Chapter 18:Back To Normal

HyeRim POV

I woke up the next morning… Okay, HyeRim-ah… No more mourning… YoungJoo wouldn’t want you to be this way… *exhale * Okay….

I left my room and made my way towards the bathroom. Washing up and brushing my hair, I thought of what to do, now that I didn’t have to worry about my uncle coming for me….

*Flashback **knock knock *

“HyeRim-ah…. Are you ready?”

Kai asked. I hesitated as I looked at myself at the mirror. I wore a nice black skirt along with a fancy white shirt to match and black high heels. I looked closely at my face. Even though I wore make up, it didn’t cover up my black circles from the continuous nights of staying up and my eyes swollen from crying from day to night thinking about YoungJoo… I was about to go into court because of my uncle. I sighed,

“Ne… I’m ready..”

“Okay… I’ll go ahead and wait in the car…”

I was still under depression because of YoungJoo, but the flame of revenge engulfed my depression. I wanted YoungMin to suffer as he went to jail. I wanted him to die in that hellhole of a jail. I want him to suffer just as much as I did; I want him to die suffering in the jail cell that he will soon call home…

I went downstairs and slowly walked towards a black Camero. Kai sat in the driver’s seat and as I entered the car, he said,

“You look nice…”

He smiled as he seemed to try to cheer me up, but I didn’t respond. He saw that I was not in the mood to be cheered up…

We arrived at the courthouse and when we entered the courtroom, I felt a sudden breeze hit me as we opened the door. The room was a bit empty, but there were people that sat in the benches lined up into two rows. A few people I recognized and others were probably the people that worked for my uncle. I saw Chanyeol up at the front of the rows along with our lawyer and an empty seat next to him. The judge saw me come in pointed to the empty seat next to my lawyer. I slowly sat in the chair and looked up at the judge and the woman next to him in a shorter seat. She was probably the person that typed everything down for a precedent to use for later cases similar to this. The judge hit his gavel onto the table and called for the trial to start. The judge called in my uncle to come in. YoungMin looked up and saw me. He smiled and waved at me as if he were glad that he killed my brother. YoungMin had bruises from the punches and kicks he received from Kai and Chanyeol. He also wore an orange jumpsuit as he was most likely going to go to jail according to all the evidence.  I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. Kai sat behind me and touched my shoulders,

“Don’t give in… He’s just trying to anger you…”

He said. I nodded and tried to keep my cool. The judge began the trial and stated what the crime was, which was the murder of Kim YoungJoo, the murder of the parents of both Kim YoungJoo and Kim HyeRim, the use of slavery on Kim HyeRim, the use of torture on Kim JongIn, and etc. I was called up and I told my side of the story and what had happened…

After telling my side of the story, YoungMin was called up…

“Kim YoungMin, ex-CEO of SM Entertainment, do you admit to all of these crimes?”

The judge asked him. YoungMin exhaled and replied,

“I don’t remember what you are talking about…. I’ve never done any of these crimes… HyeRim… She’s just acting crazy because of her parent’s deaths…. Once her parents died because of that robbery, when I came after hearing the news, I came to her to comfort her, but she rejected me. She told me that I was in the fault of killing her parents. She’s just in over her head of her parent’s death….”

I pursed my lips, I wanted to jump up and yell at him. Although, Kai stopped me from doing so…

“But do you admit to using her as a sex toy? And killing her brother? Also, do you admit to torturing, Kim JongIn?”

The judge asked.

“Firstly, I do not admit to using HyeRim as a sex toy. She simply had a urge for sex and wanted to have sex with every handsome man she laid her eyes on. Secondly, as soon as Kim Jongin shot her brother, he dropped the gun. I picked up the gun and was about to scold JongIn for killing him…. JongIn was aggressive and tried to beat me for trying to scold him. Lastly, I did not torture Kim JongIn. Because we were training them so hard at SM Entertainment for him to become an idol, he may have thought of it as torture…”

YoungMin replied. The lady next to the judge jotted down the notes and looked up at the judge for him to continue. The judge looked at my lawyer and asked for him to defend. The lawyer got up and explained with the evidence that we had that YoungMin was wrong,

“According to our evidence, Kim YoungMin did indeed do all of these crimes. He did call for someone else to do the killing of HyeRim and YoungJoo’s parents and it was one of the people that has worked with him for many years.”

After bringing up the man that killed my parents, he was basically sentenced to jail as well. The judge didn’t say how many years, but he wanted to hear all of the crimes before sentencing him.

“Also, YoungJoo was used against HyeRim to make HyeRim do things for YoungMin, thus she was used as a sex toy for him. YoungJoo was only a child and had no idea what YoungMin was using him for… YoungMin threatened HyeRim that if she did not do as she was told, that YoungJoo will die and we have witnesses as well.”

My lawyer continued. He brought up the maid that was told to kill YoungJoo when told, and he brought up Chanyeol and Kai. After hearing the witnesses the judge nodded and waited for the lawyer to continue.

“Thirdly, Kim JongIn was never the killer of YoungJoo as JongIn’s finger prints were never found on the gun. Lastly, we have some of the people that have indeed help torture Kim JongIn when tortured to find out the whereabouts of HyeRim when she ran away.”

At last, we were done with our defending. The jury left into a room to figure out if YoungMin was guilty or not, but the answer was already clear. YoungMin was going to jail… Although, YoungMin seemed to have a happy face when the jury went into another room. Why was he so happy? Does he know that he’s going to jail? Or did he sabotage the outcome of the trial?

After half an hour, the jury came out and one man stood up as everyone else sat.

“The jury came out with 5-7 in Kim HyeRim’s favor…”

The man replied. I exhaled deeply as I was relieved that we won the case, but I was completely confused as to why there were five people that wanted to YoungMin not guilty. The judged said quickly,

“Kim YoungMin, you are guilty…. And you will be sentenced to life in jail.”

My mind was filled with ease and sadness as I thought of YoungJoo. I will never have to worry about YoungMin ever again. I will not have to worry about him coming after me and… He won’t ever go after any of my loved ones ever again…. Kamsahabnida… God….

After the trial, YoungMin went to the side and talked to five people. They all talked to YoungMin as the other jury people left the courtroom. I quietly listened in and heard YoungMin quietly whisper.“You goddamn idiots! I told you guys to persuade two people to be on my side! You idiots! I’m sentenced to jail for life now… You fucking idiots! If I knew that it was going to be like this, then I would have never paid you guys to vote not guilty for me! I fucking hate idiots like you people! I hope you guys go to hell!”

With that, YoungMin was dragged away by a police officer to bring him to jail.

*Flashback end *

I snapped back into my thoughts and began to get ready once more. I got dressed into a plain white V-neck with a blue jacket along with some jeggings. I wore my blue converse and made my way downstairs. As I was walking down the steps, I suddenly got a message. It was from Chanyeol.From: Chanyeol

To: HyeRim

HyeRim-ah. I know it’s been a while, but can we hang out? Maybe around lunchtime if possible.

I smiled and replied yes. As I got down the stairs, I saw Kai asleep on the couch. Ever since YoungMin was sent to jail, Kai took over SM Entertainment, although the stocks for SM wasn’t going to well after YoungMin went to jail, but Kai still works hard. I kissed Kai’s forehead and just stared at him. I couldn’t bring myself to kiss his lips because…. It was too much for me right now… I’ll just do things slowly for now….

I left the house after eating a bit and made my way to a newspaper stand. I opened up the paper and saw that there were many ads for hiring jobs. I thought that this might be the best start. Getting a job… The job that stood out to me most was a job at a café. A bubble tea café to be exact. I entered the cute little café only to realize that it wasn’t that busy, which I would love a calm atmosphere. I walked over to a woman at the front and asked about the hiring job. After answering a few questions and signing a paper, I was hired, which was kind of quick, but whatever… I was to start tomorrow, so I left the café and walked around for a bit, but before I left, I saw familiar faces.

“Sehun? Kris?”

I asked, as I got closer to a table nearby. Sehun and Kris looked up and saw me. Sehun’s and Kris’s eyes widened as they saw me. They looked from my head to my toes and saw how scrawny I was.

“H-HyeRim?”

Sehun replied.

“In the flesh..”

I replied.

“You look so different now. I mean… After the..”

“Sex?”

I finished his sentence for him. Sehun blushed and nodded. I smiled and said,

“Can I sit with you?”

I asked. Kris nodded and I sat in the empty seat next to them. After seeing each other after eleven years, I saw how much they had changed. Sehun used to look so young and so energetic. Now, Sehun looks more mature and handsome. He even told me that he started a company. Kris, on the other hand, had starred in many famous movies. He also mentioned that Tao and Luhan starred in many movies and dramas as well. We all talked about our love life and how our careers are going. Sehun is about to get married, whereas Kris is going lone wolf style, which is apparently HIS style. I chuckled knowing that the statement was completely false. We all seemed to get close in just a short period of time; it was like we became best friends or something. I looked at my watch and saw that it was nearly lunch. I thought earlier that I should bring some lunch back for Kai, but then again, I feel like he already left for work. I said goodbye to Sehun and Kris. I left the café and made my way towards SM Entertainment.

I slowly arrived at SM Entertainment. Who knew I would actually come back to the place I hated the most, the place that my brother was killed in, the place that started this whole ruckus. I walked into the glass doors and saw a woman at the front. She looked up at me and recognized me almost immediately. She let me in, knowing that I was here for Kai. I made my way to the office and as I shakily opened the door, I saw the office completely redid. The chairs and office desks were completely rearranged and different styles. The glass walls, desks, and tables were almost completely removed. The carpet was removed and was replaced with white flooring. The chairs were replaced with red chairs that were fancy and comfy. I saw Kai at his desk that was to the side and no longer in the center of the room. Kai looked up and smiled as he saw me enter the room. I smiled as I saw Kai in his suit and tie. He wore work suit that showed that he had been eating well and exercising his body back to when he was younger. He was slowly bringing his old body back as the days pass. He got up from his desk and walked towards me with his arms wide open. He hugged me tightly. I smelt his cologne, the only smell that could come from Kai and Kai only. I hugged him tightly and as he released me he asked,

“Where were you?”

“Well. I went to get a job at a café, I met Sehun and Kris, and I got you some lunch.”

I replied. Kai looked down and saw the plastic bag of food. He looked up and we had eye contact.

“Thank you.”

He said as he smiled warmly. I couldn’t help but smile back. Kai grabbed the food and he kissed my forehead.

“Thanks for the kiss this morning.”

He said while he kissed my forehead. I blushed immediately,

“Y-Yah…. Y-You were awake.”

“Of course, I was awake. I have to wake up early for work..”

Kai replied. Kai held my hand and asked,

“Will you have lunch with me?”

He asked me sweetly, but then I remembered that I was supposed to meet up with Chanyeol.

“Mianhe, but Chanyeol asked me to meet up with him for lunch. Mian.”

I replied with a sad face. Kai frowned, but he understood. He patted my head and said,

“Don’t you dare do anything else with him.”

He said in a warning like tone. I smiled and rolled my eyes,

“Arraseo Appa.”

I said. Kai smiled and then I left towards a restaurant Chanyeol told me about.

As I arrived at the restaurant, I saw Chanyeol in the corner of the restaurant waving at me. I smiled and made my way down to the booth. I saw Chanyeol and he wore a fancy suit as I wore just a shirt and jeans. I blushed with embarrassment.

“Why are you blushing?”

Chanyeol chuckled.

“Because you’re wearing something super fancy and I’m wearing something plain. I would’ve worn something different if you told me to wear fancy.”

I replied. Chanyeol chuckled and replied,

“Don’t worry about that. I just wore this suit because of work.”

After settling myself down in the booth, Chanyeol and I talked of catching up together. He gave me his signature smile that he used to show me many times when we were at the countryside. The smile that showed all of his pearly whites is the one that always brought me up when YoungJoo was acting up. We laughed, talked, and ate as we sat in the tiny booth. As things began to die down, Chanyeol gave me a serious look, as he wanted to ask this question for a while now. Chanyeol pursed his lips and slowly opened his mouth,

“Hyerim….. I know this is sudden, but what would your reaction be if I told you that I still loved you?”