You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 127

You Are Defended – Episode 127

I gave Reporter Choi some time to recognize me, and he replied that he would contact me again once he was sure, for better or worse.

And I went back to my daily routine.

Getting enough sleep, going to work, checking on clients’ cases, and holding meetings with Attorney Kang and Manager Oh for matters that required others’ opinions.

However, Attorney Kang didn’t seem happy with something, despite my efforts.

“Why?”

I felt his gaze on me all day long, whenever he had a chance.

It was so blatant that it felt like his gaze would bore a hole through where it landed.

“Huh? It’s nothing.”

Whenever I pointed it out, Kang Min-jae would say it was nothing and go back to what he was doing.

He was always a frivolous guy, but he seemed to be hiding something he wanted to say to me.

“I’m going to meet with a client.”

“Not at the office?”

When I asked Kang Min-jae, who was putting on his coat, he shook his head.

“They want to meet outside.”

“Okay, then. Will you be late?”

“I think I’ll be back before quitting time.”

With that, Kang Min-jae left the office, leaving only Manager Oh and me.

When the most talkative guy disappears, the atmosphere tends to droop.

That’s how it was now.

In the office, which had become quieter than a meditation room in an instant, not even a breath could be heard except for the sound of typing on the keyboard.

This kind of leisure is nice.

“Attorney.”

Before I could properly enjoy that leisure, Manager Oh gestured towards the 상담 [consultation] sofa.

He seemed to have something to say, so I sat in the seat he indicated.

Manager Oh placed a teacup in front of me and then sat across from me.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“The Iljung Daily News case that caused a stir recently. Did you design that, Attorney?”

It came straight to the point, but I wasn’t that flustered.

“Yes, I did. It just happened that way.”

“I see. It seems like you’ve been working on it with Reporter Choi ever since you received the tip about the people around him back then.”

“Yes. But it was a bit ambiguous as a legal battle. It was just, as I said back then, I wanted to keep seeing my favorite reporter, so I interfered. That’s why I didn’t share it with the office.”

Manager Oh nodded slowly.

Even during my time as a prosecutor, I didn’t share everything with Manager Oh, who was the closest to me, so he seemed to take it naturally.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“It was nothing.”

“But, Attorney Kang seems a bit sulky.”

That was the main point.

Well, it wasn’t a completely unexpected story.

It had been over two weeks since I also thought Attorney Kang seemed sulky.

Of course, he wasn’t being overly obvious about it.

It’s just that the guy who would have asked me about every little detail didn’t, and he acted quietly even when there was something to joke about.

He seemed to have noticed that the Iljung Daily News case was my design, and if that were the case, he should have already grabbed scissors and rummaged through all the newspapers to find my name in the related articles.

But he didn’t.

“You’ve always done everything together, but this time you didn’t tell him and acted independently, Attorney. He seems very disappointed about that.”

“It wasn’t a case that was taken on, and I just thought it was a personal matter, so I didn’t tell Attorney Kang.”

“He knows that too, but, well… I think he feels like he’s not earning your trust yet, Attorney.”

It seemed the two of them had a very deep conversation about me in private while I was busy.

“He was the one who asked you to hire him in the first place, and he begged you, who didn’t want him, to become a member somehow. He keeps feeling like he hasn’t made any significant contributions and is just tagging along. He promoted himself very confidently, but he doesn’t know how his existence is perceived by you, Attorney.”

“I didn’t know he was digging that deep.”

“Right? Haha. Attorney Kang seems to have the greatest desire to be recognized by you more than anyone else.”

Sitting across from Manager Oh and talking about Kang Min-jae like this felt like I was having a parent-teacher conference.

I was the parent, Manager Oh was the teacher, and Kang Min-jae was the son.

“I acknowledge Attorney Kang’s abilities.”

“Haha, I told him that if you didn’t like him, you wouldn’t have kept him around until now, given your personality. You would have cut him off a long time ago.”

Manager Oh laughed and looked at me.

“Attorney Kang always wants to be helpful in what you do. Even if it’s a personal matter, well, he wants you to confide in him when you have a lot of worries, and then Attorney Kang can worry with you. He wants to have that kind of relationship.”

Did he feel a lot of alienation because of this case?

I suddenly remembered that Reporter Choi had run into them, but I hadn’t introduced them properly.

“Your personality itself, Attorney, is a bit aloof. I guess that’s what Attorney Kang is disappointed about.”

“Would Attorney Kang let me put up a wall? I don’t know when it started, but there are times when I’m surprised at how far Attorney Kang has infiltrated. He’s so sociable.”

“That’s true. Haha.”

“I’m getting a lot of help from Attorney Kang. And I’ve even been surprised at how well Attorney Kang and I get along, more than I expected.”

“I know. I and Prosecutor Lee Ye-jin were the most surprised when we heard that the two of you were working together. Haha.”

Is it because I’m stingy with praise?

Or is it because my personality isn’t always kind?

Whatever it is, I don’t want to spoil the atmosphere in the same office with unnecessary things.

“Anyway, if there’s something to be upset about, you have to resolve it. Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re welcome.”

That day, Kang Min-jae returned to the office an hour before quitting time.

“I’m back. Ugh, it’s so cold.”

Attorney Kang shivered as he hung up his coat.

There was a bit of snow on his shoulders.

“Is it snowing already?”

“Yes, it is. It looks like there will be a lot of traffic.”

Kang Min-jae shook his head and went back to his seat.

I stared intently at him as he busily began to organize the conversations he had with the client today.

He didn’t seem to notice my gaze, fixing his eyes on the laptop and typing busily on the keyboard.

“Attorney Kang.”

“Yes?”

“Shall we have a barbecue with the manager for the first time in a while?”

At my suggestion, Attorney Kang stiffened his head and looked at me.

And he looked at Manager Oh as if to confirm whether those words really came out of my mouth.

Only after Manager Oh nodded did Kang Min-jae say with a bright expression.

“I’d love to!”

“Where should we eat? Among the restaurants we went to back then,”

“How about grilling at your place, Attorney?”

“My house?”

“It’s much quieter than eating at a crowded restaurant. I and the manager have been to your house before. It’s good.”

I was just trying to be nice, but as soon as there was an opening, he immediately said he would come to my house.

“No.”

“Ah, why? Let’s go.”

“No. There’s a lot to clean up, and the smell stays in the house for a long time.”

“I’ll do all the dishes and cleaning. That’s originally the youngest’s job. The smell will disappear quickly if you ventilate.”

Attorney Kang stood up and rolled up his sleeves as if he was about to put on rubber gloves right now.

“Did you forget? Attorney Kang is banned from entering my house.”

Kang Min-jae, upon hearing my answer, seemed to recall that day when he caused trouble at my house while drunk.

He had a solemn expression for a moment, but he waved his hand and said.

“That won’t happen.”

“Really? Then I don’t have to buy alcohol when I buy meat?”

“…How can you have meat without alcohol?”

“…Who’s going to take responsibility if Attorney Kang gets wasted then?”

“…”

Looking at him blankly staring at me as if he had lost his words, I let out a small laugh.

How can I take such a pampering attitude towards this Kang Min-jae?

Seeing that expression of gloom when he realizes that he has been caught off guard by me, no one will be able to stop teasing Attorney Kang.

“Let’s prevent Attorney Kang from drinking and have a drink among ourselves, Attorney.”

Even the quiet manager joined in.

“That would be good. I’ve been working hard because of the case, and I became even more resentful when Attorney Kang sent me pictures saying he went to a great restaurant with the manager and Lee sunbae [senior].”

“Attorney Kang, did you really go that far? That’s too much. Too much.”

Kang Min-jae closed his mouth.

And he quietly picked up his phone and deleted the text messages he sent to me from his inbox.

“Does that mean the messages left on my phone will disappear?”

“…Attorney, I really didn’t see you that way, but do you know that you have a very petty side to you?”

“I don’t know.”

“…”

Kang Min-jae, who was sulking because of me, wanted to grill meat at my house so much, so what else could I do?

“I’ll have to go grocery shopping on the way home. I’ll buy the soju [Korean distilled spirit] and beer that Attorney Kang likes too.”

Kang Min-jae, who had been pouting, immediately revived upon hearing those words.

He jumped up and approached the whiteboard.

I showed the back of the whiteboard to Choi Jong-hyun and then turned it back to the front, but for some reason, I feel a little uneasy whenever Kang Min-jae gets close to the front.

I should probably do some construction on the weekend to hide it more properly.

“Okay, we’ll have a survey. Raise your hand if you’re a pork belly person.”

“Me.”

“Manager is a pork belly person. Then raise your hand if you’re a pork shoulder person.”

He started to happily organize the items he needed to buy today on the whiteboard.

I hardly ever cook at home, so I don’t usually go grocery shopping.

Buying cereal and milk at the convenience store on the way home was all my grocery shopping consisted of.

But today, I was exhausted from following Kang Min-jae, who was excitedly pushing the cart and roaming around the mart [supermarket].

“…No, Attorney, that’s too much. It’s like you’re really ostracizing me and the manager. Really… We’re a team…”

And I was exhausted again from listening to Kang Min-jae’s drunken ramblings, who had gotten drunk.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

Considering that he threw up in front of the Daebak restaurant last time, I couldn’t know when he would spill vomit on my floor.

Even if I heard a “Ugh” sound from him, I would drag him to the bathroom.

He said he would do all the dishes alone, but there was a mountain of dishes piled up in the kitchen.

“I think we should have him sleep on the sofa.”

Manager Oh, who was waiting to fill his glass to toast with me, supported the staggering Kang Min-jae.

“Attorney…”

As he was taking him to the sofa, Kang Min-jae called me in a weak voice.

He had thrown up so much that he was bound to be exhausted.

“Why.”

“…Do you trust me?”

I sighed as I laid him down on the sofa.

That must have been what he wanted to say after all.

I don’t know if he’ll even remember it when he wakes up tomorrow if I answer him.

“I trust you.”

“…Really? Hehe, heh.”

Attorney Kang smiled like a naive child and pulled the blanket I threw at him.

And before long, he fell asleep snoring.

There is still a lot of food and alcohol left on the table.

I sat facing Manager Oh again and emptied the remaining glass.

“Attorney, I think you’re getting a call?”

After we had been having silly conversations for a while, Manager Oh pointed to my phone.

[Reporter Choi Jong-hyun]

“I’ll take this for a moment.”