Episode 4
“That’ll be 339,800 won.”
I received the heavy bag of books from the clerk.
The reason I had come to the bookstore early in the morning was simple.
Park Yoo-seung’s studio apartment had barely any legal books, just ‘The Knot of Civil Law’.
It was undeniable that study books were efficient for studying.
However, to properly understand and apply legal principles, you needed several basic textbooks to look up and supplement information whenever you got stuck.
[Principles of Civil Law – Ji Yeon-rim]
[Summary of Criminal Law]
[General Theory of Criminal Law – Kim Sun-don]
[Specific Theory of Criminal Law – Kim Sun-don]
I smiled with a sense of familiarity at the titles that evoked the atmosphere of the Sillim-dong exam-prep district.
After taking the first test, I realized that I was truly lacking in many areas.
I had tried my best to prepare by quickly flipping through study books, but it was impossible to review the entire scope of civil law in just a few hours.
I had no choice but to skip all the multiple-choice questions.
Instead, I focused on the essay-type, or subjective, questions where I could use the law books.
That was because I could solve them by looking at the articles and recalling my memories.
Even then, most of my answers were vague because I couldn't remember the exact wording of the precedents or the academic concepts…
Fortunately, I was able to write down the conclusion reflexively for the last question because it was a type of trap that I had encountered countless times during my test-taking days.
Last night, after returning to Park Yoo-seung’s studio apartment, I spent the whole night comparing the test paper I had taken with ‘The Knot of Civil Law’ to fill the gaps in my memory.
I also searched for and organized a list of books I needed to study.
There was nothing else I had to do or anyone I had to meet anyway.
Park Yoo-seung had been notorious as a hopeless case at Korea University since his undergraduate days.
He had entered a lecture hall drunk and pointed a finger at a professor, or he had hit on a freshman and ended up in a fistfight with her boyfriend, which landed him in a detention cell.
His misbehavior was so severe that there wasn’t a single student at Korea University who hadn’t heard rumors about him.
Therefore, anyone with common sense wouldn't try to associate with Park Yoo-seung.
I was done with the 'friends' of his who didn't have common sense.
In other words, I was like a human island, with no one approaching me.
“Well, at least it’s good that I can buy books without worry.”
It was a large sum of money that I wouldn’t have dared to spend in my previous life, but compared to the money accumulated in Park Yoo-seung's account, it was like a speck of dust.
I hugged the bag of books with satisfaction and left the bookstore.
The second day of the pre-law program would start soon.
* * *
I had to hurry.
[Pre-law Class A Classroom]
From the second day onwards, the program was divided into three classes of 50 students each.
It was only natural since they couldn’t cram 150 students into one classroom.
Park Yoo-seung was assigned to Class A.
The same class as Shin Seo-joon, Han Seol, and Jeong Min-shik, the main characters of the original story.
I opened the classroom door and went inside.
The gazes of the students who were already there briefly turned to me, but they quickly looked away as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have.
Some of them looked at my face and whispered among themselves.
I couldn’t help but smile bitterly at the icy atmosphere.
Among the new students at Korea University Law School this year, 100 were graduates of Korea University.
At least 100 people had heard of Park Yoo-seung's notoriety, even if it was second-hand.
Most of the students from other universities had also interacted with Korea University students in cram schools or joint law societies.
It was more than enough time for the Korea University graduates, who had discovered their university's worst troublemaker in the main auditorium on the opening day, to warn their friends from other universities.
Of course, I didn't need to care.
I wasn't Park Yoo-seung, but I was in a situation where I couldn't prove it, nor should I prove it.
And anyway, studying was a lonely battle that you had to fight on your own.
The cold gazes from around me were as insignificant as dust compared to the dream-like situation of being able to study law again.
I checked the seating chart posted at the front of the classroom and headed to my seat.
The three people sitting around me on this seating chart were the people who would be in my group during this pre-law period.
Of course, if it was like the original story, I already knew who my group members would be.
"...What?"
Sitting next to my assigned seat was none other than Han Seol.
“Why are you here?”
Han Seol’s expression crumpled.
“Because this is my seat.”
“You’re… here?”
As if she didn’t want to believe it, Han Seol counted the seats with her finger. But the ending that was decided from the original story wouldn’t change. After narrowing her eyes for a long time, she soon realized the tragic fact that she and I were in the same group.
“No, this can’t be…”
Han Seol and Park Yoo-seung were classmates in the Business Administration department.
That was why Han Seol knew all too well that the rumors about Park Yoo-seung were not exaggerated, and that he was an unimaginable empty vessel.
She couldn't understand how such a person had graduated from the same university as her and was now in the same law school.
Han Seol, who had been holding her head in her hands, suddenly raised her head.
“Park Yoo-seung.”
“What?”
“I won’t ask you to work hard. I don’t expect that. Just… I’ll do everything myself, so please don’t cause any trouble. I’m begging you.”
Her expression was quite desperate.
According to the original story, Han Seol was determined to get first place in the pre-law program at this time.
For her, who had always been the best, losing the top student spot to Shin Seo-joon was the first defeat she had ever experienced in her life.
To make up for it, she had to get the best scores on the tests and group evaluations.
However, Park Yoo-seung, feeling insulted by Han Seol’s request, instead causes a ruckus in the classroom.
Shin Seo-joon, who arrived at the classroom at the right time, subdues him and saves Han Seol.
It was the starting point where something other than one-sided rivalry began to mix in.
Of course, since I wasn't the real Park Yoo-seung, I had no intention of being involved in such a childish farce.
“Okay.”
“…Really?”
“I’ve come to law school, so I’m thinking of changing my ways and starting anew. At least I promise not to hold you back.”
Han Seol looked suspicious at my very cooperative answer.
You? Start anew? The message that she didn’t believe me was written all over her face, but it wasn’t my concern.
Believe it or not.
“Phew…”
Anyway, Han Seol let out a breath as if she had been relieved of a burden.
“You don’t have to feel pressured. I can handle most things on my own, and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll try to cooperate with the other team member. There won’t be anything you’ll have to do.”
Han Seol's voice was slightly brighter, like someone who had found a glimmer of hope in the depths of despair.
But Han Seol didn’t know.
That the ‘other team member’ she was looking for was probably sleeping soundly in the dormitory right now, and wasn’t planning on showing up for the time being.
‘I’m sorry, but it’s just you and me.’
Of course, I also had no intention of holding Han Seol back. I had promised that.
Yes.
I have no intention of holding her back, I said.
* * *
Criminal Law.
The first class. A middle-aged professor in a stylish suit suddenly wrote two Chinese characters on the blackboard.
“Nice to meet you.”
No one questioned it.
If you were a student entering Korea University Law School, there was no way you wouldn’t know who he was and what he did.
“I am Jang Yong-hwan, the professor who will be teaching you from now on. And this is what I will be teaching you.”
Jang Yong-hwan. A former chief prosecutor. The god of criminal law, who was as good as a guarantee for making his advisees into prosecutors.
Some students gulped at the intimidation that his name gave off.
“Do you know what criminal law is?”
Han Seol raised her hand immediately.
When the other member of her group didn’t show up even after the class started, she held her head in her hands again, and then expressed her firm determination to get points even if she had to do it on her own.
She would probably try to show off as much as possible whenever she knew something in the future.
“Good, the student who raised their hand.”
“It is the law that stipulates all the legal provisions for criminal acts and their punishments.”
“You’ve memorized it well. What’s your name?”
“I’m Han Seol, professor.”
“Good. As Han Seol has said, criminal law is the law that defines what a crime is, and how and how much it should be punished. So, all you have to do when you study criminal law is to be able to judge that.”
Is this a bad thing?
If it's a bad thing, is it punishable?
If it should be punished, to what extent should it be punished?
“Simple, right? But the things you have to consider to make this simple judgment are by no means trivial.”
Jang Yong-hwan said that and then wrote a new Chinese character below the first two.
General Theory (叢論).
“Here, you learn the basic concepts and general legal principles for criminal law judgment. Most law schools teach this in the first semester of the first year.”
And then again, two characters below that.
Specific Theory (各論).
“And then you learn the provisions for the subject, act, and object that constitute each ‘crime’. This is usually the course for the second semester of the first year.”
Jang Yong-hwan continued.
“Most of you have probably never studied law in your undergraduate years. If you have barely managed to finish reading through civil law before entering school, that’s decent, and if you’ve studied up to the general theory of criminal law, you are a very excellent and diligent student. Not to mention the specific theory? If there is anyone who has read that far, that person is definitely a pervert.”
The students laughed.
Not because Jang Yong-hwan's words were funny, but because they were relieved by the message.
‘I’m not the only one who hasn’t studied much, the people sitting next to me are all similar, and the professor knows that as well.’
So at least during this pre-law period, they would take that into account and proceed slowly. That was the conclusion they had come to in their own way.
“So then.”
But that was a ridiculous misconception.
“I want you to answer without being afraid of being wrong. After all, if you don’t know something, the person sitting next to you doesn’t know it either.”
Just as the students’ faces were hardening as they sensed that the situation was going strangely,
“It’s time for your first group evaluation of the pre-law program.”
With a clack, the beam projector shone light onto the blackboard. A screen of light was superimposed on the dark grayish-blue surface.
There, a paragraph of text appeared.
‘A’ is a university student who enjoys using the school community app on a daily basis.
While cleaning the school grounds, he found a flyer on the floor. It contained accusations that ‘B’, a candidate for student council president, was engaging in cheating during exams and assaulting other students.
In response, ‘A’ uploaded the contents of the flyer to the school community with the intention of widely informing the truth about ‘B’ and ensuring a fair election. As a result, ‘B’ lost the election.
And then, Jang Yong-hwan asked.
“Now. What is the issue in this case?”
I glanced to the side and saw that Han Seol’s face was pale.
That was because her strength was her overwhelming memorization skills.
She could answer anything within the scope she had studied, but she didn’t have the flexibility to solve unfamiliar problems when she encountered them.
And this problem was openly asking for knowledge of the specific theory of criminal law.
Han Seol was a monster of diligence who had done pre-studying of not only civil law but also the general theory of criminal law, but it was impossible for even her to have already digested the specific theory.
In fact, it was the same for me.
There were a total of 372 articles in the Criminal Code of South Korea, and in addition, there were countless articles in the supplementary rules and special laws that stipulated crimes and their contents.
All of that was the specific theory.
Naturally, most of it had long floated away down the river of forgetfulness.
The same scene had appeared in the original story, so I knew that he would ask this question and who would answer it, but that wasn’t knowledge as a law student.
It was just my memory as a reader of the original story.
In the end, there was only one person who could answer the question that Jang Yong-hwan had thrown out at this moment.
“What is your name?”
“I’m Shin Seo-joon.”
“Shin Seo-joon... Group 6. Okay, tell me.”
Shin Seo-joon took a deep breath and then continued his answer without hesitation.
“A damaged B's social reputation and caused him to lose the election through a medium on a communication network, the school community.”
The analysis of the case.
“Therefore, we must first review whether the crime of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act applies… However, that crime requires the ‘purpose of slandering others’ to be established. Since A had a public interest purpose, we exclude it.”
The determination of the legal articles to be applied.
“Then, we must review whether we can apply the crime of defamation by stating facts under Article 307, Paragraph 1. At this time, the issue is whether the facts were stated ‘publicly’.”
The presentation of the issue.
“According to the theory of potential dissemination, which is the position of the precedents, the school community is able to be disseminated to an unspecified number of people, so it meets the requirement of publicity. Therefore, the requirements of Article 307, Paragraph 1 are established.”
A sub-conclusion based on precedents.
“However, there is a special provision in the crime of defamation, Article 310. Even if someone has damaged another person’s reputation, they will not be punished if the content is true and is solely for the public interest. Therefore, in this case, A will not be punished for any crime.”
Lastly, he concludes by pointing out yet another issue.
The classroom became quiet.
The students looked at Shin Seo-joon as if he was an infinitely distant being, and Jang Yong-hwan was also sending him a gaze that seemed to say he was interested.
“Have you studied criminal law before?”
“It would be embarrassing to say that I have studied it confidently, but I have studied it to some extent.”
To some extent?
If that was ‘to some extent’, then what were the rest of the students?
“Excellent. All of the points you’ve mentioned are correct. If I had received it as a midterm answer, I would have given you an A+.”
“Thank you.”
“But it wouldn’t be ‘first place’.”
A gasp came out from among the students.
“It was an excellent answer, but to become the best practitioner and the best legal scholar, there was one more issue that should have been pointed out. If you’re going to say you’ve studied at Korea University Law School, you should be able to do at least that much.”
Jang Yong-hwan asked again.
“Is there anyone who knows what it is?”
There was no way.
Shin Seo-joon was the only one who had reached the level to discuss the specific theory, so there was no way the other students could catch an issue that he had missed.
In fact, I didn’t know what the ‘correct answer’ that Jang Yong-hwan had in mind was in this scene.
In the original story, no one was able to get the correct answer in the end, and Jang Yong-hwan vaguely passed over it, telling them to find the answer during this semester.
A question where the answer sheet was not revealed.
But…
“Oh. Yes, you there.”
I suddenly raised my hand and stood up from my seat.
“Hey, are you crazy!?”
Han Seol, who was shocked, tried to stop me, but I easily ignored her.
In fact, Shin Seo-joon had already solved all of the truly difficult parts.
What article should be applied. And what is the basis that the precedents have taken regarding its interpretation.
To answer these questions, you had to know the vast scope of the specific theory of criminal law by heart.
I couldn’t spit out that kind of answer yet with my current skills.
But, it was easy enough to add a spoon to the table that Shin Seo-joon had already set.
When you knew the answer, it wasn't that difficult of an issue.
“I’m Park Yoo-seung.”
“Park Yoo-seung… Group 10. Alright, what do you think?”
I opened my mouth confidently.