Chapter 71 – I Hope to Join Your Company

Knock, knock.

“Yes. Come in.”

“Hey, long time no see, Attorney Seong!”

The door opened and a man walked in.

A welcoming smile spread across Seong Seok-ju’s face.

“Oh, Attorney Cha. What brings you all the way here? I saw your text, but suddenly wanting to have lunch?”

“Yeah, I was on my way back from the Gangnam Police Station, and since it seemed the timing would be just right, I dropped by. It’s been a while, and I thought of you.”

“Why the Gangnam Police Station? Is there some kind of case?”

Seong Seok-ju got up from his seat and smiled.

“Yeah, loan fraud. The allegation is that our client conspired with a secondary bank to forge documents and obtain a loan.

Fraud, forgery of private documents, and violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. He’s got several charges against him.”

“Really? What’s the amount?”

“Three billion won.”

“Wow… that’s quite big.”

Knock, knock.

Just then, someone knocked.

“Yes, come in.”

The door opened and Geum Nae-yeong walked in with steady steps.

“Attorney Seong. Have you finished reviewing the evidence for the loan case?”

“Yes. I was just looking at it.”

Geum Nae-yeong bowed slightly as he looked at the guest inside.

“Ah, you have a guest.”

Seong Seok-ju smiled and introduced his friend.

“Attorney Geum. This is Attorney Cha Eun-seok of Kim & Chang. Eun-seok, this is Attorney Geum Nae-yeong.”

“Hello, I am Geum Nae-yeong.”

The moment he heard the name, Cha Eun-seok’s face stiffened.

He looked straight at Geum Nae-yeong as if to confirm something.

‘Is this person… the 8.7 billion won Geum Nae-yeong? Wow… he is extremely handsome. But he looks much more normal than the rumors say?’

“I am Cha Eun-seok. I have heard a lot about you.”

“Yes. But there’s no subject.”

“Pardon?”

“You did not mention from whom, and what kind of stories you have heard a lot of.”

Cha Eun-seok was flustered for a moment, then scratched his head awkwardly.

“Ah… yes, well… from here and there. That you handle cases well.”

“I see. Yes. Well then.”

Geum Nae-yeong turned his gaze and spoke to Seong Seok-ju.

“I saw the contract, and there is one part that needs to be compared. May I check the documents for a moment?

Also, according to the associate contract, you will be attending the Jungah Construction trial tomorrow, Attorney Seong.”

“…Yes, I understand.”

Cha Eun-seok hearing the words “associate attorney contract,” Cha Eun-seok raised his eyebrows slightly.

And tilting his head, he silently mouthed to Seong Seok-ju.

‘Hey, you, you’re Geum Nae-yeong’s associate?’

Seong Seok-ju replied with a short sigh.

‘There is a story behind all of that.’

‘Haha, I should totally spread the rumor all over town. A rising star of Jyeongpyeong is an associate here… Hehehe…’

While the two were whispering, Geum Nae-yeong calmly sat at Seong Seok-ju’s desk, flipped through the papers, and began his review.

While Geum Nae-yeong was focusing on the materials like that, Seong Seok-ju and Cha Eun-seok started their own conversation.

“Hey. What do you want to eat for lunch?”

“There is a stir-fried spicy pork place near Seocho Station. Let’s go there. I heard the portions are huge and it’s really delicious.”

“Stir-fried pork… Let’s go somewhere else. How about… pork cutlet?”

“Pork cutlet is good, deal.”

Once the menu was decided, Cha Eun-seok leaned back in his chair and said as if grumbling.

“Sigh… I’m so hungry after having all my energy drained this morning.”

“Why drained? It’s not like you were the one interrogated at the police station. Haha.”

“Don’t even mention it. Hey, you guys are famous for winning against ‘Gankyeok’ cases well. How on earth do you handle them?”

“What do you mean how?”

The moment the word “Gankyeok” was heard, Geum Nae-yeong’s ears reacted.

As Seong Seok-ju brewed coffee and handed it to Cha Eun-seok, Cha Eun-seok continued his story.

“About this case. The client on Gankyeok’s side is also under suspicion. It’s a situation where we are Suspect One, and they are Suspect Two.

Simply put, the situation is like this.

Our client claims he didn’t know anything and was just running errands with documents. He didn’t know, but later found out that the company was practically at the level of a paper company.

An executive of the company where the client was employed conspired with a bank employee to create documents to obtain a planned loan from the institution.”

“That’s a common case,” Seong Seok-ju muttered.

Cha Eun-seok nodded.

“Our client said that his position at his previous company wasn’t low either, but the company suddenly went bankrupt, and while hurriedly looking for a job, he somehow got hired by this company.

At first, he thought it was just a trading company.

But they immediately made him the executive director. At an age where reemployment is difficult, and because he was in a hurry, he didn’t check properly and just figured he’d work there for now.”

Cha Eun-seok paused for a moment and took a sip of his coffee.

“You said this loan is worth three billion won, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Since the amount is large… if it goes on like this, a prison sentence is definitely guaranteed.”

Seong Seok-ju shook his head and clicked his tongue.

“The deputy branch manager of the secondary bank who issued the loan documents appointed ‘Gankyeok,’ and wow… those guys are real thugs.

We responded well in the beginning, but once the bank side appointed Gankyeok, they insisted that ‘the bank knew nothing at all,’ so there was no solution.

There is no way. They have terrible manners too.”

“Is it that bad? What about the evidence?”

“It’s currently under investigation… and it seems like the police are doing a half-hearted job too.

There is a certificate of deposit balance, and the bank is claiming, ‘We have never issued such a certificate of balance.’

The Gankyeok lawyer is claiming that our client forged it to execute the institutional loan.”

“Ah…”

“Our client says that without knowing anything, he just received the institutional trade loan instead using the documents issued by the bank.

However, the company management who ordered this pocketed the loan money and vanished at some point. They are wanted now, and the company has completely disintegrated.

In the end, with the loan unpaid, only the client is left behind to take all the blame.”

Seong Seok-ju slightly lifted the documents Cha Eun-seok brought as if interested.

“Is that so? Then… shall I take a look?”

Attorney Cha Eun-seok smirked.

“Sigh, forget it. I’ve looked at it a hundred times. Nothing will come out. The papers are just full of the client’s signatures,

and his face is clearly captured on CCTV when the loan was executed.”

Cha Eun-seok let out a sigh.

“Well, there won’t be anything… If we could get even a single piece of evidence favorable to us, this would totally be a path to promotion.

If you find it, I’ll treat you as my elder brother and bow three times in front of your firm. Haha.”

“Still, since it’s still in the investigation stage, I’ll look to see if there’s anything before we go eat. “

Seong Seok-ju began to focus as he flipped through the documents with his fingertips.

Flip, flip.

“Hmm…”

He muttered softly as he looked at the documents.

“So they think the client forged this certificate of balance?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm… well, there’s nothing.”

“Right… nothing, right?”

Before anyone knew it, Geum Nae-yeong approached Seong Seok-ju’s side and scanned the documents Seong Seok-ju was holding with his eyes.

“Oh, you startled me! When did you come, Attorney Geum?”

Without answering, Geum Nae-yeong gestured with his eyes for Seong Seok-ju to give him the materials.

As Seong Seok-ju handed over the materials in a daze, he looked into them for a very brief moment and then put them down.

“The bank employee in charge is at least an accessory or a co-principal.”

At Geum Nae-yeong’s words, Attorney Cha Eun-seok raised his head.

“Pardon?? …What do you mean by that?”

Geum Nae-yeong pointed to the loan execution document.

“This is not a forged document. It is an original, but a fake original.”

“Pardon? What does that…?”

“Look at the numbers of the date stamped here.

Since the rubber stamp used for date stamping receives repeated physical pressure, fine cracks or splits appear over time.

In particular, for the numbers, the pressed edges or depth vary slightly depending on the frequently used positions.”

“Pardon??”

Geum Nae-yeong continued calmly.

“The stamp printed on this document is the same. Here, in this part. The crack is clearly visible.”

Cha Eun-seok held the document and stared at it intently,

and as if it was impossible with the naked eye, he pulled out his cell phone and turned on the zoom function.

“Uh, uh???”

“If the client had forged this entire document, it would be difficult to reproduce such cracks or wear.

Besides, even if they used a program like Photoshop, there’s no reason to implement it so elaborately.”

Geum Nae-yeong added, looking at the document.

“This certificate of balance must have actually been issued by the bank employee. Because they would have had to match the issue date to execute the loan.

If you just find the employee who stamped the seal impression with the same cracked shape as this stamp, you will be able to confirm immediately who made this document.

Even if that employee discarded the stamp, it’s as simple as finding a document with the same shape of the stamp’s seal impression among past documents and comparing them.”

Cha Eun-seok stared at Geum Nae-yeong with his mouth wide open.

“I’ll take my leave then.”

Having finished his explanation, Geum Nae-yeong offered a light greeting, opened the office door, and went out.

The moment the door closed, Cha Eun-seok immediately muttered.

“……Wow, insane. What is this, he can really see this?

And how did he find it so fast? Is he really a genius…?”

Even before those words were completely finished.

Knock, knock.

The door opened again.

Geum Nae-yeong poked his head in with an expressionless face and said.

“By the way… when do you plan to bow three times in front of the firm?

I have a trial today, so I don’t have much time.”

***

That afternoon. After lunch.

Ju Yong-hae turned on the computer with familiar movements.

Tap, tap.

The work began with the familiar keyboard sound.

“Let’s see… search my case.”

Click.

Flipping through the screen, he muttered.

“Hmm… the trial date is going ahead as scheduled.”

Just then, a new mail notification window popped up.

[I hope to join your company (resume attached)]

“Oh? Another resume has arrived.”

Ju Yong-hae clicked on the mailbox, scrolled through several resumes, and suddenly doubted his eyes.

“Huh? What is this??”

He clicked the mouse once more to zoom in.

‘Name: Cha Ra-ri.’

A familiar name. A familiar photo.

[Resume]

Name: Cha Ra-ri

* Experience

Worked at Teum Law Firm for 1 year and 2 months

With a surprised expression, he paused for a moment and then hurriedly pressed the print button.

Whir, click, click.

He stapled the resume and self-introduction letter together and neatly filed them in the binder along with the other resumes.

Just then, Office Director Yeom in the next seat looked at the resume over his shoulder.

“Huh?? A resume? It’s Cha Ra-ri’s?”

“Yeah. She submitted an application.”

“Wait, how long has it been since Ra-ri quit…? She submitted an application again?”

At their conversation, the other staff members also raised their heads one by one.

The office suddenly became noisy.

“Pardon? Cha Ra-ri applied again?”

“Really? Has it been about a month? She said she was going to be an announcer… Was the exam tough?”

“No way, for Cha Ra-ri, she would have passed the exam easily. But why did she submit an application?”

Just then, the door opened and Geum Nae-yeong entered the office.

Ju Yong-hae handed over the resumes of the applicants, including Cha Ra-ri’s.

“Attorney, Cha Ra-ri submitted her resume. And these are the documents of the other applicants.”

Geum Nae-yeong quietly put down his bag and took the resume documents handed to him by Office Director Ju.

‘Hmm… I interviewed several people over the course of a month, but none were suitable as employees.

In the end, I had no choice but to extend the application period…’

Sorting out a few pages of the resumes, he spoke to Ju Yong-hae.

“Office Director, please notify these three for an interview.”

Ju Yong-hae looked at the three documents, raised his head, and asked.

“Wait… Attorney, Cha Ra-ri is here too. Does Cha Ra-ri get interviewed as well?”

Geum Nae-yeong replied shortly without raising his gaze.

“Yes. Three people in total.”

Ju Yong-hae scratched his head with a look of confusion.

“This… what on earth is going on…”