Chapter Text
Jihoon takes pride in remaining poised in the courtroom regardless of how bleak winning the prosecution may seem. He’s the kingpin and controls the outcome (and besides, watching rookie lawyers who are too eager lose their first case fuels his self-satisfaction).
But that is not the case today. The defendant doesn’t even waver when Jihoon addresses the list of crimes committed by the defendant to the jury. There’s a sly smile plastered on Lawyer Kwon’s face when they meet eyes and no—Jihoon is definitely not staring at his lips and how his suit frames his body so tightly and how it will feel like to trace the expanse of the lawyer’s skin with his fingers—Jihoon quickly glances to jury to see how long it will take to convince them that the accused is guilty before drawing out more evidence.
“I deny these allegations. My defendant pleads innocence,” the lawyer states before adding, “I would like to introduce Doctor Park who will be testifying on the defendant’s behalf that this was not an act of manslaughter but rather an event due to mental illness.”
Rolling his eyes, Jihoon watches the expert witness’ testimonial before directing his attention to the jury again. From the copious amounts of whispering and oohs, the jurors seem to be convinced by the sob story. Drumming his fingers on the desk, Jihoon’s starting to become impatient, and maybe even low-key panicking because the files of evidence stacked beside him is going to lose credibility due to a licenced psychiatrist. No one’s going to give a shit about pictures of a knife coated with blood found at the crime scene when a professional is holding up medical reports. Jihoon huffs in irritation because Kwon Soonyoung has the audacity to quirk his lips up to a smirk.
The air is tense when both men get on the same elevator that afternoon after the trial. Jihoon finds it hard to breathe when rage is running through his veins, threatening to consume his body whole. He’s not supposed to be the one storming out the courtroom angrily when the judge tells the defendant that he’s free to go.
“Thanks for making my job easier, Prosecutor Lee. I always seem to win when I’m up against you,” Lawyer Kwon smugly says.
“Don’t push it. You just got lucky today,” Jihoon retorts, although it’s not exactly true.
Ever since Soonyoung joined the firm, Jihoon has been taking up more cases when he sees who’s on the defence counsel. In short, Lawyer Kwon turned the prosecutors into a frantic mess from the moment he walked in because he’s articulate, calculated and coaxes people into believing every single word he says with ease. It’s a strenuous fight and Soonyoung’s not backing down from the challenge too, but the prosecutor is ready to remove those who are deemed as threats. (Yejin tells him that the whole hot-headed prosecutor versus a passionate lawyer battle is beginning to sound like the start of a cliché soap opera. Jihoon thinks otherwise).
When the doors open, the lawyer flashes a grin when Jihoon doesn’t mirror his expression.
That fucker.
There’s a sudden bright beam of light emitting from Jihoon’s phone, and he props himself up on his bed and reaches for the device. Swiping the screen, an image of the night sky and Woozi! Today was such a great day, I’m hoping you’re having a good night too. underneath it pops up. Jihoon grins, wiping out the events of dealing with an overly prepared lawyer and the Prosecution Board passive aggressively telling him to step up his game and stop the recent streak of loses from his mind.
There’s a certain mysteriousness involved with what he’s been doing on the dumb dating app for the past few months. Although Jihoon hasn’t disclosed any personal information to the guy he’s been chatting with because the both of them aren’t ready, or maybe both of them are just cautious due to the risk of meeting dodgy men as often discussed on social media (he really hopes it’s the former reason), Jihoon’s glad that he can look forward to this after a stressful day at work.
When his phone buzzes, Jihoon can feel the beats of his heart speed up. It’s not fair. Mystery man who goes by the name of Hoshi sends a series of photos of him in the gym—he’s wearing a sleeveless shirt, purposely showing off his toned arms. However, his face is cut off and Jihoon contemplates on asking him to reveal some more skin. He sighs, he shouldn’t get too excited. Plopping down onto the bed, Jihoon types back a reply but backspaces immediately right after, wishing him a good night instead.
“We’re going drinking after work. You should come with us,” Wonwoo says.
Putting his pen down, Jihoon looks up with an eyebrow raised. “I thought we were going to watch movies at your place tonight though.”
Wonwoo fidgets in his spot and tugs at the sleeves of his prosecutor’s robe, almost hesitant to carry on. “We can do it tomorrow? It’s just that it’s Soonyoung’s birthday today and we’re having a last minute party.”
With his mouth agape, Jihoon pauses for a while to soak in the nonsense sprouting from his friend’s lips. “I’m disappointed, Prosecutor Jeon. I can’t believe you’re betraying me to hang out with him, a lawyer.”
“He’s not that bad, really,” answers Wonwoo, because he’s never really had a proper feud with Soonyoung both in and outside of court.
“It’s fine, I’ll just work on the new case today.”
Wonwoo sighs at the sight of the younger’s forlorn expression when he leaves Jihoon’s office, but then again, he’s not in the position to delve into their personal business.
The first thing Jihoon thinks of after stepping out of the shower is his bed (and also the movie he was supposed to watch with Wonwoo tonight. And yes, he’s still bitter about it). Throwing the towel over his head, he ends up on his back on the soft mattress with a phone in his hands. It’s a lonely summer night and Jihoon wonders if he should go out more because when he’s not working, he’s always preoccupied with his phone.
There’s a notification from the dating app and Jihoon’s lips curl into a grin—there’s a photo of a Martini, followed by a series of missing you! emoticons. Jihoon pictures a sophisticated man of similar age, if not slightly older, who has his life together and is romantic and is also the type who prefers oxfords over brogues. However, that perfect image is shattered when he recalls what his fellow prosecutor told him today—Soonyoung’s drinking with the entire firm right now—Jihoon sets his phone down and makes an inaudible sound. He doesn’t want to think about Lawyer Kwon and his smug attitude and his winning streaks so when he finally switches the lights off, Jihoon hopes that one day he can muster up the courage to ask Hoshi out so the remnants of Kwon Soonyoung in his memories can be forgotten once and for all.
It’s nearing eight in the morning and Jihoon fights back a yawn when he locks his car. His mother notifies him on KakaoTalk that his cousin recently got engaged back in Busan and that Jihoon should settle down with someone nice soon because he’s already in his late twenties with a stable income. Making a face, he continues to trudge towards the elevators and types a congratulatory message. He doesn’t have the heart to tell her that he’s being intimate with someone he hasn’t even met in real life yet.
A vehicle swerves in and honks, signalling the prosecutor to get out of the way when the person behind the wheel slams on the brakes. Jihoon almost drops his phone out of shock and stares at the impending danger, until he is forcefully yanked back to safety.
“I think that it would be hilarious if you ended up in court for damaging someone’s car with your body. But that means I won’t get to see my favourite prosecutor ever again if you’re locked up in jail.”
The taunting voice belongs to no other but Lawyer Kwon. What an extra shitty way to start the morning. “I’m pretty sure you meant the hospital,” Jihoon scowls and lets go from his grip.
“Then you leave me no choice but to rub my victories at court in your face while you lie helpless on the hospital bed.”
Jihoon makes a grunting sound at the back of his throat and reflects on why he spends so much time loathing Soonyoung’s guts and vice versa. He doesn’t get any answers, and instead decides to dash forward to the elevator, slipping in and jabbing the close button repeatedly. If Jihoon can’t risk the chance of being sued for punching him in the face as an outlet for his constant rage and headaches, then this will suffice, hopefully. It’s going to be priceless watching the doors close right before the lawyer has the chance to step in, except that at the last second, a hand is wedged between the doors and it bounces right open.
Jihoon yells out vulgarities in his head because of two reasons—one, Soonyoung is fucking smirking as if he’s telling him surprise bitch! I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me—and the expression seems to be permanently stamped on the lawyer’s face. And two, Jihoon’s office is on the sixteenth floor and people are filing in, pushing the two men backwards in one corner.
“Fate is funny. You’re always stuck to me,” Soonyoung whispers, hot breath tickling the prosecutor’s ears.
Curling his hands into fists, Jihoon grits his teeth and replies louder than expected, “shut up.” Jihoon receives a few glances of distaste because it’s too early in the morning for disturbance and everyone’s uncomfortable in the tiny, humid elevator. If only he was wearing his prosecutor’s robe, then no one would even have the audacity to bat an eye. And it’s also not like the prosecutor purposely wants to press his body against the taller male and take a waft of his cologne. No, definitely not. “I hope you stub your toe on your way out.”
(Jihoon visits Wonwoo’s apartment after long hours of work that very day. His friend is getting ready to watch some terrible romcom, and Jihoon opts to steal some of his popcorn instead after removing his shoes, except that he’s way too eager and stubs his toe on the side of the couch in the process. Woe is him).