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Chapter 21 - Future Dream of the Past

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It is six o'clock in the evening when the two of them decide to go back to the park to eat. They have exhausted all their tokens for the arcade machines, and now, their stomach are grumbling because of hunger.

They played almost all games and won tickets and prizes. To Sungmin's luck, he managed to take home a mini stuffed toy that he got from the crane machine. But instead of keeping it to himself, he gave it to Donghae as an apology.

They decided to eat hotdog sandwich and to drink soda.

Sungmin sat beside Donghae upon ordering his snacks.

"I really had fun today, Donghae," Sungmin says as he bites his hotdog sandwich. "You are good in that dance machine. You can be a dancer!"

Donghae shyly smiles. "It was my dream before, to be honest," Donghae tells Sungmin. "But it actually changed when we had a restaurant. I suddenly became like my father."

"Really? Was it your decision? I thought being a chef was what you wanted?" Sungmin asks.

"I want to be a chef. And that is my real dream," Donghae replies. "But I have a much greater dream than that. It is kinda awkward to tell this but the reason why I want to become a chef is because I want my future wife to manage the restaurant with me just like my mom to my dad."

"Amusing," Sungmin remarks. "It is romantic."

"I dream of her taking the orders of my customers, and while I cook, she'll wipe my sweat, prepare the ingredients and assist me in cooking. She'll be the first one to taste the food that I cook, then she'll tell me it's delicious. I'll hug her after along day of work. She'll be the one to cook our dinner too," Donghae imagines as he looks at the sky. "She'll tell me how much she loves me... and I'll tell her how much I love her too."

Sungmin does not speak. He just looks at Donghae who is indulged in imagining his future. He is amazed at what Donghae said. He finds it cute and romantic.

Donghae then looks at him. "Is there someone you really like at the moment?"

Sungmin gets startled with that question. Before, he is able to answer almost immediately. Now, he pauses before answering, "No, not at the moment. Why?"

"I just want to ask you your dream about love," Donghae says. "I mean... even if you don't like someone else right now, you still will someday."

Sungmin falls into a deep thinking. The thoughts about love and the like have not crossed his mind yet. He is not prepared to be in love, and to be honest, he finds it very cheesy, an overrated thing. Although he is willing to experience it - just for the sake of experiencing it. "I just want something to happen. Whatever happens happen. I don't have a specific plan when it comes to love. I will come to that point but now... I don't think I have a dream about it."

Donghae nods. He stares at Sungmin for a long time when the latter does not speak anymore. He never thought he would like a guy. Before, he was chasjng after girls, making them his girlfriends all at the same time. When they went near him, he would grab the opportunity to be with them. Now, when girls surround him, he does not make a move, although he is not declining them totally. He becomes passive now.

He thinks it is because of Sungmin. He changes him. And he likes how he changes as they become closer friends. Whenever he would have a girlfriend, he would imagine the girl as his future. But no one had ever passed his standards. When Sungmin came into his life, he tried to imagine it and it just fell perfectly. He did not force it nor stopped it. He is certain that he is looking at his future now.

All baffled feelings are gone. He is sure that he is going to look at Sungmin alone. If he has to wait, he would wait. He will make him fall in love with him too. Not now, but someday, he will.

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After a long moment of silence, Sungmin speaks, "You shared something to me. I'll share something to you then," Donghae gestures him to go on so Sungmin continues, "Before, I told you that I didn't want to become a lawyer, right? I also told you how much I hated Inhwan students. They are connected."

"Why?" Donghae questions.

Sungmin starts narrating the story.

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"I have a huge case, Minji!"

It was what Sungmin's father informed them back when he was in the last year of his middle school. They were overjoyed. It had been a year since his father established his own law firm, a small firm in that fifth floor of a building.

His father worked as a consulting lawyer in one of the biggest law firms in the country. He was one of the best lawyers there, so when he got work experience, he established his own firm. He looked for an office space and luckily, he saw one. He recruited his batch mates from his university and one from Inhwan. They were five in total, and they were the first ones who worked for his father's law firm.

Since they were just starting, they were not really earning well. Although his father was great, he could not have a huge case because he changed company, affecting his established credentials.

But that day, he brought home a good news to them.

"Junho's friend, the father of the suspect of the Gangnam murder case, hired us to stand with them," he told them. Junho was his friend and partner from Inhwan.

Kt was one of the biggest partly unsolved cases. It involved a murder of a cab driver and passerby who was the primary suspect. It was closed when the suspect's party didn't present sufficient and strong evidences that would acquit him. The victim's party found an evidence that lead to convicting the passerby. However, the case was reopened a year after a witness appeared and pointed out that a student was the one who murdered the taxi driver. The court accepted the plead.

A student from Inhwan was the alleged suspect. He came from a powerful and rich family in Seoul.

"You need to prepare for it then," Sungmin's mother told him. "When will the first hearing be?"

"Second day of next month," his father answered after sipping a cup of coffee that was prepared by his wife. "So I have a month to gather evidence that will acquit our client."

"Is Dad the main lawyer for this or are you helping Mr. Junho?" Sungmin curiously asked. He was excited whenever his father would handle a case. Because their firm has partner setup, a duo would choose one to act as the main lawyer, and his partner would help in gathering data.

"I'll be the main lawyer this time. If I win this case, I would regain my status," his father answered. "Do you want to come with me tomorrow?"

Sungmin got excited again. He loved going with his father to watch what he was doing. He said that he would do it someday. "Of course!"

They left early the next day. They went to the Inhwan student's house along with Junho. They met the alleged suspect's father and he himself. They told the lawyers that it was impossible for the alleged suspect to be at the crime scene because he was in Inhwan, studying at the time the cab driver was killed.

Sungmin had his eyes on the alleged suspect. He wasn't talking. If only he was old enough to tell, he would find him guilty. He looked scared. And when his father was asking him to verify everything, he would stutter.

After a few hours of interrogation, they left. Junho told them that he would just go somewhere to talk to possible witnesses, while Sungmin and his father went to where the crime was done.

The crime scene was clean and there were nothing left anymore. Maybe because it was a year ago already.

"Do you think he's the culprit?" His father asked him.

"Yes," Sungmin answered straightforwardly. "He seemed so nervous around us. He is not the type of person who lies."

His father nodded. "This is why I wanted to quit this case. I don't want to be on the side of the criminal then I would do anything to protect him even if he's the sinner. But it was my job as a lawyer. I had to come to this case. Also, it was a big one so I couldn't just quit," his father confessed. "If he is really the murderer, we would have to find an evidence to show that it wasn't murder."

Sungmin was pacing as he was looking everywhere. "Where was the body found, Dad?"

"In his cab, the driver seat," his father answered, now inspecting the exact location where the cab was located. It was just a mock examination of the place since everything was already removed. "The passerby who was seen running away from the cab was living there," his father pointed a series of houses near the street.

"What if, the passerby was about to ride the taxi but something freaked him out, so he ran away from it," Sungmin stated. "Maybe the driver was long dead before the passer by saw him. I watched a news about before when it was showed on television. They said that there was no blood found outside the car, right?"

"Yes," his father affirmed. "But the witness saw the passer by holding a sharp object and he was drunk."

"Was the object retrieved? Did it have blood or something?" Sungmin further investigated.

"It had traces of blood that matched the victim's blood type and composition," his father replied. "But what the investigators saw was the blood was just a millimeter from the tip."

Sungmin paused as he thought. "Maybe the passerby had other intentions from the taxi driver. Can we interview him before searching this place again?"

"I guess we could," his father answered. "Wow, you're all hyped up, Sungmin. I really think you'd be a great lawyer someday."

"Dad, you're right. I will be the greatest lawyer in Seoul, even greater than you," Sungmin declares with full conviction.

They went to the jail to visit the alleged primary suspect. They interviewed him, although Sungmin was not allowed inside to visit the prisoner. His father went out of the jail with no answer. The passerby didn't want to comment about anything. It seemed that he wanted to go out from the jail but he wasn't telling he's innocent. He seemed to accept his verdict. But Sungmin wasn't pleased when his father told him that. He needed to do something and fast.

He did not sleep for three nights just to think about the case. He searched all relevant information of the case in the Internet. After that, he mixed and matched everything.

There was something wrong. He was convinced that there was something not right.

The next day, he went to a friend to borrow the latest manga of his favorite detective series. He saw Junho with a guy. He thought Junho was just visiting a friend. He was shocked to see a considerable amount of money given to the person. Since he was far from them, he wasn't able to clearly see the face of the person. But when he went nearer, he was surprised that the person was the new witness.

The person invited him inside his house. Being curious and all, Sungmin climbed a wall and entered the witness' backyard secretly. He peeked at the window and listened to their conversation.

"I don't want to be in the witness protection program so I was allowed to stay at home. Good thing they didn't force me to go there, or else, I can't retrieve the money from you," the witness said. Sungmin was puzzled why the witness was comfortably talking to the lawyer of the other party. "I knew you knew why I revealed myself."

"Fools are just fools, Minhyuk," Junho snickered. "That Hyejun has to learn his lesson not to trust his friends too much."

As far as Sungmin knew, Hyejun was the father of the alleged suspect. What were they talking about?

"You'll be receiving another sum of money. Be sure that we'll divide it fairly," Junho said. "He's coming any moment now. Be prepared to act like you don't know me."

"We are friends, Junho. How can I pretend we're not?" The witness who was named Minhyuk asked. "You're the one who put me through this. I revealed what I knew. I was supposed to be quiet but since you're a friend, I gave you a case. Hyejun would give us the money that we wanted just to clean his name. And he would surely triple the money when he sees this." Minhyuk showed an envelope.

Junho smirked. "Right, since we are going to win in any way."

After that, Sungmin heard a car stopping in front of the house. When the two, Junho and Minhyuk, went outside, he entered the house and searched for anything relevant for the case. He found an envelope with photos on the table where the son of that Hyejun stabbed the taxi driver. Therefore, he was really the one who killed the taxi driver.

"But how did it happen? The body was found inside the cab, but he was stabbed at a different place, unless the student drove the cab and took him somewhere?" Sungmin asked himself. He continued looking at all the photos. "It was also impossible because if the student drove the car, he could have had blood stains all over the car. He would have had carried him."

He then noticed a date below the photos. It turned out that it was not taken by a normal camera. It looked like it came from other device. Also, the time was skipped. He researched that the cab driver died at eleven in the evening, but the time in the photos were at nine thirty in the evening.

He then heard the men coming back. He immediately got his camera phone to take a photo of the photos before putting the envelope back to where it was. He ran outside and jumped out of the window.

He continued sneaking from the outside. He saw the father of the alleged suspect opening a suitcase with money. Junho and Minhyuk looked at each other.

"Shut your mouth and I'll give you this," Hyejun said and pushed the money to Minhyuk.

"You are too wise, Mr. Song," Minhyuk smirked and got the suitcase. "I am not paid for nothing."

"I am going to add another hundred thousand if we win. I don't want my own son to tarnish our name," Hyejun said again.

"Your son is a good boy, isn't he? I believe that. From now on, he is not involved," Minhyuk finally accepted the money. Hyejun was about to leave but he stopped when Minhyuk spoke again as he got the envelope of photos. "You now know what you're going to do with this."

Hyejun grabbed the envelope from him and got the photos. He was surprised to see his son stabbing the taxi driver. He could not believe it. Sungmin knew he was disappointed but even though Hyejun thought that his son could not kill, he still believed the photos. He tore the photos and let the pieces fall on the ground. He left while gnashing his teeth.

"Poor soul," Junho commented. "He did not know the whole story."

Sungmin was shocked. What was the whole story that Junho was talking about?

"You are right, Junho. People are fools. Except you, because you are sly and clever," Minhyuk remarked. "Good power play."

Junho sighed, "Well, I am from Inhwan. Now, Sooman has to work on his own. I was giving him an incentive to be quite honest. He would win believing that he did it. But in fact, I was the one who worked for it."

Sungmin gnashed his teeth when he heard it. He was talking about his father. He could not believe how evil Junho was, even involving his father from his evil deed. He knew that his father would not agree to their clients who wanted to obstruct justice by giving money to those who had the knowledge. His father was righteous yet he trusted wrong people.

Sungmin tightened the grasp of his fist. He started to have anger towards Inhwan because of this Junho.

But he would not let his father work for real justice alone. He would help him attain the justice that the victim deserved, even without Junho's so-called help.

The next day, he went to the prison to visit the convicted. Because he was a minor, he could not go in, but when he told the police officers that he was his son, he was able to enter.

"You didn't kill the driver, did you?" He asked the convicted whose name was Daekyung.

"Who are you and why are you here? You are too young to investigate," Daekyung snickered. Sungmin hissed and put out his phone for Daekyung to see the photos that he captured. "Why are you showing me this?"

Sungmin got his phone back. "I only have fifteen minutes to set you free, so better cooperate."

"How can a kid like you help me? You are not even legal," Daekyung asked again.

"I am the son of the lawyer of that student who stabbed the cab driver," he introduced himself. "I am Sungmin."

Daekyung sighed in response. "I didn't kill the cab driver. I could not kill anyone."

"Why are you there in the first place? You were seen running away from the cab holding a knife yet you didn't kill him. Why was that so?" Sungmin seriously asked. "Unless you were searching for a cab to get you home. But your house was not that far away. You were also not going to some other place because you could barely walk because of your drunkenness. You also did not take the taxi because the cab driver was stabbed before you saw him, right?"

"I-"

"You were searching for a victim. You tempted to steal," Sungmin declared. Daekyung seemed frozen when he heard Sungmin's deduction. He looked away from Sungmin and the latter continued to speak. "You gathered courage to steal because it was your first time doing that. You saw the taxi parked near your house. Since it was the perfect spot because it was dark and there were minimal lights there, you chose to steal from him. However, you saw him dead on his seat, enough for you to run away almost immediately. But wait, how did your knife got a blood stain of the victim? You were not used to handling that knife because you were a first-timer. And since you were a first-timer, you attacked from the back of the car. You were trying to threaten him but he was not answering. You got irritated that you acciddentally pushed the knife into his skin, probably the arm, but you did not plan for that. You were shocked because he didn't move nor screamed. And when you got more irritated, you tried to ask why he wasn't reacting. So you leaned towards him and saw him dead, blood rushing from his stomach. You ran away after that, but someone saw you. You were caught and you could not say no because you were guilty of the attempt to steal. And you accepted your verdict wholeheartedly even if you were not the killer."

Daekyung cried and clenched his fist on the table. "I... I didn't want to steal but my som was sick! I was guilty and I was traumatized. I thought that I deserved to be jailed!"

Sungmin smirked. "Yes, you deserve to be jailed, but not for murder. Attempted robbery has lower fine and years of imprisonment, you know? You have a son waiting for you. Don't you want to go home and say sorry to him?"

"I... I want to... b-but I can't face him yet. I am ashamed as a father!" He cried.

"Admitting your mistake is enough for him. I know that he is suffering more than you right now," Sungmin said. "Anyway, you just have to stand as a witness on the second day of next month. I am going now. Thanks for your time."

When Sungmin stood up and prepared to leave, Daekyung thanked him. He smiled but he didn't face him. He left afterwards.

The first hearing push through. Daekyung went to the witness stand to say everything that he did. He looked at Sungmin and smiled at him. Sungmin nodded. That hearing was successful for Daekyung, to Junho's anger. His father was disappointed, but Sungmin knew that he was happy to hear that Daekyung was set free since he was imprisoned for a year already. His son attended the trial and Sungmin was happy to see them happy.

Sungmin went to talk with the Inhwan student, whose name was Jaebum, after the trial.

"Are you happy?" He asked Jaebum. "Your father paid the new witness just to acquit you. He loved you very much."

"No, he does not love me. He is doing it all for his name," Jaebum muttered. "Why are you even here again?"

"You are my father's big client, that is why I am here," Sungmin replied. "You killed him, didn't you?"

"I didn't kill him!" He yelled. Sungmin shrugged his shoulder. "He rode his taxi after attacking me!"

Sungmin was surprised to hear it from Jaebum. "He attacked you? But why..." he trailed off as he remembered Minhyuk and Junho talking about 'the whole story.' Was it what they were talking about?

"I was on my way home from university. I rode the cab but he declared holdup. I immediately went out to protect myself, but he followed me. He tried to kill m. With his knife but I was able to dodge and I was able to get his knife from him. I didn't want to attack him but he was taking his knife from me so I was shocked that I stabbed him. I didn't know what to do so I dropped the knife and ran away. He rode his taxi to chase me but he was losing blood so he wasn't able to catch up. I ran until he was not already following me," Jaebum narrated.

"Why couldn't you tell them it was all misunderstanding? You can't be imprisoned because it was self defense!" Sungmin yelled.

"I can't," he bowed and stared at the ground. "Even if it was self defense, I still was the one who stabbed him. My father would not let me do it. I should not be involved at all."

Sungmin got angry. "You're a coward! You didn't want your father to blame you for tarnishing your name. I know now why he didn't trust you enough. You always rely to him even if you think you're right."

Jaebum didn't speak.

"I am going to help my father win this case without your cooperation," Sungmin said and left.

He told his father everything that he knew, except the fact that Junho and Minhyuk were colleagues and that Hyejun gave Minhyuk money. He also shkwed the pictures and his father recognized the place. His father believed him and after that, they went to the place where the real crime scene happen. Upon investigating the place, they saw stains of blood and the knife used. It was already almost covered with rust.

Sungmin saw a CCTV attached to a light post. It could have been the answer.

They retrieved the copy from the authority. When they watched it, they were shocked to see that Jaebum was telling the right thing. He just protected himself.

But he was still mad at him for being a coward.

For the second hearing, Jaebum was invited to the witness stand. The lawyer of the cab driver interrogated him. He totally covered up the self defense and told them all that he was at that school that time. Sungmin was disappointed at him, but he just stayed there to hear Minhyuk's statement. After the other lawyer's interrogation, his father proceeded. He interrogated Minhyuk and let him say all that he saw. He said the same thing as Jaebum.

But his father called Jaebum again to witness. He then showed the CCTV footage. Everyone was shocked to see that he really was the one who stabbed the cab driver. Junho's face darkened in disappointment. Sooman requested to rewind the footage up to the first part. It was showed that Jaebum was not the first person who attacked.

"Tell me again, where you were at this point?" Sungmin's father questioned Jaebum. Jaebum had no choice but to tell him everyhting and admitted that he was scared to reveal what he did even if it was self defense. In the end, the verdict was given, and no one was imprisoned because it was just an act of self defense. Jaebum's party won.

Sungmin was pleased that he attained justice even without lying. His father won without the bad means of others. But ever since that day, he is not able to trust lawyers like Junho again.

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"So that was why you hated Inhwan students and quitted your dream being a lawyer," Donghae nods as Sungmin finishes his story. "Why can't you continue dreaming about being a lawyer and make your father as an inspiration?"

"To be honest, I am a bit disappointed because my father continues to trust Junho and let him in the firm," Sungmin admits. "As long as he is existing in my father's company, I cannot dream as a lawyer. I think that he still does it."

Donghae nods again. "Uhm... Sungmin... I have something to tell you. I don't want to hide anything from you now," he pauses before gathering all his courage to confess to Sungmin. "I like-"

"Oh my gosh! I almost forgot about Ryeowook! It can wait, right? I'll just hear it from you later. Thanks for your time, Donghae! See you!" Sungmin does not wait for Donghae to answer. He runs and leaves Donghae.

Donghae sighs as he pinches the stuffed toy given to him by Sungmin. "Aish, I like you, Minnie," he talks to the stuffed toy. "I guess it can wait."

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《I told you it is a long chapter. Hehe I was supposed to update this yesterday night but I got sleepy. ㅠㅠ I hope you didn't get sleepy while reading it~★ Did you like the detective feel of this chapter? Comment below!》