CI 3.6

“You know his father, right? Chairman Koo. Our families are close, so I know his personality. If he found out what his son has been up to, he’d be absolutely furious. The day his own reputation is damaged because of his son, he’ll immediately disown him.”

This was something Son Yeo-il knew as well. Chairman Koo was an extremely conservative person who had publicly declared that he would only pass on his wealth to his children if they became lawyers, joined Koo & Chang, got married, and had children. Son Yeo-il had heard that Koo Dae-hyun’s older brother and sisters had all followed this path, becoming lawyers and marrying early to secure their positions.

When dating Son Yeo-il, Koo Dae-hyun had repeatedly mentioned this story, boasting about what a great sacrifice he was making by dating Son Yeo-il. In retrospect, it was all gaslighting.

“Do you know what I saw on Koo Dae-hyun’s phone? It was truly disgusting.”

At the mention of Koo Dae-hyun’s phone, Son Yeo-il’s face, which had been barely suppressing laughter, darkened. Though he hadn’t done anything photo-worthy while dating Koo Dae-hyun, he was concerned that something might have been photographed without his knowledge, or that she might have seen what happened at the hotel that day.

“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. I believe it’s everyone’s freedom to date men or women. But if he likes men, he shouldn’t have gotten engaged to me. Right?”

“Yes, yes.”

“I apologize for inadvertently learning about your personal life. It must be embarrassing to have been involved with someone like him, but we’re in the same boat. I only recently found out that he had dated a decent person like you. Why, didn’t he send you some text message about a month ago?”

Ah! So she found out from that text! Feeling tense and nervous, Son Yeo-il nodded vigorously. Oh Yu-na shook her head and proceeded to click her tongue.

“Why are all exes so tacky in the same way? Do they all attend some kind of academy together? Anyway, Koo Dae-hyun is very careful about locking his phone because of what he’s doing, but then stupidly uses his birthday as the password. Thanks to that, I’ve collected quite a bit of evidence. Would you like to see?”

Oh Yu-na took out her phone but, perhaps feeling awkward, added, “But this is really…you’ll need to wash your eyes after seeing it. I’m warning you.”

Upon checking the screen, Son Yeo-il involuntarily let out an audible “ugh” of disgust. What Oh Yu-na showed him was a DM conversation where Koo Dae-hyun and some unknown man had exchanged videos of themselves masturbating. There were quite a few such conversations.

“Really disgusting, isn’t it? Is this what they call an app for gay one-night stands?”

“I’ve never used it, so I can’t say for sure, but I think that’s right. I’ve heard of it.”

“I think it is. Every time he claimed to be working late, having a company dinner, or showing off, he was making arrangements with someone through this. Isn’t this enough evidence?”

Oh Yu-na’s eyes sparkled with confidence, but Son Yeo-il answered cautiously.

“In normal cases, yes, but since the other party is also a lawyer, he might make an issue of extracting information from a locked phone. Strictly speaking, it’s a criminally punishable act. He might use that to challenge the legality or credibility of the evidence itself.”

“Haah…is that so? That’s why I even followed him myself once. He went into a place that looked obviously like a gay bar, but I gave up on following him inside because I thought I’d stand out too much. Is using a private investigator illegal too?”

“In some cases, yes. Hmm…alternatively, a more legal approach might be…”

Still deeply contemplating ways to gather evidence despite not having decided to take the case, Son Yeo-il was inwardly surprised at himself. Given the personal entanglement, it might be inappropriate for Son Yeo-il to take this case in many ways.

Furthermore, it was questionable whether Son Yeo-il was the right attorney for the client. Since the opponent was the son of Koo & Chang, rightfully, a large law firm that wouldn’t be overshadowed by Koo & Chang should handle the case.

“By the way, may I ask why you specifically want me to take this case?”

To Son Yeo-il’s careful question, Oh Yu-na responded directly, “First of all, I think it’s best not to mention the issue between you and Koo Dae-hyun in this case. Since it happened before our engagement, it’s not grounds for termination, and I don’t want to create unnecessary problems for your reputation.”

She seemed several times smarter than Koo Dae-hyun. Not only did she precisely identify the point Son Yeo-il was hesitant about, but she also spoke without hesitation about why she had chosen Son Yeo-il, as if she had already considered it thoroughly before coming here to see him.

“There are three reasons why I think Attorney Son is the right person for this case. First, if I entrust this case to another lawyer, word might reach his family before preparations are complete, and they might bury the case. Second, since Attorney Son knows who he really is, you’ll take my words seriously.”

Both were reasonable points. Chairman Koo was among the most well-connected and respected figures in the legal community. More renowned lawyers would fear antagonizing Chairman Koo, and many would dismiss claims about his son being a “garbage gay” with immediate denials.

But Son Yeo-il already had nothing but bad blood with Koo & Chang. And he knew more certainly than anyone else in the world that Koo Daehyun was indeed a “garbage gay.”

“Lastly, don’t you think the very fact that Attorney Son is handling this case would irritate Koo Dae-hyun?”

At Oh Yuna’s words, spoken with a bright smile, Son Yeo-il felt his blood begin to simmer. Revenge. Until now, he had only thought about distancing himself from Koo Dae-hyun like avoiding a swamp pit or a pile of excrement, so it was a word he hadn’t dared to consider.

Since Koo Dae-hyun had arbitrarily planned a future of “marrying Oh Yuna while having an affair with Son Yeo-il,” learning that she and Son Yeo-il were working together to investigate him would likely shock him considerably.

Moreover, if they successfully gathered evidence and Son Yeo-il managed to break off Koo Dae-hyun’s engagement, damaging his family’s reputation, there could be no greater revenge.

In fact, when Oh Yu-na had mentioned following Koo Dae-hyun to the entrance of a gay bar earlier, Son Yeo-il had unconsciously thought, If it were me, I would have followed him right inside.

Staking out to gather evidence was not, in principle, within a lawyer’s scope of work, but if it meant serving payback to an ex-boyfriend, that was different. He couldn’t miss such a big event.

“Since I’m still a junior attorney…”

At Son Yeo-il’s opening words, Oh Yu-na’s lips curled as if she feared rejection, but Son Yeo-il had already made up his mind.

“I can’t decide on taking the case by myself. I’ll speak with my boss briefly.”

There was a momentary concern that Representative Bae might hesitate to take on such a sensitive case that involved cutting down the son of Koo & Chang’s representative, but surprisingly, Bae readily agreed to take on the case.

Having enjoyed his prime as a former-judge lawyer in the countryside for too long, Representative Bae was in a position where he no longer needed to worry about his standing and could simply pursue immediate benefits. He was merely satisfied, saying, “If she’s the fiancée of someone from Koo & Chang, she must be from an extremely wealthy family!”

Representative Bae, who had been at a lunch meeting, quickly returned to the office and drew up a retainer agreement with Oh Yu-na for the engagement cancellation lawsuit. Manager Kim seemed highly excited, as if her dopamine had exceeded its threshold just from hearing the case name.

Son Yeo-il kept the details confidential despite Manager Kim’s probing, fearing she might faint if she learned that the defendant “Koo Dae-hyun” was the son of Koo & Chang’s representative or knew the specific reasons for the engagement cancellation.

“Where else in the world could you find a junior attorney like our Mr. Son! Already bringing in two cases, I’m truly blessed. Hahaha.”

Representative Bae was all smiles. The old Son Yeo-il would have been beside himself with joy just from receiving the boss’s praise, but having learned banter from Won Hee-yeon, he quickly retorted.

“In that case, Boss. Since you’re so blessed, how about giving me a bonus?”

Representative Bae looked surprised for a moment but then laughed even louder.

“Why, of course, of course. Our Mr. Son has really become a true professional now. You’re a born lawyer, indeed!”

Whether it was due to the adrenaline from his thirst for revenge or the joy of getting a bonus, Son Yeo-il demonstrated exceptional work efficiency throughout the afternoon.

With the sudden acceptance of a new case, overtime work was inevitable, but he plowed through documents so efficiently that he completed enough work to avoid overtime for the time being.

Earlier, when he had encountered Koo Dae-hyun at the courthouse in the morning, he thought his day would be ruined, but now his footsteps felt quite satisfied as he left work.

“Hee-yeon! Have you been waiting? It must have been tough all this time. Now all the busy work is done. I can leave work early for a while.”

Won Hee-yeon’s car was waiting for him in front of the building as usual. Son Yeo-il happily reported the situation as soon as he got in the car. But Won Hee-yeon, whom he expected would applaud, responded somewhat awkwardly.

“Ah, is that so? You worked hard, husband.”

His lips were smiling, but his eyes were strangely heavy. Normally, he would have been making a fuss non-stop even during the mere three-minute drive home, but today his unusual silence was even more strange.

What’s wrong? Is he upset about something?

Son Yeo-il was worried. In truth, there were many situations that could have upset Won Hee-yeon. He might have been displeased about the encounter with Koo Dae-hyun earlier, or perhaps because he had said he might finish early today but ended up working overtime for another day.

“Um, Hee-yeon. Is something wrong? If something’s bothering you, please tell me.”

When the car arrived in front of the studio apartment, Son Yeo-il gathered his courage and spoke up. Won Hee-yeon seemed to be hesitating about something, his lips quivering for a while before he finally said, “Honey, who were you with this afternoon?”

“This afternoon? I had lunch with you…”

“Not that. Someone saw you alone with a young woman at a café. Both of you were looking at a phone together. Now, there aren’t any women in Yongju City who would have coffee with my husband, so what’s this all about? I couldn’t focus on work all day because of this…”

Son Yeo-il tilted his head to one side in confusion.

A young woman? Phone? Is he talking about Oh Yu-na? But why is he acting like this?

Because he viewed women with such indifference, it took Son Yeo-il quite some time to realize why Won Hee-yeon was behaving this way.

Ah, this person. Is he jealous now?

He couldn’t help but laugh. The groundless misunderstanding was perplexing, and it was also cute to see his partner—built like a mountain and covered in tattoos—looking genuinely upset with pouting lips.

“Hee-yeon. That person is a client.”

“Huh? I heard she seemed like someone from Seoul. Why would she come all the way down here to find a lawyer?”

Son Yeo-il explained the general situation to him. Won Hee-yeon, who had shown wariness at the mention of Koo Dae-hyun’s fiancée, nodded after hearing the full story. The demonic jealousy gradually subsided, and his face soon returned to its usual beaming smile.

“Well, of course, my honey wouldn’t do such a thing! That Hong-shik fellow was saying nonsense about how you two looked like a perfect couple, making me all confused. First thing tomorrow morning, I ought to go to the animal hospital. I’ll sew that dog’s mouth shut, you know? Right?”

At first, Son Yeo-il simply nodded his head, relieved that the misunderstanding was cleared up, but somehow he began feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Even with his jealousy, this seemed like a trust issue.

He had accepted Won Hee-yeon’s wariness toward neighboring men like the guy next door or Mr. Hong-sik. But there was no need to extend that to women. It was particularly annoying that the object of his suspicion happened to be Koo Dae-hyun’s fiancée.

Does he think I could be with anyone, regardless of gender? No, nothing unusual would happen just because I had coffee with someone. Do I seem that frivolous? Is he misunderstanding because of how things started between us?

Thinking he should clarify this point to avoid similar misunderstandings in the future, Son Yeo-il spoke with slight agitation.

“But why would you make such an assumption? I’ve never been interested in women to begin with. And it’s not like I casually meet just any man either. Of course, things happened with you on the first day, but even I don’t know why I did that.”

“I-I see.”

“I don’t mean that I regret it—ultimately, I’m glad to have met you—but it’s not something I would normally do. It was even my first time, and I’m still surprised at myself for doing something I’d never done before while drunk, umm…”

As he rushed his words, it came across as if he regretted what happened that day. The more he tried to salvage the situation, the more incoherent his words became. Son Yeo-il stuttered momentarily, unsure how to conclude his explanation.

Ah, what’s wrong with me? I’m usually so good with words.

One reason his words became tangled was that Won Hee-yeon’s expression grew increasingly serious as he listened. With a wrinkle between his brows, he listened intently before carefully asking, “…Look here. I’m not asking with any other intention, but since what you’re saying seems to mean that, I just want to confirm.”

“…”

“By any chance, was that day…your first time?”

Son Yeo-il realized his slip. He had intended to avoid telling Won Hee-yeon about this, as having no prior experience was already unusual, but having his first experience while drunk with someone he just met seemed even stranger.

“…Yes.”

When asked so directly, he couldn’t lie. As Son Yeo-il responded with reddening cheeks, Won Hee-yeon blinked slowly before asking again.

“No, I mean. Not that it was your first time with someone you just met, but your very first…time?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying. Why do you keep asking?”

Embarrassed, Son Yeo-il snapped like a malfunctioning machine. Won Hee-yeon seemed equally broken; where he would normally have responded with a drawling retort, he was now busy rubbing his face vigorously. All the while, he muttered to himself, “No, no, no. I’m not that petty kind of person. Right? I’m not the type to care about whether it was someone’s first time or whatever, ha, really.”

Beneath the hands covering his face, his cheekbones visibly twitched. It was the expression of someone desperately trying not to show how pleased they were. He was so pleased that a heavy outline was clearly visible through his suit pants.