The next came like some disaster fell upon Seoul. For Chaeyeon, it fell upon her current predicament as she was cleaning her camera, including the lenses Hyewon gave and the memory card. She cancelled her work for today since she’s going somewhere.

By that somewhere, she means the ICC. And by fate, it means that she was going to see the attorney that called her.

Miyawaki Sakura, was it?

“What timing…” Chaeyeon mumbled as her phone rang. “Hello?”

Miss Lee. It’s Atty. Miyawaki.

“I know.” Chaeyeon sighed. “Don’t bother asking because I’ll be coming there in a few hours.”

Chaeyeon raised an eyebrow as she heard whispers of excitement. Nonetheless, she heard the lawyer speak again.

How are you today? Can I prepare some coffee?

“No need for the acts of courtesy. I won’t stay long.”

Chaeyeon hung up, prepared herself and her stuff, and went out of her apartment with a smile on her face.

What’s with the smirk? It seems she found the exciting noises from before funny.

+++

Eunbi thought Sakura was out of her mind. She was watching her fellow lawyer not act like a lawyer. No lawyer makes cute noises and jumps excitedly in front of her.

“You’re giddy about this case, huh?” Eunbi asked. “Can we even trust this photographer? What if she doesn’t have the evidence at all?”

“What choice do we have, Eunbi? You tell me.” Sakura spoke. “This could be our breakthrough to actually put that murderer in bars and teach those arrogant defense lawyers to know their place in the justice system.”

Eunbi nodded as Sakura got the call from Chaeyeon. She diligently answered the call while going inside to meet with her. As Sakura got to the main lobby, her eyes froze at an elegant woman with a camera and phone in hand. As the woman faced her, Sakura almost dropped her phone. She was trapped in a trance as the long-haired woman greeted her vision.

“Atty. Miyawaki?” The woman called as she puts her phone down.

, Sakura thought. Who knew that the beautiful woman was THE Lee Chaeyeon? To regain her professionalism, she exhaled and walked towards the latter with prowess. For Chaeyeon’s case, she never thought that THE Atty. Miyawaki Sakura was a visual in the justice system.

Enough with the admiration. The meetup was a serious one and they needed to meet a common ground to settle the matter once and for all.

“Miss Lee.” Sakura greeted and lent a hand. “Atty. Miyawaki Sakura, at your service.”

“Lee Chaeyeon; professional photographer.” Chaeyeon shook back. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Sakura motioned Chaeyeon to follow her to her office. Chaeyeon walked casually behind as she observed the interior and the sign where PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE was held up to the side.

“You’re a lawyer and a prosecutor?” Chaeyeon asked.

“They’re just the same, Miss Lee.” Eunbi spoke while using her laptop. “The difference is that we’re against the defense lawyers.”

“So much for courtesy, Eunbi.” Sakura spoke as she offered a chair to Chaeyeon. “Our guest is here.”

Eunbi greeted Chaeyeon properly as she sat beside Sakura by their coffee table. Sakura returned to lock their office and close the blinds.

“What’s with this setup?” Chaeyeon asked. “I feel like I’m in an interrogation room.”

“For safety purposes, Miss Lee.” Eunbi spoke as Sakura returned to her seat.

Despite Chaeyeon declining any drink, Sakura offered her some tea. She mumbled her thanks and drank her nervousness out. Eunbi was still serious yet Sakura nudged her to calm down and not scare a guest away, especially when the said had vital information that might be proven beneficial to their case.

“When did you witness it, Miss Lee?”

“Eunbi.” Sakura nudged her again then chuckled at Chaeyeon. “I apologize for my fellow prosecutor. She gets too serious with thi – “

“It was a Friday at around 9 P.M.” Chaeyeon spoke directly as she her camera. “My fellow photographer and I were trying out our new lenses when that happened.”

The two prosecutors were impressed of Chaeyeon’s cooperation. But as the cup of tea was placed down, Chaeyeon got her turn to ask. “How am I even sure to disclose whatever information I have that could be of great benefit to you?”

They were shocked again. Who knew the office itself wasn’t a guarantee for Chaeyeon to trust them?

“If you thought this is a scam, then why did you come here?” Eunbi joined in the game of sarcasm.

“Because I want to get this over with,” was all Chaeyeon said.

“You got the file?”

“Several.” Chaeyeon answered as she gave her camera to the two.

Eunbi and Sakura looked through it. They were impressed of the clear quality – from the footage to the audio – and the fact that Chaeyeon had pictures AND videos. As the last video was finished playing, Chaeyeon got her camera and unmounted the SD card.

“That should be it, right?” Chaeyeon asked.

Sakura did the honors to copy the files. Eunbi answered her question. “I’m afraid not.”

“What?!” Chaeyeon raised. “What’s more to do?!”

“You need to stand as a witness in court.”

“No.” Chaeyeon spore directly as she went to Sakura’s desk to get her footage. “Just present the evidence without me getting called to court. I can’t handle this situation.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be easy, Miss Lee.” Sakura spoke as she returned her SD card. “Knowing that you’re a witness to this, you need to stand up for it. It’s part of the Grand Jury protocols.”

“We need a witness to dictate the evidence and support it or else the murderer won’t be guilty. Worst case scenario, he’ll be free to do whatever he wants and claim more lives.” Eunbi spoke.  “Do you want innocent blood to be spilt, Miss Lee?”

“How can you be sure that the murderer’s guilty?”

“That’s where people of the law come in.” Sakura spoke and showed a file.

It was a file of serial murders throughout the 21^st Century. Chaeyeon went through the pages, finding gruesome pictures of the victims, trials conducted about those murders, and the picture of the murderer that was identical on the footage.

“Heard of the Jijon Clique?” Sakura asked and Chaeyeon shook her head. “Organized crime group known for murdering the rich and for being cannibals. It was like that a first but then, that killing intention got out its motives. And thus, they kill anyone, even their fellow member that try to secede from the group.”

“What does this have to do with the current murderer?” Chaeyeon asked.

“He was a part of the group. He was the only survivor from the group’s execution back in 1994. He lived on as a decent man but I guess old habits die hard, even the tendencies of being a tenacious killer.” Sakura spoke. “Kim Kihyun; younger brother of Kim Kihwan, the group’s organizer.”

Chaeyeon gulped upon finding the pictures and the footage had the same face for a murderer. With all this information, turning back from being a witness wasn’t a good way to go.

“I’ll stand as a witness…” Chaeyeon spoke. “…but under some conditions.”

Eunbi raised an eyebrow. Sakura was up for it. “What will it be, Miss Lee.”

“Leave the people I know out of this and no media should know about me as a witness.” Chaeyeon answered. “I want full confidentiality.”

“Very well.” Sakura agreed to it. “The retrial is scheduled next week. Hopefully, you can come by then.”

Chaeyeon nodded and got up with a bow. The prosecutors bowed back and shook hands with her. Chaeyeon left the office but Sakura offered to take her outside. Once they got to the doors, Chaeyeon faced Sakura. “Just so you know, I didn’t want this because I was afraid.”

“I know, Miss Lee…but please trust in us. As beacons of justice, we won’t let this slip.” Sakura spoke. “See you then.”

Chaeyeon nodded, puts her glasses and mask on, and left the ICC. Sakura looked at her for while before returning office. On the way, she made calls with some people. As she finished, she returned with a smirk on her face.

To hell, she would NEVER let a murderer slip through the bars of justice.