"Will the last and final witness, Zhang Yixing, please come to the stand."

 

Ten EXO members sat rigidly behind the CEO of SM Entertainment, Kim Young-min, watching as Lay walked robotically to the front of the courtroom. As he swore the oath to tell the truth, he practiced the pre-scripted answers in his head. The lies were getting jumbled with warm memories of late nights and small talk that had planted a seed of something real inside of him. Nostalgia settled in his heart like a thick mist and he closed his eyes to fight the tears. 

 

He was not to look at Kris, who was diagonally to his right; he knew his exact position because every cell in his body was surging in his direction, as if Kris possessed some magnetic quality over his entire being. 

 

Kris's lawyer stood up as he flattened his suit coat and forcefully cleared his throat to break the silence. 

 

"Lay, how long have you been a member of EXO?" 

 

"Two years?" 

 

"How long have you been a part of SM Entertainment?" 

 

"Since 2008, so that's six years."

 

"Do you enjoy being in the band?"

 

"Yes, it's great to be able to perform for so many fans. It's an amazing experience."

 

Mechanical, just like the ten members before him. But each word felt strained and it was hard to get them out. 

 

"Chancellor, we've heard this several times already. Please get to the point," the judge interjected. The second hand on hundreds of watches ticked incessantly and impatiently in the one universal language-time. Lay rubbed his palms on his knees, feeling rushed and supressed. 

 

"Yes, your honor. Last question, in the six years that you've been a part of this company, have you ever felt that you've been mistreated, or have had your rights infringed?"

 

His mind was racing, loud heartbeat joining the chorus of sighs and silent thoughts that come out like screams. In front of him, Kim Young-min clenched his hand into a fist and nodded. 

 

"Fist is for men," the manager had said before the trial. "Are you a man?"

 

 Panicking, Lay resorted to the one thing he knew to be completely true. 

 

"Kris!" he said, quietly.

 

 

 

"To answer your question chancellor," Lay started while keeping focus on Kris-his firm shoulders and arms with which he had become so familiar. Those arms and legs that had the power to stop the impending fear. That power that had now come onto Lay, who was again, hesitating. 

 

Silence was followed by disorderly chatter. Kris tried to regain contact with Lay, who was refusing to acknowledge anyone except his own conscience. 

 

Lay glanced at his friends, at the jury, and the lawyers and the judge, biting his lip.

 

"Three years ago," he said softly, deciding to start from the very beginning. 

 

"Objection!" said the lawyer on Young-mins side,

 

 

 

"It started three years ago."