Chapter 32

Professional Ethics

A cautious voice came through the phone.

“Hello.”

“Hello! Ms. Lee Seorin.”

“...Ah, Lili-chan. No, what should I call you?”

“Just call me whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Of course, I had never told them my name at the riding center.

Apparently, private tutors who came directly to my house were one thing, but my name was not supposed to be exposed even to outside employees. Something about confidentiality agreements and whatnot.

It is not like I am some secret weapon(?) of Shinil Group, so I have no idea why they go that far to keep it secret. But that is the policy Grandfather decided on, so there is nothing I can do.

“Then... I’ll call you Lili-chan.”

“Yup.”

“Why... did you suddenly call?”

Wow! Playing dumb here?

No, she could not be that stupid. She probably just did not know what to say.

“I thought you were only good at teaching horseback riding. Turns out you streamed too, Instructor.”

A faint laugh escaped from the other end of the phone. Rather than laughter, it sounded closer to a sigh.

“...You were surprised, right? I’m sorry.”

After a brief silence, Ms. Seorin began telling me something I had not even asked about.

“...Actually, the very first day I saw you at the riding center, I knew right away. Ah, this child is Lili-chan. This is Lilith, the one we had been tearing into.”

“You knew right away?”

“I listened to your voice dozens of times to fabricate the recordings.”

“Bwoing...”

I already knew from watching the stream earlier, but hearing it again was still shocking.

Someone who looked this kind had actually been part of that group of criminals(?).

“My heart was pounding the entire way home that day. I just couldn’t endure it.”

From this point on, her voice began to shrink.

“Like I said earlier... I was one of those people. At first, I was just jealous, bitter. Then by the time I came to my senses, I couldn’t pull myself out anymore. I was afraid I’d be all alone if I said I was leaving.”

Her voice was beginning to tremble little by little.

“I’m not trying to make excuses. Just because I had reasons like that doesn’t erase what I did. I was simply wrong. Ganging up on one child with several people. I know there’s no reason that could justify that.”

“Instructor.”

“So if you want to hold me responsible for any of it, you can. Sue me, do whatever you want. I’ll pay whatever price I have to. I turned on that stream prepared for that.”

She was such a painfully upright person.

“...What are you talking about?”

I let out a deep sigh before speaking.

“I saw everything earlier, okay? You showed your face and exposed every last thing those people did, screwing them over completely. You even quit streaming to take my side.”

“That was—”

“What do you mean, pay a price? Don’t say ridiculous things.”

Apparently, my voice had gotten a little louder. The other end of the phone went quiet.

“There are way more people in this world who would rather die than admit they did something wrong. I fought thousands of people like that just today. But you didn’t just admit you were wrong, you put something important on the line to make it right.”

I had talked for so long that I paused to catch my breath.

“I don’t care what you did before. What matters is that you helped me today. Isn’t that enough?”

I am not normally the type to act this warm toward other people.

I go on about my subjects and whatnot during streams, but in reality, I do not particularly enjoy dealing with people either.

But I felt like I absolutely had to say this to Ms. Seorin. I could not stand watching this awkward, upright person ignore everything good she had done and cling only to her mistakes.

“...Thank you, Instructor. Really.”

It took Ms. Seorin a long while before she answered quietly.

“No. I’m the one who should thank you. For forgiving me... thank you.”

There was a slight nasal quality to her voice. Was she crying? Nah, surely not.

Already making a woman I had only known for about two weeks cry. Shin Yua, femme fatale!

I got embarrassed for no reason and decided to change the subject.

“Ah, and Instructor. One more thing.”

“Yes.”

“Those people. After being humiliated like that, there’s no way they’ll sit still. They’ll try to take it out on you somehow.”

I was certain of that.

People who only blame others without looking at their own mistakes tend to grit their teeth even harder when cornered instead of reflecting. Most of the people I had seen over the years were like that.

Honestly, it was obvious. If they were the kind of people capable of regretting what they had done, they would normally have pulled out before things got this far, like Ms. Seorin did.

“If they try anything at all, contact me immediately. At this number.”

“Huh? No, that isn’t something Lili-chan should have to worry about—”

“It is something I should worry about. Got it? You have to contact me.”

There was a brief hesitation from the other end of the phone, followed by a small laugh. This time it was a real laugh.

“Okay. I will.”

“Yes. You have to. Ah, and Instructor.”

“Yeah?”

“Talk casually to me. How long are you going to use polite speech with a fourteen-year-old?”

“...What?”

Ms. Seorin’s voice was plainly flustered.

“No, that’s a little... I always speak politely to customers. Regardless of age.”

“I’m not a customer right now.”

“...Still.”

“Come on. Just speak comfortably. You’re making me uncomfortable.”

When I pushed the matter to the point of practically insisting, I could sense her hesitating for a long while on the other end.

Then finally, a cautious voice came through.

“...Then, sh-should I? Lili-chan.”

Her casual speech was painfully awkward, but somehow that made it feel strangely warm.

“Yes. Like that.”

With our business finished, I added one final thing.

I had originally wanted to end the call with something cooler. But what actually came out of my mouth was an extremely ordinary farewell.

“Then I’ll see you at the riding center next week, Instructor.”

“...Yeah. See you next week.”

This time, her casual speech sounded a little less awkward.

After hanging up, I stared at the phone for quite a while.

Someone who was not really connected to me at all had gone that far for me.

Knowing that made me feel reassured, I suppose.

Relationships between people can connect in such unexpected ways.

Of course, I am not going to let anyone know I am having sentimental thoughts like this.

I put down the phone and flopped onto the bed.

How should I crush those damned fabricators to finally feel satisfied?

I shall slaughter them all.

“Heheheh. Kehahahak!”

Thinking such pointless thoughts.

— — —

At the same time, at a law office somewhere downtown.

Attorney Jang Taeseok slowly looked over the six women seated across the desk from him.

Every single one of their faces was flushed red. Their eyes burned with resentment and anger. The sight of them all competing to pour out their stories at once was no different from a marketplace.

“Attorney, I’m telling you, that woman named Lee Seorin completely destroyed us!”

Oh Seira, who seemed to be their leader, raised her voice.

“She spread screenshots of all our conversations over the internet, and now we might all have to quit streaming. That’s defamation, isn’t it? How can someone destroy other people’s streaming careers like this!”

“Ah, yes. That must have been very difficult.”

“Difficult? I just want to fucking kill—”

“U-Unnie. You can’t say things like that.”

“I completely understand. It can happen.”

Attorney Jang nodded, while making an entirely different calculation in his head.

He had already more or less grasped the whole story.

After all, Attorney Jang already knew about the incident that had caused quite a stir online. Forged contracts, manipulated audio, organized public-opinion manipulation. By any standard, these six women were the perpetrators.

Moreover...

If what the woman named Lee Seorin had released was true, it would be difficult to establish defamation.

She had been trying to reveal the truth, and there was even a public-interest purpose in protecting the victim. If anything, if they filed a lawsuit, the process would expose these women’s forgery and manipulation in court one by one.

In short, they had no chance of winning. Quite definitively. If things went badly, they could even end up facing criminal punishment.

In a case like this, any lawyer with even a little conscience should politely send them away. Tell them to go apologize quietly and seek a settlement, because that was the path that would hurt them the least.

But Attorney Jang was not that kind of lawyer.

Grin.

A slimy smile spread across Attorney Jang’s lips.

If these six women had retained even a little rationality, they might have noticed why the lawyer in front of them was smiling so calmly.

But the enraged women had long since lost the ability to view their situation objectively.

There was only one thought in their heads. They had to get revenge somehow on Lee Seorin, the woman who had reduced them to this state.

And Attorney Jang loved clients like that.

Whether there was any chance of winning or not, the retainer fee came in the moment he accepted the case. Regardless of the result.

All he had to do was gently encourage them as though they could win, get them to file the lawsuit, collect the retainer fee, and then squeeze more money out of them under various pretexts while the trial dragged on for months.

Even if they ultimately lost, that was the client’s burden to bear. It had nothing to do with him.

Besides, suckers this worked up never hesitated to open their wallets. Blinded by revenge right in front of them, they would not even notice where their money was leaking away.

Attorney Jang adjusted his glasses and put on a serious expression.

“From what you’ve told me, this seems like a case with plenty of room to pursue. No matter how much evidence the other party presents, the manner in which they disclosed it can itself be an issue. There’s ample room to establish invasion of privacy and defamation. Recent precedents have also been trending favorably in this direction.”

It was a blatant lie. Precedents or not, this was a fight they could not win in the first place.

But when all six women’s faces brightened at once, he smiled inwardly with satisfaction. Was that what a fish looked like when it took the hook?

“Really? We can win, right?”

“Of course. However, if you want to be certain, we’ll need to prepare properly. The retainer fee is—.”

Attorney Jang took out some documents and smoothly stated the amount. The six women exchanged glances, then nodded. There was no hesitation.

In the face of the word revenge, money had long since become secondary.

“Then let’s get started immediately. We’ll make sure that Ms. Lee Seorin gets taught a very painful lesson.”

That day, Oh Seira and the other five women left the law office feeling more reassured than ever before.

Completely unaware that they were walking straight into a trap they themselves had dug.