“Oh my, my business card is probably on my desk,”
“You don’t need to give it to me.”
The president quickly got up from the sofa saying he’d find his business card too, but the man refused. After glancing sideways at the embarrassed president’s face, Eunchan looked at Inju’s business card.
Inside the white and clean design of the card were only a name, number, and position. Myeongjin Co., Ltd. Management Support Legal Team 1 Lawyer Han Inju. Eunchan put the business card down on the table. Though it was just a small piece of paper, it felt heavy, so he couldn’t keep holding it.
“Do you have a business card?”
“I don’t have one……”
Though he’d coldly refused the president’s business card, Inju asked for Eunchan’s. Since there was never an occasion to hand them out in the first place, he hadn’t even printed any, so Eunchan answered that he didn’t have one.
“You should make some from now on. You never know when you might need them.”
“Yes.”
Like advice given to a new member of society, Inju advised Eunchan. Eunchan ended the conversation by roughly going along with it.
“Then let’s get down to business. I’ll start recording. Please sign.”
Inju first held out a non-disclosure agreement and requested signatures from the president and Eunchan.
“We usually just find people, find things, and at most help with getting loan documents. I don’t know what it is, but we can’t take on big jobs.”
Eunchan, already frightened, said to Inju who had a cold expression. Even with glasses on, his sharp gaze wasn’t hidden but rather revealed without filter.
“You just need to do what you normally do. It’s simple.”
“……We also can’t kill people.”
I heard contract killing is common among chaebol families. Eunchan furrowed his brow, recalling a crime movie he’d seen recently. The president kept poking Eunchan’s waist, asking why he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
“I want to find a person.”
“Ah, of course! You came to the right place. Just yesterday we caught a guy who ran off with gye money. Other places failed several times and rejected it, but we got him in one shot!”
The president’s somewhat lengthy chiming in continued. About how he ran off with 50 million won, how they grabbed people one by one and asked them all, how they waited in ambush outside for days and nights. Of course, not all of it was done by the president—it was the hard work Eunchan and Hyungsik did.
At a request that was less than expected, Eunchan relaxed his body and leaned against the sofa. I was nervous for nothing. Now that he looked, Inju with his cold impression didn’t look that scary either. He just looked like an office worker exhausted by a busy schedule.
“Unfortunately, we currently have very little information. Quite a lot.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find the person quickly in this small land.”
Inju took out a piece of paper from the document envelope and held it out to Eunchan. Eunchan pushed the paper toward the president sitting right next to him.
“This is everything.”
“……”
“……Kim Noeul?”
On the paper was only a name written in neat handwriting. Eunchan tried calling out the name. Kim Noeul. Noeul.
“Well, is it a man or woman? What about age?”
“We don’t know either.”
This isn’t like finding Mr. Kim in Hanyang. Eunchan swallowed a hollow laugh.
“This won’t do. How can we find this?”
“The down payment has already been paid and a provisional contract signed, so if you can’t do it, we’ll proceed with the penalty immediately.”
When Eunchan complained, Inju, as if already anticipating such a reaction, immediately uttered the next words.
Fuck, of course. Did he already take it and eat it up? Having suffered often from the greedy president’s personality, Eunchan wasn’t even surprised anymore. Eunchan turned his body completely to sit and started glaring at the president who had an awkward face.
“How much down payment did you receive?”
“Eunchan-ah, haven’t we been doing this for a day or two? Where would we have even a name! Back in my day, I even found people without knowing their names, you punk.”
At Eunchan’s questioning, the president didn’t answer and changed the subject. The fact that he unnecessarily brought up old stories and said it was an easy job was quite suspicious.
“I asked how much you received.”
“I gave 60 million. 30% of the commission fee, and if you find Kim Noeul-ssi, I’ll deposit the remaining amount immediately.”
Instead of the president who kept his mouth shut like someone who ate honey, the answer came from Inju sitting in front. Eunchan was dumbfounded and coughed dryly.
“60 million? 60 million?!”
It wouldn’t be 6,000 won, but 60 million won as an advance payment. The amount they received for catching that bastard who ran off with 50 million won was barely under 5 million won. Even that had to be split three ways, so they divided it barely.
Eunchan’s voice naturally rose.
“I just received it in advance.”
“Still, you eat 60 million alone without saying anything? Fuck, if this is how it is, I can’t do it.”
Eunchan, forgetting about the client sitting in front, couldn’t contain his anger and got angry at the president.
“Eunchan-ah, Eunchan-ah! You think I was trying to eat it alone? The job has to go well, right? We succeed and split it all. If we can’t find this person Kim Noeul, I have to spit back the 60 million,”
“And why are you telling me about the job coming in today? And just now at that.”
The president tried hard to calm down the excited Eunchan, and Inju watched the two with a calm face.
“You two can talk later. I don’t have time.”
“Right. There’s a busy lawyer in front of us, what are we doing fighting like this.”
“……”
Eunchan had no choice but to turn his head back to Inju. However, his mind was already floating. It was impossible to find someone they only knew the name of anyway, and he didn’t want to share the 60 million won the president received—he just wanted to return it to Inju.
“There’s no time limit. Just please find them.”
“Who is this person that you’re looking for?”
It’s probably not a criminal. Is it like a lost child? Normally it was personal matters he shouldn’t ask about, but Eunchan didn’t care.
“They are a donee of land.”
“……”
“……”
What donee? It was a word that made not only Eunchan but also the president’s eyes pop open.
“While pushing forward with a business in a development area, there was land that hadn’t been settled yet, and since the current owner donated it a few years ago, we need the donee.”
“……You must really need to find them.”
“And I’d like the planning team leader to take on this job.”
Inju pointed directly at Eunchan.
“The president would be better than me. He’s a former detective, so he’s good at finding people.”
Eunchan, who didn’t want to take on a troublesome job, flatly refused, but Inju’s gaze didn’t leave Eunchan.
“Team leader-nim needs to do it.”
“Right. Eunchan-ah, you do it. You can go around with Hyungsik, and I’ll try it separately with the guys.”
Eunchan sat with his arms crossed and legs crossed. No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t make sense. Aren’t I the only one being dumped with this? Eunchan furrowed his eyebrows, imagining the worst-case scenario.
“I can’t do it. Lawyer-nim, honestly think about it. How can we find a person with just a name?”
“I’ll also move with you. Together with Eunchan-ssi.”
Inju, who had started calling him by name familiarly at some point, spoke gently to Eunchan. Eunchan looked at Inju, who said he’d search with him, with strange eyes.
“……Why bother?”
“The situation is what it is, and since I know information that only I know, it’ll be more helpful to go around together.”
“Can’t you just tell me? There’s no need to inconveniently go around together,”
“Let’s go around together.”
Is he planning to monitor me from the side? At Inju’s strongly speaking attitude, Eunchan first answered that he understood.
“What if we can’t find that Kim Noeul-ssi?”
“Why are you jinxing it before even starting work?”
The president, who didn’t want to lose a big client, scolded him, but Eunchan didn’t care.
“You’ll be able to find them.”
However, despite Eunchan’s distrust, Inju answered with eyes full of conviction.
“What if we can’t find them? Do we have to spit out more than the down payment or something?”
“There was no such clause in the contract, didn’t you check?”
“The president received the contract, I didn’t see it.”
“Eunchan-ssi just needs to go around with me and put effort into finding Noeul-ssi.”
It was a subtly misaligned conversation. Watching Inju skip over the point, Eunchan felt uncomfortable, but since he didn’t say anything about paying money even if the job failed, it seemed okay to just let it go.
“President! Coffee!”
“Did you go and grind the coffee beans?!”
Soon, Hyungsik, who had gone to buy coffee, returned. Hyungsik knocked and entered the president’s office, then saw Inju sitting on the sofa and drastically lowered his voice.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what day it is today but the line was too long……”
“We’ve roughly finished the important talk, so I’ll get up now.”
Inju gathered the recorder and documents and stood up from his seat. The president stood up too, saying he’d see him out, but Eunchan sat still without moving.
“I’ll contact you soon.”
“Yes……”
Soon after, Eunchan exchanged eye greetings with Inju, whose eyes met his, and finished the greeting with a small nod. And only after Inju and the president went outside the building, only then did he realize he’d been dragged into this and grabbed his forehead.
“Hyung, who was that person just now? He was totally amazing.”
“I don’t know, some lawyer.”
“What! Why did a lawyer come? Did someone sue us?”
“No. He’s a client who came asking us to find someone.”
Eunchan snatched the cold Americano from Hyungsik’s hand. It was only bitter and tasteless, but it was appropriately cold enough to drink to relieve his frustrated feelings. Coming out of the stuffy president’s office and sitting in his own soft chair, his body stretched out. Hyungsik also sat in his seat next to him and stuck a straw into the coffee he bought.
“Did you really go and grind coffee beans?”
“No, the line was really super long today.”
“Then you should have tactfully gone and bought it somewhere else.”
“You told me to buy it from an expensive place. But he looked quite rich, how much is he giving?”
At Hyungsik’s following question, Eunchan closed his eyes tightly and answered.
“60 million.”
