"Mr. Kim? Park Ji-min here" Mr. Park said impatiently.
"What is it? Do you realize what time is it?" He asked, a bit angry. Why was his lawyer calling him in the middle of his peaceful sleep?
"I'm sorry to bother you so early this morning, but this is important. It's about Jisoo."
"Jisoo? What's wrong with him?" Mr. Kim asked, still half asleep.
"He got into trouble last night. He..."
Before Mr. Park could finish his words, Mr. Kim said quickly, "He is a big boy. He can manage himself. Just give him the money he needs. We'll talk in my office later." He was ready to put the phone down when his lawyer shouted from the other line.
"No! That won't do! He needs help!" Mr. Park said loudly.
"What is it?" He felt irritated now, "What's so bad that he NEEDS my help?"
"Sir" Mr. Park hesitated before he finally let out, "Jisoo is in jail."
"What?" the same eyes that were prepared for sleep suddenly opened widely in total terror. He sat up putting the phone right to his ear.
"What the hell is he doing in jail?" He was at a total loss.
"Jisoo was caught by police last night in your hotel." Mr. Park tried to explain to him.
"Is it some kind of joke?! Yah, this isn't funny Jimin-shi!" Mr. Kim retorted back to him, speaking informally to emphasis his irritation.
The lawyer brushed his ruffled hair with his fingers, "Sir, it's not a joke. Jisoo, your son, is really in jail."
Mr. Kim heard a big sigh from his long life lawyer, "I don't understand, Jimin-shi. You are the best in the country. Why couldn't you just get him out of there? Just pay the damn bail."
"There are too many charges on him, Mr. Kim. It's not easy. If it were, I wouldn't have called you so early in the morning."
"What did he do this time?"
He sighed before saying, "Public intoxication, drug usage, and sexual harassment." He predicted that Mr. Kim would explode at him with this information. His prediction was right.
"What did you say!?! Jisoo has never done that! Being drunk, ok sure. Everyone gets drunk once in a while, but using drugs and sexual harassment!?! "
He was confused and irritated "That's ridiculous!! Have you checked clearly to make sure that it was my son? That it was my Kim Jisoo."
"Yes, I have. I even met Jisoo myself at the police station." Mr. Park replied.
"So why didn't you take him home with you!?!?" Jimin took a deep breath before continuing to explain. Mr. Kim was famous for being stubborn, and no one knew that better than Park Jimin.
"I can't get an alibi for him, there are too many witnesses, and what's worse is that Jisoo admitted the fault was all his."
"Stupid boy!" Mr. Kim cursed his son.
"I will explain to you what happened before you read it in this morning newspapers." Mr. Park took a breath before continuing.
"Jisoo was drunk last night at your hotel, where there was a birthday party for a girl named Min Bona. According to Jisoo's statement, he liked a specific girl, Kim Jennie, who was one of the guests that night. However, the girl seemed to be ignoring his attention which made him angry. He used drugs for himself and drugged her as well to get her into bed. Now, the girl is making an allegation against him for sexual harassment."
"Ridiculous!!!!!" Mr. Kim snapped at him "This cannot be MY son!!"
"I thought as much as well, Sir. The difficult part is that this is Jisoo's statement. This is what he himself said in front of the police officer. He's the one taking all the blame. He admitted himself guilty. It's for this reason that I cannot bail him." For the first time in his career, Park Jimin sounded defeated.
Hearing his lawyer's explanation, Mr. Kim put his hand over his forehead, "I don't know what's wrong with that boy. Jisoo is smart. Why would he act so careless this time? For all we know, that girl could have trapped him."
"Mr. Kim, I met Jisoo earlier at the police station. Sir, he looks terrible. In the 15 years I have known him, I've never seen him like this. He seems to be feeling a deep regret for what he's done to that girl."
Mr. Park continued softly, "I tried to make a plea for him, but he refused. He kept telling me that he was guilty."
There was a long moment of silence.
"Alright" Mr. Kim said, quickly. "You come to my office at 9 o'clock sharp. Give me the profile of that girl."
"Ok. I will meet you there." Jimin answered in relief.
"By the way, Jimin-shi, have you come up with a solution to free my son?" There was a big sigh from the other end of the line.
"The only way to make him a free man is to get the girl to annul her allegation against Jisoo."
"Make her do it before you meet me at the office. Offer her money or whatever it is that she is after. Just bring my Jisoo home. Bring my only son back." Mr. Kim said sadly at the end of his statement.
"I understand, Sir. I will see you later."
The phone call ended a while ago, but Mr. Kim still held onto the phone. He stared blankly. How could Jisoo get involved in this incident? He must have known that this would definitely ruin his own name, his family's great name. Mr. Kim sighed again, hoping that it was only a dream. His mind was somewhat at ease, as he believed his trusted lawyer would handle this situation wisely. He cursed again, to that girl who stirred that big trouble. 'What was her name? Jennie? Jennie who? Damn!' he thought.
He stood up and walked towards the door. He opened it harshly and shouted to his housekeeper, "Bring all today's newspaper into my room Right Now!"
Less than 2 minutes later, all morning newspaper was lying on his bed. He saw his nightmare. He took one of them that was placed on top of those piles. He blinked his eyes several times before he read the big title on the front page:
Kim Jisoo: SON OF BILLIONAIRE KIM HYUN-SUK IN JAIL
He turned his eyes down to the first paragraph:
'Police have caught the billionaire's son, Kim Jisoo, age 25, at his father's hotel, while having a wild party at 2 o'clock last night. Kim Jisoo is reported to have been charged for very serious crimes, such as a drug usage, public intoxication and sexual harassment. According to his father's lawyer, Mr. Park Jimin, this matter isn't clear enough for clarification. He suggested waiting for more information before the court hearing next month. Mr. Kim is well known as the owner of the big ten hotels in Seoul, Japan and China. With Kim Jisoo being the only son of the billionaire, it's more than likely that he would be the successor of his father's supreme business. However...'
Mr. Kim closed the newspaper harshly. He couldn't read the rest of the article. He grabbed another newspaper. Looking at the title, he knew that the content would be the same as the first one. He threw all the newspapers to the floor in frustration. He walked towards his bathroom to take a shower hoping that cold water would clear his muddled mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jennie stared blankly at the ceiling. She was lying on the hospital bed. Tears were flowing on her pale cheeks. Irene settled uncomfortably on a chair and tried to catch a few hours of much needed sleep. She had been trying to talk to Jennie, but Jennie still kept silent ever since the time Irene found her in bed with a stranger.
A few hours had passed, but Jennie still didn't say anything. Irene was starting to became desperate. She couldn't even begin to understand the misery, the pain, and the lack of faith she now had in Irene's words. Damn! She herself couldn't believe that Jennie could get into this big of a tragedy. She felt anger and hate breathe down her throat. How could Jennie fall into HIS hands? How could she explain to Jennie's family what happened last night? Her thoughts kept drifting back to the time when Jennie was brought to the hospital and had to go through the procedure as a rape victim.
She winched recalling Jennie's pain expression on her pale face when the doctor confirmed that sexual intercourse had happened. She still remembered how Jennie screamed and struggled with the nurses who held her tightly. Jennie finally calmed down after the sedatives began working in her blood stream. Irene looked up at Jennie several times, but Jennie seemed lost in her own world.
Irene felt a big regret in her heart. If she didn't asked Jennie to accompany her to Bona's party. If Jennie didn't take the challenge to dance with that MAN! If Jennie didn't drink her orange juice...
'Oh god,' she screamed in her heart.
Irene tried not to despair, but as time passed she couldn't help feeling guilt in her heart. One mistake had shattered her best friend's dream of a future. At that moment, there was a soft knock on the door. Irene glanced at the clock.
'8 o'clock. Who could be visiting Jennie in this early morning?' she thought. Jennie's mother and father had just left two hours ago as doctor suggested Jennie needed rest. The knock on the door was louder now. Irene glanced at Jennie who was lying still as if there were no distractions. She stood up walking towards the door. As Irene opened the door, a man came in. He held a briefcase in his right hand.
"What do you want?" Irene asked rudely, as she had a feeling this gentleman would bring nothing but more trouble for Jennie.
"Good day to you, too" he replied, a little irritated at her rudeness. "May I speak with Miss Kim, please?"
Hearing her name, Jennie turned her eyes to the door. She saw a familiar face, 'Who is he?' She thought for a while. In less than a few seconds, she figured it out, 'He must be HIS lawyer.' She told herself. Yes, she had seen this man last night before they brought her to this hospital.
He came towards her bed and then smiled at her. "Good morning, Miss Kim. My name is Park Jimin. I'm the Kim Family lawyer. I'm here on behalf of Kim Jisoo."
'So, HIS name is Kim Jisoo' her heart said silently. His name made her feel absolutely disgusted. 'That bastard! Kim Jisoo! Kim Jisoo!' Her heart was beating fast as anger and pain exploded inside of her.
"Miss Kim, as you know, my client, Mr. Kim Jisoo had been arrested by the police last night and he is in jail now." Jimin paused, taking a moment to look at Jennie, who was completely expressionless. There was a silence between them. Amidst the uncomfortable silence, Jimin cleared his throat and continued, "Mr. Kim, Jisoo's father, wants to offer you some compensation for your uncomfortable condition in exchange for the freedom of his son."
Jennie's eyes blazed in fury as she heard those words. "What do you mean by compensation?"
Jimin smiled widely. As he predicted, this girl must want money. Who didn't know the Kim Corporation? They are one of the biggest leading companies in Seoul's share market at the moment. "Name your price, Miss Kim." He said gently, opening his briefcase to take out a check book. Jennie glared at him angrily. However, Jimin hadn't notice because he was too busy preparing the check. Irene held her breath as she was observing the tension between the two parties.
"I don't want any compensation! You hear me?! Say to the Kim that I don't any compensation! They can go to hell! I want HIM to rot in jail!" Jennie yelled at him. Her face reddened with anger and hurt. Jimin was in total shock. He looked at the angry Jennie, then smiled again softly, "Miss Kim, please don't make this case more difficult than it needs to be. Kim Jisoo had admitted he is guilty. However, this is a sensitive case. It is involving your reputation and his. You are still young and so is Jisoo. Think carefully. There is no use to precede this case to the court. The press will bully you, your life would be even more miserable than it already is now. If you agree, I promise to give you your good name back. Please reconsider."
"How can you give me my life back!?! How could you erase this shameful tragedy?! How?! How?!" Jennie shouted at him. Then, her big red-eyes looked down, "The pain in my body and my heart couldn't be replaced with anything. Do you understand?"
Jimin stared at her. He took a deep breath before saying, "Miss Kim. I am only trying to do what is best for the both of you. Please consider my offer."
Jennie bit her lower lip, "My statement is clear and final. I want HIM to rot in jail for what he had done to me." She said firmly, clenching her fist.
"Miss Kim, do you know who he is?" Jimin tried his last chance to persuade her to take his offered.
"I don't give a damn or care who he is! He is an illicit, immoral and criminal monster! Jail is the best place for an animal like him!" She uttered her words harshly. She let out her angry emotion to that poor man.
Jimin quickly wrote something on his check book. He tore the front page and gave it to Jennie, "Is that enough, Miss Kim?" With a hurt expression on her face, Jennie glanced at the words stated there,
'USD 40 million. Is it my price?' She asked herself sadly.
Was it her price for being humiliating, insulting and abusing that nobody could ever have done before in her life except the MAN whose name was Kim Jisoo? She shook her head in disbelieve. She had had enough. This torture was enough! She said to herself. She took the check and tore it into small pieces in front of Jimin's face. It fell to the floor like confetti. Anger ate her up.
"Miss Kim?" He was looking at her strangely now, "Are you ok?"
She didn't answer him, couldn't find her voice. She was too furious, too hurt,
"Get out of my sight. Tell the Kim. My price is too high. They can't afford it." Her voice was trembling.
She turned her head to the other direction as her back was facing Jimin. Irene stepped forward. She knew Jennie couldn't take any offense anymore. She sighed and signalled Jimin to leave.
"I'm sorry. You should leave, Mr. Park. Goodbye." She opened the door.
Jimin looked at Jennie for the last time. Then he sighed again. He took his briefcase and walked out from the room.