13

       Although hesitating, she lifted her hand to ring the doorbell. It has been almost two minutes since she arrived yet she has to be honest, she can’t press the doorbell button earlier as she has a lot of doubts on what she’s doing. She shouldn’t help anymore, she’s already out of the case, but it felt like she needs to.

“Sakura-unnie?” The owner of the house went out of the house, confused about the unannounced visit of the prosecutor who is noticeable holding a brown envelope.

“Are you busy? I need time to talk to you.” The older said, informal, and her appearance doesn’t seem for business at all, it looks like… she’s here for personal purposes instead.

“No, no. Come in.” The owner invited.

Upon walking inside the huge house, Sakura felt the unusual coldness embracing her body quickly.

“Please, feel comfortable.” She stood next to the sofa in the living area that the younger pointed at her, and instead of settling herself there to relax, she just examined Yujin who’s walking towards the kitchen.

“Coffee? Sorry, that’s the only thing I can offer now, I have nothing since we had a trial.”

Is the house empty really because of the trial, or is it already empty even before things happened?

Sakura thought and she honestly wanted to ask, but questioning the younger things like this won’t help yet, so she decided to just go along, “Yeah, sure, no worries.”

This scene looks familiar, but the subjects were just switched. Sakura can remember the day Yujin went to her house with her, the owner, keeping shut instead of entertaining the visitor by opening topics to talk about. But the energy is more negative than back on that day, Yujin seems…

A lot burdened than that day.

Examining the latter, she’s not even wearing a proper pair of pajamas, she doesn’t look physically fine as well – eyes are puffed with bags underneath, face is swollen, lips are dry and pale, she simply looks wasted, as if her life got ed up, which is not an ‘as if’ at all.

But right, how did things turned out like this? They were all just a bunch of happy students before, life were hard as a university student, but they are surely enjoying several things while carrying their heavy problems too. They were all fine… they were all happy.

Sakura might’ve avoided everyone for years, almost cut everyone out of her life, but she still can remember the good memories they have created before they separated. She can remember how goofy and energetic of a dongsaeng Yujin is.

The last time she saw this kid, she was still smiling visualizing her future, the future where she has this big house, driving an expensive car, has a stable career, known as an excellent lawyer in the industry and with a known doctor married to her, a loving and a happy wife – supposedly.

She reached everything except one…

“Happy wife.”

And having a thought of that, she’s certain that even Yujin is in a painful situation, Minjoo is probably facing more as of now, yes, she’s sure… because she has seen it, just earlier, before she comes here.

“Ma’am, she’s here.” Sakura bowed her head a little to thank of the guard informing her. She is currently sitting on the chair in the visiting room, her hands fidgeting a little. This is the first time she felt unsure about talking to an inmate, and this is the first time she needed to visit a friend just to justify the things that had happened and not as a professional, or the prosecutor who usually has the confident image.

Soon after, an officer and an inmate whose hands are locked, came. And Sakura felt her world stopped that moment her eyes aw the bruises and wounds on the woman’s face. No one had ever imagined this angelic face would even have a scratch on it and having the sight of it right at this moment sends… fright.

“Minjoo…” The name came out from the prosecutor.

“What happened to you?” Worried, she asked, almost standing from her seat.

But what did break the prosecutor more? It was when the inmate chuckled and answered, “Nothing.”

“Why are you here by the way, Unnie?”

“I-I’m…”

Her mind blanked, she knew that their lives are a mess, but seriously, this is too much.

“I heard what happened from a friend here, I’m… here to clarify things.”

Minjoo averted her eyes down to the table dividing them apart.

“What… do you want to clarify, Unnie?” Hoarse and low toned, Minjoo’s voice is as she questioned, “I’m sure you heard what I said too? I already admitted it…” The inmate’s eyes made its way to stare at the prosecutor orbs…

“I killed her, I killed Chaewon.” The doctor even mustered a smile, trying to prove that she’s confident, that whatever comes through her lips are true.

“Against my Hippocratic oath, right? Against with how all of you viewed m-…”

“Did you admit it or just owned it?”

That shut the younger from speaking, not letting her finish her sentence, and even Sakura needed to heave once after letting out that question. Minjoo took a moment to answer, and the interval made Sakura feel convinced that the second option is the answer.

“Both?”

“I admitted it, because I should own what I did, right?”

“No, Minjoo…”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Unnie. I know, you also have seen me as an angel in a human form, but maybe the reason why I’m actually here on earth instead of just being an angel, is because I’m a fallen one? Don’t you think?” The younger chuckled, but the fake soft laughs were in no time, cut, “Stop, Minjoo…” yet even with the order from the older,  “I already cheated, what’s making you think that I can’t kill anyway?” Minjoo didn’t stop.

“Unnie…”

“I killed her.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“When you came to my house, when you were explaining, when you cried… I knew from that moment, that even cheating, is something unbearable for you to do. You were just pushed to do it, you were just caught up.”

Minjoo is starting to lose the grip on herself…

“And please, cheating is far way different from killing someone. Please, Minjoo, tell me…”

“You just owned it, didn’t you?”

“No.”

It hadn’t been ten minutes yet since they began to talk, but the prosecutor is already feeling tired. She had been a prosecutor for years, she was able to make different suspects confess their crimes on their own, but why is Minjoo  different one? Why is this one person who she believes is innocent, harder to squeeze.

“You owned it… to lessen the burden Yujin is carrying.”

There, Sakura caught how Minjoo’s brows twitched, and sh knew, her words are slowly destroying the doctor’s façade, so she continued…

“You owned it just to make it easier for everyone, especially Yujin. You owned it thinking that it’s best not for you, but for her. You owned it, even though you’re innocent.” Sakura paused there, took a deep breath and started again…

“But don’t you think it’s unfair? The real suspect is out there, living a life outside this prison while you’re here, locked, with your name stained, and with everyone else believing that you killed her? Don’t you think, it is also unfair for Chaewon? You’re here, the woman she truly loves, is imprisoned instead of the real suspect, who really killed her.”

Tears are threatening to leave from the inmate’s ducts, she needed to bow her head and hide her distorting mask, she even bit her lower lip to prevent herself from releasing a sob.

“You miss Yujin…”

“You love her, you were really just caught by the lack of affection and attention that your wife should’ve given.”

“I know, Minjoo… So please, think about what you’re doing, don’t give up like this. You’ve suffered too much, you deserve to at least go out from here and start another life. But if you’re still thinking of Yujin…”

“I only can promise to watch her for you, and don’t worry, I will convince her to continue. Neither of you… should give up from one another. Not at least now.”

“Why are you not sitting, Unnie?” Sakura’s wheel of memory was stopped as Yujin approached the living area, holding two cups of coffee, and asking her while taking a seat across her position.

“A-Ahh, nothing.” She responded quickly and shrugged it off as soon as her body touched the relaxing couch.

“How are you?” Sakura, a known prosecutor for being blunt and direct, can’t say her purpose of coming yet.

Yujin chuckled, “Not really fine, but uh, I’m taking a rest, so I probably will be in a few days.”

“What about Minjoo’s case?” Pretending that she doesn’t know a thing that had happened a few days ago, she asked.

Yujin’s eyes blinked a little hard, and the prosecutor heard a deep inhale from the prior, “It’ll be concluded shortly.”

“How?”

“She already confessed that she killed Chae-…”

“And you’re believing that?”

Yujin was startled by the question, and it manifested as her eyes just stared at her senior who, let out a sigh while placing the envelope she brought to the center table.

“I actually came here to give a small help.” Sakura signaled the younger to take the envelope and scan the papers in it, “I’ve done a review through the files that Eunbi had, and I believe, the person who actually killed Chaewon has knowledge in medicine, but not used with the procedure.”