dysthymia | zhong chenle

삼십삼

"wheres hye-"

on the cue, the door opened and in came hyejin with a bitterly sweet expression plastered across her face

"have you seen chenle?" jungwoo asked while taeil frantically attempted to dial his number

"is he not in here?" the last time she had seen chenle was him walking in the direction of this room. he must have taken a detour, but to where?

"just call jisung, this is urgent. if worse comes to worse jisung will have to act as our witness"

taeil responded quick, and dialed jisung's number. he picked up immediately, to taeil's relief.

"did you take the bullet sometime today?" taeil leant the phone on his shoulder and pressed it against his ear, continuing to shuffle through the mess of a box. hyejin noted their panic, and retraced her steps in an attempt to find the bullet.

"no? i haven't touched it since i gave it to you for the scan. does yuta not have it?"

"i asked yuta this morning, he said chenle put it in the box"

"it's not in the box? then where's chenle? does he not have it?"

"i'm asking those exact some questions too"

"who else is on the van? there's no way there's only one person who knows where the bullet is"

"just ten, but he's busy with new softwares mechanics this whole day"

"are you all idiots!? why did you assign one single person to look after the evidence box!?"

"we didn't think it would just miraculously disappear along with chenle"

"if you lose that darned necklace, i'm not forgiving any one of you. you best believe i will leave nct if that necklace isn't found soon"

"jisu-"

he hung up

things were just getting worse and worse. just as it got to the climax, the door jerked open and in came chenle, head dripping with water and heavy breaths flailing out of his mouth. hyejin came running after him, and saw the sight with a similarly open mouth.

"what the-"

"just leave, i've got the bullet. we need to leave now. it's starting in 2 minutes" chenle nodded, not giving them time to speak and rushing towards the court. his hands grasped the necklace firmly in his palms, the other three noticing it and letting out a huge sigh of relief

little did they know, this was only the start of the storm.

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dressed in sophisticated suits and dresses, jungwoo and taeil had never felt so nervous for a trial before. they reassured each other, as they filed onto the counsel seats: taeil in the prosecutor seat, jungwoo in the assistant seat and hyejin following right after as the plaintiff.

the judge then followed, a pair of glasses on his nose as he glanced between the two parties, and gestures both to sit.

"I call on the prosecution" his voice was solemn, and set the tone of the atmosphere dead and serious.

taeil stood up, brushing off his suit, and took a breath before facing the jury and the judge.

"On June 4th of 2019, the defendant in this matter have reportedly committed complex fraud, attempted murder, identity theft, psychopathic intentions and intentional drugging. At the conclusion of the case, and after you have heard all the evidence, we encourage the jury and the judge to return a verdict of guilty." His opening statement finished smoothly and took his seat while the opposing team suggested their own opening statement.

It all ended with a nervous full stop and continued on successfully. they knew they were prepared, but that sinking feeling in their stomach would never leave

"In following of last trials results, we will bring up the main issue the suspect has brought upon our defendant. The first offence, we wish to charge him as a count of recklessly deal with proceeds of crime, money or property worth $1,000,000 or more, contrary to section 400.3(2) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth)."

Jungwoo promptly passed Taeil a seperate piece of paper, hands visibly shaking under the pressure. Hyejin couldn't do much but sit there, nervously scratching her nails.

"Second offence, we will charge wu inho with one count of intentionally deal with proceeds of crime, money or property worth $100,000 or more, contrary to section 400.4(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth)."

An image of a file consisting of a contract between Starship and Stone lit up in the powerpoint, followed by a chart of money traded and exchanged.

"Third and last offence, we wish to charge him with one count of conspire with the intention of fraud causing a loss to the Commonwealth, contrary to section 135.4(3) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth),"

and a picture of the drink she had consumed during her college orientation showed up, with evidence that it was indeed poisoned, and following that, a photo of the fake bar they had once lured them into three years ago.

"Judge" The opposition stood up carrying a large chunk of papers. hyejin's eyes briefly flickered over to inhos, but she couldn't read him whatsoever.

"May i start the cross-examination?"

"You may proceed. I call on the prosecutions witness"

At that moment, Jisung had entered the room, robotically sliding into the seat with a face as cold as ice.

The man strode over to Jisung, placing a hand on the desk with sharp eyes "During the alleged attempted murder of Joo Hyejin on 2:40 am June of 2020, you were at the sight, correct?"

"Correct" Anyone could tell Jisung's voice was trembling. Having to be a witness while being part of a Mafia gang was something so difficult that many don't even risk it. Jisung was willing to risk everything for this case to win.

"You were alone, correct?" the questions pried at jisung, in which he responded 'correct' to.

The man tapped a finger on the wooden desk, lips curling up "The setting was at a stadium, a run-down one" An image flickered onto screen "One secluded from society and away from where the witness had claimed he lived. It was the perfect place for a crime, but may I ask the witness, what were you doing in place so discrete?"

"I passed it"

Obvious lie

"Judge, you can clearly see there is dishonesty in this testimony. The stadium is located on the borders of the city" A map flashed onto screen "There is only one train line that passes that intersection, and the only other way to get there is by car. The witness I believe had just turned legal, and doesn't hold a drivers license, yet he claims he had entered the scene alone. So, witness, I ask, what are you doing in a run-down stadium, and how did you get there?"

He fell deadly silent

"Witness" The judge spoke "Please respond"

"It's a place I would go to regularly and i happened to pass two people on my way there" he was trying so hard not to let the tremble show

"Or were you connected to the happening?"

Jisung's blood ran cold

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i just researched a fuck ton for this single chapter