"Everything will be okay, just breathe." He murmured in her ear, his soft breath kissing her cheek, granting her body chills that prowled her trembling figure.
She nodded, trying to listen to Myo Eun speaking to the jury and judge. Seren had to walk up to the stand once she called to her as a victim to give the courtroom information about what occurred that night and questions about their relationship and how far things went between them.
How much she knew about Hoseok's second life, and if she knew anything at all about it.
Although she was there to serve justice, fear was still permeating through her body, frightened that she would say the wrong words. Frightened that she would have to sit up there and face every single countenance in that crowded courtroom, what a coincidence that newscasts were waiting outside the room the exact day she had to testify.
Nothing beat the brimming fear of having to face Hoseok up at the stand. She would actually have to look him in his eyes this time, she couldn't avoid him like before. He would be aware of her presence this time as well, and his reaction was something she dreaded.
"And so, today, I call Park Seren to the stand." Eun announced, her eyes darting over to Seren, who sat at the very front of the room between her loved ones. "She will be giving her statement for us today." She nodded once to Seren, signaling her to walk to the front entrance so that the bailiff would let her in.
She felt Jimin give her hand one last squeeze before she got off the bench, feeling all the eyes of onlookers pierce her back, murmurs, and whispers of surprise from Seren's spontaneous appearance.
The bailiff opened the small gate for her, allowing her to walk up to the stand where she would be taking her oath before her statement.
Her heart was in her throat, willing to take a leap right out of her mouth if she opened it to speak. She could feel all eyes on her as she walked up to the stand to take a seat, but those attentive eyes couldn't amount to the way Hoseok's eyes felt.
They burned right through her delicate skin, seeing right through her facade of bravery.
He could read her so easily. That never changed.
Seren glanced over at Yoongi, who gave her an optimistic smile that imperceptibly pulled the side of his lips.
She glanced over at Jimin and Namjoon, filled with gratitude that she had the three people in her life that mattered most to her.
Although Jin and Rina couldn't be there, they were bombarding her phone with supportive messages, it almost surprised her that they remembered her court date.
"Seren, why don't you tell us about your relationship with Jung Hoseok, firstly." Though it was supposed to be a request, it seemed more like a demand rolling off Eun's tongue, glancing down at the files on her desk.
"Hoseok and I were in a rather committed relationship. I was his girlfriend, and he was my boyfriend." Seren stated clearly.
"Explain where and how you and Hoseok met?" She continued to ask, pressing her glasses up closer to the bridge of her nose.
"We met at the Caledonia, it's a bar lounge that I was formally employed to." She kept her eyes on the attorney, not allowing them to wander to the hundreds of eyes in that room that glowered at her. "I dropped my tray of drinks, and he helped me clean them up. That's how we met."
"And I assume that you two pursued your relationship after this, correct?" Eun asked.
"That's correct." Seren nodded.
"How long were you two dating?" She continued to question Seren.
"About seven months." She answered.
"Did you notice any strange behavior from Hoseok that might have linked to his second life as Jack?" Eun approached her stand, her hands behind her back.
"No. Though, I did find out that he was seeing a psychiatrist and was on medication. However, I didn't look too much into that." Seren mentioned, unaware if they knew of that.
It was likely that they did, as she moved on to the next question with ease.
"No signs in his behavior, like aggression, small outbursts?" Eun continued to press.
Seren had to think carefully about that, but she couldn't remember anything that yelled him having a second life.
"I don't know if this counts, but once when I found the cellular in his home, he got very stoic and upset that I was there. It was almost like he was a different person, I just assumed I had upset him by snooping through his home without his permission."
Eun nodded, rubbing her nude lips together. "Thank you. I do have questions about police reports you had filed back in early September of last year." She placed papers on the desk, showing proof of the reports she filed a few months ago. "You reported seeing a man clad in dark clothing standing outside your lawn, claiming you were being stalked by him. Is this correct?"
"Yes." Seren simply stated after glancing at the files for a quick second. "That is correct."
"Do you remember how many times this stalker had showed up to your house?" Eun asked.
Seren chewed her lower lip, trying to gather all the times she had been stalked by Hoseok. When she thought about it, all she reflected on was how inane she was for not realizing or opening her eyes to see that all along it was Hoseok.
"I... I would say it was probably about a handful of times. I don't have an exact number." Seren said, her voice diminished with guilt.
"That's alright, Seren." Eun sympathized. "Do you remember how many times you contacted the police?"
"Yes. It was twice." She responded with more certainty.
"Twice. But you said that this stalker showed up a handful of times, correct?" Eun dug.
"Yes."
"Why is that? Why didn't you contact the police each time this man had showed up to your house?" The attorney asked, placing her hands behind her back and tilting her head.
"Becuase they weren't of any help. Each time I called them, he would already be gone." Seren responded, recalling all the grueling nights of feeling deterred and desperate for help.
"Because they weren't of any help." Eun clarified louder, causing whispers to disperse in the crowd, a few people shaking their heads. "In one of your reports, you say he actually broke into your house. You said, quote, 'I felt his knife roam up my back, and I laid there waiting for it to impail me... too scared to get up and defend myself.' unquote."
"You also reported a music box that appeared in your bedroom after this incident." She turned around, grabbing hold of the same music box placed in a ziplock bag. "This music box, right?"
Her heart pounded, afraid the microphone would catch the thrumming sound. "Yes." Seren nodded.
"Do you remember what the police would tell you after they searched your home?" Eun asked, setting the ziplock down.
"They ask if I had any family to stay with for the time being, advising me that it wasn't safe for me to stay alone." She recalled impeccably, even remembering the names of the officers that were sent to her home that night.
"Did you have family that you were able to stay with?" She asked, picking up her glasses and putting them on her head.
"No." She stated.
Eun nodded.
Seren figured the situation with her stalker was brought up because Hoseok confirmed that he was the person who had been terrorizing her at night. But, Seren also gathered that the attorney was trying to blame the police department for neglecting Seren and never helping her with this case.
"Do you think that if the police had put more work into your situation, this all could have been avoided? Considering that Hoseok admitted to being your stalker."
Seren blinked, her eyes darting to the crowd.
Her eyes went to Jimin, who was wiping the corner of his watery eyes with his sleeve.
Her heart fell into a pool of sorrow, realizing how much stress this put on her little brother.
"I do." She glanced back at the attorney, swallowing her thick saliva.
"When you called the police, you assumed they would help you uncover the mystery of your stalker, but they didn't." Eun clarified, glancing at the jury, and the judge. "Instead, the situation was dragged on, and lead to this."
She cleared her throat, and Seren thought the questions were over.
But, it was just the beginning of the next catalog of questions that the lawyer unpacked.
"I know coming here was difficult, Miss Park. You were discharged from the hospital about two weeks ago, and I'm sure it's still hard to live on with life after such traumatic events." Eun spoke from her heart, glancing at Seren with sorrow in her eyes.
"But, I need you to tell the court what exactly happened on March eleventh. Everything leading up to the night of when it all transpired." Eun specifically asked.
Seren's heart throbbed, her lips parting to speak.
However, nothing came out of her mouth.
Her cheeks went crimson red, looking around the room where people sat waiting for her statement. Waiting for what she arrived for. Waiting for her to put Hoseok in his place.
Seren found her eyes looking over at Hoseok's side of the room, her eyes landing on his.
His eyebrows raised, and his posture was raised. His hands remind cuffed in front of him, and there was a gleam of hope in his eyes, flustered that Seren finally looked his way after minutes of ignoring him.
Her heart ached, she tried to remember the malicious gaze he had in his eye that night, but all she saw were the precious recollections they shared when they were together. She remembered how Hoseok sobbed while Jack mercilessly stabbed her.
She hated Hoseok for putting her through everything. For putting her through all the nightmares she had days after he attempted to kill her. For life trauma he would be putting her through.
However, Seren would be lying if she said she wished none of that ever happened.
How things would be if Hoseok wasn't put through a lot as a child, he would have had a shot at a normal life.
Then they would still be together, happy and moving forward together.
But that wasn't the case. That wasn't her reality. Her reality was much darker and twisted. She needed to say what happened to her that night, it was what Hoseok deserved.
Before Seren was able to get her words out, the Judge beside her took that opportunity.
"Do you want to go on a small recess, Miss Park?" She asked, muttering to her.
"No. I'm okay." Seren cleared her throat, detaching herself from Hoseok's dragging atmosphere.
She glanced back at the lawyer, who wore a patient smile. Her eyebrows were raised, almost as though she was concerned for Seren.
"March eleventh..." She began, her hands toying together beneath the desk. "I remember waking up frantic. I had this weird feeling in my gut that something bad was going to happen, and I remember wanting to visit Hoseok. I went over to his house, and saw myself in. Through his window." Seren rubbed the side of her thigh, rubbing the sweat off her hands.
"His bedroom was empty, and I called for him. But, he wasn't there. I searched his home for him, went outside and saw that the cellular was chained up. I went back inside and decided that I was gonna leave since he wasn't anywhere to be found. But, as I was walking in his bedroom, I noticed a difference in sound in his floorboards. It was too much to just ignore."
"I pulled out my flashlight and decided to investigate, pulling out the detachable wood from the ground. I then found a small wooden jewlery box that was being hidden there and took it out." Her throat went dry, reciting everything as it happened just a day ago.
"I found pieces of hair in there, almost as if they were cut off from the ends of long hair, held together with a small elastic band. It was my hair in the box, I found out after I touched my hair and felt missing ends, some shorter than the others."
"I put the box away, confused and disgusted as to why he was keeping the ends of my hair. But, as I search further, I found the black jester hat that Jack wears. I was terrified at this point, so I put everything away. And as I did that, I heard the front door open. It was Hoseok, he called for me, probably noticing my car parked at the front. I didn't feel safe after my discovery, so I kept quiet."
"I should have just responded, because he thought I was someone else, I suppose. He began threatening me, giving me five seconds to show myself to him. I decided to hide in his closet, willing to wait until he left to another area of his home so I could escape his home."
She exhaled through her nose, composing herself. "I did just that. I waited, and exited the way I entered. Through the window. I thought I would be able to play it off, and knock on his front door or something. But, I bumped into his body a few seconds after."
"That's where he bashed that brick against the side of my head, knocking me to the ground, and putting me unconscious."
As Seren told her story, she felt the atmosphere grow thick and musky. Even the audience was on the edge of their seats in fear, none moving a muscle as they listened to Seren's survival tale. Nobody dared mutter a word, too fixated on the topic to let their minds travel.
Seren tried to keep her eyes away from the audience, but it was difficult when she noticed Yoongi wrap his arm over Jimin's shoulder, comforting him as he continued to wipe fallen tears on his cheeks.
Namjoon's eyes were also pooling with tears, fanning his face to fight off tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.
Yoongi kept calm, his expression was as cold and hard as gravel. His fists were balled, his knuckles white from his bones. Every now and then his eyes would go to Hoseok, watching him listen to Seren's story, how Hoseok looked at Seren with these sympathetic eyes as if he wasn't the one to cause her such despair.
"And as I searched around the woodsy area for a way out, I was being held back from the pain on the side of my head. Eventually, he tackled me to the ground, and he proceeded to stab me... six times." Seren finished, surprised that she got through her story without any fallen tears.
"And then two days after, you woke up in the hospital, correct?" Eun continued.
"Yes." Seren nodded, relieved that she finished her dreaded retelling.
"Thank you, Seren. We understand and sympathize with you and are appreciative of your bravery." Eun stated, her painted lips finding a smile. "Do you have a statement that you'd like to give to the court? Or to Hoseok?"
"Yes." Seren cleared her throat, placing fallen hair strands back behind her ears. "Though it's difficult, I'm glad to be here telling my side of the story." Her eyes slowly went over to Hoseok, studying his appearance.
"I loved you... or so I thought. You manipulated me into thinking what we had was true love. When really, it was obsession. You didn't love me, you were just satisfied that I was finally with you, in your arms. But that's only because you tricked me into thinking I was safe in your arms, little did I know you were the reason for my misery."
"As I sit up here, I can't help but remember all those times where I let you blind me. I can't believe I felt bad for you for a moment while I was up here. I thought, maybe if you were different we could have stayed together, because I truly thought I was in love with you." A tear fell down her cheek, which she wiped away immediately.
"But, as I reflect with a more coherent mind, I know you deserve this outcome. I think you should get the help you need to better yourself, take long years to think about all the abhorrent things you did to innocent people, and think about what you did to me. How I will forever have to look at these scars you left on my body, how I will forever have trauma for what you did to me that night. How I fell for your lies."
More tears streamed down her warm face, unable to control the affliction that eluded her chest.
"You don't mean that." He spoke unexpectedly, making all heads turn to him.
"I mean every word." Seren confirmed bitterly, glaring at Hoseok with wintry eyes.
"We love each other. I never manipulated you, we belonged together. That's the way it had always been." Hoseok persisted, fighting with the cuffs on his wrists. Unfathomable scoffs and mutters were heard from the audience at Hoseok's words. "It's not my fault this happened, it was Jack. It wasnt' me, Seren-"
The gavel pounded against the hardwood, making Seren flinch at the harsh sound. "Might I remind you, Hoseok, it was Seren's opportunity to speak, not you. I'd also like to point out the fact that this is being filmed, and all words are being noted."
"Write it down, I don't care. I'm telling the truth." Hoseok raised from his seat, putting a few people on edge at his abrupt movement. "We were supposed to stay together, we made promises to each other, Seren. Please." He attempted to approach Seren at the stand, but the bailiff grabbed hold of his arm.
"Tell them you don't mean it, Seren. Take it back." He tried getting out of the hold he was put in. "Take it all back, and we can stay together."
She shook her head, wiping tears that fell. "I could never. After what you did to me, I could never love you like I did before." Her heart pounded through her chest, and her breath caught in her narrowed throat.
His eyebrows pierced together, and his lips slightly parted like he was offended. "No. No! It wasn't me, Seren. You know this, it was Jack, remember?!" His voice elevated, prompting the room to grow tense. "I didn't want for this to happen, I wanted you forever. I wanted to marry you, all I wanted was to make you feel safe in my arms."
Her neck was corded with tension, never wanting to imagine her life being married to Hoseok. Maybe so, before any of it ever happened. But, now, what had seemed like a loving reverie was a nightmare. She would never want to vow to spend the rest of her life with Hoseok.
"Please take him away, it seems he needs time to calm down." The judge demanded the bailiff. "Court is ajured for today." She pounded one last time, setting the wooden gavel down.
He obeyed, walking Hoseok across their session and to the side exit that was beside Seren's stand.
Seren kept her eyes on the ground, avoiding Hoseok's piercing eyes that demanded her attention, along with his shouting voice.
"Whatever outcome it is that I get, I will never forget you, Seren," Hoseok still rambled on, begging for her attention. "I will always look after you, you will always be the love of my life, and love you even if you don't want me to-" His voice cut off when the door shut behind him, finally ending his futile speech.
Seren wasted no time to get off the stand, brushing herself off after a painful forty-five minutes of being questioned and having to speak to Hoseok.
Jimin was already at the gate, opening the small latch for Seren to exit.
She embraced him, shutting her eyes and sobbing into his shoulder. "That was the hardest thing I think I've ever had to do." Her voice trembled, shaking her head.
"I'm so proud of you for doing it." Jimin said, rocking her in his arms.
"It's done, you're gonna be okay." She heard Namjoon gently say.
She released Jimin, hugging Namjoon who was standing next to her brother with waiting arms.
"I couldn't have done it without you guys here. I was so close to breaking down up there." Seren sighed, sniffling as her tears began to subside.
"I saw, but I knew you'd stay strong." He expressed.
Seren wiped her tears, letting go of Namjoon's larger figure.
The people around them disappeared, the three of them being in their own little world at that very moment.
"It's finally over." Yoongi expressed with confidence surging through his voice. "You don't ever have to do this, again."
She nodded, feeling relieved by that already, weight lifting from her dwindling shoulders that were ready to collapse at any given moment.
She hugged him, shutting her eyes, trying to forget what just happened between her and Hoseok. The nerve he had to rebuke her statement and try to manipulate her into thinking otherwise.
"Let's just go, I don't wanna be in here any longer than I have to." Seren stated, letting go of Yoongi's frozen body.
"Alright. Don't worry about him anymore, though." Yoongi instructed, holding onto her hand. "You won't ever have to see him, again."
She wanted to believe what he said was true.
She never wanted to see Hoseok or hear of him, again. Although it pained her to say that about her once true love, nothing would ever change her mind after the weeks of suffering and pitiful despair he put her through after that fatal night.
She could finally have her normal life back.
☾