Chapter 56 - Intervention - WordExcerpt

Secretary Tak hurriedly whispered to Sehun. “Don’t you think you should try to calm them down? Or should I go in?”

“Stay put. That’s Yoonshin Do’s stage.” Sehun glared at the conference room as he calmly sipped his coffee. He was adamant that he wouldn’t miss a second of what was going on in that room.

Secretary Tak quietly stared at the other man. He soon tilted his head when he realized that the smooth curves of the older man’s profile gave off a different feeling than usual. “You reeeaaally care for him a lot.”

“He’s a pain in the neck whenever I see him.” Sehun’s slightly off-kilter answer seemed to throw off Secretary Tak.

But the secretary found his calm again and asked, “Why? Because he picked you of all people when he got hired through nepotism?”

“Rather than that, my attacks aren’t effective against him. He’s the first person like that, so I’m not used to it.”

Secretary Tak didn’t seem to fully comprehend that, so the silence dragged on. Sehun didn’t bother to explain every little detail. He had never done so for anyone. Although, strangely, he ended up doing that frequently for Yoonshin, so he felt nonplussed about it.

Throughout his life, he had met hundreds, if not thousands, of different kinds of people. He could effortlessly see through people like Yoonshin.

But Yoonshin was truly weird. He was always genuine. Everything about him was real—the younger man felt disappointed in Sehun, relied on Sehun, worried for him, got bothered about him, was curious about Sehun, and felt uncomfortable around him. Yoonshin was always faithful to his emotions. He didn’t flatter people for no reason, and he didn’t bow down to others more than needed. He said everything he wanted, yet he kept the minimal level of respect.

Everything about Yoonshin was so transparent that Sehun’s will to attack evaporated.

Most people who Sehun met either started a fight from their very first meeting or groveled and crawled to him—it was one or the other. However, Yoonshin was both yet neither. It was the first time Sehun met anyone who treated him as he was, so that perplexed him even more.

Sehun also fell silent, so Secretary Tak, who seemed to have thought of something, continued his questions. “Do you feel uncomfortable because he’s someone you’ve never dealt with before?”

There was no better way to describe how Sehun was feeling right now. “I think so.”

“Honestly speaking, your face right now is exactly that of a person uncomfortable about dirtying a pure person.”

Sehun turned to look at Secretary Tak. Sehun, who had been replying languorously, glared irritably. “Everyone has an unclean side to them. What is he, a saint? Saint Do? Look, he’s the same as everyone else.”

“See?”

“What is it this time?”

“You act defensively whenever you talk about Attorney Do. So it wasn’t the married sister but the guy. How should I take this? Well, I guess I’m rooting for you. It’s not an easy path to walk.”

“Are you writing a novel? What a joke…” Sehun retorted in annoyance. As he was about to go back to his office, just then, the lawyer in the conference room—who kept expressing his anger—bolted up. Yoonshin, who was conversing as composed as he could, stared up at him. He gestured to the other man’s seat, politely asking him to take his seat again.

That was when it happened.

The middle-aged man’s chunky hand reached for Yoonshin’s neck. He was about to grab the younger lawyer by the collar, which the two men outside witnessed.

“Huh? Senior Attorney, don’t we have to—” Before Secretary Tak could finish his sentence, Sehun slammed his mug down on the table and stood up, walking straight toward the conference room. He burst in without knocking and grabbed the wrist of the man who was shaking Yoonshin by his shirt collar.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Sir?”

“A-attorney Sehun Kang?”

Yoonshin and the other lawyer recognized Sehun at the same time. The middle-aged man flinched. As Sehun threw the other man’s arm off forcefully, the man rubbed his sore wrist and seemed troubled as he tried to make an excuse. “See, this young fellow was being too cocky. He keeps grating at you while acting all polite. You know those unspoken rules in our industry, yet this junior keeps crossing the line—”

“So that’s why you decided to act out of line? Yoonshin Do is my associate who I taught. If you think he’s being so cocky that negotiation is impossible, you can talk to me, his senior. However, that means your client will lose everything. Yoonshin is at least considerate, but I don’t have that.”

“Well… Senior Attorney Kang. How about we calm down first?” The middle-aged man looked very troubled now that things started to go awry and glanced at Yoonshin for help. Yoonshin, who was observing so far and reading the situation, slowly stood up. He stood between the two men and faced Sehun.

“Senior Attorney.”

“Can’t you see I’m in the middle of a discussion? Don’t butt in. Move.”

“I know, but… this is my case. Please let me handle this.”

Sehun was hit with a realization and narrowed his eyes, then he glanced outside the room. Secretary Tak lifted Sehun’s mug. The man outside said nothing, but he seemed to say, “You told me to stay put since this was Attorney Do’s stage, no?”