I Just Received It — Prologue. The Document Was Not Mine

All names of people and companies in this story are fictitious, and some settings have been altered.

The courtroom was quiet.

It was full of people, and yet there was no sound. Nearly every seat was taken; now and then came the turning of a page.

I sat in the defendant’s chair.

On my left, my lawyer was reading documents. He said nothing.

In the front row sat Seo Jin-woo. He leaned slightly forward, fingers laced. His face was the same as always. He looked strangely at ease.

Beside him, someone sat with his head lowered. He never met my eyes.

One seat apart, a man sat sunk deep into his chair, staring straight ahead with a hardened face.

And Jung Jin-dong. Chin slightly raised, eyes forward. The badge on the lawyer beside him caught my eye.

A major law firm.

Across the aisle, the Alkachem side was crowded. Lawyers, several of them. Their papers were arranged neatly, and so were their faces. Nothing out of place.

The judge entered; everyone rose, then sat.

The prosecutor stood up. It was the movement of a person who had prepared.

“Defendant.”

He looked precisely at me.

“In the course of changing jobs, did you make use of materials belonging to your former employer?”

I did not answer right away. I steadied my breath.

“…No.”

My own voice sounded unfamiliar.

The prosecutor nodded and drew out a single sheet of paper.

Tak.

The sound rang out, unusually loud.

“Customer volumes and unit prices from the defendant’s former employer.”

I did not raise my head. I already knew the document.

It was the mail Seo Jin-woo had sent. There was no message in the body. Only a single attachment. Prices, volumes, customer names. Nothing but numbers.

I did not make it. I never asked for it.

I just received it.

I opened it, read it, saved it. That was all.

And now, that document lay in front of me.

“Has the defendant never seen this document?”

I did not answer.

It was not a document I had made. But I knew where it had begun.

Slowly, I lifted my eyes.

Seo Jin-woo was looking at me. His expression did not change. He said nothing.

He had always been that kind of man.

I faced forward again.

“…I don’t know it.”

The moment the words fell, Jung Jin-dong turned his head toward the man beside him. The corner of his mouth rose — just slightly.

I saw it.

And pretended I had not.

What was on trial was not the lie.

It was the structure that had needed the lie.