Above and Below // SeongJoong

9. A Turn of Events (2)

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 had his navy lapel long coat in his arm, ready to head out for a quick lunch when he almost collided with his secretary at his office door.

"Ah," she gasped and bowed, "I'm sorry, Attorney Kim. Someone is—"

Before she could even finish, it was Hongjoong's turn to gasp. And then he heard it: the faint sniffles of a person who'd recently just cried. "It's that mom again, isn't it?" he asked, though he was already pushing apart the blinds with two of his fingers to spy out into the hallway, where a red-eyed lady bowed her head to the calloused hands on her lap. He failed to suppress a sigh as he pulled away from the window, wondering if he was ever going to take a break.

"Oh, hyung," someone's voice came out of nowhere. "Do you have a meeting with your client now?" There was a tell-tale shuffle of a paper bag and the clunking of ice against plastic cups. "I bought us lunch though."

Hongjoong had never been so happy to see the associate lawyer standing at his door. "Gosh, you're my savior," he breathed with relief and pulled Jongho past the threshold. To his secretary he whispered, "Tell the madam I'll see her after lunchtime. Bring her to the cafe downstairs or something."

"So tell me, what happened that made you so grateful all of a sudden?" asked Jongho not-so-innocently when they were seated at the sofas in front of the office desk.

The partner attorney would have countered the younger's snarky comment if he was in a better mood, but all he managed was a weary shake of his head. "You know I'm completely snowed under with new clients this week. Chairman Choi referred a few from other law firms that I couldn't refuse, and thanks to the extraordinary use of exaggeration by the media, everyone now thinks I'm some sort of..." He frowned, waving his arms around dramatically while thinking of a word. Jongho helped him out while unwrapping a gimbap roll, "Expert? God? Hero?" Hongjoong snapped his fingers. "Yeah! Like a lost hero, someone who can finally stand up against the undefeatable Salguem gang. Even though all I did was use Lee Jun's history with the gang as evidence that he isn't befit to own custody of the toddler. History. Everyone knows how well Salgeum hides their traces!"

For once, the associate attorney listened without interrupting, doing not so much as handing his senior a bamboo stick with a tteokbokki on the other end as the latter continued. "That lady you just saw, she's come every day since Monday. I kept telling her my hands are full and I can't accept any more clients at the moment, but she insists on telling me my story, no matter how many times I suggested that she would be better off looking for the police if she wants to get the Salgeum gang arrested. Anyway, I think she works, too, 'cause she only ever shows up during lunch hour, and thanks to that I haven't had a proper meal in the past four days. That's how you saved me." The blue-haired lawyer paused to chew, swallow, and rinse down the rice cake with a sip of coffee. "Don't look at me like that. If you have something to say, say it."

Jongho did not even hesitate. "I'm sorry to say this, hyung, but everything you just told me is bull––" Then he saw Hongjoong raising an eyebrow with a sound of disapproval and changed his mind. "––cow... manure. You accepted her as your client anyway, didn't you? And that thing about the police? You've got to be kidding me. You wouldn't have the heart to push someone away, especially when you know they're the victims."

Hongjoong groaned and threw back his head so it hung over the seatback, and now when he spoke he had to do so with a stretched throat, which made his voice come out strained. "Everyone who gets themselves involved with Salgeum is a victim," he explained, not even bothering to deny the younger's earlier accusation of him. "Her daughter's terminally ill, and being desperate like any mother would, she had to resolve to accept the gang's help, since it apparently promised her immediate, effective results at a cheaper price than private hospitals. She wired the money, regretted it two days later when my victorious lawsuit went on the news, tried to get a refund, only to be threatened in return." His throat was starting to hurt, so he pulled himself back to a proper sitting position and downed his drink with a deep exhale. "Of course, she's afraid to go to the police since she got herself into trouble in the first place..." He stared at his empty cup and gave it a vigorous squeeze, tightening his grip by the second as he muttered, "The police... the damn gangsters..." And when the cup was so deformed it could not even stand, he dropped his head onto his knees and stuck his fingers into his blue strands. "Why is our country letting criminals roam around, messing with innocent lives, instead of putting them to justice?"