Episode 34

"Tsk."

Jang Yong-hwan, who was driving a black sedan, clicked his tongue.

'......Another fruitless trip?'

Jang Yong-hwan was someone who had left the prosecution service years ago.

If he had any lingering regrets, it was that he had never properly resolved a particular case from his time as a prosecutor.

Even while focusing on retirement and nurturing future generations, Jang Yong-hwan had personally continued to pursue the truth of the case.

This time, he had rushed over upon hearing the news that a new witness related to the case had been found.

But there was no real outcome.

After cross-checking with the data from back then, it had become clear that what the witness had seen was a fact that was unrelated to the case.

In the end, Jang Yong-hwan had no choice but to return to school, feeling dejected.

Screech. It was the moment he parked his car in the parking lot.

"Oh my, if it isn't our ace Professor Jang."

He had unfortunately run into the person he least wanted to meet, Vice Dean Choi Sung-cheol.

"How is the preparation for the midterm exam questions coming along?"

He was acting friendly, but there was an edge to his words.

It was a jab at him for wandering around when there was a mountain of work to do.

"It's all done."

That was why Jang Yong-hwan answered immediately.

"I've already selected the questions to be on the exam, and I even had the students do self-study with the remaining reserve questions. I remember sending you the completed question files. Perhaps you didn't see them?"

"Haha, I've been so busy these days...... Indeed, you are Professor Jang."

Only then did Choi Sung-cheol change his tone and act as if he was joking.

"My expectations for you are very high, Professor Jang. Especially the first-year students you're teaching this year are an exceptional group compared to previous years. If you put in a little more effort and guide them, wouldn't they produce the best results ever?"

"I'm sorry, but that will be difficult."

Jang Yong-hwan blurted out.

"I always do my best to teach every student, regardless of who they are. So, it's impossible for me to do any better than that."

Those words also had an edge to them.

It was a jab at Choi Sung-cheol's attitude of selectively investing in valuable students, which might be rational as a manager, but was a failing grade as an educator.

For a moment, Choi Sung-cheol's expression contorted, but it returned to a smiling face as if nothing had happened.

"That is a very exemplary statement as an educator, haha."

He couldn't openly treat Jang Yong-hwan recklessly.

From Choi Sung-cheol's perspective, who was obsessed with results, he couldn't afford to mistreat a talented person like Jang Yong-hwan.

It was even more so because of the power struggles within the faculty.

Jang Yong-hwan was in a neutral position, not belonging to either the dean's faction or the vice dean's faction.

Depending on where his steps went, the balance of power could be greatly shaken.

Jang Yong-hwan also couldn't completely ignore Choi Sung-cheol, who was in the position of vice dean.

In the end, the two of them were forced to maintain the front lines, even though they were inwardly very dissatisfied with each other.

"......Well, I do agree that they are an outstanding group of students."

"Right? When I analyzed the exam score data, it was no joke compared to the previous groups. Especially that Shin Seo-joon kid was something else."

"He's a skilled student."

Unlike his answer, Jang Yong-hwan had a disgruntled expression.

It was true that the student named Shin Seo-joon was a talented individual.

On the surface, he seemed to have good interpersonal skills, and his leadership skills also seemed quite outstanding.

'But somehow...... I have a strange feeling.'

His eyes seemed to be hiding something.

Especially in the gaze he occasionally cast at him, there even seemed to be a chilly aura.

'And that guy's face. Somewhere......'

But Jang Yong-hwan soon shook his head and shook off those thoughts.

His intuition was usually accurate, but it wasn't good to have preconceptions and prejudices based on gut feelings.

He was also his student, after all.

"I'm paying attention to another student."

So, he just said that.

"Oh, who is it? If it's a student that Professor Jang has specifically mentioned, they must be amazing."

"A student named Park Yoo-seung."

"Cough."

Choi Sung-cheol was genuinely disgusted.

"Th, that kid is a bit..."

"Do you know him?"

"If you've ever entered a liberal arts class in the business school, there's no way you wouldn't know him. Have you never heard of Park Yoo-seung, the delinquent of the business school? That kid also totaled my Bentley."

"He had such a past."

Jang Yong-hwan casually brushed it off as if it was nothing.

"But his current skills are real. He's an amazing diamond in the rough. He's not just good at studying, he's a student with the potential to be an investigator."

"......Well, he does seem to have some talent."

Choi Sung-cheol reluctantly agreed.

He recalled his experience with the Legal Clinic.

He had thought that his skills were clearly inflated, but he had pinpointed the hidden issues of the case on the spot and quickly reached the truth.

His attitude of persuading and reassuring the client without hesitation.

But he didn't want to acknowledge Park Yoo-seung.

He had enough personal reasons to dislike him, and he was the nephew of Kang Chang-soo, the dean who was his political opponent.

That was why Choi Sung-cheol eventually squeezed out a word.

"But law isn't a discipline that can be done with just talent. If you don't put in the effort of cutting through bone, you'll eventually fall behind again, won't you?"

"You think Park Yoo-seung doesn't put in effort?"

"Of course. He's lived his whole life as a delinquent, so how easy would it be for him to change his mind overnight? I think it won't last long."

Then, Jang Yong-hwan's eyes flashed.

"If you really think so...... how about we make a bet?"

"A bet?"

"You know very well how meticulous I am when setting questions. I always design them so that the scores are divided according to how much they've studied and how much effort they've put in."

"That's famous. The students' satisfaction is also high because the differentiation is clear."

"The scoring results of the multiple-choice exam that I gave will be arriving soon. I'll bet that Park Yoo-seung got first place. If someone else gets first place, then you win."

"No, what kind of ridiculous bet is that?"

Choi Sung-cheol scoffed.

No matter how smart you were or how suitable you were, you couldn't get high scores on Jang Yong-hwan's exams without studying diligently every day.

He couldn't deny that Park Yoo-seung had a flash of brilliance.

But even so, Choi Sung-cheol couldn't imagine that the delinquent would be diligently attending the library.

Moreover, the group that Jang Yong-hwan was teaching was full of elites.

Not to mention Shin Seo-joon, but all of the top students, starting from the second and third place students, were gathered there.

For anyone to take first place among them, this was a bet that Choi Sung-cheol could never lose.

That was why Choi Sung-cheol came to this conclusion.

'Professor Jang is being a bit stubborn because he's met a disciple he likes after a long time.'

Effort was naturally a given. Jang Yong-hwan had publicly stated that his goal was to find a student with real talent.

Of course, Jang Yong-hwan gave the best teachings equally to everyone.

But that was because he couldn't know who was a valuable diamond in the rough unless he tried teaching them.

There was bound to be a disciple he felt more affection for.

This time, that was unfortunately Park Yoo-seung, and so he was clearly showing somewhat unrealistic trust.

From Choi Sung-cheol's point of view, this was an opportunity to hit Jang Yong-hwan, who never seemed to show any weaknesses, where it hurt.

"What will you bet?"

"If you win, Vice Dean, I will support any agenda that you propose at the next faculty meeting. Instead."

"Instead?"

"If I win...... Well, that's right. Please vote for the team that I nominate when selecting the team for the Mock Trial Competition."

"......The Mock Trial Competition? Why suddenly?"

"It's not sudden. The in-school preliminaries will start right after the midterm exams, so it's not that far away."

'Hmm. So that's what he's aiming for.'

Choi Sung-cheol stared at Jang Yong-hwan with a probing gaze.

The Mock Trial Competition was a competition where students selected as representatives from each law school across the country would have legal battles with each other according to a set topic, as if they were in a real courtroom.

To be selected as a representative, you first had to pass the in-school preliminaries.

Using the mock courtroom facilities, they would have legal battles similar to the actual competition, and the faculty would analyze and evaluate the results to decide on the representative team.

Usually, these in-school preliminaries boasted fierce competition.

More than anything, students who made it to the finals and won were exempt from the document screening process when selecting prosecutors or court researchers in the future.

'That means they don't reflect your grades.'

In places like Korea University Law School, where outstanding students gathered, there were quite a few students who were pushed out of the grade competition despite being objectively talented. It was inevitable because the average level of the group was so high.

If such students wanted to pass the civil service exam, such as becoming a prosecutor or court researcher, they had no choice but to make up for their lack of grades with their achievements in the Mock Trial Competition.

That was why Choi Sung-cheol had now been selecting the representatives based on students who had performed well in the preliminary trials rather than those with poor grades.

Since students with good grades could produce good results without such competitions, it was more efficient to increase his performance by doing this.

Students who had been pushed out despite doing well might have felt that it was reverse discrimination, but what could he do?

Fairness wasn't a value that Choi Sung-cheol valued very much.

'So, you're saying not to do that this time?'

Of course, it wasn't a very pleasing story.

But his mind was more drawn to the card that Jang Yong-hwan had presented.

He would support any agenda once.

In a situation where the power struggle between the dean's faction and the vice dean's faction was so tightly balanced, if Jang Yong-hwan lent him his strength, he could pass almost any agenda.

There was no way he could refuse such a delicious blank check.

"Sounds good. Let's do that."

It was a bet that he wouldn't lose anyway.

Choi Sung-cheol readily accepted Jang Yong-hwan's proposal with a big smile.

And after waiting for a while, Jang Yong-hwan's smartphone soon vibrated.

"Ah, it seems like they've arrived."

Jang Yong-hwan handed his smartphone to Choi Sung-cheol, telling him to check it himself.

He clicked on the file named 'Scoring Results.xlsx' that was attached to the email from the teaching assistant.

The lower ranks didn't matter.

Choi Sung-cheol immediately scrolled up to check the top ranks.

"Let's see, 3rd place is...... oh, it's Shin Seo-joon?"

The student he thought was most likely to get first place was in third place.

Choi Sung-cheol was momentarily flustered, but he soon changed his mind.

This was a sudden exam that he had given after Jang Yong-hwan had left his seat.

Multiple-choice questions were a highly volatile type of exam, and when given without notice, it was only natural that there would be some ups and downs.

It was also common for students who were excellent at simple memorization to get better results than students who were excellent overall.

"2nd place is...... Han Seol."

This student, who was second in the entrance exam, was such a case.

However, even though his analysis was correct, Choi Sung-cheol could feel beads of sweat forming on the back of his neck.

If neither the top student nor the runner-up were in first place.

Who on earth was the guy sitting at the top of this score chart?

'No way. No, there's no way......'

With a finger that had unconsciously become tense, Choi Sung-cheol pushed the screen all the way to the top of the file.

And then.

"......This can't be."

"You promised."

At Jang Yong-hwan's words, Choi Sung-cheol's lips trembled, and he handed the smartphone back.

[1 / Park Yoo-seung / 97 points]