Fire & Silk

25. Order in the Court

Compared to the last few weeks of waking up, Jeongyeon felt well rested. She slept through the night nightmare free and didn't feel like her back was screaming in pain. Sure, it still hurt but it was starting to become a dull ache. Jeongyeon gently sat up and turned her alarm off, stretching her arms up. She turned her bedside table lamp on and yawned, looking over at the woman beside her stretched out, still fast asleep.

For the past two weeks, Mina had been coming over. She made the excuse that she wanted to massage Jeongyeon's back since she couldn't do it herself, but eventually, she just came over. No excuses attached. Jeongyeon was grateful for Mina staying with her and enjoyed the extra furry company Ray provided. He would switch throughout the night between his dog bed on the floor and sleeping between Mina's legs. Currently, he was asleep with half his body in the dog bed and the other half on the floor. Jeongyeon smiled and silently laughed, gently pulling the covers off of herself so she could get ready.

Today was the big day and she was as nervous as could be. She knew there was no way in hell Soojin would get out of this with anything less than a life sentence, but there was something in the pit of her stomach that made her scared. Since she'd been having her nightmares, it was like a picture of Soojin's face was seared into her memory. Jeongyeon stood in front of the sink and washed her face, trying not to make too much noise. She brushed her teeth and changed into her court clothes before she headed out into the kitchen.

Jeongyeon still had to use the cane if she was going any further than her bedroom but it was a lot easier to walk by herself. She started breakfast and finished cooking a few eggs before she heard the door to her bedroom open. She smiled, watching a still half-asleep Mina pad into the kitchen beside her. Mina gave her a lazy smile and yawned, laying her head on the older woman's shoulder.

"Smells good." Mina kissed Jeongyeon's shoulder and helped carry the plates over. She got the ketchup out of the fridge before sitting down and yawned again as she slowly ate the eggs.

"I still can't believe that you put ketchup on literally everything." Jeongyeon made a disgusted face at Mina's eggs and kept eating hers. Mina just rolled her eyes and smiled, finishing her food. After breakfast she got dressed and helped Jeongyeon into her car, driving them to the court house.

Mina parked the car and walked to the passenger side. She opened Jeongyeon's door and expected the woman to try and get out, but Jeongyeon just sat there. Her eyes were locked on the large entrance doors, her heartbeat already starting to speed up. A million thoughts were racing through her head and they were all fighting for for attention. It was starting to give her a small headache.

"Jeong you know you don't have to do this. They can always get a statement from you before the sentencing hearing." Mina bent down beside her car and held Jeongyeon's hand, rubbing small circles into the back of her hand with her thumb, trying to offer some kind of comfort.

Jeongyeon just silently shook her head and snapped herself out of her trance. She had Mina help her get out of the car and slowly made her way into the court house. They were in a different and bigger room this time, but it made sense. This was a huge case. The room was already almost full with reporters, prosecutors, and general onlookers alike. Jeongyeon slowly walked up the middle of the court room and took a seat beside President Park. She tried her best to make small talk with him but it was difficult. Her mind kept drifting back to what all could go wrong and how she knew she'd freeze when she saw Soojin.

Mina couldn't do much but prepare her notes and encouragingly pat Jeongyeon's back every once in a while. It did feel like time was going slower, making the anticipation of the trial even heavier and longer. Nayeon and President Park seemed like they were the only ones in the court room with level heads. Nayeon was calmly looking through her notes and President Park was casually checking his emails like he wasn't about to hear the sentencing decision on a serial killer.