And when did Mr. Jung Hyun-wook start wearing such suits? Riding such a flashy car? Those jet-black training suits you wore every day—do you not wear them anymore? Just as I was asking back inwardly, a voice suddenly interjected.
“Lawyer-nim, the car is waiting. You need to move now. The next schedule is tight.”
The man who appeared said decisively. Judging by the pure silk tie he wore, he didn’t seem to be a common driver. But his jaw was rough, unsuited to the expensive suit. His complexion was also bad. As if he’d pulled an all-nighter.
Songrim would have been turned upside down by CEO Jo Tae-seong’s arrest warrant. Since Jung Hyun-wook took on the defense, it was natural his subordinate employees wouldn’t be idle.
“Wait outside. I’ll be right there.”
I looked at Jung Hyun-wook. Finally, I saw the fatigue cast over his eyes. His hair was slightly wet as if he’d just washed, and he’d finished shaving cleanly, but the exhaustion was evident.
The man who had been looking at Jung Hyun-wook as if to urge again turned away as is. The man seemed like the type who would never back down, but he didn’t even dare try with Jung Hyun-wook.
“I heard you came up to Seoul.”
Jung Hyun-wook really spoke like a lawyer. It wasn’t a compliment. They knew how to skillfully hide any anger or hatred. The more composed he was, the more anxious I became. But long silence wasn’t permitted between us. Reporters poured out into the corridor from the opposite courtroom.
“Can you believe it? An actual prison sentence was handed down! I’ll send the article draft right now, so convene the desk meeting. Fuck, tomorrow’s front page is mine!”
The reporter who shouted was walking toward the end of the corridor looking for a quiet place. Then discovered Jung Hyun-wook through the half-open door. His eyes widened greatly.
“Lawyer Jung Hyun-wook?”
A shrill voice burst out. His voice was so loud that other reporters all looked this way at once. This was big trouble. The reporters who came to observe the trial were about to catch the big fish called Jung Hyun-wook.
“Bring the camera!”
The reporter who had reserved tomorrow’s morning paper’s front page was indeed different. He’d made the judgment that one photo was enough. A judge and lawyer having a conversation in an empty courtroom. Just one shot alone would make curiosity boil over.
Moreover, this was a courthouse before CEO Jo Tae-seong’s warrant substantive review trial. Jung Hyun-wook could reveal the fact that he appeared for summary judgment for unpaid traffic fines, but that also wasn’t a good look. Right now was a time to be careful even of falling leaves.
Then Im Ji-seok came running. His lip movements showed he was saying something, but I was still frozen in place.
“Judge-nim! Exit through the back door! I’ll block the reporters.”
Ji-seok, who ran over like Superman, grabbed my shoulder and pushed me inside. Right in front, the courtroom’s large wooden door slammed shut. The air instantly became quiet. With one door between, reporters clamored outside. I leaned my forehead against the door and gasped for breath. I barely calmed my sharply rising breathing.
“What the hell is that bastard?”
A low voice rang right by my ear. For a moment, his familiar scent rushed in invasively. I bit my lower lip and stepped back. I couldn’t understand Jung Hyun-wook’s inner thoughts at all.
“He’s a judicial clerk. There’s nothing to worry about. He’s not someone with a loose mouth.”
At my words, he snorted. His shoe tips approached boldly. Simultaneously, the wooden door shook with a bang. Reporters knocked on the door.
“Lawyer Jung Hyun-wook-nim, please say a word about CEO Jo Tae-seong’s upcoming warrant substantive review.”
For a moment, Jung Hyun-wook’s eyes became ruthless. It was a flash, but I didn’t miss it.
“There’s so little information released to the media about how Songrim will respond. Couldn’t such a passive response work disadvantageously in future trials?”
It was a story brought out to grill Jung Hyun-wook, but it wasn’t wrong either. When the prosecution requested the arrest warrant, the prevailing opinion in legal circles was that CEO Jo Tae-seong’s detention wouldn’t be accepted.
The assessment was what grounds would there be to detain CEO Jo Tae-seong when Taegang Chemical Vice President Lee Deok-jung, pointed to as the key figure in the embezzlement case, took responsibility and voluntarily appeared? Even as a judge, it was a burdensome matter to decide on detention without concrete judgment grounds.
But as new evidence emerged, the atmosphere rapidly reversed. For Songrim, they had to pressure the court even through public opinion warfare. Yet Jung Hyun-wook was saying leisurely things, unconcerned with outside the door.
“Was that day’s hoppang delicious?”
When I raised my head, understanding the question a beat late, Jung Hyun-wook’s lips rose. But the eyes that met mine weren’t smiling at all. Jet-black pupils stared deeply at me as if measuring.
“Since when did you let strange men into your home?”
My eyes widened in surprise. How did he know? Was it Jung Hyun-wook who left the hoppang hanging? Wasn’t it Jong-hwa? But clearly inside the plastic bag was Jong-hwa’s note informing the meeting place.
In college, every time I returned after finishing convenience store night shifts, I filled my stomach with hoppang. I wasn’t even sick of it. Because I felt good whenever the sweet red bean paste spread in my mouth.
When I first tore off half for Jung Hyun-wook who came to pick me up every dawn, he refused saying he hated sweet things. Then one day he asked if it was really that delicious. Saying it was the first time he’d seen me smile like that. From then on, Jung Hyun-wook also joined my thousand-won happiness.
It was a time when even one hoppang brought happiness. Even after I quit the convenience store job, Jung Hyun-wook would occasionally come running with rough breathing and hold out hoppang taken from inside his chest. But all those things were already finished stories.
“What are you trying to say?”
I passed by him heading toward the back door. I had to get out quickly while reporters were crowded outside the door.
“Weren’t judges supposed to be careful about personal address exposure?”
“There was too much material to review, so he just gave me a ride. He got off at the parking lot entrance, so there’s no way he’d know the house.”
“I was watching until you went up. Since I saw the corridor sensor lights turn on, he probably knows the address too. Isn’t that typical stalker criminal behavior?”
I gestured at him with my head while holding the back door open.
“You’d better hurry. Reporters will burst in soon.”
Jung Hyun-wook passed through the door I was holding with a dissatisfied face. I closed the door with a bang. He glanced at me.
“You lack caution in many ways.”
I finally couldn’t hold back and shouted.
“More than treating a Grade 5 civil servant judicial clerk like street riffraff? Don’t interfere with my work. You never did originally anyway.”
Sharp words burst out. The brief conversation with him was more tiring than eight hours of trial. We weren’t even in a relationship to have such emotional consumption anymore. He laughed.
“Right. That’s correct. We lived unrelated for ten years.”
“Then go back unrelated today too. And stop with the useless talk.”
A black sedan entered the employee parking lot. His driver was as quick at reading situations as his expensive silk tie. But signs of people could already be heard from the nearby east gate. I looked at his eyes as if urging. Jung Hyun-wook was silently staring only at my judicial robe. A sigh came out.
“Lawyer Jung Hyun-wook-nim.”
Even as I uttered it from my mouth, the title felt awkward. Jung Hyun-wook’s eyebrows also rose sharply. Jung Hyun-wook who became a lawyer. Jung Hyun-wook who used to feel suffocated even in turtlenecks but now endures ties that strangle the neck. Jung Hyun-wook who no longer smiles with his whole face crumpled. I had skipped over a long time yet still remained in the past.
Jung Hyun-wook slowly extended his hand. A hand large enough to hold a basketball in one hand.
“Judge Mo Hyo-kyung-nim, it was nice to see you. You achieved your dream. You said you wanted to live ordinarily, didn’t you? You endured well for ten years in a gossipy neighborhood without any major commotion. You look quite like an ordinary civil servant now.”
Having finished speaking, Jung Hyun-wook turned around without hesitation. The car that loaded Jung Hyun-wook into the back seat quickly exited the courthouse. I stood alone in that spot for a long while. Jung Hyun-wook’s warmth still remained on my hand. I was always the one who abandoned him first, yet somehow I felt abandoned again.
2.
In my college days, I never spoke or smiled. Even when called on during class, I didn’t answer, and during breaks, I didn’t converse with anyone.
The terminus of my arduous teenage years—I didn’t fit in on the indulgent campus where everyone was finally enjoying their liberation. That singularly fresh spring was achromatic to me. Back then, I was exhausted.
“Jung Hyun-wook… Um, this is my number. Call me.”
It was the diagonal corner seat. A female student whose cheeks were flushed with shyness was handing over a note. As soon as the professor left, I quickly packed my backpack. That kind of thing couldn’t even become a topic of conversation anymore. It was like a kind of ritual performed every time liberal arts class ended. Even without looking, it was obvious who received the note.
Jung Hyun-wook.
He always wore athletic wear and a cap. Sometimes I’d run into Jung Hyun-wook on campus with a hood pulled over his cap, and I could recognize who he was just by his build and atmosphere.
I first saw him at the entrance ceremony. He gave the freshman pledge. It meant he was top of the class. I, who hadn’t even attended my high school graduation where a banner reading “Admitted to S University Law School” hung, attended the entrance ceremony unable to resist Ahn Jong-hwa’s nagging. Because I couldn’t ignore his words asking when in his life he’d get to come to an S University entrance ceremony.
