Work Text:
Lee Jeongha had been working at her job for a few years now. It was not the most interesting job there was, but it was a job and it paid the bills which given the current economic and political situation was more than a lot of people could ask for. She was paid well for working evenings and nights, and sometimes she even worked early mornings. Basically, she was often working when the early birds and night owls were coming and going from the office. Which actually turned out to be more people than one might expect. But then, she did work at the Supreme Court and the people who worked there mostly didn’t know the definition of a healthy work-life balance, whether they be judges, jurists, or even the TV people of various kinds who had started working in the building since the Live Court had started.
Because this was the world they all lived in now, she guessed.
But anyway, her job, see, was working in the car park of the Supreme Court. As said, not the most interesting job there was, but one nonetheless. There wasn’t much happening most of the time and she could read a lot. These days she had discovered audiobooks. They worked better than physical books, allowing her to keep watching the camera screens in front of her. Her boss had told her off once because she’d missed a fight starting as she was too engrossed in her book. Which was, you know, a fair thing to tell her off about. So, these days she was listening to her books and watching cars come in and people go out and vice versa at the same time.
Mostly that was what was happening, just people getting in and out of cars and cars going in and out of the underground car park. Sometimes some shady people would come in and she had to call security to take care of them. Since this was the Supreme Court, sometimes people were unhappy about some of the judgements being passed and wanted to make their opinions heard, sometimes just vocally, sometimes in a more…violent manner. Some people wanted to get into the Supreme Court, but were blocked from entering through the front door so they decided to try the back door, or the underground door, maybe? But on that side, it was mostly quiet. It was always nice to talk with the guys from security who came to chat after they had intercepted and sent off whoever had tried to get in, but it was just routine.
No, what Lee Jeongha liked to watch more, what sometimes made her stop whatever audiobook she was reading, was the funnier side of her job, all of the affairs that people were having, who was coming with whom, who was leaving with whom, who was going into a corner to kiss whom.
Because it was a car park, because it was underground and didn’t feel as if it were still part of the Supreme Court proper, some people forgot (or maybe just didn’t care) that there still were cameras and that they could be seen. Some did know and were trying to avoid the cameras, but Lee Jeongha had been doing her job long enough that she knew how and where to look. She was a gossip, don't judge.
Some people would try to arrive to the car park at different times. One would wait in the car for the other to come down and then would leave as soon as the other got in the car. Some would come down and then wait close to the road and jump in the car as soon as it had started driving. Some would come down together, but make it look like it was a coincidence. Those would usually also look around before going to the car. She remembered two of the jurists she had caught once who were talking next to the back of the car waiting for someone else to leave, doing that thing where you talk to someone, but look like you’re ready to leave at any point and you’re just talking before going your separate ways. Except as soon as the other car left, they had both quickly gotten into the same car together.
One jurist was particularly guilty of doing that, except the other man changed every so often. It would change every few months, especially every time new people came in. Lee Jeongha could not help but think that he was just waiting for new fresh meat to arrive. Of course, because he was doing the same thing with new people, the old people he had done it with knew his techniques. On one particularly savoury occasion, one of his former flings had gotten into his car and then waited a bit longer, hiding, and when he had seen that the jurist was indeed doing the same thing with someone new, he had gotten out of the car and started shouting in front of the other’s car.
She had thought she would have to call security when they started arguing loudly with each other. But then it had stopped just as quickly as it had started, only the new person had gotten out of the car and left with the old fling rather than the first man. The jurist had left alone that night and it had taken a few months before he had started doing the same thing again.
Lee Jeongha didn’t know anyone’s name, since she never went inside the building further than the underground level where her room, the coffee room, and the toilets were. She was giving people nicknames, especially when they were recurring characters like that jurist which she was calling Don Juan. There was one exception though.
It had started a few months ago when the Live Court had been brand new. She remembered that they had just finished their first case. She was working one night when the building had started shaking suddenly. She had called security to ask what had happened. Someone had answered that she should stay where she was, and that there had been an explosion in Judge Kang’s office. “Someone is already going to see what happened but stay where you are in case the bomber is still here and tries to escape via the car park,” they had said. So, she had stayed where she was and been on the lookout for anyone. She had waited and no one had appeared for quite a while, until finally she saw something move on one of the screens on the left showing the stairs coming down from the offices . A man was carrying another man, who appeared to be passed out. Lee Jeongha had already had her hand on the phone next to her, ready to call security, when she recognised the man on the left. It was Judge Kang! And the one on the right, whose head had been hanging down so far but had just moved enough for her to see his face, that one was Judge Kim!
Kim Gueyong, the person from security who had answered her call, had said that the explosion had happened in Judge Kang’s office and she had freaked out for a second. Did that mean that he was still in it when the explosion happened?! And Judge Kim too! She had hoped he was okay and had been unsure of what to do. Finally, she had decided to run out to meet them and see if they needed help. She knew which car was Judge Kang’s. He sometimes had a driver pick him up, but he had driven alone that day. She knew she should stay in her office to see if anyone else would come, but nobody had come so far and if Judge Kang was the victim, then the other person was probably already gone anyway. She had got there before they did.
When Judge Kang had seen her, he had stopped for second, putting himself slightly in front of Judge Kim, as if to protect him. Jeongha had put her hands in front of her straight away, shaking them and saying, “Don’t, worry, don’t worry, I work here,” and there she had indicated the direction of her office. “I heard that they bombed your office and then I saw you and Judge Kim and I wanted to ask if you needed anything. Is he okay?”
Judge Kang had looked at her for a second, almost as if he was judging whether she was a threat or not. Which was probably actually what he was doing. Having decided that she apparently was not a threat, he had started moving towards his car again and opened it with his key. “He’ll be fine,” he finally said. “He simply fainted . His injuries will heal.” He had nodded towards the passenger door. “Could you open this for me?” Lee Jeongha had stayed stunned for a second before realising what she had just been asked to do. She had rushed to open the door and held it wide while Judge Kang had got Judge Kim into the seat and fastened his seat belt. He then got up and turned towards her. She must have looked worried because he had reassured her once more and told her to go back to her office, that he could take it from there. She had nodded and then remembered to let the door go. He had then closed it. Lee Jeongha had hovered for a second, unsure if she should say something or not, before deciding on, “Good night. I hope Judge Kim will be fine,” before turning away. After a few seconds, she had turned back towards Judge Kang, who had just reached his door on the other side of the car , and said: “Oh, your forehead is bleeding, you might want to get that checked too.” She had then turned back once more and walked resolutely towards the office. By the time she got there, Judge Kang was already in his car and starting to drive away. She had wondered where they would go. Would they go to the hospital? Somewhere else? A private medical facility maybe? Judge Kang had said that Judge Kim would be okay, but he still looked like he needed medical care.
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After that day, life went on as normal. Judge Kang’s office was rebuilt quickly. Judge Kang came back to the Court and Judge Kim was apparently recuperating somewhere. This was the biggest thing which had happened since Lee Jeongha had started her job. It felt far more serious than the people who had tried to come into the car park before. She started to pay even more attention to what was happening on the cameras, even though most days were still very quiet. There was more security around, although she (and her colleague when she was not working) was mostly still alone in the car park. Which was why it had been surprising when, one day during her evening and after the end of everyone else’s work day, she had seen Judge Kang and Judge Kim come down to the car park together and both get into Judge Kang’s car. It had been a few weeks since the incident and Judge Kim was back to working in the Court. Everything was back to normal except that Judge Kim, whom she never saw otherwise (she had heard he was taking public transport to come to work like a normal person), was now here, in the car park, about to get into Judge Kang’s car.
She guessed they might be going to an event and Judge Kang was driving them. She guessed it made sense. She had seen photos of Judge Kang and Judge Oh going to an event a while ago. It was nice to see that they appeared to get on with each other enough that Judge Kang was driving him places. It did tend to make any job better when people got on with each other.
Lee Jeongha thought nothing more of it until later that week, she saw them get on in Judge Kang’s car again, and again, and again. They were basically leaving work together every day. And they couldn’t be going to events every evening, right?
Wait! Did they live together? No, it was probably that Judge Kang wanted to help Judge Kim or that Judge Kim didn’t feel safe taking public transport after what had happened with the bomb. Judge Kang had a car and it looked like they were getting on well from the way they talked to each other on the way to Judge Kang’s car, he was probably being friendly and driving him home. He truly was the nation’s judge. What a man!
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Lee Jeongha decided to note down when she was seeing them leave together. One day she ended up working the early morning shift because she really wanted to go out that evening and had asked to switch. She had had to wake up when she would usually go home from her night shift so she felt like the world had started turning the wrong way. But she would be able to sleep in the following morning so it wouldn’t be too bad. Still, she felt somewhat tired. It was also odd seeing a majority of the cars coming into the car park to start the work day rather than leaving at the end of it. Some of the people she sometimes saw leaving together were arriving alone. It was like a different outlook on the same stories. She guessed it was easier to always leave at about the same time rather than arriving together if you wanted to be discreet.
Just as she turned around to grab her bottle of water, she saw Judge Kang’s car coming into the car park. She looked at the clock on the wall, which indicated 7:30. He usually left late. When did the man sleep? It was true that he was the lead judge of the Live Court and he had to have worked hard to get to that position. Still, Lee Jeongha enjoyed the sweetness of her bed too much to work longer than she needed to. How unkorean of her!
Just as she was taking a drink from her bottle, she saw Judge Kang, who had just parked his car, step out of it and a second later, Judge Kim do the same from the other side. She spilled all of the water in her mouth out onto the screen in front of her.
Did they actually live together for real? She had joked about it in her head, but had not actually believed it. She had just thought that Judge Kim was carpooling with Judge Kang last time she had wondered about it. If Judge Kang was taking Judge Kim home, it made sense that he would also pick him up in the morning, right? Yeah, no, that was definitely what was happening. She would talk about it with Kang Seongyo who worked at the entrance, she always knew the latest gossip (they shared their info when they had time), she would know.
When it was time for her to leave, she went the opposite way from her usual and towards the inside of Court. It was busy with people walking from one end to the other and looking like they were on their way to a very important meeting. Which most of them probably were. This was the Supreme Court, after all.
She got to the entrance where she was greeted by one of the other receptionists , who told Lee Jeongha that Kang Seongyo was currently taking her break and she could go find her in the lunch room if she wanted to talk to her. Lee Jeongha thanked her and made her way to the room.
It was mid-morning and Kang Seongyo was having a coffee, chatting with a few other colleagues. She waved her hand at Lee Jeongha when she noticed her, telling her to come over.
“Jeongha, hello! Long time no see! It’s been a while since youve worked mornings. Are you done with your day?”
“Yes. I can’t wait to go back home and get some more sleep. I’m not used to being awake in the mornings anymore,” she chuckled.
They all exchanged pleasantries and asked each other what was new in their lives for a few minutes before Lee Jeongha asked what she had been dying to know and the reason why she was not already on her way home to her bed: “Kang Seongyo, I have been wondering something and thought that you might be able to help me answer a question I’ve had for a while. As you know, I usually work nights, which means that I see all of the night owls leaving the office to go home, and this morning I saw everyone arriving before their workday.”
Kang Seongyo had put her chin on her linked fingers looking like she wondered where Lee Jeongha was going with her question.
“And anyway, for the past few weeks, Judge Kang and Judge Kim have been leaving together and today I got confirmation that they were also coming to work together. Now I’m dying to know if you know anything about it. Do you know why that is? Are they carpooling?”
There was a glint in Kang Seongyo’s eyes like she did indeed know something.
“I’m so glad you came to ask this. You are also confirming something I was wondering, but your colleague who works mornings usually never comes to talk to us and we all finish before you start your shift in the evenings. I have noticed that they often arrive together in the mornings. And by often, I mean that for the past few weeks, they have arrived together almost every day. But now we have confirmation they also leave together regularly enough that you noticed. Oh, this is good. You asked whether they are carpooling and…” At that Kang Seongyo looked around and came closer to the centre of the table as if what she was about to share was some confidential information. After pausing for a few seconds as if to manage the suspense, she started again. “I don’t think they do. See, Judge Kang lives in the outskirts of Seoul in a large villa owned by his family. I’ve never seen it, he is very secretive about it and doesn’t let people inside or to even come close, but I have read articles from ⋆｡°✩ trustworthy ✩°｡⋆ sources who talked about it. Judge Kim comes from a poorer background and has mentioned before when we talked to him that he was living in a district on the other side of town. It would be at least an hour drive to get there from Judge Kang’s house and then a further thirty minutes to the court, and that’s without counting on Seoul’s traffic which, as we all know, is terrible and makes everything take so much longer. That twice a day does not sound like something they would do, especially given that they usually arrive here very early and leave late. No, no. I think that…” and there she paused once more with a smile for maximum effect. “They live together! That is the only possible solution.”
Seung Jiyeong, sitting to Lee Jeongha’s left, sighed very loudly. “Come on, you always try to give us the same theory. Two of the Live Court Judges living together, who are both men and not married, come on! That’s something that only happens in the shows you watch in the evening. I am sure there is a very valid explanation as to why they leave and arrive at work together that does not involve one of them having moved into the other’s very secret and well-protected house. It’s not because you share a last name with him that you know everything about him. More than a million people in the country share your last name.”
“First of all, I know that us sharing a last name does not give me access to information other people don’t have. We don’t all have a groupchat where we exchange information. But I have done the maths. What other explanation is there? You know deep down that I am right!” Seung Jiyeong looked, exasperated, at Kang Seongyo, but didn’t say anything. Kang Seongyo started again: “See! There is no better explanation, they live together.” She then turned towards Lee Jeongha. “Obviously we can’t ask them, they would probably deny it. I can already see the newspaper title. ‘Korea’s forbidden romance between the country’s highest judges’.”
Lee Jeongha didn’t know why it would be forbidden, but then she was no law expert. Also living together did not always imply romance. Rents were expensive, even for judges. But just then, she heard someone at the coffee machine on the other end of the room, directly in front of her, coughing as if they had started drinking and it had gone the wrong way. Which it probably had as the person who had just coughed, unnoticed by her colleagues around her, was Judge Kim who, if the look on his face was any indication, had just heard Kang Seongyo’s idea for a main page’s title.
Oh no! Gossiping was one thing, but that gossiping being heard by the object of said gossip was entirely another. He noticed her looking at him and she made a face as if to say “sorry”. Kang Seongyo, who was facing her, saw her looking away from the table and turned around only to see Judge Kim starting to move towards the door, shaking his head and chuckling to himself as if he could not believe what he had heard. Kang Seongyo turned back towards the table, red with embarrassment. There was silence for a few seconds before Seung Jiyeong, taking pity on Kang Seongyo, started talking again, asking Lee Jeongha about her plans for the evening. They continued talking for a few minutes, staying away from gossiping about the potential romantic entanglements of the country’s highest judges before everyone dispersed, Lee Jeongha going to her appointment with her bed and the others back to their jobs.
The next evening, as she was listening to her latest audiobook, a romance novel about a forbidden romance between the king and one of his ministers, she saw Judge Kang and Judge Kim chatting and walking through the car park to get to Judge Kang’s car. She felt herself redden thinking about yesterday’s conversation being overheard. She definitely could not go and ask them about it now. Even if it weren’t an invasion of privacy, she didn’t know how she could face Judge Kim. And Judge Kang looked like he would not give her a straight answer anyway. She sighed. She guessed she would never know if they never said anything publicly. She would just be left to wonder what was going on between Judge Kang and Judge Kim.