'Nope, this isn't right. It doesn't quite feel right.
I should at least...go check-'
I've been overthinking it ever since I got home. I know I said it's best to leave it as it is, but I just don't think I can. I need to talk to him, I wanna know why he did it. Then, maybe I can finally move on.
I just yelled at him last time and left. I was upset yes, but-
'Ahhh screw this! I hope I don't regret this.'
.
.
.
"Jiho Park."
"You are?"
"His classmate." Would they actually allow it? I didn't think this through...
"Come with me."
Here I am, visiting Jiho at the juvenile hall.
'I must be out of my mind to be doing this right now-
Well, too late to back out now sigh'
[Now I have no idea if it's allowed for a minor to visit someone at the prison all by themselves and if the law permits it, it's for the sake of the story please bear with me😅]
"Wait here till he arrives."
I'm currently seated in the visitor's room, waiting till I get taken to some other room where they'd let me see him for 5 minutes. And it seems I'm not the only one here.
There were another three people, probably together from the way they were facing each other from their seats, talking. The room was not especially big and they were within hearing distance from me but I wasn't actively listening to them, lost in my thoughts and preparing to see Jiho.
That is, till I felt I heard some familiar names being spoken.
"We need to get the money ready before next Friday. We've got to be doing something or the other. Jake's trying his best to make money, even after he's gotten locked up inside."
"But how? A hundred million won, not like we're gonna make that much by selling clothes with the girls."
"Now that the betting ring's off, we're going to be needing some other source of income. And they've confiscated all that we've made till now, we're hopeless."
"Hey don't be like that. That's what we're here for, after all, let's discuss this with Jake. Let's not be making any decisions of our own."
"That's what you always say, Jerry. It's about time we start looking for solutions on our own."
"I agree. I don't get why Jerry can't see this, but Jake's changing, and I don't like that.
He went overboard with the collection and that's probably why-"
"Jake Kim. Only one of you can go inside right now."
And I saw a rather large, bulky-framed, bald(?) person walking out towards the visiting room.
'Jake Kim again. There's no mistake, they are talking about the same person I think they are.'
'Well, I should probably behave as if I didn't hear anything so they don't get suspicious. I want to see their faces but I probably shouldn't stare.'
I kept my face bent towards the ground, which isn't much different from my normal resting face now that I think about it, and just gathered the blankest face I could.
'They don't seem to have noticed me.'
'Now, this is new information. I haven't seen any comrades of Jake before, these guys seem to be the other crewmates from Big Deal, huh?'
'Wait, so Jake's locked up in the same prison as...Jiho is. And Jiho's probably why Jake's in here in the first place-'
'That doesn't look very good for him, let's hope he's alright.'
.
.
.
Out he came, and in I went. I've gotten into that stage where brain freezes and mind goes numb?
'What?! I literally chose to come to see him in here. You can't be doing this now, brain! Calm down.'
And I see his face and my head almost goes blank. I still walk up to the cell.
...
'Your five minutes are gonna be up soon, say something-'
"Hey."
"..."
"How are you?"
"...you testify against me, I get sent to jail...and you're asking me how I am." He scoffed.
"You pushed our friend down a building, he almost died, and you'd rather I stayed silent?"
"He isn't even my friend.
He isn't even Daniel Park.
He isn't even unwell. I bet he's just pretending to be sick so that I got sent to jail."
"What's that about?"
"I am not put in jail because I attempted to murder Daniel, Kyra. The lawyer said, that I attempted to murder...someone else. That's the charge filed against me."
"James Lee, you mean?"
"How?...you know about it?"
"I only just found out a while ago."
"See, he's a total fake. Why do I have to suffer through this if he isn't even what he claims to be?"
"Because friend or not, Daniel Park or not, you still pushed him. Come on, Jiho...that was wrong of you to have done that, and you know it.
This is just temporary, you're gonna get one one day. You still have a life, don't you?"
"Is that why you're here? To patronize me? You don't even know what I'm going through in here, it sucks, it f*cking sucks and I want to get out of here. Those cellmates, they...they..."
And he started sobbing. I felt bad.
"Are you getting bullied by them?"
"Oh no, what they did at school was bullying. This is torture." Okay, that is very concerning.
"Can't you tell the..um...warden or something?"
"You think I haven't tried? They don't give two sh*ts unless they see any blood." I can see how frustrated he feels. I'm starting to regret coming here.
"Ohh, wait, is that Jake Kim person one of your cellmates? You guys have a...history, right?"
"No, he isn't, thank you very much for asking." Further scoffs. "I'm starting to think he's better than the ones I've got."
"Who is he anyway?" NO. I shouldn't be asking him that. He is clearly upset, I can't use him to get information on someone else like that. That is WRONG. "Wait, never mind." I added.
"...he's the leader here. The most powerful. Everyone obeys him." He is answering me, still.
"No, don't talk about it." I'm beginning to feel guilty.
"One minute left." The guard said.
"Hey, Jiho, look. I think what you did is wrong, okay? I think you deserve to be punished and I think you deserve to be put in jail for that. But I also think that that was a mistake you made, and that doesn't define you or make you an evil person altogether."
'What am I saying? And why am I saying this-'
"This is what happens to everyone else in there with you right? They commit crimes, and they get punished. But then they get out and either turn over a new leaf and whatever, or they keep doing this sh*t and get sent in there again. Please...pick wisely."
'WTF am I saying I sound like a self-righteous self-proclaimed "wise" b*tch or something-'
"Why do you care?"
"...because I thought-"
"Time's over. Jiho Park be shown to his cell."
And off he went.
'I can't tell if that made him feel better or if I ended up making him feel worse-
Ahhh screw meeee!!!😓😓'
Hi!
That was a rather very dramatic chapter, wasn't it?-
Especially towards the end. Didn't mean to make it that, apologies.
Also TYSM for 5k omg!!!
Thank you for sticking around, I might be able to get a few more chapters published before I end up going on a bit too long of a break(hostel, electronic gadget restrictions😭😭)
I'll still try to update as often as I can, sorry-
A poorly edited meme to describe my life rn lol😭
Well, it's for the best, I'm gonna try hard.
Thank you for your time :)))