Closed Door

I emphasized “briefly, clearly and concisely,” tapping my fingers on the table as if in rhythm. The lawyer, who had been silently looking at me, put on an obviously business-like smile.

“You’re very different from what I heard.”

“It seems you conducted reconnaissance before your visit. Of course, it’s easier to attack that way. And what did they tell you? That I can’t speak harshly to others, can’t refuse if someone asks for something, easily give in if someone shows tears, and immediately open my heart if someone whispers pleasant words – an easy prey for deception? Didn’t they give advice? For example, to pretend to be miserable or win my heart with sympathy?”

“…”

“Grandmother lived like that. She always smiled and treated people with kindness, regardless of what they said behind her back. I was raised that way too. But this killer destroyed everything. He changed my life, my character, my values. When I say it like this, it seems like he did something really great.”

“Yoon Seungkyu deeply regrets that…”

“Whether he regrets it or not – it doesn’t concern me. Everything has already happened, grandmother died, I was left alone. It’s just you and me here. Let’s get to the point.”

I don’t want to listen to empty words about repentance. Moreover, what’s the point of repentance spoken not by the person himself, but by a lawyer? Even if he sincerely repented, it wouldn’t bring back my dead grandmother.

And I guarantee that this bastard doesn’t repent. If he were capable of that, he wouldn’t have killed a person in the first place. He wouldn’t have run away after hitting and wouldn’t have sent a lawyer immediately after arrest to negotiate an agreement.

“Don’t you have a point? Did you just come to look at my face? Or to bring superficial apologies?”

“My client wants to reach an agreement.”

This client is probably not Yoon Seungkyu.

Most likely, the lawyer’s client is Yoon Seungkyu’s father, the head of a well-known guild.

Perhaps due to public opinion, Yoon Seungkyu’s father never appeared personally. Moreover, his name or the guild’s name were never mentioned anywhere. Yoon Seungkyu’s father retreated into the shadows and acted only through the lawyer, so much so that if Yoon Seungkyu, upon release from prison, hadn’t come to me to laugh and tell everything, I would have never known anything till the end.

He wanted this case to be resolved quickly, quietly, and cleanly.

He blocked information so that his name and the guild’s name wouldn’t become known to the deceased’s family and the public, and at the same time used his influence to achieve the mildest punishment possible, and probably forced the police and prosecution to remain silent.

Now I understand that from his point of view, an agreement with the deceased’s family was unnecessary but necessary.

It was necessary to silence the deceased’s family as quickly as possible to reduce contacts with the criminal and naturally reveal less information about him.

“Yoon Seungkyu’s side is ready to provide maximum compensation to Mr. Cho Roy. You lived with your grandmother, right? Living alone in such a remote area can be dangerous, if you want, we can arrange a move to the city center…”

“Uncle.”

At my address, the lawyer’s eyebrows twitched for a moment.

“Do you think we live in such an area because we don’t have money?”

“…”

Probably, my words seemed strange to him. After all, it’s usually thought that if a person has money, they live in the center of Seoul, and the less money, the further from the center they have to live.

I stood up from the chair, taking it in my hands, staring intently at the lawyer who momentarily fell silent, trying to understand my intentions. Without taking my eyes off him, I forcefully threw the chair at the front window.

“What…”

The glass, which should have shattered, remained intact, and the chair bounced off with a dull thud and rolled across the floor.

“This is reinforced glass for protection against monsters. Recently, I spent 200 million won to completely replace it. On the stairs leading to the second floor, the latest protective door is also installed and locked. I couldn’t live peacefully, worrying about what kind of madman might do what. In this lousy area, in a building that could collapse at any moment, I installed such things, and you still think we live here due to lack of money?”

“…”

“I’ve lived here for fifteen years. My grandmother lived here twice as long as me. And all this time we lived normally, without problems, nothing happened. The only bad thing that happened to us was committed by that killer you came to defend.”

“If you name the desired amount, we will try to satisfy it as much as possible.”

Sensing that reality was very different from his expectations and the situation, the lawyer wiped the smile off his face and spoke in a business-like tone.

“We will also pay for the replacement of protective glasses and doors.”

“…”

“Do you want an apology? If you don’t mind, Yoon Seungkyu’s family would like to come together next time and offer an apology…”

“No.”

“Are you not willing to agree?”

“I said no apologies are needed. Why should I listen to obviously insincere apologies with clear motives? Besides, how can I be sure that the people who come as family are really his family and not strangers? Will they bring a family relationship certificate and IDs?”

“…”

The probability that the killer’s parents would come in person, even upon reconsideration, was 0%. Most likely, they would hire actors for money again. I had no desire to see completely unrelated people kneeling before me again.

“Agreement… Yes, agreement. I agree.”

In any case, there won’t be a fair sentence, and even if there is, he won’t serve the full term. It’s clear that he’ll be out in less than six months, whether I agree or not. Moreover, if I don’t agree, it’s unknown what methods Yoon Seungkyu’s father will use to harass me.

He sent a lawyer, and even after refusal, sent actors pretending to be parents to kneel. What’s next, I don’t know, but they might resort to force. I could be beaten on the street by strangers, another robbery could occur, or a sanitary inspection could come to the restaurant.

“Compensation amount… Maybe let’s take about 5 billion won?”

“Are you naming this amount without thinking? Or do you really intend to receive this amount? Maybe you mean negotiating the compensation amount?”

For the first time, the lawyer seriously reacted to my words.

“Grandmother’s life is not a bunch of lettuce at the market, what negotiations can there be here. It seems you’re bargaining for a human life.”

“It seems to me that Mr. Cho Roy is trying to profit from compensation.”

“You’re very much mistaken. I don’t need your money. I have enough to live well without it. 5 billion? No, even if you offered 10 billion, I wouldn’t exchange it for grandmother. You can not give money, better bring my grandmother back alive, can you?”

“Even if you go to court, you won’t be able to get such an amount. At best, it will be 100 million won.”

Ha, 100 million.

100 million for killing a person.

For these people, another person’s life is worth only that much. They think that the lives of people who run such a run-down restaurant in this lousy area are worth a maximum of 100 million.

They probably thought that deceiving an inexperienced child would be as easy as picking their nose, but what now?

Since I’ve already been deceived once and returned, I’m left with only a negative feeling, and now, even if not the killer’s parent but his grandfather came and knelt, I wouldn’t care at all about others’ opinions, and even if he cried and repented, I have no desire to understand the criminal’s feelings.

“Money is a relative concept. It changes depending on the person, situation, and time. For me, it’s money I don’t necessarily need to receive, but for your client – money he wants to give. For an ordinary person, 5 billion is an amount they might not be able to save in a lifetime, but for a hunter, it’s an amount that can be earned in a month.”

“Mr. Cho Roy. Contrary to your words, it seems you have no intention of agreeing…”

“Uncle. I’m not finished speaking yet. Even if you have something to say, listen to me till the end. When I’m done, your desire to say something might change.”

The lawyer made a sound that was either a smirk or a snort and crossed his arms. He nodded, leaning back in his chair, as if saying “continue.”

He looked as if he was watching the game of a young man not yet twenty. It doesn’t matter whether he really considers me insignificant or is trying to pressure me in this way.

I just mumbled words that came to my mind, words I couldn’t say before, words I went over dozens and hundreds of times, thinking that if I could go back to that time, I would say exactly this, regretting why I didn’t say a word then.

“I have one more condition for the agreement. That this killer doesn’t come to this area after release. That we have no chance of meeting. That I can’t even see him from afar. That he doesn’t exist within a 100-meter radius of me. And even if by some miracle we bump into each other on the street, that he doesn’t show in any way that he knows me.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“No. It’s not that ridiculous. Even if we reach an agreement, it’s still murder, and it would be normal if he served several years before getting out. But my intuition tells me that this bastard will get out earlier.”

“…”

“If I didn’t know, that would be one thing, but if he gets out early and deliberately catches my eye? Even if I agreed to the settlement, if I see this killer again sooner than I expected, I’ll get angry. Then I’ll start investigating the situation, asking people, and the case they wanted to quietly settle will surface again, and naturally, people will become interested in this case.”

“It’s good that you think deeply and worry, but aren’t you going too far? Soon you’ll start predicting events decades from now.”

“It would be good if it were decades from now, but unfortunately, it seems to me that this will happen within a year. If my assumptions are correct, at some point your client won’t be able to avoid attention either. Considering all this, isn’t it better if I just quietly, slowly, gradually forget about this, no, I can never forget, but at least live without remembering this killer? Shouldn’t your client welcome my words in such a situation? Am I not right?”