The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 71

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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 71

 

 

Of course, there was no way for him to know that I was Kim Wook-han.

 

“You flatter me.”

 

I answered calmly.

After all, there was no way I could completely hide my personality.

I wasn’t an actor, after all.

 

So I packaged the habits I had unconsciously picked up while being with Choi Yoon-ki as Sung Tae-hyun’s consideration.

 

Firmly believing that we would share a meal together someday.

I framed it as having prepared in advance, even considering the chief prosecutor’s eating habits.

 

“At our Judge Kim Wook-han’s mourning room too.”

 

Choi Yoon-ki picked up his chopsticks.

After picking up a piece of sashimi and eating it, he continued speaking softly.

 

“When I see Attorney Sung Tae-hyun, I’m really reminded of the old Wook-han.”

“He’s someone I respect.”

“Right…”

 

The liquid in the glass disappeared several times.

 

Come to think of it, what was Sung Tae-hyun’s drinking capacity again?

It would have been nice if we had set aside time to drink together.

 

Anyway, I should moderate myself.

I looked at Choi Yoon-ki while filling an appropriate glass with water.

 

“You said you were close with Wook-han?”

“Yes.”

 

I am close with myself.

Perhaps sensing the sincerity in my words, Choi Yoon-ki soon nodded his head.

 

“Right. Then it wouldn’t be courteous of me to beat around the bush.”

 

He’s acting like he already knows everything.

 

The fact that I’ve been doing groundwork, casting my fishing line at my own feet.

Lim Sang-jin, who had been eagerly receiving my selfies until this morning, must have spilled it.

 

“Please speak.”

 

Choi Yoon-ki appears to be eating peacefully.

From an outside perspective, it might just look like he’s having a meal with a cherished junior.

 

But this is how it looks to me.

 

‘Stop it.’

 

“Attorney Lim Sang-jin told me.”

 

Look at this.

He’s not avoiding it.

 

“That you came to see him.”

 

Choi Yoon-ki closed his mouth briefly, as if telling me not to think about lying.

The piercing gaze was as hot as fire.

 

“Yes.”

 

Of course, I had no intention whatsoever of lying.

 

“Do you understand why I brought up Wook-han?”

 

I closed my mouth for a moment and looked at him.

 

“The way you stir up trouble… yes.”

“…”

“You really resemble Wook-han a lot.”

 

Choi Yoon-ki’s glass emptied once again.

I picked up the sake bottle, which didn’t have much left, and poured it all for him.

 

“He was always like this for such matters… He was the type who would design things so that others had no choice but to come to him first.”

 

Choi Yoon-ki already knows that I lured him out.

He had a lot to say for someone who pretended it was coincidence, found out my leaving time, and called me to a restaurant he had already reserved.

 

“I’ll take it as a compliment.”

 

Choi Yoon-ki nodded.

 

“Yes, it’s a compliment. Resembling Kim Wook-han…”

 

Then he lifted his piercing gaze from me and downed all the alcohol in his glass.

 

“This time is a warning.”

 

The glass was set down on the table.

 

“Whether it’s revenge for Kim Wook-han or whatever.”

“…”

“You need to consider your opponent, Attorney Sung Tae-hyun.”

 

To come out this defensively.

He’s not quite the same as the old Choi Yoon-ki.

This bastard must have aged too.

 

“Of course, I’m a prosecutor who must maintain neutrality.”

“….”

“But when it comes to my family affairs after retirement, wouldn’t I also try to protect my family members?”

 

Choi Yoon-ki put down his chopsticks as if his business was finished.

 

“Chief Prosecutor Choi Yoon-ki.”

 

I admit it.

Even without stirring up this much trouble, I would have met Choi Yoon-ki eventually.

 

However, I wanted to imprint myself on Choi Yoon-ki.

That seemed to have succeeded to some extent.

 

Also.

…There was something I wanted to ask.

 

Having forcibly settled my life at Kim Wook-han’s mourning room.

What I wanted to ask last from the friend who betrayed me.

 

Perhaps it was lingering attachment.

Or perhaps….

 

“Go ahead, speak.”

 

Choi Yoon-ki is drinking the cold water I poured for him.

Even finishing with water after drinking all the alcohol remains the same.

 

“Judge Kim Wook-han… no.”

 

It would be better to appeal that we were closer and shake him up.

 

“When hyung Wook-han died.”

“…Yes.”

 

Choi Yoon-ki’s black pupils sank into an even darker hue.

 

“Did you regret it?”

 

Choi Yoon-ki’s mouth shut tight.

 

* * *

 

“Next time we meet, I hope we can be on terms where we can speak casually.”

 

That was Choi Yoon-ki’s last words.

In the end, it was telling me to become his person.

 

I drank half of the cold water I bought from the convenience store.

I don’t know what expression ‘Sung Tae-hyun,’ who claimed to be close to Kim Wook-han, had in front of Choi Yoon-ki.

Acting isn’t my specialty.

 

But I knew this much.

 

“I regretted it. I still do now.”

 

Choi Yoon-ki’s sunken pupils turned toward me.

 

“Sometimes unavoidable things happen in life. Attorney Sung Tae-hyun.”

 

Either Choi Yoon-ki already knew my death was predetermined and pretended not to know.

 

“When waves crash in, you have to run away.”

“….”

“Not fight against them.”

 

Or he contributed to killing me.

 

“Haha.”

 

Cheondong and Choi Yoon-ki are one.

 

I only confirmed what I already knew.

Even so, I felt a slight numbness at the back of my head.

 

“Should I thank you for cutting off even my last lingering attachment?”

 

I greeted Choi Yoon-ki, who was kind enough to drive me to the office.

Even with the request to become his person next time we meet.

 

If he found out that the specter sitting before him was Kim Wook-han, that expression would have been worth seeing.

 

“Same old bastard.”

 

A day had passed.

 

Enough to remember every single cell of Choi Yoon-ki’s face that appeared even in my dreams.

It was an intense encounter.

 

“Tae-hyun, is something wrong?”

 

Noh Hae-min’s worried eyes turned toward me.

 

Was it that obvious?

I looked at him while gathering the emotions that had unnecessarily leaked out.

 

When did he prepare something like this?

Noh Hae-min was holding out a bottle of hangover remedy to me.

 

“How did you know?”

 

Oops, I guess I sounded a bit sharp.

Noh Hae-min looked at me with a slightly darkened expression.

 

“You said you drank yesterday.”

 

Who?

Could it be that Noh Hae-min also saw me getting into Choi Yoon-ki’s car?

 

It was raining, so it would have been difficult to identify.

But that wasn’t it.

Noh Hae-min spoke carefully as if understanding my confusion.

 

“I ran into Attorney Lim Do-hyuk this morning when he was coming to work.”

“Ah.”

 

Lim Do-hyuk.

Come to think of it, he had sent me several messages when I was meeting with Choi Yoon-ki.

When I checked them after returning home, they didn’t seem particularly important so I ignored them.

 

“…I suppose it’s because I’m practically his client.”

 

Well, from Lim Do-hyuk’s perspective, that would be the case.

Or maybe not.

 

Anyway, now wasn’t the time to think about what his position might be.

Right now, even though I didn’t want to, my head was filled with thoughts of Choi Yoon-ki.

 

[I hope the meeting was enjoyable.]

 

And this too.

 

I was hungry as if my stomach was empty.

I walked to the break room and took out some snacks I had never touched before and ate them.

 

‘Lim Sang-jin.’

 

He had changed direction slightly.

Just like Choi Yoon-ki had.

 

These old men started acting as if they had eaten something wrong.

 

Was it because of Lim Do-hyuk?

If it’s Lim Sang-jin, that would make sense.

He still seemed to want to put a leash made of contracts around my neck and drag me to Haeil.

 

If that’s the case…

 

‘Choi Yoon-ki seemed to sense something from yesterday’s meeting too.’

 

It wasn’t a simple warning.

Choi Yoon-ki was trying to make me his ally.

 

Keep allies close,

and enemies closer – it was a meeting that clearly revealed Choi Yoon-ki’s tendency.

 

“I need to grow Ilchul’s size a bit more.”

 

It’s still not enough.

 

Naturally, it couldn’t compare to the decades of history that Haeil had built up.

Ho-shin Senior’s Ilchul was really just a formal office.

 

However, both Lim Sang-jin and Choi Yoon-ki seemed to be wary of me while also placing high value on the Ilchul I had been developing.

 

“Ho, our Ilchul?”

 

Suddenly, the lights in the break room turned on.

 

“…!”

 

After I finished chewing and swallowing all the small waffle-shaped snacks, I turned around.

 

“Haha. Attorney Sung. This is… it feels like it’s been a long time, doesn’t it?”

 

Ho-shin Senior was bursting into hearty laughter.

 

* * *

 

[Ho-shin Senior has returned.]

[And he brought welcome news too.]

[…The refrigerator is full of apples!]

 

I quietly recalled yesterday’s diary that I had checked this morning.

The error seemed to have disappeared, but welcome news.

 

“Senior.”

“I’m back.”

 

I suppose it’s about the three verifications.

 

According to my promise with Ho-shin Senior, I had completed three proofs after joining Ilchul.

 

The first was Jung Seung-jun’s school violence murder frame-up case,

The second was… well, yes, the Sage and Shin Da-ye case.

The last was Lim Do-i.

 

This led to exposing several personnel from Haeil, causing quite a stir.

 

“Actually, when you first approached me… I had no idea it would go this far.”

 

For some reason, Ho-shin Senior had shaved off all his scruffy beard.

 

Come to think of it, his unkempt hair was now neat, and he wasn’t wearing the same old shabby clothes.

When senior Hoshin returned to the office, he surprisingly looked like a proper lawyer.

Gone was the previous beggar-like appearance—even Deputy Yoon Ha-young, who was always composed, had surprised eyes.

“Is that so?”

 

Manager Yoon Ha-young and Attorney Noh Hae-min.

Deputy Yoon Ha-young and Attorney Noh Hae-min.

Were they really that close?

Even though Senior knew my question, he simply nodded.

 

“…And recently, you even touched Haeil.”

“Of course they did. Those chattering fools wouldn’t keep their mouths shut.”

 

Must be Lim Sang-jin and his gang.

Ho-shin Senior’s intense gaze reached me piercingly.

 

“I may not know about other things, but I have an eye for people.”

 

Ho-shin Senior stared for a long time at his desk, which had been neglected with dust piling up hazily.

 

“What you said you would prove.”

“I saw it well.”

 

As expected.

I kept my mouth shut, thinking about spreading advertisements everywhere using Ho-shin Senior’s title as a former judge turned lawyer.

 

“So I should keep my promise too.”

 

Senior slowly stood up.

Seeing that he came dressed in proper clothes, he really intends to make a comeback.

I kept my mouth shut, thinking about how I could use Senior Hoshin’s title as a lawyer with a judge background to advertise everywhere.

“So I should keep my promise too.”

The senior slowly got up.

Joy crossed Noh Hae-min’s face.

Even when Choi Yoon-ki and I were wandering aimlessly in the exam village, he always had such unwavering eyes.

“I’ll be back. Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun.”

“Hmm?”

 

But I still had lingering doubts.

 

Had the man who always followed Park Ji-hwan and Lim Sang-jin really returned with the intention of making a comeback?

Senior Hoshin burst into laughter, seemingly already accustomed to Noh Haemin’s behavior.

“…Senior.”

“Huh?”

“…”

But I still had lingering doubts that I couldn’t shake off.

It’s not like there’s a new person to chase Park Ji-hwan around enough to give him neurosis.

Of course, his return is welcome news.

Kim Ho-shin seemed to notice my concern and gave me a gentle smile.

It was because I felt like bursting into laughter.

 

“Oh, that?”

 

Kim Ho-shin answered nonchalantly.

 

“Now that the office has money, this kind of thing is nice.”

 

So, as soon as the money I had earned accumulated a bit, Kim Ho-shin Senior.

I bit my lip as I looked at the photo Lim Sangjin had sent.

It was because it seemed like laughter would burst out at any moment.

“Oh, that?”

Kim Hoshin answered nonchalantly.

I pretended to ignore Lim Sang-jin’s messages dripping with irritation and returned to my seat.

 

It really was a comeback.

It seems like they’ve decided to outsource the protests.

“These days, there are those truck protests… things like that, I heard. Isn’t that right, Deputy Manager Yoon?”

Ah, so the source was Assistant Manager Yoon. That makes sense.

“No wait, I should call you Section Chief Yoon now.”

Assistant Manager Yoon was promoted to manager.

I pretended not to see Lim Sang-jin’s message, which was dripping with irritation, and went back to sit at my seat.

Truly, it was a comeback.

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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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