I Became a Law School Genius

Chapter 21

『 Translator – Divinity 』

The law school cafeteria was quite deserted on Saturday morning.

It wasn’t just deserted; it was practically devoid of even a single ant.

Even Hankuk University law students took a break on the weekends, and unless they were crazy, they wouldn’t come to school on their day off.

“You’re eating well, student.”

Of course, I was crazy.

“I really like the gratin here.”

Crazy about gratin.

I diligently scooped up the food and replied to the cafeteria lady.

She usually just quietly served the food, but perhaps due to today’s rare quietness, she struck up a conversation.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. Would you like another serving?”

“Oh, is that okay?”

“Of course. Not many students are using the cafeteria today, and if the ingredients are left over, we have to throw them all away. I can’t serve stale food to the students.”

“I’m grateful.”

Indeed, it seemed that the secret to this deliciousness was a combination of fresh ingredients and a heart that cared for the students.

As I brought another serving and started eating, the cafeteria lady suddenly sighed deeply.

“Ah, I wish my son would eat well and be as bright as you, student.”

“You have a son?”

“I wish I didn’t. He’s so naive that he makes all sorts of mistakes. This time, he couldn’t even manage his lease properly and is about to lose his deposit.”

“What do you mean?”

Then the cafeteria lady began her lament.

Her son was an instructor at a fairly famous private academy. It was an academy that existed in reality.

Even I, in my past life, had studied with materials from that academy, which I received from a friend when I was preparing for the college entrance exam.

Since his workplace was quite far from his family home, he started living alone two years ago, and because he was sensitive to the cold, he excessively heated his apartment day and night.

This caused a small crack to appear in the wall.

He was flustered and looked into repair work, but the company told him that due to the building’s special circumstances, it would be difficult to fix it with simple repairs.

They said the entire wall would have to be torn down and reconstructed.

“They said it would cost 8.5 million won to do that.”

That’s where the problem arose.

His lease was ending, and he had to get his deposit back and move out, but the landlord refused to return the deposit, saying that he would deduct the entire 8.5 million won from it.

“Does that even make sense? To take millions of won from the deposit just because there’s a tiny crack in the wall?”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“We’re not that well-off. If we were to consult a lawyer, the legal fees would be the same as the deposit… And even if we did, there’s no guarantee that we’d get the deposit back.”

“You can get it back.”

“Huh?”

I continued scooping up my food nonchalantly and added,

“If it’s impossible to repair, the decrease in exchange value is considered ordinary damages. The value of the apartment wouldn’t have decreased by 8.5 million won just because of a small crack in the wall. You can rightfully get back the remaining deposit after deducting the decreased amount.”

“I-is that so?”

“The problem is whether your son has time for legal procedures since he has to move out soon… For this, you can go to the court and get a registration order for lease rights.”

Finishing my meal, I got up from my seat.

“If the registration of lease rights is marked, it’s like advertising to the whole neighborhood that ‘this apartment is in a dispute over the deposit’. It makes it difficult to find new tenants or dispose of the building. In the end, the landlord will be the first to give up and return the deposit.”

“Th-thank you, student! How can I ever repay this kindness…”

“Oh, it’s no big deal.”

If I were already a lawyer, I would have charged for the consultation, but it wouldn’t look good for a mere examinee to put a price on advice.

A free bowl of gratin was enough compensation.

Besides, it was beneficial for me to review by applying the knowledge I had studied in a real-life situation.

Memories reinforced like this are rarely forgotten.

Even in my past life, when I was preparing for the bar exam, I used to practice by finding legal issues in various incidents reported in the news.

You can trust this, it’s a tip from someone who passed the second round of the bar exam.

“I just can’t ignore this. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“If you insist, ah, how about this?”

I suddenly thought of something and asked the cafeteria lady for a favor, and she readily agreed.

“I think you’ll become a good legal professional, student.”

Those were the parting words of the cafeteria lady, who repeatedly thanked me as I was leaving.

“A good legal professional, huh.”

It had a nice ring to it.

Let’s not forget this feeling.

“Now, I’ve had my meal.”

I opened my smartphone and checked the tasks at hand.

First, the midterm exams were just a few weeks away.

The exam range itself was considerable, but I had already finished reviewing the basic textbooks.

Now, I just needed to analyze past midterms and the professor’s lecture materials to grasp the trends in the questions.

‘I also need to find a solution for the Legal Clinic case.’

The nursing home fall case from the last Legal Clinic session had now become entirely my responsibility.

Professor Choi Sung-chul, in his attempt to trap me, had instead given me the opportunity to accumulate achievements faster than anyone else.

Indeed, the client, Mr. Oh Gi-tae, had succeeded in contacting the caregiver in question.

With a little pressing, the caregiver had confessed with tears that he had tampered with the walker.

‘The problem is, that caregiver has no money.’

He was someone who had gotten himself into a mountain of debt after investing borrowed money in cryptocurrency.

Now, his bank account was seized, and as soon as his salary came in, it was all leaking out to repay his debts.

It was impossible to get any compensation from him.

Of course, there were still ways.

We could hold the nursing home liable under employer liability.

• Article 756 (Employer’s Liability for Compensation) (1) A person who employs another person for a certain task shall be liable for damages caused to a third party by the employee in connection with the performance of such task.

It was similar to the tort liability of a corporation we dealt with before.

It’s the logic that since your employee did something bad to me, you are responsible for compensating me.

But the nursing home was stubbornly denying any responsibility.

They claimed that it was just a deviation from the caregiver’s individual duties, and that they had provided sufficient education, management, and supervision, so they had no responsibility.

—If you really want us to compensate you, don’t bother us like this and just file a lawsuit. We can settle this in court, can’t we?

If it went to a lawsuit, we would ultimately win.

Even in the original story, where crucial evidence had disappeared, they won in the end.

But a legal battle was the worst option.

For ordinary people who don’t have a lot of time or money, legal disputes are more burdensome than they can imagine.

They have to go back and forth to court on the appointed dates, and prepare and submit dozens, even hundreds of pages of documents on time.

Even if it could be settled quickly, most cases took anywhere from a few months to several years.

Mr. Oh Gi-tae was a security guard who had to work three shifts, and his father was an elderly man who still needed to recover.

It was unreasonable for them to drag on a tedious legal battle against an institution.

‘It would be good to have a card to pressure the nursing home into a settlement.’

A card like the registration order for lease rights that I had advised the cafeteria lady’s son about a while ago.

Unfortunately, nothing immediately came to mind.

‘Let’s put this case on hold for now.’

There was a more urgent matter at hand.

I swiped the screen and opened my message inbox. The latest message at the top.

My breath caught in my throat as soon as I saw it.

[Come to the main house, I have something to tell you. I’ll send Driver Choi.]

It was a message from Park Yoo-seung’s father.

—Brother-in-law will call for you soon.

Had Kang Chang-soo said that at the entrance ceremony? It seemed that “soon” was today.

“Father…”

In the original story, Park Yoo-seung’s father, Park Geon, is depicted as a successful entrepreneur.

He started with a small soap factory and grew his business into a massive conglomerate with subsidiaries in various fields. He even married the daughter of a prestigious legal family, securing powerful connections.

In this world, it was safe to say that there was no one who didn’t know Park Geon and the ‘Yooseong Group’ he built.

As a man who didn’t know failure, he had high expectations for his children.

Park Yoo-seung, unable to meet those expectations, had been looked down upon by his father since childhood. And the more that happened, the more twisted and rebellious he became… that’s how I remember the story.

For an extra who only appeared briefly in the beginning, his background setting seemed quite solid.

There was a simple reason for that.

Long after Park Yoo-seung exited the story, the entire Park Geon family reappeared in the latter part of the story, entangled with Congressman Jeong, the main villain, and facing ruin.

“What does he want to talk about?”

There was no way to know in the original story because Park Yoo-seung caused trouble and was kicked out around this time.

I didn’t particularly want to know either. Couldn’t they just leave me alone to quietly study?

“…But I guess I have to go.”

Although we were practically strangers, my tuition and living expenses were all coming from the money Park Geon gave me.

It would be troublesome if I got on his bad side and the support was cut off.

Considering Park Yoo-seung’s past behavior, it wouldn’t be strange if the reason he was being called this time was to tell him to get lost with the money because he didn’t want to see him anymore.

That wouldn’t do.

I thought it would be a good idea to raise Park Yoo-seung’s value, which must be hitting rock bottom, while I was at it.

Operation: Our Delinquent Has Changed.

Let’s start with this ‘Driver Choi’ person. To defeat a general, you have to start by capturing the soldiers.

***

People can’t be changed.

Humans are like delicately crafted pottery; you can break them, but you can’t fix them.

That’s what the elder I served for a long time used to say.

Driver Choi clearly remembered how the elder’s deep gaze would always be directed at the foolish second young master whenever he said that.

“Sigh…”

That’s why he was sighing.

Right now, Driver Choi was on his way to pick up that second young master.

“He was such a warm person when he was younger.”

Driver Choi had been working under the elder since the days when he ran a small soap factory.

When Driver Choi injured his leg in a minor accident at the factory, the elder kindly took him in and hired him as a driver.

Now, Driver Choi was more than just a driver; he was a trusted confidante who handled all sorts of miscellaneous tasks.

Naturally, he had also witnessed the two young masters growing up right by their side.

The young master who used to share his ice cream with him, saying he must be working hard in the heat, had become a delinquent, indulging in alcohol and entertainment, and resorting to verbal abuse.

Driver Choi felt his foot on the accelerator becoming unusually heavy.

Still, he couldn’t let go of the hope that the second young master would change his ways, thinking, “He’s a good person at heart, he’s the elder’s son.”

But that was slowly reaching its limit.

‘Can people really not be changed?’

He had been feeling skeptical lately. Of course, that didn’t mean he could refuse work.

Driver Choi had a daughter who was about to take the college entrance exam, and when he thought of his child studying day and night, he had to endure all kinds of humiliation.

Right after arriving at the apartment where the second young master lived,

What kind of harsh words will I hear today? Driver Choi wondered as he closed his eyes tightly and opened the car door.

“Thank you for your hard work, Driver Choi. Here you go.”

“?”

“I heard your daughter is taking the CSAT this year. Studying must be hard, please give her these snacks and tell her to do her best.”

Suddenly, a stream of tears flowed from Driver Choi’s hardened eyes.