Translator: Miri

「Isn’t that a lunatic?」

"Would he have proposed to me if he was in his right mind?"

Lain had returned to his apartment and talked with his close friend Elly on the phone while opening a can of beer.

Because his cell phone’s screen was shattered, he was using his home phone for the call and when Lain let out a long sigh, Elly burst into laughter.

「Seems like he was really interested in you. Looking at how he directly ran to Sam after getting rejected. Hey, but what about you?」

Somehow losing his temper at her reaction that seemed like she found this whole situation so funny she could die, Lain took a sip of his beer and curtly replied.

"What?"

「If it gets out that you had this kind of relations.h.i.+p with a client, it’ll be hard for you to get a job at a different law firm. Do you know how many lawyers were forced out on the streets due to the recession these days? What are you gonna do?」

He had called her because he was exhausted and had been hoping for some consolation at least but instead he had to listen to her making an uproar about all these nasty things. Lain was not behaving in this way because he did not know all of this

"I’m very much aware of that, okay? I don’t need you to remind me because I know it the best. Got it?"

Lain quibbled about the fact that she just had to touch one of his sore spots and Elly quickly changed the subject.

「Didn’t Edward say anything else?」

"No clue. Because when I received the dismissal notice I got angry and left after throwing the ring at that b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s face."

Yesterday afternoon, when he found out the fact that the ring he clearly had returned the day before was in his pocket, he had not even had the time to get surprised before being notified of his dismissal. His anger had flared up and he had left after packing his stuff and hurling the ring at Edward’s face.

He should have taken the ring with him.

「You’re in the midst of regretting that you didn’t bring the ring with you right now, aren’t you?」

At Elly’s sharp observation, Lain tightly shut his mouth. Then she broke into laughter once more.

"You think this is fun? Both my credit card and insurance are going to be stopped right away next month!

If I can’t repay my loan, my credibility will drop to the floor and if I can’t pay my rent, I’ll get kicked out of my apartment as well! But you’re still laughing?"

「It’s not like it’s my business.」

Listening to her voice cutting him right off, Lain suddenly felt a splitting headache coming and placed his hand on his forehead. He had called her wanting to complain a bit to a friend and this was what he got in return.

What had he expected from the 'cold-hearted Elly' who possessed neither blood nor tears, the problem lied with him hoping for even the slightest possibility.

"……Let’s hang up. My anger is flaring up even more because of talking with you."

「Haha, don’t worry too much and think of it as a vacation in a long while. I’m sure it’ll work out somehow. After all, you’re the Lain of good fortune.」

"You know that something follows after that good luck? Even today, because I bet on horse racing, I actually hit a Jaguar.

My cell phone’s display screen was smashed, my iPod got shattered and my car’s b.u.mper turned into trash, so do you think I can possibly think right now that it’ll all work out somehow? My student loan still has 8 years left!"

「Judging from your car’s speed that rolls slower than a running tea cup, 1 the Jaguar should be pretty unscathed, no? And don’t you have insurance?」

"I didn’t apply for CDW." 2

「……then you brought that upon yourself. 3 I’ll lend you as much as the repair cost, so tell me if it’s really urgent.」

"It’s okay. I’ll have to keep trying somehow. Ah, I got a call. I’m hanging up."

「Alright.」

Ending the brief phone call with his friend, Lain’s gaze fell upon the pitiful cell phone that was only letting the ringtone play and he hurriedly pressed the call b.u.t.ton.

Somehow, however, even the call b.u.t.ton did not work properly and he had to push hard about three times for the ringtone to finally cease.

"h.e.l.lo?"

「Ah, is this Mr. Jang’ cell phone?」

"Yes, that’s right."

Thinking that the unfamiliar voice might belong to someone from the insurance company, he waited for a bit and a moment later the man’s low voice reached his ears.

「I’m the driver of the car you had an accident with this afternoon.」

It was that unlucky Jaguar. There was no news from the insurance company he was waiting for and instead the Jaguar had contacted him first.

Well, he would have to call after getting the estimate anyway but what he had suspected from his att.i.tude during the day had turned out to be right, just as expected.

"Ah, yes. Has the estimate come out?"

「Before that, there’s something you need to see for a moment.」

"What do you mean?"

「I’ll send some pictures to your cell phone, so take a look first.」

At those words, Lain hung his shoulders.

"My cell phone screen is broken."

Even if it was not broken, there was no way this ancient cell phone of his could display photos. He was still using a model that only showed the phone number in black and white.

Even when the iPhone craze broke out and everyone switched to a new generation of devices, he had insisted on this mobile. Originally he had possessed a PDA provided by the company for business use but that had been taken away from him after losing his job.

The reason being that lawyers were mostly merciless and cold-hearted when they got fired.

「Mmh, then could I see you for a moment? I have something to tell you.」

"What’s the matter?"

「Let’s talk when we meet. Ah, you know the Delmonico`s(Eng in raws) at William Street, right? How about 8 o’clock at that place?」

Lain heard the sound of his heart sinking due to those words. Delmonico’s, it was because he doubted he could afford the price of having dinner at that place.

Even if that guy offered to pay, he would still have to take care of as much as his own food expenses and no matter the situation, that was beyond his powers.

"Ah, I……. that’s a bit far. Because my car is broken right now."

「Then where would be good? Choose what’s comfortable for you.」

Listening to the man’s very polite and courteous way of speaking which was extremely unlike the way he had lashed out at him this afternoon, Lain let out a long sigh and mentioned the name of a restaurant he deemed to be okay, located in close proximity. The other person nodded his head in agreement. After setting up an appointment with him, Lain hung up the phone as he heaved a long sigh.

For a brief moment, the face of that hateful blonde man popped up right above the bills in his head. The man’s devil-like face and the grin showing off his good mood made Lain open his eyes and grit his teeth.

"Edward Clark, I’m going to kill you one day."

He was not sure how he could manage to screw the guy who was known as a s.h.i.+pping conglomerate and as the darling of Wall Street over 4 …… in any case, he would definitely pay him back one day.

He would have to trample that jerk’s foot at least, or, if that did not work, he would at least pour salt in his coffee. With these thoughts, Lain gnashed his teeth and got up from his seat.

He arrived first at the small restaurant, which was mostly frequented by families and therefore had no actual need for reservations, and took advantage of the free water 5 whilst keeping an eye on the door.

The Jaguar had clearly been unscathed at the time of the accident. Although the front part of his car got wrecked, the Jaguar had been unscathed to the degree where the driver did not even notice there had been an accident.

But being asked to meet up and talk all of sudden made Lain have an ominous premonition. The money he won from betting on horse racing added up to fifty thousand dollars.

That much could easily cover his younger sister’s university tuition, boarding expenses, as well as this semester’s living expenses and he could also use whatever remained to make ends meet for about three or four months.

As much as he knew his own life, what he was actually hoping for were merely his younger sister’s university tuition and boarding expenses.

He had been uneasy knowing that, after all, he would get into an accident costing him as much as he earned. But he still could not imagine what kind of accident would be worth fifty thousand dollars.

No, his notebook could explode. Regret that he did not take out his notebook’s battery before leaving poured in like water.

If it was not his notebook, it was his house. There might be an earthquake or there could be a sudden flood.

"Lain?"

While he was in the midst of worrying whether it would be the notebook or the house, a smooth voice resounded from above. He looked up at the sound and found the blonde man he evidently had seen a few hours ago standing in front of him.

"Ah, welcome."

When he hastily stood up and asked for a handshake, the other replied with a smile. The man in front of him seemed to be cheerful and in high spirits, very unlike this afternoon.

As he was looking at him and wondering if this was actually the same guy, the other sat down first and greeted Lain.

"Ah, I’m sorry about before. I had some stuff going on. I’m not like that under normal circ.u.mstances but my partner caused trouble and my nerves were very strained, causing me to become sensitive. I’m very sorry regarding my rudeness."

"It’s okay. It was my mistake."

Lain listened to the man’s courteous apology and nodded as if to say he could understand since the other had been in that kind of situation. The man ordered coffee from the approaching waiter and took out a silver pack of business cards from his suit pocket.

And then he handed him a bluish (or greenish) business card.

"My name is Alex Veaber."

"Ah, yes. I’m Lain Jang."

He accepted the business card for now and took a look at it, just like he had said, there was the name 'Alex Veaber', his email address and his cell phone number written on it.

The calligraphic style was using a seperately designed fancy font, the name was luxuriously gilt and his contact information and email address were imprinted in dark blue ink that resembled a mix of black and blue.

A person using this kind of card was usually not someone of status because those people liked to show off their affiliated company, occupation or position and would therefore never omit those spots on their business card.

Lain glanced at him with a suspicious expression and the other started a sudden interrogation with a grin on his face.

"j.a.panese? Ah, since your last name is Jang, are you Chinese?"

"I’m Korean."

"I saw that you work as a lawyer."

"Yes."

"And you specialize in divorce?"

"That’s right."

"What about your age?"

"I’m 26 years old, why do you ask?"

"Do you also know how to do Taekwondo?"

"……I did learn a little when I was young. Because we immigrated when I was 13."

"I see. What about your family?"

"I have my parents, one younger brother and one younger sister."

The conversation content was turning weirder and weider. Wondering why he was taking the census while sitting in front of him, Lain looked at him with a suspicious face and Alex broke into a grin.

Lain slightly knitted his brows at the awkward smile that seemed to be hiding his true intentions. This was due to him having experienced firsthand that whenever the other party smiled in that manner, something bad happened afterwards.

"Ah, don’t be nervous. I get suspicious of everything, it’s an occupational habit."

"Are you a private detective?"

At the question befitting a divorce lawyer, Alex wrinkled his eyes and smiled.

"A lawyer’s way of thinking is extraordinary, just as expected."

"Then?"

"I’m not a private detective. More importantly, I have something to show you."

With these words, the man rummaged through his pockets and took out his cell phone. It was the latest model of Samsung’s smartphones.

As he was staring at the device with widely opened eyes, the man lightly touched the screen and held it out in front of him.

TN:

1 – What even is this sentence…

2 – Oh how I love the recurring car insurance talk. But I still have no clue if this is right.

3 – How namu.wiki explains this idiom:

4 – (lit. make him eat (Korean hard) taffy)

5 – In Korea, restaurants mostly serve you water free of charge. Not sure if they do this in the US but it’s a Korean novel, so yeah. Please do enlighten me if you’re living in the US and know better than me