Chapter 97 – A Dream of Rising to the Highest Place

By the time he finished drafting the petition for the lottery winnings claim case, the time to leave work had already passed.

Tap. Tap.

Geum Nae-yeong organized the consultation materials, picked up the cell phone that was placed on the left side of his desk, and put it in his pocket.

Just as he was about to stand up and leave the office.

Buzz. Buzz.

The phone vibrated.

Calling number: 010-7895-22**

“Hmm? It’s an unknown number.”

After thinking for a moment, Geum Nae-yeong pressed the call button.

“Yes. Geum Nae-yeong speaking.”

From the other end of the phone, the voice of a middle-aged man who seemed somewhat excessively pleased was heard.

“Ah! This is indeed Attorney Geum Nae-yeong’s cell phone. Haha.”

Geum Nae-yeong frowned slightly.

“Yes, who is this?”

“Ahahaha. I am Attorney Oh Ji-yul. I have something to tell you separately, so could we perhaps meet?”

‘Oh Ji-yul?’

“What is this about? I do not prefer meeting in person.”

The opponent did not care about Geum Nae-yeong’s cold tone.

“Ah, it’s nothing else but a lawsuit matter. I think it would be perfect to talk over dinner.

We would like to treat you to a meal, Attorney Geum. I found out that you like meat?

Without making it troublesome for you, I would like to discuss the number one law firm in the industry over dinner at a nearby and delicious restaurant.”

“…Number one in the industry?”

“Yes, yes. How about it?”

A look of interest flickered in Geum Nae-yeong’s eyes for an instant. The corners of his mouth rose slightly.

“…Alright. Then where shall we meet?”

“Ah! It is great that you agreed right away, haha. I will call out the address. 520 Seocho-dong, Seoul…”

The man recited the address.

“…You mean we should meet at the address you called out?”

“Yes, yes! While having a light meal! Ahahahahaha.”

“…Yes. I understand. See you later.”

After hanging up the phone, Geum Nae-yeong immediately searched the name he called out in the legal directory.

Name: Oh Ji-yul

Affiliation: Law Firm BridgeNode

Geum Nae-yeong tilted his head.

‘BridgeNode? I have never heard of it… A discussion about the number one in the industry?’

With a strange, curious face, Geum Nae-yeong put on his jacket and headed to the meeting place.

***

As he entered the restaurant, the man who was already sitting at a table raised his hand high in welcome as soon as he saw Geum Nae-yeong.

“Over here!”

Geum Nae-yeong turned his gaze at that voice and walked toward him.

“Wow… Ahahaha. I heard that you were handsome… but seeing you in person, you are indeed a handsome man.”

The man smiled and poured out praise actively from his very first words.

Geum Nae-yeong scanned the man once.

A neatly dressed shirt and jacket, a style that was slightly casual for an attorney.

His skin was clean and spotless, as if he was receiving care, and subtly glowing. Additionally, the neat beard line, looking as if he had just come out of a barbershop, was impressive.

Geum Nae-yeong muttered.

“According to a thin-slice judgment, he has quite a swindler-like impression.”

Whether he heard that or not, the man laughed heartily and pointed to the opposite seat.

“Please sit. I am Attorney Oh Ji-yul.”

“Yes. Because first impressions are often close to prejudice. I will sit for now.”

Geum Nae-yeong muttered briefly, shook hands with the man, and sat down. As soon as Geum Nae-yeong sat down, Attorney Oh Ji-yul poured out his words.

“We are such big fans of yours, Attorney Geum, that we even looked up your favorite food, preferences… and things like that. Ahahaha.”

The man smirked and immediately raised his hand to place an order.

“Spicy stir-fried pork here! Make it spicy and delicious, with lots of care, and please make it two servings that feel like three. Hahahahaha.”

The owner nodded as if she understood and entered the menu on the POS terminal.

“You must be… a bit surprised? I even knew in advance what you like, Attorney Geum. Haha.

Moreover, I think you must have been flustered because I contacted you suddenly.”

At Attorney Oh Ji-yul’s excessive kindness and words, Geum Nae-yeong silently picked up a stainless steel water cup and gulped down some water.

“Your lawsuit skills are truly amazing. You have also made multiple appearances on famous broadcasts.”

The man naturally slid a business card in front of Geum Nae-yeong.

Geum Nae-yeong accepted his business card and looked at it.

The name and the company he had searched for before leaving work. They all matched.

Attorney Oh Ji-yul opened his mouth.

“…As you know, Kim & Chang and Jepyongyang were not top-tier law firms from the beginning either. There is a reason why they developed into such massive firms.

They recruit former government officials, stack up winning rates, and actively recruit exceptionally talented attorneys, which is how they became the top of the industry, number one, isn’t it?

In that sense… if you and we work together… we will become the next Kim & Chang, Jepyongyang.”

Geum Nae-yeong looked back at him silently with an expressionless face. He was quietly judging his proposal.

The man continued speaking.

“Our BridgeNode has its main office in Yeouido. We are currently expanding branch offices by recruiting new attorneys. This time, we plan to open a branch in Seocho-dong, which we consider our most key location.

And we would like to invite you, Attorney Geum, to be the representative attorney of that Seocho-dong branch.”

After saying those words, he carefully examined Geum Nae-yeong’s expression.

He had a tense face, as if reading Geum Nae-yeong’s mind or expecting an answer.

Just then.

“Here… your food is served.”

Perhaps sensing that the atmosphere between the two was unusual, the employee who served the food cast a brief glance and gently set the plate down on the table.

“Ahahaha, you haven’t eaten, right? Let’s eat first, let’s eat.”

Seeing the food, Attorney Oh Ji-yul immediately changed his expression and put back on his good-natured smile.

“I heard… that you like meat dishes, and among them, you like spicy stir-fried pork the most.

You see, this place. Although it is a bit shabby, it is a famous restaurant. Wow, they really gave us a large portion!”

He picked up a lettuce leaf, shook off the water, put white rice on it, and stacked a few thick pieces of stir-fried pork that had just been cooked hot.

The stir-fried pork, freshly cooked, gave off an appetizing smell as steam rose.

He dipped a slice of garlic deep into soybean paste, added it, wrapped it very skillfully, put it in his mouth, and chewed and swallowed it happily.

“…Wow, this is delicious. Have some…”

A wrap stuffed full in his mouth.

Attorney Oh Ji-yul smiled broadly and encouraged Geum Nae-yeong to try it. There was a scent of premature excitement on his face.

‘He must have been surprised, right? He wouldn’t have known that we came after researching him to this extent. Haha. This is how we seize the initiative.’

Attorney Oh Ji-yul tried a wrap, and perhaps because the taste was quite good, he wrapped a few more in succession and put them in his mouth.

He also did not forget to take sips of soup in between to swallow smoothly.

Only after filling a cup with water and gulping it down did a satisfied expression spread across his face.

It seemed to suit his taste quite well.

Then, as if suddenly remembering that he had not continued his proposal, he adjusted his tie once, corrected his posture, and got down to business.

“Attorney Geum. Don’t you always feel a sense of hunger? A hunger of existence…”

He looked around theatrically.

“Meals in such… shabby and ordinary places can fill a hungry stomach.

However. You are different, Attorney Geum. Looking at you, I got a feeling immediately…”

He glanced at the soybean paste dish on the table and continued speaking.

“Here, this soybean paste for dipping garlic. It’s a low-cost, cheap product. And the seasoning for this stir-fried pork must also be commercial. A low-cost product made and sold in large quantities.

If you fill your stomach in a place like this… you will never know what kind of food comes out of a ‘high-end course meal’ where every single ingredient is luxurious.”

Attorney Oh Ji-yul’s eyes flashed as if piercing through Geum Nae-yeong.

“Attorney Geum. Are you satisfied with your current firm? Is that the highest position you can rise to?

Won’t you dream with us of rising to the highest place in a truly large pond?

‘Fufu… Perfect.’

The expression of Attorney Oh Ji-yul as he threw the last sentence.

A strange self-satisfaction was contained in his face, as if to say, ‘I have delivered all the prepared lines now.’

‘If I said this much, he will naturally be shaken. If he just asks about the terms… I will close by saying we will match his salary as much as possible.

With a face like this and this much fame, he will be a great help in growing the firm to a mid-sized one.’

Attorney Oh Ji-yul thought so to himself and expected Geum Nae-yeong’s reaction.

However, the moment he heard Geum Nae-yeong’s response.

The smile slowly disappeared from his face, and his expression froze hard.

“So… it is a network law firm. Legally, it is not a single law firm, but it operates in a connected form to look like a single organization on the outside.

So you are saying you will set me up as the representative of the Seocho branch of that network law firm?”

When Geum Nae-yeong asked, Attorney Oh Ji-yul quickly waved his hands.

“Oh, no. We are not at all a franchise-style network law firm where one person writes the briefs, another runs to court, and lawsuits are handled roughly like a machine.”

He shook his head with an exaggerated smile.

“It is a concept of ‘growing together as a branch’ toward a large law firm. As I explained earlier, our goal is a law firm that surpasses Kim & Chang.

The beginning may be small and shabby like this shop, but the end will be grand. Haha!”

When Attorney Oh Ji-yul threw his bluff-filled closing line, Geum Nae-yeong blinked slowly.

And said quietly.

“It is 36,000 won.”

“…Pardon? Wh-what…?”

At the unexpected words, Oh Ji-yul’s face froze in an instant.

“The 36,000 won for the food you just ate.”

Geum Nae-yeong explained calmly.

“There is no such thing as ‘three servings that feel like two’ in the world. Since the owner seems to have given us three servings for this amount, pay the price for three servings. I did not touch the food, so pay for what you ate alone.”

“Ah… yes… the-the payment is… I will pay. Then, after the meal, at least a c-coffee in front of this…”

Oh Ji-yul’s voice grew smaller and smaller, and the bluff of grandness he had joyfully shouted just moments ago vanished without a trace.

“Your level of investigation about me is very insufficient. If scored, it is about 46 points.”

Geum Nae-yeong said in a quiet voice devoid of any emotion.

“Eat all the remaining food before you leave.

I can make a law firm that surpasses Kim & Chang on my own. So there is no reason at all for me to join your firm.”

Having finished speaking, Geum Nae-yeong pushed back his chair and stood up. Oh Ji-yul stared at him blankly, speechless.

Just then, Geum Nae-yeong, who had stood up, took off his jacket with a snap.

Oh Ji-yul’s face froze.

“…Uh?”

Geum Nae-yeong hung his jacket on the back of a chair at the table behind him, naturally took an apron with a large toad drawn on it from one side of the shop, and wrapped it around his body.

And approached Oh Ji-yul again.

“Customer,”

His tone was much more polite than before.

“We use ssamjang made with soybean paste directly obtained from Jeongsan, Gangwon Province. The seasonings are also all natural ingredients, and we only use exactly one type of MSG.

However, it is difficult to tell you in detail as the recipe is a secret.”

Oh Ji-yul’s eyes grew even wider. Geum Nae-yeong continued flatly.

“This is not a shabby restaurant. The business registration is formally done… and judging by the income tax paid relative to last year’s sales, it is probably in the upper ranks among the surrounding shops.”

Geum Nae-yeong said to the shop owner, who was staring blankly at the table.

“Mother, this gentleman was curious about our ingredients, so I only told him what is disclosed. And he says he is leaving soon.”

“…O-oh… I see.”

The mother nodded with an expression of not knowing what was going on at all.

Oh Ji-yul’s face slowly turned pale.

“Uh… what… what… Mother??”

He seemed to have grasped the situation only then. Oh Ji-yul had built a sloppy scouting strategy relying only on the information that Geum Nae-yeong ‘likes spicy stir-fried pork and often stops by this restaurant in the evening.’

He thought he had strategically selected this restaurant to score points, but he didn’t even check who the owner here was, or why the signboard said ‘Spicy Stir-fried Pork Restaurant with an Attorney Son Who Graduated from Hankuk University.’

And now, he was paying the price.

Leaning slightly on the chair next to Oh Ji-yul’s table, Geum Nae-yeong silently watched with a cold gaze to see if Oh Ji-yul ate the remaining food to the end.

Oh Ji-yul realized with his whole body that this scouting had failed completely and irreversibly.

And the stir-fried pork was needlessly delicious.