Echoes of the Past, Battles of the Present

Sharing the same memory with someone pushes a person into a certain kind of bond.
Doesn’t the individual fence that is newly built and crumbles every day flow from this common memory?
I quietly looked at Senior Jang.
A person discovers the passage of time in others.
Through the changed eyes of a person met after a long time, the graying hair, and sometimes the noticeably worn heels.

‘Senior has gray hair too.’

It was a natural thing since a considerable amount of time had passed since then.
But my feeling of seeing that scene was not natural.
It was a feeling I had when I met and talked with people I thought I would never see again.
I moved my seemingly dry lips.

“…Senior Yoon must have felt the same way. He sometimes talked about you, Judge Jang.”

It felt strange to tell my story through Cha Yohan’s mouth.
Because it felt like I was telling a very old story of someone else.

“I hope so.”

With that answer, my senior smiled for the first time since I had entered this place.
Unlike me, who had taken off my judicial robes and become a lawyer a few years after that winter, Senior Jang had continued to maintain his fame.
He stood on the side of the victims, enduring juvenile trials with increasingly serious crimes day by day.

‘But the present is more important than the past.’

The past is a time that has stopped, but the present is a moment that is moving forward.
I nodded lightly, as if making a promise.
Judge Jang, as if he had a similar thought, let out a light breath and asked me another question.

“So are you going to file a lawsuit against that city councilman now?”
“Yes.”
“I’m curious why you’re doing it, even though you know it won’t be easy.”

I answered without hesitation.

“Because that’s ‘justice’.”

Judge Jang had returned to his previous expressionless face, but I opened my mouth again.

“I believe it is a matter of course for anyone to be punished for their wrongdoings. It is also the most just way for the victims to receive even a little bit of comfort.”

Judge Jang’s gaze went to the basket on the table.
The light pouring from the ceiling made the transparent, light green candy sparkle even more.
Instead of hiding his troubled expression, Judge Jang muttered softly.

“A just way… a just way.”
“……”
“To be frank, there’s not much you can do, Lawyer Cha.”
“But the number of child victims is not small. No, it’s large. If we don’t do something now, we don’t know how many more victims there will be in the future.”

Because if they get away with their actions without any sanctions or punishments, they will repeat the same thing countless times.

‘And they’ll think it’s okay.’

That was the part I was worried about.
A perpetrator who thinks the law is on their side. And so, they shamelessly repeat the same thing, and the many victims who will suffer because of it.

“Then what method are you thinking of now, Lawyer Cha?”
“For children of this age, their parents are almost like divine beings.”

As if it were an unexpected answer, Judge Jang shrugged his eyebrows.

“So I think the most correct way is to show them in what way, and how, their parents take responsibility for their wrongdoings. The parents will also think.”
“Hmm…”
“That they need to correct their child’s delinquency.”

Jang Seongyul adjusted his glasses, which had slipped down his nose, and answered.

“That’s not wrong. And you’re planning to show that through a civil suit.”
“Yes. But I’m a little worried that the perpetrator’s parents don’t seem to be the type to easily reflect on their actions.”
“Worried?”
“It’s common for people in responsible positions to try to hide their own faults, but those parents are the opposite.”

Judge Jang looked at me intently and then opened his mouth.

“What is the ‘most’ important thing to you right now, Lawyer Cha? The perpetrator’s appropriate punishment? Or the victim’s appropriate compensation?”

‘…He’s pinpointing the exact part I’m worried about.’

After a moment’s thought, I answered.

“The victim’s appropriate compensation. Because it’s a situation where we can’t hope for the perpetrator’s appropriate punishment.”
“That’s a good choice. Because for a delinquent minor, an appropriate punishment is impossible in the first place.”
“Yes. In fact, there’s a possibility that they’ll become even more meticulous and vicious using this incident as a sample, so I can’t make a decision easily.”
“Since I’ve seen that possibility with my own eyes several times, I can’t speak easily.”

There’s something called a ‘mistake note’.
A personal record where you write down the wrong problems and analyze the reasons for the mistakes so you don’t make them again.
This situation should not become the perpetrator children’s mistake note.

‘I can’t let them use this as a means to think about how to not get caught in the future.’

There was still a long time before Oh Seunghyeon was no longer a juvenile delinquent.
So in a situation like this, the victim had to be prioritized.
As I was lost in thought for a moment, Judge Jang added.

“But despite that, don’t we all know what the biggest compensation for the victim is, Lawyer Cha, and I, and all of us.”
“…Isn’t that impossible?”

Judge Jang pulled the basket of candy forward and opened his mouth.

“I thought so too. In the past.”

Swish.

And he unwrapped a candy, put it in his mouth, and asked me. The sweet scent of green grapes instantly rushed to my nose.

“Do you want one?”

The golden letters written in the lobby of each floor sparkled under the lights. The scent that Hyeon Yeongje had specially commissioned filled the law firm.
It was a heavy, deep, woody scent.
Hyeon Yeongje was smiling with satisfaction at the scent he had created to his liking and was looking around the inside of the law firm with his secretary.
Because lately, the number of lawyers’ consecutive resignations, and as a reflex action to that, the number of employees quitting was also increasing day by day.

Step.

Hyeon Yeongje suddenly stopped in the middle of his walk.
The secretary who was following behind him also stopped in surprise.
Hyeon Yeongje stared at the transparent window.
A cold sweat reflexively formed on the secretary’s forehead.

‘What is he going to find fault with today…’

But unlike the secretary’s worries, Hyeon Yeongje asked an unexpected question.

“Who is that?”

The secretary, who had been fixing his gaze on the floor, immediately raised his head and followed Hyeon Yeongje’s gaze.
Beyond the transparent window, he saw an associate lawyer who had just come in and a middle-aged man who was naturally sitting at the head of the table.
The man was pretending not to, but instead of hiding his flowing arrogance, he was expressing it.

“…I’ll go and find out.”

Hyeon Yeongje didn’t move instead of answering.
The secretary knew that it meant he wanted an answer right now.
He hurriedly found the legal assistant of the associate lawyer from a moment ago.
Less than three minutes later, Hyeon Yeongje heard the story he wanted.

“They say it’s City Councilman Oh Uiseong.”
“Tsk.”

Hyeon Yeongje clicked his tongue at Oh Uiseong, but the people who were there felt as if they were the ones being scolded.
Whether he knew their feelings or not, Hyeon Yeongje clicked his tongue once more inwardly as he looked at the man through the window.

‘He’s putting on more airs than a congressman. And the consultation is with an associate, not a partner.’

That was the reason why Hyeon Yeongje had stopped walking.
The types who revealed their personalities like that, and who looked for juniors or associates instead of seniors or partners, were as clear as day.
The types who wanted to use a lawyer from a good law firm, but who were stingy with the money they spent on lawyers, and whose problems were moderately complicated.

‘They don’t know that being stingy with money for a lawyer is just cutting their own flesh. Well, but the company also needs those kinds of people to run.’

Just as Hyeon Yeongje, who had confirmed that the arrogant-looking man was just another passerby, was about to move on.
The secretary, with a troubled expression, carefully continued to speak from behind.
Though Hyeon Yeongje would never see his expression.

“Uh… CEO. But there seems to be one peculiar thing.”
“If there is, then there is. What do you mean, it seems to be?”
“I-I’m sorry… Councilman Oh’s son caused a problem at school, and they say the opposing lawyers are Won Youngoh and Cha Yohan.”

Hyeon Yeongje finally turned around instead of answering.
휙.
Where did his usual composed face go, with a deeply furrowed brow.

‘Cha Yohan?’

When Hyeon Yeongje had thoroughly investigated Cha Yohan, there was nothing that caught his eye.
He was that pathetic of a being.
His parents weren’t great, and even those parents had been dead for a long time.
His judicial research and training institute grades were also at the bottom.
But ‘Justice’ had lost to a guy like that.
Not just once, but twice.

‘And the public disgrace.’

Although he had terminated the contract with Jeong Myeonggyu right after the broadcast, the repercussions did not easily subside for a while.
Because people tend to quickly forget good stories and chew on ugly stories, the faults of others, several times.
The time he had suffered from the bad reputation that Justice was left with only people who could lose to a new lawyer was exactly like that.
Hyeon Yeongje barely suppressed his roughening breath and gave a few instructions to the secretary who had bowed his head.

“…Yes, CEO. I will handle it as you said.”
“Hurry.”
“Yes.”
휙.
Hyeon Yeongje headed straight for the CEO’s office.
Because he no longer felt like looking around the company.
A short while after Hyeon Yeongje had arrived at the CEO’s office, the bell rang.
뚜우.
[CEO, Lawyer Kim Hyunwoo has arrived.]
“Let him in.”
[Yes.]
끼이익.
The associate lawyer who opened the door and entered was almost a rookie, with the air of a new lawyer still on him.
“H-hello! CEO!”
The energetic appearance that followed slightly calmed Hyeon Yeongje’s heart.
“Sit.”
“Yes, yes.”
Hyeon Yeongje naturally offered a seat and sat at the head of the table, crossing his legs.
“I was just looking around the company, wondering if our employees had any difficulties, and I saw you in a consultation, Lawyer Kim.”
“It’s an honor, CEO.”
Actually, he had learned today for the first time that there was a lawyer named Kim Hyunwoo, but Hyeon Yeongje himself was the CEO.
‘Not even a partner or a senior, but an associate.’
But he continued to speak naturally without showing any of it. Like a lawyer.
“I was just informed that the client you were consulting with a moment ago is a city councilman. Is he not yet retained?”
“Yes, he said he just wanted a consultation today.”
“What was the content?”
The associate lawyer in front of him, while wondering why the CEO was interested in his case, continued to answer faithfully because it was the CEO’s question.
“He said his son had a problem, and it seems to be school violence. However, since he’s a juvenile delinquent, the opposing lawyer had come to the parents and the council office.”
Kim Hyunwoo described Oh Uiseong’s lines in detail.
“The young friend left a warning-like remark, saying he would see them again, and he said he came because of that. He didn’t particularly hide his displeasure.”
“And what else?”
Kim Hyunwoo, who had been speaking clearly until just now, suddenly trailed off and then, as if he had made up his mind, finally answered.
“That is… even if it’s not like before, he said that a place like ‘Justice’ shouldn’t be a match for a mere office.”
But Hyeon Yeongje did not show his feelings.
Instead, he gently pressed.
“It seems he’ll be a difficult client.”
“…Yes.”
“But I believe that you, Lawyer Kim Hyunwoo, can do a good job.”
Kim Hyunwoo looked straight at Hyeon Yeongje, who was looking at him with a benevolent expression, in a daze.
‘This is different from what I’ve heard. They said he never smiles…’
The CEO in the rumors was looking at Kim Hyunwoo himself, completely different from the rumors.
The words coming from his mouth also did not match the rumors at all.
“Let’s take this case.”
Hyeon Yeongje smiled, raising the corners of his mouth.
“It seems like the stakes will get bigger, but the company will pay for that amount. The defense and response will also be handled at the company level.”
“……”
“It will be a good opportunity for you too, Lawyer Kim. You’ll be able to make your face known.”
The moment Hyeon Yeongje drove the nail in, Kim Hyunwoo had no choice but to nod his head.
Because even if it wasn’t the honorable reputation of before, Justice was still Justice.

Squeak.

Even after Kim Hyunwoo had left, Hyeon Yeongje did not get up from his seat for a long time.
He thought.
That the opportunity to crush Cha Yohan and Dike had finally come.