Chapter 13
It was such an unexpected item that Lee Yeon was at a loss for words.
“Isn’t this… our wedding ring?”
As if she couldn’t believe it, Lee Yeon widened her eyes and asked.
“I brought it, so put it on.”
“Right now?”
“If not now, when?”
His tone was as nonchalant as ever, but his gaze was serious. So, Lee Yeon couldn’t just brush it off casually.
Lee Yeon took a moment to steady her breath and looked down at his hand.
That ring was clearly the wedding band they had bought for formality’s sake.
They had decided not to reveal their marriage until after graduation, so they had never worn them.
It was an item she had stored away in the very back of a drawer, having even forgotten its existence.
But now, that ring was before her eyes again.
“This isn’t about announcing that we’re married.”
He picked up the ring with his fingertips and held it out to Lee Yeon.
“Shouldn’t we at least pretend to have significant others?”
“Pretend to have significant others?”
“Don’t you know what this world is like? If you leave ambiguous gaps, there will always be people who try to make a move.”
‘What does that have to do with me now…’
With a face that showed she couldn’t understand at all, Lee Yeon slightly furrowed her brows.
“So, you’re telling me to wear this?”
“Yeah. For protection.”
“Is the meaning really ‘protection’?”
Woo-gyung let out a soft laugh.
“Well. It’s half right and half wrong.”
As he said that, he gently took Lee Yeon’s hand. The moment Woo-gyung’s fingertips touched her, Lee Yeon’s hand trembled slightly.
Unlike her trembling self, Woo-gyung, with an unfazed expression, slid the ring onto the ring finger of Lee Yeon’s left hand.
“Done.”
His fingertips lingered for a moment on her smooth hand before falling away.
“Your hand is smaller than I thought.”
Lee Yeon averted her gaze with an inexplicably embarrassed expression.
“Anyway, just don’t take it off.”
But it was a wedding ring, and wearing it alone stirred strange emotions within her.
Yet, it wasn’t as if they could both wear them together.
She found herself looking down at the finger wearing the ring.
She hadn’t known that under the quietly seeping sunlight, one small, thin piece of metal could shake her heart so mysteriously.
The unfamiliar sparkle somehow made her heart pound.
*Knock knock.*
Just then, the door was knocked twice.
Startled, Lee Yeon reflexively turned her head sharply.
The door opened, and Manager Byun poked his head in.
“Lawyer Cha, do you have a moment—?”
He started to speak but trailed off as he sensed the atmosphere in the room.
“Ah, am I interrupting?”
Manager Byun, detecting the subtle shift, raised an eyebrow and asked.
“No. Come in.”
Woo-gyung said with a calm smile.
“This is the intern who joined our team this time.”
“Ah, the intern.”
Manager Byun nodded, then curled up one corner of his mouth meaningfully.
“Don’t tell me it was the Chairman’s doing?”
Woo-gyung answered with a leisurely laugh.
“Well, I don’t really remember who made the first move.”
Manager Byun finally cleared his throat and continued.
“Now that I think about it, maybe Lawyer Cha was the proactive one. Lately, you haven’t shown interest in anything but work.”
Lee Yeon wore a blank expression, unable to understand the conversation that excluded her.
“This is Yoo Lee Yeon, and this is Manager Byun from our team. From now on, he’ll be an ally helping both you and me.”
Manager Byun said with a soft laugh.
“Nice to meet you, Lee Yeon.”
“Ah… Yes, pleased to meet you.”
Lee Yeon responded with an awkward smile.
“Well then, I’ll be off to the court.”
Woo-gyung said, gathering his documents as he stood up.
“Manager Byun, please find some work for our intern.”
“Got it. Be careful on your way.”
Woo-gyung nodded and left the room.
After the door closed, a brief silence fell in the office.
Fortunately, Manager Byun broke the ice with a hearty laugh.
“So, how is Lawyer Cha? He’s prickly, terse, and sometimes tiresome, right? But he’s thorough with his work, so don’t mind him too much.”
“Is that so?”
When Lee Yeon replied with an awkward smile, Manager Byun chuckled lowly.
“But it’s strange, isn’t it? That guy hardly ever steps up to take care of someone like this before.”
At his words, Lee Yeon bowed her head for a moment. Then, she spun the ring with her fingertip.
As the small circle turned, the same tremor spread within her chest.
She couldn’t deny that Cha Woo-gyung was at the center of it.
***
The time he left the court was far later than scheduled.
The conversation had started like a simple confirmation of routine matters. But the peculiar smile on the prosecutor’s lips and his low, suggestive remark changed the atmosphere.
*’The evidence for the Shin Yoo Group embezzlement case… we’ve received instructions from above to suspend its adoption.’*
Instantly, Woo-gyung’s gaze turned sharp.
*’Suspend? On what grounds?’*
The prosecutor shrugged, maintaining a calm face.
*’Well, I don’t know the details either. It’s a decision from above, so we have to follow it.’*
A thin tension flowed between the two. Woo-gyung deliberately smiled back as he countered.
*’That’s unlike you, Prosecutor. I’m surprised that you, who always prioritized evidence, would back down so easily.’*
The prosecutor’s gaze wavered for a moment, but he soon regained his composure.
*’And you, Lawyer, you don’t always side with your clients either, do you? We both have our circumstances, right?’*
Their pointed remarks were laced with laughter, but their eyes held a cold chill. The very air between them felt like it was standing on thin ice, creaking precariously.
Woo-gyung replayed the conversation in his head, lightly pressing his fingers to his forehead.
From above. Someone must have deliberately blocked it. The prosecutor emphasized it wasn’t his doing, but he clearly seemed to know something.
Otherwise, unless information was leaked internally, things wouldn’t have gotten this twisted.
Woo-gyung took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and tapped the steering wheel with his fingertips.
After parking his car in the building’s lot, he headed straight up to the office.
But the moment he opened the office door, he felt a strange silence. It was a time when people should be bustling about, but the office was unusually quiet.
The team members’ desks, even the intern’s spot, were all empty.
Coffee cups had gone cold, and only Lee Yeon’s bag was left hanging limply by her chair.
“Lee Yeon?”
Woo-gyung called out softly, but there was no answer.
Suddenly, laughter came from the hallway.
Turning his head, he saw Lawyer Choi walking over from the opposite side of the conference room.
He had his suit jacket slung over his shoulder and was just finishing a phone call.
“Lawyer Choi.”
Woo-gyung approached and called out.
“Have you seen our intern, by any chance?”
Lawyer Choi grinned and replied.
“I saw her. I asked her a small favor earlier.”
“A favor?”
Woo-gyung’s brow slightly furrowed.
“What kind of favor?”
“Ah, it’s nothing much. Our team suddenly had a case meeting scheduled, so things were a bit tight.”
Lawyer Choi said nonchalantly.
“I heard Lee Yeon has a driver’s license, so I asked her to move my car for a bit. It was blocking the parking lot entrance.”
At his words, Woo-gyung’s expression hardened for a moment.
Then, as if he couldn’t believe it, he slowly let out a breath.
“…What did you say?”
“Why? It’s no big deal. I just asked her to move it slightly.”
“Slightly?”
Woo-gyung let out a disbelieving, scoffing laugh.
“Lawyer Choi, your car is a foreign import.”
“What does that matter?”
“Yoo Lee Yeon is about to make her real-world driving debut with that car, not a practice run.”
“What?”
Lawyer Choi laughed, perplexed, and asked back.
“No, she said she has a license, so I assumed it was fine.”
Under Woo-gyung’s sharply pouring gaze, Lawyer Choi gave a wry smile.
“Hey, the way you’re talking makes it sound like I did something wrong.”
Feeling unnecessarily attacked, Lawyer Choi’s voice rose in defiance.
“I just asked her to move the car a bit. Do you have to be so sensitive?”
“Sensitive?”
Woo-gyung let out a low laugh, then straightened his lips.
“Then again, what’s the use talking to you about it.”
Just then, Woo-gyung’s gaze dropped slightly.
His hand, which had unconsciously been pulling his car keys from his pocket, stopped.
The image that flashed before his eyes was Lee Yeon’s face, sitting in the driver’s seat, nervous, clutching her fingertips.
*’She clearly said she’s barely driven before.’*
Instantly, the scene painted in his mind was vivid.
Her flustered expression at the sound of the engine starting, or maybe confusing the brake and accelerator and stomping on them recklessly.
Just the thought of it made him let out an exasperated laugh.
“Hah…”
The short breath that escaped Woo-gyung’s lips turned into a scoff.
“Hey, Lawyer Cha. I just asked her a favor. The manager wasn’t around, and it was urgent.”
Lawyer Choi frowned, trying to explain.
“I just find it absurd, that’s all.”
Woo-gyung glanced at his watch and immediately headed for the hallway.
“Lawyer Cha. Where are you going?”
“The basement.”
“Why?”
“To process the insurance.”
“What?”
“If there’s an accident, the responsible party should step up personally.”
Woo-gyung replied calmly as he walked towards the elevator.
He stopped briefly and looked back.
At the end of the hallway, Lawyer Choi still stood with a bewildered expression.
“And, Lawyer Choi.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t carelessly assign tasks to *my person* from now on.”
Woo-gyung’s low voice was imbued with firmness, and there wasn’t a hint of jest in it.
*”My person…?”*
A murmur escaped Lawyer Choi’s lips.
But before he could even hear those words fully, Woo-gyung was already stepping into the elevator.
