6

Tao looked at Kris, stifling his laughter while Kris clenched his fists tightly and looked up at it. "What now?" he growled. Tao burst into laughter and looked at Sohyun's desk, but she wasn't there. "Cold war with your protege?" he asked while he sighed and slammed the file on the table. "She wants to have a cold war with me," he replied and looked out of the door to see Sohyun walking past his room and he called out for her. "Kim Sohyun!" he called.

Sohyun looked at him and scoffed, before turning to the front and walked back to the desk. Kris growled and huffed. "See?" He pointed a finger at her and looked away. Tao burst into laughter and sighed. "The problem lies with you Kris. Who knew you could piss off the nicest and sweetest girl in the firm? You're dead," he said.

--

Sohyun typed out the documents, and read through past files of Kris's cases once he had entered this industry. Only the light coming from Kris' room was still on, and the curtains were down. Sohyun tried to ignore his presence, and looked through the files in the pantry, sipping on her coffee.

She slowly walked passed Kris' room, and heard Tao's voice coming from the room. She pressed her ear on the door, eavesdropping. 

"Kris, I just found out that you took Juwon's case, am I right?" Tao asked and Kris nodded his head while looking down at his desk, going through the files on the case. He took in a deep breath and continued. "You knew that he has a reason why he assaulted, but why didn't you tell Sohyun? You could let her know."

Kris stopped writing and looked up to see Tao. He looked at him with a blank expression for a few seconds then sighed. "What's the point of telling her? It actually makes no difference; I don't need to explain everything to her, right? She's just my protege." He shrugged. "And besides, I'm the one dealing with the case, as long as I believe that Juwon has a reason to be called innocent, nothing really matters."

“In fact," he spoke up. "I think Sohyun is being unprofessional,” he said and Sohyun gawked at the door then pointed a finger to herself. “I’m being unprofessional?” she whispered.

“She already found the client guilty before the trial has begun. She’s not the judge, she can’t just sentence Juwon to a death sentence,” he said. Tao slightly frowned and leaned forward. "Is that really what you think? Kris I have never ever seen you so concerned or angry."

Kris pursed his lips and he thought of Tao's words. "Yes. I thought about it. But you know how clumsy and stubborn she is. Even if I explain it to her, she won’t listen. I picked her among those candidates not because of her looks, because of one thing she said, principles," Kris explained, and he softened at that time he saw Sohyun.

"She reminds me of my younger self when I worked under Yongshik. Sohyun shared the same thoughts as me. I work as a lawyer just to uphold justice like any others, but somehow their mindset changes as they progress. Because of one thing, money. Money distracted them from their aspiration to become a lawyer. They forgot about their principles and why they actually wanted to become a lawyer, but I have never changed," Kris said, confidently and firmly, making Sohyun bit her lip as she hung her head.

"When Sohyun said I didn't have principles, I was angry, because I really mind her looking at me in a way that I have long forgotten about my aspirations, and I also hate people accusing me  I didn’t want her to look at me like a person who is corrupted with money."

But after calming down and thinking, Kris didn't feel angry, in fact he was proud to have her as his protege as slowly smiled. This is how strong and determined Sohyun was, unlike what he thought of her in the beginning.

Sohyun restlessly walked away, grabbing her bag before she left, and went out of the firm.

Tao looked at him with an eyebrow raised and he pointed an accusing finger at him. "Look at you, smitten by her."

He whacked his finger away and ignored him. "Shut up," he snapped, and Tao sighed. "Man, you've been shot," he snickered and shook his head while Kris looked at him with a puzzled face. "Shot?"

"Shot by the cupid arrow, dimwit." Tao laughed. "Remember the first case you two worked together? And you scolded her because I brought her to the defendant's common place, well that first literally the first time I see you so angry and concerned, plus this case, if you're not that, then what are you?" Tao challenged him and smiled, while Kris could only smile back. “I treat her like a little sister, because she resembles like one. Always so clumsy," he replied.

Sohyun walked out of the building, holding onto her bag and she sighed. A pang of guilt and embarrassment rushed over her. Maybe she is overreacting, and maybe she was in the wrong to just judge a person guilty without going through the trial. "Kris is going to be mad at me forever," she groaned and covered her face.

"Sohyun!" a voice called out from the back, and she turned, as she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Juwon?"

He approached her and glanced at his watch. "I actually came here specifically to tell you about Kris," he explained and glanced at his watch again.

"The main problem lies with me. For these years Tao and Kris have been helping me out and persuading me to quit drinking, but I didn’t listen,” he said. “Only until now did I wake up when I created such a big mess, that even made your relationship with Kris turn sour," he sighed.

"It's still a offence I can understand, I should face the music, but you think, do you think you would really want this to affect your relationship with Kris?" Juwon asked.

"I just want you to know Kris isn't that type of guy. He has principles, that’s the only thing he has, and that is why he wants to be a solicitor,” he said. “He says that being a solicitor can be able to refuse cases, able to help the client without his conscience being pricked, or else he would have a really bright future as a barrister.”

She slowly smiled and nodded. "I know.." she whispered. Her mindset slowly changed and now she felt like she was in the wrong.

Before the trial starts, they cannot jump to conclusions and find the client guilty.

He smiled and placed his hands in his pockets. "When we were in college, we call him Kris because it's an acronym. Knowledgeable, responsible, impartial and.." 

"What does S stands for?" she asked, curious overwhelming her as she smiled. He scratched his neck sheepishly and shrugged. "I forgot.. You can ask Tao by the way. I gotta go, I hope I'll be able to see you beside Kris on the day of trial," he smiled.

When he left, she finally had time to think through what she had done and she slowly hung her head in guilt, shaking her head furiously. "And I even scolded mentor that harsh.." Sohyun bit her lip and sighed.

Now she really indebted her whole entire life to Kris.

After Juwon left, she just walked around the area aimlessly, as she pondered about her reaction. Maybe her reaction was really too big, and come to think of it, she felt quite embarrassed to scold her mentor in such a hard way.

"Aish, maybe my tone was a little harsh, but still! Kris should just tell me the truth and instead of keep quiet letting me scold him while he didn't say a single thing," Sohyun mumbled to herself as she sat on a bench, swinging her legs.

"Miss, it's dangerous to sit here alone you know," a voice called out from behind her, as her eyes rounded in surprise, while Baekhyun smiled and approached her.

She blinked at him, even after he sat down beside her, as he raised an eyebrow and waved his hand in front of her. "Sohyun? Sohyun?" he shook her shoulders.

She finally snapped out of her gaze, and clapped her hands together then pointing a finger at him. "Byun Baekhyun!"

Baekhyun grinned and nodded, ruffling her hair. "You finally remembered me huh? Took you quite a long time."

Sohyun blushed, and she rubbed the back of her head, biting her lip. "Sorry, it was just quite a long time, that's why I couldn't remember."

He patted her head and grinned even more. "Aish. But it just took me five seconds for me to recognize you. How could you even forget your elementary friend?" he frowned, pretending to be angry, then quickly smiled. "Hmm still as clumsy as ever, and also cute too," he commented, while Sohyun's face became redder.

"I'm alright. How about you?"

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