case 01

chapter 06: m o r a l  c o m p a s s

The baseball whizzed past Yuta, just inches away from striking off his nose. He leapt backwards, yelping loudly, but was drowned out by the incessant whirr of the batting cage. He glanced to his right and caught the sight of Seulgi and Jungwoo taking wide swings at the baseballs pitched to them, hitting the balls with great synchronicity.

He clapped his hands, largely impressed. “How the heck are you two so good at this?”

“How are you not?” Seulgi chuckled, resting the bat on her shoulder and wiping away the beads of perspiration forming on her forehead. “Aren’t you our representative athlete?”

“I played soccer with my legs, not my arms,” he said. He made flamboyant jazz hands at her. “These are worth too much to be destroyed by the likes of other contact sports.”

Jungwoo whacked another ball, sending it catapulting into the air. The other two watched his nicely angled form from their netted cages. “I used to be a baseballer in high school,” he said, tilting his head at them. Unexpectedly, they exchanged surprised looks. “What? What sports did you guys think I did?”

Seulgi deliberated the thought. “Hm, I thought you’d be more into something relaxing, like golfing,” she replied.

“Honestly, I didn’t think you did any sports at all, with your ty track record,” Yuta remarked. “I mean, you’re literally Snoopy.”

Jungwoo scowled. “Hey!”

He was about to go after his sniggering friend, but his trained senses caught the starting buzz of the pitching machine. He grabbed his bat and focused his aim, hitting the ball to the other end of the cage. Yuta clapped, hooting and howling garishly, as he always did.

Yuta averted his eyes at Seulgi, who was readying herself to face the pitching machine. “Are you sure you have time to be batting at balls here, Seul?” he asked. “Don’t you and Johnny have a case you have to hit out of the ballpark?”

“We do.” She leaned forward, swinging at the ball with a form probably as good as Jungwoo’s. “And we’re not hitting it out of the ballpark – that’s why I’m here.”

Yuta nodded. “I figured. Is Johnny alright? I saw him passed out on the living room table before we left.”

Seulgi had seen the whole process. Johnny had started off knocking back a Red Bull, all-hyper energized and motivated to come up with the best mediation plan in his entire career. Slowly but surely, he began flipping furiously through old folders and law books, pacing anxiously about the room, and raking his fingers through his hair in frustration. At some point, his face was planted on the table, with him lamenting to Seulgi about how he should’ve just stayed in corporate instead of digging his grave in family law. Seulgi didn’t have the heart to remind him that he was the one who fought tooth and nail for his career pivot. She placed another Red Bull next to him before she left for her break.

“He’s fine,” she said. “You know Johnny. He’ll stress himself out, explode, simmer down, and somehow pull his together at the last minute.” As convincing as she sounded, Seulgi still sighed. “This time, I can’t really blame him, though.”

Jungwoo glimpsed at her. “Honestly, Seul, I don’t know how you both are going to win this one.”

“Neither do I, really.”

“Then?”

She took one last hit at an incoming ball, before kicking the switch on the pitching machine. She turned, putting her hand on her hip and giving Jungwoo a tired smile. “I think we’ll just wing it,” she chortled.

“That’s the spirit!”

Yuta grinned at Seulgi. He heard the whirr of his pitching machine, getting himself into position. A ball shot into the air, following an elliptical line the air. Yuta tried to slow it down with his eyes, successfully hitting it out of –as he had aptly phrased– the ballpark. He dashed over to Seulgi, the both of them giving each other cheerful high-fives.

“Watch me,” he smiled. “We do this a couple more times, and I’ll overtake Snoopy there.”

“You piece of–“

Yuta cackled amusedly. He picked up his unnecessarily glittery bomber jacket from a nearby bench, heading for the door. “You guys can go for another round. I’ll get us some drinks.”

Jungwoo’s eyes tracked Seulgi as she set her bat down, sitting on the empty benches at the back of the batting cages. She had done a stellar job at pretending, as usual, but he knew beneath her veneer of the strong, unfaltering, top-notch lawyer, was an overworked, exhausted young woman at a very strange point of her life. He exhaled, putting his bat away and ambling towards her.

“Are you really going to be okay?” he asked, sitting himself beside her.

Seulgi smiled. Jungwoo was looking away, but the softness of his voice was a dead giveaway of his poorly expressed concern. “I am,” she assured.

He turned his gaze to her. “You’re lying.”

Jungwoo had known Seulgi for twelve years and lived with her for close to eight. They weren’t bonded by blood, but he liked to think they were at least bonded by the next best thing, whatever it was. The jaded look in her eyes was also a dead giveaway of her attempt to seem better than she was, in order not to incite his concern.

“I am,” she repeated, putting her hand on his and squeezing it. “Don’t worry.”

Jungwoo sighed. He had seen her churn out documents into the dead of the night, covering for Johnny when she could barely cover for herself. But Seulgi would never say it aloud. She could have the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she wouldn’t tell a soul. That was just Seulgi, in a nutshell.

“If you say so,” he said. He looked her in the eyes for a short, quiet moment.

You know I’m here for you, right?

A small, warm smile curled at the edge of her lips. Jungwoo hated how reassuring it was – especially when he was the one with a Psychology degree, the one who made his career out of reassuring people, and the one trying to reassure her.

“I know,” she said. “Thanks, Jungwoo. I appreciate it.”

Jungwoo sighed, nodded and gave her hand a soft squeeze. He also gave her a non-smile smile because that was the best he could do to get back at her for lying and getting away with it.

“What kind of 21st century vending machine doesn’t accept credit cards?” Yuta grumbled, carrying over three bottles of soda and what looked like a bag’s worth of coins. He probably had to change a really fat note, they knew.

“Any vending machine,” Jungwoo deadpanned, and Yuta narrowed his eyes at him.

Seulgi got to her feet. “Either of you hungry?”

Yuta knitted his brows. “Don’t you have a ton of work to do?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I can’t fuel myself first. Food is fuel, you know.”

Jungwoo chuckled. He threw an arm over her shoulders. “Alright,” he said. “You feeling tteokbokki? My treat.”

“Really?” Seulgi’s eyes widened.

“I’m calling everybody.” Yuta reached for his phone, stabbing the call button on their group chat. “Get out of your beds, losers! Jungwoo’s treating – I repeat, Kim Jungwoo, the biggest cheapo in the world next to Wendy Son, is going to buy us late-night food–“

Jungwoo aimed a kick at Yuta, which the latter deftly dodged. Seulgi chuckled, her expression lightening. “You’re being especially nice today,” she said, eyeing him. “Is there a catch?”

“If you feel apologetic, you can treat me when you win your case,” Jungwoo smiled.

They laughed, exiting the batting range with their arms slung over each other’s shoulders.

There were times when Johnny thought that Shim Changmin was a genius. Like when he conjured evidence of an illicit affair out of thin air and managed to convince the judge that it was legally obtained. Like when he negated the effects of a pre-nuptial by simply denouncing the other side’s writing ability. Like when he won their client more than half her ex-husband’s assets with only a half-an-hour sob story. However, there were also times when Johnny thought Changmin was as mad as a hatter – that was one of those times.

Johnny folded and unfolded his hands, feeling the sweat stick onto his palms. Flanked by Jung Yunho’s side was a large, well-built man. He had sharp, severe features, his one look enough to send shivers down the spines of everyone in the room, as though he was ready to fricassee their balls for brunch. Ahn Chilhyun was the divorce lawyer to get, and when Johnny saw even the usual, rock-ribbed Suho cower before him, Johnny thought Changmin was genuinely out of his damn mind.

Yunho and Boa’s high-pitched, battling voices had been ringing throughout the room for the past two hours. The mediator, someone intentionally irrelevant, could barely come between them. “So, about the rights to the department store,” he squeaked, seemingly shaking in his seat. He had been trying to redirect them to that for hours, but to no avail. “How should we–“

“I’m taking it,” Boa hissed, glowering at her husband, or rather, her soon-to-be-ex-husband.

“Not in your ing dreams,” he shot back, eyes red-hot and piercing. “Of course, that’s what you want – so you can feed into your pathetic, narcissistic tendencies for free.”

But Boa didn’t even flinch. He could have thrown an entire vocabulary of insults at her, but she knew what she wanted. “Naturally,” she said airily. “Which woman in the world doesn’t?” She looked at him menacingly. “I know your love the place – the number of times they’ve shown up there and quoted your name… Absolutely amazing.”

“At least, buying helps them look a bit better.” Seulgi winced at the vitriol in Yunho’s voice. She knew where things were going. Yunho’s eyes glinted at his wife. “I can’t say the same for you, on the other hand. No amount of money can help you look even half-decent.”

It took all the effort in the world for Johnny and Seulgi to keep their poker faces intact. Her fingers circle into a vice-like grip on her glass. Suho saw the lump rise in , quickly putting a hand on hers.

“It’s not worth it, Madam,” he said, panicking as he tried to reassure his angered client. “It won’t do you any good, let’s just focus on the division of assets–“

Yunho interrupted Suho with a loud, deriding shriek of laughter. “You know what’s really not worth it?” he asked rhetorically. “Marrying you. And being short-sighted enough to not sign a prenup.”

Boa laughed. “We wouldn’t have needed one if you weren’t a philandering piece of .”

“We wouldn’t be here if you weren’t a bloodsucking leech,” he barked. “I can’t believe I let you raise Sungchan all these years. God forbid I’ll know what he becomes if he spends another day with you.”

Seulgi slowly moved her eyes towards the tall, lanky young man standing quietly at the corner. He was looking away, as he had been for most of the session. Seulgi knew she probably would too, if she were him. How he could stand there, keeping his cool as he watched his parents spiral into an all-time low, she would never know.

There was something about Boa’s eyes that changed at the mention of her son. Every person had their boundaries, and Seulgi knew Yunho had just crossed Boa’s.

“Don’t you dare,” Boa said, enunciating dangerously on every word, “bring up Sungchan.”

Yunho stared back defiantly. “What now? What now–“

“Last week, when Sungchan was supposed to be having lessons with his English tutor, where were you?” Boa asked, and Seulgi saw a shadow pass Yunho’s eyes. “Let me tell you where you were – you were at our guest room, screwing her, just because you could. And guess who saw it, from the crack in the door?”

For the first time in two hours, the room fell silent. All Seulgi heard was the quiet heaving of bated breaths, and Johnny’s nervous shuffling beside her.

“Tell me, Yunho, how old was she? Old enough to be Sungchan’s classmate, I hope?” She stared at him, flashes of hurt and betrayal flickering in her eyes. “How are you not ashamed of yourself?”

Before Suho could stop her, she flicked the glass of water at him. Both Seulgi and Johnny shut their eyes. They knew their mediation session had been going nowhere, but that was the nail in the coffin.

Boa stood up, dusting her skirt and resuming her calm. “I’ll see you in court, jackass.”

Seul