By Zephyria 
In the silence, Chrissy could say nothing and simply stared at the man. Seeing the confused emotions written all over Chrissy’s face, the man who had identified himself as Ben chuckled repeatedly, his shoulders shaking as if he couldn’t contain himself.
“…How.”
Chrissy barely managed to part his lips and make a sound. Still unable to even blink, he looked up at the man and continued.
“How… why? Don’t tell me you planned this from the beginning? This, since when—”
Though he asked with a trembling voice, his mind was frantically piecing the puzzle together. Could it be from the start? The fact that this man appeared at the grand jury to ruin the trial had already been planned back then….
“Puhaha! Don’t get ahead of yourself, superstar. That’s not it. Going there was my own solo act. It had nothing to do with anyone else.”
The man burst into loud laughter, denying Chrissy’s suspicion, but Chrissy still couldn’t believe him. Who could trust the words of a criminal committing such an act, and how? Chrissy glared at him with a fierce gaze and asked again.
“Nothing to do with anyone? You’re saying this was done entirely without any connection to Anthony Smith? That it wasn’t a deliberate act to ruin the trial?”
“Nothing to do with it at all.”
The man just kept giggling. Seeing that reaction, Chrissy was bewildered, but he had no choice but to believe the man’s words were true.
“Then, why?”
Was it just a coincidence? Chrissy asked, half-doubting.
“Are you saying it was simply a coincidence that you came there as a juror? That you were just randomly selected and ended up there?”
“No, not that.”
Ben answered, still smirking.
“Going there wasn’t a coincidence. It cost quite a bit of money, but well, the result was satisfying.”
Then, with an ecstatic expression, he shuddered all over and let out an excited sigh.
“I got to lock eyes and even talk with someone who was once my idol, you know? You have no idea how excited I was that day. I couldn’t even make it home, so I came in the courthouse bathroom twice. Look at me now, just imagining it makes me like this already….”
Ben proudly pointed to his lower body. Seeing the thick bulge in the crotch as he pushed up his pant zipper, Chrissy’s face contorted in disgust.
However, there was still a part he couldn’t understand. Whether this perverted piece of trash’s taste was to follow courts around and masturbate or whatever didn’t matter. It was just that a certain word, repeated several times, somehow bothered him.
“Superstar, idol—what the hell are you babbling about? Are you saying you came to the grand jury just to see me? How do you know me?”
Since the trial had been featured in several articles, there were plenty of opportunities to see his photo. Even though it was something he could have just brushed off, a chill kept running down Chrissy’s spine. There was something more. This man’s motivation wasn’t simply that. It was something deeper, older…….
Ben’s eyes narrowed, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.
“You know.”
The man leaned down and gripped the iron bars with both hands. The eyes of Chrissy, trapped in the cage, and the man outside collided in mid-air. The man smiled silently and spoke in a low voice.
“Hope, my hope.”
The moment he heard that name, Chrissy felt a shock as if his heart had dropped to his feet. As he froze, turning pale, the man continued, seemingly overwhelmed with joy.
“Hehe, the videos you’re in, heehee, I have them all. Ehe, hehe, I don’t know how many times I came while looking at your small, white ass. I’ve, phoo, seen so many kids like this, haaa, but I’ve still never seen a child as delicious as you. All the members miss you so much….”
Chrissy simply listened to the man’s desire-filled voice, a mixture of heavy breathing and laughter. He wanted to cover his ears, but he couldn’t move a single finger. As Chrissy just stared at the man, pressing his back tightly against one side of the cage and curling his body as small as possible, the man let out a loud ‘phuu’ of a sigh and spoke with a regretful expression.
“Why did you grow up so fast, Hope? If you had just waited one more year, you would have made a glamorous debut on a big stage. Everyone is so disappointed. To think that Hope can only be seen through the remaining videos now….”
He was genuinely regretful. For Chrissy, however, simply enduring the rising nausea was his limit. To Chrissy, who remained motionless and could only watch him, the man smiled thinly and added.
“I know, you’re disappointed too, right? We all know how slutty you were. We would have fucked you as much as you wanted. Sadly, you’ve grown too old….”
The last part sounded truly pitiful. Shamelessly, he looked so sad that it seemed he might burst into tears at any moment. Crazy bastard, piece of shit.
Chrissy wanted to spit in Ben’s face, but before he could, the man let go of the bars and stood up.
“Stay put; your disposition hasn’t been decided yet. It’s impossible to run away anyway, so don’t waste your energy.”
Ben placed a hand on his crotch and asked Chrissy.
“If you’re hungry, do you want to eat this? It’s something you used to love.”
Chrissy hoped the man would take something out and put it in his mouth. If he did, he would bite it with all his might and rip it in half, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
“Wait a moment, I’ll bring you some food soon.”
The man giggled, turned around, and walked out.
When the door closed again, a bleak silence returned. The sound of children sobbing continued intermittently, but that too eventually subsided. In the meantime, Chrissy took deep breaths and tried to organize the facts he had learned.
Intense anger barely managed to bring back his reason. They know about Chrissy’s past. The fortunate thing was that Chrissy was ‘too old’ for their taste, and the unfortunate thing was that the ‘children’ who were their taste were currently captured here in great numbers. The purpose of these children being here was clear. It was futile to deny it and try to think of other reasons. Moreover, didn’t they even know about Chrissy’s hidden past?
Something terrible is going to happen to them.
Chrissy quickly scanned the area outside the cage. Even a rough glance suggested there were nearly 20 cages. That meant at least 20 children were captured, perhaps more.
Thinking about what those children would face in the future, he could no longer maintain his composure. Back then, no one had helped Chrissy. He had to endure everything alone, and the only reason he was barely able to escape that hell was because time passed and his body grew. These children might not even get the chance for their bodies to grow.
No, I have to get the children out somehow before that.
He would be fine. At worst, he’d be beaten to death, or…… die. After a brief hesitation, Chrissy shifted his thinking in another direction. Didn’t that man say it? That he was too old to fit their taste. Even if the worst-case scenario happened, he had already experienced it, so it was fine. Besides, isn’t he an adult now? So he can endure it enough.
Yes, let’s try.
Chrissy took a deep breath and approached the bars. Though it was nothing more than leaning his curled body forward against the bars.
“Hey, listen, Scott, Scott!”
When he called the name in a low voice, he saw a body curled up in the opposite cage flinch in response. It was only then that Scott lifted his head and looked at Chrissy. Chrissy waited until their eyes met and then gave a thin smile.
“That man from earlier, has he always come here?”
Scott paused for a moment and then nodded.
“Not always… but mostly….”
“I see.”
Chrissy continued, crafting his voice to be softer than usual.
“There’s something I want your help with. Can you do it?”
Looking at the boy’s puzzled face, he added in a confident tone.
“If we succeed, we’ll be able to get out of here.”
At those words, Scott’s eyes widened in surprise.