AN:// the inspiration for this chapter was Taeyang's "Let Go" from his Rise album...

Sehun slung the pitch black coat of his suit over his shoulders and his arms through its designated way. It was morning, the last day of the court hearing against Liu. They couldn't fight his corporation, as it all belonged to only one person, Luhan. As to who was going to take over the business, it was unknown. The last court hearing would be the judges final verdict and the last voices. Sehun had spent all week deciding what he was going to write, to only write nothing. He would speak, from the heart. His father walked in.

A black tie in his hands.

"Do you mind?"

He allowed himself to smile. "Of course not, father."

He tilted his head slightly up, letting his father lift his collar up and wringing the neck tie around him.

"Sehun. After today, start anew. I've thought about your medicine everyday since you've told me. Know that there are many different prescriptions. Luhan was special, but won't be the only one. Also, don't forget what I also told you. That love will come naturally. You don't have to go around and search, but don't stay where you are and drown in sorrow. Live. Live."

He finished the last fold, pulling it through. He straightened out the tie and stood a distance to check it. He quietly thanked his father, thinking about what he had said. His feet, donning his black oxford shoes brought him to the kitchen where his brothers were. They turned to look at him.

"It almost felt as if I was looking at you walk out from the dressing room on your wedding day," joked Jongin. He earned a punch on the shoulder from Kyungsoo and Tao who had been standing far off walked over to him. He stared weirdly into his eyes causing him to flinch away.

"W-what?"

"Nothing. Just making sure you're not crying yet. We need you to be able to speak properly during your last words."

He earned a few chuckles from that and Baekhyun slung an arm around his shoulders. "We're going to party away the sorrows and tiredness away tonight! We got to get hyped up for the annual summer fashion show! We can't let people break us to nothing!"

He earned loud claps from Chanyeol, who agreed wholeheartedly. Everyone was staring at him, until he noticed.

"W-what? I didn't even say anything this whole time!"

"It's because you're awkward Uncle Channie," came a high pitched voice. It was Min Jung. She walked over, wearing a light white dress that Sehun had personally made himself. She pushed past her forest of uncles and held onto Sehun's hand.

"Hun Hun, today, we're going to kick . I know it."

He nodded. "Yes. We will. Then, we can focus on progressing forward."

She nodded, her lips folded in, in a similar way that he would.

"Together. Together so one doesn't get left behind," said Kyungsoo.

"Mr. Michael Liu, as a part of a national court, we have decided that your crimes are of many, spanning across Asia and even more. You are guilty of attempted murder on five counts, endangerment of employees, extortion and embezzlement, illegal charge of property, the mediation of kidnapping. We will now let the witnesses and victims to come forth with their testimonies," said the judge.

An elderly man walked over to the stand, staring at the sea of eyes. No one knew what he was going to say, as both sides desperately wanted Mr. Thao's testimony for their own win.

"In all my years of working in homes, I have never," he paused swallowing in the lump that was forming.

"I have never been exposed to such treacherous, evil, childish tyranny. A grown man at the age of twenty nine still hung up about horses he didn't receive as a birthday present when he was ten years of age. A man who sadistically hurt numerous people and families. I have never worked in such a stifling environment, I have never been more disgusted than when working with Mr. Liu. I've lived through a war, poverty, starvation, times of sadness. Times of not knowing whether you could survive long enough for tomorrow. I've watched all my family die. My only child. My mother and father. My aunts and uncles. They all died because of evil people like Mr. Liu who exist in the world back then, and today. His supposed son, Luhan, lord knows where he is today. Everyday that he would come home, I knew he'd get, not the belt, mind you. He'd get even worse. A whip? Not good enough. Maybe a special club from an underground black market. My heart hurts because I know that evil can only be learned. You have been taught evil at such a young age, or you have taught yourself from watching. My heart hurts for you. Mr. Liu, what you can do now, is repent. That is all I have to say to you. Thank you."

He stepped off. Sehun watched his retreating form. He had tried his best to keep in the tears, the pain, all the grief and sorrow housed within his being, but at the mention of Luhan and what unknown things have been happening to him he couldn't stay stoic. His face buried into Baekhyun's side.

Lee Sul Yeon walked up to the podium, the quietest of chatters stopping at the sight of the mother. She wasn't crying, in fact seemed to have a few lines imprinted on her face from laying down her head during the court proceedings.

"My name is Lee Sul Yeon, the mother of Luhan. From my humble beginnings with Luhan to even now, I've known no greater evil and corruption from money. Some people are fortunate enough to be born into such great luxuries, yet they are unfortunate enough to not understand the value and worth of family. I've listened to you and others about your deep hatred for my son. You detested him, called him the child of a , every word you could. Why? It always boiled down to your father. Christopher Liu had his priorities set apart from logic. I feel pain knowing that another child has to live another day without any maternal love. Your mother, never loving you enough, only chasing after your father. You join in the chase, then you realize, there's no going back. You've trekked on this thorny path long enough. The roses aren't the only beautiful things in this world. Even a grass fields wheat can be beautiful. I will also be your mother. You can taper now, and rest. Rest. Your father, that Christopher Liu is gone. His intentions will forever be unknown. You will never know, and so will everyone in this courtroom and I. You must let go of the anchors from the past, sail your ship and discover the many wonders of the world. I am saddened to know that you have been misled. Please, follow the light. I pray for you. As for what you've done to my son, I don't think I could ever forgive you for right now, but I will eventually. He's done no wrong against you. He did not deserve an end the way you described it. I..."

She stopped, wiping her tears. She looked directly into Sehun's eyes, digging through his soul.

"You hurt not only him, but me, his mother and those like Oh Sehun over there. Those that loved him dearly."

She stepped off the podium and walked over to the awaiting arms of her sister Ji Rin. Junmyeon looked over at Sehun.

"Our last speaker, Oh Sehun."

He nodded, taking a deep breath and making his way out of the barricade of attorneys, witnesses, and businessmen. He stood at the threshold, as if these last words he was going to speak were going to be the end. The end of everything he's come to understand, but the beginning of a new day. After this, he'd have to let go. Luhan had left him now. Wherever he was now, he knew it would be so that they never crossed paths. To comfort himself, he liked to think that Luhan became an angel and will watch from afar. After all, his prayers were fulfilled, Luhan watching over his daughter. Though it had brought a temporary comfort, it now left a permanent feeling of relief. They wouldn't cross paths, he thought, but their hearts were in the right places.

He looked at Sul Yeon and she nodded, encouraging his voice to speak up.

His eyes scanned the crowd behind him for his joy. Sandwiched between his mother and father, was his one and only daughter. She nodded, holding her thumbs up.

Turning back, he faced Liu.

"The first I've ever talked to you personally. It was over the phone. I had asked that you let me take your son home from the hospital. But I could not forget that prior to that, you had simply showed up unannounced, and called him useless while I had stayed the night to ease him out of his nightmare fits. I now realize, it wasn't to check his health or how he was doing. It was to check if he was alive, whether he had survived his beatings. The doctor personally took me to his office, afraid of your power. He could only trust me. He told me about Luhan's condition, something you forbade from reaching his ears. I feel extreme guilt, because never once did I wonder, Was Luhan happy at home? Did his supposed father love him? Is he really his son? As a father myself, I know that when you love someone, you'd worry about them take care of them. Cry for them. Feel pain, anger, fear for them. You'd so desperately cling to them. Though others may forgive you, I know I can never do so. You've hurt the love of my life, someone I was willing to share a future with. I'm sure you knew that? Or did you not? You see, if you had loved like you should've, as a brother or father figure, you wouldn't even have to ask. You'd know."

He stopped to catch his breath, despite his hasted words. Junmyeon gave him a nod, encouraging him on. In the courtroom, there was only ever those. Nods. It meant they listened and will continue to do so. But heads faced down, eyes down casted meant the same thing.

He was listening.

"My daughter and I only have comfort in knowing that he left us not because he wanted to, but because he had to. The whole time that I had thought I was protecting him, it was actually the opposite. We have been spared only because he used whatever was left of him to shield us. Everyday Min Jung, my daughter, would wake up and search around the house, as if waking up from yesterday's nightmare. Only to find out, yeah, he really is gone. All we have left to do, is to let go. We can only arise from the ashes, and continue on...together. I pray for you."

He stepped off the stand and went back to his seat. The judge ended the court hearings. The prosecution team staying seated as Michael Liu stood up, head in deep shame. He was lead away, Sehun knew. It'd be the last. Junmyeon stood up, clapping and bowing. Soon enough, the whole courtroom was clapping, but Sehun wanted nothing of it. It was a victory, they were all safe. That, he was happy for. Yet the absence of Luhan, spoken of as if no longer alive, no longer present hurt too much.

He stood up as well, slightly pushing past the people and the double doors. He heard Baekhyun and Chanyeol calling his name but he paid no heed. He pushed past the large double doors into a sea of reporters, cameras and lights. Questions came from every which way and some even readied themselves to invade the courtroom where many others still stood.

"Oh Sehun, how does it feel winning?"

"Oh Sehun, what attracted you to men?"

"Oh Sehun, can you explain the coming of Min Jung?"

"Oh Sehun..."

"Oh Sehun!"

"Oh Sehun-"

He pushed past them, past the people who stood outside the building. Fangirls of all ages squealed at his appearance, taking pictures with their cameras and asking him what type of girls he liked. He walked past them too, reaching the parking lot in record time. A voice stopped him.

"Hun Hun!"

Min Jung was hot on his heels, pushing a high school girl aside to reach him. His mother and father were running behind, stopping out of relief. She reached him. They came together in a dramatic reunion, hugging each other silently.

"Min Jung, Hun Hun is sorry he couldn't protect Luhan properly."

"It's okay daddy, but don't forget what we promised each other before we left home."

She put her hand out in front of her, palms down. He smiled at her adorable smile, placing his own on top of hers.

"Together?" She began.

"Together," he finished.