WITH YOU (WINRINA AU)

CHAPTER 49

Still with her mind occupied with Jihoon's case, Minjeong still has to manage her company regardless. Expecting no guests, an uninvited man entered her office.

"hey, dad." Isa greeted him.

"hey, cupcake. Jeong."

Minjeong looks up from her monitor. She smiles weakly at him.

"rough week?" James walks to the bar and serves himself a glass of whiskey.

"pretty much." Minjeong sighs. "it's not about work, though. Don't worry about it."

"how's Jimin? Is it about her? had a fight or something?" James guessed roughly.

"no, James. It's kinda personal." Minjeong can drop the honorific by now. James wants it that way. thinking of his question, it bothers her that he asked about Jimin.

"well, then." James put his glass on the table and takes out his phone. "I was expecting her."

Minjeong looks at him for a brief moment then goes to work again. She gets that Jimin is a great worker, but isn't it a bit too much? she thought to herself.

"don't get me wrong. I need help with my new store at Teal Street. A clothing store." James noticed Minjeong's behavior. "still in the city. I'm sure you don't want her away from you." he chuckles at the end.

"I'll visit the store." Minjeong smiles at him, feeling a little relieved. "maybe she can check out the place before deciding."

"great! That's what I expected from you." James smiles in satisfaction. "I guess that's it. I'll wait for you at the store."

-

On her way to the law firm, Minjeong got interrupted by a call. Guessing that it's from Giselle, she connects it quickly to her radio and picks it up.

"I'm really sorry, miss. The detective is looking for you. we're at Mrs. Yu's apartment." it turned out to be Eric.

"oh, gosh. I'll be right there."

Shortly, she arrived. Just like the other day, Minjeong found the detective alone, Jimin, and Eric stays with Gunhoo.

"is there anything I can help you with?" Minjeong had a gut feeling that he already knew about her profile.

"I think it'd be better if you come to me to the station. This place is no longer ideal for our conversation." Sungmin then glanced at Jimin. "maybe you'd like to say a few words to our client before leaving. I'll wait for you outside."

Minjeong walks towards Jimin as Sungmin leaves the building.

"mama?" Gunhoo approached them as well. "are you leaving like uncle Yeonjun?"

"no, son. I'm just gonna talk with the nice uncle outside. I want you to take care of mommy, okay?" Minjeong smiles at the little boy and rubs his head.

"you'll be okay, right?" Jimin got worried. "why do I seem to bring you so much trouble?"

"hey, you've done nothing wrong." Minjeong cups her cheeks. "I'll be okay. I'll keep you updated, I promise."

-

Following the detective, Minjeong enters the interrogation room after him. allowing her to have a seat, Minjeong sits down across Sungmin.

"so..." Sungmin starts pulling out some documents. "since you're a notorious lawyer, I supposed you already know that we put you on the list. Seeing how relaxed you are, I believe that you have nothing to hide from us."

"that is certain. I will respond to your questions honestly with no pressure from any party." Minjeong politely responded. "ask away."

"I want to confirm your relationship with Mrs. Yu." Sungmin stares at her, waiting.

"we are currently in a romantic relationship." Minjeong calmly replied. "apparently I'm a lawyer, so, I can be the one defending her if anything happened."

"so you've prepared?"

"yes. as you can probably tell from my past, I've had a lot of people using me for their advantages. I'm used to that kind of thing." Minjeong honestly stated.

"Mr. Park seems to hate you. any reason for that?" Sungmin continues.

"it was about his previous relationship with Jimin. He's the father of the boy you see earlier." Minjeong can see that Sungmin is observing her behaviour. "he ran away after he found out about Gunhoo. I can tell that he hates me, but I have no bad blood with him. the only thing that bothers me is when he bothers my girlfriend."

"you finally speak as yourself. it'll be ideal if you set the 'lawyer' image aside." Sungmin throws a bright smile. "honestly, you have a motive to get rid of him."

"I do, yes. but, I'd rather focus on Jimin and Gunhoo. Even the night Jihoon called, Jimin was the one who refused to take it. I understand her really well. We don't want anything to do with him." Minjeong explained.

"so, we found that the reason that he called was because he wanted to borrow some money from Mrs. Yu. He called some more people before and after." Sungmin informed. "we had a suspicion that he also borrowed some from you, but, with further investigation, we didn't find any transaction between you two."

"I understand the concern."

"thank you for your cooperation and providing us with the information that we need." Sungmin smiles lightly. "I'm really sorry for any inconvenience that I gave you."

"pleasure to work with you, sir."