𝙡𝙖𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙬𝙮𝙚𝙧 🖇 𝙟𝙚𝙣𝙤

6 | Session 1

"I loved him. Why would I want to hurt him?" Sera wipes the tear that rolls down her cheek to the neck.

Mae Hyo pats Sera's shoulder, not in a comforting way but more in an 'okay that's enough' manner.

"You've all had enough time to study this case, and now, it's time to pitch your ideas and remember, this is timed."

Mae Hyo sets her phone on the table with the timer open. She sits herself up on the table with her clipboard, "Bora, go."

"okay, so what if we introduced a new suspect? Lee's wife, for example. She had to be infuriated about the affair, and she knew about the medication allergy. She also had access to the office just as much as Sera. She would know exactly what BP pill her husband took and what aspirin would look most similar," Bora speaks confidently, almost narratively.

Mae Hyo jotted something in her clipboard, then looked at her again, "so, what's the motive?"

"Revenge, kill the husband and then pin it on the assistant", Bora completes.

Mae Hyo stops her timer, "Good Bora."

Bora looks over to Kuan Lin and jokingly brushes off her shoulder. Kuan Lin rolls his eyes, hitting her thigh.

"Kuan Lin, go."

He clears his throat, "The doctor claims that he ran the tests fairly but what if he ran it too late? What is to say that we actually trust this doctor?"

"The doctor has no relation to the case. How do we appropriately address this to court?" Mae Hyo counter asks.

Kuan Lin thinks for a moment, "well, we could run a background check on his other cases, he definitely must've made a mistake, and you know how easy it is to bury mistakes when you work at a reputable hospital." 

"hm" Mae Hyo nodded and looked at Chenle, who was now crossing out all the ideas he came up with, that were no longer valid as everyone else had already pitched them.

"Chenle, your turn." 

Chenle sighs. He looks at Mae Hyo annoyingly. She was practically waiting on his failure at this point.

"so, I think this was self defense-"

Bora and Kuan Lin shared the same expression, 'what?'

Jaemin squinted his eyes at Chenle's idea, but Mae Hyo stays rigid.

"Sera had mentioned that she had Stockholm syndrome-"

"Stockholm syndrome?" 

"it's a coping mechanism to abuse, like positive feelings for your-"

"I know what it is, but how does this help the case?" Mae Hyo says.

Chenle sits straight as he sees that his idea may not be all too horrible, "Yes, Sera has this syndrome that made her fall in love with Lee. He was demanding and taxing, he made Sera fall in love with him, so this was her self defence" 

Mae Hyo and Jaemin share a look, "Okay, now that I've heard your ideas, none of you has preceded my plan."

Mae Hyo writes down 'session 1' on the portable whiteboard, "I have a three-step plan that I'm going to keep a secret for now. In fact, you might be able to tell me what it is by the end of this case." 

"But now, we're going to gather information, so much information that we could just dump it on the jury. The jury should walk into the deliberation room with only one overwhelming feeling-"

Mae Hyo's phone dinged.

"Doubt." she completes.

"Take a break."

"what do you want?" Mae Hyo asks as she enters her office.

Jeno fixes his tie, looking at her directly, "I want to talk to Donghyuck"

"then go to his office."

"I need to talk to you first," Jeno says to which Mae Hyo nods, seating herself on her chair.

Jeno and Mae Hyo just stared at each other for a few seconds, "didn't you say you were going to win Sera's case at any cost?"

Jeno alerts himself, "yeah, what about it?"

"stop wasting our time, then"

Jeno tchs, "I have a witness. I've updated the document already"

Mae Hyo checks it briefly, "where'd you find her?"

"secret"

Mae Hyo closes the tab and nods, "Donghyuck's office is on the left."

"Nice office", Jeno comments. It was exactly like how they had planned.

Mae Hyo felt a little embarrassed to admit it, "you planned it"

"And you went through with it" Jeno had this little smirk dancing on his lips.

"Don't worry, my law firm won't have this layout?" Mae Hyo says, smiling sarcastically.

"what, why?"

"my wish" Mae Hyo smiles similarly, pointing Jeno at the door.

Jeno stands up, brushing himself off, he walks towards the door but turns back, "why did you call out my name only when you witnessed the incident between Donghyuck and me?"

"what?" Mae Hyo walks up to her door, placing her hand on the door handle where Jeno's hands were previously.

"the other day, at my office."

Mae Hyo scoffs, "I don't know" she says, opening the door.

Jeno, however, wanted more than the answer. He shuts the door hard enough to startle Mae Hyo, "you know." he was grim.

"I dont" Mae Hyo says, attempting to open the door again, to which Jeno shuts it again.

Mae Hyo sneered, grabbing Jeno's tie and shoving him away from the door.

Jeno wouldn't just get shoved around like that. No way, he grabbed Mae Hyo's waist in the process, pushing her equally hard towards him on the armchair that was conveniently there.

Mae Hyo towered the chair, hands set on the handles. In contrast, Jeno sat, quite ironically comfortably, his hands firm on Mae Hyo's waist.

Mae Hyo addresses the situation too quick for Jeno's liking, she makes an effort to push herself back. Still, Jeno has already pushed her further into his grip.

"I hate to admit it, Mae, but it's been bothering me. Why do you do that? why did you do that?" Jeno's voice didn't come off as stern or demanding. It was soft and clear and almost pleading.

Mae Hyo studied his face, letting herself lose; her arms were no longer stretched out.

She was closer to him, but his grip never loosened.

"Because Jeno", She whispers slightly; Jeno's eyes had seemed to have relaxed as he looked up at the girl.

"I expect nothing but disappointment from you" She finishes in one whisper.

Jeno didn't understand what he felt in that moment. It was like he had set himself up for it. He knew Mae Hyo; he knew she would never let her guard down, never in front of him, never again.

"You hate me that much?"

Mae Hyo nods.

"Yes, I just hate you that much."