Dear Sputnik

XLII

- TAEHYUN -

Guilty. Taehyun's blood ran cold as the words echoed in his head. How could this have happened? Was this all part of the plan with the plea deal? His father was guilty of every single crime that they accused him of. There was no way that he would get off easy, not even with a plea deal in place. What were they doing to do? Taehyun's father would be serving a prison sentence. How would they live and survive? His mother never had to work. The questions swarmed his mind as the case was dismissed.

No, Taehyun thought to himself, this had to be some sort of mistake. With all of the evidence of how overworked his father was and the intense corporate pressure, how could the judges still rule against him? His father devoted his life to the company. Of course, the three judges didn't see it that way. Taehyun couldn't help but feel that his testimony was one of the reasons why his father was found guilty. He embarrassed himself on that stand and made things a lot worse for his father. Nothing went to plan that day.

Taehyun felt his sister's hand find his in his lap, but Taehyun was numb to the feeling. His mother, sitting next to his sister, had broken down into tears and was miserably trying to wipe at her face. His sister even had a sad expression on her face, despite not contacting their parents and basically dismissing their father every chance she got.

His father's expression was unreadable as he turned around to look at them. Mr. Lee, his lawyer, was explaining to him something about the court of appeals, but his father wasn't listening to a word. Taehyun watched his father first reach out to his mother and help wipe her tears away.

"Stay strong, for the family," he overheard his father whisper to her, "Visit me, please."

This was all becoming too real. Everything that had happened since his father's initial arrest seemed to not make any sort of sense. It was a crazy turn of events that Taehyun would have never imagined as being possible.

His father then turned to him and his sister, reaching out and taking both of their hands. Taehyun could see the pain in his eyes and tears that were threatening to spill out. He couldn't look at his father like this. Despite all of the anger he had for his father for sending him to a gay conversation therapy camp, Taehyun would have never wished this on him. He knew that his sister wouldn't have wished this either. His father was just doing what he felt like he needed to.

"You two, please, continue to work on your studies," his father murmured, holding their hands tightly, "No matter what you two end up doing as future careers or what you study, just know that I am so proud of you. You have both been so strong throughout this whole trial. I know, it's not going to be easy, but I will get out of here at some point and I will repay you."

Taehyun felt the tears glaze his eyes and he swallowed hard. He looked down to avoid his father's painful gaze and squeezed his hand. His father wrapped his arms around both of them and hugged them tightly. He felt like a kid again, envisioning his memories of his father returning from work and setting his briefcase down to hug both him and his sister.

The police officers who stood on guard at the front of the courtroom had now merged themselves into their conversation. One of them held handcuffs. His father pulled away from their embrace and glanced at the cause of the interruption. As Taehyun stared at the officers, he couldn't help but think back to when his father first got arrested in their penthouse.

"My client and I would like to discuss our plan and he would like to visit with his family before taken into custody," Mr. Lee spoke up for him.

The police officers glanced at his father's lawyer before slowly nodding and returning back to their place at the front of the court. Taehyun wiped his eyes from the tears and watched as his father began to talk with his grandparents. He just happened to glance over towards the plaintiff side and he noticed that Beomgyu's father had a wide smirk planted on his lips. Taehyun felt his stomach churn just by looking at him. That man had tried to take his boyfriend away from him and now his father.