Chapter Text
The First Turnabout
August 3rd, 9:15 AM
Aurora Street
Kim Hongjoong's apartment
Kim Hongjoong was a lot of things : kind, smart, funny yet organised was not one of those things. The clock had been ringing for the past twenty minutes when the young man finally opened his eyes. The sun was high for a warm August’s dawn. In his sleep deprived state, he had completely forgotten to close his shutters when he crumbled into bed and now the light was directly hitting his face making him hiss and hide under the covers.
Today was his first day as a defence attorney and he had spent the previous week passing his nerves on energy drinks and bad movies. Ever since he had received his diploma last July, he had spent several long hours polishing and admiring his attorney badge. Sometimes he would pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming and that he hadn’t badly fumbled his bar exam by making a fool of himself. Him a defence attorney ? One look at his living space and one would think that the apartment belonged to a childish teenager and not the valedictorian of the best law school in Japanifornia. Now the badge was sitting perfectly on his nightstand, still in his black leather box, the only place in his room which had not been ransacked by piles of clothes and books, and it was gently glimmering under the rays of the Sun, playing some light effects on the walls and the covers of the bed which was odd because the sun couldn’t be that high at eight in the morning.
With the loud yawn, the young man uncovered his face and turned to check on the old alarm clock reading “09:15”. He sighed happily, quarter past nine… it was perfect, he had finally won over his traitorous body and woke up perfectly on time. He would be able to eat a little, take a good amount of time to perfectly stylise his spiky hair and then take his bike to ride to the courthouse. It was just a twenty minute ride but since it was quarter past nine and the trial didn’t start before ten o’clock, he would have to leave…
Dread suddenly filled his entire body. He no longer was groggy from sleep and instead jolted out of his bed. He was the valedictorian of his law school but definitely not valedictorian of his pre-school since he couldn’t properly read a clock. He was moving frantically around his small apartment, searching for scattered socks and his briefcase that he was certain he put right next to his desk. He had no time for a good shower, he could only afford a cold splash of water on his face and ruffle his short auburn hair with wax and call it a day.
As he hurriedly stepped out of the bathroom, he thanked his genius self for preparing his cheap blue suit before heading to bed because now he only had to quickly put it on and leave his place at the speed of light. But the universe had other wicked tricks for him and as he was hopping all around the crowded space, trying to slip his legs into his pants, his feet caught on one of the piles loitering the ground, making him stumble and fall face first on the pile of discarded tee shirts and underwear.
The young man loudly grunted. He better wins today’s trial or this day will end with him being judged for arson.
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August 3rd, 9:45 AM
Treasure Boulevard
District court
Hongjoong arrived at the courthouse at 09:45. The usual twenty minute ride had turned into a frantic twelve minute rush. Against all odds, nothing bad happened after his little fall in his apartment, if you don’t count the several cars honking and people cursing as a short man in blue rushed through the streets of Japanifornia on a bike so old it could collapse on itself at any moment.
Hongjoong immediately found it weird how crowded the entrance to the courthouse was. There were usually a handful of people waiting at the gate, mostly journalists waiting to catch their big scoop of the day. But today, it was as if every reporter of the country had gathered at the fences to make Hongjoong's life a living hell.
As soon as he arrived at the iron gates of the courthouse, he was met by a wall of flesh and clothes shouting and pushing towards something that the young attorney could not make out from his spot. He reluctantly had to hook his bike on a fence not far from the back entrance and climb his way into the parking lot at the back of the place.
He knew the journalists were definitely not there to cover his first big trial, the trial that will surely launch his career and prove to the world that he was a very real attorney and a fierce one on top of that ! But a man could only dream… As he ran to the doors of the tribunal, he managed to catch on his peripheral view the sight of a red sport car right in the middle of suits and flashes and as the driver’s door opened, the shouts of the reporters only grew louder which Hongjoong thought was impossible outside of a concert venue.
The young man could not make out who was the subject of such a bustle, they were all but climbing on top of each other just to get a simple footage of the person they were trying to film. One could only think an idol had just stepped out of that car but it could not be possible cause Hongjoong would have been aware if an idol was in the middle of a legal battle. He tiptoed to try to see anything but the only thing he caught was the top of a blonde haired figure hidden in the mass of journalists.
As he finally entered the building, immediately shrugging off the blonde figure, he made a mental note to ask Maddox what that frenzy was all about and basically ran to the defendant lobby where his mentor was already waiting for him.
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August 3rd, 9:49 AM
District Court
Defendant Lobby n°8
The lobby was situated in the basement of the courthouse. The place had probably once been the boiler room that had never been used by anyone and had been turned into a makeshift courtroom for the small and unimportant trials because it was hot, way too hot. So hot one could not almost breathe in here, or maybe it was just because the young attorney was nervous. Nevertheless, The young attorney was sweating bullets and he was already regretting running to be on time since even Maddox, his chief, was not here yet ! Or maybe, he had died this morning when he tripped on his clothes and he was now in purgatory. No, he was not in the purgatory, he was already in Hell ! That's why it was so hot in here ! He was dead and immediately got sent to Hell. Maybe he should have helped his elderly neighbor when she was struggling with her shopping bad… And maybe he shouldn’t have laughed at the kid who got his ice cream stolen by a seagull…
“You’re spacing out again.” whispered a voice in his ear.
The scream that came out of his mouth was too high to belong to a grown man and it almost surprised the attorney twice as much as the voice that startled him. Maddox, his chief, was standing in front of him, his black helmet in one hand and the other on his stomach as he was bent over with laughter.
“You should see your face !” The attorney said between two chuckles.
Hongjoong felt his face heat up, his ears probably turning a pretty shade of red from how embarrassed he was. He said nothing and waited, mortified, for his mentor to calm down.
“I’m sorry Kim” Maddox said as he wiped non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes, “It’s just so easy to scare you !” He reached to pat the younger man’s shoulder. ‘How are you doing ? You look pale, you’re sure you got enough sleep last night ?”
At this question felt his face heat up again. It was truly fascinating how Maddox could so easily read his young associates. Hongjoong coughed.
“Yeah, don’t worry chief, I got a lot of sleep.” He replied as he unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish smile on his face.
The senior attorney pursed his lips and let go of his mentee’s shoulder and looked around the room.
“Right, right… I must say Kim, I am impressed. Not everyone takes on a murder trial right off the bat like this. It says a lot about you and also your client.”
Maddox was right, it was rare for a law graduate freshly out of law school to take on a murder trial. Most started their career as just associates of a senior trial lawyer and if they took on cases all alone, it would be smaller cases like insurance fraud, robberies, hit and run… Murder trials were reserved to more experienced attorneys which he was not. But the client he had accepted to work for was very special to the attorney. Indeed, when Hongjoong received that call on Sunday morning, he had not expected to hear his childhood best friend hooting and hollering at the other end of the line. In fact, out of every situation his best friend had ever found himself in, the lawyer had not expected to learn that he was suspected of first degree murder on his girlfriend.
And of course he agreed to help his friend. How could he not do that when he was one of the reasons why he was now standing here in the defendant lobby. If it weren’t partially for him, he would not have become an attorney. Hongjoong really wanted to help his friend, he felt like he owed him that much.
Maddox checked his watch then the small clock on the wall, right above the door to the courtroom.
“By the way, where is your client ?”
Hongjoong had finally managed to ease his nerves thanks to Maddox’s presence right by his side. He was thankful to know that he was not going to go in this trial all alone but upon hearing his mentor’s words, he felt his nervousness crash back into him. Where the Hell was He ?
“I swear to whatever God is listening to me right now, I hope he didn't get stopped by that damned, pretentious prosecutor right at the entry." Maddox mumbled to himself as he pinched his nose. "That man I swear, they’re always attracted to him like flies with syrup…”
“What prosecutor ?” Hongjoong barely managed to let out before the two men heard a loud commotion right outside the door which made them turn simultaneously.
They heard him before they could see him.
“Death and Despair ! It’s over ! My life is absolutely over !”
The old wooden doors burst open as a tall dark haired man rushed inside the room sobbing and shouting at the top of his lungs. He lunged at Hongjoong, clutching at the short man blue suit so tightly, his knuckles turned white.
“Joongieeeee, I’m going to do it ! I’m going to jump from that window !” The tall man cried as he let his head fall on the attorney’s shoulder making the man instantly froze on the spot.
Song Mingi was a tall man. So tall that in a room full of people, he would be the first person you would spot just from how tall and charismatic he was. Even if he wasn’t rocking a flamboyant hair colour and was wearing a casual outfit. He had this special aura surrounding him that would catch the eye of anyone passing by. On top of that, if he wasn’t already extremely easy to spot, he was a loud man. A very, very, very loud man. It was as if a megaphone had been implanted into his vocal cords.
Hongjoong sighed, he was used to his friend’s antics and he should have guessed that he was going to be extremely dramatic and sensitive today.
“Hey Hey there, Mingi…” clumsily, the lawyer patted his friend’s back to calm him down.
“I did not know you were this close with the defendant, Joongie.” Maddox said with a smirk which made the attorney’s ears return to its previous crimson colour. At this point he should just paint his ears red if he kept getting embarrassed like that.
Hongjoong coughed, his voice wavering.
“Me and Mingi have known each other since preschool, he’s my oldest friend…” He said the last part fondly as he continued to pat his best friend’s back.
The tall man suddenly pulled back from the embrace as if he had been burned by Hongjoong’s touch.
“Ain’t I your best friend and not just your oldest friend ?” He said with a pout, tears still in his eyes, ready to be spilled at any moment.
The attorney let out an embarrassed chuckle. Gosh he was so dramatic.
“Yes, he’s my best friend.”He rectified, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.
A big smile broke on Mingi’s face as he tightly hugged the attorney, squishing the attorney’s face against his chest.
“I’m not just your best friend Joongie,” Mingi continued with a sigh as he let his chin rest on top of Hongjoong’s head, “I’m also your only friend.”
The attorney felt his ears turn red again. From where he was trapped, he could hear Maddox burst out laughing which made him want to be entirely swallowed by the ground. Before he could reply anything, Mingi abruptly pulled away to hold both of his friend’s shoulders and look at him with a sudden stoic look on his face which made Hongjoong’s eyebrow knit together. What had gotten into him all of the sudden ?
“Now Joongie… I’m guilty ! So so guilty ! Tell them I’m guilty and that I need to be sent to prison.” His sudden stoic expression turned into a desperate one as he swiftly sank to his knees and firmly clutched on Hongjoong’s legs.
“What ?! What are you talking about Mingi ?!” The attorney’s voice went two octaves higher as he looked over to his mentor who was dumbfounded as he was.
“The death sentence ! Tell them to give me the death sentence ! I’m not afraid to die !” Mingi loudly cried as he shook his head to mark his words.
Hongjoong was shaking, not only because of his stupid friend tugging on his legs, but also because he was using every last bit of constraint he had left to not launch at the tall man at his feet and set him straight.“Mingi…” Hongjoong said with a desperate sigh.
“You don’t understand Joongie !” The tall man cried in his friend's legs, “It’s over ! How could I live without her !” He looked up to give the attorney his best puppy eyes and pouty lips and if looks could kill, the way Hongjoong looked at his best friend would have turned into a puddle of flesh right at his feet.
The Attorney sighed.
“Oh Joongie ! Who… Who did this ? Who took her away from him !” The tall man cried as he almost slammed his head back against the attorney’s knees which made the smaller man stumble.
“That’s the million-dollar question because, on the police reports it says it’s… well, you.” Hongjoong thought to himself as he looked down on his friend, his hand unconsciously lifting to rest on the top of his head as he smoothly stroked his friend’s dark hair.
He knew his friend could not have killed that girl, he was certain of it because Mingi was Mingi. He was afraid of bugs and could never kill them, just scream at them and wait until they were gone or until someone took care of them for him. Every time they played a video game together, he would always make sure to play by the rules and never be disrespectful to everyone even if they were just NPCs and that they said a lot about his character. He was also too much of a romantic, he fell for literally anybody and everybody who was nice to him but never got mad if that somebody rejected him. How could he have killed his girlfriend and if he had killed her, why would he have done that ?
The case was simple, a young woman had been found dead at her apartment, she had been killed by a blow on her head and the guy they arrested ? The unlucky sap kneeling at his feet. Out of pure unluckiness, ever since he met him during grade school, Mingi had never been out of trouble. Hongjoong could no longer count the number of excuses his poor had to give in his life to keep out of trouble.
Everyone knew about his friend’s legendary unluckiness, they even had a saying at their school : “Never listen to what comes out the siren, especially if it’s from the Song.” And boy had he listened to the siren song… Hongjoong had been in trouble as many times as his friend, simply because he had listened to him and followed him through every single one of his shenanigans. And yet, for some reason that he could not quite pinpoint, they never truly got punished for the trouble they brought upon themselves… He remembered the shouts and the curses but never the outcome. It had always been him and Mingi against the world… Right ?
As he silently continued to ponder upon his friend’s fate in this world. The three men were startled by the sound of an old bell ringing loudly in the lobby. Hongjoong shook his thoughts off his head and helped his friend get back on his feet.He was still a whimpering mess but Hongjoong could no longer do anything apart from rubbing his back for reassurance.
From across the room, Maddox checked on his watch and then the clock-wall.
“I think it’s for us” He said as he turned to the two men and gave them a confident smile.
Hongjoong could only nod to this. It was 10:00AM, time for him to clear his friend’s name. Time to prove to everyone that he was a true attorney and bring justice to the table.