“Your Honour, please, how can anyone possibly believe a girl who doesn’t remember any details of the night in question. Surely, she would recall some form of activity between my client and herself.”

I sat in the court, all eyes on me. It was unbearable. The man that was on the defence constantly pointed at me as he continued to say his final speech before calling his clients to speak. I wanted to run away the shame was that bad.

“Defence, who do you call the stand?” The judge finally spoke when the defence had finished talking. He stood from his chair that he had momentarily sat on to look through papers.

“I call to the stand, Kwon Yuri.” As I stood from my seat and walked over to where I was told to go, I could feel every single eye on me but I could only look at my parents. They gave me an encouraging nod as I took an oath before sitting down again.

“Ms. Kwon, tell me what you did on the evening of Friday the 21st?” The lawyer walked from his table and in towards the area where you could only walk past if you had permission. I had no idea what it was called. Everyone looked at me waiting for an answer.

“I was at a party.”

“Yes? Whose party were you at?” His questions were so picky and I knew they hadn’t even started yet.

“I’m not sure. I just went along with my friends. I wanted them to think I was cool.” I realized in that moment how stupid it sounded and I wished I could take it all back.

“Okay. So why, if you wanted your friends to think you were cool, why did you leave the party prematurely?”

It was like watching a tennis match, eyes darting from one person to the other as they threw tennis balls of questions and answers across the courtroom.

“Because a boy tried to make advances on me and I said no but he kept trying. I got scared and left.” I stuttered many times throughout my answers. So nervous I couldn’t even look up from my hands.

“And so you just left your friends?”

“Yes I knew they’d be okay and they were having fun without me anyway.” The defence lawyer nodded his head a few times and placed his hand to his chin as if he was thinking of his next question.

“So what did you do after you left the party?” He finally asked as he paced back and forth. I would’ve found it annoying if I wasn't terrified.

“I began walking home.”

“I recall, in your police statement you said it was raining that night. You walked home in the rain?”

“Yes, I was too afraid to call my parents and I couldn’t afford a cab.” My answers were just as rehearsed as his questions. My lawyer had told me that these questions would be asked and I should practice. Though my answers were all true I still felt like a robot, just passing on a message.

“Okay, so what happened next?”

“I was probably halfway home, when I noticed someone following me.”

“Halfway home you said? How long have you been walking before you realized someone was following you?” His words were strong and demeaning, it made it hard to form any real sentence.

“About forty minutes.” I remembered to the dot how long it had taken me before I realized he was following me.

“And you told the police that it was my client that had followed you, yes?”

“Yes.”

“You see Ms. Kwon, I have several eyewitnesses saying that you saw my client at the party when you told the police you saw him following you.” He hadn’t asked me a question. I didn’t know what to do in this situation, and I felt tears form in my eyes. I knew for a fact that it was him following me. I remember   his face hovering over me. I remember him saying my name. I remember him holding me so I couldn’t run.

“Objection your honour, is there any question?” My lawyer jumped from her seat, saving me.

“Sustain your honour. Ms. Kwon, I just want to know the truth. How is it that so many people said my client was there and you’re saying he was following you?”

I wanted to crack. I wanted to scream at this man for making me feel so horrible! For making that boy look innocent! I hated him, and I hated this.

“Objection your honour, leading the jury.” My lawyer jumped up again, she could see me struggling but it was hard to even be remotely close to strong.

“Sustain. Mr. Woo Jung may I remind you that you are here to defend, not prosecute.”

“Sorry your honour. No further questions.” The defence lawyer walked back to his table and sat back down next to his client. It was the first time I had even looked at him since I’d entered the room. The boy stared at me and smiled. His smile was a trademark. I hated looking at him. It made me want to cry.

“Prosecution, do you have anything to add?” The judge looked over to my lawyer. She stood with confidence and walked in front of me.

“Yes your honour.” She smiled softly and it relaxed me slightly.

“Ms. Kwon, tell me what happened once you realized someone was following you?” I had tried desperately hard for months to forget what had happened that night. But here they just kept bringing it back up. Making me remember every single detail!

“I tried walking faster but he caught up to me and I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head…”

“Yuri sweetie...I’m sorry.” Chae watched as her daughter read over the court and connected the dots that formed in front of her. Her eyes filled with tears and her anger worsened at the memory of what happened so many months ago.

Jessica’s father! He was the lawyer that stood in that court room. He said she was the liar! He explained that what happened that night was Yuri’s fault! The brunette couldn’t control her anger anymore. She crumbled up the court files and threw them to the ground. She ran out of the kitchen and outside to her car.

As Yuri drove she found herself constantly thinking of Jessica. Yuri didn’t even know if Jessica  knew what had happened to the brunette’s court case. Surely, if her father worked on it so much Jessica would’ve asked what had happened. The case was practically viral. Yuri didn’t understand why no one had picked up on who she was. Yes it had happened over eight months ago but it was on the new and in papers.

The brunette drove for almost two hours when she finally arrived at her destination.

She pulled up down the road from a large sign that read “Philadelphia Adult Correctional Facility”, contemplating whether or not her next move would be a smart decision. After several minutes of an inner debate, Yuri turned her car on and continued through to the prison.

She knew she would have to do this eventually.

Parking with the other visitors, Yuri got out of her car and walked to the allocated entrance. As she went through the procedure to visit an inmate, the brunette repetitively told herself to stay strong. A guard told Yuri to place all her metals and any other belongings in a tray and then to follow him. Quickly she handed over her wallet to another guard behind a barricaded desk and pursued the first guard.

As the two walked the man went on about all the rules and regulations Yuri had to follow and then as they reached a large door he asked if she understood. She nodded softly. He banged on the door and Yuri head a loud buzz followed by a clicking sound. Shortly after, the guard opened the door and walked inside. Yuri assumed to follow and headed into a plain grey room.

“You have a visitor.” The guard spoke as Yuri looked around the room. It had a single metal table in the centre and four cameras in each corner. There was a mirror on one wall that Yuri assumed could be seen through on the other end, she had seen rooms like these in crime show on television all the time.

When Yuri drew her attention back to the guard she noticed his tone was almost mocking. It was clear that the person wouldn’t be in the room for any other reason.

“Well, lucky me.” A deep voice replied. The guard moved from in front of Yuri and moved to the far corner. Yuri was slightly relieved he was staying in the room with the pair.

Finally, for the first time since the court case, Yuri laid her eyes upon the boy. He looked away from the guard and towards Yuri, giving her his trademark smile once again. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and his hair dyed white silver and unkept but Yuri recognized him instantly.

“Hello Yuri.” His voice was deeper than Yuri remembered but the way he said her name wasn’t any different. She heard it constantly every other day over and over in her head since the day she had met him. Even behind the bars this boy was haunting her thoughts. The brunette felt as if she were shrinking. The room was becoming bigger as the boy continued to smile. He had no remorse. It was like he believed his own lies. Telling herself to remember who the bad guy was, Yuri straightened up and sat down at the metal table across from the boy.

“Hello Kris.” She murmured, hating the fact that he was still smiling. As the brunette sat down, she could instantly tell that Kris Yifan was definitely Jessica’s brother. They had the same cold demeanor. The same smile That same damn trademark smile that made you disintegrate underneath its pressure.

“You finally decided to come see me. Been missing me have you?” He spoke with a devilish tone and tried to stare Yuri down. But she stood her ground. She was kind of used to Jessica doing it to her.

“Why did you change your last name, Kris?” His smile immediately disappeared but, like Jessica, he quickly recovered.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do.” But Kris merely looked through Yuri as if she was a mirror.

“Kris Woo Jung. Was it because your father was ashamed to have his son disgrace the family name? I know you got away with what you did to me but you deserve to be in here.”

“I suppose. But at least I’m only here for five years instead of twenty five.” Yuri cringed at the difference in sentence. She had read in the papers about six months ago that Kris had been accessory to a robbery that happened at a major bank.

“Why rob a bank when you had already been in trouble with the law?” Though Yuri didn’t come to see Kris to ask him questions, she was curious and all but mostly she just wanted closure.

“Should I have a lawyer present Yuri? You’re asking me a lot of questions.” His smile stretched across his face. He thought he was so clever.

“No I hear your lawyer dropped you after my case. Only your mother sees you now right?” Yuri was surprised at how confident she was. Kris had also picked up on how much she had changed in just under a year. She was strong. But her comment angered him, how did she know about his father? And his mother for that fact.

“Why are you here Yuri?” Kris’s level of interest was slowly starting to diminish.

“I wanted to see you slowly rotting away.” Yuri’s words were harsh but Kris didn’t budge he merely chuckled slightly and leaned closer to Yuri.

“Ah. Closure.” He laughed softly and winked at Yuri. “How’s this for closure? I’ll be out in five years, probably less with good behaviour. I’ll pay you a visit and give you some closure.” As the words Kris spoke spread through Yuri’s body she stood and walked away. Even in prison he remained a monster. She couldn’t believe how he spoke. It was all just a game to him.

The guard bange don the door again as it opened, Yuri turned to face the boy that had stolen a part of her.

“I’ll be long gone. Good bye Kris.”

When Yuri arrived home it was the early hours of the morning. The lights inside her home were extinguished and the brunette assumed her parents must have gone to bed. It wasn’t a frequent occurrence for Yuri to disappear but when she did go off in her car she would always return when she was ready. However, it wasn’t normal at all for Yuri to go see Kris and she knew her parents wouldn’t approve. That was the first and last time she ever hoped to see him.

When the brunette walked inside and made it to her room she couldn’t be happier to just fall asleep but she noticed on her bed a small envelope. On top there was a small piece that had her mother’s handwriting.

Jessica dropped this over for you while you were out.

I hope you’re okay. Sleep well.

I love you. Mom x

It was comforting to know that her mom was thinking of her. As Yuri sat on her bed she opened the envelope that Jessica had left for her. There wasn’t a lot of writing but Jessica clearly said what she needed to and it couldn’t wait.

I won’t draw this out but I’m mad at you. You should have stood up for me. Whatever your mom has against my dad, sort it out. Don’t bother calling me.

-Jessica

Yuri was so mad at Jessica. Her words were harsh and unnecessary. She had no idea what Yuri or her mom had against her father but Yuri believed it was a sair feeling to have. As the brunette read over the note several times she could feel herself getting more and more flustered and upset.

Jessica had no idea!

The next morning Yuri contemplated not going to school but she didn’t want Jessica to win. Not after the letter stunt. Yuri would go to school and stand proud. She decided in that moment, that she wouldn’t stand down to a Jung anymore.

By the time Yuri had gotten ready her parents were already gone. The brunette wanted to apologize for what had happened last night but she decided to not dwell on the matter. She would apologize later.

As Yuri drove to school she was half expecting to find Jessica and Donghae joined at the hip but instead Jessica stood with her three friends and Donghae was nowhere to be seen. Yuri was slightly relieved but at the same time she desperately tried not to care. She didn’t care who Jessica was with. She couldn’t…

Walking passed the group with confidence pretending as if she didn’t see them at all had caused a lot of curiosity to spread through Jessica’s three friends. Especially since everyone always saw them.

“Okay, I’m not going to try to be subtle about this. But what was that?” Tiffany asked as she watched Yuri walk away and towards the girl’s bathrooms. Tiffany thought she could see the brunette holding back tears but she wasn’t sure.

“What was what?” Jessica acted as if nothing had happened. She was merely continuing her day as if Yuri didn’t exist. Even if it would be the hardest thing she’d ever had to do.

“Seriously! What happened? If looks could kill Jessi, Yuri would be dead ten times over. What did she do to piss you off now?” Tiffany was beginning to feel frustrated spread through her. She could see that Yuri made Jessica happy. Jessica was just too proud to admit it.

“Tiff! That’s enough! We aren't talking about this anymore!” Jessica almost shouted the red head. Jessica’s loud outburst silenced both Sunny and Seohyun but TIffany wasn’t in the mood for giving in on that particular morning.

“Fine. I’ll go ask Yuri.” Tiffany turned and headed towards the girls bathrooms.

“Good luck. She only talks to me.” Jessica tried to speak with confidence but she knew it was a lie. Yuri was becoming more secure about whom she could talk to and the blonde could tell.

“Well it’s better than getting my head bitten off by you.” Tiffany walked away not saying another word. But she was sure that if indeed looks could kill she would be dead a million times over. Tiffany knew Jessica was not happy with her but it irritated the red head profusely that she’s acting so odd about Yuri.

Opening the door to the bathrooms, Tiffany walked in to find Yuri franticly trying to hold back tears. She looked towards the door finding Tiffany smiling at her sympathetically.

“It’s okay. I’m not here to like make you talk or anything. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Since Jessi wasn’t going to do it. Geez! What’s her problem sometimes anyway? I mean seriously, one day she’s fine and the next - BAM! It’s practically World War One! And she’s Hitler!”

Yuri found Tiffany’s ranting extremely funny and it lightened her mood instantly, she laughed at the red heads rambling.

“What?” Tiffany said, all of a sudden back from her monologue. She didn’t realize how nice it was to talk without being interrupted.

“Hitler rose to power in World War Two. I mean he was in the army in World War One but was with the Nazi’s and everything in the Second World War.” Tiffany was mildly shocked that Yuri was speaking to her but also rather shocked at how wrong her facts were.

“Well thank god I don’t do history!” Tiffany exclaimed. Both girls laughed and Yuri fund that she was no longer focused on Jessica and her brother. It was nice to have a clear head for once.

“I’m Tiffany.” The redhead formally introduced herself to the now relaxed Yuri. She had spent time with Yuri constantly throughout the last month but never once had Yuri actually spoken.

“Yuri.” The brunette replied happily.