Jimin would be lying if he said he hadn't puked already.
He knew the court case was going on right at that moment, Sungwoon and his grandparents had already walked in there long before. He had wanted to walk in along with them head held high as he made sure Bon Hwa got what he deserved.
Except here he was right outside the courtroom beside a trash can he had just thrown up in. Some people had cast him pitying glances, and he was pretty sure some had recognized who he was from the case, but nobody bothered him. He just continued staring at the door as if expecting to find the courage to walk in there.
But he was just feeling more nervous and not knowing what to do.
The hallways were pretty empty but Jimin was still aware of the news reporters outside and even in that room. This wasn't considered a huge case but thanks to the scene at the airport it had garnered a lot of public attention and Jimin had already seen the picture of him bleeding in that suitcase and couldn't help but feel sick just thinking about it again.
No, now was not the time to focus on the negatives.
He knew people weren't allowed to record in there so he wouldn't have to worry about the news reporters but everyone he knew was in there and what they were discussing was terrifying. Sungwoon could be talking about everything Bon Hwa had done to him and others, what if the family of those who had been killed by him had shown up?
Quickly Jimin leaned towards the trash can letting himself get sick again. He pushed against the wall as he slowly got back his balance his head aching with how stressed he was getting. He needed this, he needed closure. He knew everything was seeming so tough right now but he couldn't let himself take the easy way out now.
So he took a deep breath as he rubbed the sleeve over the shirt of his mouth and pushed open the doors to the courtroom.
As his eyes began to adjust to the brighter lights in there he immediately tensed up noticing how everyone seemed to be looking at him. He hadn't necessarily thought it through what he was going to do or say but he just let his eyes wander around the room seeing tons of strangers staring back at him.
His eyes met Jin and Namjoon's quite quickly and he couldn't help but feel disappointed looking at them. He had clearly lied to them about staying home but he didn't want to talk to them about planning to come here, he didn't want to get their hopes up about him making this much effort.
Except here he was in a courtroom literately frozen and not knowing what to do.
He also saw Taehyung and Jungkook and he felt guilty for not making an effort to visit them. They were the people he had known the longest, the ones who had originally helped him when he got caught up with Bon Hwa. They also had been the ones who tried to get him to contact the police about Bon Hwa but he had denied it not wanting to get the older in trouble. But now the thought of how so many others had gotten hurt thanks to his sadistic ways Jimin couldn't help but feel angry at how manipulative he was.
The next eyes he met was Hoseok and he couldn't help but feel his vision start to blur seeing him. Jimin had so desperately wanted to be near one of his boyfriends during this whole thing but he had needed space to properly get on the right track and he was so scared of what they would think of him if he accidentally said something about what happened.
Hell, he was terrified right now but it's not like he could change any of that.
Yoongi was up on the witness stand and appeared to be in the middle of saying something when Jimin had barged in the room. He couldn't tell what it was about but he seemed to have been very aggravated and annoyed towards the people questioning him.
"You're Park Jimin I'm assuming?" A voice startled him out of his thoughts and directed his attention back to it. Jimin couldn't help but nod realizing the judge was talking to him. "I was informed you would not be present for this trial."
"I changed my mind, your honor. I'm here to make sure the defendant gets what he rightfully deserves."
"Of course, Min Yoongi you may now be seated and Park Jimin can come to give his testimony."
Jimin quickly nodded as he walked through the benches making his way towards the witness stand. He so desperately did not want to be thrown into this but he knew he couldn't back out now, he already had made such a scene again. As he neared the witness stand Jimin took a deep breath glancing towards the Bailiff.
"Please raise your right hand," the Bailiff stated while Jimin instinctively followed the instructions. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
"I do," Jimin answered surprising himself with how steady his voice sounded. The judge stated he could proceed so he walked to the seat right below the Judge trying to ignore his desperate need to throw up due to how nervous he was.
"Prosecution, you may now begin the questioning."
"Yes, your honor."
Jimin had no idea who the attorney for his side of the case was but he tried not to freak out once the man had stood up and walked towards him. This man was on his side, he was trying to get Bon Hwa in jail just as much as everyone else was. So Jimin tried to even out his breaths not wanting to panic when he had yet to even start answering questions.
"Mr. Jimin, please explain how you first met Bon Hwa."
"I was in high school at the time, a sophomore while he was a junior, and met him at some party. I didn't think anything of it but I kept seeing him again at other social events and we started to become friends. Eventually we started datings and things seemed to get out of hand."
"What do you mean when you say out of hand?"
Jimin didn't necessarily know what to say. There was no way he could properly explain this entire situation without bringing little space into this but with all the reporters and heavy lights on him he so desperately didn't want to talk about that. It was a private comping mechanism he had and the fact he was having to share it was making him feel nervous.
"Whenever I get stressed or very nervous I tend to slip into little space, meaning I go into the mindset of a child. In high school Bon Hwa was the one who would be there for me when I slipped into little space and he took care of me. But he seemed to gain a superiority complex from the power dynamic and took things too far. He started to punish me for talking to other guys that I had group projects in at school and not listening to his every command. He treated me like something he owned."
"How long did you date Bon Hwa for?"
"Around a year, Taehyung and Jungkook had managed to help me break up with him. He had been angry at me for not immediately responding to one of his messages while I was taking a test at school and when I went back to his apartment he pushed me underwater in his bathtub." Jimin could already feel his legs starting to shake thinking of that memory but he gripped his hands the pain of his nails in his palms making him focus. "My friends showed up and got me out of there. Later that year Bon Hwa graduated and I never really saw him again as my friends made sure to always be with me when I left somewhere. Before everything happened I received some texts from him though."
"And what did those texts entail?"
"It was just creepy things that showed someone was watching me and keeping track of what I was doing. I just assumed it was a wrong number until I realized it was Bon Hwa but by then I freaked out so much I slipped into little space and couldn't explain the situation. I got in a misunderstanding with my boyfriends and ran home and he was there, he slammed me into a television even. I ended up passing out from pain and woke up in his house."
"What are the first things you remember after waking up in the foreign environment, Mr. Park?"
"I was more confused than anything. He had changed me into some tiger onesie and I woke up to see Sungwoon there as well. He told me about all the other people Sungwoon had kidnapped, had k-killed." Jimin had given up on trying to seem composed with his testimony and just kept his eyes focused on the attorney. He so desperately wanted to look at the ground but he knew that would make his words seem less true so he had to stick to the attorney not wanting to ruin his chance of getting Bon Hwa what he deserved. "He showed up and made me go upstairs with him and talked about how he found me."
"And how did he manage to find you?"
Everyone seemed invested in Jimin's story and not a single sound could be heard while they waited. Jimin knew he had not explained this to anyone yet so it would be a complete surprise to everyone and he so desperately didn't want Taehyung and Jungkook could hear it. He knew they were going to blame themselves for this and he didn't want them to go through that.
But he had to tell the full truth so he focused back on his attorney's face and took a deep breath.
"I had signed up for some sugar daddy app a while ago somewhat jokingly since I needed money. He apparently had been looking for victims on it for a while as he said something about them being meaningless and no one would look for them. He found my profile and superliked it which allowed him to get my phone number and track me."
Jimin could hear the audible gasp from Taehyung and he so desperately forced his eyes to his two friends. He needed them to understand that it wasn't their fault and he didn't blame them for this but he could see them already unraveling and seeming to break down. But Jimin couldn't run down and tell them how everything was fine, he needed to stand up and continue to answer questions, he had to make sure he stood his ground.
"So that would explain how he started texting you in the first place. Would you care to elaborate on what happened for the rest of your time with Bon Hwa, Mr. Park?"
"He brought me back downstairs and brought us one glass of water, which we had assumed was only for me as he did not plan to keep Sungwoon anymore as he had found me. He made me go upstairs and told me to make a drawing for him, and got angry when I answered what my favorite color was wrong." Jimin couldn't help but feel his face heat up as he kept thinking through what happened next and more tears just kept dripping down his face. He wasn't ready to share this, he quite possibly never would be but he had gotten himself in this situation and had to keep going. "He gave me ten lashes with his belt and the last time I had felt something like that was when I was dating him so I instinctively went into little space from it and-"
"Take your time, Mr. Park, there's no reason to rush through things."
"I need to get it off my chest," he responded the feeling of his nails in his palm seeming to faze from his focus. "I mentioned something about my boyfriends to him and that made him even angrier and he- he went an-and, he raped me."
The courtroom seemed silence in response the attorney even being slightly alarmed by the new information. Jimin had half expected Sungwoon to already speak about this but figuring out he hadn't broke the news about it made the younger feel glad he was the one to get it off his chest. He could feel his tears start to lessen as he took a deep breath and focused back on the attorney not wanting to look anywhere near his friends to see their reactions.
"Objection, your honor!" Jimin changed his focus to see Bon Hwa's attorney standing up with his hand raised.
"Objection overruled," the Judge said in response waving off the other attorney. "Let Mr.Park fully explain in his perspective what happened."
And Jimin could only nod knowing after explaining he was in for much worse questioning but the other attorney.
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I'm not entirely how court cases go so I'm sorry if you guys don't like this chapter or find it too unrealistic. I really tried my best to write it though so I hope you are able to find something you enjoy about it!!