Chapter 11
Lee Sang-jae took a sip of coffee and smacked his lips.
“I just wish you’d at least answer my calls once in a while.”
“Sang-jae.”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve changed a bit.”
“Me? How?”
“We were close in middle school, but after we split up in high school, we hardly ever talked about what we really thought.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re… quite different from the Sang-jae I used to know.”
“Oh, you mean the caste system talk? You must’ve heard it in law school, Yoon Hyun-jae. What, you’ve got an inferiority complex?”
A corner of Sang-jae’s mouth curled up.
A mocking expression.
“What?”
“Having an inferiority complex won’t change anything. What, are you jealous? That’s reality. Is a guy who starts off the race driving a sports car his father bought the same as a guy who’s pulling a cart his father rides in?”
He knew full well about my family’s hard times in high school—and about my father’s death.
“What kind of friend says something like that?”
“If you want to be my friend, know your place. Just because I hang out with you doesn’t make us equal.”
Heat rose to my head, and my fist clenched without me realizing it.
—This bastard… I’ve had enough of him.
My vision went red with anger, and I raised my fist.
Then Sang-jae suddenly stood up.
“Uh?”
His mouth dropped open like he’d just seen something unbelievable.
I naturally turned my gaze to where he was looking.
“Hello, Ms. Su-jin!”
A woman was walking toward us.
She was an undeniable beauty.
But she looked familiar.
Ah—she was the woman from room 903 a few days ago.
The woman with a rainbow-colored aura.
Today she wore a blouse and skirt suit, with a purple wool coat over it.
She looked completely normal.
No—honestly, she looked like an intelligent, refined beauty.
“Ms. Su-jin. What brings you here?”
“I had a hearing at the Ansan branch court. Hello.”
While speaking with Sang-jae, she kept glancing at me. Then she turned fully toward me.
“Hello, I’m Han Su-jin. Have we met before?”
“I’m Yoon Hyun-jae. We met a few days ago.”
“Oh, the handsome one! My goodness, I thought I was dreaming.”
She smiled brightly, as if remembering last night.
“You’re a lawyer?”
She pointed at the attorney badge on my suit.
“Yes. You’re a lawyer too, Ms. Han.”
“What? You two know each other?”
Sang-jae groaned in disbelief.
Only then did Han Su-jin look at him standing beside me.
Sang-jae looked back and forth between us, still unable to believe it.
—Look at his face. I get it now. This is the woman he likes.
The red-eyed voice snickered.
So this 903 woman was the Taeyoung Law Firm’s youngest daughter he kept talking about?
“We’ll probably see each other often, Attorney Yoon.”
“Seems like it.”
“Well then, I’ll be going. Have a good day.”
She ignored Sang-jae’s questions and turned away.
Sang-jae hurriedly called after her.
“Uh, Su-jin…!”
“Yes?”
“Did you change your number? Why haven’t you been answering?”
“I prefer not to do unnecessary things.”
She gave a polished, detached smile and turned away.
It was the kind of smile that looked like it had crushed thousands of suitors before.
By the time she disappeared, Sang-jae’s face was still red.
No—his neck was red too.
“Hey, Yoon Hyun-jae! What’s going on? What’s your relationship with Su-jin?”
He interrogated me outright.
“Well… that’s…”
“What do you mean you’ll be seeing her often?”
“I’m not sure…”
“Not sure? Explain properly! Where and how did you meet her?”
“Why should I explain my private life to you?”
I cut him off sharply.
Sang-jae jumped in outrage.
“What, so that’s how it is? Are you really my friend?”
“No. From now on, we’re not friends. Maybe we never were.”
“You…!”
—Nice. Good job, Hyun-jae. That’s refreshing. Haha, he looks like he’s about to cry.
The red-eyed voice danced beside Sang-jae, mocking him.
I smiled faintly and walked away.
After finishing court work, the day passed quickly.
At 6:40 PM, I left the office.
The security guard was waiting at the building entrance.
“Attorney, thank you for taking the time.”
“It’s nothing. Let’s go meet them first.”
At the café, a man in his late 30s sat wearing sunglasses and a shearling coat.
It seemed hot, so he had taken it off and draped it beside him.
He wore a tight black shirt. Though short, he had a solid build, with thick trapezius muscles and almost no visible neck.
I quickly scanned his aura.
Dark red and brownish-orange swirled rapidly.
A violent, impatient man. Greedy for material things.
But I also sensed fear.
Fear of authority and power.
“We have procedures too, you know. It’s not like we just do things recklessly. Look here. The son brought the authorization and Mr. Kang Il-nam’s ID.”
I took the documents and checked them carefully.
“My ID and seal are correct,” the security guard said nervously.
—This guy is seriously crazy. He took a high-interest loan and mortgaged his father’s house? And even made his father a guarantor? What kind of interest rate is this?
The red-eyed voice clicked its tongue while reading the documents.
“Sir, where is your son now?”
“I can’t reach him.”
The guard looked at the loan shark nervously.
“Damn it. If you reach him, tell him to contact us. We can’t get anything done because he’s unreachable. He borrows money and then acts like nothing matters?”
The lender shouted louder.
The guard just trembled, pale and speechless.
—Whoa, the old man behind him looks like he could kill someone.
The red-eyed voice muttered.
The old man behind the guard had eyes filled with rage, almost bloodshot.
It felt like someone might actually die if things escalated.
I checked the documents again.
They were flawless.
Except for one thing…
“Did you verify identity?”
“Huh?”
“The contract is signed under Kang Il-nam’s name, but it was actually signed by Kang Seo-guk, the son.”
“That’s why we got an authorization letter.”
“Yes, but you still needed identity verification. The son signed in the father’s name. Did you confirm directly with the father? Or record a phone confirmation?”
“What? The son brought the authorization—what more do you need?”
The lender shouted angrily.
His muscles tensed instinctively.
But I stayed calm.
Authority pressure works best on people like him.
So I used what I was best at.
“You missed the most important procedure. Even if this goes to court, we have a good chance. You didn’t verify identity—just took documents and rushed the deal. This is unauthorized representation. The contract can be invalid.”
“What? Unauthorized? Who are you?”
“A lawyer.”
“A lawyer? Hah!”
He laughed mockingly.
But I saw his aura shrink and then tense again.
He hadn’t expected a lawyer to intervene.
People without money or power are easier to control—but only until someone challenges them properly.
Still, he forced a calm expression.
“So what? Unauthorized representation? What’s that?”
“It’s when someone acts as an agent without authority. In contracts, the principal can refuse ratification and render it invalid. Article 130 of the Civil Act.”
“Then what are you going to do? The auction already started!”
He growled.
But his aura darkened further, shrinking and swirling slowly.
Clearly different from before.
As I expected, he was the type who feared legal authority.
“Hmm… we can file a lawsuit to cancel the mortgage registration and apply for suspension of enforcement. It’ll cost you time and effort with no gain. If you want, we can go all the way.”
The lender paused, then shook his head.
Having no reply, he changed tactics.
“Fine. Give me the documents. We’ll find the son ourselves and sue him for fraud. Civil and criminal charges. Tell him to be ready.”
And just like that, he stormed out.
The guard stood frozen, watching him leave.
“We can protect your house. But your son will have a rough time.”
“Lawyer, what happens to my son if they sue him?”
The guard looked devastated.
“He did borrow the money, so if he can’t repay it, he could even go to prison.”
“What? Prison? Oh no…”
The guard collapsed weakly.
I helped him up.
“Please stand.”
“Thank you, sir. Let me at least treat you to dinner.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, I insist.”
Unable to refuse, I went with him to a nearby street food stall.
The stall was warm with a heater in the center.
“Why here? You should’ve gone somewhere better…”
“I like places like this. I enjoy street food.”
The owner placed steaming noodles, spicy grilled eel, and cold soju in front of us.
—Wow, this looks good. Street stalls are the best in winter.
The red-eyed voice rushed toward the food.
“Lawyer, what should I do about my son now?”
“It’s best to repay quickly. Where is he?”
“He’s been chasing dreams, not working, borrowing money here and there for a business, and ended up like this. He’s probably hiding at his girlfriend’s place. That’s the only place he could go. My head is going to explode.”
The guard sighed deeply.
He never expected his troublesome son would cause something this big.
—That’s not a son, that’s a disaster.
The red-eyed voice muttered while glancing at the old spirit behind him.
The ghost behind the guard was now shedding blood-like tears from its eyes.
