The public prosecutor also called in several witnesses, including a few of their neighbours, Lee Do Joon's coworkers and Hyuk's close friends. The two practitioners took turns questioning the witnesses.
A varying number of views were laid out.
Some referred to Lee Do Joon as a decent guy, but many others, including the neighbours and several of his coworkers did not hesitate to present their misgivings about the deceased man, which, in turn, protected Hyuk.
"He was a little strange," one said.
"—I've lived in the same neighbourhood for over a decade. He was notorious for being a raging alcoholic and abusive. I felt sorry for the kids, but I was afraid he was going to come after me."
"—Truthfully, we all kind of knew what was going on with that family. We've already made several reports on him, but for some reason the authorities are just leaving him be. When that guy found out people were reporting him, he went on a rampage and took his revenge on each and every one of the reporters. Since then, we had no choice but to stay away.
"—Honestly, I understand why the kid did what he did. That guy probably brought it upon himself."
Finally, Jin Goo, the last one called, stepped up onto the stand and introduced himself as Hyuk's closest friend.
"Do you believe that your friend murdered the victim?" The prosecutor asked.
Jin Goo inwardly frowned, but kept a cool pokerface on the outside. "While it is true that Hyuk is a little short-tempered, but he is not someone who would kill people just because he got hit. If he killed someone and went to jail, who would take care of his siblings? I don't believe that my friend is that stupid. It was an accident."
"What makes you so sure? According to what I've gathered, you two have only been friends for a little over two years? Are you really close to him?"
Jin Goo frowned. He controlled his facial expression but it could still not hide the disdain in his eyes as he stared at the prosecutor who questioned their closeness. "So what if I've only known him for two years? That much is enough to know him well."
"Were you aware of the abuse going on in his family?"
"Yes. But I didn't know how bad it was. Hyuk never really liked accepting people's help so In Guk and I could only watch by the sidelines."
Unable to gouge anything from Hyuk's loyal friend, the questioning was passed to the defence attorney.
"Mr. Heo Jin Goo, did you know about what happened between the Lees?"
"Not until Hyuk told me when they stayed over at my house. Hyuk was angry, yes, but he only thought about keeping his siblings safe rather than going back to kill that man."
"I see. This proves that the defendant did not have any motives to kill the victim aside from self-defence!" The attorney concluded.
"Objection! I'd like to summon the defendant himself to the stands for questioning!"
Jin Goo went back to his seat, then Hyuk took his place.
"Defendant, did you, or did you not stab the victim thirteen times?"
"Dunno, I probably did." Hyuk replied sullenly. He was not in a friendly, talkative mood and the prosecutor was making him angrier by the second.
"Did you, or did you not, crush the victim's balls?"
"I did." Hyuk smirked fiendishly, feeling no regrets over his actions.
"The defendant is aware of his actions. This shows that he had intention in murdering the victim! This clearly indicate that the mens rea is fulfilled. Not only that, the defendant showed no remorse despite committing a crime of killing ascendant. Even if he was a bad father, the victim did not deserve to die like that!"
"Don't deserve it? Oi, are you an idiot? Blind? Is there a hole in your brain? He's a g*ddamn f*cking serial killer, you motherf*cking son-of-a-b*tch. I did this world a favour by getting rid of him!" Hyuk laughed coldly. How dare this b*stard portray that b*stard as if he was some kind of saint? How laughable.
The prosecutor flinched. The judge demanded order again, asking the bailiffs to discipline the cursing criminal.
"T-that's—your honour, please look at the monitor while I show you proof that it had been a murder." The prosecutor changed the subject, changing his strategies.
He fished out a small remote control from his pocket and clicked a button. A video appeared on the two screens on the monitor placed at the two sides of the courtroom.
A girl sitting up on a hospital bed appeared on the screens. She was looking downwards, hugging her body tightly.
"—That man, he—he made him watch! He made Oppa watch him do that to me! He hurt him and made him watch! He tainted me in front of Oppa!"
Her miserable crying voice rang out through the speakers.
Hyuk's pupils shrank as he recognised the girl.
It was Yeo Ri. Yeo Ri, crying as if the world had ended. Perhaps it was true; that day, her world had probably crumbled into nothingness.
The prosecutor opened his mouth, "As seen in this interview, the second key witness—the little sister—talks about how the defendant had witnessed an earlier instance where she was raped long before the incident happened. This is enough reason for the defendant to have the motive to kill the victim as revenge."
"You—!" Hyuk slammed his palms on the stand, his eyes spitting fury. He looked as if he wanted to leap out of the witness box and throttle the man. "How dare you—!"
The bailiffs quickly responded and held him down, preventing him from hurting anyone. Hyuk thrashed under the hold of the bailiffs, wanting to get out and strangle some b*stards to appease his anger.
He didn't even know why he was angry—the incident had already passed and Yeo Ri was simply recounting it. But her sorrowful voice and desperate cries just made his heart hurt so much that he couldn't help but feel agitated.
Seeing as Hyuk had started another commotion, the judge wanted to end the session quickly and dish out the verdict.