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SEESAW
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Yi-Seo

Mi-Yang eonnie and I haven’t talked with each other for almost four days now, ever since I saw her with Taehyung. And it isn’t that I’m totally mad at her. I’m just upset because everytime I think about Jimin, I feel a sharp pinch in my chest. It hurts to think that she dared cheat on him. I thought they were a happy couple, and if they really are happy together, then why would she want to get intimate with another man?

She did wrong, and no matter how much she adored Taehyung and loved him in the past, she must have remembered that this is the present, and that she has a husband at home who trusts her loyalty.

But again, I have no clue how Jimin is as a husband. I only know him as Taehyung’s devoted fan who has done a heavy amount of research in the past. On the outside, Mi-Yang eonnie and Jimin did seem like a happy couple, but who knows what pain they are hiding within?

I feel the need to talk it out with her, but what would I talk? I’m trying to be as neutral as possible without judging anyone in this situation, but given that she hasn’t made any attempt to talk, I don’t think I would be the first one to make a move. She does not need to explain anything to me, but the fact that she hasn’t even tried to talk with me, unlike other days, tells me that she could be battling guilt.

Everything and everyone in life don’t leave with prior notice or with proper closure, and right now I’m inclined to believe that Mi-Yang eonnie is probably one among them in my life. Things could change in the future, given that we all still live within the same communtiy. But for now, I ain’t going to be the one to push it.

Today, Taehyung, Jimin and I are headed to meet the attorney to discuss what to do next.

“You definitely need to be there because you’re the plaintiff in this case, and the lawsuit is going to be filed by you. So, you need to read it through and attest to it as well,” I convince a grumpy Taehyung for the millionth time this morning, and he sighs in a totally disinterested manner.

I, however, ignore his discouraging mannerisms and proceed to drive to the location of the attorney’s office that Jimin shared with me earlier. Once we reach there, we take a few minutes to introduce ourselves to each other, but Jimin doesn’t actually bother much about Taehyung’s presence, and it is contrary to my expectations that he would gush over him. It also makes me doubt if he somehow already knows what happened between Mi-Yang and Taehyung.

We all then get seated, and Jimin and I start talking to the attorney. He cautiously listens to every word that each of us says with high attention levels, and Jimin even submits proof of his findings for attorney Seong to review them.

“Everything looks perfect, but what worries me is the statute of limitations,” the attorney adjusts his glasses as he keeps shuffling with a set of papers on his desk, his face sporting a concerned look.

Taehyung, who was so detached all this while, sinks in his seat, and lets out a sarcastic scoff, deadpanning and clearly expressing his distaste about the entire situation.

Seeing this, Jimin lets out a helpless sigh.

“Does a case of this sort come under the statute of limitations? I thought it was eliminated for good?” Jimin sounds worried, and, in a nervous gesture, he moves to the edge of his seat and rests his hands clasped together on the top of the desk that’s in front of us.

“It has been abolished only in cases of first-degree murder. For all other civil litigations and punishable crimes like second-degree murder, medical malpractice and negligence crimes, sexual assault, and everything else, the statute of limitations still holds good, although the time limit varies depending on the nature of the case,” attorney Seong speaks some kind of alien language in a mournful tone, and it is making me a little paranoid and out of place, to be honest.

“What’s the statute of limitations? Can someone explain?” I turn my head to look at Jimin and then at the attorney, totally clueless what they’re talking about.

“Miss Kwon,” the attorney addresses me, “the statute of limitations is a major loophole in the legal system, but it also has its own benefits. In our case, according to the statute of limitations, no civil claim is valid for enquiry or investigation, or even for trial after a period of ten years from when the events surrounding the case began. This means that even if we submit proof and confessions of the defendant himself to the court, they will most likely dismiss everything because the time period has elapsed, and the case is no longer a valid one,” this new information that he delivers feels like a poisonous knife stabbed into my chest, and my head spins and jaw drops open upon hearing it.

I whip my head around to look at Jimin, desperately searching his eyes for some positivity in this murky situation. Taehyung, however, remains totally silent as if he was already expecting to hear something of this sort.

“What does this mean? Will they never punish the bad guys and declare him innocent?” I point to Taehyung as I sulk to Jimin. “Is this it? Tell me, Jimin-ssi,” I turn around fully to sit facing him as I demand an answer, and I could feel a painful lump forming at the back of my throat and constricting my airways.

“Yi-Seo, please calm down,” he says calmly and places a reassuring hand on mine, turning his eyes to look at the attorney thereafter. “Taehyung’s case was first taken to court in the first week of July, and we are still a month short of ten years. Does that count? We have everything needed to file a lawsuit now, and if we can take it back to court within a month, then it still holds good, right?” Jimin raises his eyebrows at attorney Seong, and he nods his head a few times, furiously flipping the pages of his notes to revisit the dates that we discussed earlier.

“Yes, that’s possible. It can be done, and the statute of limitations in a civil case only runs until a charge is filed against the accused and a warrant issued,” he confirms, causing the rush of air that was long stuck in my lungs to finally escape as I heave a loud sigh of relief and fall back in my chair.

It takes another thirty minutes for the attorney to type in the details into his pre-saved template, and Jimin and I take turns to carefully revise the content of the petition word by word. Taehyung reluctantly skims through the content as well before he attests every page of the printed document with his initial at the bottom right corner, and then he puts his signature on the last page.

“Please protect the defendant, Dr Han, because you already mentioned that he is ill. He needs to be physically present at the court on the day of the hearing, and the hearing itself may extend to a few days on many occasions, so he has to be fit enough to give a fully conscious judicial confession, and only after that the court will take further action,” the attorney informs me, and I agree, nodding.

He then turns his attention to Jimin, “I will forward this to the court today and follow it up closely, and I have also marked it urgent and high priority since this case is nearing its expiration date. And, I guess it shouldn’t be a problem because we have clearly mentioned the presence of undiscovered evidence and first-hand confession. So, we should be good,” he assures us with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, and at this point, I’m pinning all my hopes on him.

This lawsuit is our last straw, and given that it has a fixed time period for execution, I’m saying all my prayers in total faith and devotion for things to work out in Taehyung’s favor at the earliest possible.

We leave the attorney’s office in complete silence, and I know that Jimin is internally as nervous and anxious as I am or even more because he has associated himself knee-deep and delved even deeper to uncover all the truths in this whole case for as long as it has been in existence. A favorable judgment wouldn’t only bring justice to Taehyung, but it would also be such a precious thing to Jimin, almost like an award of the highest order in recognition for all his hard work and dedicated research concerning his most-loved idol.

Taehyung is most definitely paranoid and hopeless because he hasn’t had any bright things to look back upon as far as this drug scandal case is concerned.

This case and its outcome are probably the only things that connect the three of us in common, and we are awaiting the same result with bated breath while wishing and hoping that beyond this point, nothing should possibly slip through our fingers like loose sand.

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It has been three days since we met the attorney, and there hasn’t been any form of communication from him, which is highly demoralizing and confusing too. Taehyung is unbothered about this matter as always, but it could very well be just how he pretends to be on the outside. I mean, how is it possible not to be anxious when the entire issue centers on you?

About the case status, I check with Jimin every morning and night, and he in turn checks with the attorney, only to get the same response every time.

The statute of limitations already sounded like doomsday to me, and now the delay in filing the lawsuit and receiving a response is troubling me to an unexplainable extent. I’m so paranoid to the extent that I even begin to doubt the credibility of attorney Seong, and there is even a vague doubt swirling in a far corner of my mind that he could possibly be one of Sammy’s handmen.

Despite the battle within my mind, I have been doing my best in spending time with Taehyung and collecting some colorful details from his past, and there are so many interesting things that I have learned about him in the process. I even got to know that he served his mandatory military enlistment in the first two years after his blacklisting, and it was after that he bought this home at Silver Springs and moved in here.

Ever since he turned up at my doorstep, ready to clarify the mess with Mi-Yang eonnie, it feels like things have surely changed between us. I did not ask him anything about what happened, but I have been noticing a definite shift in his behavior, and it is clearly not just within my head. He’s more open in his communication, his tone is always soft and lovable, and he smiles more these days. All these little things lead me to believe that there’s most certainly some sort of connection that’s growing between the two of us.

However, he still drinks and smokes like there’s no tomorrow, and two days ago, I spent the whole day waiting by my window for him to wake up from his drunken slumber inside his home. It was hellish, and I was so worried for him that I even considered breaking open a window and checking on him.

These days, I find myself staring at him more often, not just when he isn’t looking, but I keep looking even when I know that he’s looking at me—which even he seems to be doing a lot more than before. Neither of us is subtle or shy with our stares anymore. At most times, I feel this strong magnetic pull that he exudes, and it makes me want to stick to him, literally, and keep him close to me at all times.

Last evening, we went out for an unplanned dinner, and Taehyung was dressed in such a stylish yet smart manner that I could feel my shoulders rising skyward with an overbearing sense of pride when we sat at a table together. Literally, everyone in the restaurant kept admiring him because he was obviously the most handsome man that the place had ever seen.

As he kept talking over the meal, his words suddenly started to sound like music to my ears; I found myself eerily attracted to him, and every little thing about him made me feel weird sensations shooting within my chest.

I was looking at the way his lips moved, at how he habitually licked his lips so often, at how he kept rubbing his earlobe very often, at how his beautiful fingers moved when he spoke and ate his meal. I was watching him slowly chew his food, and I was even counting the beauty marks on his face and neck and on his hands as well. Damn! I ended up feeling like a creep, but I know that I have undoubtedly developed a huge soft spot for him within my heart, and no matter how much I tell myself that I should stop having these kinds of thoughts about him, I find it a little impossible to get there.

When it comes to him, I’m pretty sure that I absolutely don’t grasp the concept of age. It doesn’t at all matter to me, but I don’t know if it bothers him. It isn’t like he would ever be interested in some plain, heartbroken, and jobless Kwon Yi-Seo, although I’m really hoping it should be the other way.

His taste in women must be expensive, as it is in everything else. I even shamelessly looked up cannabis cigarettes on the internet, and I learned that those are damn expensive. Given the fact that he still buys them instead of rolling his own weed, tells me that he likes the finest in everything, and I’m certainly not the finest a woman can be.

Like, come on! He wanted to date beauty pageant winner “The Kim So-Dam”, and I can’t even imagine myself within a radius of a few kilometers from where she would possibly stand. So, what are the odds that he would ever look at me the way he looked at her? Null. Probably negative. Even if she’s dead now, if that has been his taste in women, then I know for a fact that I stand no chance.

The soup on the pot almost boils down to nothing as I’ve hardly been paying any attention to it, and even now if my phone hadn’t screeched loudly and jolted me out of my daydream, I’m pretty sure there would have been a whole charred mess inside the pot by now.

After turning off the stove, I rush to answer the call, and my sunken mood elevates all of a sudden when I see that the call is from Jimin.

“Jimin-ssi, did the attorney get back?” I ask eagerly without waiting for him to even greet me.

“Yi-Seo, yes. He just did. The details are in an e-mail. If you share your e-mail address, I can forward it to you,” his tone is ecstatic, and his words bring a huge smile to my face.

I end the call after giving him my e-mail address, and then I rush to power up my laptop and sit down cross-legged on my couch with the laptop safely nestled in my lap.

After what seems like a few years, my laptop gets ready to be used, and I open up my mailbox to find an e-mail from Jimin.

I carefully read through every word in the e-mail and re-read it a few times to be sure that I haven’t missed anything, and at the end of it, I feel a significant weight lifted off my shoulders.

The case is filed by Taehyung against Dr Han Woo-Seong (the defendant), currently known as Lee Se-Young, wherein Taehyung (the plaintiff) claims to have incurred severe losses as a result of the defendant’s actions, and he demands a legal or equitable remedy.

The court has also simultaneously issued a complaint to the defendant, Se-Young, giving him a period of 3 days to respond to the complaint. I have already been educated that the time period for the defendant’s response is usually 30 days in a civil case of this sort, and it is also subject to extension upon the defendant’s request. But since this case would expire within 30 days, in fact, only 26 days now, to be precise, the time for his response has been reduced to 3 days.

I make a mental note to talk about this to Se-Young and push things from his end as well to ensure that there are no delays. That part shouldn’t be a problem.

The court has accepted to conduct a hearing for this, which is phenomenal, and it already feels like I’m tasting success on my tongue. I haven’t written anything for my book yet, but I know I would have a whole big bunch to compile once the hearing and other proceedings are completed.

Taehyung truly deserves liberation and justice. It is so unfair that he exists in this hell when the true criminal Sammy is out there living his life like a King. Sammy’s name isn’t mentioned in any part of the lawsuit papers that were signed by Taehyung, and he doesn’t yet know that Sammy was the rotten brain behind this entire scandal.

But when Se-Young confesses his motive in court, Sammy’s true colors will inevitably be exposed to the world. On a completely different plane, my brain begins to wonder if the court would blindly believe Se-Young’s confession.

Of course, there is proof that he was the one who treated Taehyung. But what is the proof that Sammy convinced him into doing it? If Se-Young deserves punishment, Sammy, the motivator for the crime, deserves the guillotine.

Without any solid proof, it would be impossible to prove his involvement. So, does that mean that he would walk free this time as well?

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Published on : 02/06/2023