Jooheon’s POV

I ran my fingers through my hair nervously and pushed open the metal door to the room she was in. I counted four security cameras, one in each top hand corner of the room, recording every movement. I gulped at the sight of her. She was a complete mess, a big patch of blood on her shirt and a blood splatter across her face. She was cuffed to the desk in front of her, and didn’t even look up as I entered.

“Jisung…” I coughed, and sat down opposite her. She looked up at me, but said nothing. I sighed and leaned in to make it more difficult for the cameras to spot what I was saying. “What the were you doing?!” I hissed, trying to keep my voice to a minimum. “Why would you just shoot him out of nowhere?” I furrowed my eyebrows, huffing and leaning back in my chair.

Jisung opened and spoke. “Aren’t you happy? We did it. Insoo’s dead. Wasn’t this your intention from the beginning?” She met my eyes accusingly.

“Don’t try to pin this on me in some twisted way,” I scoffed. “You’re the one who shot him… Jisung, why did you of all people have to shoot him?” I put my face in my hands. “I would’ve done it, or Shownu, or anyone else, but you’re the one who ended up here,”

“It’s okay, Jooheon… I don’t mind. We both got revenge,” Jisung shrugged.

“You should freaking mind; it’s a lifetime in prison for god’s sake! When you make your statement, tell them that I shot Insoo, and I’ll confess, and I’ll take your place,” I nodded at my own plan, although I knew it would be difficult to pull off.

“I told you already, I really don’t mind!” She smiled, but not genuinely.

“Changkyun wouldn’t have wanted you to--“

“Don’t talk about what he would have or would not have wanted. You didn’t know him one bit. In fact, I’m pretty sure you despised him for the majority of your life, when he didn’t deserve to be hated,” She spat, looking me dead in the eyes.

“I know you liked him, maybe even loved him, I’m not too sure, but Jisung, I don’t think I could bear to see you waste away in a crappy prison. What about the others too? They’ll be so angry if you go without a fight!” I said.

“I didn’t love him, and that's what makes it ten times worse,” She sighed, looking at me. I turned my head away so I wouldn’t have to look her in the eye. I gulped and pressed on. “At least plead not guilty, and claim it was in self-defence,” I sighed.

“I…I can’t,” Jisung spoke softly. “They told me the sentence would be less severe if I confessed,” I could tell she was tearing up again.

I stood up, the chair screeching backwards. I took a deep breath, and paced around. If I could talk to Wonho and Shownu, I’m sure we could come up with something, but I’m not sure whether the police would let me see Jisung again. It was difficult enough this time.

“Jooheon, you’ve got to understand… They were talking about the death penalty…” She whispered.

I turned around, scared. “What? But there hasn’t been an execution for decades,”

“It’s a premediated murder, and there’s no way around that fact. We planned to kill him, and we did,”

“Sometimes, I wish none of this would’ve happened,” I muttered.

“Don’t say that… Then I wouldn’t have met Wonho, Shownu, Hyungwon, Minhyuk, or Kihyun. I would have only seen you at Tem’s house, and we wouldn’t have become friends. And I would probably have been in a really relationship with Changkyun,” She chuckled a little.

Shownu’s POV
“LIVING ROOM. NOW!” I yelled through the house. I still can’t believe they’re airing this kind of stuff on TV nowadays. They even called the programme ‘The Biggest Case of Our Time’. It’s fricking ridiculous.

“You really didn’t have to shout that loud,” Kihyun frowned.

I’d forgotten he was sat right next to me. “Sorry, my bad,” I gave him my best apologetic face, but he rolled his eyes at me. The others piled in at once, knocking each other over while trying to get a spot on the small sofa I was leaning up against.

“Turn it up!!” Minhyuk shouted over the chaos.

“Shut up you idiot! Maybe then we’ll be able to hear something,” Kihyun hissed in annoyance.

Minhyuk snatched the remote control out of my hands and turned up the volume anyway. My eyes were glued to the screen, and I didn’t even realise I was holding my breath until Hyungwon nudged me from behind. “Hmm?” I asked, not letting my gaze waver.

“Do you think she’ll be okay?” He asked in return.

“Of course she will be. It’s Jisung,” I said firmly.

The room they were in was massive, and rather intimidating. It was hard to imagine what it would be like to go to such a big court. I mean, I’d been to the district court, but never to the criminal ones. They were on an entirely different level. I could hear the low-level whispers and chatters from the jury, who were shuffling into their seats from the left side of the room.

Jisung, along with her lawyer were already sat down, and I could tell that she was nervous. Biting her nails was a dead giveaway. I could also recognise Jooheon and Wonho, sat next to the witness stand, waiting for their questioning. I just hoped it would all be okay.

Wonho’s POV
I gulped and turned to face Jooheon, but I couldn’t quite look him in the eye. I grabbed onto his wrist and squeezed before letting go.

“Hyung?” He asked.

“Yeah kiddo?”

“I’m trusting you… to help me set things right,”

I gulped again and paused before nodding fervently. I was lying, but he was too tired and sad to notice. Or maybe he already knew what was going to happen, which would have been a miracle, since I don’t even know what I’m doing. Wait… now I’m just confusing myself. Best not to do that.

Jisung had already made me promise to trust her instead. I’m sorry Jooheon, but you’re too late again. I glanced over to Jisung, and we looked at each other, not exactly with sadness, but more so with emptiness.

The judge cleared his throat and called for silence. He made sure everyone was going to tell the truth, etc… I looked over lazily. Jooheon tugged on my arm to stand up, which I’d forgotten to do. I sheepishly stood up, obviously late, and earned a stern glare from the majority of people. It felt like I was being told off in school all over again, like no thanks…

“Ms Park, you may begin the disclosure,”

“Thank you, your honour,” She nodded, and bowed at a straight ninety degrees before standing up straight again. She looked complacent and confident. In her eyes, this would be a quick and easy trial. It would all depend on how much of a fight we could put up.

“Miss Jung Jisung has committed a cold-hearted, unbelievable act; murder in the first degr-“

“Objection your honour, Miss Jung has yet to be convicted,” Jisung’s lawyer spoke up loudly.

“Overruled, continue Ms Park,”

“As I was saying, this young woman, only in her early twenties, has become involved in a serious crime, which we believe should be given minimum of twenty-five years in prison, or even the death penalty,” Gasps filled the room along with my own. Jooheon’s breaths became unsteady.

“She took this stolen gun,”

I watched her curiously as she picked up the gun on the evidence table and held it in her hands.

“She pointed it at the side of an innocent man’s head… And shot,” Ms Park twitched the gun, imitating the gunshot itself. I scoffed at her little speech. Sure was thought-provoking, but could you go so far as to describe Insoo as innocent? Huh, really? Still, I kept my mouth shut as I was told, and waited until the prosecutors were done pushing onto Jisung. She was staring vacantly at the desk in front of her, which wasn’t a great look during your trial for murder.

“Among the vast array of evidence, there is a gun with Miss Jung’s fingerprints, her shirt, stained with the victim’s blood, and the blood of the victim’s son. We have yet to determine whether Miss Jung is a spree killer, or whether this was a case of homicide,”

“I didn’t ki-“ Jisung wrung her hands and shifted around. Jisung’s lawyer gave her a shove back into her seat, and spoke instead.

“I object, your honour, the autopsy of the victim’s son showed that the victim himself had committed that particular homicide,”

“Sustained, the defence is correct,”

I laughed, but shut right up after I saw the aggressive face on Jooheon.

“In any case, due to the violence of this crime and the lack of compassion shown by the defendant, we call for the capital punishment,”

I glanced over at Jisung and gulped. Jooheon was shocked, as were many others in the courtroom. The death penalty was rarely mentioned during trials, a life sentence at the worst.

“Hmm, alright… Any witnesses you would like to present, Ms Park?” The judge asked.

“No, your honour,”

“The defence team, led by Mrs Cheon may proceed,”

Jisung’s lawyer, who I noted as Mrs Cheon, straightened out her jacket as she stood up and walked into the middle of the space in front of us.

“Thank you, your honour. My client here, Miss Jung Jisung, as Ms Park said, a young woman, does not deserve such a cruel punishment as the death penalty. As a homicide case, the sentence should be reduced to a minimum of twenty years - that is if she is found guilty. Now, it is my understanding that Miss Jung has committed no crimes prior to this, and she is a hard-working woman, trying to earn a living, and who just happened to become a victim herself; a victim of circumstance. I would like to call the first witness to the stand, Mr Lee Jooheon,”

The judge nodded, and so did I, Jooheon standing up as requested and making his way to the stand.

“You were at the scene of the crime on the night of, am I correct?” Mrs Cheon continued.

“Yes,”

“In your own words, could you describe the events as they happened, from, say… the moment the fire brigade arrived?”

“Sure. Insoo, the… victim, was brought out of the house first. I was being questioned by a policeman, and as I turned around, I saw Jisung run into the house to go after Changkyun, uh… the victim’s son,”

“And you didn’t go after her?”

“I, no, I tried, but my friend held me back,”

“Okay… and when Miss Jung came back out of the house, what happened then?”

“She ran up to me, and… and she said that Changkyun was… dead,” Jooheon finished slowly. It was hard for us to talk about, even for me. Naturally, it affected Jooheon all the more, since it was his idea in the first place.

“And then?”

“She pulled out the gun, and I tried to stop her, but she’d already shot,” Jooheon trailed off as he locked eyes with Jisung. She was holding back her tears again, I knew that expression.

“Do you think this was self-defence?”

Jooheon paused, and I raised my eyebrows at him. He was about to lie. “Yes,” He sighed.

“Thank you, I know it must be hard to talk about,” Mrs Cheon smiled sadly.

“Ms Park, would you like to cross-examine the witness?”

“I don’t believe in cross-examining biased witnesses, who are blatantly the defendant’s friends, so that would be no,” Ms Park threw Mrs Cheon a stone cold, yet smug glare.

Mrs Cheon opened in shock. “Honestly, Ms Park, would you stop being such a--,”

“Let’s try to refrain from using disrespectful language, or language which insinuates otherwise,” The judge frowned at the two women. I eyed the lawyers, and grinned. It would make the trial so much more interesting. Jooheon was dismissed, and sat back down next to me with a dull thump. I rubbed his back, and for once, he actually let me.

“The next witness is called to the stand, Mr Shin Hoseok,”

I cleared my throat as I stood up. I bowed and walked up calmly to the stand. I needed to stay calm right now. I couldn’t afford to be anything less than calm. Calm Wonho, calm, calm, calm.

“Now, could you tell us where you were at the time of the crime on the night of?” Mrs Cheon asked me in a kind, slightly condescending tone, like that of a primary school teacher.

I cocked my head to one side. “I was there,”

“Care to be a bit more specific?” She asked through gritted teeth.

“I was at the scene of the crime,” I said slowly, so she could catch it all this time.

“Okay, Mr Shin,” She sighed, but continued anyway. “And what were you doing? Were you with the defendant or Mr Lee?”

“I could see the two of them, but I wasn’t with them, I was with another… friend, Shownu,” I saw her frown at this, and began to doubt what I was saying again.

“Right… Do you agree with the events outlined by Mr Lee?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” I rubbed the back of my neck, unsure of how to respond.

“You’re going to have to do better than that,”

“Yessir! Uhh, I mean yes,” I corrected myself quickly.

“Finally, do you think that this was an act of self-defence?” She questioned. I looked up at Jisung. She nodded at me and I gulped.

“…No,” I muttered. I could hear shuffling in the courtroom, and inaudible whispers coming from all directions. I saw Jooheon stand up out of his chair abruptly, but sat back down after a moment of deep breathing. He was upset, on the verge of crying. Trust me Jooheon, she wants this.

“That’s all for now Mrs Cheon,” The judge said sternly. “Ms Park, would you like to cross-examine Mr Shin?”

“Actually… yes,” She nodded, making her way over to me. I sat up a little straighter.

“Mr Shin Hoseok,” She said, drawing out the syllables in my name. I raised my eyebrows as she spoke again. “I’ve done a background check on you, Mr Lee and Miss Jung of course, but yours was by far the most interesting,” She turned away from me and faced the jury. “Theft. Breaking and entering. Gang activity. A prison sentence totalling 25 years, which was mysteriously retracted earlier this month by none other than the victim himself. His fingerprints on the weapon used by the defendant to kill the victim. On top of that, mental health disorders of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Does the name ‘Wonho’ sound familiar to you at all Mr Shin Ho-seok?”

I said nothing and looked down at the floor. What could I say to that?

It was all true.

Ms Park grinned smugly and took a few steps back. “These people are not your kind, average young adults. They are criminals. I hope the jury comes to the right decision. That will suffice as my closing argument, your honour,”

“Noted. Mr Shin is dismissed,”

I shakily stood up and walked unsteadily back to Jooheon. He was glaring at me with pure anger, and I felt so unbelievably guilty about it.

Jisung’s POV
“The jury has come to a final decision with no problems,”

I gulped and closed my eyes for a few blissful seconds. I felt my lawyer, Mrs Cheon, tug on my arm, and I took that as a cue to stand up. I swore under my breath as my handcuffs knocked against the table, catching the skin around my wrists.

Wonho was looking at me with a sad expression, Jooheon beside him frowning. I wished he was smiling; it would’ve been nice to see that one more time before heading off to prison.

“The jury has decided that these was manslaughter, and advise a sentence of twelve and a half years,”

My eyes widened. Only twelve and a half? They were threatening me with the ing death penalty and don’t even convict me of murder?!

“Judgement seconded,” The judge spoke and knocked his gavel on his lectern. It was over. Before it could set in, I was being dragged to the side and I heard Jooheon call my name. I struggled to see him properly, and he too was being held back.

“I’ll come visit you Jisung!” I couldn’t tell whether it was Jooheon or Wonho yelling, or even if it was both. I smiled at the thought of them voluntarily returning to prison, just to see me.

A/N:
Next chapter will be the last!!!
Thank you all for supporting the story for so long <3