Work Text:
"Attorney Kang?"
Kang Sol looked up from her file and peeked from behind the stack of papers that probably did not conceal her as well as she thought it did. Her hunched shoulders ached from all the weight on them and they had held such immense stiffness that when she tried to straighten up for an appropriate response, it pained rather horribly.
"Y- ouch. Yes?"
The middle-aged man, as Sol observed, was quite jittery on his feet; shifting his weight from one foot to another and the rustling of his coat was beginning to call forth the hints of annoyance that mostly stays buried in the back of her mind. The man fixed his glasses ever so often, reminding her of Seo Ji-Ho, but there was something more about him that she couldn't pinpoint right then even with a tilted head and furrowed eyebrows.
"May I have a seat?"
She smiled broadly in response, hands signalling in a definite affirmation, but eyes flitting up at the pale wall clock behind him which showed that it was well past the time for a regular client or a person, in general, to arrive. Nonetheless, she broadened her smile.
"So, how may I help you, Mr...?"
"Song. Song Jae-Hoon."
A once over at the offered business card was what Sol believed sufficient. Her eyes did not trust leaving the man alone yet.
"Well, I have, um, heard a lot about you. All good things, I must assure. I have actually come in dire need, Attorney Kang."
A buzz from Sol's phone served as a break. The man immediately went to drink up the entire glass of water that Sol had offered to him while she checked the message she got.
Second Round Judicial Passer:
When are you coming home?
Me:
Soon. Seeing one last client for the day.
Second Round Judicial Passer:
Client? This late?
Me:
He should be done not too late and I'll be home soon.
Second Round Judicial Passer:
Sure. I'm waiting ;)
"Aish that-"
She clicked her tongue, setting the phone aside. Eyes temporarily caressing the gold wedding ring on her finger. Even though it has been almost three months of their engagement, at times like this, she feels as if their Hankuk days were just yesterday; as if her confession to Joon-Hwi was just moments ago and him pulling her back and kissing the life out of her when she attempted to run away was a movie playing in front of her eyes.
A shuffle in her peripheral vision brought back her attention to the man in front of her. His greasy hair was parted in the middle and his coat looked like it had been through some rough days. What made a shiver run through her body was his unblinking stare at her hands and if she was anymore observant she could claim with a strong voice that he was staring at her wedding ring.
Unintentionally or maybe not, she pulled her hands back under the desk as she waited for the man to speak again. He looked as if he was brought back from a daze and looked back up at her before speaking.
"I, um, there's this- actually I work as a secretary for the, um, to the secretary of the CEO of Imperium. You must've heard about it, right? It's becoming or should I say has become a mega corporation."
Sol watched the man's eyes sparkle with admiration when he spoke of his company. His smile told her that he was very proud of his job, no matter how insignificant it was in the corporate world. There was no reason for it but a shudder ran down the length of her body. Imperium rising after the fall of Babel was like a second generation family of monsters rising up after its dead father. There are very few Mega Corporations in the world that don't have dirty deeds buried under them. Imperium is not an exception, rather it is an example and the passion of this man towards it was definitely scary.
"Yes. I've heard. How can I help you?"
"Um, so our company recently bought a property in the countryside. Plans have already been associated with it. It was bought from a local farmer."
Sol urged him to continue.
"But the locals are now obstructing the plans."
"And why is that? Construction hasn't even started yet, right?"
"Yes but they are obstructing our plans and claim that we are to blame for the missing farmer."
"Missing farmer?"
"Oh yes that farmer has been missing ever since. I mean, he sold his land to us; he must've gone somewhere else."
"Hm, okay and what can I help you with? They haven't filed an official case, right?"
The man sat up straight and cleared his throat.
"In case they do file an official case against us, we want to have an attorney by our side."
Sol nodded at that before the man stood up to leave.
"Thank you, Attorney Kang."
"Thank you for choosing us as your attorney and legal help. We'll make sure that you are not disappointed when we have to play our part."
She put on her signature smile as she bid farewell to the client. Needless to say, even if she gets so many people crowding at her legal office, there was something definitely off about this man. But she can tell from experience as well that it is rare that cases like this turn into actual missing cases that are even officially lodged to the police. With a satisfying sigh at her conclusion, she locked the doors to the office.
-
"Jagi, I'm home."
"Like you should've been long ago. You need to stop overworking everyday, Kang Sol."
Sol laughed like a mischievous child caught in the middle of a rendezvous, as she slipped on the comfortable slippers placed for her. He leaned against the sofa across the door to their small apartment, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
"You're one to say, Prosecutor Han. Also, I'm home now, aren't I, safe and sound?"
She went up to him, spread her arms wide and circled on spot as a show to prove that she was unharmed and home. Han Joon-Hwi couldn't help but falter in his scolding stance and laugh at her antics.
"Are you still unsure?"
She asked before rotating on spot again and Joon-Hwi couldn't help but chuckle loudly before pulling her to his chest.
"You're off the hook for now, Attorney Kang. But make sure to not worry m-"
He was cut off as the adorably small woman in his arms, craned her neck and caught his lips in hers. It's no subjective study or contradictory opinion that the ice cold Prosecutor Han is head over heels for his fiancee. His prolonged speeches can stutter to a stop if she throws a wink at him and his face would flush if she blew a kiss at him from a distance. Joon-Hwi actually had to keep his face extra stoic after his juniors once caught him blushing in his office as Kang Sol walked out, just to maintain his demeanor.
But at home there were no peering eyes and he could openly admit that he was a sucker for Kang Sol, even more than what he was in Hankuk. Hence, like the lovestruck zombie that he was, he cradled her closer and softly entangled his hand in her hair, quietly undoing her tight ponytail. Her hair roots relaxed under his hands and she moaned into his mouth, stirring certain emotions in him that necessarily do not involve clothes.
Before he could actually escalate the kiss into his thoughts, Sol pressed a small peck to his cheek as she moved a foot away, staring at him with a broad smile. His furrowed eyebrows and darkening eyes, right then, amused her more than they turned her on. She watched him voice his annoyance.
"What? Come here."
"Nope."
"But why?"
Watching him whine with a pout was quite the sight.
"I am so hungry."
"Yeah? Me too. Come here."
"Han Joon-Hwi."
He narrowed his eyes at her for a minute before loudly resorting to:
"Fine. I'll heat up the dinner."
"Yes, thank you so much, jagi."
She couldn't stop the laughter pouring out of her lips watching him try to glare at her but failing and looking like a very realistic version of Donald Duck.
-
"You should've been a cook."
"Right? It's not too late to change professions."
Their laughter echoed through the kitchen before being overpowered by the sound of police sirens that floated through their open door to the balcony from somewhere down the busy street. As the sound slowly drowned to a silence, Joon-Hwi suddenly recalled a thought he had prior to her return.
"Who was that last client? So late?"
"Oh that was nothing. He was from Imperium-"
"Imperium?!"
Shocked at his sudden exclamation, Sol dropped her spoon and the loud clunk rang through the apartment again.
"Yes. What's wrong?"
"What was it? A case?"
"Not yet. They just wanted to keep me posted so that if need arises I can help them."
"Why would they need a lawyer?"
"They bought land in the countryside. But the residents and locals nearby the land are obstructing work because apparently the farmer is missing after he sold the land. What are you so cross about?"
She watched his otherwise calm and patient face morph into one of distress. She couldn't help but mirror his expression.
"Joon-Hwi, what's wrong?"
"I don't get good vibes from this, Sol."
"Good vibe? What case gives good vibes?"
She snorted as she picked up the dishes, placing them into the sink before leaning against it to hear more from him.
"No, I mean cases associated with big corporations like Imperium don't end well."
"Well how bad a land issue could go?"
"I don't know, Sol. But we can never really know. You saw how messed up Babel was."
"Imperium is nowhere near Babel though."
Joon-Hwi got up straight from his chair and gently grasped Sol's shoulders.
"We don't know, Sol. You shouldn't take this case, jagi."
"What are you talking about? Plus, it's not even a case yet."
"It doesn't matter. It'll be soon."
Sol removed his hands from her shoulder and stared darkly at him.
"Tell me, Han Joon-Hwi. If this was the case for you, would you have passed it on to someone else?"
When she watched him stare silently at her, she chuckled ironically under her breath.
"You wouldn't. So asking me of it sounds like hypocrisy, doesn't it?"
"Sol, you know that it's different-"
"Different how, Joon-Hwi? Oh tell me, you think I'm not worthy of such big cases, right?"
"Kang Sol!"
"What?"
She moved away from him with a jerk. Her eyes were glossy and his were burning.
"I did not mean that-"
"There can be no other meaning behind this. Why would you react like this just because I'm taking a property case?"
"It's not because of tha-"
"Then WHA-"
"LET ME FINISH FOR GOD'S SAKE"
He regretted the moment he lost his temper, even if it was for a breath. His heart broke into a million shards watching her bottom lip tremble as she stared at him, burning him down.
"I'm sorry. Kang Sol, I'm so-"
"It's fine."
Her lips pulled up in a small smile, head hanging low as she walked away to their bedroom. Watching her retreating back and the slam of the bedroom door, earned a heavy sigh from him. He slid down the counter, just kneeling against it as he rubbed his face harshly as if that would redo what just happened. He just wanted her to be away and safe if things go as horribly wrong as it did with Babel. But he knew he was at fault; he couldn't have phrased his worry worse than that.
Sol puffed up the pillow against the headboard of the bed before resting against it. Her and Joon-Hwi, they have argued before, many times actually but still comparably less than other normal couples. Communication was their key. She knew he was just worrying about her. But he needs to trust her better, even when it comes to taking care of herself. She covered her face before sighing loudly. She could have easily just told him that.
-
Joon-Hwi's eyes fluttered open at the hot ray of heat rebelling through the big window opposite his head. The first thing he felt was a searing pain from his neck to all the way down his back. He looked around, sleeves rubbing against his cloudy eyes. Once he became well aware of his almost crouching position against the kitchen counter, it all started coming back to him. The fight with his love, him just settling there - he must've fallen asleep like that. Slowly standing up, he stretched his sore limbs, flinching at his stiff neck. He couldn't help but wonder how stupid he was last night. There was not even a strong enough reason that would back up his reaction. He moved towards the bedroom to check on Kang Sol.
Sol woke up with a start. It was a day off so she didn't have an alarm going off by her ear. The sunlight filtering through the big windows heated up the empty side of the bed. Empty bed? The moment she tried to move her head around, blind hot pain ran through her back and she finally realised that she had spent the night sitting up against the headboard of the bed. Then it all came back. The least she could say was that it was definitely not a goodnight. She threw a fit for a reason that suddenly seemed so vague.
The door knob rattled, startling Sol, before it opened to reveal her first thought every morning.
"Hi."
"Hi."
Sol shuffled the blankets to make some space for him to sit in front of her and he, understanding her thoughts, softly stepped into the carpeted threshold of the bed before sitting in front of her.
"Sol, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just want you to be safe, no matter what. You already know it, it's not that I don't trust you or I lack faith in your capabilities, I just don't want you to get hurt."
Joon-Hwi rambled with eyes tightly closed but when he did open them, he could see Kang Sol smiling at him with her ruffled hair as sunlight beamed on her already ethereal glow. She reached forward and ran her fingers through his hair.
"I know. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did either. I know you were just worried but I want you to have more faith in me. I am not the same Kang Sol A that poked a pen into her hands and bled away just to stay awake. I have changed for good and you are the truest witness to that, right?"
Joon-Hwi nodded, smiling brightly as he pulled her all the way into his warm embrace, so that she was straddling his lap. Her face was buried in the warm crook of his neck, arms clinging onto him for dear life. She was so glad to have him as a huge part of her life; as someone who understood, as someone whose patience never runs out with her. She silently swore to herself that she would definitely prove herself worthy of all the faith her fiance has in her and when he snuggled his face into her temple before placing a kiss on it, there was not a hint of the confidence lacking girl that she once was.
"You know, I had some other plans in mind for last night."
He whispered, lips outlining the shell of her ear.
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
She retorted, pressing a firm kiss to his neck.
"It's better to show than to tell."
She removed her head from the crook and looked him straight in the eyes with a smirk.
"Well, show me then, Prosecutor Han."
His eyes fondly looked at her before he edged closer to her, their lips on the verge of melting into each other , when the loud ring of a phone made them groan simultaneously.
"This early? Don't you have a day off?"
"I don't know. Whose phone is it even? I told you to put a different ringtone."
She climbed down from his lap before unplugging her buzzing phone, mumbling with annoyance. Her aching back barely helped.
"Hello?"
"KANG SOL! What are we going to do?"
Park Geun-Tae cried on the other side.
"What? What do you mean? What happened?"
"DON'T TELL ME YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE NEWS YET! WHAT KIND OF AN ATTORNEY ARE Y-"
"Alright alright, I'll go watch it. Why do you have to scream?"
Hanging up, she stretched as much as she could without wincing in pain.
"What was that?"
Joon-Hwi chuckled from the bed, massaging his neck.
"Just Park Geun-Tae screaming about something on the news. Where did you sleep last night?"
"Against the counter. My neck is all sore now."
"Mine too. I told you we should've bought that massaging chair from that teleshopping channel."
"But they didn't have any guarantee cards!"
Bickering, they went to their small living room. Sol switched on the slowly functioning television, as Joon-Hwi shuffled around in the kitchen. Joon-Hwi could hear her, flicking through the channels for the news. He perked his ears up to hear the news too but all he could hear was the loud sound of the remote dropping to the ground.
Sprinting to the source, his eyes widened in shock. On the screen was a blurred photo of a body and there was a video clip playing that focused on Imperium before it changed to Kang Sol. His eyes flitted to Sol, to see her just standing dumbfounded so he moved forward and picked up the remote in his hands, unmuting the sound. Immediately, the pristine voice of the journalist filled the room.
"-body has been found dumped in a ditch. The farmer has been missing for nearly a week, claim his neighbours. They also emphasize that farmer Jung Han-Tae has been missing ever since he was supposed to meet Imperium who have shown clear interest in his plot of land. We can see reporters have already gathered around Law Office Kang and Park."
Footage of the havoc outside Kang Sol's office was shown on screen. Reporters were thrashing and pushing at each other just to enter the building.
"We have the chief of PR for Imperium with us. Mr Kim Joon, what would you like to inform the enraged public about this?"
The screen moved to a creepily smiling, bald man, just a glance upon whom, made a shiver run through Sol's body and she was eerily reminded of last night when the man came over. Joon-Hwi somehow felt her discomfort and settled beside her on the couch, throwing a hand over her shoulders and pulling her closet.
The man cleared his throat before his squeaky voice barged out of the television.
"Well, I would like to remind everyone that jumping to conclusions has never done anyone good, has it now? We are not afraid of lawsuits or defamation because we stand our ground with nothing but raw honesty that Imperium has no involvement with any of this. We are confident in our Attorney Kang Sol, who can definitely represent this unfortunate circumstance in legal terms.”
With that being said by Mr Kim, we shall give you further updates at the earliest. We'll be back after a short break. This is Journalist Geum Min-Hee and you are watching JTVC News."
Both their phones started ringing with calls and notifications but Kang Sol only stared speechless at the television. Even when they started playing some cheesecake advertisement. Joon-Hwi answered for the both of them as much as he could. Their group chat with Kang Sol B, Seo Ji-Ho, Ye-Seul, Bok-Gi and Ye-Beom was blasting with messages.
When Sol finally stood up, a silent agreement was passed between her and Joon-Hwi. Their day off was long forgotten. It would be a raging war for them from right then. The fact that they fought last night and their personal worries were flushed right down the gutter. The only proof of their love would be the fact that they would have each other's back until the end. .
Their promises to themselves would be kept; even when they hustled against the tug and push of the reporters as they tried to reach her office. Calm life could never be their thing. The only thing that mattered was that his hand was in hers when the CEO of Imperium sat on the revolving chair that was pulled to the middle of the room, turning towards them with a smirk the moment they burst through the unlocked doors of her office.