𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 | 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐣𝐚𝐲

39: courthouse pt 1

"Sustained," the judge called out stopping the awful lawyer from using Jake's origins as a weak point. He nodded at his failed attempt, flipping over a page in his file. His next point. Jake's face remained unphased as if he was fearless. Nothing could penetrate that. 

"Where were you when Jongseong made the phone call?" 

"At home," Jake replied strongly. His expression didn't falter - in fact he looked comfortable and confident. His stance gave me hope that somehow they wouldn't be able to break us. 

"And why weren't you studying?" The lawyer simply asked.

"A-are you asking me why I don't study?" Jake laughed right in his face. The audience followed, clowning the idiocy of the question. 

"Better form your questions for the witness, please," The judge ordered, trying to rectify the embarrassing disturbance. The lawyer looked red in the face and bowed to apologise for his bad wording. After a brief pause, his interrogation stare was back. 

"It is known that the three of you study together frequently, is that correct," he continued. 

"Yes,"

"Is there a reason why you declined Jongseong's offer during this period?" 

"I preferred not to study with Amy," he said bluntly. Brutal honesty: the key to getting past his questions. 

"And why is that?"

"Because the last time we studied for an important deadline Amy was the downfall of our grade. She posed a distraction for us and I would prefer to not be distracted," 

"Amy's want to better her education is surely not a distraction here Mr Sim,"

"It is my preference to study without her. You can't argue anything more," Jake shrugged, shocking the lawyer who was now at a loss. 

"He is right, can you get to the point please?" the judge urged him to carry on. 

"Sim Jaeyun were you part of the phone call?"

"Yes, I was," 

"What was the intention of you joining the call if you were not present?" 

"My friends wanted to prove that Kim Amy was a nice person,"

"And was that needed because you of all three were the most opposed to befriending Amy," 

"...Yes," Jake paused before answering. He was faltering now. My heart raced as our strong rider was starting to slow down. Come on, Jake.

"And is it true that you still oppose Amy?"

"Yes, but why would that change after what she did to us?" Jake tried to argue back.

"What is it she did to you, Jake?" 

"Well, nothing-,"

"Kim Amy confessed to wanting to pass her exams over the phone call. You of all people would find that admirable as a student of your nature," 

"She did so in a horrible way, though. Who uses someone to get what they want. It's toxic! She has been doing this to us all year and yet you justify it because she wants to pass her exams?" Jake stood up, leaning over the podium. He eyed the lawyer trying to break him. 

"Everyone needs to pass their exams. That is the point of going to school. There is no want, need or preference involved. Kim Amy consented to learning when she joined the school. If she didn't want that then she should not have asked her father to fraud her way through the system!" 

The audience gasped and turned to Mr Kim who was clearly unhappy with Jake's outburst. 

"Mr Sim Jaeyun, do not speak out of turn," the judge called to order. Jake sat back down, but in his eyes he wasn't finished. 

"Like I was saying," the lawyer coughed to continue, "Amy is a good student who did something for her own benefit. You took advantage of that-,"

"She took advantage of us! She used her father's money to get a seat at the good student's table. Yeah, it's smart and may have worked for her, but everyone here has gone through the school system. We all worked hard for our grades, even you to be here as a lawyer! Why should the justice turn a blind eye for one girl who had the money to skip the hard part?" 

The audience erupted again. Jake's explanation caused everyone to turn on Amy's defence. Members of the audience stood up to recount their high school experiences and argued in our favour. 

"I worked hours and hours during my exams without money or anyone else!" 

"Money doesn't get you anywhere. She committed fraud and these poor students are being framed to cover it up!" 

"Isn't it the father's fault since he is the one loaded with money?!"

"ENOUGH!"

The judge stood up and smacked his gavel on the wood. The room was silenced and everyone froze in their places. 

"Defence," he stated simply, "Is there evidence for Mr Sim Jaeyun's claim of fraud on Miss Amy's account?" 

"Not presently, Your Honour," Our lawyer sighed.

"Then I deem there no case to be made here," My heart dropped. 

 "but Your Honour-," Amy's lawyer tried argue with the judge's claimed but was instantly silenced. He was getting tired of the constant bickering as I suspected from the start.  

"Is there anyone here that can give me any evidence of an actual criminal offence?" 

Nobody spoke up and that was the hard truth. This case was dead from the start because there was no physical evidence of anything they were accusing us of. It was our escape plan: to discredit the evidence they had, which they now proved was null. I was relieved that something was going our way and hopefully soon we'd be on our way out of here with no charges. 

"Wait!" 

A figure emerged from the back of the courtroom holding multiple pieces of paper. 

"There is evidence," they said breathlessly, "This trial needs to go ahead,"