"That didn’t happen!” Judge Jeong shouted in frustration as he hung up the phone. He didn’t know how the reporters had sniffed the information out, but they continued to ask whether he and Chairman Jang had ever been to a Japanese restaurant.

Judge Jeong naturally responded that they had met by chance, but went their separate ways as soon as they encountered each other without having a long conversation.

However, the reporters kept asking persistently. Many people wanted to tarnish Judge Jeong’s fair image. Judge Yang, his rival in the war of nerves over who would be appointed to the Supreme Court, was one such person.

Judge Jeong sighed as he tried to think of who the culprit might be, as this had happened at a critical time that could decide who would become a Supreme Court justice. In the end, he recognized that even if he kept thinking about it, it would be impossible to solve the mystery.

In order to protect his image and secure his promotion as a Supreme Court justice, he had to sentence Chairman Jang for at least a few months. Without the presence of Judge Yang, there would have been no need to do that, but it was starting to become difficult to hide that he was being backed by a great deal of capital.

However, he couldn't turn a blind eye, since he had already received the money. It wasn’t for Chairman Jang’s sake, but for his own. Who would give him bribes if they were sentenced to prison even after giving him money?

Judge Jeong agonized over his dilemma for some time before thinking of a solution. He called Chairman Jang.

Crackle, buzz, crackle.

The phone seemed a little staticky, but that could have been because it was old. Judge Jeong began to think, I should buy a new phone tomorrow. He maintained his image, no matter how trivial the detail, so there was no need for him to be carrying around a phone with...