Chapter 7
Three months later.
“Arghhhhhh!”
Director Kwak’s wail echoed through the office. Sitting on the desk, Hong-yeong clapped her hands over her ears.
The director spun around the room like a madman, screaming, then—thud!—slammed the bundle of documents in his hand hard against the table.
“I’m going to lose my mind, seriously!”
Ryu-jin glanced at the papers lying next to his coffee cup. Defamation, violation of the Personal Information Protection Act, obstruction of business… The list of charges was wonderfully thorough.
Im Ryu-jin.
Seeing his own name printed clearly under “Defendant,” Ryu-jin ground his teeth and shot a cold glare at the director.
The request itself had been nothing special. At most, it was just tailing someone’s mistress.
The problem was that the mistress’s lover happened to be a high-ranking executive of the Cheonhwa Group.
“I told you from the start we shouldn’t take this job.”
“Then you should have stopped me to the end!”
“I did stop you to the end. But you’re the one who said we should help her out since she looked pitiful, and you dragged both me and Hong-yeong into it.”
“You shouldn’t have let yourself be persuaded!”
The nerve of him. Ryu-jin raked a hand through his hair in irritation.
Up until now Hong-yeong had only been watching the scene like it was some street fire. With a grunt, he hopped down from the desk, swaggered over, and snatched up the complaint.
“Well, didn’t you think this would happen one day? Just pay up and be done with it. Why are you overreacting—huh? Two hundred fifty million won?!” He swore explosively.
He had expected at most ten million. Seeing the real figure, his temper exploded.
Director Kwak explained gloomily.
“They’re claiming secondary damages because it was leaked on SNS. And since the complainant is an executive of Cheonhwa Group, they’re also demanding additional compensation for malicious damage to reputation.”
“Leaked my ass! It didn’t even show his damn face, only his voice. And we deleted it in less than five minutes!”
“That’s what I’m saying!”
Director Kwak slammed the table again in frustration.
The sheer volume of his outburst made Ryu-jin wince. One loudmouth was bad enough, but now that Hong-yeong was chiming in too, he felt himself being dragged into their emotions.
When Ryu-jin flicked his fingers, Hong-yeong quickly shoved the complaint at him.
One page would’ve been enough, but the thick wad weighed heavy in his hands. Each time he flipped a sheet, his lips twisted further.
The document screamed, We have enough evidence to bury you, equal parts boasting and threat. Ryu-jin’s mood soured further.
“I was going to let it slide when they trashed the office, but this bastard…”
Just a few days ago, the office had been wrecked beyond recognition.
Reviewing the CCTV showed that while they were out, some armed thugs had broken in and torn the place apart.
Potted plants overturned, soil scattered across the floor, papers strewn everywhere, windows shattered to pieces.
Given the nature of their work, they hadn’t even dared to report it. Too many suspects made it impossible to point fingers.
And then, out of the blue, a call came to Director Kwak’s work phone.
[I’ll be canceling the request.]
The message was from their client, Min Hae-won.
Ryu-jin had disliked her from the start. When she pleaded that she had married a man over twenty years older because she truly loved him, he could hardly hide his disdain.
Call it prejudice if you like.
She came from a family that wasn’t rich, but hardly poor either. Both parents alive and healthy, a college graduate, no illness or disability. Why would she choose to ruin her life like that?
If she’d just admitted it was for money, he could’ve understood. But to throw herself off a cliff in the name of “love”? That was stupidity.
“I really do love him…”
Love, huh. Pathetic.
Only someone who’d grown up lacking nothing would cling to something as useless as love.
If I’d grown up in her circumstances…
“I’m not doing it.”
“What’s with you, Im Don-dok? It’s an easy job. All she wanted was evidence of an affair. Don’t you want to buy your own island in the Maldives someday? You can’t be slacking now.”
Ryu-jin’s refusal had been firm, but Director Kwak tried to talk him around.
“It’s too risky. If the guy’s a Cheonhwa Group executive, it’s better not to poke at him. We should be selective with our cases. And if we get sued, do you really think that woman could help us?”
“Well, no, but still…”
Each sharp rebuttal made the director falter. Maybe it was that weakness again.
Kwak Ki-hwan—divorced twice—had one fatal flaw: he was soft on women. Not a man who fell in love easily, but a man who fell into pity easily.
That was why most of their clients were women—betrayed, cheated, abandoned. Their center had a reputation as a place sympathetic to women in need.
In contrast, Ryu-jin had no such sympathy. He stuck to cold, harsh reality.
“There’s nothing to pity. She was raised with care, only to fall in love with a man old enough to be her father, waiting patiently until he divorced, then finally stealing the wife’s place. What’s pitiful about that? She started with adultery and still thought she’d live happily ever after. That’s just stupid.”
“…But you saw her arm, didn’t you?”
“….”
At the director’s serious expression, even Ryu-jin was struck silent.
Indeed, when Min Hae-won had taken off her jacket, the sleeve had ridden up, exposing bruises on her arm.
And the colorful scarf around her neck… it hadn’t been for fashion.
“Let’s be honest, our work isn’t righteous. If she looks pitiful to me, then she’s pitiful. If we judged too deeply, we’d never take any case. That man is clearly a monster. He lured a young girl into his house, locked her up, and now even beats her…”
“….”
“And besides, Ryu-jin—”
I need money.
That single sentence struck more honestly than all his earlier rambling.
Business had been slow. The center’s finances were strained.
Kwak had alimony and child support to pay to two ex-wives. Hong-yeong had a sick younger sibling. And Ryu-jin… he always needed money.
And so they’d accepted Min Hae-won’s request. Just collecting evidence of an affair—it hadn’t seemed that dangerous.
But her husband turned out to be far more thorough than they’d expected. It was a wonder Min Hae-won had noticed his mistress at all.
Of course, a dog never changes its habits. Soon enough, he slipped up.
Ryu-jin captured photos of the bastard entering a hotel with his mistress. Hong-yeong, disguised as a waiter, even recorded the man’s filthy pillow talk inside the room.
And then the problem arose.
Min Hae-won changed her mind.
