CH 87

Sehun finally stood up and approached the couch. He sat on the armrest and took the envelope that Mihee handed to him. He skimmed over the contents of the file, expressionlessly. However, he said in a somewhat subdued tone, “She wants an agent to sign off on purchases of overseas artwork.”

“It’s what she does as the art gallery director—manage works of art.”

“Are you sure these are regular purchases? There’s nobody in the industry who doesn’t know that Soohan uses artwork for tax evasion. To my knowledge, there’s a whole unit dedicated to that in their headquarters.”

“Who knows? I guess you’ll find out if you talk to her since there’s a lot that can’t be put to writing. She asked me to arrange a meeting with you. She has probably wanted to meet you.”

This confirmed all of Sehun’s presumptions. He didn’t understand why Ikyung Do would ask Doguk to act for her when there were people who specialized in this kind of work, making them more efficient and reliable.

“Isn’t it weird? Why would she want me to do this?”

“Maybe she wants to ask you to take care of her brother. She specifically asked for you, and her compensation offer is massive. I have never seen that number offered to an individual lawyer before. There’s separate compensation upon success as well.”

Sehun glanced at Yoonshin’s empty room and frowned. Mihee followed Sehun’s eyes and observed the office on the other side before turning back to the man. Sehun was skimming through the file as if he had done nothing.

Perhaps he was trying to read beyond the letters printed on the surface of the paper. He concentrated until his brows furrowed deeply. Sehun then tossed the slightly crumpled envelope and its contents on the coffee table. The papers flew out and landed perfectly in front of Mihee.

“I won’t take it,” Sehun declared.

“The Do siblings are very close. Since Professor Do was quite busy, his sister practically raised him.”

“He has long grown up, yet she’s practically trying to bribe me at a parent-teacher conference. Wasn’t it enough to stick him here? I only accepted him to settle my debt to you. To begin with, I’m not fit for babysitting, but if she’s asking me to take responsibility for the child, I have no choice but to cut the deal. If you don’t want to lose her business, give it to another partner, or give it to Fourth-year.”

“Director Do said to give it to you, specifically.”

“I’m not Soohan’s pet dog. If the deal doesn’t meet my standards, I would even send away Yoonshin Do’s grandfather. Turn this one away.”

Seeming that there was no way of convincing Sehun, Mihee stared into Sehun’s eyes then asked, “Should I really turn it away? You’re not even going to think about it?”

“Thinking is for people who have time to do that. If she truly wants to repay me, give me a big one instead of something trivial like this. We recently hired a tax accountant who was formerly the director of the National Tax Service, so maybe a tax case. Or international trade deals—our performance is quite good these days. My favorite, M&As, and international investments sound good. Anything like that where I get paid for doing real work, I’ll consider. Next.”

Mihee hid her disappointment—she knew that she would only make matters worse the more she pushed. To begin with, she expected this from Sehun. He already had plenty of money. He probably figured that he would be given a bigger and unknown burden if he bit this seemingly charitable bait.

“You’ll have to do this one. This was the construction company matter that you’ve been interested in since last year.”

This time, Mihee tossed the yellow envelope in her right hand and crossed her legs. Sehun read through the files carefully, and Mihee watched him, looking amused. Sehun always read texts very seriously. After a few minutes, she presumed that it was enough time for him to know the contents of the files and asked, “Does this stimulate your interest?”