Chapter 55 - Intervention - WordExcerpt

The way the other man was treating Yoonshin could have hurt his pride, yet he continued to respond with composure. Amused, Sehun watched on like he was watching a very intense sports match.

“I wonder how much more he can grill the other guy?” Sehun remarked.

“What do you think, Senior Attorney?” Secretary Tak asked.

“I don’t know. There’s no limit to settlement, so it’s up to how much the representative is willing to give. If Fourth-year decides to take a modest deal of ten thousand instead of turning the client’s life on its head, then just send him to the litigation group without telling me. Oh, and label him a failure.”

“Then, your bright-line test for passing?”

“Ten times.”

Secretary Tak turned slightly toward Sehun and chuckled lightly. “This must have been your last test. If it were you, how much would you take?”

“I haven’t calculated it before, so I don’t know. But if I were in that room, I’d browbeat the other lawyer for a couple million.”

Upon hearing that, the secretary flinched in surprise, which Sehun saw from the corner of his eyes.

“What’s with that shallow reaction?”

“What in the world did you give him? The offer that the other party brought to the table is already several times more than the typical offer of the same crime.”

Sehun shrugged instead of replying.

“Wow… I thought this was a simple pro bono, but it was much bigger than I thought. No wonder you randomly took a pro bono case. You had all this information beforehand, didn’t you? The familiar-looking person was the assailant in that case, right?”

“I just happened to come across it when I was helping Senior Attorney Song with a trial a few years ago. Back then, I thought it was a card to throw away, but I never expected to use it like this. It’s a bit late, but it seems like it’ll be worth it.”

‘Of course,’ Secretary Tak nodded as he thought. Then he suddenly asked, “But still, doesn’t Attorney Do exceed your expectations?”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to get at. I don’t remember meeting anyone who exceeded my expectations in my life.”

“He’s good at processing whatever you throw at him. To be honest, I initially thought he wouldn’t be flexible, but he was, which surprised me. He used what you gave. The secretaries all were betting whether the rigid and stubborn human rights lawyer would be too prideful to use it.”

“Did you win?”

“Seems like I’ll get the whole pot.”

After a glance at Secretary Tak, he affixed his eyes on Yoonshin in the conference room. Secretary Tak observed Sehun’s attentive profile, then he turned to look at Yoonshin, curious to know just what Sehun saw in the younger lawyer.

“Do you trust him or not? Seeing that you gave him the info that you got from your private investigators, you do seem to trust him, but on the other hand, giving it to him to check if he takes the shortcut seems like the opposite is true.”

“I don’t trust or distrust him. I’m simply checking if the Fourth-year has brains, whether he has an average IQ or not.”

“How harsh. He passed the second test easily. You should at least praise him.” Most of what Secretary Tak said was correct. He made many excuses, but Sehun wanted to see whether Yoonshin would use the dangerous information from dubious sources. In his view, Yoonshin couldn’t let go of his life before Doguk. Unlike other associates who did whatever it took to earn a money-making case, Yoonshin continued to be satisfied with pro bono work.

So Sehun wanted to see if Yoonshin was ready to stain his blank canvas with color, or if he was saying empty words. Besides, this test was rather soft and considerate of the other person’s disposition and temperament for Sehun.

“I practically brought the spoon to his lips. He only needed to open his mouth. Do I need to praise him for eating the food that I spoon-fed him?”

“But it’s Attorney Do of all people. He was brave enough to immerse himself with our firm. If you don’t praise him at all, don’t you think he’ll be discouraged?”

“If you like raising children, you can take him, sir.”

Secretary Tak smiled agreeably. Then, he glanced at the staff hovering behind them and lowered his voice. “I always wanted to ask this, but are you interested in Attorney Do or his sister?”

Sehun took a sip of his warm coffee and scoffed. “What b*llshit are you saying? The former is a man, and the latter is a married woman.”

“You know you’re acting strange these days, right? You asked me to investigate something out of personal curiosity, and you took time out of your hectic workday to watch a lawyer several years your junior. I’ve never seen you be this curious about another person and caring for them. Really, why are you acting this way?”

Sehun was indeed acting weird. He usually worked every minute of the hour. Putting his work aside and sitting out here was ridiculous, even in Sehun’s opinion. That was also probably why he kept feeling the gazes of the other employees glancing at him.

A few meters in front, Yoonshin was still in a heated discussion with the other party. The negotiation seemingly wasn’t going so well as he turned his head to the side and sighed deeply.

However, the small show of dissatisfaction by Yoonshin, who was thus far respectful, seemed to push the wrong buttons of the other side. The middle-aged man suddenly started pointing at Yoonshin angrily and huffing.