Chapter 56 – Making a Gap, Seizing a Gap, Niche Market

An employee handed over the sample book with cautious hands.

Swish, swish, swish.

His irritable personality was revealed in the hand movements of flipping through the pages roughly as if they were going to tear.

“Sigh… What a fucking shitty design.”

Park Ki-on muttered a low curse and frowned. He glanced through the sample book roughly and asked the employee.

“Hey, in your eyes, does this look cool?”

“Pardon?…”

Scanning his expression, the employee quickly selected an answer in his head.

The eccentric Park Ki-on. The employee was always worried about what kind of answer to give so he wouldn’t get angry.

The answer was different every time. Because the correct answer was decided randomly depending on Park Ki-on’s mood. Humoring him was difficult.

“Ah… In my opinion, the design is decent, but the printing… seems just a little weak.”

“Ah… Right? Even in your eyes, the printing is really crappy, isn’t it?”

The corner of Park Ki-on’s mouth twisted.

The employee nodded with an awkward smile.

Thud.

The sound of the thick sample book cover closing carelessly rang out.

And the sample book flew straight into the employee’s face.

Smack!!!!

“What did you say, you motherfucker? The printing is crappy? Huh?”

The employee lost his words and covered his face.

“Fuck, who are you to judge? What university did you graduate from? Huh?!”

“…….”

“Where did you graduate from, you bastard! Speak up quickly. Speak by the time I count to three. You fucking asshole. You graduated from some fucking trashy local university and don’t know your place. I feel like gouging your eyes out. How dare you say my printing is crappy?!”

His voice and swearing echoed loudly throughout the office.

“Don’t come to work starting tomorrow. You have absolutely no eye for this, yet you’re judging and bullshitting here! Get the fuck out right now, you bastard!! Get out!”

Screeech.

As Park Ki-on jumped up, unable to contain his anger, the chair legs slid and made a loud metallic sound.

As if even that sound irritated him, he pushed the table away and kicked open the door to walk out.

The remaining employee cleared the sample book thrown by Park Ki-on with his head lowered. Then, he carefully placed the sample book on the glass top of the desk.

His fingertips trembled.

‘Sigh… Crazy bastard… Fine. I’m quitting because it’s too filthy. You graduated from some American countryside college I’ve never even heard of, yet you act like some study-abroad elite…’

In that way, the employees who had passed through Park Ki-on’s hands were already in the dozens.

Some couldn’t endure the verbal abuse, and others fled within a few days because they were sick of Park Ki-on’s temper, but he didn’t even bat an eye at such things.

***

Knock, knock.

“Assemblyman, your son is here.”

“Yeah, tell him to come in.”

Assemblyman Park Hak-cheol was sitting on the sofa in the conference room, drinking tea.

A suit cleaned neatly like new, and hair combed back straight without a single strand out of place.

A thick jawline and smile wrinkles that seemed to hide greed well. A thick wedding band fitted snugly on his left ring finger.

Although he wore a gentle smile, calculating greed and ambition lingered in his eyes.

He looked like a polished politician to anyone.

Park Hak-cheol quietly set down the teacup he was drinking from on the table.

His gaze turned toward the door.

Thud, thud.

Park Ki-on entered without hesitation through the door the secretary opened for him, and threw himself onto the sofa opposite Park Hak-cheol.

“Why did you call me?”

“You’re here.”

As if he disliked his son’s casual tone, Park Hak-cheol scanned Park Ki-on’s entire body from head to toe.

“Yes, you may leave, Secretary Jeong.”

When he instructed the secretary with a smiling face, the secretary bowed politely and left, closing the door.

Then, the smile instantly vanished from Park Hak-cheol’s eyes, and a cold, authoritative expression emerged.

“Park Ki-on. Can’t you sit up straight? Is this your home?”

At his father’s single command, Park Ki-on’s shoulders flinched.

“…Why did you call me?”

“Why? You ask why? Do you ask because you don’t know? What are you doing these days, huh?”

Park Hak-cheol’s voice was low but sharp.

“I heard you’re spending money like water on useless things? And I heard the employee you went through the trouble of hiring for your company left again!”

“Useless? I’m trying to do my business.”

“Business?”

Park Hak-cheol snorted mockingly.

“Do you think everyone who graduated from a design college becomes a clothing entrepreneur?

What kind of business can you run with that brain of yours? I told you to stay quiet and still at home, is that so difficult?”

Park Ki-on replied in a low voice, turning his gaze away.

“It’s because you don’t know, Father. I’m telling you I can do well. I have a sense for it.

You only live once, so I’m going to live coolly, doing what I want to do and having what I want to have.”

“What…? Live doing what you want?”

Park Hak-cheol looked at his son.

His eyes were filled with explosive anger and annoyance.

“Is there even a single time you didn’t do what you wanted?

Until now, you lived however you pleased as you wished. Do you even know how much money was wasted because of the trouble you caused until now?”

Park Ki-on stared blankly elsewhere, as if letting his father’s words go in one ear and out the other.

“Park Ki-on. Listen carefully. If money hadn’t leaked continuously just because of the sin of having you, my deficient child…

I would have been much more successful by now.

I wouldn’t be doing something like being a local assemblyman in a countryside corner like this!”

Feeling that his voice had grown louder, Park Hak-cheol paused for a moment.

“Just stay quiet for a few months. Once the election is over, I won’t care what kind of crazy stunt you pull.”

The gaze he cast from behind his glasses was cold.

“Please don’t cause trouble just until then. Because I have never once needed a child like you in my life.

So just shut up and stay quiet. Understood?”

A brief silence.

Park Ki-on stood up without a word and left the office.

Thud!

The door closed heavily.

Walking out of the hallway, he frowned and spat out a curse.

“Why are the old man’s rants so long… Fuck. I’ve never received help from you either…”

***

“Wow, what is this?”

The Teum staff members looked around the newly moved staff lounge and admired it.

“Isn’t this that Balmuda toaster that is said to make even dead bread walk?”

Im Seon-hui touched the toaster handle, raising and lowering it with sparkling eyes.

“Wow, there are coffee capsules too?”

When Deputy Kim spoke up, Chief Kim Mi-yeong smiled and replied.

“Yeah, well, he said to buy it under actual expenses… Still, consume it in moderation. That tiny coffee capsule is quite expensive.”

At those words, the staff nodded at the same time.

The spirit of frugality deeply ingrained in the Teum staff.

Because they were used to a cramped and modest office lifestyle.

The office environment was even better than the previously remodeled office.

The lighting was bright, the new office smelled fresh, and the office desks, chairs, and side tables were all brand new.

Manager Yeom said as he sat on a chair in the lounge.

“Sigh… Will my life finally bloom here? How many years were we in the previous Teum building? 15 years?”

“About that long. Everyone has been working here for a long time.”

“Still, looking back, it was really fun there in the old days.”

“That’s right. Gathering close together to talk, ordering *gimbap* in front for lunch, and sharing lunchboxes. It had that kind of charm.”

Manager Yeom said with a laugh.

“Right. There were indeed so many incidents and accidents. Since Ju-hyeong said we would lose cases on days he gave clients an odd number of business cards, to match it to an even number, he grabbed passersby in front of the building until night to distribute business cards…”

“They said the copier in the 2nd-floor corner was haunted, so I came out at dawn to fix it and the cleaning lady fainted…”

“They took my shoes and told me to ride the subway barefoot, so photos circulated on the internet. Hahaha…”

“But now that I mention it, why does it make me secretly angry?”

Ju Yong-hae smirked and retorted.

“It’s all because you’re a good person, Manager Yeom. They are memories. Huhuhu.”

“In the past, we ate in the consultation room and sprayed Febreze. It was inconvenient back then… but now that time has passed, even that is a memory.”

“Still, the new building is nice.”

Cha Ra-ri said with a smile.

“Ah, if not for Gangyeok right across the street… this is absolutely one hundred percent my dream workplace.”

Manager Yeom shrugged his shoulders.

“Ah~ Gangyeok? Well, it can’t be helped. Still, I feel so uncomfortable that I pass by in front of it quickly with my eyes half-closed. Just in case some Gangyeok employee glares at us.”

“Hahaha, why go that far?”

Manager Yeom continued.

“Seocho-dong is originally that kind of place. This place is a field of victimized people coming to sue. So the energy is dark.”

Manager Ju chimed in.

“Once you get caught in a lawsuit, it really drains a person. We’ve grown numb to it because we earn a living here.

How many people would come to Seocho-dong in a good mood for a lawsuit?”

The staff members nodded at those words.

Cha Ra-ri said stealthily.

“No matter how I look at it, I think Lawyer Geum leased this place on purpose.”

“Oh, why?”

“Could it be that Lawyer Geum… drew a big picture for me to recruit more cases?

I can just go stand right in front and bring back only the people who are swearing in front of Gangyeok. The efficiency in terms of distance and time is insane.”

The staff giggled.

“Indeed, it would be less tiring for you. The distance and time are certainly shortened.”

“Since Lawyer Geum tossed 1 billion won to Gangyeok… I thought he would stop at that… but it seems he wants to squeeze the Gangyeok side even more.

Looking closely, Lawyer Geum’s spirit is no joke. As expected of a man, one should gulp down tens of billions. Hahaha.”

As Manager Yeom laughed heartily, Ju Yong-hae gave him a warning look.

“Still, until now, whenever people got sued by Gangyeok, everyone just backed out, and clients had nowhere to complain.

Now that a proper counterweight has appeared, it’s good for those people.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Right. Is that why it’s ‘Teum’? The ‘Teum’ as in making a gap, seizing a gap, niche market… Haha?”

Deputy Kim clapped her/his hands to refresh the mood.

“Now, now, to celebrate the move, let’s order something to eat today!”

“Great! What should we order?”

“Chinese restaurant?”

Deputy Kim pulled out a memo pad and shouted.

“Okay! Collecting the menu orders!”

“Alright, for our office, one jajangmyeon~ one jjamppong~ and a large sweet and sour pork!”

At that moment, Choe Mun-hui, the staff member from Lawyer Gil Man-uk’s office, raised her hand.

“Our Manager Chu only eats tray jajangmyeon every day, so that, and for me, a jjamppong rice bowl.”

“Oh, it’s moving day, so order something more delicious. We can just cover it with the dining expenses. We’re a mid-sized firm now!”

At Chief Kim Mi-yeong’s words, everyone burst into pleasant laughter.

***

That afternoon.

A luxury limousine stopped at the Law Firm Teum building.

Click.

As the back seat door opened, a man got out.

Scanning the surroundings, he put on a mask and pulled his baseball cap down further.

The man who looked like the manager who got out of the driver’s seat also warily checked the surroundings once and quickly led him inside the building.

“How can I help you?”

The receptionist Im Seon-hui asked.

The manager blocked Im Seon-hui’s view, hiding the presence of the man standing behind him, and spoke naturally.

“We have a reservation with Lawyer Geum Nae-yeong. Under the name Park Jun-gyu.”

“Ah… Here it is. You can take the elevator up and get off on the 10th floor.”

Whir.

When the elevator doors opened, Ju Yong-hae, who had received Im Seon-hui’s message, welcomed them with a smile in front.

“You have a reservation for 2 PM, correct?”

“Yes, we can consult right away, right?”

“Ah, the prior consultation hasn’t finished yet. You just need to wait about 10 minutes.”

“Then please guide us to a separate waiting room.”

“A separate one?”

Ju Yong-hae glanced toward the consultation rooms, but of all days, the consultation rooms were either full or under renovation today.

“Sigh, unfortunately, there are no empty consultation rooms. Since it hasn’t been long since we moved, some are still undergoing interior work…”

Could you wait with another person for just a moment?”

At that, the manager said firmly.

“That won’t do.”

Ju Yong-hae continued with a troubled face.

“But we don’t have space right now…”

At that moment, the manager approached Ju Yong-hae and whispered lowly in his ear.

“This person… is Min-woo.”

“Pardon? Who?”

Toward Ju Yong-hae who didn’t recognize the name, the manager spoke in a slightly louder voice.

“The actor, Sa Min-woo.”

Manager Yeom, who had been watching Ju Yong-hae and the client with interest, clapped his hands.

“Ah, ah, ah! It’s that person! The national creep actor who won a film festival award, Sa Min-woo!”

At Manager Yeom’s shout, the eyes inside the office simultaneously focused on that direction.