Han Seojin came to the Equivalence Authority.
Interview room. Taekyung was already seated. Seojin opened the door and entered. She was wearing a navy suit today. She took a thick file from her briefcase and set it on the desk.
“I’m handling the dating-violence case.”
Taekyung nodded.
“I know.”
“Have you interviewed Lee Dohyun yet?”
“It’s scheduled for tomorrow.”
Seojin sat down and opened the file.
“There’s something I wanted to tell you before the interview. That’s why I came.”
Taekyung waited.
“Lee Dohyun attempted to harm himself. Last night. At the detention center.”
Taekyung’s hand stopped.
“How is he?”
“He cut his wrist, but it was shallow. The medical staff treated him immediately. His life isn’t in danger.”
Seojin took a photograph from the file. Lee Dohyun’s wrist. It was wrapped in a bandage.
“He’s falling apart too, Assessor.”
Taekyung looked at the photograph. His expression did not change.
“The offender’s mental state does not affect the harm assessment.”
“I know. Legally, it doesn’t. But what about as a human being?”
Taekyung looked at Seojin.
“Attorney Han. Kang Yujin fell apart every day for eight months. Lee Dohyun has been at the detention center for three weeks.”
The corners of Seojin’s mouth turned down.
“That’s not a comparison. That’s dismissal.”
“It’s a comparison. That’s my job.”
Seojin was silent for a moment. Then she turned a page in the file.
“Fine. Then let’s approach it legally. How are you going to calculate psychological harm on an equivalent basis?”
“It hasn’t been finalized yet.”
“You’re going to punish someone using a standard that hasn’t even been finalized?”
“We’re establishing the standard.”
Seojin looked at Taekyung. Her eyes sharpened.
“Assessor. Physical harm shows up on a CT scan, right? If a bone is broken, it’s broken. If a ligament is torn, it’s torn. But psychological harm? If someone scores sixty-seven on the PCL-5, does that mean they’re suffering sixty-seven points’ worth of pain? Is that sixty-seven the same pain as someone else’s sixty-seven?”
Taekyung did not answer.
“Can you be sure that two people with the same score are experiencing the same pain?”
“No.”
Seojin stopped. Her expression showed that she hadn’t expected him to admit it so easily.
“Then—”
“Because we can’t be sure, we cross-check multiple indicators. We don’t rely on a single number. We synthesize multiple measurements. It isn’t perfect. But if we don’t measure it, we can’t punish anyone. And if we can’t punish anyone, there’s nothing to give back to Kang Yujin.”
Seojin closed her mouth.
Taekyung spoke.
“You said I hide behind numbers, Attorney Han. You’re right. If I don’t hide behind numbers, my emotions become part of the ruling. And if my emotions get involved, someone gets hit harder and someone gets hit less. That’s what scares me more.”
Seojin stared at Taekyung for a long while.
“...Do you really want to believe you’re a machine?”
Taekyung did not answer. He organized the papers.
Seojin stood and said,
“Please look at just one thing when you interview Lee Dohyun.”
“What?”
“His eyes. Whether the eyes he had when he hit Kang Yujin belong to the same person as the eyes he has now.”
Seojin left.
Taekyung sat alone in the interview room. The file Seojin had left behind lay on the desk. He could see the photograph of Lee Dohyun’s wrist.
Taekyung closed the file.
The next day. Lee Dohyun’s interview.
Interview room at the detention center. Lee Dohyun was a tall, neatly groomed man. Instead of a suit, he wore inmate clothing. His wrist was wrapped in a bandage.
Taekyung sat down.
“Mr. Lee Dohyun.”
“Yes.”
His voice was quiet. His head was bowed.
“Do you admit to assaulting Kang Yujin?”
“...Yes.”
“Do you admit to repeatedly assaulting her for eight months?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you hit her?”
Lee Dohyun raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. When I got angry, I couldn’t stop myself. After I hit her, I was even more afraid of myself. Why am I like this? It was like that every time.”
Taekyung took notes.
“Have you ever apologized to Kang Yujin?”
“Every time. Every time, crying. I meant it.”
“You apologized sincerely, then hit her again?”
Lee Dohyun’s mouth closed.
Taekyung set down his pen.
“Mr. Lee. Whether your apologies were sincere isn’t within my jurisdiction. What I determine is how badly Kang Yujin was damaged.”
Lee Dohyun looked at Taekyung.
“I’m damaged too.”
Taekyung was silent for one second.
“I know.”
Taekyung organized his notes and stood.
He stopped at the door. Seojin’s words came back to him. Look at his eyes.
Taekyung turned around.
Lee Dohyun was sitting with his head bowed. His shoulders were trembling. His bandaged wrist rested on his knee. Taekyung couldn’t tell whether he was crying or holding it back. But the trembling of those shoulders resembled the trembling Kang Yujin had shown in the interview room. The offender’s and the victim’s bodies were trembling in the same way.
Taekyung couldn’t see his eyes. Lee Dohyun hadn’t raised his head.
What Seojin had asked him—whether the eyes he had when he hit her were the same eyes he had now. Taekyung couldn’t judge that. Nor did he need to. His job was to look at numbers, not eyes.
And yet, as he left the interview room, one thing stayed with him. The voice Lee Dohyun had used when he said, “I apologized every time, crying.” Taekyung couldn’t distinguish whether it held remorse or self-pity. The fact that he couldn’t distinguish between them bothered him. It bothered him that some things couldn’t be turned into numbers.
He left the interview room.
On the way back to the office.
He ran into Jun-gyeong in the hallway.
“How did the interview go, Assessor?”
“It’s over.”
“How was Lee Dohyun’s condition?”
Taekyung did not stop walking.
“The offender’s condition does not affect the assessment.”
Jun-gyeong fell into step beside Taekyung.
“Legally, that’s true. But may I ask you something, Assessor?”
“Go ahead.”
“Have you finalized the standard for converting psychological harm into physical harm?”
“There’s a draft.”
“That draft will become precedent. It will set the standard for every psychological-harm case after this one.”
Taekyung stopped. He looked at Jun-gyeong.
There was a sharpness in Jun-gyeong’s eyes. The gentle smile was gone.
“You need to be careful.”
Taekyung nodded.
“I know.”
Jun-gyeong smiled again. His eyes curved like a crescent moon.
“I thought you would.”
Jun-gyeong turned and walked away. Taekyung watched his back for a moment. It resembled Assemblyman Seo Dongwon’s from behind. The width of his shoulders. His stride. But the angle at which he turned his head was different. Sharper than his father’s.
Taekyung entered the office.
He opened the draft report.
Standard for the equivalent assessment of psychological harm.
This would become precedent. These numbers would become the standard for every psychological-harm case from now on.
Taekyung picked up his pen. Then set it down. He picked it up again.
Kang Yujin’s testimony came back to him.
‘Will I get better if he’s punished?’
Lee Dohyun’s testimony came back to him.
‘I’m damaged too.’
Taekyung had to find a number between those two sentences.
END OF EPISODE 6.