An Unexpected Offer

“I’m back.”
“Oh, you’re back?”

When I arrived at the office, Jeong Donghyeok, who was meticulously arranging everything in perfect alignment, greeted me.
And he asked with his eyes.

‘Are you going to pack your things?’

Feeling his gaze, I opened my mouth with an awkward expression.

“I won today.”
“…Really?”

His uncharacteristically stunned single word drew everyone’s attention.
But as soon as they confirmed the subject of the question was ‘Cha Yohan,’ their gazes quickly averted as fast as they had gathered.

“You really won? Today?”
“Yes. It’s thanks to you, Mr. Jeong. Thank you. But by any chance, do you know anything about the Dike Law Office?”

Jeong Donghyeok erased his surprised expression and quickly reverted to his usual self.
He threw down a stack of documents as if tossing them aside and approached me with the same sharp demeanor as before.
I peppered Jeong Donghyeok with questions about Dike.

“I looked it up, but besides a few public interest cases, there wasn’t much information.”
“They mostly handle public interest cases. And those kinds of cases don’t get much publicity, so that’s probably why. But why are you suddenly interested in that place…”

Jeong Donghyeok tilted his head, puzzled, as if he hadn’t expected me to ask such a question.

“Is there some kind of problem with that office?”
“No, on the contrary, it’s a very good place… but the representative’s principles are so strong that it’s famous for lawyers and office managers not being able to last long.”
“Principles?”
“I heard from someone I know before… that office has some kind of principle.”

After a moment of thought, Jeong Donghyeok narrowed his neat eyebrows and spoke again.

“‘Lawyering should be used for justice, not as a means of business.’”
“Justice…”

I mulled over the word for a moment.
Jeong Donghyeok continued.

“They mostly handle public interest cases for free, so the legal fees are not very high compared to the working hours. Yes, I mean the success fees.”

No success fee, which is basically an incentive.
At those words, I scratched the corner of my eye for a moment. After all, a job is directly related to one’s livelihood.

“So they don’t hire well, and the standards are so high that all the lawyers who were there have left, and now I hear only the representative is left. If there’s anyone else, it’s probably just one person.”

As expected, you have to hear this kind of information from someone in the industry.

‘The conversations between office managers are always the most honest.’

But the more I heard from Jeong Donghyeok, the more my interest grew.

‘He hasn’t changed a bit, my senior.’

That fact brought an strangely reassuring feeling.
I had been thrown into someone else’s body overnight without even time to accept my own death.
In such a situation, to be able to hear news of someone I knew, even like this.

“Thank you.”
“I’m glad if I was of help. But really, why that place?”
“I’m a little interested.”

I bowed my head in greeting and then followed the hologram’s guidance to Cha Yohan’s seat.
And I sent a reply.

Cha Yohan seemed to be a generally quiet person.
Even among quiet people, he was closer to silent than quiet.
There was no discernible color in his house, and the same went for his clothes.

‘Though I wonder what I could have found in a house where even the towels are gray.’

I also tended to choose achromatic clothes for a serious image.
Nevertheless, Cha Yohan’s house was, how should I put it…
Overall, it lacked vitality.

‘Even a model home would be more lively than this.’

Today, I chose a suit from among Cha Yohan’s clothes that looked the cleanest.
It was a suit that anyone could tell had been cherished and worn with care.

[Wear that one.]

The hologram pointedly chose that suit.
What power did I have, having lost my body and had my soul stolen? I could only obediently listen to the blackmailer.

[Blackmailer, you say.]

If you hold my life hostage and tell me to do this and that, what else are you if not a blackmailer?
No reply came to my teasing, half-serious, half-joking complaint.
I didn’t mind and left the house.

<The doors will open on your right, your right.>

After transferring once on the subway and walking for five minutes, I was able to find the sign I was looking for.

This was not a neighborhood where law offices, law firms, and lawyer’s offices were scattered everywhere like ‘Justice’.
The building with the sign was located on the second floor of a small five-story building.

Step, step.

I slowly walked up to the second floor.

Chime.

As soon as I pushed open the spotlessly clean glass door, a refreshing wind chime sound was heard.
I looked up and saw a bird-shaped wind chime hanging there.

‘…Did Won Youngoh always have this kind of taste?’

But the face that was looking at me when I opened the door and entered was exactly the same as the one in my memory.
A man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, with sharp eyes and a face that looked tired but not exhausted.
Won Youngoh was originally a handsome man with sharp features, but his current atmosphere felt even sharper.

‘…Ah, this smell.’

A familiar scent brought back memories from years ago.
The fragrant coffee aroma that Won Youngoh had brewed himself for my interview.
I know that taste.
My senior’s coffee skills were on par with a barista’s.
When we worked late together, we would often drink it and catch our breath, even for a moment.
The nostalgic scent unknowingly triggered my taste buds.
So much so that my greeting was delayed.

Ding.

[You’re about to drool. Get a grip.]

Ah, uh-huh.

“…Hello. I’m Cha Yohan, here for the interview today.”

I almost asked him how he had been.
Because this was the first time I had seen him since he left ‘Justice’ like that.

“Yes, hello. You’re earlier than I expected.”
“Yes. Did I intrude by any chance?”

Even though I was only ten minutes early.
Won Youngoh shook his head and pointed to the table in the middle of the office.
It was a wooden table with an antique feel.
The office interior was also more classic than modern.

“Please sit here.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you like coffee?”
“Yes.”

And there was no coffee as delicious as the one my senior brewed.
I was just disappointed that I couldn’t tell him that.

“Cold? Or hot?”
“Hot, please.”

Soon, a mug with fragrant steam rising from it appeared in front of my eyes.

Thump.

“Drink up. It should be decent.”
“Thank you.”

His words were filled with pride.
As soon as I took a sip, the delicious coffee, which was enough to wake me up, warmed my throat as it went down.
This was probably the only time I could drink this coffee while it was still warm.
At least, I knew Won Youngoh. Even if it was only a fragmented part of him.
But my senior didn’t know me in this state.
As I had expected, exactly ten seconds later, Won Youngoh began the interview without any warning.

“I hear Cha Yohan has quite a few nicknames.”
“Do I?”

In times like these, it’s best to feign ignorance with an innocent face. Pretending to know can easily reveal your inner thoughts. Whatever they may be.
I feigned ignorance and took another sip of coffee. The temptation before my eyes was too fragrant to resist.

“You don’t know ‘Zero-Wins’? Zero win rate. I hear everyone knows your nickname even if they don’t know your real name, Cha Yohan.”

Although he said ‘Zero’ playfully, Won Youngoh’s eyes were not smiling at all.
This was a high-level tactic to unsettle the opponent’s composure. But it didn’t feel very stimulating to me.

‘Is it because I’m not really Cha Yohan?’

It might have been because I still felt a sense of disconnect between Cha Yohan’s body and my, Yoon Eunho’s, mind.
Or it could be because it was an interview method I had seen countless times at ‘Justice.’
It wasn’t my preferred method in the first place.
It was Hyeon Yeongje’s preferred method.

“If they show weakness in front of us from the beginning, how will they be in front of a client? This is a sure way to find out from the start whether they’re the type to do that or not.”

It was a method to weed out those who could maintain their composure through extremely primitive and crude stimulation.
It was also a common belief in this industry that one had to endure such interviews to be able to handle cases and clients.
Not just Hyeon Yeongje’s opinion.
I nodded and opened my mouth to Won Youngoh, who was waiting for an answer.
To the man sitting opposite me in a gray three-piece suit, looking at me as if to size me up.

“I’ve heard it a few times, but I didn’t know it had that meaning.”
“Hmm, so you’ve heard of it.”
“I had a trial yesterday.”
“Did you win?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of trial was it?”

I could guess what Won Youngoh was thinking as he asked the questions. Won Youngoh would already know the outcome.
Given Won Youngoh’s personality, it was impossible that he wouldn’t have looked into it.
Last night, after much thought, I had also concluded that he had probably given me the interview call for that reason.
But I calmly replied to Won Youngoh.

“Self-defense against an armed robber. So I’m not ‘Zero-Wins’ anymore, am I?”

I asked back, and then added.

“So from now on, my nickname will be not ‘Zero-Wins,’ but ‘Hundred-Wins.’”

Swoosh.

As if my answer and atmosphere were unexpected, Won Youngoh leaned forward from his chair, which he had been leaning back in.
And he slowly dragged a file that had been placed on one side of the dark wooden table from the beginning.

“Can you take responsibility for those words?”
“Yes.”

What’s not to be able to do?
Defending is what I do best.

“Hmm.”

Won Youngoh, who had his palm on the file, pushed his hand towards me.

“This is a murder case I’m currently handling. I’m curious about Cha Yohan’s argument. This is the interview. Today was just a face-to-face confirmation.”

Won Youngoh smiled for the first time and added.

“Oh, by the way, the trial is in a week.”
“Yes.”

After that conversation, I finished the moderately cooled coffee without leaving a single sip.
Won Youngoh watched me with an interested expression.
Because I was just sipping my coffee without asking any questions.

“Does it suit your taste?”
“Yes. It’s been a while since I had such delicious coffee.”

At my words, Won Youngoh smiled without hiding his pleased expression.
Who would dislike it when their creation is praised as excellent?
And so, Won Youngoh personally saw me off.

“Then, see you in a week.”

As soon as I returned to Cha Yohan’s house, I opened the case file.
After a ritual bath, I reverently put on the Buddhist scriptures.
This is essential to clear my mind and focus.

Ding.

[This is a case with many issues.]

Indeed.
As the hologram said, this case had quite a few interesting parts.
There are surprisingly many criteria for a lawyer to take on a case.
The first question everyone asks is simple.

‘Can I win?’

In criminal cases, the main issues were how reasonable the evidence was, what the prosecution’s argument was, and how consistent the defendant’s statement was.
When all of that was gathered and assessed, if a blueprint for an argument could be drawn, the probability of winning naturally increased.

“The defendant is the victim’s PC Cafe part-timer…”

And a night-shift part-timer at that.
Surprisingly many incidents occur in employment relationships. Whether criminal or civil.
In this case, it was a murder case.

‘The defendant’s alibi is too weak.’

The victim was the owner of the PC Cafe.
As usual, he had come to check on the night-shift operations and was found stabbed to death.
The brutal scene was all caught on the CCTV installed on the Cafe ceiling.

‘Did he commit the crime so brazenly?’

The perpetrator, wearing a PC bang uniform, a black hat, and a mask to completely cover his face, committed the crime brazenly under the CCTV.
Even though his face was not identified, the reason why the part-timer ‘Jeong Jiwoon’ went from suspect to defendant was simple.
Because his fingerprints were all over the knife used as the murder weapon.

“Of course my fingerprints would be on it! How many people order food at the PC bang!”

The suspect’s protest was written verbatim in the report.
But Jeong Jiwoon’s alibi disappeared due to his own decision.

Suspect: I was really at the store at that time!
Detective: There’s no evidence, is there? Does it make sense that all the store’s CCTV cameras were down at that exact moment? When it’s all recorded like this?
Suspect: …I did turn off the store’s CCTV cameras. But the owner checks and nags every minute, so sometimes I pretended it was broken and took a break. I really didn’t kill him! I just slacked off a bit!

Even after reviewing all the reports and files, a question arose.

‘Why did Won Youngoh take on a case like this?’