TWELVE 92

“Did you bring your ID?”

I nodded and asked Gi Seoin as well.

“You can enter the interview with me too, right?”

The fellow gave a single short nod.

“I’m accompanying you in my capacity as your lawyer.”

Even though I had already heard the explanation, I checked again for no reason.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Gi Seoin, who had started the car, reached out and rubbed my shoulder gently.

“Go with a relaxed heart. The one who should be nervous is the suspect, Jeon Juseok.”

“Yeah, I know…”

I knew it, but at the thought of facing him after the kidnapping incident, my body reacted before my head. Even though I knew in my mind that there was no need to be afraid, my fingers kept stiffening up.

Jeon Juseok was incarcerated in a detention center.

The fellow was currently appealing that the main culprit of my kidnapping was someone else, and that he had only done as he was told under threat—therefore, he was claiming to be a victim himself.

However, since the case was by no means light, even if he claimed to be a victim, he was also incarcerated in the detention center along with the other suspects.

I heard that my aunt and her husband had worked hard to get Jeon Juseok’s arrest warrant dismissed. However, given the nature of the incident, the order for an investigation under detention was ultimately issued.

It wasn’t hard to imagine a picture of Jeon Juseok trapped behind iron bars. It just didn’t feel realistic.

It was true that the fellow was a world-class bad person, but I had never thought he had the guts to commit a crime worthy of being detained.

Moreover, since my uncle worked at a law firm, they were in a position to create plenty of excuses to wiggle out of most things.

The problem was that this incident deviated far from the standard of “most things.”

To think that in this life, I would end up having a detention center interview. Perhaps it was something that could have been foreseen from the moment I became entangled with Jeon Juseok.

The interview room had a glass partition blocking the space between the other person and me, just like those seen in movies.

Even so, the moment Jeon Juseok entered the interview room, my entire body trembled slightly with instinctive fear. If Gi Seoin hadn’t held my hand under the table, I might have had a panic attack.

“…Ha.”

Jeon Juseok, who sat down and looked back and forth between me and Gi Seoin, suddenly stared intently at me, then smiled while curling the corner of his mouth crookedly.

“Why are you here? Does it make you feel refreshed to see me locked up like this?”

He was provocative from the start. Right, this is Jeon Juseok. The fellow hadn’t changed even after being locked in a detention center.

Because I wanted to reduce the time spent facing him as much as possible, I decided to skip the greetings and get straight to the point.

“I received a call from Aunt. She asked me to testify that you aren’t at fault, hyung.”

“Ah, this fuck!”

As soon as I finished speaking, Jeon Juseok shouted while striking the glass wall with his fist. After doing that, he checked the prison guard’s reaction and then lowered his voice, muttering.

“I told her not to… Damn it.”

“Told her not to”—it was a statement I couldn’t understand. If I, the victim, simply testified that Jeon Juseok was not at fault, there was plenty of room for sentencing leniency. Yet the fellow spoke as if my aunt had done something unnecessary.

I said cautiously.

“If I say you aren’t at fault, hyung, you’ll get out.”

“So, what?”

Jeon Juseok let out a scoff just like before.

“Are you telling me to beg you or something?”

“No…”

“What do you want that you come here to rub salt in the wound, fuck!”

I get it now. Right now, Jeon Juseok was in a considerably unstable mental state. It was understandable, given that a guy who had acted high and mighty relying on his parents while doing all sorts of wicked things had ended up in a detention center.

I slowly started speaking again.

“…It’s true I came because there’s something I want. If you give me the answer I want, hyung, then I’ll testify. That you aren’t at fault.”

“This fucking little piece of shit…”

Jeon Juseok spat out curses, but I didn’t care. It was like the behavior of a cornered rat screaming.

“Hyung.”

I looked Jeon Juseok straight in the eye. Perhaps it was the first time.

“The bankbook Grandmother left in my name—did you take it, hyung?”

After throwing out the question, I quietly observed his expression.

“…Haha. What kind of bullshit is that?”

The fellow seemed to be agitated, and also seemed to be mocking me even more loudly.

“That Grandmother left a bankbook for you.”

He muttered as if it were an unfamiliar story. It must be a shameless act.

“Yeah, you know too, hyung. Because you saw the bankbook and the letter.”

As I recalled Grandmother’s letter, my emotions surged instantly, so I steadied my breathing.

Jeon Juseok burst into laughter repeatedly as if it were absurd.

“I heard that old lady made money by picking up waste paper and cleaning other people’s outhouses. Is there even any money to leave behind?”

It was a statement looking down on Grandmother. My fists clenched involuntarily. However, I tried my best to suppress my fluttering heart. Because the more I was shaken, the more I would be playing into his hands.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. You saw it, hyung.”

“Ha, really now. What do you keep bullshitting about having seen?”

“The day you said you would help organize Grandmother’s belongings.”

“…”

“You found it then, right? The letter Grandmother wrote to me and the bankbook.”

Jeon Juseok, who seemed like he would deny it until the end, suddenly shut his mouth. I continued speaking.

“You put the letter under the floor linoleum and only took the bankbook. And then you borrowed my ID from me using the excuse of a contract, went to the bank, and withdrew the entire balance.”

“Ha… Haha, wow. Are you writing a novel? This is fucking hilarious.”

The fellow, who had laughed while tilting his head sideways, fixed his expression again and looked me in the eye.

“Do you have evidence?”

It was a predictable, cliché answer that I had expected several times while imagining this moment.

“Hyung.”

I also looked him straight in the face. There was no reason to be at his beck and call anymore.

“Give Grandmother’s money back. If you have the physical bankbook, that too.”

“That’s why I’m saying, evidence…”

“That is the settlement money I am demanding.”

The fellow, who was about to mention evidence again, stopped talking and only his lips twitched. Anger and a look of hesitation were clearly visible on his face.

“Hyung, if it stays like this, you’ll have to serve a prison sentence. 98 million won. That money is nothing to you, hyung. If you just return that money, I’ll testify that you aren’t at fault. I promise.”

“Hey, you little shit.”

Jeon Juseok muttered coldly.

“You should listen to a person until they’re finished. I’m asking if you have evidence that I did that.”

“What if I do?”

“That’s a threat from you.”

Jeon Juseok’s gaze turned toward Gi Seoin.

“Right. You said this piece of shit is a lawyer.”

His fishy gaze soon returned to me.

“Did that guy tell you to do this? You’re acting up because you trust him, right? Don’t mess around, Woo Seungkyung. Not if you don’t want to die.”

“I’m making a proposal that is beneficial to both of us, you and me, hyung.”

“Cut the crap.”

Jeon Juseok, who had crossed his arms, took an arrogant posture by jutting his chin out.

“Do you think he’s the only lawyer in the world?”

“…”

“I have a lawyer too, you brat.”

He would. Because his aunt and her husband, especially his aunt, wouldn’t just stand by and watch a red line get drawn across Jeon Juseok’s name.

Jeon Juseok looked at Gi Seoin.

“Hey.”

To think he’d say “Hey.” It was so contrary to the way he had been flattering him when they first met that I was appalled.

“You’re part of Cheongcheon, aren’t you?”

It had been months since Gi Seoin had left Cheongcheon. However, he didn’t answer, and Jeon Juseok kept talking.

“My father is on very close terms with a top-tier lawyer at Cheongcheon. You want to fight a trial battle with a senior of that level over this little thing? A little shit like you is no match for someone like him. Just quit. Even so, I’m giving you a chance because I view you favorably.”

At this, Gi Seoin, who had been quiet, opened his mouth. And.

“Haha.”

What he let out was not words, but a short laugh. Jeon Juseok’s eyes glared fiercely.

“You’re laughing? What’s so damn funny?”

I thought Gi Seoin would continue to ignore Jeon Juseok like this.

“It is funny.”

However, I was mistaken.

“The sight of someone who has lived pathetically as a thug their whole life acting as if the abilities of those around them are their own and gloating.”

“Wha—what, you fucker?”

“It’s pathetic, Mr. Jeon Juseok.”

“Pathetic? Ha! Hey!”

Jeon Juseok pressed his tightly clenched fist against the glass wall and said lowly through gritted teeth.

“Watch your mouth. Unless you want to be kicked out of Cheongcheon.”

“I can’t be kicked out. Because I’m no longer a person of Cheongcheon.”

“What?”

“There’s no need to explain in detail.”

Gi Seoin reached out his hand and tapped Jeon Juseok’s fist, which was pressed against the glass wall, with his index finger. Tap, tap.

“Since fists don’t work in there, use your head well.”

Gi Seoin, who brought his index finger to his own temple and tapped it once, stood up. Before I knew it, the alarm signaled that the interview time was over.

“Fuck, sit back down. Hey!”

Jeon Juseok, who was as irritated as he could be, stood up and shouted.

“What are you relying on to act like that? If not Cheongcheon, then what? You think I don’t know the lawyer world is small? You’re dead, you bastard. You’re fired! You think I’m going to leave you alone?”

A prison guard came in and dragged Jeon Juseok out. The fellow kept shouting out curses until the moment he completely disappeared from the interview room.

I sat there blankly… and only when I could no longer hear his voice did I let out a breath all at once.

Gi Seoin wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I looked up at him and forced a smile.

“Still, I feel refreshed.”

Even though I didn’t gain anything…

I intentionally omitted the rest of the thought. I didn’t want to add words that would sap my energy for no reason.

I hadn’t thought Jeon Juseok would obediently return Grandmother’s money in the name of a settlement. Still, human nature is such that one hopes for a “one in a million” chance. But as expected, Jeon Juseok was Jeon Juseok.

A moment later, the door opened, and a prison guard guided us to come outside. Only then did I get up from my seat. Gi Seoin wrapped his arm around my waist as if supporting me.

“Seungkyung.”

When I looked at him as he called my name, he spoke in a calm voice.

“Shall we go to a cafe?”

He asked as if we had come out on a date.

“There’s a place I stop by every time I come here for an interview.”

Well… it wasn’t something to be depressed about. I did gain something. I confirmed Jeon Juseok’s intentions clearly, and I pissed him off.

I asked back.

“Really? What’s good there?”

“Chocolate latte.”

“Hmm, I’ll have an iced Americano.”

From now on, I will go to a cafe with Gi Seoin and cool off with a cold drink, while Jeon Juseok will be stewing in his anger in the detention center without being able to smoke even a single cigarette that he likes so much.

The sunlight was definitely shining on my side.

I looked at Gi Seoin and felt certain. No matter what results came regarding Jeon Juseok in the future, the day when my life would be shaded again would never come.