Chapter Text
Kang Sol sits at the counter propping up her chin with her hands as she watches Han Joonhwi finish seasoning their dinner. Unnoticed are the numbers on the stove, changing form to 1:12AM, and a soft buzz from the heating keeps their silence company. There’s nothing more she’d like than to fall asleep right there, but Joonhwi insisted that she eat before she sleeps. Even then, did he have to cook from scratch?
“Sol, I may be serving you poison…” Joonhwi warns, as he starts to expertly balance the side dishes on his left arm; he’s learned to pick up this habit, so she doesn’t have to wait to eat. Sol has been working late nights for the past couple of weeks—they both have—and he had a strong feeling she’s been eating more ramyeon than him. At least she should be eating well tonight.
“I’m so hungry I feel like I can eat anything.” She pauses to tie her hair into a high bun “Do you need help?”
“I’ll bring everything to you, don’t get up.”
“If you drop it, I’ll kill you. I’ve been starving the whole day because of my case.”
Joonhwi makes eye contact with her tired bright eyes as he sets down the dishes one by one and takes the opportunity to tease her. “but I didn’t, so what are you going to do now?”
And as all perfect timing goes, the shrill ring of a telephone cuts through his dangling question. Sol takes this opportunity to divert the topic, “is that my phone or yours?” she asks as she slides off the bar stool and moves towards the couch where she dismantled the visible parts of her that make her a lawyer.
“That would be yours” Joonhwi answers, tapping at his empty notification bar.
“Oh, it’s Professor Yang.” Sol wonders why she is getting a call at this hour. “Hello, Professor?”
“Sol. I have a case for you, write this number down for case reference. It will be transferred to Prosecution in the next few days. You will find it helpful to do some reading on involuntary manslaughter.”
“Professor, I’ve been working as a defense lawyer for 5 years now. Very rarely do murder cases turn out to be unintentional if there’s already enough evidence to charge on the spot. But that’s not the point. I don’t specialize in criminal defense, so why are you pushing this case to me?”
“Is Joonhwi there?”
Sol was taken aback by the sudden question “Joonhwi? Ah…yes, he’s here. I’ll put you on speaker.”
“Professor.” Joonhwi addresses politely.
And so the minutes continue to change unnoticed at the stove. 1:15AM turns into 1:36AM, then 1:57AM. Sol abruptly stands from her cross-legged position on the floor by the coffee table, knocking her knee hard against the table leg in the process, and earning a worried glance from Joonhwi. The sudden shock sears through her nerves, but she does not seem to notice.
“Professor, aren’t you enjoying me suffering too much? The last case you gave me was a wild goose chase and now this one that looks like a dead end. I don’t have to take any of these cases anymore because I’m not your student anymore.”
Yang paused then said “But you will because you’re Kang Sol.” He slows his speech to hopefully impact Sol. Her ability to effect change in law and in people is unparalleled, and though this case appears to be a dead and sure ending, he knows with Kang Sol (and Han Joonhwi) working on it, there will be no stone left unturned. This case in particular came to his attention because the pieces did not seem to fit together, as if someone forced puzzle pieces into a different picture. He can trust the two to seek the truth and uphold justice in each case they take on. Kang Sol with her drive and connection to humanity to go the extra mile for every case, and Han Joonhwi who seeks the judicial truth.
“How am I going to defend this person when all the evidence submitted to prosecution is just begging for a lifetime sentence? Prosecution just has to stand there and they will still get sentenced! Why are they pleading innocence now?”
‘Sorry…’ Sol mouths to Joonhwi. At the same moment, Joonhwi realizes why Professor Yang wanted them to take this case. It is set up in the same way the ecstasy case was, 3 years ago. It makes sense why Sol would not remember immediately—she has worked on multiple drug cases and she was only helping on this case, but he was the prosecutor in charge. And it sits vivid in his memory.
“Then give up your license to practice law. I didn’t decide to teach just so Hankuk Law graduates would be picky about which cases they are taking. How does this make you any different than people who bribe authorities into veto-ing a case? This person needs someone. I know you can find out the truth—whether it be a murder or not. Do you care about justice or not? There has to be a reason why they are pleading innocent after keeping quiet all this time.”
She looked up in bewilderment at Joonhwi, but his eyes were unreadable. She was lost too…another murder case.
“Call me back if you care about the human species or if you’re going to let them rot in the holding cell without getting a chance to defend themself.”
Joonhwi watches the screen black out as Professor Yang’s call disconnects. Sol is still standing with her arms crossed and hair disheveled from their discussion. He picks up the scattered sticky notes plastered on the table and the sides of the couch from Sol taking notes during the call and sticks them in line on the wall. Evidence. Timeline of events. Close contacts.
“Why aren’t you asking me if I’ll take it?”
“Let’s eat first. I’ll heat it up.”
//
“Wow, Han Joonhwi, you can quit office and become a chef. This is the best thing I’ve eaten all day!” Her quick enthusiasm to the food and momentary forgetfulness of the referred case eases the tugging on his heart since their former Professor called them.
“It’s also the only thing you’ve eaten all day, so I’ll be mindful of that.” Joonhwi watches her pick up the bowl and instinctively reaches for something behind him. “Careful it’s—” She spits it out almost immediately, hot liquid dribbling down her chin and neck, into her shirt. She looks up in embarrassment to see Joonhwi’s patient smile with a handful of paper towel. When she doesn’t take it immediately, he dabs at the remnants of Sol’s impatience.
//
Joonhwi leans with his back against the couch and arms crossed, staring at the wall of sticky notes. He sneaks a glance at Sol channeling her frustration into cleaning the dishes and smiles to himself. Wall. Sol. Wall. Sol.
Sol proudly stacks the last bowl on the edge of the dish rack, the contents threatening to crumble into a ceramic pile at any given moment. She turns to see Joonhwi staring at her, his eyes and lips smiling. God, his smile.
“What are you doing, looking at me.”
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“That was a statement. What should I be asking?”
“You should be asking if Kang Sol’s passionate heart should be used to help this person.” Joonhwi had no intention of persuading her or giving her his opinion, but he wanted Sol to talk it out and untangle her thoughts by herself.
Sol purses her lips together and leans against the sink counter, arms crossed. She picks at the button on the cuff of her white dress shirt and looks up at Joonhwi again. His gaze never left her. Joonhwi tracks her steps as she makes her way to his place at the couch and stands beside him, staring at the scribbles.
“Joonhwi,” she starts
“Mhmm?”
“Intentional or not, whether it is the correct person or not, do I really want to find out? Someone died because of this. Even when the evidence is plenty, Professor Yang would never refer a case like this to me if he didn’t have suspicions that there’s something more to it. The thought of defending them with my whole brain when I have nothing left is seriously making me mad.” She turns to the side to meet his eyes and sighs with a pout “I don’t deserve to call myself a defense lawyer.”
The corner of his left lip raises, deepening his dimple. “Human Rights, Article 11.”
With a small groan, she adverts her gaze and mumbles “presumption of innocence.” Joonhwi’s smile spreads across his face, but Sol doesn’t notice. He places his warm hand on her shoulder and leans his head down towards hers, “so why are you acting like you won’t take the case when you made your decision 8 minutes ago?”
She looks up startled. “How did you know that?”
It was Joonhwi’s turn to be offended. After all, they’ve known each other for 8 years. “I know what you’re thinking before you think it into existence. Isn’t that why you were scrubbing the dishes into clay again?”
With that, Sol admits defeat and walks into Joonhwi’s standby embrace, loosely wrapping her arms around his lower back and placing her forehead on his shoulder. He returns the warmth and presses his lips to her temple, not intending to leave.
It’s moments like these Sol is grateful for. Someone who she can talk to without judgement. Someone who she can lean on without wondering if she'll crash on the floor when they disappear. Someone who will be both the devil and the angel, not afraid to tell it as it is; making her a better person each day. Someone she can bounce ideas off of and inspires her to become a better person and lawyer. Maybe it was the absence of her sister during the years she needed her the most, but she learned to be independent. Joonhwi taught her that it's okay to lean on someone sometimes.
Joonhwi has his eyes on the sticky notes, making a mental note of the timeline of events and important locations to help Sol later, but when she tightens her hold on him, he thinks he’ll do it later.
“Maybe I should have followed Sol B and applied to the training institute after graduation?” Sol asks, words muffled into his shirt.
Another opportunity to tease. He scoffs and remarks “As if ruling a murderer not guilty in first year wasn’t traumatizing eno—ough” Sol pulls away from him and he finds the source of his pain: a small angry fist, reserved just for him.
“What else could I do when there wasn’t enough evidence!”
Sol’s phone on the coffee table lights up with a new notification: 03:31 New text from Professor Yang “The documents will be delivered to you tomorrow.”