“Nothing can be done.”
Zeno raised a brow. “Are you sure you’re a lawyer?”
“Yes!” Doha exclaimed from the side, sitting next to Duckhwan, Duck for short. He was one of the gym boys that he acted with, and he was supposedly a lawyer.
Duck pursed his lips. “Look there,” he said, pointing to a sign on the wall. “I offer legal counseling to whoever wants it. My diploma is even under it.”
Zeno narrowed his eyes before turning back to Duck. “You studied in Seoul University?”
Duck nodded proudly. “With a full scholarship.”
Zeno couldn’t believe it. Seoul University had one of the most strictest acceptance rates in their country.
“What are you doing here then?” Zeno couldn’t help but ask.
“Oh, being a lawyer is not that fun, so I turned back to my dream as a gym lad,” he smiled innocently.
Zeno pursed his lips. Well, it seemed he was smart enough. If only Zeno had lived as a lawyer in one of his missions, but he didn’t — not even once. So, he had to seek help from Duck.
“Anyway,” Duck continued, crossing his arms. “There is no loophole. It says in all the official papers that Bobby is the main debtor, but it was J-Slick who paid for all of it. There is also proof of J-Slick’s payments. So, the simplest way to put it is that Bobby is indebted to J-Slick.”
“He also has a very famous lawyer,” Duck muttered. “We were classmates in college, and I heard his fee is pretty high. This J-Slick guy has a lot of money.”
Zeno bit his lip. He knew J-Slick wasn’t alone in this. Someone more powerful must have put him up with it.
“Continuing on,” Duck continued. “We have here another legal document that says J-Slick had an agreement with Bobby that he would pay it, and it has Bobby’s signature.”
Zeno’s frown deepened.
“If ever he does retract the case, there needs to be a settlement. Bobby needs to pay the debt of…”
He squinted his eyes to get a better look. “DAMN!” he exclaimed. “566,860,000 KRW?”
“That’s… a lot. Oh, that’s without interest,” he chuckled. “It’s actually 708,602,500 KRW.”
“Two kidneys can’t even pay for that price,” Doha muttered.
“Since Bobby does not have that amount of money, all assets are probably going to be liquidated. Or, J-Slick might ask for another settlement such as overtaking all of his assets like Dreamy Entertainment.”
“Bobby is fucking stupid,” Zeno muttered to himself. Did he go signing documents without reading them?
“This is upsetting,” Doha said, slumping on the inclined bench. “J-Slick is the worst! He’s known for creating a lot of noise for his artists, but most of them aren’t good.”
“Come to think of it — Rex was only famous for doing thirst traps and hip thrusts to the camera —which only deranged people watch.”
“Don’t lie,” Jim muttered. “If Zeno did those things, you would like it.”
Doha paused and nodded to himself.
“Anyway,” Doha continued with a chuckle. “I don’t want Zeno to be under ConDom. I mean, Bobby and Moby aren’t the best, but they give him freedom. Zeno, you don’t want to be caged, right?”
Zeno nodded.
“And J-Slick is also known to be a gambling addict.”
Zeno frowned and turned to him, tilting his head. “How do you know that?”
Doha bit his lip. “It was told to me by Minji. You know how she knows a lot about these things. J-Slick is apparently the human equivalent of trash. He gambles his earnings. He must be pretty unlucky these days if he’s just opening this case again.”
“Ah, so that’s what it is,” Zeno muttered, his mind going back to one of the papers in the case he had ripped.
He grabbed the folder from Duck’s hand and went to the very back, where a settlement notice from a gambling den was. A small smirk appeared on his lips.
J-Slick just made a very big mistake.
“Is everything alright now? Do you want me to notarize anything?” Duck asked with a wide smile.
“I’ll call you soon,” Zeno said, putting on his jacket.
He was about to leave but halted. He then turned around and bowed at Duck. “Thanks for your help,” he said.
Duck softened, smiling wider. “Zeno’s such a good guy.”
***
“Daddy, please!”
“Sweetheart, as much as I love you, I cannot do that favor,” an old man dressed in very fancy pajamas said as he continued scrolling through his tablet.
“Why?” Mirae whined. “Why can’t I marry Zeno Han?”
The old man sighed. “Because he does not want to marry you.” He massaged the bridge of his nose. His daughter’s voice was making his head ache. Now, he understood his employees’ sentiments.
“You don’t know about that!” Mirae exclaimed. “He asked for my number.”
“I heard from the staff that you gave him your number,” he deadpanned.
Mirae pursed her lips. “Money makes the world go round. You have so much of it, daddy! You can offer Zeno Han a big price so he can marry me.”
He sighed and brought down his tablet. “You’re just 21! You haven’t even finished college yet.”
She narrowed her eyes. “So, when I graduate, I can marry him?”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” he exclaimed. “You can’t marry someone out of their own will.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s immoral,” he said. “It’s final, my daughter. You can ask me for any other favor except for this one. What do you want, huh? A new bag?”
“No!” Mirae exclaimed and lay on the floor like a child throwing a tantrum.
“Calm down, little one,” he sighed with a frown, picking up his tablet again. Mirae noticed this and puffed her cheeks.
“Why are you even so busy?”
He scratched the back of his head. “There’s some inconsistencies with the audit report for this quarter,” he muttered. “At least a billion won isn’t making sense.”
Mirae clicked her tongue. “What’s a billion won to you, even? It’s fine. Just think of it as charity.”
“Mirae,” he said in a warning tone, causing the younger one to pout.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered. “You’re right. Money shouldn’t be taken lightly.”
The old man nodded in satisfaction. He tried his best to raise a humble daughter, but it was difficult with all the money they had. Mirae was definitely spoiled, but deep inside, he knew his daughter was a good person.
Mirae was about to leave when her phone went off. Her ringtone was a clip of Zeno singing during ‘Sing or Sync.’ She wished he came out with a new song because she didn’t want Phillip Hwang’s voice to mix with Zeno’s.
She frowned when she saw that it was an unknown number. She clicked her tongue. It must be a stalker again.
She answered the call. “Hey, you imbecile.”
The line was silent for a few seconds before someone finally spoke, causing Mirae to freeze and regret everything she had just said.
“Miss Mirae? Good evening.”
“This is Zeno Han speaking.”