Tick, tock, tick, tock,...

For the first couple of hours Kris actually kept track of the time. After 10 hours and 25 minutes he stopped.

He scratched the wood of the table and shifted in his chair, always trying to ignore the clock and its endless tick, tock, tick,...

He couldn't even remember how he ended up in the tiny windowless room. He knocked at the door and screamed before.
At some point he pissed in a corner and hoped that there were hidden cameras that monitored him and that would tell whoever kept him there that he was vandalizing their property. But no one came and Kris was left with the smell and no furniture but a table with a chair.
So for the last couple of hours he just sat at the table, almost motionless.

Tick, tock, tick, tock,...

Someone suddenly opened the door and startled him.

He frowned when it was Jongdae who entered and who bowed while giving him a diplomatic smile. He walked to him without saying a word and sat down.

Kris was still trying to figure out why he didn't notice the second chair when someone cleared his throat. Jongdae immediately stood up and gestured Kris to do the same.
When he looked up he saw another table opposite his and Jongdae who stood next to a person whose face was hidden behind a demon mask.

That Jongdae in front of him didn't even look at him. Jongdae next to him was busy skimming through a folder.

"So today we're going to discuss the case of Wu Yifan versus Hell, right?" another Jongdae at a bigger table on his right asked. He wore an ugly wig.

"Yes, your Honor," Jongdae in front of him answered.

"Well, let's make this short then," Jongdae with the wig said and looked at a pile of papers in front of him. "We all know he's guilty anyway, right?"

"I object, your Honor," Jongdae next to Kris yelled as Jongdae with the wig shook his head in exasperation. "He is innocent until proven guilty. I hope your Honor will not show any biased opinion in front of the jury." He pointed at a group of other Jongdaes who sat on a bench and looked only mildly interested. One of them yawned.

"Oh, calm down, will you? I'm sick of you lawyers from Heaven. Barely any of your clients ever makes it anyway," Judge (?) Jongdae muttered as he scratched his head under the wig.
"Well, anyway," he said a little louder. "You know the rules. Both prosecution and defense will give five examples of why or why not they think the defendant deserves to go to Hell or wherever, we will come to a decision and then we can all go home and forget that Heaven made up these stupid rules about giving everyone a chance until we have to argue about yet another worthless mortal." A jury member clapped.

"So who's going to start? Prosecution? Defense?" he asked and frowned at Lawyer Jongdae who seemed particularly motivated. "I don't even care, really."

"Let me start, your Honor," Prosecutor Jongdae said and stood up before anyone had a chance to protest. "I present you," he bowed in the direction of the Jongdae Jury. "Example Number One."

In front of their eyes a video started playing. It didn't really make much sense at first and Kris didn't really see the point until he suddenly recognized the vase in the background. Wasn't that the one his mother used to own before he accidentally smashed it when he was fifteen?

Nothing happened for a few seconds when a boy suddenly appeared on screen. The boy went to his mother's closet, rummaged through a few drawers until he found a box he took and left.

"What you just saw," Prosecutor Jongdae said dramatically. "Was fourteen-year-old Wu Yifan who stole his mother's necklace to buy a leather jacket."

Someone in the jury booed and Lawyer Jongdae pulled a face. "He starts strong," he said while making a fist. "But we'll be stronger."

Kris leaned back in his chair. He had no idea what was going on but he didn't really care either. If this was a court case to determine whether he was a good person or not, there wasn't really much he could do anyway. He couldn't exactly turn back time and change his actions, so to him there wasn't really a need to argue.

He had to laugh when Lawyer Jongdae countered that one of Kris' good deeds was that he always told his grandmother that she looked lovely, no matter how ugly the dresses she wore really were. He probably had no chance at this rate.

Prosecutor Jongdae definitely had the better examples. He told the jury how Kris had bullied children in his class and showed pictures of their bruises. He could even tell them the total amount of money Kris earned through blackmail. Kris actually was impressed at himself.

When Lawyer Jongdae told them that Kris supposedly was an animal lover, Prosecutor Jongdae just scoffed and showed a video of drunk Kris who beat up a homeless guy.

Lawyer Jongdae retorted that Kris often allowed his friends to sleep at his place without charging them any money. Prosecutor Jongdae showed a picture of Kris' apartment and explained which items he 'borrowed' from his friends. It included pretty much everything inside and even Judge Jongdae who looked like he was dozing off started to chuckle.

Lawyer Jongdae pouted and spent almost a minute flipping through his files, just to explain that Kris once donated some of his clothes to a charity organisation. Prosecutor Jongdae snorted and shook his head, obviously aware that Kris wanted to throw them out and that someone else donated the clothes in his name.

Kris was already preparing for the next boring example and literally just waited to be prosecuted, when the guy with the demon mask whispered something to Prosecutor Jongdae. The latter then nodded and put on a serious face.

"Please allow me to call in a witness for my last example," he said gravely and another Jongdae walked in to sit at a fouth table. Kris really grew tired of all the different Jongdae versions.

"What's your name?" Prosecutor Jongdae asked as he stood in front of the witness.

"Uh," Witness Jongdae said and gave Kris a short insecure glance. "Kim Jongdae," he said quietly.

It was the real one. And Kris jumped up. "No," he shouted. "Stop this right this second. We all know I'm guilty anyway, right? There's no need to drag him into this."

"Oh, please, keep quiet," Judge Jongdae said authoritatively and Lawyer Jongdae dragged Kris back on his chair. "Just when it gets interesting," Judge Jongdae said exasperatedly and waved Prosecutor Jongdae to continue.

"What's the relationship between you and the defendant?" Prosecutor asked as he paced around the fourth table.

Jongdae seemed extremely small as he sat at the wooden table. It was if he was slowly shrinking, although he maybe only seemed that way because all the fake Jongdaes were so full of confidence. "We went out," Jongdae said as his gaze followed the prosecutor. He seemed to avoid looking at Kris.

"What did the defendant do to you?"

And Kris started to cover his ears. He didn't want to hear it. Everything but that. Weren't there enough other sins big enough to get him to rot in hell for the rest of eternity? Why bring this up now?

It was as if the room in front of him started shifting. Lawyer Jongdae gave him a worried look, Prosecutor Jongdae was annoyed, Judge Jongdae rubbed his eyes. The jury suddenly disappeared and  the guy with the demon mask was right in front of him. He grabbed Kris' collar and dragged him over the table.

And suddenly there was music around them. They all stood in a crowded bar now. The people around them didn't even seem to notice them as they chatted and drank and clapped.

Kris saw himself standing at a table, intently staring at the small stage. He knew what the younger him was looking at.

It was the day they met. Jongdae had sung and he had listened. Afterwards he had chatted him up and asked him out. Jongdae had looked suspicious and called him lame but had agreed anyway.

Kris really needed to get out and away from that idiotic him of the past. If he had just left him alone then, nothing bad would have happened.

All the Jongdaes followed him as he left the bar and walked right into the park where Jongdae had brought him that one day in autumn. He had agreed to take care of his cousin's dog for a week and had forced Kris to tag along as he took the dog for a walk.

Kris started to run but no matter how far he got, he just met more scenes of his memories. He saw himself introducing Jongdae to his grandmother after warning him that she sometimes wore mismatching clothes because she was half blind. He saw himself in mock annoyance at Jongdae's constant humming. He saw their first kiss and the first time he stayed over. He saw Jongdae who told him that it was a waste to throw out perfectly fine clothes just because he didn't like them anymore.

And just when he had to stop because his lungs hurt from the constant running he saw Jongdae who tumbled to the ground in that dreaded back alley.

It was all because Kris was a bad person and Jongdae wasn't. It was because Kris picked that fight with the bulky drunk guy.

They were in a club and Jongdae hated it. He got annoyed and was about to walk out when he ran into that guy. Jongdae was about to apologize but Kris got angry and punched the guy. They were dragged outside and someone suddenly had a knife. Jongdae tried to get between them and then he just

He just

Fell.

Kris couldn't move. He watched himself fall on his knees. He watched Jongdae who just lay there. He saw the blood on his hands.

"So," Judge Jongdae said quietly. "What does the defense say?"

Lawyer Jongdae cleared his throat. "Well, I would like to ask the witness to give a statement."

They all looked at the real Jongdae who seemed lost.

"Do you have anything to say to defend Wu Yifan?" Judge Jongdae asked helpfully.

"I..." Jongdae said. "I don't know."

The guy with the demon mask started laughing and all the other Jongdaes too suddenly put demon masks on their faces.

Jongdae looked at himself and at Kris in the alley and then at Defendant Kris. He seemed sorry.

The guy with the demon mask took off his mask and Kris stared at his own face. Because the guy with the demon mask had been him all along.

"But," Jongdae shrugged. "I was happy."

And Kris woke up.

Inspired by this prompt.