failures II » kpop ✓

chapter 1

The building in front of me looked like a place where dreams came to die.

It reminded me a lot of my school in that aspect.

The run-down neighbourhood was filled with Chinese restaurants and shops that had flashing signs above the entrances, tacky decorations and dirty windows. A group of young thugs that was hanging out behind a street corner pulled out their knives when they saw me staring at them for a moment too long and a driver of some creepy white van tried to convince me to follow him in his vehicle. Some signs with street names and numbers were missing, so I had to walk around the building that I was looking for three times before I finally spotted the sign on the third floor. The name of the firm was printed on some kind of sheet of fabric, it was hanging out of two windows and fluttering in the slight summer breeze.

Your local neighbourhood's lawyer law firm.

The more I thought about it, the more stupid that name sounded.

I wasn't sure if I was making the right decision coming here, but I had no other choice. The story of the fight that I had with my former boss already spread all through Seoul and my bad reputation somehow managed to get even worse. My best friend was trying to convince me to publicly apologise to him, but I still thought that I was right to try to stand up for myself. My methods perhaps weren't the best, but that was just part of my personality.

I suspiciously eyed the bright green sports car that was parked in front of the entrance of the building and wondered if it belonged to Byun Baekhyun or one of the other lawyers that worked for him. I did a bit of a background check on him and I was truly surprised to find out that he managed to win some pretty big and important cases. I wasn't completely sure if he was a real lawyer when we first met and now I was left confused again, because according to his reputation he was supposed to have a lot of money and yet he chose to work in a place that had bullet holes on the walls.

I paused in front of the door that lead in the law firm. I took a deep breath and nervously bit my lower lip. I still had a chance to turn around, beg my former boss for forgiveness and ask him to take me back. His law firm was a lot nicer than this one, they had soft red carpets on the ground, coffee machines and air conditioning and it was located right in front of my favourite fast food restaurant. I just had to survive three more months of my boss taking credit for my ideas, exploiting me for tasks like picking up his daughter from school and bite my tongue when he would make fun of rookie lawyers like me in front of others.

Can I do that? Can I bite my tongue for another three months?

My hand trembled above the doorknob and I didn't know what to do. That was when I felt somebody grab the back of my neck, hold my wrist and twist my arm on my back. I was pushed with my face against the wall and a threatening voice hissed in my ear: '' Who are you? I saw you snooping around the building! Are you working for the police?! ''

'' I am... '' I tried to mumble with my face squished against the wall. Then I pushed my knee back in the stranger's stomach, ripped my hand from his grip and grabbed his arm. I breathed in, clenched my teeth together and flipped him over my back. He landed on the ground, I straightened myself again and lightly slapped my cheeks. '' I am black belt in karate, so I would talk to me in a more civilised way if I were you. I knew I should've listened to my friend when she told me to bring my taser when I came to this neighbourhood. Do you need a lawyer's help or something? Are you here to find somebody to save you from going to jail? ''

'' Did you seriously just... '' The man was laying on his back and looking at me with a mix of shock and anger. His hair was blue, he ha sharp cheek bones and he was wearing a black leather jacket and combat boots. I suddenly noticed how muscular his arms were and took a few wary steps back. '' I demand a rematch! Come on! Hit me! I have a black belt in karate too and I'll show you who's better! ''