Beep. Seheon pressed the round button on his smart key and stepped toward the parking lot lobby. He checked his phone screen out of habit. It was well past 1 AM.
An unexpected client meeting had run long, making his return time miss Yunshin's, who had left work right on the dot. He'd left a message saying he'd arrive soon, but there was still no reply.
Figuring Yunshin was probably home since he was being uncharacteristically quiet, Seheon was about to head toward Building A when the elevator doors on the C-building side opened. With a heavy hum, the person who revealed themselves was none other than Yunshin.
"Do Yunshin?"
Yunshin, equally startled to see him, quickly approached Seheon.
"Wow, if I were a little later we would've missed each other. Must be because it's the middle of the night, but you came faster than I expected."
"Why are you coming out of there. Did you go home?"
"Yes. I had something to check. You must be tired."
As Seheon nodded and stroked his cheek, Yunshin snatched his briefcase and linked arms with him. As if that wasn't enough, he fiercely embraced his waist from the side.
Due to the nature of the law firm's company housing, there were many units, but the residents were generally very cautious around each other. Because of this, public spaces were almost always empty late at night. This lobby was no exception. But that didn't mean they could let their guard down entirely. You never knew when or who might pop out.
Knowing this well, they both usually maintained a reasonable level of caution, enjoying the thrill of being almost-caught-but-not-quite. But today felt different. There was a faint, blind desperation radiating from Yunshin—a feeling of not wanting to be apart.
Sensing this difference instinctively, Seheon stood in front of the A-building elevator with Yunshin tucked against his side. When he held his card key to the reader, the machine, which happened to be waiting below, opened its doors.
The two stepped inside naturally.
Gazing steadily at Yunshin's reflection in the elevator doors, Seheon tilted his head, kissed the top of his head, and asked casually.
"You said you were going on a field visit."
"Yes, I got off early. Met with the client too."
Just as Yunshin tried to burrow deeper into Seheon's body along with his response, the elevator suddenly stopped.
Yunshin swiftly moved away from him, and the double doors opened. Outside stood a man holding a cigarette and a lighter. Running through his mental database, Seheon recalled he was a veteran tax accountant recently recruited to a tax firm within the country. He seemed to be heading up to the public garden on the upper floor for a smoke.
The man recognized Seheon first and greeted him. Seheon responded with a light nod of his head.
Except for the firm employees who roughly knew the two were close, to this new face, it would probably seem strange that he was in the A-building with Seheon. Internally flustered, Yunshin hastily offered a polite bow to the tax accountant and unnecessarily gripped the hand holding his briefcase. Seheon, who had been watching this from start to finish, flicked Yunshin's forehead with his finger.
It seemed to mean that if a problem arose, he could handle it easily, so don't worry needlessly. Thanks to that, Yunshin felt his shoulders, which had been rigid with tension just moments ago, gradually relax. With a single gesture, he made him experience a sense of relief more comforting than anyone else's protection.
"So. What did the client say."
"Huh? Ah... I went to see the person my sister introduced. There were some twists and turns from the start, but I think it'll work out well. I'm benchmarking the Senior Partner's approach in my own way and drawing up a strategy."
While the two exchanged this brief conversation, the machine arrived at Seheon's floor before they knew it. They got off together. As they entered the apartment and walked through the wide corridor side by side, Seheon observed Yunshin's expression and movements with an academic gaze.
Upon reaching the dress room, he took off his jacket and asked again.
"You have something you want to tell me right now."
Yunshin, who had taken the coat, placed it on the display shelf along with the briefcase. Then he carefully watched Seheon unfasten his cufflinks, take off his vest, and loosen his tie. When Seheon's hand grabbed the top button of his shirt, Yunshin gently pushed it away and unbuttoned it himself. Accepting the favor obediently, Seheon asked again.
"Is it something you don't want to say, or something you want to do? Decide on your position clearly."
"I'm calculating. How cheap it would be for me to tell you this. Whether I could solve it on my own. Whether this method is truly the best option."
"Did you cause trouble at the firm? Do you need help cleaning it up?"
Unbuttoning the second button, Yunshin replied leisurely.
"What kind of trouble would a lawyer who works as well as me cause?"
However, Seheon's expression grew more suspicious than it had been at any other answer.
"Tell me when I ask. The sooner you speak up, even by a minute or a second, the easier it is to clean up."
"I told you it's not really that."
"If you can't say it, should I tell you for you?"
Yunshin, who had been holding onto the third button, flinched. At this moment, he felt that if he met Seheon's eyes, everything would be discovered, so he kept his gaze fixed on his collarbones. But Seheon subtly lifted his chin, forcing their eyes to meet, and added.
"I sent you out into the world with my own hands. Do you think I want to hear things like the family law team leader chewing you out?"
Somehow, it felt like Kang Seheon already knew. Not only was he quick to absorb the rumors circulating within the firm, but more than that, this was a problem concerning Do Yunshin, to whom he devoted more attention than any other topic.
Unbuttoning halfway and collapsing against Seheon's chest as if crumbling, Yunshin rubbed his cheek against his solid shoulder blade and steadied his breathing.
In the end, he opened his mouth as if unable to hold it in any longer.
"I know that as a team member, it's right to follow the team leader's method. But what if that's wrong? My case—she keeps wanting to feed it to the press, saying it's a lawsuit the media would eat up."
Handling cases in order of the client's fame was bearable. It might cause some reverse discrimination for those who weren't relatively famous, but ultimately, to him, they were all the same clients. But using that to try to gain additional benefits beyond resolving the case was clearly unfair.
"Isn't she trying to protect the client's identity while using the spouse's fame?"
"That's right."
"For the divorce issue research institute's publicity. It's the season where they slowly need results. Everyone works like that. If you're saying that's wrong, I can't take your side."
"But the law firm shouldn't be doing that directly. There's too little evidence right now. If it gets noisy from the start, there's not a single advantage for our client. The deputy team leader shares my opinion."
"Which means the family law deputy team leader's level is just about yours. I'll note that for HR."
Poke. Yunshin jabbed his firm abdomen with a finger and calmly persuaded.
"I'm not simply saying to protect the client, I'm saying that ultimately, we need to win the lawsuit."
At the end of his explanation, Yunshin, who had only slightly pulled his face away, chomped down on Seheon's chin nearby. Then, meeting his cool eyes with his own, he asked honestly.
"Persuasion doesn't work on the team leader at all. The deputy team leader has also raised a white flag. Can't you help me, Senior? When I think I might be wrong, I consider various possibilities too. But this is really not it. I'm right."
This was the first request Yunshin had made in three years since transferring to the family law team.
Yunshin, who must have grown up receiving care from a father who had a late-born child and an older sister with a large age gap, often displayed unexpectedly endearing behaviors in private matters.
But surprisingly, when it came to his professional domain, he was not dependent at all. He was far more accustomed to solving and cleaning up problems on his own. He rarely complained or threw tantrums about difficulties. He enjoyed his work.
This was partly because his initial work habits had formed that way, but it was also possible because he had strong self-esteem and a competitive spirit.
Even for someone like Yunshin, it seemed he'd decided that ordinary tactics wouldn't work. The fact that he was using the loophole named Kang Seheon instead of formally raising an objection with the team proved it. He liked the Yunshin who used only pure strength and walked only the right path, but he couldn't deny that he honestly didn't mind being the tool Yunshin resorted to after swallowing his crushed pride, enduring and enduring until he had no other choice.
He had never imagined that becoming someone's means could become this enjoyable.
Leaning his back against the display shelf, he wrapped both arms around Yunshin's back and replied.
"Tell me specifically what you need me to do. I'll listen and decide."
"I want to resolve this case my way. Just block the media coverage."
"I could also replace the team leader to suit your taste. There's an easier path, why go the roundabout way."
"He's not a bad person. He's a reasonable superior, it's just that our values clash occasionally."
"I don't know. That clash seems pretty frequent."
Hit at the core, Yunshin refuted with logical grounds.
"In a company, friction between upper and lower opinions is healthy. It means bottom-up is working."
Instead of answering, Seheon's eyes narrowed, his cheek twitching. It was because he had essentially advocated for the opposite concept to his own top-down approach. Noticing this, Yunshin clumsily rubbed his body against him like he was whining, and when their eyes met, Seheon spoke.
"If I help you, what will you provide?"
"Hmm. Free welfare for the greater good is one of the things I like..."
"I told you I hate things that start with 'free.' I'm a neoliberal."
"Then let's call it pro bono for the first time in a while. Wow, so this is why they say networks are everything."
He let out a hollow laugh, but as always, he couldn't ignore his lover's wishes. He pulled him closer so their entire bodies touched and slowly stroked his back with his palm.
Yunshin's skin brushed against his slightly opened shirt. Embracing each other, they savored each other's breath for a few seconds. Then Seheon, first, straightened his fingertips and gently slipped them inside Yunshin's shirt. As he teasingly traced his waistline, Yunshin's lower body tensed with a twitch.
"It's past 1 AM. Aren't you tired?"
"It's not past 2 yet."
"You would've said that even if it was 2, right? It's not past 3 either."
"I'm trying to teach you that nothing in this world is free. You need my guidance."
As he whisperingly chewed on Yunshin's flushed earlobe, their breaths gradually grew heavier. The air inside the dress room was instantly dyed with a sensual hue. Seheon's finger movements became increasingly sensual. Just when it seemed he was stroking down along his spine, he went a step further, advancing through the gap in his pants and diving into Yunshin's underwear.
The fingertips that parted the cleft of his buttocks and entered rubbed against the entrance as if teasing it. Yunshin clung to Seheon like a kangaroo, embracing him and moaning. As he tormented him with near-penetration that drove him crazy, Yunshin undulated his body as if throwing a tantrum. Their breathing grew even rougher.
"Where are you going to teach me from?"
"Where do you want to know from?"
Yunshin, who had been holding onto the shirt wrapped around Seheon's broad back, pulled one of his hands forward. Then he fiddled with his lips as if rubbing against them before popping the tip into his mouth.
"Huu, right here."
Tracing over his even teeth and advancing deeper, he caressed every corner of the roof of his mouth and the tender flesh. Seheon then chased Yunshin's fingers with the tip of his tongue, wetting the skin with his saliva.
After a while, Yunshin, who pulled out the index and middle fingers that had been playfully ravaging the inside of his mouth, tilted his head.
"Ha, Senior, I want to kiss you. Open your mouth."
"Put your tongue in. I'll suck it."
As he obediently extended his red, moist tongue outward and tried to insert it between their lips, Seheon slightly restrained him.
"Put your fingers in first, then your tongue on top of that."
Doing as he was told, he reinserted his fingers into the left side of Seheon's mouth while shoving half of his tongue into the center. Immediately, a tingling sensation was felt from within Seheon's mouth as he sucked in both the fingernails and the tongue. It was merely a variation of the kisses they'd always shared, but strangely enough, his abdomen rapidly hardened, and his skin began to burn as if electricity was running through his entire body.
The sticky flesh collided countless times in the dizzying depths inside. Yet, because of the fingertips Yunshin had inserted, the contact was incomplete, making him frantic.
"Heuh, ha, uuht."
Feeling as if he might melt, Yunshin swayed his entire body, and unable to bear it any longer, he pulled out his fingers. He then attempted a full-fledged kiss in succession, stripping off Seheon's shirt entirely.
After finally undoing all the buttons and dropping the shirt to the floor, he traced his long, firm arms as if drawing curves. He fumbled across his flat chest, as if running in reverse from his abdomen again. The elastic flesh and twitching lean muscles of his upper body rubbed against his palm, seeming to flinch without a moment's rest.
Even with clumsy caresses, Seheon quickly grew aroused. Eventually, he took a rough, deep breath that made his prominent Adam's apple bob significantly, and he violently unbuttoned Yunshin's shirt. Then he thrust his hand through the half-open gap and pinched the sharply erect nipple.
"Uht...!"
Yunshin, who had been touching Seheon, surrendered to the stimulation from the experienced hand on his body, crossed his legs, and rubbed his lower body against him. The thick sensation of his prominent erection transferred, making his vision go dizzy.
"Uung, I like it."
"Yeah? How much."
"More than you could ever imagine, Senior. Come in more."
Creak. Seheon ground his teeth together, fiercely abusing Yunshin's nipple while simultaneously shoving his tongue deep into the dizzying depths of his mouth.
"Up, uht!"
After that, there was no question of who went first. They placed their hands on each other's belt buckles. In one swift motion, they pulled down the zippers and touched each other's rising members over their underwear.
Then, right at the moment they were about to naturally overlap the two pillars they had brought out—
Bzzt. Bzzt.
A phone vibrated from Yunshin's pants pocket. Yunshin, who had been moaning in staccato gasps—hah, hah—squirmed against Seheon in extreme distress. Then, as if boiling over with frustration, he gripped Seheon's veiny forearm tightly and straightened his waist.
Seheon, who had been leaning against the display shelf, wore an annoyed expression. His large hands still rested lightly on Yunshin's pelvis.
"The firm?"
If there was a contact at this hour, that was the most likely possibility.
"Probably... Huh? No, it's not."
But it wasn't. Checking the screen, Yunshin shook his head and explained further.
"It's my client. Kim Jung-ah. I told her to contact me anytime if something dangerous happened. She's not the type to call at this hour without good reason, so something must have happened."
By this point, Seheon was also getting a bit irritated.
"That woman again?"
Even when he saw them walking together in the hallway laughing a few days ago, and even earlier when she used that woman's case as an excuse to ask him for a favor, he had endured it all. However, when the disruption repeated itself at such a late hour, his temper flared.
"I'm showering. I'll follow right after."
Yunshin pressed his lips against Seheon's as a sign of apology and turned away. Seheon, correcting his posture, also finished undressing, grabbed a thick bath robe, threw it on haphazardly, and headed toward the temporary door connected to the bedroom.
Click. The sound of a door closing was heard the moment Yunshin put his phone to his ear.
"Yes, this is Do Yunshin."
Yunshin gazed longingly at the door that Seheon had firmly shut as he disappeared, then adjusted his disheveled clothes and left the dress room.
* * *
Tap. Tap.
Seheon's brow furrowed slightly as he drafted a legal opinion. Discomfort, as if something wasn't to his liking, was evident on his handsome face.
After typing on the keyboard for a while, he instinctively reached out for a cigarette. Then, remembering that even his last pack was already empty, he tossed the empty carton across the desk with a flick.
Leaning his back firmly against the chair, he tilted his head backward. A deep sigh followed as a bonus. As strength filled the hand supporting his forehead, the veins on the back of his hand naturally bulged.
Cracking his creaking neck from side to side to stretch his muscles, Seheon checked the time. It was 6:30 PM. Just then, a message arrived, and he looked down at his phone.
His eyes crinkled as much as possible as he read the short sentence over and over again.
[I'm leaving early again today. Let's meet at home tonight. - Do Yunshin]
"Leaving work?"
He immediately pulled up the blinds to check the room across the way. The lights were already off—Yunshin must have packed up and left.
Recently, Yunshin had been consistently like this. In a word, he had left Seheon alone for well over a week.
Divorce lawsuits were always in peak season. In other words, it was roughly predictable when and how much work a lawyer would have. However, it was unprecedented for Yunshin's schedule to become this unpredictable. He had been leaving right on time for several days in a row, heading somewhere other than home.
Though not to the extent of Seheon, Yunshin too had always lived buried in his work. He worked overtime like it was a meal. Weekends were mostly forfeited even without being told to from above. There were rare times he left early, but even then, he usually finished his daily quota before going. Recently, that didn't seem to be the case, as the lights in his study stayed on until dawn every day.
Seheon couldn't understand the current situation at all.
If he had to pinpoint a turning point, it was from the day not too long ago when he received the client's call in the dress room at dawn.
That day, Yunshin hadn't returned even after he finished showering. He appeared around the time he was applying skin toner to his face, saying he thought he needed to go somewhere for a bit. It seemed there was a domestic problem with the client. Knowing Do Yunshin's ambition for work, he had simply let it slide at the time.
But as the days passed, he started feeling something was off. Neglecting him this silently for this long was problematic. If he was going to leave him alone, he should have explained the reason. They were lovers who understood each other's busy times very well. When it was work-related, Seheon understood almost 100 percent. Yet Yunshin wasn't even trying to make him understand.
He checked the phone message again. It was distinctly different from the texts he used to send occasionally. Unlike before, when he would carefully explain specifically why, where he was going, what he was doing, and roughly when he'd return, this was just a simple listing of his status.
"I need to teach you the five Ws from scratch again."
Slap. Seheon put his phone down nervously and picked up the internal intercom. When he pressed the button, a familiar voice answered.
- Yes, Attorney. This is Secretary Tak.
"Where did Do Yunshin go again."
- He went out on a field visit to meet a client. To that novelist wife's craft workshop.
Again.
As he fell silent, Secretary Tak tactfully added.
- If you have any instructions for Attorney Do, please let me know. I'll put you in touch.
If he were doing something shady, making his whereabouts disappear would be the right move. But Yunshin had made his route completely transparent to the secretarial office. It felt like he wanted it to leak out somewhere. Probably, with high probability, to the client's spouse. He had said there was a lack of evidence, and he was also drawing up a strategy by benchmarking him in his own way.
The problem was why he wasn't telling him the details.
'Craft workshop...'
There was definitely some other motive. Interpreting Yunshin's recent attitude, the words he had thrown out, and this situation comprehensively, the conclusion wasn't hard to reach. Moreover, since the woman was a jewelry designer, the reliability of his guess increased.
However, even knowing that, Seheon couldn't stand it. Imagining her spending the hard-to-come-by afternoon hours alone with her, draining his energy, made him frantic with anxiety. The familiar self-loathing combined with the psychological emptiness of Yunshin's absence disrupted his composure to the point of dizziness.
〈I know I'm the only one in the Senior Partner's desolate life.〉
Because Do Yunshin's abundant life didn't have only him.
Love, to him, was like a spring that no matter how hard he poured water, it would never be filled. Even knowing that the love overflowing from the other person's entire body was poured exclusively into him, sometimes he felt thirsty, and sometimes his breath quickened.
Could Do Yunshin truly endure him to the end. And continue to do so in the future.
Looking down at his empty left hand that had never once had anything on its ring finger, a bitter taste lingered in Seheon's mouth.
"So you've opened it up to the secretarial office."
- Yes. But wouldn't the spouse's side unjustifiably pick a fight, resulting in you hearing unnecessary bad remarks? I don't know why you're doing that. Should I give you some advice?
Seheon, who had been listening quietly, wiped his face with his hand. Then, in a voice that sounded deeply strained, he coldly responded to Secretary Tak's words.
"It's ridiculous because Do Yunshin is a younger lawyer than you."
- Excuse me? Why would you say that? I'm saying this because I'm worried. We're that close.
Do Yunshin, you must be so happy to have so many fucking 'us's.
Biting his lower lip hard, Seheon replied coldly.
"The result you can come up with in 3 minutes after seeing only his fragmentary actions, Do Yunshin can also think of in 3 seconds. Advice should be given to those who can't do that."
Only then did Secretary Tak seem to realize the core of what he was saying. He had recalled the possibility that Yunshin was doing this on purpose right now.
- Ah... come to think of it. Attorney Do usually uses a direct approach, so I doubted it. You've got it all figured out. My thinking was short.
"I've told you countless times to think long... Forget it. If Attorney Mihee hasn't left work yet, tell her I need to see her for a moment. I'll go to her office."
- Understood. Anything else?
"Cigarettes."
- I gave them to you this morning, did you already finish them? Do it in moderation.
"If you're going to nag, quit."
Clack. After ending the call, Seheon fiddled with his phone for a moment. He hoped he wouldn't be forced to investigate Do Yunshin himself. Conflicted between his strong desire for control and his trust in Yunshin's love, he swallowed his superhuman patience and finally set it down.
Just as he was about to concentrate on his work again, a knock was heard from outside.
"Come in."
Stretching both hands forward as if asking for cigarettes and looking straight ahead, Mihee was standing there. She was holding a thin document envelope in one hand. It seemed she also had business with him.
"Why. Wanna high-five?"
"Didn't Secretary Tak tell you I was coming?"
"I was on my way to you anyway. Am I just supposed to keep standing here?"
Looking exhausted, Seheon pressed his eye sockets with his fingers and pointed to the reception sofa. While she went to sit there, he also rose from his seat and headed across.
A familiar silence flowed between the two facing each other. The first to speak was Mihee, who had accepted the meeting.
"Secretary Tak was in a panic. Did you scold him? Why?"
"Mind your own business and stay out of other teams' affairs."
"He rarely gets scolded by you because he works so well, so this kind of thing is entertaining."
"Get to the point. You have business with me too?"
"Ah, yeah. I'll go first. Please review this."
When he opened the envelope she handed him, a document was contained inside. As Seheon took it out and began reading it calmly, Mihee continued her explanation.
"I'm the firm's representative, but I don't know why I can't feel at ease without your confirmation. It's so embarrassing I can't even show this to anyone or talk about it..."
The content was a brief summary document of a financial dispute case the finance team was currently handling. On the back, as an appendix, a TF team composition plan related to the project was attached. It was a list of specialized personnel selected from various fields such as litigation and international trade, as well as financial transaction experts.
Rustle. As Seheon flipped the page with the profiles, his eyes took on a cautious hue.
"Ministry of Justice advisory committee... This title is necessary since it seems the government wants to throw its weight around. There are no Financial Supervisory Service or Customs Service committee members. Why didn't you include them?"
"Because there's no one useful among the finance team lawyers. Everyone's busy this quarter."
"What are you talking about. You have to fill the roster at least. It's all former prosecutors only. Are you trying to pick a fight?"
"Does it look like that to you too?"
"This list is trash. Who drafted it?"
"Me."
"Redo it."
Toss. When he lightly dropped the documents and envelope together on the table, Mihee picked them up. She had an expression that looked much more comfortable, as if she had expected him to reject it the moment he saw it.
"I brought in cases and piled them on one by one, but there's no one useful to take them. Do you think I want to be like this?"
"Squeeze them out. That's what a representative's capability is."
"Would you rather handle some of the finance team's work too, Seheon?"
"Hiring more people would be much faster. Ask the recruitment team leader instead of me."
"If not the finance team work, how about co-representative?"
Hearing this, Seheon paused. He stared at her coldly with narrowed eyes. Mihee, meeting his gaze, shrugged her shoulders. Judging by that reaction, it seemed she hadn't misheard.
While Seheon's contribution to creating the current Dokuk was immense, fundamentally, this law firm was also a field that Mihee's father had cultivated very diligently. Considering all those underlying circumstances, as well as this firm's position and scale, it was an extremely unconventional offer even if the recruitment target was Kang Seheon. As if persuading him, she added in a soft tone.
"No matter which gathering I go to, I'm the representative, but they only talk about you. The funny thing is, it doesn't even hurt my pride. Because it's all true. If this is how it's going to be, giving you a title too is far more profitable for my position."
Being highly capable of self-objectification, he didn't bother to deny it.
He could tell just from her eyes that this wasn't a proposal made simply in passing. There were things he felt because they had known each other for a long time. Unlike when she was under her father's shadow, the current situation with heavier responsibilities seemed quite overwhelming for Mihee. In fact, she relied on Seheon even more than before for choices and decisions. It was clearly an offer that came as an extension of that.
"After punching the calculator, 7 years feels too short. I get the feeling of doing a countdown at the end of every year."
"I appreciate the offer, but it's too sudden."
She nodded as if she knew well.
"I know. You hate being tied down anywhere, and you hate fish you've already caught. But with Dokuk... isn't it worth holding onto even if you're not interested? We're the 2nd ranked firm in the industry. Reclaiming 1st place will happen soon."
"Are you okay with sharing the pie with me?"
"As long as you don't stab me in the back, I don't care about the pie. Capable people should have more."
"Do you trust me? Knowing that once I take office, I could shake up Dokuk, which you value like your life."
"I can't trust you 100 percent. Just like you can't trust me. But Seheon, I now know your weakness too. If you strike at Dokuk, I won't go after you—I'll go after that. Stepping on one guy is no big deal for me."
Hit by an unexpected attack, he felt immensely displeased and sent a frosty glare her way. She was one of the extremely few who knew about Seheon and Yunshin's relationship. Never once had he explicitly confirmed it from his own mouth, but they both acknowledged that she had fully guessed it through a series of situations.
As if saying there was no need to be so prickly, Mihee added.
"I'm saying let's have a symbiotic relationship. You might be too young for a firm representative of this scale, so the old guard might have some resistance, but they all know how great a lawyer you are, so there's no problem. If you persuade them with numerical indicators, they'll all agree."
When he had received the offer from Mihee long ago to become a partner at Dokuk, he had easily decided to invest, not just because of the position. It was because it was hard to endure things that constantly challenged his judgment from all sides. Looking at the results, Seheon was always right. But getting there required convincing the higher-ups countless times, which felt like an enormously useless war of attrition.
However, currently, he had no major inconvenience in his work, so such a heavy title was unnecessary. Moreover, if he became co-representative, the remainder of his life as a lawyer would also become inseparable from Dokuk.
Yet, despite a few drawbacks, it was also true that it piqued his interest, as he was attracted to winning and achieving, given how huge the stakes were, just as she said.
When he showed an ambiguous attitude, she spoke again as if she knew he would answer like this.
"Think about it. Once you make up your mind, I'll start making inquiries. Then let's wrap up my business here for now. What's your business?"
It was his business, but it was actually about Yunshin.
Within Dokuk, team leader-level positions rotated regularly. Each lawyer generally had their main field of expertise, but as experience and seniority accumulated, there was a lot of overlap within the broad framework, so it wasn't a difficult task.
The family law team leader who had changed a year ago didn't seem like a good fit for Yunshin from the start. The person wasn't bad, but their values were starkly different. Moreover, contrary to Yunshin's claim, he wasn't even the bottom-up type. He had clearly sensed that he had brushed it off as a joke in case he intervened.
Seheon wanted Yunshin to be able to enjoy his work a little more. Because that suited him.
"Regarding the family law team leader change."
Mihee tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
"The family law team leader? He doesn't do a great job, but he's not terrible either. What's the reason? It has to be reasonable."
Seheon replied instantly.
"Us."
"...What us?"
"I don't like that 'us.'"
This was an entirely irrational reason. There was no context, and even trying to somehow force himself to accept it was impossible. Yet because the speaker was Kang Seheon, Mihee was strangely persuaded.
"I heard rumors recently that you blocked the PR team's coverage. Is he picking a fight because of that? No way. No one in the firm would dare pick a fight with you. Except Do Yunshin."
"..."
"Ahh, is Director Do I-gyeong asking? Your lover... oh my, asking you to take good care of her own younger sibling?"
"Fun, isn't it?"
"I might just go crazy regretting my past decades of life not knowing this kind of fun existed."
He replied quite nervously, as if this was a topic he had been wanting to bring up for a while.
"Since it came up, Attorney Song, please stop giving off the vibe that you know something secret in front of Do Yunshin. He already has no one on his side in the firm, so why make him watch out for the representative too?"
"I do it because Attorney Do's reaction is cute."
"Don't you consider your own position, which is too far above him from a senior's perspective?"
"Are you that crazy about him? You look like you don't know what to do with yourself wanting to protect him so badly. It's unfamiliar."
"Is that any of your business either?"
Mihee, who had glanced at Seheon with a sour expression, nodded as if she understood, but the conversation still only circled its periphery like a satellite.
"So, what are you going to do for your Yunshin this time?"
"What Yunshin? It's a pain in the ass. I'm getting annoyed. Do it in moderation."
Unbothered at all by the scathing remark, she grinned and asked again.
"Demotion?"
If it were up to him, he would do that, but Seheon was someone who knew the boundary line separating public and private matters. Since the family law team leader wasn't currently causing any direct harm to the firm, that wouldn't be justified. Primarily, the person wouldn't accept the disciplinary action, and it wouldn't look good to other employees either. Morale would drop. Most importantly, it was obvious Yunshin wouldn't want this kind of conclusion either. If so, giving a carrot rather than a whip was the wise choice.
"He doesn't do the job badly, so send him to the lucrative finance team. You said they're busy. There are plenty of senior people over there, so adding a team leader-level person won't be a problem. If he's the ambitious type, he'll be satisfied too. The vacant team leader position can be filled by promoting the family law deputy team leader."
"The deputy team leader? Why promote him all of a sudden? It's not even HR season."
"He's to my liking."
As if she had heard something she shouldn't have, a strange expression rose on Mihee's face like the moon. It was a sign of disbelief that these words could have come out of Seheon's mouth. In fact, the family law deputy team leader had never worked under him even once, so they had absolutely no connection.
Thanks to that, she had a lot of curiosity, but she had faithfully learned over the past time that as long as Yunshin was even slightly involved in this matter, he wouldn't explain clearly.
"Well... you usually don't make requests like this unless it's something important. And you must have your reasons. Alright. I need to score points at times like this. I'll put in the word. Good work."
At the same time, the two who rose from their seats moved toward their respective exits. As soon as Mihee left the office, Seheon returned and sat in front of his desk.
Looking out the window, he could see the dusk of night slowly descending.
〈How about co-representative, if not the finance team work?〉
As he recalled the proposal she had left behind, he felt like Yunshin should be by his side. From some point onward, whenever determining the course of his life, Seheon thought of Yunshin. He, whose implicit habit in life was to do everything alone, had now become accustomed to putting their heads together, agonizing, and deciding things together.
He wanted to hear his thoughts on this matter.
But Yunshin, who was always within sight whenever he looked up, was nowhere to be found, and honestly, it ate at him.
'Co-representative, huh...'
Stroking his left ring finger calmly with his thumb and index finger as if putting on a ring, he turned his gaze back to the monitor.
* * *
Same time.
Yunshin, who had been looking out the window, turned around upon hearing a presence. Jung-ah, who was the mutual client, appeared holding samples. Yunshin corrected his posture and took in the two ring models in her hands. They were still just white round rings, so they looked clumsy.
"Is this how the shape turns out?"
"Yes. The basic craftsmanship is done. Ultimately, we'll adjust the size here. This part is smoothly shaved to match the design in the proposal. Would you like to proceed like this?"
One of the proposals was a simple design with a slightly angular edge at the end of the soft curves of a clean white ring. They considered decorating the outside with diamonds, but considering that Seheon would wear it daily, it seemed better without any external embellishments. So they left a single layer of space on the inside and set a small diamond.
The other one was his. Since the material was the same, it shouldn't be exactly the same shape, so he deliberately made it starkly different. He densely set diamonds on the side of the white ring like Seheon's. And when these two rings were overlapped, they fit together as one. In the invisible space on the inside, each other's names were engraved.
"You don't know your lover's size yet, right?"
"Yes. When I rolled it with my fingers like this... about this much?"
When Yunshin made a circle with his thumb and index finger, she laughed.
"I'll make it a bit larger as a rough estimate. You can't make a small one bigger, but you can make a big one smaller."
"Then please make the inner diamond bigger than the side diamond here. How long will it take?"
"Actually, since I do all the craftsmanship alone... it's not something that can be done in a flash. But I can give it to you by the middle of next week. I'll contact you as soon as possible."
It had already taken several full days just to design. After that, the schedule was delayed by another day to order diamonds of the right size.
The first impression of Seheon that was as strong as the initial meeting at the funeral hall was the reunion at the company housing.
The beautiful hands with neatly trimmed nails that he saw then were still vivid before his eyes. Combined with the image of his long fingers and the veins on the back of his hand, he felt like he would never forget that moment forever.
Thanks to that, he agonized deeply, thinking this would suit him too, and that would suit him too. He even spent all of last week alone in the empty workshop without its owner, looking at other rings and racking his brain to draw designs. He finally delivered the final version three days ago.
"I'll wait for your contact. Thank you. Oh, and the security company just contacted me."
"Really?"
"Yes. When you called me at dawn last time, you kept the recording and video so well. With that and just a few more pieces of evidence secured, I think we'll be good. We're preparing for the lawsuit in earnest."
"Thank goodness... But I think my husband has definitely found out that you've been coming and going here. Will it really be okay?"
"To make the claim that delusional jealousy is suspected, we need evidence, but there isn't any."
"But he doesn't necessarily have to come looking there. If it erupts in a different way..."
People with mental illnesses had standardized behavioral patterns. Especially when he organized the patterns of spouses with paranoia or delusional jealousy as he took on cases, his predictions almost matched perfectly.
"Don't worry too much. We're hiring a security company for just-in-case scenarios. I'll be going now."
She nodded and saw Yunshin off. He bowed once more and got into the car.
Yunshin, gripping the steering wheel, left the client behind and began to slowly navigate the alley full of houses.
Right then, his phone vibrated. Checking the screen, it was Seheon.
Feeling elated at the thought that he might be able to give him the ring soon, Yunshin answered the phone with a bright voice.
"Yes, Senior."
- Where are you.
"Ah, I went to meet a client."
- Again?
For some reason, the other person's voice seemed deeper than usual. He had the illusion of sinking into the depths of the sea for a moment. Since they hadn't been able to spend proper time together for a while, he noticed his dissatisfaction was accumulating. Honestly, he too was slowly finding it difficult. Eager to see Seheon's face, he increased his speed a bit.
"I just came out. Are you home?"
- Yeah, I'm at home. Should I come pick you up?
"No. I'm in the car. I'll be there soon."
- Yunshin-ah.
"Yes?"
A heavily suppressed silence followed, like that of someone with so much they wanted to say. It felt like he wanted to convey something important, but having gravely called his name, Seheon said nothing else. Feeling it was strange, just as he was about to prompt him to continue, he spoke again.
- Never mind. Come quickly. I miss you.
His confessions were always sweet to the ears.
Unknowingly holding his breath for a moment, he barely managed to reply.
"I love you too. I'll come flying."
He heard Seheon softly chuckle as if finding him cute. Since he wasn't someone who usually laughed much, whenever Seheon did this, he felt like he had gained the whole world.
A happy smile settled on Yunshin's lips as he adjusted his grip on the steering wheel.