Talking to the moon

Chapter 23

"Eunchae please don't play with my uniform," Yunjin groaned for what felt like the hundredth time when she felt the kindergartner start to fiddle around with the couple shiny silver badges adorning her chest. She was excited, Yunjin knew, Eunchae had never seen Yunjin in her actual dress uniform. For good reason too, Yunjin hated the thing, it was stiff and scratchy, she much preferred the jeans and jacket with her badge hanging from a small chain getup, she wore nearly every day. Eunchae complied, instead, wrapping her arms around Yunjin's neck as the detective carried her into the courtroom. Eunchae was nervous, the reappearance of Peng sandwiched between her and Yunjin just proved that to Yunjin. Originally she was going to tell Eunchae that she shouldn't bring it, it would be unprofessional, but Chaewon stopped her before she left telling her to let her bring a stuffie, a blanket, and her journal with some crayons. It was going to be a long day, and for Eunchae to have some comfort could be the difference between her testifying or her completely shutting down on the stand.

After finding the correct room, Yunjin let herself in, spotting the small gathering of their friends quickly. Sakura was there, also dressed in her dress uniform, Kazuha next to her, Hanni, Wonyoung, and Kyujin as well. Chaewon was contemplating having Kyujin testify for nearly a week, ultimately deciding that the five-year-old had been the closest to Eunchae throughout the year and she knew a lot. Yunjin made her way over to them, offering a quick hello as Wonyoung helped take the rolled-up blanket and notebook out of Yunjin's free hand. Eunchae let her head lay on Yunjin's shoulder as Sakura smiled up at her, "Hi Chae, you look pretty today."

She better. It took nearly a half-hour to convince Eunchae she couldn't go to court in her favorite pair of jeans and sweatshirt, another to actually get her into the nice clothes and hair brushed. Eunchae just nodded and tucked her face into Yunjin's neck, Yunjin sighed, "She's a bit nervous right now."

"That's fine," Sakura brushed off taking her seat, Kazuha sitting next to her. Kazuha was quiet, but she didn't look angry. Right now wasn't the time to try and resolve any sort of issues between the two. Yunjin took a seat as well, smiling as Kyujin unrolled the blanket and tucked it on Eunchae who looked back at her and offered a smile.

"Here, I brought some gummies because I know how much you like them." Kyujin smiled, holding up a plastic bag with quite a few gummies inside, she opened the bag and held one out to Eunchae which the girl scrunched her nose up in disgust before eating it. "I also brought the coloring book and Mommy said we can play games on her phone too. I downloaded the one with animals because you said it looked interesting and-"

"I tried to explain what was going on," Wonyoung leaned over and whispered to Yunjin, "I told her she needs to be nice to Eunchae because today was going to be rough, I didn't think she would be like this though."

"It's okay, she just wants to show Eunchae she cares. I think Eunchae likes it." If the wide smile on Eunchae's lips was any indicator, Yunjin was right. She seemed calm right now, Yunjin hoped it would stay like that the rest of the time.

Then they brought Eunjung in. Eunchae nearly bolted out of her seat towards the woman as soon as she saw her, Yunjin only catching her by her wrist as Eunchae tried to make her way to her mother.

"Mommy!" Yunjin tightened her grip on Eunchae's wrist as the girl tugged to try and get over to the woman who looked over in her direction, her expression dropping when she saw the child. This was the first time she saw the woman with her own two eyes, she looked better than she did in the photo, her long black hair tied back and a certain life back in her eyes. The young mother suddenly diverted her eyes, focusing on her shoes instead. Eunchae didn't seem to like that very much, "Mommy it's Eunchae! You remember me right?"