"Time, please go faster, meeting you on Sunday, I only imagined this Sunday, I don't think I can sleep at all today..."

~24/7 Heaven-BTS

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When they exited the court for the recess, all except Mr. Lee, going back to the prosecution's lounge, Mrs. Park immediately hugged Taehyung, squeezing him tight and kissing his forehead.

"You did wonderful, Taehyung honey, just wonderful." She whispered, then backed out of the hug, still holding him by the shoulders. "You're so thin... Do you want food? We can get you food? We have 20 minutes, do you want to eat? And god, look at all these bruises..." She said, looking at his arms. "Does it hurt? Would you like ice on it?" Mrs. Park sounded at the edge of crying, she was trying hard to keep it in, but her voice was shaking.

I didn't know it would hurt you this bad, I'm sorry. I thought you could just forget about me, I thought I was just a job, I'm sorry... "I'm alright, Eomma, it doesn't hurt, I'm not hungry."

Mrs. Park chuckled weakly, more like she was trying to make herself laugh to lighten the mood rather then any actual joy. "Okay, sweetie, but just rest while they're deliberating everything, alright?" She said, then hugged him again. "We all missed you, we were all scared, just take it easy..."

Taehyung nodded. He'd caused more harm than good by agreeing to leave, he was making everyone worry just by existing. "I will, Eomma."

Mrs. Park smiled, letting out of the hug again and ruffling his hair a bit before turning to leave the room

"Don't get too comfortable." Yoongi said from his seat on the couch in the room, eyes closed as he leaned back in the cushions of it.

"And why not?" Jin asked, going over and flicking Yoongi on the forehead. "He's been through a lot, some of it partly your fault." Seokjin didn't sound angry, just slightly annoyed, but he seemed to by no means have any sort of fear for Yoongi.

Yoongi glared at Jin for a moment, then sucked in a breath and rubbed his forehead where Jin had flicked him. "You only proved that he made Pumpkin-head overdose, that doesn't prove he isn't crazy, and that's what the case is about. Mrs. Park can't get custody unless someone can prove Taehyung is sane. The doctor will be charged and arrested, but Pumpkin-head still goes back to the looney bin."

Taehyung blinked. He knew that, it didn't surprise him, he remembered what the case was about, this only made sure Dr. Park was found guilty of something, at least something enough to put him in jail. If nothing else, then at least that.

"But we can prove that too." Jungkook said, waking Taehyung out of his thoughts. "We can do that, it won't be hard, Taehyung is sane, we all know he is, right, Hyung?" He said, turning to Jimin. "Right, V-Hyung?" He said, turning to Taehyung when Jimin didn't answer immediately. "The police officer said it was murder, right? Everyone's been saying you killed Jae-hwa's Father in cold blood.... I don't believe them, not you, you wouldn't do that."

Taehyung licked his lips. "But I did, Jungko--."

"I know you killed him, I'm not saying you didn't. V-hyung...What I'm saying is..." Jungkook ruffled his reddish hair, "You didn't do it on purpose, and if you did, you had a reason, I know you, you wouldn't hurt anyone, you don't hurt people, you make everyone happier, you make everyone smile, you've never even playfully hit anyone, just tell them what happened, Dr. Park tried to kill you so you wouldn't tell, you know something, Hyung, just tell them."

Taehyung nodded, looking at his hands as he fiddled with them. Maybe I don't see it, but there has to be something, there just has to be, nothing makes sense unless there is.

The door opened, and Mrs. Park came back along with Mrs. Lee and a tray full of food and drinks each and setting them down on a the coffee table in the middle of the room. There was Kimbap, Kimchi, soup, rice, fruit, vegetables, chicken, milk, coffee, juice, water, at least a dozen candies and snacks spread out between the two trays.

Jimin immediately clapped his hands, exclaiming at all the food, followed by a laugh that Taehyung hadn't heard in what felt like a long time.

Mrs. Lee was just absolutely grinning, Mrs. Park gave a tight-lipped smile at Jimin's reaction.

"Ok, listen, you've got about 15 minutes," Mrs. Lee said, clapping her hands together once to get everyone's attention. "If you all don't eat as much as you can, I will be very disappointed and might have to...." She hummed, looking to Mrs. Park for a moment, "Make the person who eats the least pay for all this..." She said, still looking at Mrs. Park.

Yoongi sighed at that, but immediately got up and took a pair of chopsticks, opening the plastic and already breaking them apart while everyone else just sat confused.

Mrs. Lee pointed at her watch when she saw no one except Yoongi moving, "Clock's ticking~"

After that Jungkook, Jin and Hana all grabbed chopsticks, and Taehyung just watched as they all fiddled with the plastic wrapper before breaking the chopsticks apart before digging into everything.

"Ah! That is not how you eat!" Yoongi said, when everyone flooded the table.

Jin looked offended. "There's nothing wrong with eating well."

Yoongi squinted, "Obviously you've never sat to actually enjoy food."

"Excuse me? You just don't want to pay for it"

"No sh*t, I don't want to pay for it."

Jungkook pointed at the both of them with his chopsticks after stuffing a roll of kimbap in his mouth, "You're both going to lose arguing." Hana nodded at the statement.

Yoongi glared at Jungkook. "Did you just speak informally to me? Do you want to die?"

Taehyung smiled to himself. I have to go back out there, I shouldn't be smiling, this isn't the time for jokes, what happens 30 minutes from now could decide everything.

Then he noticed Jimin, just sitting there, resting his cheek on his fist and his elbow on the arm of the couch, just staring at him, no chopsticks in his hands or anything, just looking at Taehyung with a blank expression. It surprised Taehyung, Jimin had seemed so excited for the food, but he wasn't touching it, and it didn't look like he was going to.

"Tae, eat." Jimin said, then grabbed a pair of chopsticks and holding them out for Taehyung to take, "Eat, bro, you've got to be starving, eat."

"I'm not hungr--."

"That bull isn't going to fly with me, Tae, if you don't eat, I won't eat." Jimin shoved the chopsticks toward Taehyung. "Stop acting like everything can only go badly and nothing good ever lasts, that's not true, and I know you want to believe that, so just let it happen, let it be."

Taehyung thought it over, then took the chopsticks. In Truth, he was very hungry, he just didn't feel like now was the time to be eating and acting like everything was alright. But Jimin was right, I need to stop thinking the worst can happen, I need to stop. I have to believe it myself.

"You might not have to testify, anyway." Mrs. Lee said with a shrug of her shoulders, catching Taehyung's attention. "My Husband figured a little something out, a pretty big time difference that doesn't make sense."

"Huh?" Taehyung asked, confused. Time difference? What does time have to do with it?

~~~

The judge came into the court after everyone else, and everyone stood just as they had before when she walked in. Upon sitting in her seat above everyone else, everyone else sat back down with her. There was a silence, then she cleared her throat, looking out at everyone in the courtroom. "In light of this new evidence, along with the fingerprints and the drug found inside, I find Dr. Park guilty of attempted murder, and will be charged with this crime no matter how this session proceeds, what has the defense to say?"

Mr. Kwon stood up, fixing his tie as he did so. "This case is about Kim Taehyung's sanity."

Taehyung closed his eyes. It was only a matter of time, I knew he would bring it up, I knew it. He felt someone squeeze his hand in their small, soft hands. He didn't have to look to know it was Hana.

"I understand that, Mr. Kwon, that changes nothing of what I just said." The judge said, the tone of her voice slightly raised in the beginnings of what was probably annoyance.

"I have one witness I haven't called, your honor, and she can prove his lack of a sound mind." Mr. Kwon was making a show of it, Taehyung could tell by his voice. "Your Honor, I call Yu Jae-hwa to the stand."

"Son of a b*tch." Taehyung said under his breath. Don't believe her, don't, all she does is lie, she lies like it was a language, don't believe a word off her forked tongue. Please...please...

Taehyung opened his eyes in time to see Jae-hwa more or less throw herself sloppily into the witness chair, looking around at the whole of the court with a smirk. She didn't look quite like herself, her outfit was conservative, very basic, her makeup mild tones and her lips colored a light peach. She looked almost innocent--except for the look in her eyes, which held the devil behind a thin sheet of colored glass more commonly known as her pupils.

She responded to the book in her face by putting her hand on it and making a humming noise, neither agreeing or disagreeing to tell the truth. "Oh, I swear." She said.

Mr. Kwon walked up to Jae-hwa, much how Mr. Lee had done when Taehyung testified. "In your own words, please tell the court the incident that caused the reasoning behind Taehyung's insanity."

Jae-hwa's eyes widened, "What? Oh... It was horrible, do I have to tell everyone?"

"Yes, you d--." The judge had started, but already Jae-hwa was continuing.

"I remember it as if it was written in m mind, that day. Taehyung hadn't been at the house for a while, Father had sent him out to get a case of beer." Jae-hwa said, looking to the ceiling as if trying to recall it.

She wasn't wrong, that was what he was doing, Taehyung remembered it too, Appa had sent him out, throwing a handful of money at him and saying 'there is never any goddamn beer in this f*cking house!' Taehyung wasn't going to get him beer, partly because he'd thrown a few bottles Taehyung's way, so he just wandered around for a while, waiting for him to calm down.

"I'm not sure what he was doing, maybe playing with his imaginary friends--he had a lot of those, but when he came back, he had no case of beer, and he was incredibly angry, the look in his eyes was venomous, and he kept yelling at Father, saying someone told him that drinking was bad and steals your soul or something."

I never did that, I never said that, that's not what happened! You're lying!

"Father was fairly sober, so he tried to calm Taehyung down, he was only adopted, but we loved him like he'd been there forever, even with his problems." Jae-hwa sighed. "Then I saw that Taehyung had a bottle, I don't know where he got it, maybe he'd used the money father had given him to buy it and drank it, but he was in such a rage, he took the bottle, and he smashed it over Father's head, and then... with what was left of the jagged edge of the bottle, he was--." Jae-hwa blinked and few tears came out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks. "He was stabbing him, over and over until the room was a bloody mess, and I...I couldn't take it, when the police came, I told them he was crazy, he needed help, I--." Jae-hwa sobbed, her hands going up to her face as her shoulders shook.

Taehyung had never been so angry. This lie that Jae-hwa was telling was nearly believable because everyone else only knew the base facts. It's not what happened, that's not how it happened, that's not it, that's...

"Miss Yu Jae-hwa?" Mr. Lee called, only glancing up at her.

"Yes, sir?" she asked, her voice sickeningly sweet.

"How long would you say Taehyung was stabbing your father?"

"Hmm... really only a minute." Jae-hwa said, pouting as she thought. "It could have been longer, it just all seemed to happen so fast."

"Mmmm..." Mr. Lee hummed. "I just have a problem." He said, then grabbed a file that was sitting on the table. "It's the issue with the police--."

"What's the issue? Mr. Lee, I saw the whole thing, are you going to say I had the police working for me? That they weren't real police?" Jae-hwa interrupted. "It's already ridiculous that My ex boyfriend seems to think I wanted him to bully poor Taehyung."

I could strangle her. Looking over at Yoongi, Taehyung could see his hands in fists, shaking from anger. Because everyone's going to believe her.

Mr. Lee laughed. "No, no, nothing that crazy. I meant only, if the stabbing only lasted a minute, when did you call the police?"

Jae-hwa smiled. "After he hit father over the head with a bottle."

"Then I still have a problem." Mr. Lee said, clearing his throat. "Even if you called at that time, it says here you called 119 and told the operator, 'My father is dead, I don't know what to do, send help right away.' and then proceeded to tell them your address, how did you know your father was dead? At the time of the call, it was only after he'd hit him with the bottle, he wouldn't have been dead yet."

Jae-hwa paused for a moment, "By the time they picked up, he was stabbing him."

Mr. Lee frowned, "Then I have more problems." He took out when looked like tape recorder and set it on the table. "One being, why did you call just the police, but not an ambulance? And further, why didn't you just call 119? You would have gotten both with one call, but you called a longer, complicated number and got the police, why?"

"I was scared, I don't know, I wasn't thinking straight, I was flustered."

Mr. Lee smiled. "I figured you would say that." He gestured at the tape recorder. "I have this little trinket, they record all 119 calls, you know? I have yours right here, if the court wouldn't mind? Your Honor?"

The judge was leaning on the edge of her podium, looking down at Jae-hwa, a frown on her face until Mr. Lee addressed her. "Yes, yes, of course, we're all curious."

Mr. Lee pressed play, and the recording played,

"Seoul Police department."

"My father is dead, I don't know what to do, send help right away, it's an emergency, we live at--"

Taehyung frowned, she sounds so calm, everything is so quiet, she's got a rush to her voice, she's saying it quick, but otherwise, she doesn't sound panicked.

"Did you hear that?" Mr. Lee asked after clicking the recorder off.

"Hear what, Mr. Lee?" Jae-hwa said, smiling 'sweetly'.

Mr. Lee smiled right back. In all likelihood, he knew about Jae-hwa, what she had done to his daughter, he already didn't like her. "It's what I don't hear. You don't sound nearly as scared and not thinking straight as you said, and listen closely--" He played the recording again, and the whole court was quiet, listening. Taehyung couldn't understand what he was listening for. "It's what you don't hear." Mr. Lee continued, speaking slowly. "The police told me this morning when they got there you were screaming and crying, Jae-hwa. But the stabbing only lasted a minute, the police arrived right after, and I hear nothing except you on this recording, it's absolutely quiet on this recording in the background, tell me how any of that is possible if you called when you said you called?"

The court was filled with murmuring and gasps in less then a second, and the judge banged her gavel several times, to no avail, the court was in uproar, and Taehyung couldn't blame them. He didn't quite understand, but he couldn't blame them.

Jimin leaned over toward Taehyung, "Do you know what it is that you know now, Taehyung?"

The sirens, I shouldn't have heard them while I was...It should have been quiet, I should have had to sit there or longer before the police showed up. Jae-hwa hadn't called the police when I was there, she couldn't have. She must have called...

When the court finally calmed down, Mr. Lee continued. "I don't think you called then, Jae-hwa, you couldn't have called after, so you must have called before, but then how did you know? Your father was alive then, wasn't he?"

Jae-hwa looked across the courtroom to Mr. Kwon, trying to read his expression, but he literally had his head in his hands, not even looking. "I...I don't know..."

Taehyung had never heard Jae-hwa so unsure. She was usually always sure of what to say, she was never dumbstruck, she always had an insult on her tongue, always had something sassy and rude to say, always a lie to tell.

"You don't know if your father was dead?" Mr. Lee pressed.

"No, I--."

"But you knew he was going to die?"

"No! I Just--."

"How would you know Taehyung would even come back at that time?"

"I didn't! I just--."

"Then you knew your father would die whether he came back at that time or not?"

"Stop!"

"So Taehyung was just convenient then?"

"Stop it!!"

Mr. Lee turned to face the rest of the court, ignoring Jae-hwa, "I believe that Min Yoongi already demonstrated how easy it is to get Taehyung to do something if he thinks he's protecting someone he cares about, and at the time, he cared about you, what if he thought you were being hurt?"

"That's not what--!!"

"And made him kill your father for you, almost subconsciously, you wouldn't have to get your hands dirty, and all the money would go to you, I did my research, your grandmother had left your father money to get out of his debts, and he was blowing it on drinks and drugs, you wanted to go to college, you wanted to have a life, you barely had any food in the house, you had holes in your clothes. You were poor as dirt, while your father was rolling in money that he spent on escaping reality, you had no--."

Jae-hwa stood up, "He wasn't doing f*cking anything with it! Taehyung was taking too damn long to get one damn case of beer!! Appa found out I had all those pills, he got angry, What the hell else could I do?!"

The court was silent. Jae-hwa had lost her cool, and it looked like she hadn't even noticed until she saw how silent the court had gotten. Was that it? You wanted to kill him for the money? Make it look like an accident, but you'd called the police already, I didn't get the beer, you had nothing to drug. That was why?

"I'd take that as a confession." Mr. Lee said quietly, his mood somber.

Jae-hwa, I feel sorry for you, that you would want to kill your own father for money, that was all that mattered, and you let everything get too big for you to handle. You b*tch.

~~~

The court took a 30 minute break so the jury could make a decision, then everyone came back, everyone nervous and flustered and excited all at once.

Taehyung was shaking, he wasn't sure what anyone would say, he wasn't sure what the public would rule him as, he was scared of having to go to jail, or back to a mental hospital, or anywhere. I just want to stay with Mrs. Park, I just want to have a family, please, it's all I want, please, don't make me be alone again, please...

Hana had been holding on tight to Taehyung's hand, but Jungkook suddenly grabbed Taehyung's other hand when the Jury started filing out of the back room along with the judge, they all stood, and when the judge and the jury took their seats they all sat back down.

There was one man with a piece of paper who didn't sit down, and after a moment of silence, he cleared his throat.

"In light of everything," he started, reading the paper, "And after much deliberation, the jury has come to the nearly unanimous decision that Kim Taehyung is completely sane, and innocent of any purposeful crime."

"And the court rules in favor of the prosecution." The judge said, a smile on her face for the first time the whole day.

It took a moment for it to even set in what they had said, what it meant, and when it did, Taehyung cried, his eyes shutting tight as he started sobbing, his body shaking from the tears, though both Jungkook and Hana pulled him up to stand both jumping up and down and singing a congratulations along with Jimin and Kyung-mi and Jin and Mrs. Lee.

He was happy, but he was so happy he couldn't stop crying, so happy he couldn't believe it was real. But it has to be real, everything leading up to this was real, I'm not crazy, now everyone can believe me, I'm not crazy.

They started making their way out of the courtroom, helping Taehyung walk out not only because he still felt weak but also because he wasn't even looking where he was going with all the tears coming out of his eyes.

"We did it, Tae! Stop crying, bro, aren't you happy?" Jimin asked.

Taehyung nodded. "Y-yes, I'm v-very h-happy, I--." Taehyung was interrupted by his own crying, the feeling so overwhelming that it made him cry harder. "H-how did...But I k-killed him-- I... shouldn't I be guilty? Sh-shouldn't I be...?"

"Jury trial, Taehyung, it's the like the law, but with common human sense with it, to the general public, you only tried to protect someone." Jin said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Not guilty."

"V-Hyung you can stay with all of us forever, isn't it great?" Jungkook said.

Taehyung just nodded, he nodded at everything they said, he couldn't even respond any other way. Everyone hugged him tight, everyone was so happy, and he was a crying mess.

"Let's go out and get a cake, okay? we'll celebrate like never before, alright? I told you I wouldn't let you go without a fight, Taehyung, it's okay now, Sweetheart." Mrs. Park said, dabbing at his tears with a tissue. "It's all better now, okay?" By now they were about to get on the elevator, and Taehyung still couldn't stop crying.

He didn't even sort of begin to calm down until they got to the parking lot, and they were about to get in the car. And after Jungkook and Jimin got in the backseat of the car, Hana turned Taehyung toward her, sort of pushing him against the trunk of the car and pulled him toward her and kissed him.

It took until then for the actual happiness to set in, and he smiled into the kiss. It's over, I'm not crazy, no more pills, no more white room, no more straight-jacket. Nothing went wrong, I don't have to be afraid anymore, Dr. Park can't hurt me, none of his doctors or nurses or anyone. I'm free, I can stay, no more running, no more hiding. When Hana backed out of the kiss he giggled, and Hana smiled really big.

"I love you, Hana-ssi, I won't go anywhere ever again, ok?" Taehyung said, giving her a tickle around her rib cage.

Hana nodded, grinning big. Then mouthed, "I love you more." Before hugging him tight.

"Come on, Tae!" Jimin said, leaning out of the car door, "Let's go get cake, you can kiss Hana all you want when we get there!"

Hana giggled, obviously having caught that whole sentence, then waved to Taehyung and went over to her mom's car in the parking lot.

It was hard to believe. It was going to feel weird for days, I'm just a regular person, no one thinks I'm crazy, no one's trying to put me in a hospital. He felt so suddenly free, he didn't know what to do with it, it felt alien, like he was walking on another planet, like the world was different when he knew it was just the outlook on life that had changed.

When Taehyung sat in the backseat of the car with Jimin and Jungkook, he sighed and tilted his head back. All the pain I've been through, it's over, it's just a memory.

"It's official now, you know?" Jimin started, a big grin on his face, poking Taehyung. "we can redecorate your room, clean it up a little, get you a few more personal things, a cellphone for one, I swear to God. Anything that you like, you can have a sound system, a house-key, maybe your drivers license, do you already have one?"

Taehyung smiled, his eyes closed as he leaned back in the seat. Jimin thought this out. As Depressed as he'd been with his father, he seems so happy now, so much like himself, I missed this Jimin, I missed my family.

"Jimin, don't overload him, my heart's still pounding from the verdict..." Jungkook interrupted.

Jimin seemed to think for a moment, before playfully punching Taehyung's shoulder, "But we're celebrating, right? Tae can officially be my brother now, he won't have to back, he can have those three million babies with Hana."Jimin grinned, and the smile brought a new sense of happiness to the room. Your father didn't ruin you, I'm so glad... I'm so glad.... "Well, what flavor of cake do you like, or do I even have to ask?"

Taehyung chuckled, the sound deep in his throat. "Strawberry."

"You seriously need a less girly favorite flavor." Jimin said, then paused for a second. "Tae? Taehyung? Kim Taehyung?"

"What's wrong, Jimin?" Kyung-mi asked from the front passenger seat, Mrs. Park was just giggling, having seen everything from the rear-view mirror.

Jimin held a finger up to his lips. "He fell asleep."

And Taehyung had, he could faintly still hear what was going on, but he couldn't convince himself to open eyes, for the first time in months, he felt content sleeping, not afraid of the dreams, not afraid of anything, just suddenly realizing how tired all that had made him.

"We should just let him sleep." Jungkook said with a chuckle, "He needs rest."

Taehyung heard Jimin shush Jungkook, probably making hand gestures for him to be quiet.

It was funny, after all the hell, all the empty abyss, after the tears, the blood--he'd gotten what he'd wanted, Someone to love me, friends, a family--I just couldn't see how long I had it until I lost it and had to get it back. I can't ever ask for more, this is all I ever wanted, and this is all I need.

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A/N:

Apparently when I say a "couple hours" I mean 24 hours >~> I fell asleep while editing yesterday, sorry ;-;

~Neri~