Release From Hell

The Judge

As he rubbed his forehead, Jung stood up and walked hurriedly to the bedroom. When he walked in, Jung was sitting on the bed consoling Yoonbum, but she looked like she was doing a better job than Seungbae had. She was speaking to him in a low voice and he was nodding. Then, he layed back down and she stood up, pulling Seungbae out of the room with her as she left.

"It's common that PTSD patients have nightmares or flashbacks. With therapy, hopefully the physical symptoms will stop, but sometimes the dreams don't ever really go away."

Seungbae nodded. He was still embarrassed about what had happened when he had tried to kiss her, but he realized that Yoonbum was more important. Jung put a hand on his shoulder and stood up to kiss his cheek. Seungbae had to use all his strength to stop from blushing, while she grabbed her jacket.

"I'd better head home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Jung, wait... thank you. Not just for coming over but for everything."

She smiled gratefully at him, then left the apartment. Seungbae sighed and got ready for bed. It had been a long day for him, too, and he fell asleep quickly, despite being uncomfortable on the floor.

Three months later...

The day of the trial was finally there. As one of the main officers involved in the case, Seungbae had to actually go to the court. Jung was staying at his apartment with Yoonbum. She would help him set up the video call and be there for moral support. Yoonbum was almost healed physically; he could walk with only a crutch and a brace. He still had nightmares, but he had stopped screaming from them. He seemed to feel much safer, too. But he had made it painfully clear to Seungbae that he was not ready for this. But there was nothing they could do about it now. Seungbae suspected Yoonbum would never be really ready for something like this. As Seungbae approached the building where the trial would take place, he drilled the schedule to himself over and over. It would be a jury trial, so in addition to the judge, there would be twelve people who would have a hand in sentencing Sangwoo. First, there would be the judge's opening statement, where he would describe the case. Then would be the cross examination of the accused's witnesses, except there were no witnesses, so Sangwoo would defend himself. His lawyer would then present his defense and try to convince the judge of his innocence. The next part was where Yoonbum would come in. The cross analysis of the prosecutor's witnesses. In this case, Yoonbum was the only witness. He would have to tell the entire court what he had told Seungbae and Jung at their apartment. Sangwoo's lawyer was allowed to ask Yoonbum questions after his statements, but Seungbae hoped for his sake that she didn't ask too many. After that, Seungbae couldn't do much. The jury would talk and the judge would consider the evidence he had been presented with, and there would be a conviction. He was almost certain there would be a life sentence, but he had heard Sangwoo's lawyer was tough. When he got to the front doors, he was met by one of his coworkers, who looked almost excited.

"Yang, did you hear? Oh Sangwoo got his request to use his own lawyer denied! He has to use a government provided one now, and they've had hardly any time to discuss the case together. We've basically got this case in the bag!"

He had completely forgotten that could happen. Initially, Sangwoo had requested to be defended by his personal lawyer for this case. But, Seungbae remembered, if there was enough evidence to make the accused seem untrustworthy or dangerous, the court didn't have to fulfill their requests. Based of the evidence they had found just in his house, Seungbae supposed it wasn't surprising that this happened. It was definitely a good thing. Someone provided by the government wouldn't have a personal connection with Oh Sangwoo, so they wouldn't try as hard to defend him. And with the evidence against him, it would be hard to defend Sangwoo even if he had a great lawyer. Now excited to start the trial, Seungbae walked quickly to the courtroom. He got there just as the judge entered, eliciting some annoyed glances from his coworkers. Sheepishly, he took his seat, and craning his neck, he could just see the prison uniform and curly hair of Oh Sangwoo. Despite everything, he was nervous. He knew the case was practically in the bag, but he also knew Oh Sangwoo was dangerous. He had evaded capture this long, and everyone he knew regarded him as a charismatic, normal person. As the judge went through the motions of opening the court, Seungbae stared off into space. He wondered how different the world would seem when he walked out of that room. What happened that day would change the future, for better or worse... Before he knew it, the judge was calling Sangwoo to the stand. Seungbae snapped out of his daydreaming and assumed his hard, serious exterior that he used in such situations. He hadn't known what to expect, but as Sangwoo took the stand, he looked almost sad. Suspicious, Seungbae leaned forwards in his seat, with his hands on his knees.

"Oh Sangwoo, you are here due to accusations of first degree murder, multiple voluntary homicides, aggravated assault and battery, extortion of your parent's property, and kidnapping. You have chosen to plead not guilty to all of the following, is that accurate?"

"Yes sir it is."

"I see. And why do you think it is that you have been accused of these crimes if you are, as you claim, not guilty."

"Sir I think this is a case of over exaggeration on the part of the police. What I did do was purely out of self defense and confusion, as well as, I believe, an unsound state of mind. I assure you I was just as surprised as anyone at the items found in my house."

"And how," the police lawyer chimed in, clearly bemused by his response, "do you argue that your actions were in self defense? What are you referring to?"

Sangwoo now looked surprised, but Seungbae could tell it was the fake kind of too surprised, with a jaw drop and large eyes.

"I'm talking about the invasion of my house by that boy Yoonbum. I was horrified when I came home and found him in my basement. I'm sure that's understandable. He was crouching over a woman's body, I assumed he had dragged her in and killed her. He was covered in blood and I yelled out at him. He ran at me and so to defend myself from what I had assumed was a crazed murderer, I swung at him with a baseball bat. He fell down my stairs and I guess he broke his leg. I didn't know what to do, I was terrified. I knew I had just assaulted someone, but I also had a potentially very dangerous person in my home. So I restrained him. I didn't want to touch the woman, so I left her. I can only assume that I was so traumatized and afraid that I didn't think to call the police. I don't remember much of it, but I know that before the police got involved, he had tried to attack me several times, so each time I defended myself and thankfully I was able to keep him restrained. I'm only grateful the police got involved, or I don't know what would have happened."

The entire room was silent. Or, that was, the part of the room that was made up of police officers went quiet. None of them could believe the boldness or the audacity of the lie. Not knowing what to do, they stared at each other blankly. After a moment's pause, their lawyer stood.

"Forgive my language your honor but that is the biggest pile of horseshit I have ever heard in my life. "