You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 324

“Looks like you didn’t bring your car.”

I asked, watching my ex-wife press the lobby floor button in the elevator.

“Oh, no. Did you bring yours, Joo-han?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good.”

*It’s good because we don’t have to take a taxi.*

I pressed the parking lot button.

The elevator stopped at the lobby floor, but she didn’t get off.

*She doesn’t have to, but it seems like she’s planning to watch me go.*

“Didn’t you use valet parking?”

“Is there a need to do that?”

“I guess not.”

There wasn’t much conversation as we walked to where I parked.

She was checking her phone, and I was just walking, looking straight at my car.

“Nice car.”

My ex-wife added, looking at my car with the headlights flashing.

I opened the driver’s side door and said,

“Then I’ll head out first. Get home safe.”

“……Huh?”

She stopped and said, about to walk to the other side.

*Why is she asking back?*

*Was my pronunciation weird?*

“I said, get home safe.”

“…….”

I closed the driver’s side door.

While I was putting on my seatbelt, I saw my ex-wife looking at me with a dumbfounded expression through the front window.

Not knowing why, I started the car as is, and through the side mirror, I saw my ex-wife standing there as if rooted to the spot, still looking at me—well, the car—with the same expression.

“…….”

While stopped at a light, I checked my phone, which I had forgotten for a moment.

There was a missed call from Lee Ye-jin.

According to Kang Min-jae, she said she wanted to ask if I was okay, so it seemed like that’s why she called.

I wasn’t going to call back, thinking she would call again, but the nagging feeling about not calling about the law firm conversion was overwhelming, so I decided to call.

-Hello?

“This is Cha Joo-han, Senior.”

-Ah, Cha! Hey! I heard you went on another blind date with Jo again today? Hahaha! That’s so funny! Honey, Cha is on the phone. Cha, can I put it on speakerphone?

*It seems like she didn’t call because she was worried about me, but because she heard the news that I went on another blind date with Jo Ah-young.*

Perhaps because her husband was the one who arranged the blind date before, the news seemed to have spread quite quickly.

-Ah, yes. Hello.

-Attorney Cha, what on earth did you say to Attorney Jo today?

“What do you mean?”

-Well, Attorney Jo just called.

-Cha, Attorney Jo says you’re really weird. Ah, that’s so funny, I thought I’d burst. I was so curious to see what the reaction would be, but you never disappoint. Amazing, Cha Joo-han.

“I didn’t know the other person was Jo Ah-young when I went, but I guess Senior knew.”

-Jo told me. She told me never to tell Attorney Cha.

“……Ha.”

-Ehehehehe! Hahahaha! Ah, that’s so funny, ahahaha, funny!

Lee Ye-jin, who is on the phone with her husband, seems to be rolling around.

She still can’t hold back her laughter and is laughing so hard she’s gasping for air.

Besides, it was funny that she called him right after breaking up with me.

It seems like she couldn’t fix the habit of badmouthing me to her friends and questioning my social skills whenever we fought, even in this life.

“I don’t think it was a mistake, but if I had to pick a mistake, it seems like Jo Ah-young was ruder to me.”

-Oh, what happened this time? Did you fight with Jo?

“That’s not it. Anyway, it wasn’t pleasant, but I thought we both got what we wanted and parted ways, but I don’t know what the problem is.”

-But leaving Jo behind and just leaving wasn’t very nice. You could have at least given her a ride? I even heard you went to the underground parking lot together.

At Lee Ye-jin’s words, I finally understood why Jo Ah-young looked at me with such a dumbfounded expression.

*It seems like she came with me not to see me off, but to ride in my car.*

But even so, it’s strange.

“Why would I give her a ride? We’re going in opposite directions.”

Before we got married, she lived with her family near Sadang-dong.

And I live in Seocho-dong.

The meeting place is near Banpo-dong.

It’s not that far, but still, if I were to give her a ride, I’d have to go in the opposite direction, and since we’re not really dating, why bother?

-How do you know the direction?

“I think I heard it two years ago.”

I made up an excuse, and Lee Ye-jin burst out laughing again.

-Jo moved to Seocho-dong! It’s the same direction, that’s too much. Are you hostile to her now because she’s a lawyer at Taekwang? Is that it?

Now that I hear it, I think Jo Ah-young said something like that during the conversation.

That she moved to Seocho-dong.

It’s information I wasn’t curious about, so I think I filtered it out.

“I don’t like that she’s at Taekwang, but even if she’s in Seocho-dong, I didn’t feel the need to give her a ride. It’s not like Jo Ah-young was so drunk that she couldn’t go home alone, and it’s not like she didn’t have taxi fare. Rather, a deluxe taxi called by the hotel concierge would have given her a much better ride than I would have.”

-Oh, right. Cha is right about everything. Ugh, this bear. You’re like a bear. You’re like a fox when you work, but you’re like a bear at times like this. A very cute Asiatic black bear.

-That’s too cute, honey.

-Well, I can’t call him a brown bear when he’s handsome. A cute Asiatic black bear.

-Then what am I?

-You’re… a brown bear.

“……Ha. If my blind date is your business, I’ll hang up now.”

I felt a little goosebumpy listening to the two of them having a silly conversation, so I raised my hand to press the hang-up button.

-Ah, wait a minute. It’s been a while since I called after that big incident, why are you like this.

*Who brought up the ex-wife story as soon as they called?*

-I was going to ask if you were doing well, if you were okay, but I heard you were going on another blind date with Jo, so I thought you were okay. That’s why I talked about Jo. Oh, right. You’re converting to a law firm, right? Have you decided on a name?

“No, not yet.”

-Min-jae was really excited. When is the opening? I have to go and brighten up the place. My favorite juniors and my favorite chief are starting it; I can’t just pass it by.

“……What do I need to do for the opening?”

-I’m going crazy because of this guy.

-Honey, be patient.

“…….”

-Hire a caterer! Play some classical music! And drink some champagne or something! Are you kidding me? Cha’s parents must be looking forward to it!

“My parents don’t know yet.”

-I’m going crazy. Tell them soon!

“…….”

-If you’re too lazy to do that, just leave it all to Min-jae. He’ll take care of everything. He likes hiring caterers, sending out invitations, and stuff like that. And if you do it like this, it’ll get into the ears of Hwang Young-chan and Yoon Won-hyung and make their stomachs ache. Ah, they’re probably both dying of stomachaches right now. Cha has to be successful, you know.

Hwang Young-chan.

A name I had forgotten for a while.

As soon as this life started, I thoroughly ‘screwed’ him over, so he failed to get promoted and even lost his position as chief to Park Young-gi, didn’t he?

Besides, I ended up handling a lot of civil cases, so there was no chance to feel Hwang Young-chan’s presence.

If this Lee Jung-chan case had been indicted by the prosecution, I might have run into him, but as long as Park Young-gi exists as a shield, he wouldn’t be able to plot anything.

Moreover, with Lee Se-hwa being elected this time, Park Young-gi’s influence would have become stronger, and as a result, Hwang Young-chan’s influence would have naturally weakened.

This isn’t enough to completely quell all the anger I felt from being betrayed by him in my previous life, but I wasn’t paying attention to the details.

Because I didn’t think it was the right time yet.

-I should tell Min-jae to bring his grandfather too. If that’s difficult, I should ask him to ask for a wreath [a floral tribute]. Then it’ll be perfect when I spread the word.

“……That’s a bit much.”

-Uh-huh. Do as your senior tells you. If you listen to me, you’ll get lucky even in your sleep.

“…….”

-Anyway, I’ll be waiting for your call!

* * *

Jo Bong-joon, Choi Jong-hyun, and the office staff strongly insisted on having a housewarming party, so we gathered at my house.

“Okay, this is the last one. The bedroom terrace. Doesn’t it feel like you’re at a resort?”

Kang Min-jae said, opening the terrace door.

*I don’t know why Kang Min-jae is introducing my house, but as I quietly followed him, I also learned new uses for the spaces in my house that I didn’t even know about.*

In particular, there were some built-in furniture items that I didn’t know how to use, and Kang Min-jae even told me how to use them all.

“Right. This house is really nice. How can a house take 20 minutes just to look around?”

Choi Jong-hyun said, checking his watch after finishing the new house tour with Kang Min-jae as the guide.

Then, Jo Bong-joon asked me with a serious expression.

“Isn’t it a bit much for Cha to live alone in such a big house?”

“It is.”

I also didn’t plan to get such a big house when I first looked for a house.

But I thought that if someone broke into my house to steal data, it would be quite beneficial if the house was too big and it took them a long time to search.

Above all, if there are many rooms, can’t I isolate myself from these people when they say they’re going to sleep over at my house?

So I even put a king-size bed in the guest bedroom.

“So, Cha was feeling it too? Then you should take in boarders. Let me and Jong-hyun live with you. We’ll live quietly in the corner over there, without bothering Cha. There’s a suitable room for our room over there. With a big bed.”

“Ah, I don’t want to sleep with Bong-joon because he snores too much. I don’t need a bed, so the room next to it. There’s a study, a dressing room in the bedroom, everything, but only that room is empty. That’s my room.”

“No.”

“Ah, why.”

“If you’re hesitant to take in two people, just take me in. Hey, Bong-joon. Why do you keep leeching off Cha when you have so much money? I’m the only one who’s going to leech off him.”

“Then is the place with the big bed my room?”

As expected, there’s no way Kang Min-jae would be quiet.

“I’m too bad to freeload at the lawyer’s house because I have a family.”

Office Manager Oh said, licking his lips.

*No, I’m going to live alone…….*

After finishing the meal, Kang Min-jae said he brought a few bottles of wine, so we sat at the table and started drinking wine.

Of course, Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon were disappointed, saying they were soju [Korean distilled spirit] people, but I didn’t want to see them drink a lot of soju and pass out in our house again, so I emphasized that we should only drink wine.

“I bought some snacks too. Cheese and fruit. I’ll plate them.”

“What plating? Just open it and let’s eat.”

“Ah, let’s set the mood a little, too.”

At Kang Min-jae’s urging, we ended up sitting at the table and quietly waiting for him to bring out the snacks.

And not long after, he appeared with a cheese and fruit platter that looked like it was really being sold.

“Shall we make a toast?”

“For Cha, Kang, and Office Manager Oh’s new law firm!”

“Cheers!”

No sooner had we toasted and taken a sip of wine than Jo Bong-joon opened his mouth.

“But there’s no law firm name yet?”

“Is there?”

“Is there anything decided?”

I shook my head at their questions.

“How are you going to file without a name?”

“We’re postponing it anyway because we can’t register the corporation until the Attorney-at-law Act is revised.”

“What does the revision of the Attorney-at-law Act have to do with corporate registration?”

“Until then, only those with 15 years of legal experience can start it. I’m the oldest, but I don’t have 15 years yet.”

“Then can you register the corporation when it’s revised?”

“Yes.”

The existing Attorney-at-law Act required that a law firm have at least five members, at least two of whom had 15 years or more of legal experience.

However, the revised Attorney-at-law Act, which will be revised as of May 17 this year, relaxes the condition to a person with at least five years of legal experience among the members.

If the Attorney-at-law Act had not been revised, I would never have been able to convert to a corporation.

I can wait for 15 years of legal experience, but I’m not confident that I can bring in three more people.

I can’t find anyone who can do that either.

“Then we have to come up with a name first.”

“Cha & Kang? Or Kang & Cha?”

“Hey, Cha has to come first. Cha is the senior.”

“Cha & Kang is appropriate, isn’t it? The sound is good too. Chagang. Hmm, does it feel a bit cold?”

“What feels cold?”

“Ah, Chagang!”

“It’s definitely cold.”

……*Do I really have to come up with a law firm name with these people?*