A creeping headache.
Again.
Kim Seok-Ju closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, not aware that he was being observed.
In front of him, slumped in the sofa like if he was home, Park Sang Tae frowned at the familiar gesture, nibbling his lips.
It's been almost a year, now. You'd think his memory would be back, after so long.
Not that Park minded.
He's much more interesting. Much more alive. Much more human.
Actually he had grown very fond of his cousin since the accident.
Behind the lawyer's desk, Kim Seok-Ju rubbed his forehead one last time before resuming to the file he was studying.
He had gotten used to the migraine. Of course he'd have to stop the car if they'd happen while he was driving, but most of the time, the spiking pain would just go after a few seconds. It wasn't a handicap and since nobody had noticed, it wouldn't turn out to be a weakness. So far, the headache had never dared to show up inside the Courthouse, which proved he had nothing to fear about it.
Hidden by the newspaper politic pages, Park Sang Tae pouted.
Yup. That's why there's no reason to worry. Seriously, man. Just take care of your health, from time to time ! You quit the firm to rest, but took on two of the biggest cases of the country right away, and now that everything has settled down, you keep accepting clients, even when anybody could defend them. You could be on the beach, enjoying the sun and nice girls, and you… you workaholic ! You're hopeless.
Kim Seok-Ju cleared his throat.
Park Sang Tae looked up and met the gaze of the young lawyer.
- "Why do I have the feeling you're talking about me ?" asked Seok-Ju, arching an eyebrow.
His best friend opened big innocent eyes.
- "Me ? I never said a word."
Seok-Ju chuckled quietly.
- "Your thoughts are so loud. If you have time to gossip with yourself, can you help out ? I don't remember this place being the lunch break area."
- "It's not like you even take time to have lunch", scoffed his cousin, getting up lazily.
Kim Seok-Ju smiled, not fooled at all. He knew how much the man loved to be involved in the business of their little office. He handed him the first half of the file. Park flipped through it casually, then put it back on the desk.
- "So, what's it about ? Fill me in, it might help with your reasoning."
- "Well, to be short, a lady tenant was-"
The doorbell chimed cheerfully as Intern Lee Ji Yoon came in with three bags from the fast food down the street.
- "Time to eat !"
Prosecutor Lee Sun Hee, who was working on her computer in the next room, looked up. She heaved a big sigh and massaged her neck.
- "Great timing ! I think I was about to faint from starvation."
She closed the laptop and got up to help with clearing the round table for lunch. She wasn't working for them or even with them on a case – like she had before – but she had taken the habit of working at their place on Wednesdays. She preferred the busy but friendly office to the quiet impersonal library.
Park Sang Tae just loved it.
He liked the fact the new Seok-Ju could gather people around him without even asking when he had been a loathsome loner, and he loved even more that he could get to see the prosecutor so regularly.
- "I saw our client's nephew on my way back", said Intern Lee, chewing the top of her hamburger with appetite. "He seems to be decent. I told him we'd need his testimony".
She rummaged in her pocket, gratefully accepted the tip of her soda's straw when she started to choke on a piece of bread, and finally put down a post-it on the table.
- "Here, his details."
Seok-Ju raised a mocking eyebrow.
- "And to think you almost died to get us the information…"
She glared at him.
- "You shouldn't pick on her, Kim", laughed the prosecutor. "Who knows ? Someday she might become your business partner."
The girl's ears turned red as both men nodded very seriously.
- "Well… in some time, tough", finally said Seok-Ju, amused. "She still have heaps of things to learn !"
- "Leave her to me. With my awesome teaching, it'll go faster."
The prosecutor snorted.
- "Park Sang Tae. If you have enough time to train interns personally, you should work on your own career. Are you gonna stay with the CHA Firm forever ? You don't even agree with their politic. Soon enough, Kim Seok-Ju will win a case against them and they'll be ruined – you with them."
Park shrugged the idea away.
He didn't feel ready yet.
His best friend put his hand on his shoulder.
- "Leave him be. He'll make his move when the time comes."
Sang Tae suddenly remembered that this respect of his decisions was the one thing that he liked about his cousin before the accident. He smiled.
Old Seok-Ju, new Seok-Ju, they weren't that different.
You could summarize it like this : the best in Seok-Ju had finally taken the lead.
He grabbed another chicken nugget and happily gulped it down.
The ladies had started to talk about the outrageously fashioned clothes of the new prosecutor. Kim was back into the file, absently filling his mouth with cold fries.
Park Sang Tae was about to emphasized to fact they were taking a break, when his best friend cringed. Once again, his hand went to his forehead and he breathed in and out quietly.
- "You okay ?" muttered Sang Tae, leaning to offer him a glass of water.
Seok-Ju smiled as he accepted it. His eyelids were fluttering a bit.
- "Yeah" he said, reassuring.
He drank then pushed back the chair.
- "Are you going back to work ? We only stopped half an hour ago", protested the prosecutor.
Kim smiled.
- "It's okay, take your time. I just need to go over a few files before the client's visit this afternoon."
-"You look tired", observed Intern Lee. "You should rest a bit, sir."
"Well said. Good girl", thought Park Sang Tae.
Seok-Ju brushed away the concern in her voice with a smile.
- "Why should I be tired ? It's not like we put any all-nighters recently ! Don't mistake me for an old man just because you're young. You're the first one to snore when we work late on cases, anyway."
The prosecutor giggled because it was, indeed, very true. Even tough Intern Lee loved her work so much and put all her passion into it, she still fell asleep on piles of files when everybody else was still working late at night.
Park Sang Tae got up and stretched.
- "I think I'll take a nap. Not that I am older than anyone here, but popular people like me know how important is their beauty sleep."
- "It's good you're still thinking positively after failing so many auditions" deadpanned Seok-Ju, making the women burst in laughter.
He left without listening to his cousin's complains and went back to his desk. He opened the window, happy to hear the distant chatter and to feel the autumn sun on his skin. As he sat, the pain spiked again in his head and he groaned, rubbing his forehead.
Maybe he was tired.
Park Sang Tae put his hands flat on the desk.
- "Four" , he said in a quiet but serious voice.
- "Four what ?" asked Seok-Ju, trying to overcome the lingering throb in his temples.
His best friend gave a quick glance to the other room : the ladies were now watching the news. He leaned forward.
- "Headaches. They're getting more frequent, aren't they ? You should go home and rest, at least today. Intern Lee and I can handle the interview with the client, this afternoon."
- "I'm okay" grunted the lawyer. "You should go back to work. Cha won't be easy on you if he figures how much time you keep spending here."
- "It's my day off", retorted Park. "I shall spend it wherever I wish. You're not okay. You've been working straight without any pause for the year after your accident. It's about time you take some time off. Go fishing with your dad, not only on the week-ends. Take him to the Philippines, go visit your step-father-to-be. Spend time canoeing with your fiancée."
- "Canoeing ?" repeated Seok-Ju, looking slightly puzzled.
- "Yes ! Or whatever you two wanna do ! Hiking, eating ice-cream, having sex, I don't care ! But… please. Think of yourself a bit. At least, think of your dad. He'd be crushed if something happened to you."
Seok-Ju rose, frowning hard.
- "Nothing will happen to my dad. I am okay," he gritted. "Can you please leave my practice ? You're from a different firm, you put me in a difficult position towards my clients."
There was an awkward silence, then Intern Lee showed her head at the door and knocked.
- "Anyone for coffee ?"
She looked consecutively at both men, surprised.
- "Are you two having a love quarrel ?" asked the prosecutor, stepping in next to her.
Seok-Ju shook his head and sat back down. He immersed himself again in the file, ignoring them.
Park Sang Tae's back straightened. He looked at his best friend for a moment, then sighed and turned to the ladies.
- "I'll be on my way" he said with one of his usual happy smiles, before grabbing his coat and attaché-case. He stopped at the door again, gave a last glance to the lawyer, then left.
The women exchanged a puzzled look.
- "Something happened ?" asked tentatively Intern Lee.
Seok-Ju just gestured for them to leave the room.
The prosecutor went back to her laptop without insisting. She left when the client came in, leaving Intern Lee handle the grumpy lawyer.
Actually, it wasn't an ordeal at all.
After the interview, Seok-Ju was back to work-and-give-it-all mood and the girl had no time to ponder on the silent fight of the two men. She liked the craziness of her day, the feeling of being overbooked with tons of important requests – orders – from her boss and his quiet – absent-minded – thanks.
But more than anything, she liked the moment when he said :
- "That's all for the day. Well done, Intern Lee. You may go home."
As much as she wanted to run away from the workload sometimes, she always felt she didn't want to leave when she heard the words.
- "Isn't there anything else I could do to help, sir ? Aren't you going home too ?"
He smiled.
- "I'll shut the door behind you. I just want to finish reading this."
Sometimes – often – he would be there when she came back in the morning.
She opened her mouth then paused.
Nibbled her lips.
He had been back to the file but lift up his eyes, puzzled at her standing there in silence.
- "Is there anything ?"
She shook her head.
- "No-o. I… well… I… no. Nope, nothing. Good night, sir."
He smiled again after she left.
She was cute. Courageous, loyal, devoted, hard-working and cute.
He had never regretted the fact she had joined his practice. He just felt sorry her choice prevented her from the benefit of the huge reputation of CHA Firm and their connections.
He yawned, massaged his tired eyes and decided he would definitely be done with the day after this last document.
He was hungry and he missed his dad and Khan, his dog. Both of them were probably waiting for his return. He looked for his phone, hidden under a pile of files and sent a text.
- On my way. Do you need anything ? Your son who loves you. -
The reply came quickly.
- Soya Sauce. Don't say "on my way" when you're still in the office. Kang Shin Il. –
He chuckled.
He still couldn't remember how things had been before his accident. He had had flashes of arguments, but apart from the only memory of his childhood, when he was sitting under the porch, playing with sand, nothing had come back.
And he was glad things were like this.
He wanted nothing from what he had heard of himself, of their relationship, of the past. The old Seok-Ju was scary, cold and desperate enough to hurt anyone coming too close.
He wasn't like this.
The new Seok-Ju loved people. He enjoyed laughing and fishing and spending time with people. He had been so grateful when he had learned he had a father and the painful road to reconcile with the old man he couldn't remember hurting had been hard enough. Now they worked together, they ate together and they talked and looked at each other and – well, his father would never say it aloud – they loved each other. He had moved back to the family house after the second big case.
Alzheimer's disease was coming closer each day, not making anything easier, but at least he was allowed to take care of his father. And, somehow, he was grateful for his amnesia : this was the one ordeal they completely shared.
Like a needle, the pain pierced his skull in between his eyes, again.
He gasped for air, pressing his fist against his forehead, bending over.
For a minute, in the dark office only lighted by his desk lamp, he could only hear the loud throbbing in his temples and his muffled moaning.
Some pages of the file fell on the floor.
His keys rang against the desk lamp's foot.
Then it was over.
He tried to steady his breathing, exhausted. Let go of a half-amused cry : yes, he would schedule an appointment with the doctor. Park Sang Tae would be thrilled.
He looked for his coat, put it on, collected the files he wanted to take home and put them in the attaché-case, then stood up slowly, conscious of his slightly wobbly legs.
Okay. He had to admit he was tired. He'd rest a bit – take off tomorrow afternoon, for example.
Something wet touched his lip.
His hand went to wipe it, but a another drop fell on the new file on his desk.
Bright, round and red.
Blood.
His nose was bleeding.
TBC