When Sunye entered the small courtroom, she found the Defense team and Hyun already seated at their spots. They were whispering something when they noticed Sunye entering. The Defense lawyer was Bae Senjun, one of the most prominent lawyers in the field. He was in his late forties and had an almost unbeatable track record just like Sunye.

Bae stood up to greet his opposition.

​​

"Good morning, Ms. Han," he said politely, holding out his hand for her to shake. Sunye greeted him back, shaking his hand. Unlike people's perception, lawyers were not the mortal enemies of one another. Sunye might be fighting with the defense team at court but outside, she was friendly with many of them. She had not fought with Bae at court till that day because he only handled political cases, but she knew him well. Her mentor, Yang, was his frequent opposition but the men shared a warm relationship.

"Best of luck," he wished her.

"Same to you," she replied. Both the lawyers took their seats and waited patiently for the judge to arrive. Hyun was giving her a dirty scowl but Sunye ignored him.

The plaintiff came forward and declared, "All rise for the Judge."

Everyone stood up as Judge Jeon entered the courtroom. He was now quite old and even had a bad leg but he did not retire from his duties. The man was a stickler for work, claiming that he would continue even if he lost all his limbs. After her first case, Sunye had the opportunity to talk to him on various occasions. Contrary to his strict persona at court, he was actually quite helpful and even gave her tips on how to understand a criminal's mindset.

But at court he did not give any indication of knowing her and she, too, remained impassive.

Jeon took his seat. The lawyers and the defendant also took their seats.

"The court is now in session," the Judge announced. "The Defense will give their opening statement."

Bae stood up to address the court.

"Your honor," he began. "My client, the former Finance Minister, Mr. Shin Hyun, has dedicated a lifetime of service to this country. Ever since the civil war, he has been tirelessly putting efforts to make this country a better place. However, on the night of 16th March 20XX, he had been arrested by the police on charges of solicitation to murder of Doctor Lim Byungsoo and drug solicitation."

The judge made notes in his journal while Sunye listened intently to the Defense lawyer.

"Upon searching the ship, no drugs were found," Bae went on. "Where were the so-called drugs? Who had them? The Yakuza with whom my client had been accused of collaborating? Or the so-called fictitious Company which is nowhere found? Did those drugs evaporate in thin air?"

"But the truth is that those drugs never existed. My client never had them. Moreover, the charges of murder put on him are also unfounded. Lim Byungsoo was a disgraced doctor who committed suicide in prison. There is no indication whatsoever that it was a foul play. It was merely police negligence for allowing the prisoner to possess a knife in prison. Even the coroner's report stated that it was a suicide and since there is no suicide letter, we cannot blame my client for it simply because they had a few trysts!"

"That is all, your honor."

Bae sat down while Hyun looked a little hopeful. The Judge noted a few of the arguments before addressing the court again.

"The Prosecution team may present its statement," he said.

Sunye stood up, straight and impassive. She stepped into the middle to present her arguments.

"Your honor," she addressed. "On the night of 16 March 20XX, a certain tape was played at that party. The tape was found in Dr. Byungsoo's locker where it was shown that the accused and the victim's relationship was not a mere tryst. They had been lovers for a long time, perhaps for years. The victim was seen in an intimate position with the accused and the latter spoked about siphoning money from the victim's wealthy patients. Under the influence of his lover, the victim did exactly as he was told by slowly killing those patients with the wrong medication and took charge of their wills."

"These are the reports where it's clearly stated that the victims were wrongly diagnosed," she said, handing over the copies of the reports to the plaintiff. "Along with the victim's confession which he had signed himself."

The Judge took the papers from the plaintiff and examined the papers.

"The victim has clearly admitted to the crimes he had been charged with," Sunye said loudly. "This collaborates with what he said on the video, proving that the accused was at least aware of what his lover was doing. Furthermore, the victim had transferred the money to offshore accounts which in turn sent that money to Hyun's account in the country. Hyun used that money to buy the drugs from other countries and then sold them to the Yakuza and consequently to the Company at the same time."

She presented the copies of the money transactions.

"All the transactions were done through anonymous offshore accounts," she stated. "These were the payments by the dealers who wanted to get their hands on the drugs. The routes are controlled by two powers. One is the Yakuza and the other is the Company. The route which the cruise had taken that night fell on the Yakuza territory. The drugs were taken by the Yakuza after they suspected that the accused might double cross them. That is all, your honor."

She took her seat while the Judge deliberated over the papers she had submitted. He did not make any comment but ordered the defense to present their argument.

"Your honor," Bae began. "The accounts from which my client has been receiving money were for relief funds. The transactions were not made directly but rather through INGO's who were funding the impoverished people in our country."

He took out a file and submitted it to the Judge and also handed one copy to Sunye. She flipped through the papers, trying to hide her frown.

What's this? She thought as she read the documents. The documents stated that the transactions were made to several NGO's who transferred the money to the account of the Finance Minister. But this information was not given to her!

"We received this information after the NGO's contacted us and showed us their accounts," Bae went on. "It took them some time but I managed to submit the evidence to the court with due procedure. So the evidence is very much established in this case, albeit a bit late."

Judge Jeon frowned as he went through the papers. "Was the Prosecution aware of this evidence?" he demanded.

"No sir," Sunye replied. "The Prosecution was not aware of this piece of information."

"Do you need time to analyze and refute this information?" he asked.

Sunye thought quickly. If she took too much time, the case could flip against her. But she did need some time to read the papers and make her argument against it…

"The Prosecution would like to request for an hour to deliberate over the new documents," she said. Judge Jeon nodded.

"The court will take an hour's break," he announced. "We will commence at 11 AM."

The lawyers bowed as he left the room. From the corner of her eye, Sunye caught Hyun's eyes which were leering at her.

What are you gonna do, little pet? He mouthed.