Chapter Text
“yesterday i was in a really good mood
i carved your name on the planet i passed by
after a while when the stars come
that star shines the brightest.”
part iv.
it is said that stars shine brighter as they get older.
so here you are, shining much brighter today than how you did yesterday.
joonhwi, after what seemed to be an eternity for him, finally had the chance to file a week off work. he recognized the fact that if he’s not going to give himself a break, he’ll literally go insane anytime soon because of the overwhelming amount of work he has to deal with. funny though that even if he’s currently inside his house, supposedly resting, his system still craves the taste of law from time to time. that’s why, here he is, opening his file cabinet and scanning some legal documents to keep his mind going.
days ago, sol was reciting her arguments out loud in preparation for an upcoming trial. joonhwi has extra time in his hands so he offered to lend a hand by practising those with her. just like the old days, joonhwi served as the prosecutor to oppose sol who served as the defense counsel. joonhwi, despite sol’s grunts and whines every time he did it, kept on pointing out what was lacking in her arguments, especially those he thought the prosecutor-in-charge would also point out in the actual trial. sol still accepted them, of course, because at the end of the day she knew joonhwi was doing it for her sake.
joonhwi would never in his life deny how seasoned a lawyer kang sol is, especially at the present time. he has always seen sol as one with a fit “legal mind” (as they say it). but, as someone who has been with her from the start of their journey in this field, her drastic improvement never fails to amaze him. sol never lost her heart in dealing with her cases. she just became more assertive and straightforward with what she thinks is right, and became more able to manage her emotions better than before, preventing them from taking over her.
.
preparing for the trial the next day, sol’s face was again glued to her laptop. trying to review all the documents she already finished reviewing hours ago, she couldn’t help but be keen on every single detail to avoid anything to be taken against her. it was already past dinner time but sol was still working hard and joonhwi was just watching her from behind his desk.
when she went out of the work room to prepare some night snacks for them, joonhwi wanted to look at the legal documents she was working on. so, he went to her desk and looked over to her laptop. joonhwi saw something . fortunately, he was able to compose himself well enough before sol returned. joonhwi took a mental note of what he saw, went back to his desk and used his phone as if nothing happened.
-
it is now the day of sol’s trial. sol is slightly disappointed and worried because joonhwi didn’t get up from their bed in the morning to cheer for her. unlike the usual morning hugs and kisses to give her the motivation she needs for a draining day ahead, joonhwi just sent a soft “fighting!” to her without even opening his eyes, and went back to slumber. ah, he must be very tired. it’s his week off anyway. i’ll just let him be.
pouty, sol drives by herself towards the court while motivating herself instead. let’s achieve justice again today, sol! let’s do this!
joonhwi was actually wide awake when kang sol left. he sits up and gets his phone to message the law schoolz in the secret group chat a.k.a. their newly-made groupchat without sol in it.
***
~ l_w schoolz ~
joonhwi : hey, guys. don’t forget today, okay? <-
-> jiho : *thumbs up*
-> sol (b) : *thumbs up*
joonhwi : woah these two, as always. tsk tsk ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ (laughing) <-
-> yeseul : yes, oppa! i have some clients to meet today but i’ll make sure to get there as soon as i can! excited to see you two! <33
joonhwi : alright, yeseul-ah. fighting! <-
-> yeseul : thank you, oppa! fighting!
-> bokgi : noona, i’m excited to see you two hihi~ *blushing emoji*
-> yebeom : ya, bokgi-ya! yeseul-noona was talking about joonhwi-hyung and sol a-noona, not you! and it’s “too”, not “two”! min bokgi 바보 (stupid/fool)~~
joonhwi : ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ (laughing) <-
-> bokgi : ah, 미안 미안 (sorry sorry). anyway, of course, joonhwi-hyung! don’t worry, i will also be there as soon as i can!
joonhwi : okay, bokgi. ;) <-
joonhwi : you, yebeom? <-
-> yebeom : i will be there, hyung! i hope my boss releases me on-time today, though.
joonhwi : oh okay, i hope so too! <-
joonhwi : thanks, everyone. i hope seungjae-hyung will be able to attend too. <-
joonhwi : see you later! :) <-
***
smiling, joonhwi realizes how much he himself misses these people. these people who, aside from his kang sol, stayed with him for the past few years. even after graduating law school, they still lived up to their promise to catch up as much as they can. though busy, it’s very heartwarming to see how they developed themselves into better people and their relationships with each other into healthier, more mature relationships without losing their identities—the identities that kept them together for long in the first place.
joonhwi quickly stands up to get ready for he is about to go somewhere important .
-
for some reason, joonhwi chooses to take the bus. he rarely takes the bus nowadays because he usually uses his car for work. looking at the buildings and the busy streets that are still very familiar to him, his mind can’t help but look back to the times he took the same bus. sometimes, alone, but most of the time with kang sol. he remembers the afternoons when they had to run errands, mostly for the legal clinic they volunteered in. the late nights when they went to sol’s house to accompany byeol and her mother. the dawns when they had little to no sleep in their system but they still had their spirits up to start another day. the way they started taking separate seats but eventually sat together on one side (even though the bus was like, half empty). the times when sol leaned on him to sleep a wink, which he didn’t mind at all . his mind can’t help but look back to their journeys together in the past and reflect on how far they have gone.
.
getting out of the bus and going towards the building he sees at the very least once a month, joonhwi feels his phone vibrate because of a message. it’s from seungjae, apologizing for the late reply because of his then-crying baby and assuring him that he’ll be joining the seven of them later that day. joonhwi smiles as soon as he reads the message and replies instantly. thank goodness, we’re complete.
“ah, i need to wind down a bit.” , he thinks to himself as he stretches his torso a bit while entering the courtroom he remembers sol mentioning the night before.
sneaking in with a cap, a pair of thin-framed eyeglasses, and a mask (as to not be recognized by his wife), joonhwi is halted by the security guard because of his seemingly suspicious appearance. so, he gets his prosecutor's ID from his coat’s pocket, quickly removes his face mask to let the guard see his face, and finally gets into the courtroom upon the said man’s approval.
joonhwi quietly sits down at the back row and his eyes are immediately drawn towards the person currently speaking.
stars shine the brightest when the skies are the darkest, they said.
so there she is, kang sol, shining in the midst of the dim aura of the law courtroom.
joonhwi knows that the defendant, the person sol is currently defending, is an innocent highschool girl. the girl retaliated with a slap on the victim's face because the “victim” had a lighter lit up near her uniform with the clear intention of setting it on fire. even though there is already enough proof with the CCTV footage alone with what actually transpired, she was still being sent by the prosecution side to jail because the victim’s parents are the owners of the school and are powerful in the district. not to mention that the “victim” already has a negative background but gets away with it because of the said ‘family connections’.
knowing how close this case is to kang sol, being a victim of injustice herself, joonhwi feels very proud of her for standing up for the girl so as to not let her experience the same thing she experienced more than a decade ago. it is for the girl to be assured that the law is not serving just the ‘higher-ups’, but everyone including her. for the girl to see how justice works if people act on it properly. and lastly, for the girl to know that the law itself may be unjust, but there are people like kang sol who strive to bring only justice and truth to people.
kang sol requested a jury trial for this case. learning from what professor yang did for yeseul’s trial and seeing the possibility for the judges’ decision to be manipulated by the victim’s parents’ connections, kang sol did what she thought will help her prove the poor girl’s innocence.
as of the moment, sol is talking to the jurors as the defense counsel to convince them of the girl’s innocence. she approaches them and talks to them with an easygoing yet serious aura. her overall stance exudes confidence, and confidence alone. her voice, ah, her voice. the sound of her voice, filled with conviction and certainty, resounded loudly in the courtroom. compared to the slightly nervous and shaking voice she typically used in law school, the voice she uses now guarantees the people who hear it that the woman clearly knows what she is talking about.
.
now finishing her concluding statement, sol sits down beside the obviously nervous and apprehensive girl sitting on the defendant’s chair. joonhwi notices how sol slowly approaches the younger to comfort her by holding the latter’s trembling hands. the prosecution side doesn’t have any rebuttals to say which joonhwi already expected (because from the very start, he already knew they were wrong ) so it is time for the jurors to reach a verdict.
while waiting for the jurors’ decision, joonhwi just looks towards sol’s direction. he sees her empathetic eyes looking straightly to the defendant, assuming that sol is currently assuring the latter that everything’s going to be alright.
in less than ten minutes, the jurors are already returning back to the courtroom. a quick verdict , joonhwi thinks to himself, hoping that their decision is in favor of the highschooler. after the announcement that the jury unanimously decided to side with the defendant’s side, the feeling on joonhwi’s chest lightened, especially when he observed the satisfaction and relief on sol's and the highschooler’s face. joonhwi also observed the reactions of the people watching the trial and was happy to see how relieved they were with the jurors’ decision.
later on, the judges reached the final verdict. the judges recognized it as self-defense following article 21 of the criminal act and recognized the defendant as not guilty. upon the announcement, joonhwi was about to exclaim in happiness but tried to silence himself as much as possible (because obviously he doesn’t want the prosecutor-in-charge a.k.a. his colleague and the woman he is hiding from, to hear him).
.
done making sure that the student goes home safely with her parents who watched the trial, sol is fixing all the documents on her desk and places them into her briefcase.
currently an empty room, joonhwi goes across the courtroom and silently leans his back on the witness stand.
“i witnessed pure excellence, your honor. i was indeed impressed.”, joonhwi jokes, making sol look up to the person who is currently removing his face mask, his eyeglasses, and the cap off his head.
“congratulations, atty. kang. you did great.” , his tone soft and gentle, and his eyes sparkling with pride of the woman in front of him.
“han joonhwi?! oh my gosh, you were here?!”, sol excitedly asks as she quickly approaches joonhwi to embrace him.
“woah, woah, calm down, darling. i’m not going anywhere.”, joonhwi says as he moves his head back while smiling, fixing the woman’s slightly disheveled hair. “yes, i was here. i was able to watch since the time when you first talked to the jury.”
“that early? why didn’t you tell me this morning you’ll come, or even just approach me during the ten-minute break?”, kang sol asks with pouty lips, to which joonhwi chuckles at.
“i wanted to surprise you”, joonhwi responds with a soft laugh in the end. “come on, finish fixing your things. i want to take you somewhere.”
“oh? ‘somewhere’? where?” , sol asks, with her eyebrows raised in confusion.
“shh, don’t ask anymore, i won’t tell you anyway. ah, and also, i took the bus earlier to come here so i don’t have my car with me. i’ll drive your car later. for now, just focus on your things so we can go.” , joonhwi says as he gently pushes her back towards the defense counsel’s desk.
“oh, okay...give me ten.”
“five.”
“okay, five. why are you so impatient, prosecutor han?” , sol snickers.
joonhwi laughs out loud as he sat down on the witness’s chair. “no, i’m just joking. you have all the time in the world, love.” , lovingly looking at the woman now rushing to finish as soon as she can.
-
in the car, sol recognizes the streets and the buildings as they drive along. she notices the new skyscrapers and the streets now busier than before but the feeling, the nostalgic feeling she feels while going along these familiar streets is still there.
“joonhwi-ah, why are we here?”, sol asks while looking outside the window.
“shh, i told you not to ask anymore. you’ll know later.”, joonhwi responds with eyes focused on the road, trying his best not to look too long towards the woman beside him.
.
as they get out of the car while carefully observing their surroundings, all of their mixed feelings are encapsulated by their sighs. not the usual ‘ i’m so tired’ sigh, but the ‘ woah, i miss this so much’ sigh. with their hands entangled together (which is atypical for them because they didn’t do that in school before), they walked towards the entrance of the law school’s campus.
it is already late in the afternoon so instead of the classrooms, they see the students in the library, all heads down, just like how they were before (well, at least for sol). they walked leisurely along the hallways—the very same hallways where they talked and bonded or where they ran along when they were late for class, the very same hallways where sol ran along the day joonhwi confessed to her, and the very same hallways they last met each other as students on the day of their graduation.
the lady justice is, of course, still there standing tall in the middle of the ground floor. they stared at it the same way they did before when they had moments of doubt if they were really for law, when they had dilemmas to face, or when they just wanted to feel the comfort of looking at the statue in front of them.
“oh, the lovebirds are here?”, an enthusiastic voice can be heard from afar, causing the two to move their heads towards it. it’s professor kim, now the dean of hankuk law school. the two release their hands and bow in respect to the woman in front of them. the latter smiles in return.
“what brings you here? i saw—”, professor kim asks but abruptly stops when she noticed joonhwi’s subtle yet noticeable please-don’t-ask-it-is-a-surprise stares.
“i don’t have an idea, profes—ah, dean kim. this man right here,”, she points to joonhwi, “suddenly dragged me here… not that i mind, though! i am always more than willing to come and visit here.”, sol responds with a seemingly defensive tone to which prof. kim just chuckles. hmm her behavior didn’t change at all, i see, prof. kim thinks to herself.
“of course, you don’t. why would you, knowing that you’re on my speed dial?”, an overly familiar, crystal clear and deep voice is heard from across the hallway. it’s professor yang’s voice, the very voice that made sol and even joonhwi shake a little every time they heard it back in law school.
the two bowed to the man, which the latter just nodded in return. after a little chit-chat with their former professors, with yangcrates reminding them to stay in contact for cases he wants them to work on, the two respectfully excuse themselves to go to their destination (which sol didn’t know just yet).
.
a few minutes passed and they’re now in the school field. to sol’s surprise, her eyes quickly see the tiny yet easily recognizable silhouettes of the ones sitting on the bleachers. she squints her eyes as an attempt to see them clearer (which didn’t work, by the way) and as they walk closer to the people waiting for them, she immediately runs towards them. she hurries to embrace her best friend yeseul, to high-five bokgi and yebeom, to nod her head towards ji-ho, and to approach the other kang sol for a hug (which the latter surprisingly accepted). she also runs towards the baby in seungjae’s arms, plays with her for a bit and sends a smile of acknowledgement to seungjae.
joonhwi, who sees all of this happen in a blink of an eye, can’t help but smile broadly. ah, sol really did miss them. nodding towards the people in front of him, he goes closer to accompany her very much enthusiastic wife.
“waaaa~~~ we’re complete! what’s the date today? is it anyone’s birthday? what’s the occasion? i’m so happy that we’re together! i missed you all! oh gosh, i don’t wanna cry.”, sol excitedly asks to which they just laughed at.
“unnie, joonhwi-oppa messaged us yesterday because he wanted us to meet here altogether. that’s why we’re here! and yes, i missed you too!” , yeseul responds as she approaches sol for another hug.
“noona, that’s right! hyung just invited us all of a sudden in the middle of the night to come here and gather all together!”, bokgi exclaims while smiling towards joonhwi. joonhwi, a little shy, just held his head down.
“oh, really?”, sol responds, shooting playful let’s-talk-later stares at joonhwi.
“yes, really. his message woke me up last night.”, jiho straightforwardly says.
“me too.”, sol (b) responds.
“eh? at the same time? were you guys together last night?”, yebeom calls out all of a sudden.
they both turn their heads to look at each other with their usual cold faces on, sigh at the same time, then turn their heads back to look straight and ignore all the questions being thrown at them. ji-ho chooses to stay quiet and so does sol (b).
as the teasing towards ji-ho and sol (b) continues, sol shoots questioning stares at joonhwi to know what these are all about. joonhwi just stares back shyly at sol, shrugs his shoulders and mouths a mischievous “i don’t know”. everything was getting noisy and chaotic but when yebeom’s stomach growls loudly, everyone just laughs and decides to eat the food that has been sitting there for too long.
.
while admiring the setting of the sun, they finished their food and catched up with each others’ lives. ji-ho is working as a prosecutor in the same office where joonhwi works. sol (b) is currently studying to be a judge, not because her mother wants to, but because she herself wants to be the one to mediate and decide what goes on in trials. yeseul is working as a human rights lawyer focused on victims of domestic abuse. bokgi is also working as a human rights lawyer like yeseul and helps as an assistant advisor in hankuk law school’s legal clinic. yebeom is working as a police prosecutor in a local police station. lastly, seungjae chose to continue working as an ob-gyn and works sometimes for legal cases as a forensics examiner.
.
unfortunately, seungjae had to go home quickly to take care of his now-tired daughter in his arms and his wife at home so the seven of them were left on the field.
the skies are getting darker and so are the topics they talk about. in spite of the grass being slightly damp (which sol [b] hates a lot), they are now sitting in a circle on the ground. it’s funny how they all don’t mind the dampness of the ground as long as they see each other much closer. now, they’re just casually taking turns to ask each other spicy normal, decent questions because they know too well that if they play ‘truth or dare’, they’ll all embarrass themselves so much again. besides, they all have work the next day (except joonhwi) so they chose not to go too crazy that night.
.
it’s now bokgi’s turn to ask sol (a) something.
“noona! how did you and joonhwi-hyung start your relationship? you haven’t told us the details yet. it has been years, you even got married already, but you still haven’t told us.”
a little drunk, sol’s noticeably louder than usual and slurs her speech a little sometimes. nevertheless, she still tries to answer the question.
“ah, bokgi-ah!” , sol starts, “i honestly can’t remember exactly when or how i first felt it. all i know is that with all that he said and did for me these past i-don’t-know-already years, i felt it. it felt like…” , sol furrows her brows and groans, “what is it? ya, joonhwi-ya! what is it?” , sol exclaims and joonhwi (who is fully sober because he’ll drive later, as usual) just softly laughs beside her.
“love”, two people whispered simultaneously. because the voices were soft and the environment around them was already dark, no one saw who spoke among them so no one knew who they were. no one did mind, though, and all of the focus stayed on sol, who’s like a perfect personification of a drunk mess right now, anyway.
“love! there! all of that felt like love. even our bickering, our teasing, everything! joonhwi’s existence in my life itself felt like love. so after a lot of self-reflection, lots and lots of self-questioning and self-doubting, i decided to tell him how i felt. but who knew he would confess to me first? right, joonhwi-ah?”
“yeah, right. i confessed to you first because you felt like love too. and now, here we are.” , joonhwi sweetly responds, causing the intoxicated sol smile broadly.
the rest of the group playfully cringed at that to tease him (even though they genuinely knew how whipped joonhwi was for sol [a] from the very start).
“but,”, joonhwi continues, ”i also feel that you’re about to be very wasted now, attorney kang. so, before you get even more drunk, let’s go home.”
the rest of the group now laughs in return (even jiho and sol b, who tried to stifle their laughter) because this scenario of joonhwi taking a drunk sol (a) home isn’t new to them anymore. they’ve been like that ever since and the group can’t help but feel the nostalgia while being sincerely happy for the two of them.
when joonhwi holds on to sol (a) and makes the now-drunkenly-whining woman stand, he sees the nodding of the people sitting on the ground, understanding of the situation.
“thank you, everyone, for today. being here together made not only her but also me very very happy today. i had lots of fun with you, guys. let’s catch up again soon, okay?”
“okay, hyung. see you next week in the office.”, jiho responds while habitually fixing eyeglasses.
“drive safely.” , sol (b) also responds, standing up to clean her now-slightly-dirty pair of slacks, also preparing to go home.
“hyung, just message us. we’ll try our best to respond to you asap.” , yebeom replies.
“stay safe, joonhwi-hyung! oh, and please forward my thanks to sol a-noona when she wakes up!” , bokgi sweetly responds, just like he always did before, being the sweet person that he is.
“unnie, sleep well!”, yeseul jokes, causing sol to move in joonhwi’s arms a little. “thank you for today too, oppa! take care of unnie, okay?” , yeseul responds as sweetly as bokgi did, if not more, showing her genuine concern towards her best friend and the brother figure that has been with her all the way.
.
now in the car, joonhwi carefully makes sol sit on the passenger’s seat. after a few moments of joonhwi just staring at her face in deep, drunken slumber, he puts the seat belt across her torso, and goes to the other side of the car to drive. as he drives home, carefully as to not make sol feel worse or anything, he smiles to himself as he recalls what originally caused all this and feels not even a single hint of regret in his chest.
-
[bonus: the night before]
joonhwi checked sol’s laptop when she was out of the work room for night snacks. instead of the usual word document or a legal website page, joonhwi saw a different page, similar to a diary entry page, flashed on her laptop’s screen. apparently, sol keeps a note of her, if not daily, almost-daily sentiments by typing them down.
joonhwi didn’t bother to open the other ones but the currently opened one is her latest entry. joonhwi quickly read its content, went back to his desk when he heard sol’s footsteps, and got his phone to contact the law schoolz to meet the next day after sol’s trial.
~
dear diary or whatever i don’t even know what to call you anymore,
i am missing a lot of people, so sooo much.
first, i miss my joonhwi, my husband. even though he’s right here with me in our house and even if he never fails to make me feel his love for me everyday, especially because he makes time for me despite his packed schedule (which i indeed appreciate), i miss him. i don’t know why, i just miss him. i also miss how he watches my trials to cheer me up and also become blunt with me later on (which i really learn from a lot). lately, it has been very draining for me, especially with the recent case i am handling right now. i know he knows. i hope he’s resting well, though.*sigh* i just miss him. (i hope he watches my trial tomorrow! he helped me a lot when i was practicing my arguments for this + i just want him to see me prove that girl’s innocence. 제발~ [please~])
second, i miss my family. even though i know they’re just a call away and are currently living in seoul, i miss bonding with them. i have been too busy nowadays that i can’t visit them as frequently as i did before. as funny as this might sound, i miss bickering with my mom because i know that’s her love language. i also miss byeol a lot. that girl’s growing up so fast ㅠㅠㅠ [crying] gosh i’m being emo again... i also miss dan, my twin. she’s still in america so i cannot talk to her often. aaaa i just miss them.
last but not the least, i miss school. i miss my study buddies. i miss my best girl yeseul, my forever roommate sol (b), the ever-so-cold ji-ho, the ever-so-sweet bokgi, the ever-so-talkative yebeom, and also, seungjae-oppa (+ his wife and daughter!). i miss bonding with all of them. y’know, just catching up with them really makes me very happy, like i don’t have any stress in my body. i also miss the great prof-now-dean kim, and i can’t believe i am saying this but i also miss the mighty yangcrates. i miss being with them, especially because i learn lots and lots of things from them! they’re my role models for life!
*sighs* i just miss them all. i want to meet and be with everyone soon when work chooses to be easier on me *sighs*
overly emo right now idk why,
kang sol (a)
(i also miss the “a” in my name :< i guess i also miss sharing it with sol [b])