March 12, 2015  
9:07 AM
Seoul Courtroom
Court Case: Kim Jungnan vs. Lee Sungjae

At the front of the courtroom sat a platform in the center, behind the podium was a woman in her late 20s. Her clean and pale skin was buried under the heavy makeup she wore, and her normally silky black hair was tied in a loose ponytail. She was clad in a judge’s signature costume, the black robe. Judge Park Siyeon was the name carved into the podium. Before her weres paperwork of evidence handed to her, and just within her reach was her weapon, a wooden gavel. On her right were her ten juries all seated against the wall in provided chairs. In front of her was her plaintiff, defendant, and audience.

On the overhead was the photo of a dead woman dressed in a black dress. Her once clean black hair looked like snakes on the ground and on her forehead was a large cut, meanwhile around her neck were black bruises.

“Ms. Kim Taehee was discovered dead outside my client Mr. Lee Sungjae, her late husband’s, door after signs of self terminating. It is not right for Ms. Kim Taehee’s mother to charge Mr. Lee Sungjae for murder as he was not in South Korea at the time,” a man in a nice black suit declared, “here are the evidence that shows that Mr. Lee Sungjae has checked in into a hotel in his hometown in Maine, in the states.” The man slide the paper onto an overhead projector, raising murmurs among the audience and juries. “As you can clearly see, the time of death of Ms. Kim Taehee does not match up with the time my client was in the states, therefore it’s impossible to say that Mr. Lee Sungjae murdered Ms. Kim Taehee.”

Park Siyeon exhaled heavily as she glanced over to the table that seated the plaintiff Ms. Kim Jungnan and the young lawyer. “Plaintiff representative, Lawyer Yoo Seungho, do you have anything to add to what the defendant representative has just said? Now is the last time to say anything.” She reminded the lad.

The man with thick eyebrows and dark black hair looked up to meet her pretty chocolate eyes, his double eyelids were visible making him simply handsome. “I do,” he answered before standing up with his own pile of evidence. Beside him, the older woman who was mother to the dead Taehee, Jungnan sat quietly with red eyes, silently praying for her lawyer’s success. “In South Korea, especially in the mountains there are Korean pine trees. However, in the city, like Incheon where Lee Sungjae’s home is located, there were a few type of pine trees.”

The audience grew curious and confused as to why the lad was speaking about trees.

“The cause of Ms. Taehee’s death was reported to be done by a wooden stick that she had constantly beat her head with until she lost conscious, and died due to the trauma. However, pieces of bark that were left in her skin was transferred to the DNA lab, and surprisingly the DNA of the fragments matches that of an Eastern White Pine tree. A tree that only grows in the Eastern land of the states, where Mr. Lee Sungjae came from.” The young man placed the paper onto the overhead. Gasps were heard in the audience and eyes were drawn onto Sungjae. The 45 year old male sat in silence with wandering eyes. “In the defendant’s yard there is an Eastern White Pine tree in the back of his home, which was planted there, however Ms. Kim Taehee’s body was discovered near the front of his three acre property. The yard from what I've seen was clean daily by Mr. Lee Sungjae's workers. But why would a piece of the tree be in the front if no one had brought it there? Why would Ms. Kim Taehee need to go into the back for a piece of the tree. It was clear that Ms. Kim Taehee was attacked, someone snuck up on her from the back, and it's been known that Mr. Lee Sungjae is said to be in the back on most nights, so,”

“Objection! Councillor is one-sidedly assuming my cilent was home when we've already proven that he wasn't,” the lawyer of Sungjae said, cutting in.

“Councillor, please refrain from personal assumptions,” Siyeon said. The younger man selected another piece of paper from his stack and present it to the people in the room.

"Yes. Then, I'll like to submit more evidence," the room watched as Seungho moved closer to his own table.

“These are photos of the Eastern Pine Tree in Mr. Lee Sungjae’s home, as well as its surrounding. Other than Mr. Lee Sungjae, all of his employees claimed that they are not allowed twenty feet within the tree. But there was signs of strugle near the trunk of it.” As the man said, the beautiful grasses were smeared in different directions, even showing signs of it being pulled. “And here,” another photo of the deceased’s hands were shown. The audience wasn’t sure what was wrong with her hand until the male pointed it out. “under Ms. Taehee’s fingernails were stains of grasses and dirt, and if you recall the grasses around the pine tree were weeded out.”

The man looked into the eyes of Siyeon, who wore a soft smile.

“The bruises around Ms. Taehee’s neck were reported to be a mystery, however if you look at it closely, they were done by being strangled. The law reinforcement passed it up as mysterious bruises since there were no clues of fingerprints, but in fact there are.” The fellow placed another paper over the projector. “Because the strangling was done with gloves therefore you cannot trace fingerprints. However, after being able retrieve the used gloves of Mr. Sungjae, the scanning of the glove’s finger patterns matched that on Ms. Taehee. Also, under Ms. Kim Taehee's neck where an index finger should have been, it's less visible because if you take a look at Mr. Lee Sungjae's hands, his index finger is shorter on his right hand,”

“Objection! Councilor has no solid evidence and is coming up with absurd ideas to this case!”

“I have it,” the young man cut in and finally dropped the last piece of his stack onto the projector. It was a few printed photos of the man Sungjae at the airport, all covered in black. “Mr. Sungjae is a public figure, him going to the airport was captured. In the first photos, before leaving South Korea he was wearing the black gloves. However, after arriving to the states, he had taken off his gloves. The time Taehee’s body was discovered was when Lee Sungjae checked into a hotel in Maine. But there has been reports that Ms. Taehee has been dead for at least twenty hours. From the time it take from Incheon to Maine is at least 18 hours. As for his index finger, well Mr. Lee Sungjae is here in person so I did not provide any visuals. That’s all I have to say.”

The sound of Siyeon’s mallet clashing against the sound block put an end to the three day long trial. Once the courtroom was nearly empty the woman, Jungnan grabbed Seungho’s hands. “Thank you so much for proving that man guilty for taking my daughter’s life, my Taehee can now rest in peace. Thank you so much Lawyer Yoo,” she thanked with tears flowing down her cheeks. Seungho placed one hand over the woman’s hand.

“Ms. Taehee’s death was not wasted, so rest assure now and send her off with peaceful thoughts.” The man said to the lady who nodded.

Seungho was walking down the steps with his trench coat in one hand and suitcase in another. “Lawyer Seungho!” The lad stopped in his steps as he turned to the caller, seeing that it was the judge. Park Siyeon had taken off her proud black robe and was dressed in a formal blouse and skirt. As she head over with a brief smile, she stopped before Seungho. “Good work today, I knew you would prove him guilty.”

Seungho heaved a sigh and pocketed his hand, “Siyeon, didn’t I tell you not to talk to me when we’re not alone? What would people think if they see the lawyer and judge together?”

Siyeon playfully smacked him on the shoulder, “Why? You’re afraid they’ll say we’re seeing each other?”

“No, I’m afraid they’ll think I only won the lawsuit because you were the judge.” He stated, but she insisted.

“So what? Your proofs are always valid and on point so what can they say?”

Seungho heft yet another sigh, “Did you eat yet?”

“Not yet, let’s go out for lunch.” She answered instantly with a cheerful expression, and the corner of her lips curled upward helplessly.

“Sure, I’ll treat.” Seungho said in which she nodded before joining him on the same step.

“Let’s go,”

Seungho and Siyeon were dining at a classy table with a variety of food. While Seungho cut through the expensive meat before him, Siyeon stole glances up at him. “Seungho,” she began, earning the much younger man’s attention before hesitating, “you know….You should really consider moving up here. If you start your law firm here, you would have more opportunities and will even be able to expand your career.”

She saw how Seungho’s shoulder dropped before he spoke, “You know I have no interest in fame.”

“I’m not asking you to work for fame,” Siyeon quickly cleared up any misunderstanding, “but you should move up here. If you do, you may be able to solve your brother’s case—” she stopped herself when she noticed the sharp eyes Seungho was giving her.

The young lawyer placed his eating utensils down and look up to lock gazes with the beauty before him, “I know you mean well, but I will take care of it on my own. His case.... I will take care of it on my own.” The topic ruined their appetite for the evening, though they continued to eat a little in order to strengthen themselves for the rest of their day.

Later that day, Seungho made the trip back to his hometown in Incheon. Where he was greeted with the too familiar scenery and less crowded streets. Seungho was born in Incheon and has been a resident there for nearly twenty years, after spending only three years in Seoul. That was where he met Park Siyeon, who was in the practice of becoming a judge. He was only seventeen then, but she was twenty seven. In the first two years there, Siyeon guided Seungho and gradually became his only friend in Seoul, as Seungho had trust issues. It was in the third year that Siyeon confronted the practitioner, her feelings, who was on his way to become one of the youngest lawyer in South Korea. Although Seungho was dulled to the idea of romance, he accepted Siyeon as a way of thanking her. Even when she was fully aware of it, she was determined to make Seungho fall for her someday, no matter how long it was going to take.

Seungho was locked in his small and tidy office as he looked out the blinds. From the second floor, he could see the citizens below making their way home as night time grew closer and closer. Right when Seungho was readied to leave the window and over to his desk, the phone on his desk started to ring.

Another customer, he thought. With only three steps, he was beside the technology on his busy organized desk.

“Incheon Lawyer Yoo Seungho speaking,” he answered through the phone.

“It’s me.”