Dear Lawyer | Jikook ff

32 - Reporters (i)

From the looks of it, Chen Zhang was still particularly sensitive about the past. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken the bait as soon as it was mentioned, changing his tune and obediently coming down to the visiting room.

He stared wide-eyed at Jimin, awaiting his response with bated breath, not daring to even breathe too loudly.

In the end, Jimin only leaned against the chair, slowly tossing him four words. "Give it a guess?"

"..."

Chen Zhang almost stopped breathing right there.

"Actually, this is a very redundant question," said Jimin. "If I were you, I definitely wouldn't waste my limited time fixated on something with such an obvious answer."

Chen Zhang gave a start.

Indeed, how could he have known? This intern lawyer was young, so he must have heard it from someone else in the know. Who would that be...

His attention involuntarily gravitated towards the words relayed by the warden. '31-'47, a regular at Champagne... These words couldn't have been of the lawyer himself, so it must be his informant. Was there a guest who had been a decade-long regular of the club Champagne back then?

Chen Zhang delved into his memories; he did still have a little impression of the guestlist of Champagne.

Of course, he didn't remember that many names on the list, only a few particularities. As Champagne was a small and expensive boutique club, it wasn't a prime choice for one-off beachgoers. Why would they squander that kind of money when there were bigger and more popular clubs?

But Champagne was especially popular amongst the rich tycoons. Even then, most only came by on occasion for a vacation to have a bit of fun and de-stress. Those who regularly came by over the years tended to fall into two categories.

The first sort were those in their late prime, their seventies to nineties, who treated diving as a type of exercise, clocking in regular hours as if they were clocking into work. The other sort were rich young men in their teens and twenties, just before and after they reach adulthood, thrill-seekers with ample time on their hands.

But no matter which category, they all had one thing in common—they were generous tippers.

It was purely for this reason that Chen Zhang made a beeline for Champagne in the first place.

At that time, he had recently retired from a professional diving job that involved specialised underwater projects. Desperate for money, he beseeched someone to get him a job at Champagne as an unlisted instructor. But because he was unlisted, he didn't have a fixed clientele. He would help to take someone on a dive today, and take someone else on a dive tomorrow. Were there any guests who would remember him?

How was that possible...

"You look like you've dug yourself into a molehill," Jimin said. "Let me guess, you're trying to recall if there was anyone back then who could have told me this?"

Chen Zhang jolted. Faint embarrassment entered his expression.

In two short minutes, from a scant few words, Jimin had roughly gotten a grasp of Chen Zhang's personality—his thoughts were easily led on a spiral by others; he couldn't capture the main points. Put in a nicer way, he took everyone by their words and easily trusted people. Put bluntly, he was a fool, and an overly earnest fool at that.

Although this little bit of understanding wasn't deep, at least...

Based on his personality, Jimin wouldn't be surprised if there were other circumstances at play behind the suspicion cast on Chen Zhang.