The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 93
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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 93
[Today’s economic briefing, this is already the last news.]
The voice flowing from the radio drifted into the quiet office.
[The M&A between Cheondong Future Innovation, a tech subsidiary of Cheondong Group, and Bylonics is in danger of falling through.]
“….”
Was there such an M&A? It sounds familiar somehow.
Choi Yoon-ki quietly leaned against the sofa and closed his eyes.
He didn’t receive reports on every single subsidiary matter. He wasn’t in that kind of position either.
Let subsidiaries act like subsidiaries.
Handle things on your own, well, and thoroughly—this was the principle of both the Chairman, his father, and himself, who would soon leave his chief prosecutor position to take responsibility for Cheondong.
[Well, how do you view this M&A? I can’t help but think it was a hasty decision… Bae In-jun, the representative of Bylonics, was arrested, right?]
The announcer continued with a discussion-style interview alongside a research staff member who was an AI expert.
[Yes. In reality, that technology was crude beyond measure. Especially Cheondong was a company quite distant from the fierce wave of AI.]
[Yes, that’s right. Despite being a company that dominates South Korea, they haven’t had any notable achievements in tech until now. Research Staff, then how was Cheondong receiving this M&A they were pursuing?]
[In the industry, there are words like ‘they were greedy beyond their capabilities’ going around. Cheondong officials probably share the same stance. It was an unprecedentedly fast M&A decision. Bylonics was an unverified company—]
“Good grief….”
There’s a lot of talk.
Not every single M&A pursued by companies gets turned into news articles.
However, this case surfaced when Bylonics’ representative was suddenly arrested.
“What happened?”
Choi Yoon-ki turned off the radio.
Good grief, the family was in complete disarray.
The secretary of Cheondong Holdings standing beside him slowly opened his mouth.
“Since it’s a Future matter, we haven’t been able to confirm it accurately yet.”
“A Future matter?”
A sharp blue light flashed in Choi Yoon-ki’s eyes.
“You manage subsidiaries like that and what? A Future matter?”
“Representative.”
Even though Choi Yoon-ki hadn’t officially taken office as Cheondong’s representative yet, internally he was the representative.
Everyone knew that.
Choi Yoon-ki steadied his disrupted breathing and lit a cigarette.
As the smoke circled through his lungs and escaped, he finally felt his irritated mind clearing up.
“Cheondong Future, Cheondong Construction, Cheondong Food, and all other subsidiaries.”
“….”
“People only remember them as Cheondong. You know?”
The secretary bowed his head.
No emotion was reflected in the secretary’s eyes as he stared deeply at the ground.
“The Chairman.”
“…His health isn’t good, so we didn’t take the report to him.”
“Don’t do it in the future either. And.”
“Yes.”
Choi Yoon-ki inhaled cigarette smoke several times.
He already knew that his young cousin Choi Ji-young was connected to Bylonics.
And that the lawyer named Sung Tae-hyun had approached her.
“I’ll look into the investigation side, so mobilize all the reporters you know and spread press releases first. Say we’re victims too.”
“…Yes.”
His instincts were excessively sharp in this area.
He had been rolling around as a prosecutor for over ten years.
Though he had never received proper investigation materials, the fact that an arrest warrant was issued meant the matter was serious.
So even before looking into anything, he had to draw the line first.
“And look into litigation. The due diligence was just beginning anyway, right? If there are any contract violations, file lawsuits even just for show to the public, or just end it quietly.”
“Understood.”
The secretary carefully turned around and left the office without making a single footstep sound.
Choi Yoon-ki looked out the window and exhaled smoke in a long stream.
“Sung Tae-hyun….”
That name again?
That lawyer standing on his young cousin’s side.
If she trusted him, that too would surely become Choi Ji-young’s mistake.
“You’re touching me this way?”
He quietly took out his mobile phone.
From arrest to detention, it’s excessively fast.
Among the prosecutors, someone knew that the Bae In-jun case was related to Cheondong, that is, to himself, yet still pushed through the warrant.
Choi Yoon-ki’s fingertips turned pale white with anger.
-Yes, Department Head.
“Who’s the bastard that requested the warrant for Bae In-jun?”
Choi Yoon-ki wasn’t excited.
However, whoever had left even a fingernail-sized scratch on his face, he had no intention of just letting it slide.
-Well… it wasn’t a case from our department…
“And?”
-It was an urgent case from another department, so I understand it went straight up through Department Head Park Sang-won.
Park Sang-won.
A colleague who never got along well from the beginning.
Choi Yoon-ki raised his voice for the first time.
“So that’s how you come at me? Does it make sense that I don’t know about my own household affairs?”
-…I’m terribly sorry.
I thought the day might come when I wouldn’t have to see that sly face anymore.
To backstab me like this.
Choi Yoon-ki recalled Park Sang-won’s face as he crushed his cigarette into the ashtray.
It was a merciless hand movement.
“Should I step on him before leaving, Won?”
This is why people shouldn’t show magnanimous behavior.
There are countless bugs that rush in the moment they see a gap.
* * *
Cheondong quickly drew the line.
-Cheondong Future Innovation has announced its position to completely withdraw M&A negotiations with Bailonics and actively cooperate with the police investigation.
“Wow, large corporations are definitely different.”
News was playing on the TV positioned in one corner of the office.
Noh Hae-min said with admiration.
“That’s right. The speed of cutting ties is Mach-level.”
Manager Yoon Ha-young felt the same way.
Where do they learn such strange expressions?
Anyway, at this kind of fast speed, Choi Yoon-ki’s influence must have been involved.
Even though it was a subsidiary, everything was managed by Cheondong Holdings.
“Still, the image must have taken quite a hit.”
At my words, Manager Yoon Ha-young nodded first.
“I understand public opinion is already not good. The news comments are in chaos too.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It was revealed that Bae In-jun used Cineser to obtain videos and used them for other purposes not disclosed in advance…”
“Ah, that.”
Noh Hae-min’s eyes also lit up.
Really, not knowing how scary the Personal Information Protection Act is.
Bae In-jun not only hijacked others’ accounts using Cineser as a hub,
but also sold videos filmed by Cineser to medical device companies or data centers, filling up new money bags.
“It was fortunate that it wasn’t a famous device so there weren’t many users… My god, there really is no other crazy bastard like him.”
When Noh Hae-min calls someone a crazy bastard, it means they’re a real crazy bastard.
-A Cheondong Future official added, ‘We express deep regret about the reality where technology is misused for digital crimes,’ and ‘We will strengthen technology ethics guidelines to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.’
It seems Cheondong wrapped things up to this extent.
Quick severance, quick conclusion.
In the end, it was a cleanup by the side that realized they had countless things to lose if they got more entangled with Bailonics or Bae In-jun.
“How poor must their judgment be to pick up such a tin can and try to do an M&A?”
At Manager Yoon Ha-young’s casual remark, laughter burst out of me without realizing it.
Right, the content revealed afterward was similar.
After this incident broke, articles even came out saying that Bae In-jun had stolen patent information from various companies and stuffed it into Cineser.
Patent infringement lawsuits followed against Bailonics, and the sparks flew even to Cheondong, which had tried to scoop it up.
“That’s why it collapsed.”
At my words, Noh Hae-min nodded.
“Bae In-jun is really finished.”
Noh Hae-min spoke again.
“He’s finished. Already.”
Manager Yoon Ha-young followed.
“Huh? What’s ruined?”
Only Ho-shin Senior, who had belatedly recovered from the flu and come to work, muttered words he couldn’t understand.
And.
“Oh, the Provisional Seizure Decision Notice came out too.”
Manager Yoon Ha-young, who was looking at the computer screen, said.
It came out faster than I thought?
Noh Hae-min threw down the remote control in surprise and rushed over.
“Really? That’s really fast.”
“The urgency was probably recognized.”
[The debtor’s claims against the third-party debtor listed in the attached schedule are seized.]
“Oh, did both cases come out?”
So, there were a total of two provisional seizure cases I had filed against Bae In-jun.
Choi Ji-young and Kim Su-yeon.
I had filed them in advance for Choi Ji-young’s investment recovery and Kim Su-yeon’s damages lawsuit.
Civil cases are first-come, first-served after all.
Moreover, looking at how things were going, there would be countless more civil lawsuits against Bae In-jun in the future.
“Yes, it’s confirmed. Lawyer, shall we execute it right away?”
“Please do.”
Manager Yoon Ha-young put on her clothes, happy about leaving work early.
The provisional seizure execution would be completed by today.
Bae In-jun would be thoroughly stripped even while in custody.
Once the civil lawsuits against Choi Ji-young and Kim Su-yeon were over, he might become penniless.
Of course, that wasn’t my concern.
Since cracks had appeared in Cheondong’s once-perfect image, it was actually beneficial.
“Huh? What’s this now. It seems like the office is running just fine without me?”
Ho-shin Senior grumbled.
As if she had already anticipated this, Manager Yoon Ha-young silently left with all the materials for the provisional seizure execution.
Noh Hae-min was the same.
“Things are going too well, so I’m actually anxious.”
Saying such things.
Ho-shin Senior burst into hearty laughter and patted Noh Hae-min’s shoulder several times.
“Good, good. I have some business that came up again.”
“…Excuse me?”
However, both Noh Hae-min and I couldn’t help but stiffen our faces at Ho-shin Senior’s next words.
“Yeah. Some urgent business came up.”
“…How long are you planning to be away that you’re laying the groundwork first, Representative?”
When I deliberately lowered my voice pretending to be angry, Ho-shin Senior chuckled and scratched the back of his head.
“Are you… angry? You really are…”
“We promoted so much about having a former judge lawyer in the office, what happens if you’re not here, Representative?”
“Hey now, you’re angry. Again with that stiff way of calling me Representative…”
“Representative.”
It’s childish, but it can’t be helped.
Kim Ho-shin needs to stay attached to this office.
“No, well. I’d rather stay attached to the office too. I would, but-“
“But?”
“…There’s a bit of a problem with my family.”
Could something have happened?
Noh Hae-min’s face was also colored with worry.
Ho-shin Senior gently separated me and Noh Hae-min, who had been clinging to him like koalas, and continued speaking.
“I’ll be away for a while.”
“…”
“I’m saying this because I trust you guys. Of course, I’ll come to the office whenever I have time.”
Of course, the office runs fine even without Ho-shin Senior.
We’ve proven that before.
Still, I didn’t feel good about it.
There’s such a thing as premonition.
It was a different kind of intuition as a human, separate from the prophecy of Sung Tae-hyun’s Diary, which had been silent for days.
“If anything happens-“
“Sung Tae-hyun, don’t worry too much.”
Senior spoke with eyes that seemed to know everything already.
It was the same for Noh Hae-min.
As if he had come to work late just to say such things.
“Now, it’s not like I’m going off to die. Why is the atmosphere like this?”
Ho-shin Senior, who easily broke into a smile, headed toward the front door as if nothing had happened.
“When I come back, I really will never, ever leave my post again! I’ll work passionately and only work. I promise.”
And just as Senior was about to leave the office, his steps came to a halt.
“…?”
My steps and Noh Hae-min’s, as we followed Senior out, also stopped together.
“This is….”
A man standing in front of the door was holding out a large fruit basket to Ho-shin Senior.
So.
“Oh, this is a delivery for Law Firm Ilchul… Attorney Sung Tae-hyun.”
In the large basket, about the size of Noh Hae-min’s torso.
“…Peaches?”
It was filled with peaches, the one thing that Kim Wook-han—that is, I—was allergic to.
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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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