Chapter 90 – Shall I See If You Waver

Law Firm Gangyeok. Kim Hong-seok’s Junior Partner Attorney Office.

Kim Hong-seok, picking up a candy with a familiar hand movement and tossing it into his mouth, was listening to Noh Si-an’s report.

“That female employee in Geum Nae-yeong’s office… She did that when I called too, but you are saying she blocked the calls even when you called?”

“Yes. She seems to have a fairly thorough personality. Seeing that she cut us off completely before our contact officially began… Her loyalty to Attorney Geum Nae-yeong looked quite deep.”

The corner of Kim Hong-seok’s mouth twitched up. The office manager Kim Hong-seok himself had contacted was the same. Even though they promised an enormous treatment, before long, contact was blocked.

“Really… Why be that loyal? To look at him, a guy like Geum Nae-yeong seems to have no loyalty at all… In my view, he is a guy who lives only for his own pride, knowing only himself. The employees, knowing nothing, are mistaken and overly loyal.”

Noh Si-an continued speaking.

“Upon finding out, the employees’ salary is twice the industry average. Especially, that female employee, perhaps because of her great sales ability… they say she drives the latest Ferrari model.”

“…What? A Ferrari?”

Kim Hong-seok placed his chin on his joined hands.

“How much salary does he pay, on earth? We also match at the highest level in the industry… even our rookie attorneys cannot drive that much. Isn’t that employee born with a silver spoon in the first place?”

“It doesn’t seem to be so. Looking at her previous occupation, it was ordinary. Anyway, since the employees of that office are all experienced and quick-witted, it was not easy to dig out information. Everyone was very strong-minded.”

“Strong-minded? In what way?”

“I also tried to contact the female employee who has been there the longest in the accounting team, but she acted so rigidly… it was not easy to strike up a conversation.”

Clack.

Kim Hong-seok threw away the candy he was picking up again onto the floor carelessly.

“It’s absurd. That we are sitting here worrying because our Gangyeok cannot do anything about a small joint office with less than ten attorneys…”

He let out a sigh mixed with irritation.

“By the way, you said there is an employee interview today, right?”

“Yes. You must enter soon.”

“Good. Let’s also… try to hire someone with experience and good skills. If you think about it, that guy is also from law school, and has no career to speak of, but because a veteran office manager and loyal employees are pushing him with all their heart and strength, he is acting up believing in that. Let’s also hire well.”

Kim Hong-seok rose from his seat and headed to the interview location.

“Attorney, you may sit here.”

As Attorney Kim Hong-seok entered the interview room, the HR staff bowed their heads all at once.

Kim Hong-seok, sitting on a chair and sharing conversations with other attorneys, scans a few pages of resumes placed in front of him.

Rustle, rustle

‘Hmm… I hope we hire someone sensible and smart properly…’

“We will start the interview for the secretary position first.”

Following the guidance of the staff in charge, three applicants entered in turn.

Kim Hong-seok, after scanning the applicants’ faces, brought his gaze back to the resumes.

The first applicant began their self-introduction.

“Hello, my name is Kim Min-gyu. My strength is…”

As the common self-introduction continued, Kim Hong-seok wrote down the applicant’s score with an expressionless face.

The second applicant was similar. There was no part that particularly caught the eye.

And the third.

“Hello. I am Kim Ae-ri. Hi, my name is Kim Aeri. . I’m fluent in English and Japanese.”

Fluent pronunciation, professional-looking attire, and a sharp impression.

In an instant, the gazes of the attorneys inside the interview room fell on her all at once.

Kim Hong-seok raised his head and looked at her with a cold expression.

“…Hmm. Where did you interview recently? Your career is good, but… it seems you moved companies quite a few times?”

Kim Ae-ri smiled brightly and replied calmly.

“Yes. Actually, because my parents were unwell, I took a temporary leave of absence. Since I am the eldest in the family, I had to look after them directly, so it inevitably became like that. They have almost recovered now.

And… recently, I even passed the final round at a place called ‘Law Firm Teum,’ but the recruitment was canceled due to the firm’s circumstances.

So somehow, a slight gap occurred in my career.”

“…Yes? Teum?”

At the word ‘Teum,’ Kim Hong-seok’s eyes opened wide.

He pulled his body forward slightly and asked.

“By any chance, in Teum… under which attorney’s charge…?”

Kim Ae-ri lowered her gaze as if slightly embarrassed.

“Ah… that…”

Kim Ae-ri hesitated for a moment and quickly ran calculations in her head.

‘What is it? Could it be he knows the Teum attorney? No… Gangyeok is famous in the industry for having absolutely nothing but enemies… That’s right! They said Gangyeok is famous for being complete enemies with Teum, right?’

Kim Ae-ri made a bold judgment. And changing her face to a serious expression, she spoke.

“It was Attorney Geum Nae-yeong’s office. He liked me very much… though I don’t know what happened, it seems there were some internal circumstances.”

Hearing those words, the corner of Kim Hong-seok’s mouth slid up. He also nodded his head with satisfaction.

‘Ohho… If Geum Nae-yeong liked her, there must be something. I can also ask about the atmosphere there, and the person looks smart too. Good, good.’

Kim Hong-seok scribbled something on one side of the interview sheet with a pen.

‘Kim Ae-ri. Must pass unconditionally.’

Like that, Attorney Kim Hong-seok of Gangyeok, without even properly checking who Kim Ae-ri was or what kind of person she was, hired her to Gangyeok solely based on the single fact that ‘Geum Nae-yeong liked her.’

And at that time.

Geum Nae-yeong was conducting the trial of Bang Ki-yong’s assault and injury case.

***

Seoul District Court Criminal Courtroom 501.

Geum Nae-yeong was calmly continuing the interrogation against the hockey team captain, Jeong Chan-woo.

“Witness, on the day of the incident at around 9:50 PM, you received a text message from Coach Park Il-nam saying ‘Check once more if all students of the hockey team are well in the dormitory,’ right?”

“Yes, I received it.”

“Are such contacts frequent?”

“Yes. Usually, the coach contacts us mainly by text message, and sometimes, like a so-called surprise inspection, he tells us to go around the kids’ rooms once after roll call.”

“I see. Then, among the dormitories you went to after receiving the contact, when you opened the door of Room 8, the last dormitory where the victim and the defendant stay, could you tell us the situation in detail?”

The captain, Jeong Chan-woo, leaned his body toward the microphone.

There was no change in expression, but he paused for a moment as if thinking back to the scene at the time.

“When I opened the door, the room light was turned off.

When I turned on the light, for both Bang Ki-yong and Jeong Seok-min’s beds… the blankets were bulging up as if people were lying down.

Usually, because students make the beds like that when they pretend to be sleeping… I also pulled back the blankets to check if the kids were actually there.

I checked Ki-yong’s bed first, and Seok-min was lying there bleeding. He was unconscious.

At first, I was so startled that words did not come out. And I immediately pulled back Seok-min’s bed, but that was a fake made by rolling up blankets. After that, the dormitory window being wide open caught my eye.

So I thought. ‘Did these two fight? Then, as Seok-min collapsed, Ki-yong got startled and ran away.’ That is what I thought.”

Geum Nae-yeong took a step closer in front of Jeong Chan-woo, who was testifying.

‘Shall I see if you waver?’

“If so, that is only the witness’s personal ‘thought,’ isn’t it?

And since the witness was alone at the scene where the victim was discovered… couldn’t the witness be the culprit?

What about the possibility that the witness beat the victim while the defendant was away from the dormitory?”

Geum Nae-yeong looks down at the witness, Jeong Chan-woo, with cold eyes.

It was a sharp gaze as if trying to read something from between his expressions.

However, as soon as those words ended, the prosecutor stood up from his seat.

“Your Honor, the defense counsel is currently leading the witness by driving him as if he is associated with the crime.”

“Yes, defense counsel. Restrain yourself.”

As the judge sent a look, Geum Nae-yeong bowed his head slightly but did not stop and immediately continued his questions.

“Then, how about this assumption? Actually… couldn’t it be that the defendant is not the culprit? When the witness discovered the scene, the defendant was not in that place.

Isn’t there also a possibility that it is not evidence that he is the culprit, but a simple coincidence?”

Jeong Chan-woo replied firmly.

“On that day, all players were in the dormitory. Except for Bang Ki-yong. And I clearly saw Seok-min collapsed in Ki-yong’s bed. But how is this all a coincidence?

And Seok-min has been saying to me from several weeks before the incident that ‘his personality doesn’t match Bang Ki-yong’s too much.’ So he was also in a state of having requested a change of dormitory room.”

“……”

“And if I beat him, you can check the time when I checked the adjacent Room 7, and the time I moved to the next Room 8. The time I called the coach after discovering Seok-min in Room 8 after checking Room 7 is not completely exact… but it probably did not take even 2 to 3 minutes.

Doesn’t it make no sense that I beat Seok-min to the point of coma in that short time?”

Jeong Chan-woo pleaded as if it was unfair.

And as soon as his words ended, the prosecutor immediately added words.

“Evidence No. 66. The time the call was made is shown in the investigation report.”

The judge nodded and checked.

“Yes. It is there.”

“That is all.”

As Geum Nae-yeong finished the interrogation, soon the next witness, Coach Park Il-nam, came out in front of the witness stand.

While the witness oath was being conducted, Geum Nae-yeong alternately scans Coach Park Il-nam and captain Jeong Chan-woo sharply.

‘Hmm… the GQS (Geum Nae-yeong’s Doubt Score) for the case where the two are accomplices is 5 points. Very low. Since explicit and cognitive evidence is very lacking, the probability that the two are accomplices is very low.

In the end, it means that one of the two statements is a lie… or there is a third culprit.

If so… shall we see how the coach is?’

After the oath ended, Geum Nae-yeong began the interrogation of Coach Park Il-nam.

“Looking at the written statement, the witness stated that he inspected the students’ dormitories for evening roll call from 9:00 PM on the day of the incident, and lastly stopped by Room 8, which is the victim’s dormitory. Is that correct?”

The coach nodded.

“Yes, that’s correct. We have a set routine every day. If that routine is disrupted, it is difficult to control the young, hot-blooded students.

That applies to all players of our hockey team. As the coach, I am also keeping it thoroughly. Since a dormitory escape had occurred in the previous week, I inspected particularly more surely.”

Geum Nae-yeong put down the documents he was turning onto the desk and continued speaking.

“And 9:30 PM. After finishing the roll call, you returned to your own dormitory… You stated like this. The CCTV record is also like that.”

“Yes. That is so.”

Geum Nae-yeong spread the layout of the school and the hockey team dormitory he had prepared.

“According to the layout here, from Room 8, the last dormitory, to the witness’s dormitory is about 10 minutes walking distance. However, for the witness who is a former athlete, if you run to the dormitory after finishing roll call at 9:30 PM, it seems like a distance where 5 minutes would be sufficient?”

After a brief silence, the coach spoke, raising the corner of his mouth as if in ridicule.

“Why would I run to the dormitory for no reason? Attorney. You checked my CCTV, right? The CCTV in front of my dormitory door around 9:40 PM. Did I look out of breath in your eyes, Attorney?”

Geum Nae-yeong nodded.

“You did not look out of breath at all.”

The coach could not hide his unpleasant look at being suspected.

Seong Seok-ju, who was sitting in the front row of the spectator seats as the attorney in charge of the next case after this trial, tilted his head while watching that appearance.

“Hmm… The witnesses’ statements don’t seem to have any problems in particular. Attorney Geum, you must have a headache this time?

Didn’t the defendant really beat him? Trying to go for not guilty believing only the client’s words… doesn’t seem to be it…”