I Plead Guilty

2

"Tae Tae, it's me", replied a desperate voice. Jungkook held onto the phone to dear life as he continued to speak. "Taehyung, I'm out. Can you believe it?", he was on the verge of breaking from both him not being able to believe it himself, and how extraordinarily happy that he was about it being true.

"Don't cry, don't cry!", the voice on the other line exclaimed out of slight panic. Tae kicked back on his chair and relaxed, knowing that his friend was safe. "You remember where I live, right?"

"Yeah, I do", the other replied, nodding his head even though he knew that Taehyung couldn't see him. Jungkook began picking at his nails anxiously as he spoke on the phone, waiting for some sort of response.

"Okay, come over. You can stay here for as long as you need to, 'kay? Just hur-" the line cut off, and Jungkook was fresh out of quarters. He muttered the address under his breath about how Taehyung better not have another one of his dates there, and the ran a hand through his brunette hair. Placing the phone back on the clip, he sighed and buried his hands in his pockets and started walking in the direction of Tae's house.

He was now on his way to go visit his friend who he hadn't seen or spoken too in forever, but he was grateful that he now had a roof over his head. Unfortunately, he was too busy kicking rocks to see a familiar face in the crowd of people.

•

[Jimin POV]

Seeing bustling city was his absolute favorite part about walking to work. He was able to see both familiar and unfamiliar faces, smile at them along the way, and occasionally put coins in the homeless buckets, or musician's case. It was nice, and definitely a change of pace from the stuffy offices and the clammy courtrooms.

Jimin was on his way to work that very morning when Jungkook was excused from the prison, and the prosecutor had no clue about it. The day had started off like any other. His thoughts were filled with plans of how the day would go, what he'd get done, and who he would talk to. Though, when he saw the doe eyed boy making his way through the streets, he stopped in his tracks and his mind went completely blank. He watched with awe, examining the boy and wondering if it were just a hallucination of some sort. So, like any other sensible man, he stepped forward, closer and closer until he was at Jungkook's side, and spoke in a scratchy voice, "Jung.. Kook..?"

•

[Jungkook POV]

Jungkook whipped his head up so fast that it hurt his neck, which caused him to bring his hand up and massage the spot for a quick second. But, when he saw the now dark-haired male in front of him, his breath hitched and he froze in his spot.

It was too much to take in. The very man that put together all possible evidence that it was Jungkook was standing right before him. Thinking about him was hard enough, but finally seeing him after so long was enough to pull at his heart. He was so lonely in his cell, and he was stuck to thinking about his family and friends, and most of all, Jimin.

"Park Jimin..", he growled, causing the other to take a step back. Kook felt his fist clench, but knew that if he were to swing at the man, it would get him in trouble. Jimin felt saddened at the way the boy looked at him, but he knew that he deserved it. For the past few years, Jimin was beating himself up over the fact that Jungkook might've been innocent. All he was was a cashier, after all, and the evidence they had that it was him was very little.

"Why are you out?", asked Jimin out of pure curiosity. He could see the boy flinch, right before Jungkook replied with, "I'm innocent. I fucking told you and you wouldn't believe me". He spat out the words like venom, and Jimin recoiled in fear. "I was simply doing my job! Your attorneys should've saved your ass, not me!", Jimin responded in a tone that was just as harsh.

•

[Flashback to 3 years ago]

"My client did what any sensible person would do, especially for his age", spoke Mr. Jung, the defendant. Jungkook looked up at the fiery red male, hope shining in his doe eyes. "He's only 18, Your Honor. If he were to even try to run, he would be killed too", the defendant tried to rationalize, but the jury looked like they didn't believe it.

Jimin twirled his pen in his hand as he looked over the notes that he had taken so far. The gun that was oh so close to the suspect, where the bullets were shot, what angle the bodies fell at, and where Jungkook was at the scene. It was hard to believe, but Jimin himself began to think that the young boy wasn't at fault.

"Was there any weapons or ammunition found at my client's house?", questioned Mr. Jung who wanted so badly to pace the room, but he knew it would be unprofessional. The judge shook his head as an answer to the question, and said a simple, "No, there wasn't".

"Then, I firmly believe that my client is innocent, Your Honor"

•

[Present Day]

"You really think that he didn't try?!", yelled Jungkook, who was now being dragged by the prosecutor so that they wouldn't be fighting in the middle of the street. "I'd like to have you know that Hoseok tried so damn hard that I saw him break down in the bathroom because of how stressed he was!"

Jimin pulled him aside into an alley so that they could speak and most likely not be judged for doing so, and let go of Jungkook's wrist. "Listen, I'm sorry, okay? In the middle of that case, I began to realize that you were innocent!", he began, somehow managing to compose himself and not yell at the other, "By how the bodies fell and where the angle was, it would have been nearly impossible for you to have committed such a crime". As he admitted this, Jungkook's face fell, and there was newfound anger built up within him. "You- You knew and you didn't say anything??", he was on the verge of a breakdown.

Jimin's face contorted into one of sadness and guilt. He had to live with the consequences of putting an innocent man in jail, and he knew that. It would stick with him forever. Especially someone who has haunted his dreams for months on end, and had been the only thing he had been thinking about since that night at the courthouse.