A Poisoned Chalice

Won Hayeop stared at me intently for a moment.
His gaze, meeting mine, was so fierce that, contrary to expectation, I didn’t want to look away.
I knew that the moment I did, I would lose.
And that was exactly what the Chief Prosecutor wanted.

I met his eyes and held them for a long time.

[…Are your eyes okay, Attorney?]

‘This is nothing.’

As soon as I retorted to Gram, Won Hayeop let out a short laugh and spoke again.

“Who knows? I must have thought, ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ Lamenting that my son left home only to befriend someone just like him.”
“That sounds like quite a compliment to my ears.”

And it was, because Won Youngoh was still a role model for countless juniors and seniors.

Swoosh.

Won Hayeop rested his crossed arms on the table and asked again.

“Does this sound like a compliment?”
“It’s not just me; everyone would think so.”

He slightly furrowed his brow around his eyes, which were reminiscent of Won Youngoh.

‘His eyes, more than any other feature, are strikingly similar.’

“Hmm, I see. I can imagine how those ‘other people’ you mentioned view my son.”

Won Hayeop uncrossed one arm and wagged his index finger in the air.

“Some might call my son cold, asking how he can be so rational, but I know just how soft he is.”

‘Soft’…
I knew Won Youngoh’s inherent nature was warm. And that he had always been full of a sense of justice, even during his time as a prosecutor.
But Won Hayeop seemed to dislike that fact.
As if it made him an oddity.
He pointed to Won Youngoh’s nameplate on his office door and spoke again.
The person who should have been inside was absent, but Won Hayeop spoke about him.

“Look at him now. Rejecting profitable trials for the sake of ‘public interest,’ running around saving people as if he were their savior.”

Won Youngoh’s trial today was exactly as Won Hayeop had described.
A domestic violence case he had been preparing for months.
Won Hayeop shrugged as if he knew everything.

“It’s a sad truth, but the world isn’t so beautiful. Nor is it romantic.”

Won Hayeop looked back and forth between me and Jeong Donghyeok and asked.

“Do you think I haven’t done the things Youngoh is doing now?”

I knew it wasn’t a question that expected an answer, so I remained silent.
However, the answer that followed caused a small stir in both of us.

“I’m saying it because I’ve done it. Moreover, Office Manager, your father would know well what I mean. It’s a shame Judge Jeong isn’t here.”

Then, he frowned as if he had just realized something.

“No, I made a mistake. I should be calling him Assemblyman Jeong now. Please pass on my congratulations to your father.”
“……”

He came here knowing everything.
Well, I had expected as much.
Still, I could now somewhat understand why Won Hayeop had barged into Dike and was acting this way.
An estranged son who left home, a rookie lawyer full of nothing but reckless ambition, and an office manager in a similar situation to his son.
I spoke to Won Hayeop on behalf of Jeong Donghyeok, who couldn’t say anything and could only clench his fists.

“You mentioned romance.”

As if it wasn’t the answer he had expected, Won Hayeop’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“I don’t think that romance is anything special. It’s about spending a warm daily life with the people you love, and providing the support to make that possible, nothing more, nothing less.”
“What a foolish story.”
“That is, as long as the methods are not shameful to those people.”

One day, Won Youngoh had said he took off his prosecutor’s robe out of shame.
It was the same for me when I was Yoon Eunho, and now as Cha Yohan.

“People need a prosecutor like you, senior, so why did you quit? I still think it’s a shame sometimes. This might be crossing a line, though.”
“…Out of shame.”

At the time, I didn’t know exactly what those words meant.
It was I who had called Won Youngoh, after he had taken off his robe, to Justice. Because losing him in this field was too great a loss.
For other legal professionals, and for the people he would meet in the future.
This time, he had called me and proposed we work together.
Although it wasn’t a situation of my choosing, it was I who had accepted Won Youngoh’s offer here that day.
Because even if I didn’t know exactly what kind of person Won Youngoh was, I knew how he worked.

‘At least the senior I had always seen was always sincere.’

I thought of Won Youngoh, who was still as steadfast as the first time I met him.
And I asked back to the man before me, Won Hayeop, who must have once been like the man I knew.

“We work together because our purpose is the same. It’s not that our purpose is the same because we work together. Isn’t that the same for you, Chief Prosecutor?”

I threw Won Hayeop’s own words, “birds of a feather,” right back at him.
The man who had been narrowing his eyes and furrowing his brow now wore a blank expression.
It was because he had grasped my meaning perfectly.

“…I thought you were just a rookie full of useless bravado, but you’re quite impertinent. I once knew a guy just like you.”
“To think there’s someone similar to me, I’d very much like to meet him. Wouldn’t we achieve a greater purpose if people with the same goals gathered together?”

Won Hayeop replied with a faint smile playing on his lips.

“Unfortunately, that won’t be possible.”
“Why is that?”
“Because that bastard is already dead.”

This time, even I couldn’t help but stiffen.
Because I had realized it instinctively.

‘…He’s talking about me.’

Won Hayeop clicked his tongue and added.

“Do you know what the biggest illusion people have is? It’s thinking they’re so great. Forgetting the fact that life is just an ordinary thing for everyone.”

‘What does that mean? It’s as if what I went through wasn’t just an accident…’

[Attorney! Snap out of it!]

At Gram’s shout, I snapped my gaze down and saw that my hands were trembling unconsciously.
For a moment, it felt as if I could feel the damp blood from the day of the accident on my back.

‘No. The office manager will think it’s strange. So will the Chief Prosecutor.’

I clasped my trembling hands together tightly, composed myself, and spoke as calmly as possible.

“…What do you mean by that?”
“I mean it’s a shame about that judge’s fate. No matter how great you are, there are some things you just can’t do anything about. I have no intention of letting my son end up like that. That’s why I came here.”

‘Fate…’

That word suddenly stuck in my ears.
Nevertheless, my mouth steadily moved on to the next step.

“What do you mean, ‘that’s why’?”
“I know my son almost died last winter. Now that I’ve confirmed you’re not just a bunch of fools chasing idealistic nonsense, it’s my turn to state my business.”
“Please speak.”

Won Hayeop sank deep into his chair and opened his mouth.

“I want my son back. In one piece, back in my house where he lived his whole life.”
“…Attorney Won Youngoh is not an object. And that is not for us to decide.”

Won Hayeop pointed a fingertip towards Won Youngoh’s room, then turned his index finger back on himself.

“You can’t just sever blood ties because you want to. No matter how much that boy Youngoh hates it, the blood running through his veins all started from me.”

Won Hayeop shrugged his left shoulder nonchalantly, as if that didn’t matter.

“My son, and you all, must know. The fact that quite a few places are watching this office.”

We neither confirmed nor denied it.
Because we already knew the other party was not lacking in information.

“Is there a position you want? You, and you.”

Won Hayeop gestured to each of us with a slight nod of his chin.
This time, Jeong Donghyeok posed a question to him.

“…What does that mean?”
“If you can persuade my son from the side not to cross the line of truly abandoning his family, I’ll help you ‘settle’ into any position you want.”

What a grand offer.
I felt grateful to Won Hayeop.
Because the trembling that had been coursing through my fingertips just a moment ago had completely stopped.
After a moment of silence, I let out a short laugh.

“…Did you just laugh?”
“Yes. Because your offer, Chief Prosecutor, is quite amusing.”

Won Hayeop looked at me with an expression that was trying to gauge whether it was a sign of agreement or ridicule.
Though Jeong Donghyeok, looking at me, seemed to have already grasped my meaning.

“I was thinking that I haven’t had much to laugh about these days… but now that I think about it, this is quite funny.”

Won Hayeop didn’t ask me what was so amusing.
Silence was always a technique.
A technique to draw out the desired answer from the other person.
And at the same time, a clever move to confirm who had the upper hand.

‘But that only works when the other person doesn’t want to answer.’

I smiled and spat out the answer Won Hayeop must have been waiting for.

“Lately, a lot of high-ranking people have been rushing to offer me positions. I don’t know what to do. Unfortunately, I only have one body.”
“……”

Amidst Won Hayeop’s silence, I continued.
Raising a hand that no longer trembled, I gestured in the air.

“At school, they give awards and scholarships for good grades, and at work, they give incentives based on performance, but the high-ranking people always ask me to maintain the status quo.”

And I added, with a look of utter confusion.

“Or they tell me not to do it. With the condition that I do as I’m told.”
“……”
“So I’m inevitably forced to reach one conclusion. This isn’t a prize, it’s poison.”

I thought of Won Youngoh and gave a light shrug.
He probably would have moved his shoulders in the same way around this point.

“I’m grateful that everyone thinks highly of me, but contrary to the expectations of the higher-ups, I don’t have the guts to knowingly drink from a poisoned chalice.”
“…Attorney Cha Yohan.”
“So I will pretend I didn’t hear what you said today. I’ll also keep it a secret from Attorney Won.”

I stood up from my seat and politely gestured towards the door with one hand.

“Because I don’t want to see that disappointed look on Attorney Won’s face because of his family again.”

Before leaving Dike, Won Hayeop left one more remark.

“A half-baked sense of justice will only eat a person away. We’ll see if you can achieve the romance you spoke of, and what your fate will be.”
“Thank you for the good wishes.”

My first meeting with Won Hayeop ended like that.

“…I should have stepped aside. I feel like I’ve heard too many things I shouldn’t have.”
“What are you talking about? We’re all family here. And I thought your thoughts were similar, Office Manager. Was I mistaken?”
“Pardon?”
“About romance.”

When I answered with a smile, Jeong Donghyeok returned the affirmation with a smile of his own.

“Still, let’s keep this a secret from Attorney Won.”
“Yes, of course. Like you, I don’t want to see that look on Attorney Won’s face again either.”

He called it a disappointed face, but in reality, it was a face full of wounds.
I checked the time and changed the subject.

“Attorney Won’s trial should be over soon… It seems Mr. Lee Ilwoo’s business is taking longer than expected.”
“Ah, Mr. Ilwoo seemed to have received an urgent call earlier. He left in a hurry, saying he’d be right back. But it’s really taking a while.”
“When did he leave?”
“About two hours ago. Ah, he did say not to worry because he had called someone else to be nearby.”
“That’s Mr. Lee Ilwoo for you. Which makes me even more worried about what’s going on.”

Considering the usual Lee Ilwoo, if he had left in such a hurry, there must have been a reason.

‘I just hope it’s nothing serious.’

Vibrate, vibrate.

At that moment, I felt a vibration from my inner pocket.

“Yes, Mr. Im Suho.”
[Well, I think the situation has gotten quite difficult.]
“What do you mean? Did you find something out?”

Chime.

As soon as my question ended, Lee Ilwoo opened the door and came in.
With a very troubled look on his face.

[The director of the NIS was replaced this afternoon. Suddenly, without any prior notice.]

Im Suho’s story and Lee Ilwoo’s silent expression.
I had no choice but to realize what these two things meant.
It meant that Lee Ilwoo could no longer be with us.