Before the Very Beginning
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"Order in the court!" yelled the judge as she hit on the gavel to gather the court's attention. Ara became silent as she swallowed her following words back into her mouth. She had so much to say and was willing to do so. Eunha had to hear it over and over again.

Hoseok turned to Ara and asked, "Ms. Byun, you were told that your father's death was ruled as blunt force trauma from a hit-and-run, right?"

Ara nodded as he continued and said, "Were you aware that a nearby security camera recorded the car's license plate?"

Ara looked at him in disbelief. Even Baekhyun sat on the edge of his seat as he leaned in closer. Both siblings were unaware of the camera footage that had reached Hoseok's hands by someone who had witnessed the event. The event that had taken place the moment Byun Haneul exited a family restaurant of one of his childhood friends. A family restaurant that had closed soon after the accident but still appeared in the photographs taken of the crime scene—a restaurant that had a security camera right outside of it. Byun Haneul's death at the hospital was far from the beginning of the story. It was more complicated than that.

When she heard about the camera footage, Eunha looked up at Hoseok and then turned to Sunggyu. Worry consumed her face while her body anxiously started shaking. Sunggyu noticed her nervous demeanor, but all he did was shrug. After all, he had said nothing about the accident.

"It's time to bring this court back to the real reason we are here: Byun Haneul's mysterious death," Hoseok said as he switched the screen on the monitor once again. "Mr. Byun was hit by a car with this license plate. The owner, as you see here, is Ms. Kang Eunha."

Ara quickly turned to face Eunha, as Eunha remained motionless. She saw her face through the corner of her eyes and sensed her extremely intense expression.

"The license plate was not the only thing captured by the security camera, but also this," Hoseok added as he zoomed into the car's mirror in the footage. "In the mirror, as you can see, is a woman's face. A woman who looks extremely agitated after having crashed into another car. She grips the steering wheel with her long nails and later on leaves the scene."

At that moment, Hoseok walked over to Eunha, even though there was no use, and asked, "Is this you, Ms. Kang?"

Eunha didn't answer, but he knew it was her. The judge knew it was her, and the jury knew it was her. The face was clear. There was no denying who it was because even Yoongi's department had identified the woman as Kang Eunha.

"The question is, why was this left out during the initial investigation for the hit-and-run? Why was it not included as crucial evidence?" Hoseok asked before he turned to face the judge and said, "Your honor, I request Mr. Hwang Taeho be brought in to testify. He is the owner of the security camera that captured this video."

The judge allowed the witness to be brought in as Ara stood from the stand. She walked back to her seat next to Jimin as Taeho took an oath and sat down. Ara observed him for a while but was unsure of who he was. On the other hand, Baekhyun had recalled him as soon as he heard his name. When he was young, his father used to take him to Taeho's restaurant a few times after the divorce. Baekhyun knew who he was and even knew his family. As soon as he recognized him, he couldn't believe what was happening. He couldn't even process it.

"Mr. Hwang, you were working in your family's restaurant the day of the accident, weren't you? Did you have any connection with Mr. Byun?" Hoseok asked as he approached him.

Taeho nodded and said, "We were close childhood friends. He would usually visit my restaurant whenever he had a lot of work just to destress. The day of the accident, he was eating at my restaurant. I was busy with other customers, so I couldn't say my goodbyes or walk him to his car, but I heard the crash. The sound was very loud. I ran out immediately and saw Haneul's car completely destroyed. When I ran closer to the scene to check for survivors, the first thing I saw was the face of a woman inside the other car. Suddenly, she backed up and drove off. I ran to Haneul's car but couldn't tell if he was alive. In a state of panic, I ran back inside and called the ambulance. I was the one who made the call that day. However, when the ambulance appeared, I never told them about the woman in the other car."

"And why is that?"

"That was because another man came by minutes before the police and gave me an envelope full of cash," Taeho replied. "He said to forget about the accident and not tell the police anything."

Hoseok stepped closer and signaled at Sunggyu as he asked, "Was Mr. Kim the man who gave you the cash?"

Taeho nodded again and continued, "I kept the cash because my business wasn't doing well. I was desperate, and I regret it now. I sold Haneul's truth when he was my friend. He probably condemned me for it. I genuinely thought the police could still find the culprit without my help. Thankfully, I never deleted the footage or used that dirty money. For five years, I left it inside my closet, scared to even look at it. We ended up losing the business, so it didn't really matter at the end of the day. Then, one day, I heard about the case reopening, and I thought maybe I should step forward this time—turn in the money and tell the truth. All I want is for Haneul to forgive me. I wronged him that day and always felt guilty for doing so."

Taeho's tears were inevitably falling down his face. He was hesitant to take the money that day, but he genuinely thought it would solve all his problems. He thought he could forget about the accident and move on, but it kept haunting him every day and night. His own actions made him sick to his stomach, leaving him with a profound pain in his heart. He had stooped so low.

That was when Hoseok walked over to Eunha, directing his final question to Taeho. "Was this the woman you saw inside the car?"

"Yes, it was her."

There was no denying it—Eunha was trapped.

After the trial, Jimin took Ara to Minji's house while she fell asleep in his car. The long wait for the trials only left her with intense insomnia every night. It wasn't healthy, and she knew it, but she kept herself up at night, biting into her fingernails constantly. The only things running through her mind were the trial, Sunggyu, Eunha, and her father. There was no space for anything else.

Once Jimin parked the car in front of Minji's house, he removed his seatbelt and turned to face Ara. Her body seemed at ease, but her face looked tense. She furrowed her brows and squinted her eyes before she suddenly opened them. She looked at her surroundings worriedly as Jimin quickly reached for her hand.

"You're okay, baby," he said. "I'm here."

She sat still for a moment and noticed his hand holding hers. She followed his voice and turned to face him as he smiled softly. Her tense expression slowly faded as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Once she opened them, she turned to Jimin and intertwined her fingers with his. She smiled back at him, just like he did.

"I don't think you should sleep alone tonight," he said, noticing the prominent eye-bags under her gorgeous eyes. "I heard you haven't slept well, so tell Minji to accompany you. Or maybe you can stay over at my house again?"

Ara shook her head. She had to get over her sleeping issues. She knew Minji was aware of it. Of course, she also knew Minji would tell her brother like always. She just never wanted to make it seem a big deal. It was just a sleeping issue, nothing else.

"I'll be fine," she reassured him. "I'll fix my sleeping schedule. Don't worry about me."

Regardless of her words, Jimin wasn't convinced. However, he wanted to trust her words, so he leaned closer and pecked her forehead. Realizing a peck wasn't enough for his crazy beating heart, he went directly toward her lips and gently kissed them. In a matter of seconds, Ara kissed him back and cupped his cheek. One simple touch of his lips meant everything was going to be fine. It meant care; it meant passion; it meant security.

+

The following day, it didn't take more than four hours for the jury to come up with a decision. Everything changed from the 'Byun Haneul Death Case' to the 'Byun Haneul Murder Case'. They just called it how they saw it.

Sunggyu had confessed to committing the murder, but that wasn't the only factor in the case. Eunha was involved, and from the early beginning—the hit-and-run. She took part in it, and once she heard it wasn't enough to kill Haneul, she went for the drug. She desperately wanted him dead, and she tried to have him killed twice. One of those times succeeding.

Kang & Co. had lost everything it had ever gained illegally and legally. The company was in shambles, nearing its bankruptcy. Eunha kept digging a bigger and bigger grave for Kang & Co. as she continued destroying her 'father's' company on a daily basis. The company Eunhyuk tried so hard to protect had lost its future the day he married Sarah. The second wave of misfortune was when Sarah gave birth to Eunha. Everything went downhill from that very moment.

Outside of the courtroom, Ara was waiting for Jimin to finish a work call when Namjoon approached her. Ara greeted him with a smile as he smiled back and stood beside her. He leaned against the wall and placed his cold hands inside his sweater.

"This might not be the right time, but I wanted to apologize properly," he said. "I'm very sorry. I knew the truth about your father, and I still went out with you, knowing damn well you believed in a spoon-fed lie—one that even I tried to feed you as your boyfriend. I'm sorry for the break-up, too. Believe me, I didn't want to disappear abruptly. I just couldn't keep lying to you. It kept eating me alive, and I couldn't deal with it."

Ara remained quiet as she heard his words. She had finally understood everything—the break-up with Namjoon and her father's death, the made-up marriage, and even the people behind it. All of it combined made her realize how fucked up people could be. How blinded one could become for riches. Even Taeho was blinded by the dirty money handed to him in a silver tray for him to turn his back on his own friend—a close friend.

"Don't apologize, Joon," she said. "I didn't understand why at first, and I was mad at you for years, but I understand now. It wasn't easy for us to deal with what happened that night. I know you went through a lot, and I forgive you for everything."

Suddenly, Baekhyun came rushing towards Ara as he announced, "The verdict! The jury reached the verdict!"

It didn't take everyone a single minute to run back inside the courtroom and sit in their original seats. The jury sat down as the foreperson handed the judge a paper with their final decision. Ara wasn't nervous, and Baekhyun wasn't nervous. They both knew their father's death would come to light as a murder. They knew the ones at fault would be punished.

"The jury finds the defendant, Kim Sunggyu, guilty on the following charges: first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit homicide, conspiracy to commit fraud, theft by deception through a fraudulent marriage scheme, illegal use of drugs, and attempting to flee justice."

Sunggyu was motionless. He gave no reaction to the judge's words, letting Ara know he expected it. Since the previous verdict in Jiyong's case, he knew the worst was yet to come. The room was silent as the judge concluded reading the decision for Sunggyu and turned to the one for Eunha.

"The jury finds the defendant, Kang Eunha, guilty on the following charges: first-degree murder, leaving the scene of a vehicular accident involving a serious injury, fraud and theft by deception through a fraudulent marriage scheme, illegal use of drugs, conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to commit homicide, and, finally, ruling from a prior court case, fraud of ordering to falsify an autopsy report through monetary bribes. We will now proceed with the sentencing."

Baekhyun smirked as he heard those words. He held Ara's hand as she turned to him and smiled softly. Finally, it was a sweet end for the Byun family.

"Defendant Kim Sunggyu, the jury finds you guilty of six charges," the judge continued. "The court sentences you for the charge of first-degree murder of the victim, Byun Haneul, to life in prison. For the charge of conspiracy to commit homicide, twenty-five years in prison. For the charge of conspiracy to commit fraud, ten years in prison. For the charge of theft by deception through a fraudulent marriage scheme, fifteen years in prison. For the charge of illegal drug use in connection with your crimes, five years in prison. For the charge of attempting to flee justice, seven years in prison. In addition, the court orders you to pay restitution in the amount of two hundred thousand dollars to the victim of the fraudulent marriage scheme, Ms. Byun, who suffered significant financial losses due to your deception. The court also orders you to pay restitution to the deceased's family in the sum of five hundred thousand dollars for the emotional, psychological, and financial damage caused by your involvement in his death."

Sunggyu looked down as Ara glared at him. She knew if he had escaped in time, he wouldn't have been caught for anything. He would have gone to live his life freely and left no care in the world to pay for his crimes, but now he had to pay for them in full. He had to pay with a life sentence and his own money, which wasn't enough for the amount of restitution ordered.

"As for the defendant, Kang Eunha, the jury has found you guilty of seven charges. The court sentences you for the charge of first-degree murder of the victim, Byun Haneul, to life in prison. For the charge of conspiracy to commit homicide, twenty-five years in prison. For the charge of conspiracy to commit fraud, ten years in prison. For the charge of theft by deception through a fraudulent marriage scheme, fifteen years in prison. For the charge of illegal drug use in connection with your crimes, five years in prison. For the charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving serious injury, ten years in prison. For the charge of ordering to falsify an autopsy report through monetary bribes, five years in prison. In addition, the court orders you to pay restitution in the sum of two hundred thousand dollars to the victim of the fraudulent marriage scheme, Ms. Byun. The court also orders you to pay restitution in the sum of five hundred thousand dollars to the deceased's family. Court is adjourned."

The judge hit on the gavel and gathered her documents. She stood from her seat and walked out of the courtroom as Eunha turned to her left. Her view went directly to Jimin, who was smiling but directly facing Ara. When Eunha's glare hit Ara, she couldn't see anything but red. Sunggyu glanced at Eunha and immediately knew what she was thinking. In a state of anger, Eunha shot up from her seat and ran over to Ara, which resulted in Sunggyu blocking her.

"Fucking whore!" Eunha yelled as Sunggyu tried to pull her back. The security guards ran over to them and prevented Eunha from getting closer. They held her back as Ara just glared at her without fear. There were no emotions leaving her face, absolutely zero expression—no anger, no disgust, no sadness. She just stood up, grabbed Jimin's hand, and walked out of the courtroom.

Eunha had remained powerless.

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• 2800 •
Update #3 for Feb. 7.