In the office of the Senior Presiding Judge at the Southern Chungcheong District Court.
Click. After hanging up the phone, Senior Presiding Judge Im Jeongsik's face was twisted beyond measure.
"Death penalty for a thief? Lee Hanyeong, where is that crazy bastard! Tell him to get up here right now!"
Im Jeongsik's furious voice echoed through the room.
The newspaper thrown by Senior Presiding Judge Im Jeongsik struck Lee Hanyeong's body and fell to the floor.
"What the hell are you doing! If you want to quit, then quit! There are plenty of people even without you!"
"I'm sorry."
"Death penalty? Did the defense attorney look down on you because it was your first solo trial? Did the prosecutor look down on you? Or did the defendant curse you out or something?"
"No."
"Then why did you run the trial like that! Is that how I taught you!"
"I'm sorry."
When appointed as a judge, one starts as an associate judge in a panel and receives an apprenticeship-style education.
Senior Presiding Judge Im Jeongsik had been the presiding judge when Lee Hanyeong served as an associate judge.
So it was only natural that Im Jeongsik's face turned red and blue when the Lee Hanyeong he had taught pulled off such a moronic stunt in his very first solo trial.
"You lunatic bastard. Go back to being an associate judge. Until I say otherwise, don't take any cases—just reflect on yourself!"
"Yes, sir."
Everything was tangled from the start.
He had returned to the past and completely wrecked his first solo trial.
They said a man with rotten luck would break his nose even falling backward—this was exactly that.
Lee Hanyeong shook his head.
"Damn it."
After leaving the senior presiding judge's office, Lee Hanyeong stood in front of his own office.
The situation was bad, but standing in front of an office he had come and gone from after turning back time inevitably stirred a sense of nostalgia.
For a moment, Lee Hanyeong gazed at the office door with longing eyes.
"Fifteen years? Twenty?"
He briefly traced back old memories.
It had been exhausting due to the workload, but it was a place full of good memories.
"I'm back."
Lee Hanyeong grasped the doorknob and slowly opened the door.
Through the opening gap, he saw a man sitting inside the office.
If Lee Hanyeong had a somewhat tough-looking appearance, this man was a handsome figure that looked as if he had been painted with a brush.
His name was Kim Yunhyeok.
The same age as Lee Hanyeong, a fellow Judicial Research and Training Institute classmate. The son of a bitch who had offered him a cyanide pill as a side dish.
Lee Hanyeong's brow twisted instantly.
But only for a moment.
"The past. The past. Not yet."
As Lee Hanyeong carefully controlled his expression and hid his emotions, Kim Yunhyeok spoke with a sympathetic look.
"Judge Lee Hanyeong, are you okay? The senior presiding judge seemed really angry."
Seeing the guy who had handed him cyanide pretending to worry was nothing but absurd.
Still, Lee Hanyeong forced a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
He had thought of this office as a place full of good memories, but the moment he saw Kim Yunhyeok's face, that thought was immediately canceled.
"That's one more reason to fix the Kim Sang-jin case."
If the same future repeated itself, Kim Sang-jin would be caught eight years later.
And that trial would be handled by Kim Yunhyeok.
Kim Yunhyeok's ruling in the Kim Sang-jin case would become widely known as a landmark judgment.
It was the decisive reason Kim Yunhyeok, who had been far from the fast track to success, suddenly grabbed onto it.
At the time, Lee Hanyeong had been contrasted as the foolish judge who was deceived by a murderer's tears.
Kim Yunhyeok spoke again.
"The senior presiding judge has a short fuse. But he really cherishes you, so things will calm down after a while."
"Hey, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop trying to comfort me."
Listening to Kim Yunhyeok made Lee Hanyeong feel a powerful urge to punch him in the face right then and there and stomp on him while he was down.
"Ah, sorry."
Kim Yunhyeok flashed an awkward smile.
A kind smile, gentle behavior toward everyone, ingrained manners.
People felt fondness toward Kim Yunhyeok because of that, but Lee Hanyeong knew it was all a façade.
In fact, just thinking about what Kim Yunhyeok would do in the future made his skin crawl.
A sociopath who would do anything for success.
That was Kim Yunhyeok.
He could never show his true feelings to Kim Yunhyeok.
"I know what kind of bastard you are. I want to drag you down right now."
But he had to endure it.
Kim Yunhyeok's sins had not yet ripened.
Lee Hanyeong unclenched his fist and sat down at his desk.
As he took his seat, Kim Yunhyeok began flipping through documents.
In the quiet space, only the faint sound of papers turning could be heard.
Listening to that sound, Lee Hanyeong leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—Senior Presiding Judge Im Jeongsik had told him not to handle any work, giving him some time to adjust and to deal with the Kim Sang-jin case.
Lee Hanyeong did absolutely nothing.
He just sat there with his eyes closed.
Kim Yunhyeok stood up and spoke to him.
"Time to go home."
"You go ahead."
"You're not leaving? The senior presiding judge told you not to worry about it."
With his eyes still closed, Lee Hanyeong nodded.
"I didn't do anything today, so I feel bad taking a salary. I should at least fill the seat."
Kim Yunhyeok looked at Lee Hanyeong for a moment, then left the office.
Click. When the sound of the door closing echoed, Lee Hanyeong opened his eyes.
All day long, he retraced the past and predicted what would happen in the future.
The people Lee Hanyeong would bring down were the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, twelve Supreme Court Justices, the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, the Chairperson of the National Election Commission, and the President, along with Chairman Jang Taesik.
In other words, the most powerful figures in the Republic of Korea.
Since they stood above the law, it would never be an easy fight.
To fight them, Lee Hanyeong himself would have to grow stronger.
Staring at the closed door, Lee Hanyeong spoke in a low voice.
"I can't tell you what I'm going to do, can I?"
First, he had to untangle the mess that had gone wrong from the very start.
That was the Kim Sang-jin case.
Thinking back, Kim Sang-jin had been caught for theft, but in reality, he had trespassed to commit murder.
And just two days before this incident, he had already killed someone.
The next day, Lee Hanyeong stood in front of a three-story multiplex house.
In the semi-basement of this building lived the murderer Kim Sang-jin.
Lee Hanyeong walked toward the entrance and looked down at Kim Sang-jin's home with cold eyes.
"Sorry, Kim Yunhyeok. I'm cutting off your road to success."
If Kim Sang-jin was caught this time, the two future victims would not die. The child who had just turned nine would not die either.
Lee Hanyeong slowly moved his steps toward the basement.
At that moment—
"Judge Lee Hanyeong?"
The court staff cafeteria.
In front of Senior Presiding Judge Im Jeongsik sat a presiding judge.
The presiding judge spoke.
"It seems Lee Hanyeong has been under a lot of stress lately. It was his first solo trial, so the pressure must have been intense."
Senior Presiding Judge Im Jeongsik shook his head.
"I'm eating here. Are you trying to ruin my appetite?"
"Senior Presiding Judge, everyone makes mistakes."
"Judges can't afford to make mistakes. One ruling determines the lives of many people."
Im Jeongsik's voice was firm.
But the presiding judge didn't back down.
"It's right to scold him for what he did wrong, but you shouldn't clip his wings. How about hearing him out, guiding him properly, and then letting him return to work? Judging by the fact that he didn't show up at the cafeteria, he seems to be reflecting without even eating lunch."
Im Jeongsik looked at the presiding judge with a baffled expression.
"What's with you? Did Lee Hanyeong buy you a meal or something?"
"Our court is short on judges. If he drops out, the others will be crushed. Please just close your eyes and let it slide this once. Since he messed up his first ruling like that, he'll be cautious from now on."
Im Jeongsik sighed and nodded reluctantly.
He was the one who had personally taught Lee Hanyeong.
He was angry about the mistake, but his affection ran deeper.
Seeing Im Jeongsik's expression, the presiding judge smiled slightly.
"Just this once, please."
"Fine."
The two finished their meal and stood up.
They took the elevator to the office shared by Lee Hanyeong and Kim Yunhyeok.
Im Jeongsik flung the door open.
Kim Yunhyeok, who had been flipping through documents, jumped up in surprise when he saw Im Jeongsik.
"O-oh, you're here?"
The eyes of Im Jeongsik and the presiding judge went past Kim Yunhyeok and toward Lee Hanyeong's empty seat.
Im Jeongsik asked Kim Yunhyeok,
"Where is Judge Lee Hanyeong?"
"Well, um, that is…"
At Kim Yunhyeok's stammering, Im Jeongsik's brow twisted like a demon's.
"Where is he!"
"He's probably eating."
"I'm coming straight from the cafeteria."
Kim Yunhyeok lowered his head, unable to say anything.
Im Jeongsik raised his wrist to check the time.
Lunch hour had already passed by far.
Im Jeongsik looked at the presiding judge.
"Find out."
The presiding judge cautiously checked Im Jeongsik's mood.
Im Jeongsik was temperamental.
He could decide to forgive someone, but if his patience snapped, he could drain someone dry.
If Lee Hanyeong caused trouble again now, he could be ordered to undergo long-term disciplinary leave.
That meant the remaining judges would have to take over Lee Hanyeong's cases.
Judges handled roughly four thousand cases a year.
They couldn't afford to burden them further because of Lee Hanyeong's issue.
The presiding judge quickly took out his phone and dialed Lee Hanyeong's number.
At the same time, bzzzz— the sound of a vibrating phone came from the drawer of Lee Hanyeong's desk.
When Im Jeongsik walked over and opened the drawer, Lee Hanyeong's phone was inside.
"That bastard left his phone behind."
At that moment.
"Judge Lee Hanyeong?"
As Lee Hanyeong was heading down toward Kim Sang-jin's home, he turned his head and looked back.
It was Prosecutor Park Cheol-woo, the prosecutor in charge of the Kim Sang-jin case.
Park Cheol-woo walked up to Lee Hanyeong and spoke with a baffled expression.
"Your Honor, what brings you here?"
"Let's call it a site inspection."
Judges also conducted site inspections.
Since the words of prosecutors or lawyers were often biased, there were many cases where judges directly examined the scene before making a decision.
Still, Park Cheol-woo's eyes were filled with disbelief.
"This is Kim Sang-jin's home. The scene isn't here—it's a private residence near the terminal."
Lee Hanyeong shrugged.
"That aside, what brings you here, Prosecutor?"
Park Cheol-woo frowned.
"Who was it that went on about insufficient evidence? I mean, raised hell about it? It didn't seem like much of a case to send police or investigators for, so I came myself. I wanted to see with my own eyes and say there was nothing here."
"Did you get a search warrant?"
"Who's going to issue a home search warrant for a petty thief case? I just came. What about you, Your Honor? Did you bring a warrant? If you did, give it to me—I'll carry it."
"I'm under disciplinary leave, so…"
At Lee Hanyeong's words, Park Cheol-woo beat his chest in frustration.
"Judge Lee Hanyeong, you said this was your first solo case, right? Let's take it easy. There are plenty of other important cases."
Regardless of what Park Cheol-woo said, Lee Hanyeong walked down the stairs and tried turning the doorknob.
As expected, it was locked.
Lee Hanyeong walked back up the stairs.
Then he began circling the building.
Park Cheol-woo followed behind him.
"Your Honor, if we just let this slide, the defense said they won't make an issue out of it. I saw the paper—what was the headline again? It even ran an article calling you the judge who sentenced a thief to death. Let's stop here."
"If we stop here, both you and I are screwed."
Park Cheol-woo shook his head.
"Why would I be screwed? I think you don't quite get it, Your Honor. If word gets out that we conducted a home search on an attempted thief, that's even more screwed."
Lee Hanyeong didn't listen.
Kim Sang-jin was the kind of bastard who dismembered people and stored them in his home.
He had committed murder two days ago, so there was definitely a corpse inside even now.
And then Lee Hanyeong's steps came to a halt.
A small window near knee level.
Through this window, one could enter Kim Sang-jin's home.