Chapter: 99

[Song Recommendation:

A thousand years by Christina Peri]

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The hallway outside the courtroom was cold. Not in temperature, but in feeling. Like the walls were too smooth. It felt less like a hallway and more like the waiting room of the mind, where truths pace, fears whisper, and every breath is a quiet cross-examination

Miyeon sat motionless in her wheelchair, her hands loosely clasped on her lap. She wore a loose, pale yellow dress, its fabric light and flowing, gently gathered at the waist to keep from tangling in the wheels of her chair. Her mother had ironed it carefully that morning, smoothing out every crease as if calming the chaos beneath.

One week since the hospital discharge. Two weeks since she’d opened her eyes to the broken, beautiful mess of people who had waited for her. Who hadn’t left her side.

But this? This was something she had to walk into, even if on a wheelchair, on her own.

Across from her stood Eunwoo, holding a slim file of documents against his chest. He looked focused, steady, like someone born to carry truth into battle. His suit was crisp, his expression unreadable, but his eyes were gentle when they fell on her.

"You don’t have to be perfect up there," he said softly, crouching a little so that he was eye-level with her, "You just have to be honest."

Miyeon blinked once, "Yeah...I can do that."

"You will do more than that," Sohee added from beside her.

She sat with one leg crossed over the other, dressed in beige slacks and a soft green blazer, but it wasn’t her outfit that stood out, it was the quiet pride in her face. Her voice was calm but full of support, "You’ve done the impossible already, Miya. You just need to add the last full stop to it."

Miyeon gave her a tiny smile, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Eunwoo continued, flipping through a few last pages, "So, here’s how it’ll go. You’ll be called as the final and main witness and the victim. We're closing with you on purpose, it’s powerful. I’ll walk with you in, I’ll be right there. If you get overwhelmed or need to stop, just shift your fingers like this.", he demonstrated a small twitch of the pinky finger.

"I remember," she nodded, her voice clear, but soft.

"You’ll be asked about the threats, the history, the events of the day," he explained, "Your recording will be played, after you confirm the authenticity of it. The court already verified it wasn’t doctored, but your word ties it together."

Miyeon nodded again, slower this time. The recording. Her final conversation with Juwon. His voice, smooth and confident, admitting to crimes that spanned years. Deaths. Threats. Explosives.

And her...his final target.

The knowledge made her breath hitch, just barely.

Sohee caught the flicker in her eyes and rested a hand on her arm gently, "You don’t have to carry the weight anymore. Let the world see it now. Let them feel it."

A long moment passed. The hallway still hummed with silence. Then the courtroom door creaked open.

A bailiff stepped out, scanning the hall, "Miss Kim Miyeon? The court is ready for you."

Miyeon took a deep shaky breath in, her fingers dug into the arms of her wheelchair for just a second. Then released.

Sohee leaned in and held her hand for comfort, whispering, "You’re not alone in there."

Eunwoo stepped behind the wheelchair and gently tapped her shoulder, "Ready?”

She looked up at the closed door. Behind it were Jeonghan, her mother and father, Mirae, Dino and Wonwoo. The people who had waited in fear. The people who had cried at her bedside. The people who believed her even when the world didn’t.

Others wanted to be there for her too but die to certain court restrictions, they couldn’t.

"Yeah..." she said finally, "Let's get this over with."

And the door opened.

The sound of hushed whispers. The feel of eyes. The weight of expectation.

But Miyeon didn’t flinch.

For the first time in a very long time, she was not walking into danger.

She was walking into justice.

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The courtroom had never felt more suffocating. A hundred breaths were being held at once as the hearing came to an end and it was time for the final verdict.

Miyeon sat quietly in her wheelchair, spine straight, face pale but composed. At least on the surface. Her palms, though, were clammy in her lap.

Jeonghan was beside her, silent and unmoving, except for the way his thumb brushed slow circles into her shoulder. He didn’t speak, he didn’t need to. His presence alone was grounding.

Mirae sat on her other side, her fingers clutching Miyeon’s wrist like she’d fall apart if she let go. She had been trying to appear composed for days now, the playful jabs and forced smiles, but her trembling lower lip betrayed her.

The choi family too sat at the back next to Wonwoo and Dino since this involved their son. They had to be there to see their son finally getting the Justice he deserved.

Juwon stood inside the defendant’s box, hands shackled, the lights casting shadows across his pale, emotionless face. His lawyer had long since wilted into silence.

The courtroom had reached that strange, sacred silence, just moments before a storm. Lawyers sat rigid. Reporters in the media row held their breath, fingers poised over their cameras or notepad.

The presiding judge, Chief Justice Kang, adjusted his glasses and picked up the sheet in front of him, as it was announced,

"All rise for the verdict."

Shoes scraped, breaths were held, and the court rose in unison. The judge’s voice cut through the silence like a blade.

Miyeon’s head lowered slightly, breath caught halfway in her throat.

"Defendant Lee Juwon, you stand accused of multiple grave offenses.

Namely, the murder of your own family members and Choi Daehan, the attempted murder of Kim Miyeon, blackmail, unlawful use of explosives targeting 230 individuals present in Hankuk University Auditorium, and the unauthorized capture and storage of images without consent."

The judge looked up, his eyes like cold iron, "This court finds you guilty on all counts."

There was a sharp inhale from the gallery. Juwon didn’t flinch but held onto his chair tighter.

"For the crimes of murder, attempted murder, blackmail, bombing, and the unauthorized capture of personal images used for coercion...this court sentences you to life imprisonment plus 48 years."

The silence that followed felt heavier than any prison wall. It was as though the air collapsed. A moment frozen, then shattered.

Miyeon’s entire body jolted, the sound of the verdict echoing in her ribs as the gavel hit. Her hands, so tightly wound together in her lap, finally loosened as her shoulders sagged. The sob didn’t come loud, it didn’t need to. The tears broke from her eyes silently, warm and endless, streaking down her cheeks as she lowered her head, her vision blurring with relief.

Jeonghan moved immediately. No hesitation. His arms wrapped around her tightly, his hand curling behind her head as he pressed a kiss to her temple. His own eyes burned. He didn’t try to say anything because there were no words for a moment like this.

"You did it, Darling, you did it.", he murmured, "I'm so proud of you."

Mirae was already crying. She tried not to, burying her face into Miyeon’s arm, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. Miyeon reached for her blindly, tangling her fingers with her little sister’s, trying to soothe her even as her own chest ached from everything she’d held in.

From behind, Miyeon’s mother wept openly, covering her mouth with one hand as if the sound of her cries might betray how tightly she’d clung to hope.

She rose instinctively, trying to reach them, but Eunwoo gently placed a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. His own face was tight with emotion, his jaw clenched as he exhaled through his nose. Even as a lawyer, even after dozens of trials, he had never fought for a case that felt so close to home.

Next to him, Sohees father gave her a soft smile. She fought this case for her as if she was his own daughter and he was happy he could bring her and many others justice.

Miyeon’s father remained seated at the end of their row, his hands gripping his knees. He didn’t speak, but his eyes brimmed with unshed tears. Guilt, love, regret, they tangled together in his expression as he looked at his daughter across the courtroom, knowing he’d almost lost her.

Sohee, seated beside her father, let out a long, trembling sigh, her shoulders finally collapsing into her chair. Her father, the man who had pushed relentlessly behind the scenes to make this happen, finally closed his eyes, his expression not celebratory, but full of long-awaited closure. The weight of years of injustice lifted from his chest.

Wonwoo had not moved an inch since the verdict. His hands were balled in fists on his lap, jaw tight. But when he saw her cry, his face broke. He didn’t cry, but the tears shimmered in his lashes as he looked at her, the girl who had once smiled beside him during basketball practice, now sitting in tears because she had lived. She had won.

Next to him the Choi family including Yewon cried while giving comfort to eachother. Daehan finally got the justice he deserved.

Dino had buried his face in his hands. No one said anything to him, not yet. But the soft sob that escaped him wasn’t just for Miyeon. It was for his own mother, for Daehan, for all the years that had been ripped apart by the man who now sat silently at the defense table, pale and defeated. His own father.

The bailiff called for order.

The judge offered a final note of sentencing, but the rest blurred for them.

Because the truth was simple now: Justice had been served.

As the courtroom began to move again, reporters flashing cameras, whispers swelling into the air, Eunwoo leaned over to Miyeon and whispered, "We’ll handle the media. You don’t need to face them today."

Jeonghan leaned down and pressed another kiss to her temple, "Let’s get you out of here."

Miyeon nodded, still not able to speak, her tears quietly streaking into the collar of her blouse. She looked down at her lap, her fingers trembling, but her heart felt lighter than it had in years.

And when Jeonghan knelt before her wheelchair, took her hands, and looked up at her like she was the only thing that mattered, she smiled through her tears.

For the first time in years, the war inside her finally… fell silent.

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They did it.

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