Jessica’s POV

I made my way up to the stand, my eyes focused, daring not to look at the two people that made his  life a living nightmare. As the bailiff brought out his book and stood in front of me. “Put one hand on the book please. /puts down my left hand/ Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

“I do.” I croaked out.

The bailiff nodded. “Then you may sit. ”I sat down waiting for the questions to come in.

Topanga (the lawyer who I had called to defend us) made her way forward and started the questioning. “Ms. Jung, how long has it been since you’ve seen your brother?”

I grimaced. “About 5 years.”

“When you saw your brother for the first time a couple of days ago, tell me how it felt to see him with all his injuries?”

Tears were already forming in my eyes. “How did I feel? It was traumatizing! I couldn’t even hug him properly! The only thing I should have been thinking about was how much he grew up and how he would look different, not where are his injuries so I don’t touch them or where they came from!”

Topanga nodded and continued. “Did you have any knowledge of what your parents were doing?”

I shook my head instantly and shouted, “Of course not!”

Topanga’s eyes connected with mine and they were screaming ‘calm down’. I took a deep breath and got my emotions back in check. “If I had known about what they were doing, I would’ve done something about it sooner.”

Topanga said “I see, before you heard about the abuse and neglect, when did you last hear from your parents?”

“I haven’t heard from them in over 4 years, since I was no longer a trainee. The only thing they usually asked for was money from that week's paycheck. My sister and I sent them the money, thinking that they would use it to help pay the bills, but mostly we hoped they would use it for Andrew’s school funds. There was no thought in my mind that it would have been used for their-”

“Liar!” Shouted out my mother, “We did not spend it on ourselves you little inconsiderate-” /Hammer pounds three times/ “You do not speak until it’s your turn Mrs. Jung.”

The judge turned to me. “As you were saying...”, I looked at her apologetically for my mother's behavior and continued, “I didn’t think it would have been used for their weekly supply of alcohol.”

Topanga had a few more questions for me about my finances, experiences I’ve had dealing with children, my plans for raising my siblings, etc. To my dismay, the hard part was just beginning because then it was time for the other lawyer to cross examine me. Our eyes connected for a moment and I could tell he was silently apologizing for having to oppose me. It seemed like he didn't want my parents to win either, but he was forced to try the case. He quickly cleared his throat and started his questioning. “Ms. Jung, how often did you talk to your brother over the past 5 years?”

I looked down. “Not as much as I should have.”

“Could you please be more specific?”

“I’d call at best 2-3 times a month. But we’d text sometimes if I wasn’t too busy.” I hung my head in shame.

“I see, and you haven’t seen your brother at all in those 5 years, correct?”

I nodded. “My work complicated things-”

“Yes and remind us all what you do for a living.” He said cutting me off from what I was about to say.

I took a deep breath before I answered. “I’m a member of a Korean pop group called So Nyuh Shi Dae a.k.a Girls’ Generation.”

“Would you consider your work to be time consuming?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I answered slowly.

“Why?” He asked.

“Well, the amount of time we spend training and learning choreography is just the beginning of what we do. There’s variety show appearances, fan greetings, concerts, solo activities, etc. Not to mention all the traveling we sometimes have to do for these events.” I answered slightly confused. Where is he going with this?

Topanga’s thoughts echoed mine as she shouted, “Objection! What’s the point to these questions?”

The judge banged her hammer. “Sustained. Please get to the point.”

He nodded. “You spend all this time away from your family, how do you intend to support your two siblings as their guardian?”

I cleared my throat. “I’ve already answered that question but I'll say it again. My sister is a korean pop star like myself, which makes her just as busy as me. She has group members/friends that help me watch out for her. As for Andrew, I haven’t really thought about it, but-”

“Stop.", he moved sideways and pointed to Andrew and Krystal from where he was standing, “You made it such a point earlier that you were doing this to be there for them and to be a good sister, but how can you do that if you can’t be there physically and emotionally!?”

I sat in silence, unsure of what to say. He makes a good point. The way my job is I would never be there for them and Andrew would get the worst of it.

“Furthermore, if my clients have committed the crimes they are being accused of, a good sister would have sensed that something was wrong with her brother! What’s the real reason you’re doing this? Hmmm? Is it because you feel guilty for not being there in the first place?!”

Topanga shot up from her seat like a rocket. “Objection!”

The lawyer’s head snapped in her direction. “I’m simply stating the facts here Mrs. Matthews.”

She shook her head. “No, what you’re doing is badgering my witness! Using her emotions to cloud her better judgement, and making her feel guilty!”

This time my father stood up and shouted “He’s just telling the truth! If it hurts her, that’s her fault!”

The judge punded her hammer three times. “Order in the court! /turns to my father/ Mr. Jung, I’ve already warned your wife about talking out of turn, don't make me penalize you”, My father sat down with a sour expression and stayed silent, “Ms. Jung, I’ve heard enough, you may go back to your seat.”

I got off the stand and caught my brother’s eyes as I walked toward my seat. I hoped that his eyes would allow me to see what he was thinking, but they were unreadable. I sat back down next to Krystal who had looked at me with glassy eyes. Eyes that looked as if she was about to tear the room apart with her bare hands. I looked at the back of my brothers head and thought, What are you thinking baby Jung, what’s going on in your head?

Then not a moment sooner Topanga called the next witness to the stand.