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TOMORROW
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Yi-Seo

Se-Young is growing more exhausted and out of breath with every word that he says in court, and I’m chewing my lips out of nervousness because now is probably the moment when he is going to reveal his well-protected secret of many years—the evidence that he holds against Sammy.

I have no clue what the evidence is, but I know that it involves both Se-Young and Sammy, and going by what he just told, I’m assuming that it has strong proof of Se-Young’s feelings for Sammy in the past.

“But I think it would be inappropriate to put out evidence in his absence, especially when it involves him, and it is also illegal, right?” Se-Young arches his eyebrows at the judge, and then his eyes turn to look at attorney Seong.

Clearing his throat, attorney Seong leans into his mic. “You’re right. Evidence involving parties not present in court is not acceptable in their absence,” he then turns to look at the judge. “But we don’t need any evidence to summon Sung-Won to court since the defendant has already established connections with him in the past. Proof of Sung-Won receiving treatment from Dr Han in multiple instances in the past, and proof of their acquaintance is available here,” attorney Seong extends a file to the clerk who then passes it on to the judge, and then the clerk proceeds to note down the details as he has been doing right from when the hearing commenced today.

The judge scrutinizes the proof submitted while we all wait for her to declare that Sammy needs to present himself in court for the next hearing. Once she’s done scanning the file, she moves it aside and raises her head to look at Se-Young.

“Dr Han, the proof clearly states that Sung-Won and you have known each other, and based on your accusations, we will summon him to court for the next hearing. Please make sure that you are present here with the evidence,” the judge announces, making me push out the air that I was holding in my lungs for a while now.

A wave of relief washes over me as I turn to look at Jimin who is beaming brightly and shaking his fists as a sign of premature victory. I do the same, and then my eyes move beyond him to look at Taehyung who looks pale and mortified from all the revelations made today.

He probably never suspected Sammy’s involvement in this matter, but I’m more than relieved that he knows it now. Taehyung’s weary eyes slowly move to look at me, and I give him a hopeful smile, but our little moment is interrupted when we hear attorney Seong’s solemn voice.

“Your Honor, there is not much time left for the statute of limitations to force this case to expire, and I implore you to kindly advance the next hearing to the earliest possible date. Also, given how the defendant’s health is deteriorating rapidly, it would be very considerate of you to provide a date for this at the earliest,” he bows respectfully, and the judge accepts his request, nodding.

“Considering the urgency of this case and the health of the defendant, we will have the next hearing for this case in the morning session tomorrow. The court will send out a summon for Choi Sung-Won to appear in court for the next hearing. In case he is unavailable, or if there is no response from his end, then the high priority of this case will supersede the rule of privacy, and we will review the evidence in court in his absence and then proceed with the verdict,” the judge declares as she presses a seal on a piece of paper and hands it over to the clerk who would then fill it in with the court summon for Sammy.

This is what we were expecting to achieve today, and the judge just announced that irrespective of Sammy’s presence in court, the evidence will still be reviewed, and a decision will be made tomorrow.

The judge then rises from her seat, and so does the audience, and then she leaves the courtroom. Adrenaline rushes within every corner of my body and mind, and I’m unable to tone it down as I dart towards Se-Young and wrap my arms around him, letting him know that he did great by confessing the truth and taking one step closer to attaining peace with his troubled mind.

“You did great, Se-Young-ssi,” I go down on my knees and hold his hands tight in mine, and then I hear Jimin’s voice from behind me.

“Thank you for being honest, Se-Young-ssi. You did well today, and you definitely need to rest well,” Jimin appreciatively pats Se-Young’s hand, earning a satisfied smile from him.

“Thank you. I feel so much better already,” he replies raspily, fighting the few tears that form in his eyes.

Smiling softly, I gently rub his hands with my thumbs to calm him down. I help him move out of the defendant’s stand, after which I take him to the matron who is waiting for us outside the courtroom.

“Se-Young-ssi, take care. I need to talk to you, but right now you need a lot of rest, more than anything else. So go back and rest well. I’ll talk to the attorney and come back to meet you later, okay?” I gently squeeze his hand, and he agrees with a small smile.

“Please have dinner with me, Yi-Seo,” he asks quietly, and I agree immediately by nodding my head with a huge grin.

As I stand there watching him, the matron helps him climb into the car, and she follows him inside, and then the car drives out of the court premises. My tense shoulders relax as I turn around and head back to where the men are waiting for me.

“Yi-Seo,” Jimin begins as soon as I reach them, “Sammy might try to contact Se-Young when he receives the court notice today. Do you think he’ll be safe at the old home?” His question is unexpected, and it sparks a new fear within me.

“Oh, no. I never thought about that,” I worry, my eyes flitting between the concerned gazes of the three men standing in front of me.

“He’s capable,” Taehyung speaks up after what feels like an eternity of silence from him.

“I can take him to my home. Even if Sung-Won tries to search for him, he will never be able to find out that Dr Han is staying with me,” Woo-Bin proposes immediately without any trace of hesitation in his tone, even before I could offer to take him with me to Silver Springs.

“Would that be possible?” Jimin whips around to look at him, repeatedly running a hand through his hair while Taehyung keeps his hands deep inside the pockets of his trousers and glances at me, and then at Woo-Bin.

“That wouldn’t be a problem at all. Just make sure that if Sung-Won or anyone else tries to reach Dr Han, the matron or anyone at the old home doesn’t tell them where Dr Han is. We should do anything it takes to protect him, and mistakes are unacceptable beyond this point,” Woo-Bin declares authoritatively, and Jimin and I agree, nodding furiously.

“I’ll take care of that. I’ll drive him over to your home after dinner, and tomorrow, you can bring him along to court when you come,” I assure him.

With that finalized, we proceed to meet attorney Seong and inform him of our plan to protect Se-Young, and he seems impressed with what we have decided. After making sure that everything is good for tomorrow, Woo-Bin leaves the court first after giving me his phone number, and then Jimin also drives away, leaving me and Taehyung to return in my car.

The drive back to Silver Springs is filled with comfortable silence, and Taehyung seems to be ruminating on a lot of things and mentally preparing himself to embrace the verdict tomorrow and probably even looking forward to beginning a new life from thereon.

Once we arrive home, he climbs out first and waits for me. Being alone with him, I’m finding it hard to raise my shy eyes to look at him. And if I do, it is definitely going to transport my soul to last night, and after that, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to control the blush on my face. Controlling my hands would be hard too.

Fortunately, he doesn’t say anything, and I don’t as well as I keep my head low and proceed to unlock the door to my home.

“Miss Kwon,” I hear his deep voice behind me that suddenly makes the hair at the back of my neck raise.

Swallowing thickly, I turn around to look at him, and he takes a few steps closer to me, with his eyes holding me captive on the spot.

“I- I feel really bad to receive so much help from you and everyone else without doing anything in return. Do you need any help with anything? I’ll do my best,” Taehyung says apologetically, his eyes slightly downcast.

“Taehyung-ssi,” my voice sounds not like mine at all, “you don’t have to feel bad about anything. And if I need any help from you, I’ll definitely let you know,” I reassure him with a smile and a nod, fighting the rising urge to hold him close.

“Okay,” he answers meekly, rubbing the back of his neck and standing still on the spot with his other hand buried inside the front pocket of his trousers.

I want us to go inside my home, but I don’t know if I can trust myself anymore when I’m alone with him in a private space. Yet, I’m so tempted to call him inside my home. But all the bottles that I brought home after raiding his home are all in my living room, and if he sees them, then he might get the uncontrollable urge to drink. I don’t want to catalyze that kind of a situation.

There’s a borderline battle happening within my mind, and I’m only trying to find reasons and convince myself to call him inside.

I don’t even realize that I’ve spent a while staring at him blankly while trying to put an end to the debate within my mind. That is, until Taehyung interrupts my thoughts.

“Could we perhaps go to the park? I know you’re not going to let me in because of the bottles,” Taehyung speaks as if he just read my thoughts, and it makes my eyes widen.

“Uhm- sorry… the bot-”

“I know. Don’t worry,” he laughs softly, ruffling his hair a little with one hand.

“I’ll soon move them somewhere else from my living room,” my words make him chuckle a little, and I return his smile with a small smile of my own.

Taehyung then waves his hand in the direction of the park, raising his eyebrows in question. I breathe out and nod in response, and we soon walk towards the park, and he decides to halt at the arched wooden footbridge. I stop walking too and stand beside him as he stands holding the fence of the bridge.

He remains silent, gazing at the scenery around the lake while taking deep and calm breaths. The sight itself is so relaxing and peaceful to watch, and I move towards the fence of the bridge as well and stand beside him, facing the lake.

“How are you feeling?” I ask without turning to look at him.

“Now?” He isn’t looking at me as well when he asks that.

“Now, today in general… The court hearing and everything.”

Taehyung sucks in a deep breath, the sound of which falls in sync with the blowing breeze and the rustling sound of the leaves on the cherry blossom trees bordering the footing of the picturesque bridge.

“There’s a sense of calm…” we turn to look at each other when he says that, and it feels like my eyes are tethered to his eyes through powerful invisible cords of attraction.

“I can see that,” I give him a smile, which reflects on his tired face.

Taehyung doesn’t say a word in response, but he turns around a little to face me and pulls out his cellphone from the pocket of his trousers, extending it to me thereafter.

My eyes move to his hand that’s holding his phone and then back up to his face, and he urges me to take it from him by motioning with his eyebrows. Taking his phone from his hand, I place a call to my phone and hand the device back to him. He doesn’t do anything more with his phone and just silently slips it back into his trouser pocket.

“So, do you have any other plans later tonight?” The depth of his voice and the manner of his eyes boring through me does something unexplainable to my pounding heart.

“I’m meeting Se-Young-ssi for dinner… I also have to take him to Woo-Bin-ssi’s home,” my words come out dragged, and they sound much softer.

“So…. does that mean we’ll be eating separately tonight?” Taehyung swipes his hand over his hair, and his eyes morph into the saddest kind of puppy eyes that make me melt on the spot.

If I could, I would happily take him along. But tonight could probably be the last night that I eat together with Se-Young, and Taehyung being there with us would make them both feel a little awkward.

“Just tonight,” I reassure him, almost reaching out to hold his hand, but I close my fists and keep my hands to myself.

Taehyung nods his head slowly, and just then my phone vibrates inside my purse. Grabbing my phone out of my purse, I see that the call is from Jimin.

“Jimin-ssi,” I answer the call, locking gazes with Taehyung.

“Yi-Seo, are you with Dr Han now? Attorney Seong just called me. He has received a call from Sammy’s manager. Apparently, they’d received the e-mail, and they wanted to know what was going on,” Jimin informs me seriously.

“Oh, an e-mail?” I quirk a brow in doubt.

“An e-mail was sent to his manager and his agency, and the paper notice was sent to him directly. But I’m guessing that by now he knows what’s going on. You should move Dr Han out of the old home as soon as possible,” his instructions make me alert, and I nod my head vigorously.

“I’ll do that right away,” saying so, I end the call with him shortly and return my attention to Taehyung.

“Taehyung-ssi, I have to go now, but please eat well and try to get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow morning before we leave or later tonight if I return early,” his face pales with every word I say, and it makes me not want to leave his side, but knowing that he wouldn’t possibly drink, I convince myself that protecting Se-Young is the priority now.

Bidding a quick goodbye to Taehyung, I drive to the old home to meet Se-Young.

⚜
Drama chapters coming up!!
Is everything too perfect? Of course, not. Someone IS going to mess up, and it's going to keep you on the edge.
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Thank you so much for 9k reads on Infamy.
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Published on : 02/13/2023