10 months, 10 chances || Minsung

12

For the other boys school went on pretty normal the rest of the week, for Jisung it was like facing hell.

Aera came back almost every day, mostly to check on him but in the beginning it was more to set a date to get Juwoon to court. So even though Jisung is still in the hospital, it was mainly to watch over him for the rest of the week, but also because he could talk to his lawyer better without having the pressure from school.

When they set the date for court, which would be the Friday at the end of the week, his lawyer visited him almost every day to talk to him about Juwoon and to prepare him for questions his lawyer could ask him.

To not forget: Minho was with him almost every time his lawyer visited.

Just how he is now, with Jisung, in front of the court room. Unnecessary to say, that Jisung is nervous as fuck since today is the day he finds out if he'll be free from Juwoon or just punished for his behavior.

And with his thoughts spinning in circles, always thinking about the worst case scenario, he didn't hear Felix approaching.

Ever since they met, Felix and him were best friends, it was almost the same with Minho the little difference was that it was more like finding a soulmate when he thought about Minho.

So it felt kinda like he has to tell Felix, like he owes him an explanation when he even sort of ghosted him through the whole week. And maybe he needed a little more emotional support, that he knows both of his best friends are there and won't leave.

"What happened Ji? Why are we here? I thought you're sick, Minho only told me it's about your dad"

"I'm sorry that I never told you any of the things that are happening, but I also can't do it now because I'm kinda mentally preparing and getting it all up before wouldn't be really good. If it's not to much, could you please just be there? I promise that if you still have questions after I'll try to answer but I can't do it now"

"Of course, thank you for calling me here" then Felix hugs him, trying to give him the reassurance that he would never leave.

And when they got called in Minho and Felix took a seat as viewers and Jisung went in front of the judge.

Sitting there in the middle of the room, being watched from all sides he felt exposed.

"You're Han Jisung, 16 years old and you're going to school, is that right?" was the first thing the judge asked, so Jisung nods.

"I'll ask you some questions, you have the option to refuse to answer questions that could plead you guilty in any way, but every answer you're going to give us will help to solve the case. Understood?"

"Yes"

Jisung started to fiddle with his fingers, everyone in this room would know what happened after this.

"Is it true that your father, Han Juwoon, 46 years old, abused you?"

"It's true"

"Can you elaborate what exactly he did?"

That was like one of the questions Jisung feared the most, saying it out loud would make it real and he still kinda dreamed of the happy family they were when he was really young. So he was really hesitant but he looked at the judge and tried to keep is voice steady.

"He used to hit me, whenever I did something bad. And just occasionally when I was just there, most of the time he wanted me to make him food but wouldn't let me get some so he made me starve. It was really bad last week on the death anniversary of my mom, he beat me really bad so I passed out and I don't know what he did after but I woke up in the hospital." Thank god he practiced that with his lawyer.

Then he looked at Juwoon, and for the first time ever since he spoke up against his dad he didn't feel regret, he feels proud of himself for doing so.

Then the judge signals in the direction of Juwoon's lawyer.

"Are you alright with some questions?"

Without even letting Jisung agree Juwoon's lawyer spoke up

"Are you sure you weren't under the influence of specific substances so you could've imagined everything?"

"I'm sure I wasn't, like I said I was in the hospital because of him"

"You could've done this to yourself for attention, nevermind. You probably provoked him, so Han Juwoon obviously is the victim in this case. My question for you now is, what did you do? Did you start to fight him? Did you want to hurt him? It was only self defense. Maybe you even tried to make a move on him, meaning therefore is in a sexual way-"

„Objection your honor" Was the first thing Jisung's lawyer, Kim Chungae said while standing up. And after the sign of the judge to continue he spoke up again.

"Excuse me for the strong language but that's absolutely bullshit. We have pictures of the injuries Han Jisung got from Han Juwoon and it's undeniable that he could never do something like that to himself." then he sent pictures of bruises, Juwoon caused, to the big screens in the room.

"Han Juwoon traumatized him, your Honor. No parental figure should ever, whatever their child did, start to hit it. That's inhumane and I don't have enough words to describe what this man did wrong. Please include the audiotape of Juwoon's hospital visit in your decision. Thank you" and he sat back down.

„Han Juwoon, do you have a statement from your side you'd like to share? If not how do you plead?" hopefully that's the last question from the judge Jisung would ever hear.

It's like everyone would hold their breath, wanting to know what he would plead,there's no evidence that shows that he's the victim here. But nevertheless:

„I'm not guilty"

Then the judge stands up to discuss their decision, leaving them a break while they bring Juwoon away with handcuffs. And the first thing Jisung does is going to Minho and Felix, receiving hugs from both at the same time.

„I am so so proud of you Ji, you did a really good job" Minho was the first to say something and hugging him tighter with those words. While Felix looked at him and shared everything he needed to say through eyes. That's how it's always been, communication without word.

And when everyone got called back in after some hours of discussion, everyone in the room was waiting for the decision. So as the Judge got back into the room everyone stood up.

„With including every evidence we have access to, we came to the decision than Han Juwoon is guilty, not only in the case of abusing his own son but also in the case of raping a minor girl. I hope you'll hate the next ten years you're going to spend in prison. The negotiation is over."

For Jisung its like a nightmare just ended, like waking up from something you were trapped in. Now the only question he has left is something he was scared of the whole time.

Where would he live now?