Chapter 23 – Isn’t It Fine As Long As We Get the Money

“Please bring it in here!”

“Now, let’s lift it. One, two, three—”

Rumble, rumble.

The inside of Teum Law Office was bustling with a large-scale move.

Even the moving company workers and the office staff rolled up their sleeves and moved document boxes and furniture together, leaving no time to catch a breath.

“Here, everyone have a cold drink.”

As Director Kim Mi-yeong handed over mixed coffee with ice cubes floating in it, a smile briefly spread on the faces of the weary workers and staff.

“Oh, I’m exhausted.”

Office Manager Yeom dusted off his dusty clothes, sat astride a box, and gulped down the coffee.

“You must be out of your mind too, Director?”

As the office household grew, Cha Ra-ri looked at Director Kim Mi-yeong with concern.

“Sigh, well. No, it’s not like that. Before, I was rather bored because there was no work, but thanks to Attorney Geum, it suddenly got busy, right? Though it’s hard, it’s rewarding and better than playing around with no work.”

Director Kim let out a sigh for a moment and continued.

“But by the way… even while we’re expanding the office, there are still several unpaid cases pending, which is a headache. I’m really sick of those things.”

“Unpaid?”

Cha Ra-ri, who was drinking coffee, asked back. Director Kim Mi-yeong smiled bitterly.

“Ms. Ra-ri, do you know how funny the world is? There are actually bastards who scam even attorneys.”

“Pardon? Scam?”

Cha Ra-ri’s eyes widened round.

“There are guys who don’t pay the retainer fees or success fees even after the lawsuit ends.

But without fail, none of them answer their phones. They go to work normally but just turn off their phones.”

“Oh my, they don’t pay even after we win the case for them? What if that happens to our office’s cases too?”

“What else, we just wouldn’t get settled properly at bonus time.”

“Pardon? Then do we have such unpaid receivables right now?”

“We do. That loan case you handled not long after you joined. We haven’t received the win fee for that yet.”

“Really? Then… what about my bonus, by any chance?”

“The bonus will barely go out this time, but if the unpaid cases pile up, there are times when it’s only paid after everything is deposited.”

In an instant, Cha Ra-ri’s expression darkened as if she had lost the world.

“Pardon…?? No way… Then my precious plan will go awry. Payment after deposit… Then, isn’t it fine as long as we just get the money for the unpaid receivable?”

“Well… that’s true…”

As if suddenly recalling something, Cha Ra-ri put down her paper cup on the table with a clack and hurriedly picked up her phone.

“Then… we have to find a way.”

With those words, Cha Ra-ri called somewhere without delay. After a few rings, someone answered the phone. It was a man with a low voice.

Cutting to the chase, Cha Ra-ri began to talk briefly about her business.

“Hello? Oppa? It’s me. You said before that there is a way to get back stolen money… Huh? Ah, why, last time… Oh, right. Ah… do it like that?”

“……..”

“…Ah, by doing that? Aha. Understood.”

Having hung up the phone, Cha Ra-ri raised her head.

“Director, that unpaid receivable of ours! I’ll go get it.”

“Oh, Ms. Ra-ri. I’ve done accounting for years, and unpaid receivables aren’t something you can collect that easily.”

Director Kim Mi-yeong waved her hand in dismissal, but Cha Ra-ri had a face full of confidence.

She returned to her seat and muttered while touching up her makeup.

“A way… can just be made.”

***

“It’s here… Seongchan Construction.”

Cha Ra-ri twitched her lips as she looked up at the building towering in Yeouido.

As she entered the entrance, an automatic gate was blockading the way. A structure where one could absolutely not enter without tagging an employee card and going through an identity verification process.

While Cha Ra-ri folded her arms and pondered, an employee wearing a security guard uniform approached.

“Who are you visiting?”

“Sales Team 2 of Seongchan Construction.”

“The name?”

“Mr. Maeng Bu-min.”

“Your relationship?”

Hesitating for a moment, Cha Ra-ri spoke very calmly.

“His wife.”

“His wife? If you are family, you can just call him directly and tell him to come down.”

The security guard was firm, according to the manual.

Just then, Cha Ra-ri whispered something in the security guard’s ear.

“Excuse me. …So, …”

“Pardon????”

The security guard’s face instantly turned pale. He looked at Cha Ra-ri’s face once, then nodded. Cha Ra-ri also nodded along solemnly.

The security guard tagged the access key hanging around his neck on the gate, trembling.

Click.

Gate opened.

Cha Ra-ri held her head high. Then, with her heels clicking, she went up to the sales team of Seongchan Construction.

“Hello, is Mr. Maeng Bu-min here?”

The employee sitting at the entrance scanned Cha Ra-ri with surprised eyes.

Long, glossy wavy hair, a slender height of easily 168 cm, flawless and perfect makeup, and nails. Her gorgeous beauty, which would stand out anywhere, made her look like a famous influencer at first glance.

Staring at Cha Ra-ri blankly, the employee pointed to Maeng Bu-min’s seat without realizing it.

“Over… over there.”

[Sales Team Maeng Bu-min]

Click, click.

As Cha Ra-ri approached, Maeng Bu-min, who was typing on his keyboard, raised his head. A gorgeous beauty he had never seen before stood in front of him.

“Uh… what brings you here?”

“……”

Without saying a single word, Cha Ra-ri stared straight at Maeng Bu-min, just standing in that spot.

Her presence alone was formidable.

Since the gazes of all the male employees in the sales team gathered on her in that instant.

At the sudden appearance of the outsider, the quiet company messenger carried an air as if buzzing with the scent of gossip.

“Excuse me… do we… know each other, by any chance?”

To Maeng Bu-min who questioned hesitantly, Cha Ra-ri spoke.

“I don’t know well, but our office manager and boss probably know.”

“The boss?”

“Geum Na-yeong.”

Instantly, Maeng Bu-min tilted his head.

‘Geum Na-yeong? I’ve heard it somewhere… A club? Or was it some waiter’s name? It’s definitely a name I know… I can’t remember…’

Maeng Bu-min began to thoroughly search his head.

‘A unique name… Ah? Ah… That attorney?!’

The smile disappeared from his face in an instant. It seemed he only then realized that Cha Ra-ri was a law office employee.

“I… I’m sorry, but please give me a bit more time. I will pay it slowly later. My funds are not circulating well right now.”

Cha Ra-ri did not answer. She just stood still in that spot.

Ten minutes… fifteen minutes… twenty minutes…

Suddenly, Cha Ra-ri took something out of her handbag. Twist. And she opened the lid of the Vita 600 and gulped it down right there.

The employees on that floor, and even people from other offices, were watching that spectacle. There were even people coming from other floors to watch.

“Who is that woman standing blankly next to Maeng Bu-min?”

“Don’t know. But since about ten, or is it twenty minutes ago? She has been standing next to him like that without a word.”

“What? Did Manager Maeng do something wrong?”

“Hey, speak quietly. But… Assistant Manager Park of the security team said in the chatroom earlier”

“In the chatroom…??”

“A really pretty woman came looking for Manager Maeng, saying she’s his wife.”

“Huh? Was Manager Maeng married?”

“Don’t know. I don’t think he was… But that woman whispered to the security team employee…”

“Uh… whispered…?”

Instantly, the ears of the whispering people simultaneously focused in that direction.

“She said she came to catch him because he has a mistress at the company, so please open it quickly and quietly?”

“What? Really? A mistress?”

The rumor had already spread as far as it could.

The story had ballooned and was widely circulating that Manager Maeng was actually an absolute bastard who had two mistresses at the company while pretending to be single, despite having a beautiful wife whom he had registered his marriage with three years ago.

Messenger windows showered onto Maeng Bu-min’s screen like bombs.

– Manager Maeng, were you married?

– I heard your wife came to the company, did you get caught with a mistress?

– …Maeng Bu-min. A human being shouldn’t behave like that.

– Hey, take her out quickly. Before more rumors spread.

The gazes of the office employees whispering while looking this way were unusual. Cold sweat trickled down his back.

Maeng Bu-min whispered to Cha Ra-ri.

“Excuse me… I’ll give you the money. Please leave. Or let’s go down together.”

“I will go down once the deposit is confirmed.”

“I said I’ll give it to you!”

“After I check the details.”

Just then.

“Welcome back, Department Manager.”

At the sound of the employees greeting, Maeng Bu-min’s eyes went wide.

“Department Manager? Right now?”

It seemed the department manager, who had gone on a business trip, was returning.

No matter what the situation was, if he was caught in this state by the department manager, his company life would be completely finished. He could already sense suspicious glances looking this way from the entrance side.

Maeng Bu-min hurriedly opened his account and scraped money together from here and there. In fact, it wasn’t that he didn’t have the money to pay the win fee to the attorney… but after winning, he somehow felt it was a waste to give it away immediately.

Maeng Bu-min completed the deposit in a hurry and held out the details to Cha Ra-ri.

“That’s it, right? Please leave quickly!”

Cha Ra-ri glanced to verify the deposit details, and then set the empty Vita 600 down on the desk with a clack.

“Pay the money on time. Don’t be like this… next time.”

And she gave a final bright smile.

“Thank you for the quick payment. Please use our services again next time.”

And as if nothing had happened, she walked out of the office, leaving behind the clicking sounds of her shoes.

‘As expected, an expert in that field is the best for solving problems.’

The person Cha Ra-ri called was someone named Kang Ho-jun, who was once quite famous in the debt collection world for retrieving unpaid money.

Currently, he was the president of the official security company for the Miss Chunhyang Pageant. When she participated in the Miss Chunhyang Pageant in the past, they met backstage and hit it off in five minutes, becoming sworn siblings.

Cha Ra-ri sent a message to Director Kim Mi-yeong.

– Director^^ Please check the deposit details♡

Like that, Cha Ra-ri collected forty million won from Seongchan Construction and proudly returned to Attorney Geum Na-yeong’s office.

Upon spotting Cha Ra-ri entering, Director Kim Mi-yeong jumped up from her seat and began to clap enthusiastically.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

“No way, Ms. Ra-ri. You haven’t even been gone for two hours… and you really collected the unpaid receivable? And it’s forty million won? I was really startled! After checking the deposit!!”

At those words, Office Manager Yeom rose from his seat while reading the newspaper.

“An unpaid receivable of forty million won? Wow… that is really not an easy thing to do…”

Even with everyone in surprise, Cha Ra-ri set down her handbag and sat at her desk with a nonchalant face.

Director Kim Mi-yeong clicked her tongue and muttered internally.

‘She is really out of the ordinary… Honestly. I thought Ju Yong-hae was the most unique person in the world, but looking closely at Ms. Cha Ra-ri, she is truly no joke either…’

Like that, it was 4:00 PM at Teum Law Office, which was somewhat getting organized.

Office Manager Ju Yong-hae, who couldn’t even turn on his computer due to the move, pulled out Hwatu cards out of boredom.

Tap, tap-tap.

He mixed the Hwatu cards with the hand movements of a gambler, and familiarly began to draw cards.

“It’s not bush clover…”

···Sigh.

Rain… and…”

Tap.

The last card caught at his fingertip and flipped over.

‘Blue ribbon… Could this mean there’s bad news?’ It was a bothersome combination.

Office Manager Ju Yong-hae gathered and organized the Hwatu cards, swallowing his uneasy feeling.

Just then.

A mail carrier entered the office holding mail.

“Mail has arrived! Please confirm receipt here.”

Lim Seon-hui, the information staff member, familiarly sorted the handed mail and distributed it to each office, and handed the mail for Geum Na-yeong’s office to Office Manager Ju Yong-hae.

“Mail for the Office Manager’s office.”

“Ah, thank you, Seon-hui.”

Ju Yong-hae began to check the handed mail one by one.

“This is a criminal case… and this is a notice of date change.”

Ju Yong-hae neatly tore open the envelopes, verified the contents, and filed them step-by-step in the folders.

He completed most of the processing with familiar hand movements.

And one final envelope remaining.

Ju Yong-hae’s eyebrows twitched as he checked the sender.

“What is this? There’s no reason for anything to come from here… There were no announcements of events either…”

He tilted his head, tore open the envelope, and a neatly folded sheet of A4 paper came out from within.

Ju Yong-hae carelessly unfolded the paper and began to read it.

However, the moment he had read barely a few lines.

“Huh… What…?”

His eyes went wide and his hands trembled violently.

His face turning pale in an instant, Ju Yong-hae jumped up from his seat clutching the paper.

And he sprinted full speed to Attorney Geum Na-yeong’s office.