MISSION: Love

+ twenty-eight +

I walked into court and greeted the people that were already in their seats. I sat in my assigned seat and took out all the evidence from my briefcase. I silently examined all the pictures that were taken and heard the entrance door open. I lifted my head and widened my eyes when I saw Sunghoon walking in with Kim Hyunsook.

He looked at me with a bewildered look on his face. He then faced away and scoffed, mumbling something about me not giving him a break. I watched as he took the seat next to the defendant and took out his papers.

"Let's start right now. Let's not waste our time," the judge said sternly as he took his seat. I greeted the prosecutor that was assigned to sit next to me. My heart was beating nervously and I played with my fingers. I was never this nervous. I was sure it was because of Sunghoon. He had an unfamiliar aura. I knew he went there not to play around but to win the case.

"Defendant Kim Hyunsook murdered more than twenty victims. He should be given prison for life. Despite how much money his family has, he will never regret his actions and there are possibilities he would do it again."

The prosecutor started giving reasons to the judge. I noticed a smirk that appeared on Sunghoon's face. It made me more furious and I knew I had to make him lose. He suddenly stood up, "Objection, Your Honour. The defendant is believed to have mental disorders. He shouldn't be imprisoned but be warded in the mental asylum. I guarantee you the hospital can change him. Imprisoning him would just severe the situation."

"Objection!" Prosecutor Kim argued back, making the judge smack her wooden hammer. "Dr Yoon, let us see the appointment footage first," he said and motioned for me to put the footage on.

The video went on with me talking to him. The people in the room watched attentively and gasped when Hyunsook was seen almost hitting me with a chair. Sunghoon breathed out heavily when he saw Heeseung appearing in the picture.

"Well, he seemed to not have any mental disorders. It looks like he enjoys doing these things."

I nodded and stayed silent before the judge continued asking, "What do you think, Dr Yoon? Do you agree with Prosecutor Kim? Or Lawyer Park?"

Sunghoon was giving me a death stare as he tapped his pen on the desk continuously. "I agree with Prosecutor Kim. Defendant Kim Hyunsook clearly enjoys murdering people and is sick in the head. If we appointed him in a mental asylum, he would continue with this behaviour and will do more than just murder as soon as he is out of the asylum. He deserves to be imprisoned."

"Do you have any comments on Dr Yoon's opinion, Lawyer Park?"

"Yes," the said man stood up and approached me. "Your Honour, I actually have evidence about his mental health. He is diagnosed with a dissociative identity disorder. I believed the one who did the murder is not the defendant but the other person, Ben. And it is possible that the defendant is not aware of all the murders he had done."

"Wait, that's wrong. He doesn't have any mental disorders!" I argued back and turned to face the judge. "Well, the lawyer's right, doctor. The documents seem legitimate."

"No, Ben does not exist. He is doing all these crimes consciously."

"Do you have evidence on that, Dr Yoon? In the footage, you only asked about why he murdered people. It could be Ben that talked to you and not Hyunsook."

"Your Honour, this is wrong."

"You may go back to your seat, doctor."

I obeyed and ran my fingers through my hair. My mind was having a hard time believing what just happened. I couldn't believe Sunghoon played dirty to win. I didn't know how he fabricated the evidence about the defendant's mental health.

I turned my gaze to the audience and saw one of the victim's parents in the crowd. They looked disappointed in me and sighed.

"Kim Hyunsook will only get a two-year prison time. And he will spend the next few years at a mental asylum. Hopefully, his condition would change. Case dismissed."

Sunghoon smirked proudly as he left the courtroom instantly. I chased after him and jumped in shock when cameras started flashing outside the room. As I made out of the crowd of reporters, he was already gone.

"Shit!" I cursed and felt my heart heavy due to the guilt towards the victim's parents. "Dr Yoon!" I heard an unfamiliar voice calling me. When I turned around, a slap went against my cheek.

"Because of you, my dead daughter can't get justice! Two years of imprisonment is not enough! I can't believe you let that damn lawyer win!"

My eyes got teary as I watched her cry and hit my chest. I bowed and apologised, "I am so sorry for what happened. I did everything I could to give your daughter and the other victims justice."

"You should've been fired! You can't even do the job right!"

The parents went away, leaving me behind.

💌

I went to the rooftop and sobbed alone. "You bastard! I thought you were kind! But I can't believe you would lose your morals just to win a case! Hyunsook does not have DID, you piece of shit! God!"

"Ugh! I can't even smoke peacefully!" Sunghoon appeared out of nowhere. I clenched my fists and approached him before grabbing his collar, "You! How could you do that to the victims' families? Why can't you give them justice?!"

"I'm just doing my job. It's not my fault that you're incompetent."

"Yah!"

"Shut up, Hana. We're adults already. You're not seventeen anymore. Just accept the fact that you lost the case and I won."

"I can't believe you would do this, Sunghoon. Weren't you kind? What happened?"

"This is the real me, Hana. The person who fooled you into thinking I wanna be friends with you. I was so glad my plan succeeded. And seeing you lost just now made me so happy. Thanks for the entertainment."

I released his collar and lowered my head, tears started falling down my cheek. I heard him chuckling, "Are you crying, Hana? You're always crying whenever things don't go your way. That's what I thought."

He bumped into my shoulder and walked past me as he left me behind. "God, I'm so frustrated," I blinked my tears away continuously and took a deep breath.