Almost blind | Haobin

62| Check-in |62

"You're telling us that he went to Jaehyun's place... and turned him against us?" Hao asked, his voice low, nearly disbelieving as he sat on the edge of his bed with his hands resting limply between his knees. The shadows in the room clung to the corners like secrets and though the tension was suffocating, none of them dared break it with movement.

Yujin sat across from him, curled slightly into himself on a wheeled chair, arms folded tight over his chest like armor. Hanbin stood near the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and jaw locked, looking every bit like a storm just barely contained. Whether it was from Yujin's untimely interruption of the moment he had shared with Hao or from the sheer absurdity of the situation unraveling before them.

"I'm telling you," Yujin said bitterly, exhaling as if the words themselves were poisoned. "My parents invited him to our house. For dinner. I nearly threw up when I saw him sitting there like some honored guest while my parents smiled like nothing in the world was out of place." The way he said smiled made it sound like a crime in itself.

Hanbin let out a humorless laugh. "Your parents are revolting pieces of shit."

Yujin flinched. Hao's head snapped toward Hanbin, eyes narrowing. "Don't talk like that," he said firmly, raising a warning finger toward him. But his voice didn't carry the conviction it used to. It was more reflex than belief. "Oh, come on," Hanbin snapped, rolling his eyes as his arms fell from his chest. "Am I wrong? Who the hell invites a predator over for dinner, knowing damn well what he's being investigated for and then laughs about it over wine and steak like it's some ridiculous gossip column rumor? They didn't just let him in. They celebrated him." His voice rose with each word as if disgust were physically clawing its way out of his throat.

Yujin stared at him silently, his lip caught between his teeth. He wanted to argue. He wanted to say thats still my family. But the words wouldn't come. Because deep down he knew Hanbin was right. He knew it in the way that made his stomach turn. There were no excuses for them anymore.

"They've always been like that," Yujin said at last, his voice small as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His eyes were hollow. "Drawn to power, to filth, to anything that keeps them comfortably detached from consequences. They laugh at pain as long as it's not theirs. Every year I get older, it feels like I understand them less and less. Or maybe I'm just finally seeing them clearly."

Hao reached out gently, placing a hand on Yujin's knee. "That means you're nothing like them," he said softly, offering a smile that-despite everything-felt real. "That means you're good."

Hanbin didn't smile. He looked at them both with a mix of irritation and urgency. "You can moralize all you want, but we've got a real problem now." He pushed himself away from the wall and began pacing slowly. "That idiot Jaehyun looked like he wanted to burn the system down when he first spoke to us. He said he wanted to help. What the hell changed?"

"Money," Yujin answered immediately, his voice now low and detached, as if that word alone explained everything.

Hanbin frowned, his mind visibly working. "Taesan mentioned something once when we were talking," he began, drawing their full attention. "He told me... hypothetically... if every witness testimony were to suddenly vanish from court..either redacted, withdrawn, or twisted-we'd be left with nothing. No case. Just silence."

"So what did he say we could do?" Hao asked, leaning forward with narrowed eyes.

"Evidence," Hanbin replied. "If we had anything from when those people gave us their truth, their real stories, we could use it. Present it on court, throw it in their face if they tried to lie under oath. If Jaehyun backs out now or, worse, sides with Julson, and we have nothing to prove what he originally said..." He trailed off, rubbing his temple.