The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 79
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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 79
Even without Sung Tae-hyun’s Diary, I could tell.
This current situation was quite dangerous.
That suspicious vehicle parked outside the officetel earlier might be related to Bae In-jun.
“I warned you not to make trouble, Kim Su-yeon.”
After leaving only those words, the man hurriedly left as if being chased by something.
Noh Hae-min immediately followed after him, and I approached the crying Kim Su-yeon and offered her a handkerchief.
Just as I was about to turn on the lights to look for signs of assault, Kim Su-yeon sobbed and stopped me.
“Sob, just… please don’t turn on the lights. I’m begging you.”
“…Are you alright?”
The situation from earlier was very strange.
The conversation we overheard from outside as well.
The inside of the studio-type officetel, about 10 pyeong in size, was quite messy.
Glass fragments, spilled water, and books were scattered chaotically across the ground.
“Were you assaulted? Lawyer Noh Hae-min went after him, so we can report this immediately. We should preserve the scene and-“
“No!”
Kim Su-yeon, who had suddenly raised her voice, desperately grabbed my hand and sobbed.
“You can’t, if you report it, you can’t… Please, please…”
“Kim Su-yeon, please calm down first.”
“No, no… No. I think I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have contacted the lawyers from the beginning…”
She tried to grab the mobile phone that had fallen near the sofa.
It seemed like she was trying to hand it to me, but her hands were shaking too severely to grasp anything.
In the end, Kim Su-yeon chose to push the mobile phone toward me.
“I’ll return it to you. I’ll just return this to you. I don’t need this anymore… sob…”
Bae In-jun definitely made threats.
Even in this room where the only light source was one indirect lighting fixture in the kitchen area, it was obvious that the woman was completely terrified.
Her breathing came out in gasps, trembling with fear.
Kim Su-yeon, gasping with dilated pupils, looked like she would soon develop hyperventilation symptoms.
“Calm down, Kim Su-yeon. It’s okay. Can you see me right now?”
Noh Hae-min would be good at this kind of thing.
Though it was a sudden situation, if I panicked, Kim Su-yeon could escalate to a full seizure.
Her medical certificate I received earlier mentioned panic attacks too.
The problem was that the cause of it had fled, but for now, the person in front of me was the issue.
I took Kim Su-yeon’s hand and placed it near my chest where my heart was beating.
“You’re breathing too fast right now. Look at me and try to follow along.”
I breathed in and out deeply in rhythm so Kim Su-yeon could properly see me.
It was fortunate that the client wasn’t unconscious, but with hyperventilation and signs of an impending seizure, it wasn’t exactly a situation to feel relieved about.
The woman’s breathing, which had been gasping as if she would collapse forward at any moment, gradually began to stabilize.
It was only thanks to learning emergency first aid in my previous life, otherwise I might have lost someone.
My evaluation of Bae In-jun dropped from negative to abyssal depths.
He probably thought he’d get a piece of Cheondong Future Innovation,
but I would definitely hold him responsible for creating such troublesome work.
“Gasp, huff, huff…”
“Good. You’re doing well. Breathe in, one. Two. Hold it, now breathe out.”
“Sob…”
Finally, tears streamed down Kim Su-yeon’s face as her breathing stabilized.
She covered her face with the new handkerchief I offered and cried for a long while.
Under the yellow light of the indirect lighting, bruises forming on the woman’s skin were visible.
What I could confirm right now were her neck and both wrists.
“It’s my fault…”
“Kim Su-yeon.”
“I shouldn’t have contacted you… I was so scared then… I just wanted to live a little…”
Tears flowed endlessly beneath her wet eyes.
Even though it didn’t escalate to a seizure, Kim Su-yeon’s condition was very unstable.
“I’ll just quit now… I want to stop…”
“Kim Su-yeon.”
“Bae In-jun told me to stop. That bastard is really crazy. He said he’d really go to the end… if I don’t quit now, he really doesn’t know what he might do…”
What exactly is the relationship between Kim Su-yeon and Bae In-jun?
That was about the extent of my sudden doubt.
Did the client lie to me?
Of course, such cases were quite frequent.
There were even people who wouldn’t reveal the truth until the courtroom, arguing with their own lawyer in front of the judge.
“Ms. Kim Su-yeon, do you remember what I told you to contact me about?”
So I had to think of a way to bring her back to reality without stimulating Kim Su-yeon, who was in a complete state of panic.
“…Huh….”
She’s still trembling.
Unlike Sung Tae-hyun, I’m someone who has already experienced all kinds of hardships in my previous life.
Among those who stood in the courtroom when the judge’s verdict was handed down, there were often cases of people having more severe seizures than Kim Su-yeon or even fainting.
So, it wasn’t uncommon for me to face someone who was hyperventilating and panicking like now.
I wrapped the blanket that had been crumpled on the sofa around her body.
“You don’t need to make any judgments right now.”
Kim Su-yeon couldn’t make proper judgments anyway.
I moved my mobile phone, which Kim Su-yeon had pushed away, back to where she could reach it.
In a situation where Bae In-jun had come looking for her directly, I couldn’t just leave this client alone.
What would have happened if Noh Hae-min and I hadn’t arrived in time?
Probably, as Sung Tae-hyun had predicted-
“I can’t do it….”
Of course Kim Su-yeon would answer like that.
It wasn’t different from what I expected, so I wasn’t surprised.
“Let’s make the decision tomorrow. With a sound mind. Not now.”
“Ah… huh… really, I… can’t….”
“Ms. Kim Su-yeon, you’ve already paid the retainer fee. So this is work for me too.”
“What does that….”
“Our representative doesn’t like refunds.”
I made a brief joke to calm her down.
…It doesn’t seem to have worked very well.
“The decision is tomorrow. Do you have any family or acquaintances you can contact?”
Kim Su-yeon hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Good. Call someone to stay with you today, and Lawyer Noh Hae-min and I will be nearby, so if anything happens, contact us immediately.”
“…But, that’s. too… sorry….”
“Ms. Kim Su-yeon, all the thoughts you’re having right now aren’t true.”
I slowly stood up from my seat.
Someone’s knocking was echoing at the front door.
Kim Su-yeon curled up as if frozen.
Soon a voice very similar to Kim Su-yeon’s flowed from somewhere.
-Update complete!
-Su-yeon, a new visitor has arrived. Shall I open the door?
…An AI speaker?
Along with the sudden announcement, the wall pad’s screen lit up.
It’s Noh Hae-min.
I wondered what it was, and there was a small speaker-shaped device installed next to the TV in the living room.
“Uh… yes, open it.”
Kim Su-yeon said.
-The door is opening.
The AI speaker, which sounded very similar to Kim Su-yeon’s voice, answered.
* * *
“Today has really been spectacular….”
Outside the officetel.
Noh Hae-min sighed and muttered.
It was spectacular indeed.
I felt like the wood-fired pizza I ate earlier was going to come back up.
“That bastard was really fast at running away. It’s not that I was too slow to catch him.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yeah, he got in that car that was parked in front of the officetel. There was a separate driver.”
Well, if he fled like that, it would have been difficult for Noh Hae-min to catch him.
“The person who came to Ms. Kim Su-yeon’s house was a friend?”
“No, she said it was her younger sibling.”
Noh Hae-min and I waited until Kim Su-yeon’s younger sibling, whom she had contacted, arrived.
We also cleaned up the dirty floor while we were at it.
“Ah… that’s a relief.”
On the way back to the inn room, Noh Hae-min’s steps suddenly stopped.
“But what was that? The speaker? Wow, that was really amazing.”
I agreed with that.
It was dark so I couldn’t see well, but Kim Su-yeon’s house seemed to be fairly well maintained.
As soon as I picked up and disposed of several large glass fragments that had fallen on the ground, the AI speaker immediately recognized it and displayed a notification.
-Starting cleaning.
Then a robot vacuum came out and cleaned the surrounding area thoroughly.
“Maybe we should install one in our office too. I heard AI has developed so much these days.”
“Did Senior’s father make an investment or something?”
“No, that’s not it, just… it’s bothersome to clean.”
“Then you should buy a robot vacuum first. Not an AI speaker.”
“…That’s true.”
Besides, that speaker looked high-performance, but it was a Bailonics product from Bae In-jun.
There’s no reason to buy it.
When I looked at him with slight criticism, Noh Hae-min, who caught the meaning in my eyes, shuddered.
“Lawyer Sung.”
“What?”
“Sometimes you’re too cold to me… Can’t you treat me even half as well as you treat clients?”
Now he’s making demands.
Since it wasn’t worth answering, I didn’t bother to respond.
When I remained silent, Noh Hae-min, who had been stamping his feet, stopped walking again and turned around to look at me.
“No, really, you’re suspicious.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why do you go so far for clients?”
What is he talking about.
“I mean, even if you suspect the client’s phone is being hacked… why? Why give her your phone too.”
Ah, so that’s why he’s been grumbling.
Actually, I hadn’t planned to do that at first either.
I needed a phone to browse internet news during the boring night I’d have to spend alone with Noh Hae-min at the inn.
But.
“Isn’t it strange?”
“What is?”
“The client said she buys used phones and changes them frequently.”
“Hmm… she did? Why is that important?”
Combining the information I heard when Kim Su-yeon was mentally stable earlier, it really was strange.
No matter how often Kim Su-yeon changed her phone, Bae In-jun continued to hack her phones.
The term ‘remote control’ might be more accurate.
Anyway, even though Kim Su-yeon didn’t meet him and didn’t install any new malicious apps,
how could Bae In-jun continue to hack Kim Su-yeon’s phones?
“She wasn’t even using the same device, so I’m curious how continuous hacking is possible.”
So it’s like bait.
There wasn’t much on the phone I lent to Kim Su-yeon anyway.
Even if information was stolen, it belongs to Sung Tae-hyun so it doesn’t matter-
…No, honestly speaking, I had something to rely on.
‘404.’
I was just curious whether my phone, which spent more than one night at Kim Su-yeon’s house, would be fine.
“That’s…”
Noh Hae-min frowned as if he found it difficult to understand.
“It’s too complicated. You know I’m bad at studying, Tae-hyun.”
“…”
“Explain it more simply.”
“Simply put, it’s like this. Every time the client changed phones, Bae In-jun’s hands wouldn’t have directly touched those phones.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“So what if Kim Su-yeon’s phone, or rather the cloud account she logs into to use those devices, was compromised? I’m making this assumption.”
“Ah… the account?!”
In that case, he wouldn’t be able to hack my phone since I’m a complete stranger.
However, no matter how many devices Kim Su-yeon changes, it would be useless.
The moment she logs in with that account, she’d be exposed the same way.
“Yes, that’s what I suspect for now, but it might not be the case.”
I already lent Kim Su-yeon my phone and told her to use it without connecting to Wi-Fi.
Well, it’s just an assumption after all.
If things go well, Kim Su-yeon won’t be blackmailed like that anymore.
Sung Tae-hyun’s diary won’t predict things like and I won’t have to come on business trips.
“If we take Kim Su-yeon’s phone to a company right now, Bae In-jun might notice.”
“…Wow. You really are…”
Noh Hae-min opened his mouth in admiration.
“You saw earlier. Bae In-jun isn’t a normal human being.”
“…That’s true.”
I’ll have to ask the client what kind of relationship she really had with Bae In-jun when she’s mentally stable.
Anyway, Bae In-jun seemed like quite a crazy bastard.
Just from that brief encounter, I could feel his madness.
“Tomorrow, let’s convince Kim Su-yeon to tell us what kind of relationship they really had, and find out if there’s any other evidence related to Bae In-jun’s threats or assaults.”
“…Yeah.”
And the next day.
I got my mobile phone back from Kim Su-yeon.
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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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