Chapter 54 - Lenience - WordExcerpt

Knowing the other’s honest personality, Sehun had a feeling that Yoonshin wanted to apologize for coming into his room at three in the morning. But once Yoonshin was on the receiving end of Sehun’s cold gaze, he seemed to be reluctant about bringing it up and squirmed. It was understandable; after all, coming into the room with no owner and spending a fair amount of time in it was quite rude. Plus, Sehun wasn’t merciful.

Sehun’s voice, as cold as ice, hammered at Yoonshin’s eardrums. “Is this about work?”

“Oh, not really,” Yoonshin said.

“Then leave that here and go.”

Despite the command, Yoonshin didn’t look like he was going to budge. Instead, he kept trailing off his sentences. “Well, Senior Attorney…”

Sehun cut him off, his voice cracking, “I said, leave the cup and go. I’m in no condition to listen to you. I’m tired, and I’m starting to get annoyed just looking at you.”

Upon hearing that, the younger man’s pallid expression slowly turned into concern. Yoonshin’s worried gaze transferred into Sehun’s sense of touch and tickled his skin.

‘Those earnest eyes will one day come back as shackles on your ankles,’ Sehun’s instincts whispered urgently to him.

“Does your head hurt a lot? Should I go down to the infirmary to get some pain medication? It might be good to get an IV drip.”

The cause of his headache was Yoonshin. However, there was no treatment for Sehun.

“Do you want me to repeat my words three times? Go about your way. Don’t bother me.” After Sehun’s prickly reaction, Yoonshin quickly approached the desk and placed the coffee down. He hurriedly and politely made his way out of the room. Before he closed the door completely, he looked back worriedly, but that was all he could do since Sehun was standing his ground.

The door closed with a click. Now alone, Sehun stared vacantly at the cup that Yoonshin left behind and became lost in thought. The stern and ever so slightly egotistic, dark eyes were directed on the lid. Sehun didn’t look very good.

Sehun’s life always had a logical structure. Nothing bypassed it. From a young age, he had nothing to his name, so he had to teach himself how to survive the jungle called society. Once he tasted proper victory for the first time, it was so thrilling that he studied all the ways to win and tenaciously climbed to his position now. Everything he did had a start, end, cause, and result.

But every time Yoonshin was involved, Sehun felt his logical structure blur.

It was like that since the beginning. Yoonshin bothered Sehun for no particular reason. As Sehun continued to get swept away, he did things that he never had done before. He carelessly accepted the other into his territory, and now he was giving attention to another person, something which he had never done before.

He gazed at the statue of the goddess and raised his index finger. He poked the scale.

Creak, creak.

The grating sound of metal repeated a few times. Finally, the scale ran out of energy and tilted slightly to the left. “Overlook it for now…”

Sehun tapped the sword that the goddess was carrying in her other hand. Finally satisfied, he opened his files.

* * *

Yoonshin was talking with a guest beyond the glass walls of Conference Room A. The other person looked like legal counsel from a certain company. The other lawyer kept turning red and blue; despite not being able to hear the conversation from the outside, the tension in the air was conveyed to the people outside.

Only the back of Yoonshin’s head could be seen, but his attitude was  opposite to that of his guest. He sat in a composed manner, pointed to several documents, and steadfastly tried to convince the other party.

Sitting at a table on the outside, Sehun meticulously watched every move.

Yoonshin always put his all into everything he did. He clearly had endurance, and based on his observations, he was quite smart. Sehun couldn’t stand some aspects of Yoonshin, but that could be summed up as a difference in style. Since Yoonshin was good at understanding his situation, Sehun felt like he could train the younger lawyer to fix that.

‘Should I use him now?’ He crossed his arms in deep deliberation as he continued to observe Yoonshin.

Sehun felt the presence of another person at his elbows. He glanced in that direction and saw Secretary Tak holding out a mug of hot tea. Sehun took the mug and savored the scent and flavor of the drink.

“I was wondering what you were watching after coming out of your office so abruptly. It was Attorney Do, huh?” Secretary Tak remarked.

“I’m not watching the Fourth-year but the negotiation by the Fourth-year,” Sehun replied.

“How much is the information you gave Attorney Do worth?”

“You’ll get hurt if you know.”

“I see it’s super expensive.”

“Anyways, mind your own business. How much did that lawyer bring to the table?”

Secretary Tak seated himself beside Sehun and replied earnestly. “I don’t know the details yet. But when I briefly went to bring them tea, it seemed to be in the ten thousands. Compensation for damages, living expenses for the past few months, the expenses for the next half year for the client’s re-employment preparation, and a bit of money for non-disclosure. As a side, he demanded a public apology and withdrawal of the action against the client.”

Sehun was sipping tea while listening, then narrowed his eyes which were still fixed on Yoonshin’s pale cheeks.

“In the ten thousands, you say… If he only brought that much to the table despite being prodded with some very strong documents here and there, the other lawyer severely underestimated the Fourth-year.”

“The rumor that we recruited the in-law of Soohan Group spread across the practice. It seems like he thought that Attorney Do would be incompetent since he came in through nepotism.”