Fire & Silk

2. J. Y. Park Law

"Hey Jeongyeon! You're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" A strong voice yelled from the kitchen as Jeongyeon was hurriedly packing her bag to head to the first day at J.Y. Park Law. Rated as one of the most esteemed law firms in South Korea, Jeongyeon was excited to start her first day as a trainee prosecutor. It had been almost two years since she finished her initial training at YG Firm, so other than a few odd jobs here and there, she hadn't had the chance to start her career. Jeongyeon jogged around the corner into the kitchen, her bag slung over one shoulder. She almost inhaled the eggs that Jihyo, her housemate, had made and chugged some juice before she ran to the front door. "Don't take the wrong bus this time!" Jihyo laughed and yelled from the kitchen. Jeongyeon just smiled and rolled her eyes, checking herself in the mirror before throwing the door open.

"I'll be back late tonight so try to stay up so I can tell you all about my first day. Have a good day at work and don't let your manager walk all over you again today!" Jeongyeon yelled this as she closed the door, running towards the steps. The elevator was slow in their building so she took the five flights of steps down, not wanting to risk being late. Just as she made it out of the building, the bus pulled up. Jeongyeon ran onto the bus and sat down, breathing heavily. She sighed in relief and laid her head back against the seat. She turned and looked out the window, shivering a little as her body got used to the warmer temperature in the bus. It was the middle of January so she had heavier clothes on to stay warm. Jeongyeon placed her bag on the seat beside her but moved it once an older woman got on at the next stop. "Oh, 할머니 (halmoni/grandmother) you can sit here." The older woman thanked her and took a seat.

"Where are you off to so early in the morning young lady?" The older woman turned to Jeongyeon and smiled.

"I'm starting my first day as a trainee prosecutor at J.Y. Park Law." Jeongyeon pulled out her I.D. badge from under her jacket and showed the woman. The older woman looked at her badge and then back up at Jeongyeon.

"Ah they hire such beautiful and smart people there. I think you'll do well. Where did you go to learn law?" The old woman asked Jeongyeon this as she looked through her bag.

Jeongyeon turned red and laughed a little as she answered the woman. "Thank you very much. I attended Yonsei University. I worked at YG Firm for my initial training but I haven't been able to practice law in a little while so I'm nervous."

The older woman just shook her head and patted Jeongyeon's hand. "I'm sure you'll do well. I've never known Mr. Park to ever hire anyone he didn't think was good. They helped my son win his case when he was robbed a few years ago." She turned Jeongyeon's hand over and placed something in it before getting up. "This is my stop. I wish you all the luck for today. You'll do well and I know you'll help everyone."

As the older woman got off the bus, Jeongyeon couldn't help the smile that was on her face. She looked down and opened her hand, laughing lightly at the red ginseng candy that she was given. She put the candy in her bag and looked back out the window. A few more stops passed until Jeongyeon finally got off. She stepped off the bus and stood in front of the J.Y. Park Law building. She couldn't believe that she had finally made it. All of her hard work was finally paying off.

Despite how early it was, the streets of Seoul were already crowded. Workers were heading to their jobs and students were headed to school. Jeongyeon pushed the doors open to the first floor of the J.Y.P Law building and was immediately astonished. Everything was modernized and there were so many different rooms and elevators just on the first floor. She took a look at her phone again to see the floor she'd mainly be working on and scanned her I.D. to take the elevator up to the 9th floor. Jeongyeon waited and nervously tapped her heel on the elevator floor as she watched the numbers climb higher.