Legally Blond | ym

Chapter 8

"I'm literally the only person who believes him!" Jimin complains to Seokjin as he touches up Taehyung's blue hair. "Even Mr. Choi thinks he's guilty!"

"That's because some people refuse to look past the surface. Just like this one boyfriend I had-" Seokjin cut himself off as he saw the person who had been the source of his most recent wet dreams walk into his salon.

"Oh, hey Namjoon~" Jimin greets, confusion lacing his voice. "What brings you here?"

Namjoon holds out a notebook. "You left this at our last study session, and since I had to pass by here on my way to Youngseok's firm, I thought I'd drop it off." As Jimin thanks him, Namjoon glances over at Seokjin. "Hey, Seokjin, how are you?"

Seokjin giggles a bit, adding a quiet, "Fine," at the end.

"Well, I better get going." Namjoon says, heading towards the door. "Nice seeing you again, Seokjin~" Seokjin waves slightly, sighing dreamily once Namjoon is gone.

"For someone who has a lot of experience, you sure are dense."

The hairdresser glares at the law student. "What are you talking about?"

Jimin rolls his eyes. "Namjoon is so into you, and all you give him is a," Jimin mimics Seokjin's giggles and voice, "fine."

Seokjin scoffs. "He does not like me."

"He so does-ow!" Taehyung glares at Seokjin through the window, pouting through the stinging in his scalp after he had pulled his hair.

"Seokjin, Youngseok's firm is on the other side of town. There was no reason for Namjoon to be passing by here on his way there, unless he did it specifically to see you." Jimin raises his eyebrow.

"Maybe he just really wanted to give you back your notebook."

Jimin gives Seokjin a flat look before mimicking Namjoon's voice. "Nice seeing you again, Seokjin."

Seokjin sighs. "Okay, even if he does like me, it would never work. He's a super cool law student who has his shit together. I'm just an eccentric hairdresser who barely graduated high school and has had ramen for dinner every night for the past two weeks." He sighs again before continuing. "Anyway, back to this one boyfriend I had..." Jimin and Taehyung share a glance as Seokjin dives into his story.

~

"If Hoseok didn't kill him, then who did?" Namjoon asks as the legal team has once again met to discuss their case.

Jimin looks up from where he's been taking notes. "I'm guessing a student at the studio. Or maybe his sister, she was one of the people that found him and Hoseok, right? What business would she have at the dance studio that early in the morning?"

"All of the students have reported having no problems with either of their instructors, and Seohyun was meeting her brother for breakfast as they did once a month. Junho saw her exiting the café across the street right before he walked into the studio." Youngseok turns to Jeongyeon. "Can you be a dear and go get me some coffee?" Jeongyeon looks at him in confusion before doing as asked.

Jimin shrugs. "Okay, well all I know is that Hoseok didn't do it."

Youngseok gives Jimin a condescending smile. "It's so sweet that you want to believe our client is innocent, but without an alibi, we have no case."

~

"How are you?" Jimin asks Hoseok through the phone and plastic screen between them.

"I've been better." Hoseok responds with a smile. "I'm surprised to see you. Usually it's that Choi Youngseok guy coming to talk to me."

Jimin smiles and shrugs slightly. "I thought a fresh face might help a bit." Hoseok chuckles a bit, thanking Jimin with a smile as the law student bites his lip. "We really need your alibi."

Hoseok's smile drops as he shakes his head. "I can't tell you."

"I do respect your privacy, but if you don't tell us, then you're going to be convicted and you'll be stuck in here for the rest of your life." Jimin says. "Please~"

Hoseok takes a deep breath, searching Jimin's eyes for any sign of deception. "You can't tell anyone." He looks around before dropping his voice to barely above a whisper. "One of my students came to me about a week before...the incident. She was pregnant and didn't know where else to go, and since I've always made sure my students understand that they can come to me with anything, she asked me for help. I had taken her to get an abortion that morning and had just gotten back from driving her home when I found him."

"That was very kind and supportive of you." Jimin assures his fellow dancer. "But why don't you want anyone knowing that's where you were? I get that abortions are controversial, but-"

"Because I promised her that her secret was safe with me." Hoseok says. "If I tell Youngseok my alibi, he's going to have to interview her and the clinic to confirm it, and then everyone will know. Her family, her friends, basically the whole country because I know this case is all over the news. I can't do that to her, I can't break my promise."

Jimin nods in understanding. "Okay, I won't tell anyone. Thank you for trusting me with this." Jimin smiles at Hoseok.

~

Youngseok enters the conference room for that day's briefing. "Jeongyeon, go get me some coffee." He demands without even a glance towards the girl. She looks at him in disbelief for a few seconds, but as he goes on with the briefing, she stands up from the table and goes to complete his order. "We've got two interviews tomorrow, Namjoon you'll be assisting Jihoon in that. In an hour we'll be interviewing the victim's ex-girlfriend. And I have just received word that our client had a visit from his younger brother." Youngseok stops just in front of Jimin, who slowly looks up from his journal where he's taking notes. "Anything you'd like to share?"

Jimin sighs. "Yes, I went to visit Hoseok to see if I could get his alibi."

Youngseok looks at him expectantly. "Well? Did you get it?" Jimin nods happily. "Great! What is it?"

"Oh, I can't tell you." Jimin shakes his head seriously. "Doing so would compromise the privacy and safety of someone who isn't even involved with the case at present."

Youngseok drops the file he's carrying onto the table in annoyance. "Well then what good does it do if we can't give the court his alibi?"

"Well, isn't a good lawyer able to prove someone's innocence even when critical evidence may be missing?" Jimin asks innocently, smiling at the lawyer.

A woman enters the room at that second. "Mr. Choi, there's a Son Soomin on the phone wanting to talk to you."

Youngseok sighs. "Someone please reason with him while I go take this call."

The other fully licensed lawyers waste no time in berating Jimin. "Just tell him the alibi! We've got to win this case!"

"And we will!" Jimin insists. "I believe in us!"

Sangmin leans over from his seat next to Jimin. "Hey, if you tell him, you might have a guaranteed job once you graduate. Forget about Hoseok and think about yourself. Your future~" Jeongyeon, who has returned from getting coffee just in time to hear her fiancé's words shoots him a hurt look.

"That might work for you," Jimin responds, "but that's not how I do things. Hoseok is trusting me to protect this other person, and I'm not betraying that trust."

Youngseok returns at that moment. "So, the ex-girlfriend obviously isn't too worried about her interview because she's asked to postpone it due this 'super exclusive dance class' that she just can't miss."

One of the lawyers looks at Jimin condescendingly. "Isn't that your 'expertise'?"

Jimin doesn't let his hurt show as he looks back at Youngseok. "I can see if I can get into the class and talk to her."

Youngseok sighs. "I can't let you go alone, just because I need to make sure all-important pieces of evidence make it back here. Namjoon," the second-year law student looks up, "go with him, and see if you can get Mr. Min to tag along. He's the only fully qualified person currently available to join in." Namjoon nods, standing up from the table and gesturing for Jimin to follow him out of the room.