Chapter 14: The Unwelcome Protector

“Your face… it’s a mess.”

Junhan sat across from Hyeonseo, his voice trailing off in disbelief. She shot him a brief glance and pushed a stack of documents toward him as if the bruises were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

“Here. Oh Myeong-hwan’s transaction records. This is everything. It was one hundred percent cash, and since he’s obsessive about security, there’s no photographic or audio evidence. Still, once he realizes you have a detailed list, he won’t be able to act so recklessly.”

These were documents that would give Junhan a significant advantage in his current case. He clicked his tongue, marveling at her information network. He wondered how she managed to secure such materials so easily every single time.

“You let them hit you again, didn’t you?”

Despite the invaluable evidence sitting before him, Junhan’s eyes were fixed solely on Hyeonseo’s face. He couldn’t even count how many times this had happened over the last few years. It was the inevitable result of her picking the most dangerous and gritty cases just because the fees were high.

“It’s not like I was threatened with murder or kidnapped. No one swung a knife. It was just a few slaps; I can afford to give that up. Besides, I deserved it.”

“One of these days, something truly terrible is going to happen to you.”

“The worst that can happen is I die.”

“Then stop doing things that ‘deserve’ getting hit.”

Junhan hated it. He wasn’t ignorant of why she lived so relentlessly, but he hated it nonetheless. He loathed how she chose only the dangerous, shunned tasks—pretending to be the world’s greatest villain, pretending to be indifferent, pretending to be unhurt. It pained him to see her constantly bristling with her claws out. He couldn’t even fathom how rotted and wounded her soft interior must be. And yet, he couldn’t even reach out with half-baked sympathy to help, fearing she would flee and hide for good. He knew Cha Hyeonseo better than anyone.

“Like someone once said, maybe I’m just the type who gets off on being hit.”

“What?”

Hyeonseo let out a hollow breath and swept back her hair.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think things like this will happen much anymore.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’m going to stop taking private cases. The company work is more than enough to keep me busy.”

Despite the relief the news should have brought, Junhan felt an uneasy weight in his chest. Her presence at Goldstone still made him anxious. He had an especially bad feeling about the Director who had scouted her—Ryan Seo.

“The work must be really tough if even Cha Hyeonseo is admitting she’s busy.”

“What choice do I have? I took all that money from someone who intends to squeeze every last drop out of my soul.”

He let out a short laugh, watching her make light of the situation with her swollen cheeks. It was heartbreaking and frustrating, yet he found her endearing—a truth so mad he could never utter it aloud.

“Have you… had dinner?”

Hyeonseo shook her head. Junhan stood up with a smile, as if he’d expected that answer.

“Let’s go. I’m craving udon.”

They stepped out after sharing a bowl of udon at a nearby restaurant. When Hyeonseo mentioned she had to head back to the office, Junhan offered to walk her to the building to help his digestion, his eyes never leaving her.

“How is your father’s matter… is it proceeding well?”

Hyeonseo tucked both hands deep into her coat pockets and gave a slight nod. For someone who had suffered for over fifteen years because of that misfortune, her face was remarkably peaceful and composed.

“What did he say?”

“What else? Just that he’s sorry, again.”

Out of habit, she was working hard to hide her aching heart. He knew it was her defense mechanism and survival instinct, but he couldn’t help the lingering sense of regret. He wished that just once, she would comfortably pour out her true feelings to him. Junhan’s eyes were filled with sorrow as he watched her.

“He said it pained him most to think of me entering a wedding hall alone because he couldn’t even hold my hand. Well, now there’s no reason for me to enter a wedding hall at all.”

Her small lips curled into a bitter smile.

“Actually… I saw Jo Inho with that woman a few times.”

At the sudden mention of Jo Inho, Hyeonseo turned her head to stare at Junhan. The clack of her heels stopped.

That woman. The daughter of Assemblyman Ahn Seong-tae, who was soon to marry Jo Inho.

Junhan had intentionally looked away, pretending not to see or know—for Hyeonseo’s sake. It wasn’t a marriage for love anyway, and he hadn’t wanted to pour cold water on her already complicated life. Not that telling her would have given him a chance with her, but Junhan knew her.

He knew all too well that her feelings for him were of a completely different nature than his for her. So he decided it was enough to just follow her wherever she chose to go, whether it was into a swamp or into hell. That had been his role until now, and he intended for it to remain so.

“But why didn’t you tell me?”

“You knew too. That Jo Inho had a woman.”

“……”

“Weren’t you planning to go through with it even though you knew?”

Hyeonseo was speechless at Junhan’s remark. Then, in resignation, she turned her head and began walking again.

Junhan was right. She was the one who had tried to play blind even while knowing everything. What was meant to explode had simply exploded. It wasn’t something that would have ended just because she buried it and pretended not to know.

“I guess so. I wondered if maybe a patch of sunlight might hit a wretched life like mine for once. I was just dreaming a futile dream and got stabbed in the back. I should have just lived the way I always did.”

“Don’t blame yourself. It’s all that bastard’s fault. You didn’t do a single thing wrong.”

“I think you’re the only person who thinks that, Sunbae.”

As she murmured self-deprecatingly, a bright light spilled over her face. They were in front of the largest and most luxurious building in the middle of the eight-lane boulevard, illuminated by the lights stretching from the sidewalk to the lobby. Deep in their heavy conversation, they had already reached their destination.

“I’m going in.”

Hyeonseo spoke indifferently, her head tilted slightly. She seemed completely unaware of Junhan’s lingering reluctance.

“Don’t go finding things like this for me anymore. Just focus on your own work.”

Junhan waved the envelope she had given him as a warning.

“I only do it because I’m worried the inflexible Lawyer Kim Junhan will starve. If I don’t look after you, you’ll just keep taking heat from your firm’s CEO.”

Junhan let out a laugh. She wasn’t entirely wrong. It certainly wasn’t easy for him to endure the role of a lawyer that didn’t suit his aptitude—especially at a firm like Cheongsong, which was overflowing with dirty, disillusioning cases pursued only for money. Little did he know, it was all because of her.

“You know, you have a tendency to treat me like an idiot.”

“You are an idiot. I still don’t know why you squeezed yourself into a position that doesn’t suit you. You could have followed your father or brother and become a judge, or at least worked under your mother as a prosecutor. You aren’t obsessed with money like me, and you have the grades and the talent. I honestly don’t understand why you’re choosing this hardship over an easy path.”

“Well, thank you. I didn’t know Cha Hyeonseo thought so highly of me.”

Junhan reached out and stroked Hyeonseo’s hair affectionately. At his playful reply, Hyeonseo couldn’t help but let out a short laugh.

As she reflexively turned her head and brushed her hair back, she suddenly met a pair of chilling eyes. It was Seo Jeonghyeok. He was walking toward them with long strides.

Following Hyeonseo’s fixed gaze, Junhan looked at him too. A man with a physical presence that felt beyond tall—sturdy and imposing—approached them in an instant. Beneath his forehead, where his hair was swept back without a stray strand, the man’s dark, striking features were set in a cold expression.

“Are you on your way home? Ah. Or are you clocking in again?”

“I stepped out for a moment on an errand and returned after having a meal.”

Hyeonseo answered briefly with a slight bow, her eyes quickly darting away from him. Jeonghyeok’s gaze, shifting between Junhan and Hyeonseo, was incredibly sharp.

“Hello.”

Junhan finally broke the silence first.

“I’m Kim Junhan, a lawyer working at Cheongsong. I’m Hyeonseo’s university senior.”

Jeonghyeok’s gaze, scanning him with open scrutiny, was nothing short of rude. In all the chaos, Hyeonseo had briefly forgotten just how arrogant and haughty this man was.

“Yes. Nice to meet you. I’m Seo Jeonghyeok.”

Could a greeting of “nice to meet you” sound so unwelcome? Hyeonseo felt like she might suffocate from the strange tension.

“If the two of you are finished with your business, Team Leader Cha Hyeonseo should come with me.”

To Junhan, those words sounded like a heavy command to get lost.

“Are you… on your way somewhere?”

“I’m on my way to meet CEO Kim Kyeong-uk. I think it would be best for Lawyer Cha to accompany me.”

Kim Kyeong-uk was the individual with the second-highest stake among the Eunsung Pharmaceuticals creditors. Known to be close friends with Chairman Jo, he was an official expected to cause trouble until the very end. How on earth did he win him over?

Hyeonseo blinked her round eyes and nodded.

“Then…”

With a slight tilt of his chin toward Junhan, Jeonghyeok led the way. Hyeonseo gave Junhan a quick visual goodbye and followed immediately behind the man.

The secretary opened the rear door, and she climbed in first, followed by Seo Jeonghyeok’s long legs. As Junhan watched the two of them disappear together in the car, a long, anxious sigh escaped through his teeth.