Caught You [ Stray Kids | Seo Changbin ]

E L E V E N

(A/N: Just a disclaimer that I know nothing abt all this court stuff so if there are any mistakes, feel free to correct me. I'd be thankful)

THIRD PERSON'S POV:

"Kim Mari, are you guilty of your crimes?", the judge asked Mari as she stood in the witness stand. She hadn't expected herself to be this terrified in the court room.

When she was asked her very first question, her eyes automatically averted towards Changbin who was sitting on the benches made for the public. His eyes were also on her and he slightly nodded, giving her a bit courage although a mere nod can't do so.

"Yes.", she briefly answered, not taking her eyes off of Changbin.

"Alright, then. Kim Mari, your trial shall start now.", the judge said before lightly hitting the hammer on the wooden plate.

A lawyer hired for this case, got up from his seat walking towards where Mari was standing.

"Your honor, this is Kim Mari. A woman who has been committing all types of crimes from a young age. From stealing money from a high schooler, to stealing extremely expensive jewellery from a bank. From threatening someone with harsh equipment, to murdering someone. From extremely trivial to extremely colossal, she has committed all types of crimes. We have more than a hundred files of only her substantial crimes, imagine how much the minor ones would be. Even after all of this, her friend, who is a police officer at JYP, Seo Changbin, decided to prove that she's innocent. Though, Kim Mari, at first, declined his offer but slowly and gradually started to accept it. Now, I'd like to ask Kim Mari a few questions.", the lawyer asked for the judge's permission.

"Mr. Wang. You're allowed to inspect and ask questions from the criminal as you please, as long as you don't invade their privacy and ask about explicit consent or anything inappropriate.", the judge explained.

"Yes, your honor.", Jackson Wang turned around to face Mari."Kim Mari, do you have any family members? Anyone that's related to you by blood? Or anyone who's like a family? Someone that lives with you.", Jackson asked Mari.

(A/N: sorry I thought it'd be funny to have Jackson here🤭)

Panic arose inside of her as she started to wonder what she should answer. If she lies and then later on they find out, Mari's going to get a longer sentence and who knows maybe they'll send Hyori to an orphanage. She feared that place more than anything. To her, it was like torture. So, she decided to say the truth.

"Yes, I do.", her heart was beating at a fast pace.

"Blood related?", he briefly asked.

"No."

"Then?"

"She lives with me. We're not blood related.", her eyes were on the ground. She knew if she'd look at Changbin he'd only have an expression that would say 'Are you sure about that?', which she didn't want to answer right now. Though, Changbin did think it was a good idea to say the truth.

"Can you specify your relationship with her a bit more?", he asked.

"She's my daughter.", she slowly averted her eyes towards Changbin."One day, I saw someone throw something inside a trash can and I wasn't going to check but the sound of a crying baby made me do so. When I looked inside the trash can, I was surprised as to how can someone be so heartless to throw a baby away.", how can I be so heartless to kill someone, she thought."I was worried about what I should do with her and I couldn't just leave her there so I took her in.", she answered. Her whole body was shaking with fear of what Hyori's future could be like now that the court knows about her. She was worried.

"Hm. May I know where your daughter is now?", he asked.

"She's with...", she looked at Changbin."...officer Seo Changbin. At his house, I suppose."

"Sir, please. I beg you to leave her out of this. Even if we're not blood related, I am still the one who raised her with all my blood, sweat and tears. I worked hard to help her be where she is now. If it weren't for me, she'd be all squished up in one of those machines with a bunch of trash. Can't you grant me one wish for her? Don't I have at least that much right on her?", Mari begged.

"Miss Kim. Since your daughter has nothing to do with this, we won't bring her to the court room. Though, we still have to decide whom she'll live wi-", Mari cut him off.

"Changbin. She'll live with Changbin."

"How can you trust him completely?", his question made Mari keep quiet for a few seconds.

"I can. If you were in my place, you'd also trust him. With all your might.", she didn't hesitate to answer.

"I guess you have your own reasons for it.", Jackson looked down and smiled."Anyways, may I know about your family background?"

"I was an orphan. I didn't have parents.", she answered robotically.

"Well then tell me about your background."

She sighed, looking at her hands for a few seconds. Telling someone about her past, about where she came from, would trigger the wrong memories. The painful ones. But right now, taking that small risk can help her. Even if it means crying her heart out in front of these tens of people. She can't care about being embarrassed right now.

"I was an orphan. I had no idea about my parents and...", what should she tell him, that she fell down and hit her knee when she was young? Or that she was stung by a wasp and cried her heart out because of it? Or how she ate mud? Or how she burnt her hand when she interrupted the cooking of a chef?

Those were some fun memories even though they were painful. They were fun because they held physical pain, not mental. Now that she knows what mental pain feels like, she'd rather just be tortured physically.

Right now, she's supposed to be like an open book in public which is meant to read for everyone. But opening herself for others to read is a painful task and she worries that she might ruin herself while tearing herself apart for others to see when she has to take care of a child.

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A/N: ok nvm Im not ahead of time. I just wrote this last minute. Like a second ago and sigh. Idk why I procrastinate 😔

Anyways here's a chapter to fill yalls asses 👉🏻👈🏻