Marriage, what is it exactly? A vow of commitment; a legal contract between two individuals; an emotional investment; an act of convenience. Over the years, the marriage rate in South Korea has been steadily decreasing. In contrast however, divorce rate has shown no signs of lessening.

The Do patriarch caught onto this ‘trend’ in behaviour amongst married people and found his niche in the highly competitive field of law, striving to offer the best service as a divorce attorney and catering specifically to the upper echelon of elites and celebrities. Once he retired, his only son Do Kyungsoo took over the private law firm and was now the only practicing lawyer, having free reign over the small but reputable kingdom that his father had established.

Of course no matter how powerful and strong a captain was, he will needed someone to help him stir the ship towards the right direction and that was where Kim Bongcha came into play. Kyungsoo always thought that she was overqualified for her position, whether as assistant or paralegal. After all she was a fully licensed lawyer but simply opted to not practice law. Nonetheless, he knew that without her, he would have struggled immensely when dealing with the snobby clients and their questionable requests. No way would he have been able to keep afloat and forge hisway through the stormy seas all by himself; especially not against major law firms with much wider resources.

Another aspect of having a specific type of clientele — famous people who have their private life under constant scrutiny of the public eye — was needing to deal with stubborn and narrow-minded managers or agents of the client. This was the scenario Kyungsoo was currently facing. Sitting across from him in his office was the manager of the renowned ballet dancer Kim Jongin, better known by his stage name Kai, and Kyungsoo was mentally rolling his eyes for the distrusting nature of the manager.

“Manager Im, I’m sure you are aware that Do Law Firm has established its presence as experts in divorce, specifically for clients of a certain status,” Kyungso reassured the male. “Secrecy, subtlety and privacy, these are what we value the most when working with and for the client.”

The manager inhaled sharply, nodding at Kyungsoo’s statement, though the look in his eyes told the attorney that the conversation was far from being over. Kyungsoo’s eyes glanced briefly towards the closed door of his office, wondering when he would actually meet and talk with the client.

Meanwhile, Kai was sitting on the sofa in the reception area, a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of him. Across from him was the desk of the assistant, safely guarding the attorney’s office. When he had first entered and was told to remain waiting outside, Kai gulped in worry, immediately lowering his beanie to further hide his face. They had been careful in hiding his visit to the attorney’s office, but there were still relentless paparazzi who had sniffed out his actions.

Kai eyed the assistant with weariness, unsure of how to deal with the callous looking girl. Should he try to strike up conversation? Should he just scroll through his phone and ignore her? Should he take off his beanie because he may come off as rude? Before he could reach a conclusion however, the phone started ringing, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Do Law Firm, this is Bongcha speaking. How may I help you?” The assistant answered the phone by the third ring. “I’m afraid Mr Do is currently unavailable, however if you leave a name and contact information he will call you back.