The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 4

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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 4

 

 

“Lawyer, one more legal opinion by this afternoon.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, I’ve booked the conference room for an hour from now.”

“Yes.”

“Are you attending the seminar this evening by any chance?”

 

I knew this would happen.

 

I had decided to resign, but there was still a lot of work to do.

Lim Do-hyuk hadn’t said a single word to the partner lawyers about my resignation.

Thanks to that, I had to repeat the same words like a parrot.

 

“Well, let’s finish today’s work first and then talk.”

 

Kim Jin-woo, the partner lawyer who had Do-hyuk and me as associates in the M&A team, said.

Even when I explained that I had suffered an unavoidable accident yesterday and lost my memory, he remained utterly calm.

 

Well, this was Haeil after all.

What’s the big deal about one lawyer losing their memory?

 

Lost your memory?

Then it just creates the obstacle of having to go through all the case records you were handling from the beginning again.

 

It was fortunate that my existence as Kim Wook-han, which had now become like a past life, had some expertise in speed reading.

It took quite a long time just to understand the work that Sung Tae-hyun had been handling.

 

“Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun, please handle one more civil legal opinion.”

 

This kind of thing happened too.

It hadn’t even been two hours since I arrived at work, but documents were piled up like a mountain.

It wasn’t just work from the M&A team, but tasks from other teams came to me as well.

 

The interesting thing was that no one found it strange.

 

“Why should I do it?”

 

So, when I asked that question, Jung Ki-won, the civil lawyer from the branch office, first showed a bewildered expression.

 

“…I’m asking you to write a legal opinion.”

“So why should I do it?”

“…It’s just writing a draft, is it difficult?”

“Since it’s just a draft, use your own associate.”

 

I didn’t back down either.

The contract cases remaining in the M&A team were already at capacity.

 

This law firm might only have Sung Tae-hyun as a junior.

 

This was the result of rational thinking I had while working all morning.

They threw all kinds of various tasks at me so naturally that I even let out a hollow laugh.

To handle all these tasks, even pulling an all-nighter wouldn’t be enough.

 

Do law firms have a different work system?

 

If I had time to spare it would be one thing, but it made no sense for me, who didn’t even know the consultation details with clients, to write a legal opinion that had to be submitted by tomorrow.

 

Actually, it was just bothersome.

 

“…Lawyer Sung, are you sick somewhere? You seem like a different person.”

 

In the end, I even heard words like this.

 

They said he was Haeil’s yes-man, so what kind of life had the previous Sung Tae-hyun lived?

Even considering that associates struggle with overwhelming workloads during this period.

A thirty-one-year-old newcomer who should be energetic had dark circles under his eyes from the moment he woke up.

 

“I’m experiencing memory loss.”

 

Jung Ki-won clicked his tongue at my words.

If Lim Do-hyuk, who appeared late because he was busy with his own work, hadn’t stopped him, he looked ready to hit me.

 

I became even more puzzled.

Wow, is this that workplace bullying I’ve only heard about?

 

At the court, I was a department head, so there wasn’t anything I had to endure.

But looking at it now, lawyer Sung Tae-hyun was an even greater pushover than I thought.

 

“Geez, really… He says he’s sick so let’s stop, but Lawyer Sung, if you want to keep working here-“

“I’m going to resign.”

“…”

 

Jung Ki-won shut his mouth.

He stopped attacking me, glared at Lim Do-hyuk for a moment, then left the office just like that.

 

“…What good could come from messing with other partner lawyers.”

 

Lim Do-hyuk said with a long sigh.

 

Messing with them? What could a newcomer do by messing with a partner?

I truly had no intention of messing with anyone at all.

But perhaps my sincerity didn’t get through, as Lim Do-hyuk just kept sighing deeply.

 

“I’ll handle the rest of today’s cases, so go talk with lawyer Kim Jin-woo later.”

“I was going to tell him anyway.”

“Try to think in the direction of staying if possible.”

 

You should have treated me better then.

 

I didn’t like the name Haeil from the start.

Even setting aside my prejudices, this place was wrong.

It might have been fine for others, but for Sung Tae-hyun, this would have been a hellish workplace.

 

“Those bastards who think they know the law are the worst.”

 

I muttered as I sat down.

I had been rushing through work since morning and didn’t realize it, but Sung Tae-hyun wasn’t actually part of the M&A team.

He was just an all-around errand boy with an M&A team nameplate.

 

The work requests pouring in from every team to Sung Tae-hyun went far beyond common sense.

Not only the partner lawyers but even fellow juniors pushed their work onto Sung Tae-hyun.

 

“Good grief…”

 

Since they called him a yes-man, he probably tried to handle everything himself.

 

Overwork kills people.

This time it really did kill.

Because Sung Tae-hyun really died.

 

“I should check what’s left on the schedule.”

 

I opened the diary with the large logo emblazoned on it.

I had roughly finished the tasks that needed to be handled by afternoon, but what came after was the problem.

Having to handle schedules I couldn’t even remember wasn’t easy.

 

There were limits to how much Lim Do-hyuk and other staff could help.

I checked the calendar inside the diary, then turned to today’s memo section.

 

“…What the hell is written here.”

 

There was writing that was completely illegible.

 

On a page that could hold two days’ worth of memos, today’s date was printed.

Whether Sung Tae-hyun had only written down things to do until today, from tomorrow onward there was nothing even after flipping several pages.

 

The bigger problem was this.

 

“I can’t make any of this out.”

 

There were a few characters here and there that I could guess at.

Curses like “go to hell” or “bastards.”

Even if Sung Tae-hyun was a yes-man, it seems he had quite a hard time.

 

Besides that, several contracts, legal opinions, and related client information were messily scribbled down.

Of course, I could barely make them out only after staring intently with wide eyes for a long time.

 

“…What am I supposed to do with this.”

 

I was going to quit Haeil anyway.

I finished roughly reviewing the contents written in the work diary.

Except for the fact that Park Ji-hwan, one of Haeil Law Firm’s representative lawyers, was visiting the branch office today, there was nothing special.

 

“Park Ji-hwan…”

 

Come to think of it, I had met him at the trial too.

It was the last trial I finished as Kim Wook-han.

After I sentenced him to life imprisonment, Park Ji-hwan hurled curses at me along with the defendant.

 

His excited appearance was quite amusing.

We weren’t particularly on bad terms, but as long as he was still connected to Cheondong, I had no intention of going easy on Park Ji-hwan either.

 

“…Should I go see the Court Chief?”

 

No, not yet.

 

For me, who could only be Sung Tae-hyun no matter how you looked at it, suddenly visiting the Court Chief was impossible.

Even if I claimed that I wasn’t actually Sung Tae-hyun but Kim Wook-han, I’d only be treated as mentally ill… no, as someone under adult guardianship.

 

“Getting treated like that while trying to dig up information on Cheondong would be impossible…”

 

Such important information was probably only shared within the team anyway.

Besides, they wouldn’t entrust it to a one-year junior.

No matter how many times I thought about it, staying at Haeil was a waste of time.

The distance to the head office was quite far too.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

“…?”

 

The empty pages of the diary began filling themselves up on their own.

 

“…What the hell is this.”

 

[I think deciding to follow Lawyer Kim Ho-shin was a good choice.]

 

…Kim Ho-shin? Out of nowhere?

 

[Though I’m scared about having to meet those office staff.]

[If I do well, I might be able to gain recognition too.]

 

…The writing that had been appearing on its own in the diary stopped here.

I rubbed my eyes and examined the page again.

 

“…Is this… a dream?”

 

It was Sung Tae-hyun’s memo, written under tomorrow’s date.

 

* * *

 

Does this make any sense?

 

After staring at the writing on the open page for a long time, I suddenly stood up from my seat.

Then I walked toward the fluorescent light, clutching the diary.

 

“…It’s exactly the same.”

 

The writing didn’t disappear.

No new text appeared either.

The arbitrarily written text was exactly about tomorrow’s events.

 

Even after flipping through several more pages, there were no other peculiarities.

 

“This is enough to make a ghost weep.”

 

I died and came back to life, only to see a diary written by a ghost.

I had read the diary entries from past dates countless times and could practically memorize them.

One thing was certain: Sung Tae-hyun possessed handwriting so terribly illegible that no one could imitate it.

 

There’s no way anyone could copy this.

Even if the text hadn’t been filled in from thin air, it was clearly Sung Tae-hyun’s handwriting.

 

“…”

 

But why? Is he trying to tell me the future?

 

Strictly speaking, I’m a ghost too.

Since my body died.

 

I even attended the funeral hall where the Court Chief was the chief mourner.

To be precise, there were more than enough witnesses to prove that ‘Kim Wook-han’ had died.

 

“…But why…”

 

Back to today’s diary entry.

There was nothing special about it.

Just a few scheduled items were written down.

There was nothing written about rejecting the work that Lawyer Jung Ki-won had offered.

 

[■■ -1,000,000 won, until 22:30.]

[■■ -800,000 won, until 22:30.]

[■■ -1,200,000 won, until 22:30.]

 

There seemed to be debts, with amounts written on regular dates, but the names of people or corporations were scribbled out with black pen and couldn’t be seen.

 

“The account is…”

 

Clean though.

 

Anyway, there’s only one banking app installed on Sung Tae-hyun’s mobile phone.

New Han Bank. It was Haeil’s salary account.

I had checked it in the morning, but there was nothing special about it either.

 

There were traces of regular monthly transfers of 500,000 won to someone named , but Lim Do-hyuk told me that person was Sung Tae-hyun’s mother.

 

“Then what’s that… debt?”

 

Because it was meticulously erased with a pen, there were no readable letters.

 

“…What could it be.”

 

I picked up the diary.

I shook it a few times, but no new writing appeared.

 

Could it really be Sung Tae-hyun?

Or is the diary possessed by a ghost?

 

Since I entered Sung Tae-hyun’s body, maybe something unscientific happened where the original owner got kicked out.

 

“…What’s your purpose, Sung Tae-hyun.”

 

The diary gave no answer.

Instead, a noisy commotion came from outside along with someone’s shouting.

 

“Park Ji-hwan―!”

 

Someone who seemed heavily drunk was calling out Park Ji-hwan’s name at the top of their lungs.

 

I closed the diary and slowly walked toward the office door.

It was already written there, that today was the day Park Ji-hwan would visit the branch office.

 

The lawyers at Haeil wouldn’t be calling the representative lawyer’s name with such an outstanding voice.

Someone must have a grudge.

 

Well, in my opinion, it’s just karma.

Park Ji-hwan was also the guy who couldn’t accept the verdict and immediately hurled curses at the judge.

Naturally, he would have many reasons to earn resentment.

 

“Park Ji-hwan! Come out right now, you bastard…!”

 

I quickly threw open the door.

 

Isn’t watching fights the most entertaining thing in the world?

Park Ji-hwan had been handling only Cheondong’s cases until recently, so it might be related to that.

If so, that person over there might be the victim’s…

 

“Please don’t do this! You can’t visit like this without an access card…!”

 

The lobby of the small branch office was in complete chaos.

 

The old man with a scruffy beard wore a hat pulled low over his eyes and was wrapped in a worn overcoat.

His grimy, stained clothes gave off the smell of not being washed for about a year.

Info’s employees were shouting in alarm, and the building’s security guards came running up to restrain him.

 

“Park Ji-hwan―! It’s you!”

 

But the old man didn’t give in.

The old man’s nose was red as if he were heavily drunk, and his hat covered his eyes so much that he was unrecognizable.

However, he wasn’t the victim’s father from Choi Yoon-ho’s case.

I would have remembered that old man already.

His beard wasn’t nearly that long either.

 

While even the flustered lawyers joined in to restrain the old man, I slowly approached him.

For some reason, a sense of déjà vu washed over me, as if this felt familiar.

 

“Park Ji-hwan―!”

 

The door to the representative’s office opened.

The security guards and lawyers tangled together, struggling to hold back the old man.

 

Where did he get such strength?

When the representative’s office door opened and Park Ji-hwan’s sly face appeared, the old man shook off all the men clinging to him at once and lunged forward.

 

Soon Park Ji-hwan’s collar was caught in the old man’s trembling hands.

 

“Park Ji-hwan…! You bastard―!”

 

What could make him search for Park Ji-hwan so desperately?

Everyone fell silent, and just as Park Ji-hwan’s hands grabbed his hands and struggled, at that moment.

 

“Bring back our Wook-han, you son of a bitch…!”

 

…A name I never expected to come from the old man’s mouth burst out.

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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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