Chapter 15

            The very next day, Happy Face Entertainment arranged an urgent meeting with Yoohwan and his lawyer.  They met in a conference room at the Happy Face Entertainment corporate offices.  Serri sat on one side of the long table with her mother on one side of her and her lawyer on the other.  Jiyul joined the meeting as well, sitting in between Mrs. Park and a Happy Face representative.  Sitting directly across from Serri was Yoohwan, who had only his lawyer with him.

            Both lawyers had already discussed the basic conditions of the lawsuit at the beginning of the meeting.  Serri simply looked down at the table as they talked, wishing she could disappear.  Her mother held her hand tightly, but Serri attempted to ignore her.  She knew her mother’s eyes were filled with dread and pain, and she couldn’t stand to look into them.  Jiyul stared furiously at the smirking Yoohwan.  Her hands were balled up into fists on the table, and Serri wondered if she would be able to control herself for the duration of the meeting.

            “You’re being accused of libel, Mr. Jung,” Serri’s lawyer said sternly, leaning toward Yoohwan aggressively.  “Not to mention the pain and suffering that my client and her members have endured since yesterday.  Their social media accounts have been flooded with hate comments.  Your lies are incredibly damaging.”

            “How will you prove it’s libel?” Yoohwan asked.

            “Yoohwan-ssi, don’t say anything,” his lawyer interrupted swiftly.

            “I want to know,” Yoohwan insisted, leaning back in his chair casually.  “There’s no way you can prove that I had no part in Dal Shabet being invited to certain events.”

            “We can contact the event planners and get every single detail,” Serri’s lawyer warned firmly, banging his fist on the table.  Serri could tell Happy Face had spent a good bit of money on him.

            “That’s a lot of digging to do,” Yoohwan sighed.  “Are you really going to go to call every single event planner and question them for every detail?”

            “We will,” Mrs. Park said quietly with a shaky voice.  “We…We will.”

            “By the time you get all that information, if you can find it, it will be too late,” Yoohwan said coldly, staring at Serri’s mom.  “And there are some things you could never find evidence for.”

            “Yoohwan-ssi, stop,” his lawyer advised in frustration.

            “How will you ever prove that Serri didn’t do all the things I said she did for me?” Yoohwan smirked devilishly.  Serri only rolled her eyes and put her hands over her face, wondering how things had unraveled so quickly.  “I believe my lawyer even made a list for you.”  Yoohwan took a piece of paper from the table and scanned it slowly.  “Shall I read all of it to you in front of Serri’s mother?”

            “You’re a monster!”

            Everyone in the room jumped at Jiyul’s piercing outburst.  She had risen out of her chair and stabbed the table with a pen.  Her whole body shook as she glared at Yoohwan.

            “Jiyul-ah, please calm down,” Mrs. Park requested, rising from her chair and taking Jiyul’s arm.

            “No!”  Jiyul struggled for air as she began to sob.  “You-You…How could you do this?  You heartless monster!  You’re not even a person!”

            “Jiyul-ah.”  Mrs. Park began to pull Jiyul from the table.  “I’ll take care of her, Serri-yah.”

            Serri watched as her mother dragged Jiyul out of the room.  She could still hear Jiyul’s blaring screams from outside the door.

            “I’m going to kill him!” she shouted from the hallway outside.  “I swear I’ll kill him!”

            “Hmm, with my lawyer present, should I order a restraining order against Jiyul-ssi?” Yoohwan suggested, tapping the table with his finger.  “She just threatened my life.”

            “Yoohwan-ssi.”

            Even Yoohwan looked surprised as Serri uttered her first words since entering the room.  She finally looked up at him with a cold, piercing glower.  No tears glistened in her eyes, only anger.  She put both her hands on the table and leaned toward him.

            “Yoohwan-ssi, I don’t care if the whole world thinks I did these things you’ve accused me of,” she began quietly with a grim voice.  “I know I didn’t do them.  My family knows I didn’t do them.  My friends know I didn’t do them.  And most of all, you know I didn’t do them.  You can be assured we’ll do everything in our power to prove my innocence, but it’s not my innocence I’m even concerned about.  You’ve hurt my members; you’ve hurt my family.  I can never forgive you for that.  I don’t want to see your face again unless it’s in a court of law.  But I pray to God you will choose to correct this on your own.”

            Though Yoohwan still looked shocked at her livid demeanor, he scoffed and leaned back in his chair again.  His lawyer gave a frustrated sigh and packed his folders into his suitcase.

            “Please gather your evidence and file a suit if you must,” the lawyer requested, giving a solemn bow.  “I will chat with my client as well and see if we can find another way to settle this.”

            “I wish you the best with that,” Serri’s lawyer replied, rising from his chair.

            Everyone got up from the table, and Serri and her party swiftly exited the room first.  She reunited with Jiyul and her mother, who followed her to the elevator.  That elevator ride seemed far too long as Serri held Jiyul and tried to calm her down.

            “Unnie, we can’t let him get away with this,” Jiyul cried, feebly clinging onto Serri.  “This is the most heinous thing I’ve ever seen anyone do.  We must prove him wrong.”

            “We’ll do that, Jiyul-ah,” Serri assured, though she didn’t feel as certain as she sounded.

            When they reached the lobby, Hakyeon greeted them immediately.  He appeared helpless as he watched Serri wipe the tears from Jiyul’s cheeks.  But he was even more surprised by the rampant fire inside Serri’s eyes.

            “Serri-yah,” he called gently, placing his hand on her shoulder.  “Are you okay?”

            “Mom…”  Serri turned to her mother and sent Jiyul into her arms.  “Could you take Jiyul outside?  Just wait for a moment.  I’ll be out soon.”

            “Are you sure, Serri-yah?” Mrs. Park asked anxiously.  “I want to stay with you.”

            “I’ll be fine.  Just wait for me there.”

            Mrs. Park reluctantly led Jiyul away as Serri turned to Hakyeon.  She took a deep breath and let him wrap his arms around her.

            “It doesn’t look good, Hakyeon-ah,” she informed somberly.  “It’s going to take a lot of work to find the evidence we need.  And even then, we can’t disprove some of his claims.”

            “We’ll do everything we can,” he promised hastily. 

            He took her hand and led her outside.  The frosty air seemed even colder today, and the snow on the ground made every step uncertain.  As they reached the edge of the street, they noticed Mrs. Park and Jiyul waiting for them on the curb few yards down the way. 

            “Serri-yah!”

            Serri felt Hakyeon’s hand squeeze tightly around hers at the sound of Yoohwan’s voice.  They both turned to see him rushing over from the entrance of the corporate building.  When he reached them, his carefree demeanor faded, and he seemed almost anxious.

            “What do you want, Yoohwan?”  Hakyeon’s voice rumbled through the chilly air.

            “Serri…”  Yoohwan smirked and took a step toward her.  “Aren’t you just a little happy about this?  I know you miss me.  At least you get to see me.”

            “Yoohwan, I don’t miss you!” Serri cried.  Her tiny body trembled with fury.  With all the rage in her voice, she seemed larger and fiercer than ever.  Hakyeon halfheartedly let go of her hand as she took a step toward Yoohwan.

            “Serri-yah-”

            “I don’t even love you anymore!” Serri continued.  “In the last month, you barely crossed my mind.  I’m over you!  Why do you want to do this to me and my members now?”

            “Don’t lie, Serri-”

            Yoohwan jumped back as Serri rushed up to him.  She lingered inches away from his face, staring deeply into his dark eyes.  “Yoohwan, I don’t miss you; I pity you.  God forbid someone chooses to stop worshipping you.  I finally get over you and find someone who actually loves me right, and you think you deserve revenge for that?  People may believe your lies and think less of me, but by doing all this, you’re only exposing yourself as the monster you are.  You’re less than human.”

            Serri’s grave stare faded, and she shivered in the wind.  Hakyeon reached out for her hand and pulled her back to him.  Yoohwan simple gazed at her blankly, unable to find any words to say.  She looked up at him once again, her eyes full of exhaustion.

            “Aren’t you tired, Yoohwan?”  Her voice trembled with each word.  “Aren’t you tired?”

            “Unnie!”  Jiyul ran up to Serri from down the road.  “Yoohwan, leave her alone!”

            For the very first time, Yoohwan didn’t give a wicked smirk.  He didn’t even appear apathetic as he always did.  He shifted his feet uncomfortably before finally turning around and walking away from them. 

            “Are you okay, unnie?” Jiyul asked, grabbing onto Serri’s arm.  Mrs. Park walked up to them a few moments later and anxiously peered over at Serri.

            “I’m fine,” Serri assured with a sigh.  “I’m sorry about all this, Jiyul-ah.  It would have been fine if he hadn’t dragged you all into this…”

            “Unnie, don’t think about that,” Jiyul begged quickly.

            A few cameras flashed, and they turned to see a flurry of journalists and photographers walking up to the building.  As they approached them, Serri grabbed her mother and Jiyul and began to rush away from Hakyeon.

            “No.”  He took her hand firmly and began leading the four of them away from the photographers. 

            Serri gave a panicked look and tried to yank her hand away.  “Hakyeon-ah, let go!  You can’t be seen with me!”

            “I’m not letting you go through this alone,” he explained as the cameras flashed in their faces.  “I won’t let you stand by yourself.”

            Hakyeon acted as a strong, daunting figure to lead them through the surrounding journalists.  As they threw questions at them and took multiple pictures, Serri tried to bury her face in his arm.  The four of them hurried through the streets to Hakyeon’s car.  They were soon driving away through the streets of Seoul, filled with a feeling of insecurity.  But Serri had seen a glimpse of something in Yoohwan’s eyes.  Was it fear?  Even remorse?  Whatever it was, it satisfied her in some way.