Above and Below // SeongJoong

4. Rumors and Suspicion (1)

DISCLAIMER: I have limited knowledge of the law, so please excuse any mistakes or inaccurate representations of reality. This is fiction, and everything that happens does not reflect any real events.

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Hongjoong was returning to his office from a partners meeting in the morning when his secretary shot up from her desk, so quickly it made him flinch in surprise.

"Attorney Kim, Attorney Choi is waiting for you inside," she announced. "I'm sorry, I told him you were busy, but he just went in..."

"It's fine," the blue-haired lawyer replied, though he cocked his head curiously. What's he up to now? he thought as he pushed open his door...

And walked straight into his junior, who jumped out from the left and thrust a thin sheaf of papers into his chest. "Hyung! We have a problem!"

"Ah..." Hongjoong groaned, rubbing the side of his abdomen where the younger's elbow collided with him. "Whatever it is, let's talk about it inside, okay?" Before he could get approval, he nudged past his guest and let the door swing close behind him.

Jongho was forced to take a few steps back, but that did not diminish his determination one bit. He followed all the way to the desk, adamant to get the partner attorney's attention. "Your client Miss Choi – the girlfriend who wants quits with her boyfriend, in case you forgot – has shown signs of neglect towards her son when he was still a baby. The document I gave you is a hospital record that shows he'd been underfed and 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 breastmilk by the mother!"

Hongjoong perked up at the news, shocked but mostly impressed. "How'd you get your hands on that? Wouldn't that be one of the defendant's evidence?"

"You're right," Jongho said with his nose in the air, "but I have my own connections who keep me updated with the situation on the other side––" he cut off abruptly, as if something occurred to him, and narrowed his eyes at his senior. "Wait, why are you so calm? If we have nothing better to rebut that, it's going to be hard for us to win Miss Choi the custody of her son!"

"Because I kind of already expected this," the blue-haired man replied shrewdly. "When she came here last Thursday, I mean. She was acting suspiciously and clearly not telling me the full truth." He picked up the hospital documents and flipped through them, exhaling loudly through his mouth. "I was going to confront her soon enough, but now that you came to me with this..."

The younger lawyer widened his eyes. "Hyung, don't tell me you're going to drop this case, too! I know you're righteous and all, but remember who your client is! Sure, Chairman Choi's niece might not be a nice person because of what she did to her baby son, but what if you lose your job! What if I lose my job! The trial is in two weeks!"

"Relax," Hongjoong said, dragging the word to emphasize his point. Although he had to admit it was always amusing to see Jongho, a natural show-off who cared so much about his impression to others, lose his cool occasionally. "Goodness, you're so dramatic sometimes. I'm not dropping the case, and even if I did, I doubt the chairman would do anything to us over something so petty." He let the other man digest the information before continuing, "Besides, have you forgotten how important it is to trust our clients? She probably has a good reason to want to fight for custody. We just have to find out what, and bring it to court."

The associate attorney looked like he was about to cry. "Hyung," he whined, "anyone would know you're the ace of Choi Ka Law." Just as quickly he straightened up again and dusted imaginary dirt off his conspicuous wine-red suit. "Alright, let's get going then."

"What?" blurted Hongjoong, ever confused by his junior's sudden changes in mood. "Where? I have to start doing research on Miss Choi's boyfriend. I'm planning to call the––"