially in front of my younger brother who, unlike ‘Mother’, had gentle eyes that seemed genuinely worried about ‘Sung Tae-hyun’.

 

“…Hyung…”

 

Sung Tae-hyun’s lips twitched as if he was holding back something he wanted to say.

 

I was the one who truly had nothing to say.

 

Your brother is dead? No, actually I’m the one who died? Or if not that…

I have a diary that your brother uses to communicate one-sidedly?

 

“…I’ll be honest with you.”

 

He probably wouldn’t use formal speech with his younger brother.

Just looking at his build, it was clear that Sung Tae-hyun would lose physically.

 

Still, I calmly watched the man’s eyes.

Sung Tae-jun’s body flinched at my suddenly dropped words.

 

“Oh, okay. Tell me anything. I’ll believe it all.”

“I lost my memory.”

 

It was a lie I had already told once.

It was only difficult until I got it out of my mouth.

 

Once I started the lie, it poured out shamelessly without guilt as soon as the floodgates opened.

 

“It doesn’t interfere with work. Just some partial memories.”

“…”

“Actually, I couldn’t even recognize your face. I only just found out I had a younger brother.”

 

It’s better to take the beating in advance. The lie I had practiced with Lim Do-hyuk was embellished and inflated.

 

“That’s why I couldn’t contact you beforehand. About Mother… did you hear the news?”

 

Perhaps ‘Mother’ was one of the reasons Sung Tae-jun came to find me.

As if my guess wasn’t wrong, Sung Tae-jun let out a long sigh and nodded.

 

“…Hyung…”

 

He thought for a long time, carefully choosing his words.

Though I didn’t know their circumstances well, it seemed Sung Tae-jun also had many buried words.

 

Would even a brother who lost his memory being present help him?

In any case, it was an emotion I would probably never understand.

 

After several minutes of looking at me and fidgeting, Sung Tae-jun finally managed to open his mouth.

 

“No.”

“What do you mean?”

 

It was a bland answer.

 

“Rather, maybe it’s fortunate that hyung lost his memory…”

 

…This kid, what does he know?

 

I would welcome Sung Tae-hyun’s memories anytime.

There were things I had promised Sung Tae-hyun too.

 

However, Sung Tae-hyun only used the diary for ‘tomorrow’s events’.

Solving the secrets surrounding his death was a task left entirely to my discretion.

 

“Why?”

 

Sung Tae-jun’s eyes widened in surprise at my words that burst out urgently without my realizing.

But soon he looked at me with the same innocent eyes as before.

 

Something seemed slightly different – his impression that looked cold when he kept his mouth shut softened when looking at Sung Tae-hyun.

 

“Well… various things?”

“Tell me in detail. Do you know more?”

“…Hyung.”

 

Sung Tae-jun scratched his head as if somewhat flustered.

 

“I want to find my memories. You can probably guess. It’s very inconvenient because of the memories that disappeared in chunks overnight.”

“Uh…”

 

After hesitating for a moment, Sung Tae-jun carefully opened his mouth.

 

“I don’t know everything either… anyway, hyung always just listened to my stories.”

“…Just spill everything you know for now.”

 

As if he couldn’t adapt to my suddenly changed attitude, Sung Tae-jun awkwardly looked at the tea cup.

 

“What about my family relationships?”

“…Mother and me.”

“It doesn’t seem like there’s a lover. Wasn’t there anything unusual when you talked recently? Like seeming depressed…”

 

I briefly recalled Sung Tae-hyun’s former workplace.

 

“Or workplace bullying.”

 

Was that the key point?

Sung Tae-jun’s expression, which had been hesitant until now, became completely distorted.

 

“Don’t tell me that’s why you changed jobs?”

“Huh?”

“That bastard Lim Do-hyuk!”

 

The man who had been calm and somewhat unfamiliar suddenly raised his voice as if his emotions had become intense.

I extended one hand as if training a puppy to calm him down.

 

Sung Tae-jun was still angry.

 

“Why Senior Lim Do-hyuk?”

“Senior? What senior? Bullshit, what kind of senior is that bastard!”

 

It seemed that before Sung Tae-hyun died, he had vented plenty of complaints about Lim Do-hyuk.

Then was his relationship with his younger brother not bad?

 

For me, who was more accustomed to being alone and never showed weakness to anyone, this was puzzling.

 

Sung Tae-hyun was dead.

 

On the day I died, Sung Tae-hyun also died.

That was all we had in common connecting us.

 

I was murdered by Cheondong and Sung Tae-hyun chose death himself.

That was all I knew.

 

“Does that bastard still contact hyung? Wasn’t it because he hated that bastard that he quit Haeil and left?”

 

Sung Tae-jun was so excited that he seemed to have forgotten even the fact that I had lost all my memories.

 

“I lost my memory before that.”

 

Again, Sung Tae-jun’s expression crumpled as if he was about to cry.

 

“…I don’t know everything either.”

“Just tell me what you know.”

“…Hyung hated Lim Do-hyuk. He didn’t just dislike him, he hated him terribly.”

 

Sung Tae-jun, who had been mulling over his memories, continued as if sighing.

 

“Don’t trust what that bastard says.”

“…”

“That’s all I can tell you.”

 

Was that really all? Wouldn’t he know some deeper circumstances than that?

Before I knew it, Sung Tae-jun was looking at me with a hardened expression.

 

“Do you know exactly what happened between Lim Do-hyuk and me?”

 

Sung Tae-jun’s lips, which had seemed tightly closed, opened.

 

“That is…”

—————
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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