Episode 27

"You're just a catfish that thrashes around in a small lake."

Long ago, Yoo Ye-seul's father had said that to her.

Creatures living in a small lake are nothing special.

Insects like dragonflies and mayflies, snails, and freshwater crabs occupy the lowest rung of the food chain.

The only other inhabitants are small fish, frogs, and salamanders that feed on them.

In such a lake, a catfish is practically an asymmetrical force.

The moment it appears, everyone scatters in fear, and it becomes the king of the lake, with everyone bowing their heads.

But what if a bull shark fell from the sky one day?

The catfish's small kingdom would collapse in an instant.

Conversely, what if you took the catfish and released it into the vast ocean?

It would still have to avoid fish that were much larger than it.

That was why her father had said that.

To make her aware that she was a catfish, so that she wouldn't mistake a whale or a shark and get herself into trouble.

'Hmph, what a joke.'

Of course, Yoo Ye-seul just scoffed.

As the daughter of the head of a large law firm, she had never encountered anything that hadn't gone her way.

In particular, Yoo Ye-seul was adept at handling and manipulating people.

Sometimes she would use her wealth, and sometimes she would use cunning tactics and words to mislead her opponents.

In that way, she became accustomed to the power struggles and dirty political games that she would have to face as the daughter of a law firm CEO.

That was why she had developed a habit of overthinking everything, but there was no harm in being cautious.

Yoo Ye-seul had always successfully built her own kingdom.

That was until she entered law school and encountered a troublemaker named Park Yoo-seung.

At first, she thought he was nothing special.

When she heard that a well-known delinquent from her undergraduate days had suddenly gotten high grades, she immediately assumed that he was using his family's influence to cheat.

So she went to see him on purpose and tried to shake him up a bit.

If he took the bait, she planned to use it as a weakness to bring Park Yoo-seung under her influence.

'But then.'

• If you're talking about secrets... are you referring to 'that secret' that Ms. Yoo Ye-seul used when she won the grand prize at the Ministry of Justice's legal essay competition in high school?

Instead, her own weakness was exposed by her opponent.

She had already taken measures to keep it a secret, so it should have been something that no one knew, yet her mind went blank.

Yoo Ye-seul, who had retreated as if she was fleeing, began to investigate Park Yoo-seung.

And then, she realized.

'Something's off.'

It was true that this man had been a delinquent throughout his undergraduate years.

But as soon as he entered law school, he recorded overwhelming grades as if he had switched souls.

He also displayed feats that were impossible to see as fabricated in real-time.

Yoo Ye-seul had to admit it. Park Yoo-seung's skills were real.

'However.'

There was no way that was possible.

Innate talent? No matter how talented someone is, it takes time for that talent to be refined and shine.

One of the two had to be a lie.

Either the outstanding Park Yoo-seung in law school or the delinquent Park Yoo-seung in his undergraduate years.

If the version of him in law school was real...

A chilling thought flashed through Yoo Ye-seul's mind.

'Was his delinquent persona... a lie?'

If he had been pretending to be a thoughtless layabout on purpose, then everything would be explained.

In the first place, it was strange that Park Yoo-seung knew about her old secret.

If he had really lived as a delinquent, there was no way he would have read the paper that Yoo Ye-seul had submitted to the legal essay competition when she was in middle school.

'But, why?'

Why had Park Yoo-seung been acting like a fool all this time?

And why was he starting to reveal his true colors now?

Yoo Ye-seul suddenly thought about the succession battle within the Yuseong Group, to which Park Yoo-seung belonged.

Park Tae-yang, Park Yoo-seung's older brother, whom she had met at a few parties.

He seemed like a nice businessman at first glance, but behind the scenes, he was a dangerous person who would do anything to achieve his goals.

His older sister, Park Min-ha, wasn't as sinister as him, but she had a fiery temper and was the type to destroy anything that got on her nerves.

They would have been overly threatening enemies for the still-young Park Yoo-seung.

What if Park Yoo-seung was hiding his true colors by deliberately acting like a fool to avoid being wary of them?

What if he had been secretly accumulating knowledge and power while drawing a grand plan?

'Come to think of it.'

For a while, she had heard from her contacts in the Yuseong Group that Chairman Park was finally trying to decide on a successor, but recently, that atmosphere had completely disappeared.

According to Yoo Ye-seul's investigation, it was around the time when Park Yoo-seung had visited the main house.

'The moment he started moving, he shook the Yuseong Group chairman...?'

Yoo Ye-seul swallowed hard.

The source of Yoo Ye-seul's confidence was her background.

The daughter of the head of 'Taejong,' one of the top three law firms in Korea.

But law firms were originally labor-intensive industries that revolved around human capital.

Even a 'large' law firm with hundreds of lawyers didn't have a very large absolute revenue.

At best, it was similar to a mid-sized company.

It was nothing compared to the Yuseong Group, which was practically a giant of the business world.

In the first place, Taejong's major advisory clients included many of Yuseong's core affiliates.

In other words, the scale of the playing field itself was different.

An image flashed through Yoo Ye-seul's mind.

A giant snake coiled up in a deep cave.

No, it wasn't a snake.

'A Hidden Dragon!'

It was a giant dragon that was holding its breath, waiting for the moment to take flight and devour everything.

How deep was the abyss of will, determination, and calculated strategy that it had forged while deceiving the world's eyes?

Yoo Ye-seul suddenly realized that she had touched an unbelievable being and was gripped by fear.

Indeed, she was just a catfish, as her father had said.

The problem was that what she had touched was not a shark or a whale, but the reverse scale of a dragon that was crouching and waiting for the moment to rise.

'What do I do, what do I do, what do I do...!'

The magazine containing her father's paper had been recalled in its entirety, at least for the copies that had been released to the public.

However, she hadn't been able to secure the copies that had been taken by members of the academic society who had fallen out of touch or cut ties with her.

If Park Yoo-seung contacted them? Yoo Ye-seul was done for.

Her admission would be canceled in an instant, and if she couldn't become a lawyer, she wouldn't be able to succeed her father.

'No, no. Calm down.'

Yoo Ye-seul suddenly came to her senses.

'Yes, it's not too late yet.'

Park Yoo-seung hadn't made any moves after warning her that day.

Why hadn't he strangled her, even though he had investigated her past and held her weakness?

Perhaps, he was giving her a chance. Yoo Ye-seul concluded that.

He was testing whether she could see through his true identity and whether she had the insight and judgment to do so.

If she went to him now, asked for forgiveness, and volunteered to be a useful tool, she might be able to avoid the worst outcome.

Since her weakness had already been exposed, it was impossible to rebel.

If you can't beat them, you have to join them.

She could only hope that there would be a place for her in the grand design that he was drawing.

Just in time, Han Seol, who always hung out with Park Yoo-seung, posted a study group recruitment announcement.

If she went there, Park Yoo-seung would definitely be there.

For Yoo Ye-seul, this was like a last chance.

That was why Yoo Ye-seul had written the application message, holding her trembling smartphone.

* * *

"I'll do anything you ask! I'm actually quite capable, you know. Please, don't throw me away..."

Yoo Ye-seul was in such a state that she would have performed a three-bow-nine-kowtow if she wasn't stopped.

No matter what I asked, she gave the same response.

"You mean I shouldn't reveal my true intentions! I understand, I'll watch my mouth!"

"What are you talking about, you crazy person?"

It seemed that Yoo Ye-seul had completely misunderstood something.

I had no idea what she had misunderstood to make her wave the white flag like this.

For me, who was thinking of confronting her if necessary, it was a very anticlimactic turn of events.

'But... it's not a bad thing.'

Yoo Ye-seul was actually quite capable.

Whether it was for the tasks I would give her in this study group or for the various things that would happen at Korea University Law School, it wouldn't be bad if I could use Yoo Ye-seul.

Above all, she was a villain in the original story who constantly opposed Shin Seo-joon and held him back.

If I could control Yoo Ye-seul, Shin Seo-joon would be able to solve problems more quickly.

In the end, I spoke to Yoo Ye-seul, who was practically prostrate on the floor.

"Um, get up. Yes."

"...Are you going to use me?"

"Yes, so please get up. Don't be so submissive in front of others."

"Thank you! Thank you!"

"Okay, okay, go now."

"Yes!"

Yoo Ye-seul, like someone who had been given a new lease on life, quickly got up and bowed her head repeatedly.

Then, when I ordered her to leave, she practically flew out of the study room.

"I'm alive!"

It sounded like she had said something like that.

"...Well, then."

Anyway, I could say that the Yoo Ye-seul matter was somewhat settled for now.

What remained was Kim Seung-pil, the most important person in this interview.

'Let's focus.'

Kim Seung-pil was different from the other law school classmates, who were like naive children.

He wasn't someone I could easily judge.

If I could make him an ally, he would be a great help... but in order to prevent the original story from being twisted too much, I had to figure out his current intentions first.

I called Kim Seung-pil on my smartphone and brought him into the room.

"Ah, is it my turn?"

Kim Seung-pil, who entered through the door, sat across from me.

"You want to join our Constitutional Law study group."

"Of course."

Kim Seung-pil replied with a smile that was full of the feeling of someone from the working world.

Indeed, he was quite older than the rest of us, having worked for several years before coming here.

"Can you tell me why?"

Honestly, I didn't think I would get an answer.

Kim Seung-pil wasn't someone who would easily reveal his true intentions.

That was why.

"Actually,"

I was surprised when Kim Seung-pil said that right away.

"I've become interested in Park Yoo-seung."

"...Pardon?"

"No, no, don't misunderstand. It's not in that way."

Kim Seung-pil waved his hand and continued.

"Park Yoo-seung, do you know what kind of person I was before?"

"You were a reporter. The one who exclusively covered the huge scandal that shook Korea."

"I see you know."

"You're that famous."

Kim Seung-pil smiled, saying it was an honor.

"The world praises me as a true reporter who realized justice, or a hero who revealed a huge group crime that was about to be buried... but that's not the reality. I'm just a human who chases after my own interests."

"Interests, you say?"

"That's right. The reason I quit being a reporter wasn't because I had some great idea. It was just that I found it interesting to handle legal issues while covering that case."

And now, Kim Seung-pil pointed at me.

"Park Yoo-seung. Your actions are piquing my interest."

"..."

"Wouldn't anyone be curious? A second-generation chaebol who shed the 'troublemaker' mask overnight. What path will he take in the future?"

'No, is this guy too?'

I felt like my vision was going blurry for a moment.

So, to summarize, this guy was the same as Yoo Ye-seul.

I had just been studying diligently after being suddenly possessed, but people who had misunderstood things were sticking to me.

'What path, what path.'

I just wanted to quietly hone my legal skills and achieve my unfulfilled dream.

The other things I was doing were just to make that easier or to remove obstacles in advance.

But that wasn't how it looked to others.

Kim Seung-pil nodded as if he understood everything, then made a proposal.

"Three times."

Kim Seung-pil held up three fingers.

"In the future, I will allow Park Yoo-seung to use the media whenever and however he wants, three times. I'm not that experienced yet, but I've become able to use some power here and there because I've worked on such a big case."

"...What's the price?"

"Let me observe Park Yoo-seung's actions. For now, that's it. Let's start by letting me join this study group. The truth is, I'm really struggling with studying constitutional law."

Even I have to pass the bar exam, right? Kim Seung-pil joked.

"Ah, and."

"And?"

"Later, one time. Let me write an article about Park Yoo-seung when I want."

'Is this the main point?'

"I have a pretty good intuition. I feel like Park Yoo-seung... will give me another scoop of a lifetime."

In the end, even though he said he had quit, Kim Seung-pil was still a journalist.

I could see the desire for an interesting story flickering in his eyes.

'What do I do?'

If I thought of it simply, it was a three-for-one trade.

I could use Kim Seung-pil three times, and in the end, I just needed to provide him with an article.

Being able to borrow the power of the media whenever I needed it would be a great help.

'Yes. Even just for that problem...'

However, the thing to be careful about was that the current me was 'Park Yoo-seung.'

Fortunately, this troublemaker hadn't committed any serious crimes, but his behavior was so terrible that if anything was mistakenly sensationalized, it would be a huge problem.

It was even possible that it would seriously hinder my path to becoming a prosecutor.

I had to address this point clearly.

"There's a condition."

I said to Kim Seung-pil.

"You will never write an article that harms me. If you do write an article, you must have it checked by me, and you can only include the content that I have approved."

"That's nothing. Okay."

"...Are you really okay with that?"

"In the first place, I had no intention of harming Park Yoo-seung."

If so. The negotiation was settled.

Kim Seung-pil extended his hand to me, and I hesitated before taking it and shaking it.

"Then, I look forward to working with you."

After sending him out, I was left alone and muttered.

"...What the heck is going on?"

I was just trying to find members for exam preparation.

But all of a sudden, I had two human resources who could be used in all sorts of ways.

"I have to tell the team that Han Seol is in charge of that they're rejected."

From the start, I was supposed to be the one choosing the study group members, so it wasn't wrong, but I still felt a little sorry.

They were, in the end, being rejected regardless of their interview.

I should give them something later. Study materials or something.

Anyway, it wasn't a bad result. It was actually very good.

The two of them were actually very suitable for the original purpose of the study group.

"Okay, I've picked the study group members, so I should start preparing."

A strategy to overcome the notorious 'Constitutional Court' exam.

All the ingredients were ready.

Now was the time to put it into action.

After briefly explaining the situation to Han Seol, I went home and started the necessary preparations.

The amount of work was more than I had expected, so I practically stayed up all night.

And then, the next afternoon.

"Okay, everyone. Let's introduce ourselves."

I called the six study group members to the study room.

Han Seol, Lee Ha-roo, Yoo Tae-woon, Yoo Ye-seul, Kim Seung-pil, and me.

"I'm Kim Seung-pil. Nice to meet you."

"I, I'm Yoo Ye-seul..."

After the new members had formally introduced themselves, I operated the projector, and everyone's gaze turned to the video that was projected on the wall.

"This is what we have to do from now on."