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Chapter 17 …
Chilbok set a cup of flower tea on the table before walking over to stand beside Un.
Un stared at him.
“Are you not busy?”
Chilbok blinked rapidly. He was busy, but nothing was so urgent that he had to leave Un’s side.
“Go outside and take care of your work.”
The eastern window had been left open, so there was no problem, but for some reason it felt as though he were being chased away. His feet refused to move.
“Wouldn’t the young lady be able to speak more comfortably that way? Isn’t that right?”
Hari, who had been curiously watching the chrysanthemum blossoms floating in the teacup, looked up.
She didn’t particularly mind whether Chilbok stayed or not, but she assumed Un must have some reason for dismissing him, so she nodded.
“The young lady agrees. Off you go.”
This feels strange…
Even so, Chilbok faithfully obeyed his master’s order.
“Have you been well?”
Once they were alone, Un spoke first.
“Yes. Have you been well too, my lord?”
Un gave a slight nod.
“What brings you here today? Have you perhaps come to pay the remainder of my commission?”
At the mention of money, Un’s face lit up with a bright smile.
Yet somehow he didn’t look greedy at all—only innocent.
Hari found herself admiring his appearance once again.
As expected, handsome really is best.
But she wasn’t swayed.
Back in Seocho-dong during her glory days, she had seen countless handsome men relying on their looks.
Some of them even had affairs and still insisted they were the victims!
“What am I supposed to do when women won’t leave me alone? It’s not my fault I was born this handsome. Being good-looking is my crime—my crime!”
Suddenly she remembered a man who had come to her in tears over a lawsuit involving his mistress.
He looked like a sleek frog. Even being generous, he was merely average-looking.
The problem was that the average standard of appearance in Korea had become so low that anyone who gave off even the slightest impression of being handsome was praised to the skies.
Hari lifted her eyes to Un.
Looking at a face that would make even Korea’s most famous actors and idols step aside, the strain in her eyes melted away.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“It’s nothing.”
To hide her distraction, Hari took a sip of tea.
The subtle fragrance of chrysanthemum tea calmed her thoughts.
“I’ve come to commission another job.”
“You still haven’t paid for the previous one.”
“If you succeed with this one as well, I’ll pay everything together. But I’ll give you the advance payment now.”
Hari untied the small lucky pouch she had brought with her and placed a gold ring on the table.
It was clearly a ring that had once been worn.
“It looks rather old. Are you sure it’s all right to use this?”
“A ring is just a ring. It isn’t anything especially meaningful, so please accept it.”
“It seems your work as an oejibu isn’t going very well.”
Hari forced the corners of her mouth upward.
Actually, it is.
Before coming here today, she had already held consultations with two clients.
The problem was that both had been free consultations.
Neither of them was in any position to pay.
They were women whose husbands had completely taken away control of the household finances.
The consultations themselves being free was one thing.
Normally, after they divorced and received alimony, Hari would collect both her delayed retainer and a success fee.
But even that had proven difficult.
“Thank you, miss. I’ll think about it.”
Not one of the women who left saying those words had ever returned.
In the end, she was operating at a loss.
Still, Hari wasn’t worried.
Once Nahee received her alimony, not only would all her losses disappear in one stroke, but paying clients would come flooding in.
“Forget the small talk. Just tell me whether you’ll take the job or not.”
After a brief moment of thought, Un slowly pushed the ring back toward Hari.
Hari raised one eyebrow.
“Instead of the advance payment, answer two questions for me.”
“You asked for questions instead of money last time as well.”
“I’m a rather curious man. Besides, you didn’t answer me honestly back then. This time, I want truthful answers.”
Hari considered it for a moment before agreeing.
After all, nothing in the world was more precious than gold.
“First… about Yang Heoyeong. How exactly did you persuade her? When I asked for her testimony, she insisted she’d rather die.”
“Oh, that? I didn’t persuade her.”
“Then?”
“I threatened her.”
When Hari heard that Yang Heoyeong had abandoned everything she had built in Hanyang and fled, she immediately understood.
She wasn’t someone who could be bought with money.
She was someone who would move only in the direction that protected her own life.
“I told her that refusing to testify would actually be far more dangerous. Whether she testified or not, I was going to proceed with the lawsuit anyway. During the proceedings, I would have no choice but to mention Yang Heoyeong’s name.”
Un found the story fascinating.
He moved his teacup aside and rested both arms on the table.
“Go on.”
“I told her that once that happened, she’d inevitably be regarded as someone who had, willingly or unwillingly, participated in covering up Choi Gigu’s death. And she’d be punished for it.”
“You’re right.”
Un nodded.
“I’ve heard that everyone who once worked for Choi Champan’s household has been repeatedly summoned by the Ministry of Justice lately.”
The case that had begun as Choi Gigu’s divorce lawsuit had now become a murder investigation and had been transferred to the Ministry of Justice.
Hari continued.
“Exactly. So I simply told her how she could reduce her sentence. I also said that, if necessary, I would defend her myself. That’s all there was to it.”
Un quietly drew a breath, inwardly filled with admiration.
He reflected on how foolish he had been to think of bribing Yang Heoyeong with money.
She had said she was only twenty.
Although that was considered marriageable age, she was, in truth, still very young.
Yet in such a short time, she had perfectly understood another person’s deepest fear—and the method to relieve it.
What an extraordinarily intelligent woman.
A gentle smile spread across Un’s face.
“That sounds less like a threat… and more like throwing her a lifeline.”
Hari merely shrugged.
“Ask your second question.”
Un straightened his back.
After thinking for a long while, he finally spoke.
“I’ll save that one for later.”
“…What?”
“I’m the one entitled to ask it. Your refusal is refused.”
Hari let out a dry laugh.
Smiling brightly, Un asked,
“So then… what is this new commission?”
