A Father’s Resolve

Two days had passed.
To some, an excruciatingly short time, and to others, a hellish forty-something hours.
Choi Sanggyu, with a haggard face, came to Dike and bowed his head.

“I was too excited a few days ago. When I came to my senses, I realized that I had troubled you, lawyer. I’m sorry. And thank you.”
“Not at all. Protecting my client is also part of my job.”

[Though it wasn’t the job of an ordinary lawyer.]

‘Anyway.’

Choi Sanggyu bowed his head again and then handed me a few documents that he had put in a file so they wouldn’t get crumpled.

“This is…”
“It’s what you mentioned, lawyer.”

For two days, Choi Sanggyu had collected all the medical reports of not only his son, Choi Wooyoung, but also several other children.
I quickly scanned the contents.

‘It wasn’t just bruises.’

Bruises were the beginning.
There were also lacerations, as if they had been stabbed with something.

‘…Am I a bad person for thinking that it’s a relief that the wounds haven’t healed yet?’

[I’m upset too, but don’t feel guilty. You know how different it is when the wounds are visible and when they’re not, lawyer.]

Gram’s story was right.
That’s why this medical report is important.
I swallowed a sigh inwardly and slowly stroked the photo of the wound attached to the medical report with my hand.

“…The children said they were too scared to tell their parents at the time. I heard they told their parents that they just fell.”

‘Such small children, and those children who are just as small…’

Looking at me, Choi Sanggyu added with a dark expression.

“Fortunately, a few of them had severe injuries, so their parents took them to the hospital right away, and the records remained.”

Swish.

I closed the file and nodded.

“They must have been told that they would suffer greater retaliation if they told their parents, or they were scared. Because it wasn’t resolved even after they told the teacher.”
“Hoo… and I also found this.”

Choi Sanggyu took a deep breath as if to control his anger and took out a small USB from his pocket and handed it to me.

“What is this?”
“I couldn’t find all the situations, but I’ve gathered as many CCTV and black box footage as possible that show the perpetrator children and the victim children together.”
“Was that possible in just two days?”
“A parent’s eyes go blind when it comes to their child. And a few other people helped.”

Choi Sanggyu’s eyes, as he said that, were bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept a wink during that time.

“…You’ve worked really hard.”

I hurriedly plugged the USB into my laptop and checked the files.

[It’s all organized.]

Like Gram’s admiration, the folders were perfectly classified by date and place.
As I briefly checked the videos, I was about to say that I could save some time thanks to that.

“I couldn’t sleep because I felt so sorry for my son. After my wife passed away, I tried to raise him on my own… Every time I looked at him, I was reminded of my wife. It was painful to see him.”

Choi Sanggyu raised his hand and roughly washed his dry face repeatedly.

“In fact, I feel like I’ve stumbled over my own mistake while running away from my son with that excuse.”
“Sir.”
“I’ve realized how untrustworthy I was. Even though that little thing was rotting to the point where he would confide in a lawyer he had never seen before…”

Choi Sanggyu lowered his guilt-ridden face and his shoulders trembled quietly for a long time.
I didn’t say anything to him. I just waited.
For the words that a father would bring out after reflecting on the past time and again.

“Lawyer.”
“Yes, sir.”

A few minutes later, Choi Sanggyu roughly wiped away his tears and opened his mouth with a resolute expression, his eyes red.

“I don’t care how much money it costs. It’s a shameful story for someone who has put his son aside for work, but I run a restaurant.”

Choi Sanggyu said it as if it were nothing.
But that restaurant was a famous place that nine out of ten people would know just by its name.

“It’s okay even if I lose the restaurant and all my fortune because of this.”

He wiped away the tears that were welling up in his eyes and continued in a trembling voice.

“Whether the opponent is a city councilman or someone greater than that, I will see it through to the end. I will make those bastards kneel before my son and beg for forgiveness.”

I felt an inexplicable emotion at that sight.
One thing was for sure, I was also boiling with anger, just like Choi Sanggyu.

“I want to be a father who is no longer ashamed of himself to my wife in heaven, and to our son with whom I will continue to live.”
“…I will do my best too.”
“Please.”

Choi Sanggyu stood up and bowed his waist to me.
I saw him off to the door.

“I’ll be in touch with you again, sir.”
“I will also do my best in every way.”

He bowed his waist once more. I also bowed my waist just as much.

[…What is a father, a parent?]

Underlying Gram’s question was a story that he himself could not know.
After a long time, I came to a conclusion.

‘A person who must become strong.’

[…….]

‘A person who can bow his head and ask for a favor from someone younger than himself for his child, and who can pour all his efforts without sleeping for hours…’

The back of Choi Sanggyu, who was slowly going down the stairs, was clearly different from the back I had seen in the cafe.
The shoulders that had been slumped as if he had no confidence, and the bent back were gone.

Time does not wait for people.
I split and held onto the relentlessly flowing time and prepared everything I could.

[Hey, does it make sense that a kid without a mom is in our class?]

The line that I had already memorized flowed from the video that I had turned on after receiving it from Choi Sanggyu.

Thump.

At that moment, a hand appeared and pressed the space bar once.

Swish.

Soon after, a cup of fragrant coffee with a familiar logo’s cup holder naturally appeared on the desk.

“Take a break.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“It’s good to work hard, but let’s take care of ourselves first, Lawyer Cha.”

As I raised my gaze along with the coffee, Won Youngoh was looking at me with a worried expression.

“I heard from the office manager that you skipped lunch. If you collapse, that’s a bigger problem for the client.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

My concentration was broken, but I didn’t feel unpleasant at all.
In fact, I felt refreshed by his appearance.
I took a deep breath and then took a sip of the warm coffee.
Instead of leaving my room, Won Youngoh sat in the chair that had been prepared for the client and looked at me.

“Do you have something to say?”
“Hey, really. Did I only come to your room when I had something to say?”
“Well, you didn’t, but.”

Won Youngoh neither denied nor affirmed my words.
He just stared at me for a while and then lightly pointed to my desk with his fingertip.

“I wanted to say thank you.”
“…Why are you being so cringeworthy all of a sudden?”
“You have to say thank you in a timely manner, no matter what. In a way, you’re going through all this trouble because of me.”
“What trouble? I’m just doing what I have to do.”

Won Youngoh let out a short sigh and then rarely showed his expression.

“I’m the one who entrusted Doyeong to you, after all. It seems the family still doesn’t know about this. I feel like I’ve pushed the work I should have solved onto you.”

I shook my head to tell him not to worry.

“In fact, it’s a relief that it turned out this way. If your family had responded, it would have been accused of being external pressure.”
“But…”
“And I was also secretly relieved that Doyeong was not a direct victim. Selfishly.”

It was a fact I couldn’t deny.
I smiled bitterly, took a deep breath, and nodded a couple of times.

“So I’m putting more effort into it with that feeling. Because I feel sorry for the other children.”
“…Lawyer Cha.”

Won Youngoh made a face I had never seen before.
A complicated face that couldn’t even stop me, nor could it urge me.

‘So this man also reveals this side of himself when he’s involved with family.’

Though the fence of that family seemed to be very narrow.
I recalled the face of Doyeong, who was looking at me with a determined gaze.

“Doyeong really likes you, uncle. He told me…”

Thud!

At that moment, someone violently pushed open the office door.
After the broadcast had aired and some time had passed, such a commotion had stopped.
Beyond the transparent glass door, I could see Lee Ilwoo rushing out like a bullet.
Won Youngoh and I exchanged a glance and then stood up at the same time.

“What’s going on?”

While we were leaving the room, Jeong Donghyeok asked, standing next to Lee Ilwoo with a calm expression.
A familiar face was visible between the two’s backs.

“…So it was Councilman Oh.”
“I’m glad you’re welcoming me like this, Lawyer Cha Yohan.”

I briefly checked Won Youngoh’s expression next to me and then stepped forward to answer.
As I stepped forward, the man who was standing as if to protect Oh Uiseong stood a little closer to Councilman Oh.

Step.

‘A bodyguard?’

Lee Ilwoo also walked similarly to that man. Soon, the three of us were standing behind Lee Ilwoo.
Lee Ilwoo was like a hunting dog waiting for a command.
I stopped Lee Ilwoo first.

“It’s fine, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”
“…Are you sure it’s fine? Even though he opened the door like that?”

Even at Lee Ilwoo’s point, Councilman Oh and the man in front of him did not say anything.
At that moment, my gaze was caught by another person.
It was the young man in a neat suit who was standing at the very back and whose existence I hadn’t even recognized because of the commotion.

‘Who is that man?’

The man was hiding his expression, but he was looking around the office as if he were curious.
At the end of his gaze, he soon found me and his eyes widened for a very short time, then he looked away as if nothing had happened.
He wasn’t the only one who was looking around our office.

“Hmm… it’s smaller than I thought.”

Oh Uiseong said that with his mouth, but with his eyes, he was revealing his true feelings.

‘It’s shabby.’

Step, step.

He walked slowly towards the sofa with his hands behind his back and then sat down.
And next to him, the young man naturally sat down.

“…Huh.”

Won Youngoh couldn’t hold back a laugh and let it out.
Won Youngoh, whose face had been stiff since I had told him about Councilman Oh’s identity, was now radiating killing intent without hiding it.
In an instant, the office was filled with rudeness and killing intent.

‘Oh, it’s suffocating.’

Thump, thump.

I gently patted Won Youngoh’s shoulder a couple of times.

“I’ll handle him.”
“Lawyer Cha.”

Without giving Won Youngoh a chance to stop me, I sat down opposite them.

“You must have been surprised that there was no seat of honor. Since you’re more used to that seat than anyone else.”
“Please refrain from such rude remarks, Lawyer Cha Yohan.”
“Rude? Who is being more rude right now?”
“Do you know who this person is,”

Councilman Oh lightly raised his hand to stop the man.

“That’s enough, Secretary Lee.”

The man who had seemed to be a bodyguard seemed to be a personal secretary, not a bodyguard.
I let out a light sigh as if to show off and opened my mouth again.

“I’m sure ‘Mr. Oh Uiseong’ knows that my story didn’t mean a reunion like this.”

I deliberately omitted the honorific ‘Councilman’ and smiled, raising the corners of my mouth.
Oh Uiseong’s thick eyebrows twitched reflexively.

“I’m the one who decides the meaning, Lawyer Cha Yohan.”

[…I really don’t know how a human like this became a city councilman.]

‘Me neither.’

But a politician is a politician, and Oh Uiseong smiled back at me and looked at me.

“As a person like that, I don’t have much time to stay here. I’m busy day and night for the citizens.”
“Alright. Let’s get straight to the point.”
“I’m a person who doesn’t even have time to hold a trial for such a trivial matter. The reason I came here is one.”

At those words, I openly furrowed my brow.

“Trivial? Is this a trivial matter to you, Councilman?”

The question flew in from behind my back.