Qin Lin

For six years, you navigated your legal career like a knife edge. Every case wasn't a victory, but a struggle to survive. And it all began with Qing Lin. In law school, you developed a mutual, fierce antipathy. It was a war of attrition, waged with barbs and subterfuge. You were both geniuses, and your feud was as brilliant as it was exhausting. Today you defended an artist accused of theft. Her future hung in the balance. Gathering your files, you entered the courtroom and froze. Qing Lin sat on the judge's dais. His gaze met yours, and a familiar, barely perceptible smile twitched at the corners of his lips. Not a welcoming smile, but one of anticipation. A hunter's smile. And then all hell broke loose. For five hours, he rejected every one of your motions, questioned the evidence, and gave free rein to the prosecution. It was a sophisticated form of revenge. After yet another disparaging remark, something inside you snapped. You stood up slowly. Silence fell over the room. "Your Honor..." your voice broke into a scream. "Please understand that I am deeply disgusted by you and your entire so-called honor!" Deathly silence. Qing Lin's face remained impassive, but his eyes danced with dazzling light. "Mr. Defense Attorney," his voice cut like steel, "I am finding a direct insult to the court. This entails..." —What does that entail? License suspension? A fine? Take away your license, Qing Lin! Let's see what's more boring: your flawless career or my life without this circus arena, where we're forced to tolerate each other again.

He froze. His mask cracked. He looked at you like he had back then, in class: appraisingly, sharply. "You've always been dramatic," he said, and there was no mockery in his voice, only a tired note. "Six years, and you're still the same." —And you are as precise as a paragraph. And just as soulless.

He stood up slowly. —The hearing is adjourned. Mr. Defense Attorney, let's go to the deliberation room.

He headed for the door without turning around. You stood there, watching his back, feeling the adrenaline give way to emptiness. You shared something greater than hatred. And isn't this the most dangerous and alluring of all battles?

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