Taeyong is awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of his phone. Without his glasses it’s hard for him too see, but he sure can distinguish the time on his digital clock next to his bed to be 03:27. He groans. 

”Who the ...?” Taeyong asks, fumbling after his phone. 

The light from the phone is too strong for his weak eyes, so he just slides the green ring and puts the phone against his ear.

”Lee Taeyong,” he answers and immediately someone starts yelling on him from the other side.

”You’re alive!! It’s a miracle!” He could recognise that voice anywhere. It’s one of the two voices that kept him up the whole night one summer in Busan. Looks like one of those decided to wake him up even when they’re not stuck in Busan. However, the person on the other side just has to clarify his identity to him. ”It’s me, Ten, Chittaphon Leechaiyakul, do you remember me? We spent the summer together a few years ago!”

”I wish I didn’t,” Taeyong jokes, even though there’s a tiny bit of truth in that. He turns in his bed. ”How are you doing? I missed you.”

”I’m fine!”  Ten answers eagerly. ”Just finished job for tonight. What about you? How are you? We all missed you! Two summers in Busan without you, what the hell.”

”Two summers where I could sleep without you and Johnny keeping me awake by doing things I don’t want to know.”

”This year you can’t get into prison, got that?” The bastard isn’t even denying his point. Taeyong really wanted him to deny it. ”You have to meet our new requites!”

”God, don’t force me to actually kill someone to get into prison,” Taeyong laughs. With his heart. Ten is so easy going, a prince to talk with. Sometimes Taeyong loves the man and his personality. Other times; the polar opposite. ”How did you know I was discharged, by the way?”

”Hansol told me,” Ten tells him and Taeyong hears a crash from the other end of the telephone but that’s only because Ten can’t do two things at the same time if it’s not including Johnny or alcohol. He’s quick to speak again. ”I guess he heard it from his mother, who heard it from your mom.”

Taeyong bites his lips. So his parents knew he got out, but didn’t call him? They didn’t try to contact him at all. Maybe he was worth it. After all, in their eyes he’s nothing but a criminal. 

”Oh. Sure. Well, get home safely and tell Johnny I said hi.”

”I will. I would’ve called you at home but I thought he might be asleep.”

”How considerate of you to actually care about people being asleep,” Taeyong mutters against his pillow sarcastically. Not now, not for the whole summer two years ago.

Ten actually ing giggles. ”But how are things with you, you didn’t tell me. You’re not getting into prison again, right?”

”Who knows,” Taeyong sighs, not really caring about the fact that he tried to end the conversation but Ten didn’t let him. ”I got assigned a ing newbie lawyer.”

”How’s that relevant?” Taeyong can hear him getting into a cab and telling the driver an address he can’t hear. ”We’re all newbies at one point in our lives. Actually, we’re newbies in life. This is our first time living, right?”

”Shut up,” Taeyong groans. ”I want to prove my innocence and I don’t know how someone without experience can do that.”

”Well, according to me you’re not in the position to complain. Your lawyer during the case actually had you proven guilty. That lawyer was an old hag with at least 80 years experience.”

That’s true. Well, maybe not the last. Ten is known for exaggerating everything at least ten times. Not an intended pun.

”Well, we’ll see about that in court. She’s hella young though, around Hansol’s age or a year older if I’m not mistaken. There’s no way a lawyer can be that young.”

”That’s what people say about a murderer too,” Ten answers. ”You never know.”

”Oh don’t try to lecture me.”

”Not my fault that you’re a dumb ,” Taeyong seriously wants to punch him in the face, actually holding back to not throw his phone into the wall. ”Well, my phone dies at any moment so. Good bye baby, don’t forget to contact me just because you’re a criminal.”

”Shut up before I puke,” Taeyong mumbles and actually hear Ten give him kisses through the phone before hanging up. 

Taeyong is left with his eyes shut, the telephone still against his ear. He’s feeling a lot more energised after speaking with Ten. So far the only ones Taeyong has been speaking with since he got discharged is the law firm, Inhye and Ten. Ten makes him remember the summer in Busan, the times he felt the best. After that, everything went downwards. Taeyong doesn’t have many friends; the crew in Busan are the only ones he actually consider his friends. 

In high school, he was a complete loner. As soon as he thinks about high school, he feels sick. He twists in his bed in discomfort, which results with him waking up and drinking a cold glass of water. In his mind, he is twisted about Inhye. Something feels off. Not only the fact that she’s young and a newbie. It’s like she’s constantly nervous, and somewhat afraid of him. Or, well, at least he thought. Last time they met, Taeyong managed to push all her wrong buttons. Like always. It’s just a part of him now. 

The thoughts of high school creeps on to him again and he drinks another glass of water before going to the bed again. Falling asleep, on the other hand, is risky. He knows that he will dream nightmares. You shouldn’t be afraid of nightmares, they’re not real. That’s what people say. They may not be real, but the feeling you have during a nightmare is real. Fright, horror, sadness. Those feelings are what Taeyong is afraid of. Completely alone in a room, in a city and in the world; who could protect him from those feelings?

•  •  •

‘Are you free today?’ a text from no one other than Kim Inhye reads on Taeyong’s phone when he wakes up. Not that he really fell asleep; as soon as he closed his eyes the pictures and memories of high school crept up on him.

He is nonetheless surprised by Inhye’s text. He had thought that she’d never contact him, talk to her boss about how he hasn’t changed as a person and is still a disgusting murderer. He thought she’d try to put her behind bars again.

‘Yes, I’m free.’ He answers, sitting up in his bed.

Inhye’s answer is quick, as if she had it ready and was waiting to send it. ‘Good. Same time, same location?’

‘Sounds good to me.’

‘Good, see you then.’

•  •  •

Inhye is dressed a lot less formal this time. Last time they met, she had worn a costume; a typical lawyer costume. This time, she’s wearing black jeans and a white blouse. Still formal, but not really like the first time. 

Taeyong thought that it would make him feel angry, mad and somewhat suspicious if she’s actually a suitable lawyer or not. To his own surprise, he feels ... Laid back? His posture isn’t as straight, he sits with his legs crossed and his breathing is much more relaxed. 

”Where shall we begin?” Taeyong asks after a few minutes silence.

”I think we should discuss your case,” Inhye speaks, also a lot more comfortable. Her hands aren’t shaking anymore (yes he noticed) and she actually dares to look Taeyong in the eyes for a longer time. ”I checked all your courts and what was said in them. You didn’t say much in your defence in the final court?”

”No one would’ve believed me, I thought it was a waste of air.”

Inhye frowns, gives him a somewhat pouty look. ”Your lawyer ... Didn’t do much for you, didn’t she?”

”Not even she believed me, so...”

”... I see.” Inhye looks through her papers. ”A little earlier before the court, you said that you didn’t kill Min Dabin, but you were there when she got killed?” Taeyong nods. ”Then why did you let her die?”

Taeyong rises an eyebrow. ”Why do you assume I just let her die?”

”Because you were there and now she’s dead.”

”Don’t you think I tried to save her even if she died?”

Inhye once again starts fippling with her papers. ”Here, it’s written that one of your biggest bullying victims were Min Dabin.”

”I admit bullying her,” Taeyong puts down his cup of tea. ”But how is that relevant to who killed her?”

”There’s one thing I don’t understand,” Inhye finally lost it, almost throwing the papers onto the table. ”At first you tried to convince me that you killed her, but now you’re saying that you didn’t?”

”What do you think?” Taeyong cross his arms in front of his chest. ”Ms. lawyer, what do you think?”

Inhye gives him a stern look. She doesn’t know. Honestly, before she met him she was confident that this boy was indeed a murderer. But now that he’s sitting in front of her, he looks ... small. He’s just a boy. But as soon as she thinks that he’s innocent, Inseong pops up in her mind again.

”I don’t know you well enough,” Inhye finally answers, after something that was probably only a few minutes but felt like hours. Then a lamp lights up and she remembers Inseong’s words. ”I think I have to get to know you better. What do you think about meeting outside of this case a few times?”

Taeyong’s eyes widen by two. ”Sorry but are you hitting on me?”

”What? N-No! It’s just, I feel like I don’t know you well enough to be able to tell if you’re a murder or not.” A lie. She’s doing all this because her idiotic big brother told her to keep close to him all the time.

”My previous lawyer didn’t do these kind of bonding things?” 

”Well, I’m trying new methods. Don’t be an old pumpkin; I’m not that boring.”

”You’re a lawyer, probably the most boring people in the whole world.”

”And you’re a murderer, the most interesting people in the world.”

Taeyong grins, leaning back into his seat. ”That complement us, huh?”

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