CI 4.6

Won Hee-yeon circled around Son Yeo-il like a dog inspecting its owner who had returned after petting another animal. He sniffed the air and even brushed off Son Yeo-il’s clothes despite there being no dust. Since it was an embarrassing situation regardless of Son Yeo-il’s intention, he awkwardly changed the subject.

“Oh, about the case. It was really well resolved.”

“Really? So we don’t have to run into that guy again?”

“Yes! And that’s not all. I’m telling you, something completely unexpected happened. Just as we were about to start the hearing, suddenly…”

Son Yeo-il, who was about to launch into a detailed account, suddenly sensed someone’s presence and immediately stopped talking. With a chilling thought that maybe it was Koo Dae-hyun—after all, speak of the devil and he shall appear—he turned his head only to find an equally unexpected figure approaching.

“…Attorney?”

It turned out to be the Koo & Chang attorney who had appeared at the mediation hearing earlier and whom Son Yeo-il had faced in the redevelopment district case before. Son Yeo-il was startled, thinking he had followed him for case-related matters.

“Is there something omitted in the mediation terms? Just a moment, our CEO is currently…”

“Ah, no. It’s not about today’s case, but I have something urgent to discuss with Attorney Son Yeo-il. Would you care to spare a moment?”

This, too, was an unexpected development. When the confused Son Yeo-il looked toward Won Hee-yeon, the perceptive man said he would wait in the car and stepped aside. Left alone with the attorney, Son Yeo-il felt even more tension rising. He had expected him to bring up the case, but the attorney handed him a business card with a smile that was gentler than expected.

“Thank you for your time. I’ve wanted to speak with you at least once. Ever since I saw you at the Yongju branch, I thought that for a lawyer who hasn’t been in practice long, you handle your work very neatly and sharply.”

He distinctly remembered that during the first hearing of the redevelopment case, this man had been angry at Son Yeo-il for repeatedly interjecting, saying, “Why is a probationary lawyer butting in?” Yet now he was packaging that situation like this. Thinking that all successful lawyers must be sly, Son Yeo-il returned the gesture with an awkward smile and his own business card.

“You flatter me.”

“Not at all. I’m not one for empty words. But I was so impressed by you that I looked into what kind of person you are, and I heard that you had received an offer from our firm late last year but withdrew. Is that correct?”

“Yes. That did happen.”

“If I may ask…why did you decide to withdraw the confirmation?”

If a Koo & Chang attorney had approached Son Yeo-il just a month or two ago and asked about his withdrawal, Son Yeo-il would have panicked. He would have been consumed with anxiety, wondering if they knew about his history with Koo Dae-hyun and why they were asking such a question.

But now, he merely felt nonchalant about the whole thing. It didn’t seem to matter whether people within Koo & Chang knew about Koo Dae-hyun and Son Yeo-il’s past. After all, that was all in the past, and it wasn’t anything Son Yeo-il had done wrong. Son Yeo-il answered as simply as possible.

“It’s nothing special. Personal reasons.”

“I see. Actually, that’s why I wanted to speak with you today. Would you consider rejoining our firm?”

“Pardon…?”

“I’m asking if you would be interested in working with Koo & Chang. If there’s no special reason why you couldn’t in the first place.”

Son Yeo-il’s eyes wavered momentarily at the proposition. The biggest reason he couldn’t work at Koo & Chang had to do with Koo Dae-hyun, and that reason had just been eliminated. Caught off guard by the proposal that came at such a precise timing, Son Yeo-il let his words trail off.

“Well…This is so sudden. It’s difficult for me to give you an answer right now.”

“Of course. I wasn’t expecting an immediate response. It’s an important matter, so you should think carefully. Take your time to consider it and contact me, even if it’s at a later date.”

The attorney nodded rather readily for someone who had just dropped a bombshell, but he didn’t forget to subtly reveal his personal ambition.

“When you make your decision, I’d prefer it if you contacted our team directly rather than HR. Someone like you, Attorney Son, is exactly the kind of talent our team needs.”

“Ah, yes…”

“I’ve kept a busy person for far too long. I’ll be going now. Take care.”

Walking back to Won Hee-yeon’s car felt surreal. Various thoughts crossed Son Yeo-il’s mind. Just like when he had spoken with his law school classmate Park Min-jung, thoughts about his forgotten old dream came to mind first.

For a long time, Son Yeo-il had lived diligently dreaming of becoming a lawyer at a large law firm. Coming to Yongju City was less a voluntary decision and more like an unexpected accident. The reopening of a path to Koo & Chang meant having the opportunity to pursue his broken dream again.

Then came the dissatisfactions he had felt while working in Yongju City. Moments when he was troubled by having to defend terrible suspects, or when he felt disillusioned during stakeouts in front of motels. At those times, he had certainly thought, If I had gone to Koo & Chang, I wouldn’t be doing these things. But…

Even old dreams are ultimately things of the past.

Looking back now, Son Yeo-il questioned whether his dream had been a true dream at all. The biggest reason Son Yeo-il had wanted to join a large law firm, specifically Koo & Chang, was to earn money for his mother’s medical treatment.

At that time, he hadn’t had the luxury to think about anything else. In fact, Son Yeo-il had rushed forward frantically without even knowing what he liked or what he wanted to become.

Is it different now? What I want to do now, the life I want to live…

While lost in thought as he walked, Son Yeo-il had already reached Won Hee-yeon’s car. Won Hee-yeon, who had been watching Son Yeo-il approach from a distance, was sitting in the driver’s seat, smiling broadly and waving at him.

Ah, what a dazzling smile.

Looking at that sunny smile, Son Yeo-il instinctively knew he could never return to his life before meeting Won Hee-yeon. Though he was being strongly pulled as if by gravity, rather than being swayed and shaken, Son Yeo-il was becoming more and more solid by the day.

That gentle man would support Son Yeo-il with an unwavering smile no matter what he chose to do. This would be true even if Son Yeo-il decided to return to Seoul and work at Koo & Chang, and certainly also if he decided to quit being a lawyer altogether.

Because of this, Son Yeo-il could clearly see where he belonged. With a smile that had somehow come to resemble Won Hee-yeon’s, Son Yeo-il happily got into the passenger seat.

“Did your talk go well? Oh my, it’ll be time for dinner soon.”

“You’re right. It must have been hard waiting.”

“There you go again, saying unnecessary things. What should we do? You must be tired from your big task, so would it be better to have a relaxed meal nearby and talk, or should we head straight back?”

“Let’s start driving.”

Obedient to Son Yeo-il’s words, Won Hee-yeon first stepped on the accelerator and then confirmed their destination.

“Then, shall we go to Yongju City?”

“Yes. Let’s go back to our home.”

The moment he uttered the words “our home,” Son Yeo-il’s heart beat loudly. It felt like swallowing an endlessly large piece of cotton candy. Won Hee-yeon must have felt the same way, as he grinned broadly and took Son Yeo-il’s hand, kissing the back of it.

“That’s right. That’s a good idea. What are you planning to do when we get there?”

“Hmm…conversation.”

Before Won Hee-yeon could make another nonsensical comment about “bodily conversation,” Son Yeo-il quickly added, “Tell me about yourself, Hee-yeon.”

“About me?”

“Yes. Stories from your past. What you were like as a child, how it was when you worked in different jobs, things like that.”

This seemed unexpected—Won Hee-yeon stammered his reply as if flustered.

“Well, there weren’t many interesting things. Why would you want to hear such rough stories?”

Won Hee-yeon had rarely talked about how he had lived before meeting Son Yeo-il. This was in contrast to how excessively sincere he was about all other aspects.

Whenever he praised Son Yeo-il’s work as valuable and excellent, and whenever he embraced Son Yeo-il’s past actions that had been almost foolishly diligent, Son Yeo-il felt both grateful and curious. He wondered if perhaps, while praising Son Yeo-il, Won Hee-yeon was simultaneously expressing regret about his own past.

Even without having heard about Won Hee-yeon’s past, Son Yeo-il could guess that it was more bumpy and winding than his own. He also knew that not all stories would be pleasant to hear.

Nevertheless, Son Yeo-il wanted to know. That was what being together meant. In front of the hesitant Won Hee-yeon, instead of answering immediately, Son Yeo-il carefully chose his words to express his feelings most beautifully and clearly.

“Hmm…you don’t have to talk about things you don’t want to. But I am curious. I wonder what experiences you’ve gone through to become such an amazing person.”

Though much brighter than before, Son Yeo-il still wasn’t a particularly affectionate character. He was especially terrible at making empty talk, unable to say anything that wasn’t true or sincere. Knowing this well, gentle waves rose in Won Hee-yeon’s eyes upon hearing Son Yeo-il’s response.

Whether feeling awkward or touched, Won Hee-yeon couldn’t continue speaking for a moment and just fiddled with the tip of his nose. Slowly gathering his emotions, he smiled broadly again as usual and began to joke.

“Right. Since my husband wants it, I, Won Hee-yeon, should prepare a thorough briefing of my life story according to the five W’s and one H.”

“Yes. Please do it properly.”

“Oh my, would there be any doubt? Husband. Shall I prepare some music too?”

“Of course. I was in the car, and when no music came on, I thought maybe Yongju City’s DJ was on strike.”

Following Won Hee-yeon’s booming laughter, a loud beat—boom-tss boom-tss-tss—filled the car. Won Hee-yeon’s car smoothly sped along the highway, heading toward the place they would return to.

***

“Sorry, I’m late. Did you wait long?”

On a holiday weekend as summer had passed and autumn was deepening, Son Yeo-il had arranged to meet his law school classmate Park Min-jung at a brunch café in Yongju City. Since she was coming as a visitor from the main branch, Son Yeo-il, who lived nearby, had planned to arrive at the café first and wait for her there, but things didn’t go as planned.

Last night, Won Hee-yeon had hardly let him sleep, causing him to oversleep. By the time he opened his eyes, there was barely any time left before their appointment, and to make matters worse, Park Min-jung had already contacted him, saying she would arrive a bit early.

Son Yeo-il, feeling embarrassed, had rushed over, but she, who had already ordered food and was seated, waved her hand with a relaxed smile as if nothing was wrong.”Why are you running in like that? I’m the one who came early. It’s exactly one o’clock now. The food just arrived.” 

“Still. Huff…you came from far away and I was late.” 

“This is my hometown, so it’s nothing. Anyway, it’s been really long. We’ve been telling each other to meet since spring, but we’re finally meeting in autumn.” 

“I know. Your probation period is almost over already. Have you been well? Let’s eat first. The coffee here is good.”

Son Yeo-il, who was thirsty from running all the way here, gulped down his iced Americano. Though he had caught his breath, the dark circles under his eyes showed that he wasn’t in good shape.

It was because he had tossed and turned too much in bed last night, but Park Min-jung, a junior staff member at a law firm who only saw what she wanted to see, seemed to misunderstand that Son Yeo-il was suffering due to being overworked. While pouring dressing on her salad, she carefully asked.

“It seems like you’re busy these days? I heard your firm takes on so many cases. Don’t you work overtime every day?” 

“Mmm, I do overtime when needed. But there are times when I can take it easy too.” 

It wasn’t false modesty—Son Yeo-il, who had now become quite skilled at attorney work, truly had fewer overtime hours than before. However, Park Min-jung, who had seen Son Yeo-il effortlessly handle brutal schedules during law school, didn’t easily believe it.

“Obviously. You say that, but I know how hard you work. Oh, didn’t you say your firm doesn’t allow vacations during court recess? You did get to rest during the recess, right?” Worried that Head Attorney Bae might get a reputation as a terrible lawyer—though he might already have one—Son Yeo-il shook his head emphatically.

“No, no. My boss told me to rest comfortably, so I even went on a trip.”

 “Really? That must have been nice. Where did you go?” 

“Um…Hawaii.” 

Feeling like he was unintentionally bragging, Son Yeo-il mumbled shyly. The fact that his first overseas trip was to such a luxurious destination was, of course, solely because of Won Hee-yeon.

Hawaii was actually a compromise. When he first told Won Hee-yeon that “There’s a two-week court recess,” Won Hee-yeon had jumped for joy and prepared ultra-luxury travel itineraries to places like the Maldives, Cancun, and cruise trips, filling the entire two weeks.

When the model student Son Yeo-il complained like an old-fashioned boss that “even if the court recess is two weeks, a law firm can’t take the full two weeks off, and how much are you planning to spend on summer vacation anyway,” Won Hee-yeon changed it to a shorter schedule and a more modest destination—Hawaii.

Son Yeo-il realized from the moment he arrived at the first-class airport lounge that a trip with Won Hee-yeon wouldn’t be particularly modest, but he didn’t want to nitpick. The power of money was sweet and comfortable enough to make him immediately regret complaining about spending too much.

“No way! That must have been amazing.” 

“Yeah, it was good. It was hot there too.” 

Son Yeo-il responded modestly because Park Min-jung was looking at him with such envious eyes, but he had indeed spent an incredibly blissful time at the vacation spot, just as Park Min-jung had expressed.

The colorful underwater scenery he saw while snorkeling, the scorching sunlight that nearly burned his skin, the ticklish sand under his feet, and the fragrant flower petals that fluttered over the blue swimming pool were still vividly etched in Son Yeo-il’s memory.

It was a perfect trip except for the embarrassment of Won Hee-yeon lying to everyone they met by saying, “We’re here on our honeymoon.” Actually, honestly, even that lie felt good. It was nice to hold hands and walk around in broad daylight without worrying about others.

“Hawaii. Wow…When will I ever go? Maybe for my honeymoon.” At Park Min-jung’s wistful comment, Son Yeo-il nervously swallowed. If she asks who I went to Hawaii with, what should I say?

Son Yeo-il hadn’t actually specified his vacation destination to his office either. If Manager Kim found out he’d been to a place famous for honeymoons, she would persistently dig into who he went with, like a trained hunting dog that wouldn’t let go of its prey’s neck.

Won Hee-yeon wasn’t concerned about coming out, he seemed to want to advertise the fact that he was dating Son Yeo-il in the local daily newspaper, but Son Yeo-il still continued to maintain his firm stance that his personal life was private.

Should I just be honest? Would that be okay since Min-jung is a friend? She probably already knows about my orientation anyway. Getting ahead of himself, Son Yeo-il started wondering which of the many photos of Won Hee-yeon in his phone gallery he should show if Park Min-jung asked to see pictures of his partner. However, Park Min-jung vaguely moved on to the next topic. She seemed to be the type who respected privacy, typical of the MZ generation.

“I only rested for two days during court recess. Instead, I went to Jeju Island with my parents during Chuseok.” 

“Ah, Jeju Island must have been nice too. I actually haven’t properly traveled to Jeju either.” 

“It was nice. It was a bit disappointing that there were so many people because of Chuseok. But I’m one of the lucky ones. The junior lawyers in the office next door were working even during the holidays. Did you also rest during the holidays?” 

“Yeah. But I didn’t go anywhere…just stayed home.” 

Son Yeo-il was being evasive again. Last Chuseok, Son Yeo-il had performed ancestral rites for his deceased mother for the first time. But he couldn’t share such a heavy story with a law school classmate he hadn’t seen in a while.

In fact, Son Yeo-il hadn’t easily shared this with Won Hee-yeon either. Worried about burdening Won Hee-yeon, whom he was living with, he had only planned to prepare quietly by himself when Chuseok came.

However, it was Won Hee-yeon who brought it up first. He naturally suggested they go shopping for ingredients, then searched online and fumblingly prepared the ancestral food together with Son Yeo-il. Having grown up as an orphan and never finding his blood relatives even as an adult, he said it was his first time even seeing an ancestral rite table.

<Thanks to you, I get to experience something like this.> Won Hee-yeon’s voice had lost all of its usual playfulness when he said that. Throughout the preparation and performance of the ceremony, he was calm and affectionate, as if they were doing something that naturally needed to be done together.

Thanks to him, Son Yeo-il was able to stay composed too. Though tears welled up a bit when he was bowing, by the time they finished and were cleaning up, he was even joking that Won Hee-yeon would make a first-class bride.

Because of this, even now when recalling that time, Son Yeo-il could maintain a gentle smile without tearing up or looking grim. Park Min-jung, completely unaware of Son Yeo-il’s complicated circumstances, chattered away.

“Really? Your office sounds better than I thought. Well, if I were the boss, I’d let someone like you take plenty of vacation too. You don’t just do what you’re told, you bring in clients too.” 

“Ah, I’m not really bringing in clients in earnest yet. I just got lucky with a few cases.” 

“Even if it’s just a few cases, aren’t they usually big ones? Anyway, let’s talk about the important stuff now. I’m talking about Koo Dae-hyun’s broken engagement lawsuit. Any interesting behind-the-scenes stories?”

Park Min-jung leaned in with an intrigued expression as she got to the main point, but Son Yeo-il awkwardly averted his gaze.

“Well…I mentioned this before. According to the settlement terms, I agreed not to disclose case details to outside parties.”

“Ugh, I knew you’d say that. Always such a model student. But there must be some parts you can talk about. I mean the woman on the other side, your client. What was she like? The rumor at LoWithUs is that she was extremely wealthy.”

“That’s right. She came from a good family, and she herself worked in the art field with an impressive career. Plus, she had a great personality and was beautiful.”

“And someone like that almost got tangled up with a guy like Koo Dae-hyun? You really did humanity a huge favor.”

Son Yeo-il laughed out loud, but Park Min-jung continued to seriously badmouth Koo Dae-hyun.

“Is Koo Dae-hyun just your average nutcase? Did you hear about this? After the broken engagement lawsuit was settled, he suddenly showed up at Koo & Chang. He made a scene demanding to talk to CEO Koo and ended up being dragged away by security.”

“Really? This is my first time hearing this. It seems like people at LoWithUs know more gossip than I do.”

“That’s true. There’s constantly new information coming out these days. Apparently, CEO Koo was so furious that he practically disowned his son. Kicked him out of the house too. It seems Dae-hyun has given up on Koo & Chang and is now sending applications to other firms, but keeps getting rejected. People are saying he might not even complete his probation period.”Listening to Park Min-jung’s words while drinking his coffee, the bitter coffee tasted pleasantly nutty in his mouth. It was satisfying to hear Park Min-jung freely express all the things Son Yeo-il wanted to say himself, like “he brought it upon himself” and “serves him right.” After thoroughly gossiping, she returned to talking about the two of them and carefully asked.

“So…are you planning to stay in Yongju City even after your probation period ends? No plans to change jobs? You could move now if you wanted to.”

“Actually, after the broken engagement lawsuit settlement, a lawyer from Koo & Chang came to me and suggested I reconsider the withdrawn offer.”

“Really? And then?”

“I did think about it, but I declined.”

Park Min-jung looked at Son Yeo-il with an expression that suggested she wanted to shout “Why on earth?!” but was holding herself back. Despite everything, Koo & Chang cast a large shadow in the legal world, and was inevitably an object of envy, especially for junior lawyers.

Son Yeo-il smiled gently and continued.

“It’s a shame, of course. But I’m happy where I am now.”

“Ha, I envy you. Only you could say something like that. You could go back anytime if you wanted to.”

“You think so? But I genuinely mean it when I say I’m happy now. My mind is at peace, the workload is manageable, and it’s fulfilling.”

“What? Fulfilling? You’re saying the work is fulfilling? That makes me even more envious. Will I ever have days like that? Right now, I have many more moments of existential crisis while working. You know, this only happens around the time when I start to doubt if I should really be doing this kind of thing.”

“I have plenty of those moments too. I’m just saying I occasionally feel fulfillment as well…Oh, I’ve decided to do that thing. Non-exclusive victim court-appointed lawyer registration.”

Son Yeo-il had made up his mind to do this work at the same time he decided to stay in Yongju City. The fact that there was no lawyer handling these cases in the city where he happened to be staying felt, to put it a bit grandly, like fate to Son Yeo-il. Since this was a topic that had come up during a previous phone call, Park Min-jung quickly agreed.

“Really? You’re going to take on that kind of work when you’re already so busy? You’re really something, Son Yeo-il. But didn’t you say your Head Attorney told you not to do it?”

When Son Yeo-il first mentioned registering as a victim’s court-appointed lawyer, Head Attorney Bae wasn’t very pleased. No matter how laissez-faire he might be, no boss would welcome additional work for their associates outside of office duties. Moreover, it could create constraints on taking on sexual crime cases.

Deeply disappointed by Head Attorney Bae’s reaction, Son Yeo-il unthinkingly brought it up to Won Hee-yeon over dinner that evening, and at that moment, Won Hee-yeon’s eyes changed completely as something truly terrifying came out of his mouth.

<Is that so? Head Attorney Bae is quite disappointing. Maybe we should just open Son Yeo-il Law Office in place of Bae Gi-dong Law Office, shouldn’t we?>

Realizing that the person he was complaining to happened to be the building owner of their office, Son Yeo-il felt a moment of alarm and repeatedly asked Won Hee-yeon not to contact Head Attorney Bae, saying he would handle it himself.

Won Hee-yeon clearly nodded in agreement in front of Son Yeo-il, but somehow, two days later when they met again, Head Attorney Bae had changed his position and was now pushing Son Yeo-il to quickly register for court appointments.

He couldn’t shake the suspicion that his boyfriend had done something behind the scenes, but there was no need to tell Park Min-jung about all that, so Son Yeo-il answered simply.

“It’s fine now. He seems to have changed his mind. By the way, did that case you mentioned before get resolved?”

“The one where I took on a stalking accusation, but the client turned out to be the stalker? Don’t even get me started. That client was such a horror story…”

The two continued chatting for quite some time, sharing stories about cases they had handled, gossiping about their office directors, and discussing worries about their futures. When they came to their senses, the sky outside the window had tilted far to the west, and Son Yeo-il was startled to check the time.

“It’s already gotten so late.”

“I know. We should start wrapping up. I’m going to visit my parents’ house while I’m here. Do you have plans for dinner?”

“Not plans…exactly, but I do have someone to eat dinner with.”

Answering somewhat meaningfully, Son Yeo-il worried again that Park Min-jung might ask, “Who is it?” In fact, he probably had been hoping for it. Judging by the slight disappointment he felt when Park Min-jung showed no sign of pressing the issue and simply said “I see” before briskly getting up, that seemed to have been the case.

Now that he thought about it, Son Yeo-il apparently wanted to talk about Won Hee-yeon to his friend. If Park Min-jung had given even the slightest opening, Son Yeo-il might have held her back and happily gone on and on about his boyfriend.

He’s someone I met in Yongju City, and he’s a person who’s way too good for me. I feel like all my past struggles were just so I could meet someone like him!

In fact, Son Yeo-il wanted to say it even now. Without context, even though Park Min-jung hadn’t asked or shown any curiosity, he wanted to proclaim about 500 wonderful things about Won Hee-yeon.

Wow…am I a simp? Oh, is that term not used for men? Does it even matter since I’m gay?’

Lost in these random thoughts, Son Yeo-il said goodbye to Park Min-jung. Even thinking about it again as he turned away, he really regretted not being able to brag about Won Hee-yeon.

Promising himself that next time they met, he would bring up his partner first, regardless of whether he was asked, he proceeded to walk out to the cafe parking lot. Just as he was about to contact him to say the meeting was over, somehow Won Hee-yeon’s car was already waiting for him. Son Yeo-il was surprised and quickly got into the car.

“You haven’t been waiting here the whole time, have you? How are you here when I didn’t even tell you when I’d be done?”

Won Hee-yeon, who was wearing a particularly bright rose-patterned shirt today, smiled as brightly as the shirt. It was a refreshing smile that made him want to brag about him to everyone in the world.

However, unlike that smile, Won Hee-yeon’s car, which was always clean, was a bit messy. In the cup holder of the console box, there was a paper cup with bite marks all over the edges, and there were several lollipop sticks that were tattered with teeth marks.