Baby Steps - Chapter  Sixteen

Kris sat on his hospital bed and watched as his little daughter sat on his lap and played around with crayons.

She held up a crayon. “Wed.” Camellia said.

He chuckled and nodded. “Red. And what’s this?”

“Boo.”

“Blue!” Kris smiled and laughed. “Who taught you that?”

“Mummy!”

Kris nodded. “Mummy’s smart, yeah?” He paused. “Hey, do you want a little brother? Or a little sister?” He asked.

Camellia paused. Another sister? Or brother? Oh wait, so she’d get less attention? She furrowed her brows and shook her head. “No…no…”

“And why is that?” Kris sat up and held her cheeks. “Daddy will love you just as much if you had a brother or a sister.”

“Ah!”

“I’m being serious Camellia, just….you knows, thinking about the future.” Kris grinned.

Camellia looked down at her coloring book and handed him a grey crayon.

“You want me to color these pretty flowers grey?”

She nodded innocently.

“Let’s go on a trip, okay? When I get better, I’ll show you what flowers look like.” Kris smiled.

 

Camellia looked up when she noticed her father fast asleep. She sighed and put her crayons away in the little box it had came with. Closing the book she put it aside and climbed into the covers with Kris.

He opened one eye and smiled. “Wanna nap with daddy?”

“Mhm.” The little girl said, truthfully, it was her naptime too.

 

Claire walked around the empty court room with her hands on her waist. She was terrified, what if she said something wrong?

Sehun stood outside and waited for the jury members to arrive, the hearing was in less than an hour and if Kris’s side won then that would be it. There wasn’t going to be any second trial being that Youngmin said that it was necessary.

 

“We’re going to win anyway, why waste your time for another useless trial?” Youngmin said as he signed the contract stating he didn’t want another trial.

 

Xiumin rolled his eyes at the thought of Kim Youngmin, he felt ashamed to share the same last name as him.

He peeked into the room. “Claire, it’s okay. We’re going to win…Okay?”

“I’m scared.”

“We all are, but don’t think and just do. This is for Kris, remember?”

Claire nodded. “I …Yeah.”

“Slam him in court, okay? Fighting!”

Claire held her fist up. “Fighting!”

 

Luhan wrinkled his nose as he sat in the audience.

“Will the prosecutor begin with her statement?”

He gave her the biggest stank face and made sure she saw it before turning away.

“Kris Wu is suing his CEO, Kim Youngmin for being mistreated. Apaprently, Kim Youngmin didn’t care about his health and overworked him. We do not admit to any of these statements at all, we request to drop the file and have Kris Wu return to work immediately because the company is nearly going bankrupt without him.”

 

Luhan scoffed and turned to the person next to him. “What a dumb hoe, her statement is so childish it hurts.”

 

Youngmin turned to look at Luhan from the prosecutor’s table and wrinkled his nose.

Luhan stuck his tongue and even middle the guy. “We’re winning.” He said quietly.

 

“And will the defender state her rebuttal? Lawyer Jang?”

“Kris Wu sued Kim Youngmin, the CEO of South Korea’s biggest fashion industry for overworking him on purpose. His basic civil rights were taken away from him being that the fact that Kris Wu is a human just like us was ignored. You should know that he is in the hospital right now due to extreme fatigue and has even encountered a heart problem.”

Youngmin stood up and slammed his fists onto the table. “THAT’S BULL…HE’S FINE.”

“Please sit.” The judge said before turning to Lawyer Jang. “Continue.”

“We have a witness, a few actually to prove this. We might not even need more than one witness to prove our statement.”

 

Claire walked into the witness’s seat and took an oath before sitting down.

“Begin your questioning.”

 

“Is it true that you live with Kris? What’s your relationship with him?” Lawyer Jang asked.

The audience anticipated Claire’s answer.

 

“I do live with Kris; we’re quite close and his daughter has taken a liking to me.”

“Is it true that you’ve noticed Kris’s health deteriorate in the past few months?”

Claire nodded. “It’s true; I stopped seeing him around the house since he was always cooped up in his room. He went out to meetings during ungodly hours and even his little girl would question if he existed.”

She continued. “He texted me a lot saying he was tired and didn’t feel well. Unfortunately, none of us noticed it was getting so bad up to this extent; a heart problem.”

Lawyer Jang nodded. “Have you met with Kim Youngmin in the past few weeks? What do you know about him?”

Claire turned and stared Youngmin down. “As a matter of fact, I did encounter Youngmin within the past few weeks. I know he is a careless person who only wants money.”

 

Youngmin slammed his hands on the table. “WATCH YOUR MOUTH, .”

 

She continued without flinching at his harsh words. “He overworked Kris because he was jealous; he opened his own company and was angry to know that Kris got all the fame. Kris is young, smart, good looking and all. He’s the whole package, he’s what every girl wants. Mr. Kim here, he’s jealous that no one knows of him.”

Claire stood up when Lawyer Jang took a seat. “Take it from here, steal the show.” Lawyer Jang had said silently before sitting.

 

Claire looked around to all the paparazzi and the audience; she eyed the jury and the judges as well. “Be honest with me, do all of you know who Kris Wu is? Some of you are even wearing his clothing right?” She eyed the judge’s tie and winked when she noticed the familiar pattern.

The audience nodded in agreement.

“Walk down the street, ask any person…They will know who Kris Wu is. Am I right?”

Again, another nod.

“How many of you didn’t know who Kim Youngmin was until today? Almost all of you, right? You open your own company and no one even acknowledges the fact that you’re alive.”

Kim Youngmin stood up and grabbed a few case files near him. He threw it towards her in anger. “, SHUT YOUR MOUTH. YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING.”

Claire stepped away. “I see you weren’t athletic either.” She smirked before turning back to the judges.

Security had pinned him down by now. “And do you realize that Mr.Kim’s prosecutor has nothing to say? She has a loss for words because she knows I’m right. All Mr.Kim wants is money, he wants money. He’ll overwork his rival, Kris and get tons of money. Eventually, he’d get recognition for being the CEO of the most successful fashion company. It all makes sense doesn’t it?”

“, I DON’T ING WANT MONEY I CARE ABOUT KRIS.” Youngmin splat out.

Claire chuckled. “Don’t start with the I care about him, there’s nothing you can fix …it’s too late. You don’t care about money? What if Kris leaves your company? He has the liberty to do that, you know? He has enough money to buy your damn company so why would he want to stay in a place like this? Stop with your act, you don’t give two s about Kris …Money and fame, that’s all you want.”

 

Youngmin furrowed his brows.

 

“And I know, I’m in court…I need more evidence. Words aren’t everything, you need solid evidence. Lawyer Jang?”

 

Lawyer Jang stood up with Claire’s phone. “During her short meeting with Kim Youngmin, she had their conversation recorded.”

 

Youngmin’s eyes widened. “YOU SLY DECIEVING .”

“Look who’s talking.” Claire chuckled before turning to the judges. “Listen, just listen to what he says…Notice his tone and all, keep in mind that Kris’s manager was there too. He too tried to defend Kris by saying he isn’t in the condition to work while Mr.Kim here wants him to get the back to work.” Claire said.

 

The judge’s eyes widened at the conversation they had. They turned to each other and whispered a few times before turning back to the audience.

“There’s nothing left to say, please give us a few moments for deliberation.”

 

“KIM YOUNGMIN IS CHARGED FOR THE MISTREATMENT OF KRIS WU; HE INTENTIONALLY TOOK AWAY HIS CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS. AS OF JUNE 5^TH, 2014 HE WILL BE SUSPENDED FROM RUNNING HIS COMPANY UNTIL FUTHER NOTICE.”

 

Luhan jumped up from the audience. “YES…YESS…YASS….YASSS. CLAIRE YASS….YOU WON…WE WON! KRIS WON! OH YES…MY SHIP IS SAILIN’ TODAY!” He squealed before running out of the courtroom with his arms in the air.

“GOD BLESS.” He peeked in and screamed before leaving.

 

Claire smiled at Lawyer Jang.

“That…that’s it?”

She smiled and nodded. “We won.”