Woohyun walked in the store to see that the others were already there, including Myungsoo. “Hey guys, what's going on?”

Myungsoo suddenly snapped out of whatever daze he was in and glaced at the clock. “I've gotta go, Yeol.” He gave the boy a kiss on his temple before sprinting out of the store.

Hoya motioned for the darker haired male to join them.

Woohyun walked over and took Myungsoo's spot. He found that they were all staring at an envelope. He frowned. “Have you opened it yet?”

All three shook their heads.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Woohyun grabbed the object and ripped it open, pulling out a packet of papers. “What is this?”

Dongwoo reached over and pulled the papers gently out of the other's grip. He held them between himself and Hoya. “They're summons.” He muttered under his breath, eyes scanning the paper.

Sungyeol's eyebrows drew together. “Isn't that supposed to go to the...”

“Defendant.” Hoya interjected.

“Right. Defendant.” Sungyeol nodded slowly. “Why is it here?”

Hoya sighed, turning to face the boy. “There's something called a Service of Process. It means we have to give this to your parents.” He watched as the boy grew alarmed. “Don't worry. Someone not involved has to do it. So it can't be you, me, or Dongwoo.”

The third man mentioned frowned. “But, I'm not involved.”

“I don't want you getting near that house.”

Dongwoo smiled at the man. “Calm down, if you don't want me to, then I won't go.”

“So, then who's going to go?” Sungyeol asked. All eyes turned to Woohyun.

“Don't look at me! I don't want to go to that evil place either!”

“I'll go.”

They all turned to face the old man, who had just come out from his office.

Hoya gaped. “Sir,”

“Yeah, yeah. Save your breath. I just need to get outside for a bit.” He snatched the papers out of the younger's hands.

Hoya smiled. “Just make sure they sign this.” He pointed out a line. “Sungyeol, go write the address down.”

The black-haired kid nodded and ran into the office, returning with a post-it note. He tapped it onto the paper and gave the old man a smile.

“I'll be by later.” He waved dismissively over his shoulder. “If I feel like it.”

“Do you think he'll actually do it?” Sungyeol fretted, worried after the man's seemingly nonchalant attitude towards the packet.

Hoya nodded. “Of course. He might seem careless, but he's a wise old man. He wouldn't let us down.”

Woohyun nodded. “Yup, boss is the man.”

Hoya looked Sungyeol up and down. The boy needed something to do. “Hey, why don't you go into the office and look up a typical court case? It might help.”

Sungyeol gave a quick nod. “Okay.” He made his way into the office and closed the door behind him. Thirty minutes later, he came back out.

Hoya, who had been chatting with Dongwoo and Woohyun, looked up. He frowned. “That was fast.”

The boy shrugged. “Yeah, it was kind of boring. I got the basics, though.”

Hoya pressed his lips into a line. “Oh. Well, do you have any questions?”

Sungyeol looked up and then nodded. “Yeah, it said a lawyer can help me, but he can't represent me. I need an attorney for that. So, do we have to go and find one?”

Hoya sighed. “No, I'm an attorney.”

“Make up your mind!” Woohyun roared. Everyone stared at him. “Sorry, just seemed like a good thing to say.”

“An attorney is a lawyer who's passed the bar exam.” Hoya explained. “I've passed the bar. Therefore, I am an attorney.”

“Then why do you call yourself a lawyer?” The boy frowned.

“Because I like words that start with L.” Hoya shrugged.

Dongwoo laughed. “You're an odd duck.” He flicked the man on his nose before kissing it.

“So,” Woohyun drew out the O. “What do we do now, now that we've given them the summons?”

“I'm sure you can guess.” Hoya answered vaguely. Woohyun turned to Sungyeol.

The boy gave a long sigh. “We wait.”

Woohyun groaned.

As each day passed, each male hoped that the opposing side had simply looked at the summons and then tossed it to a corner. Hoya had explained that if the defendant did not reply to the summons, the petitioner–Sungyeol–more or less automatically won the case and received all their requests due to the absence of oppostion.

Hoya didn't want to hope. Hope was bad this early in a case. He was trying very hard not to repeat any of his mistakes. He was doing this somewhat for himself, but mostly for Sungyeol. Now that the boy was happy, he really didn't want him going home.

Dongwoo was trying his best not to get his hopes to rise either. He'd had a little experience in the deparment of law, and he'd seen justice get struck down simply because it was too naïve and desperate for its cause. The other side had been calm and collected, and he'd almost walked right out when they were given their requests. He didn't want this to end up that way. So, he decided that he'd have to be strong. If anyone else broke down, he'd be the one to help them to get it back together. They couldn't take something like that. Not right now.

Sungyeol was always slightly on edge. It was somewhat obvious by his wanderings into the office, where he went every hour on the dot and just sat in the chair for ten minutes before walking out. But the change was most apparent in his 'classes' with Dongwoo. He actually tried now. He did the work, and he did more than the other had asked. It seemed to hit the boy that he might lose all of this. He wanted to do the most while he still could.

Myungsoo was the most jittery after the summons had been delivered. One wouldn't have thought so, but he was. Whenever he was at the store, he couldn't keep his feet still. He was now a clingy shadow to Sungyeol, not that the boy minded, and would simply drape himself over his boyfriend whenever he had the chance. Every single time the door opened, he would jump a foot in the air and move to hide Sungyeol, just to find that it was an old lady who had entered. It was a good thing that Sungyeol didn't mind the man's antics. On the contrary, he found them funny and it got his mind off of the case.

Sungjong had become more distant. It was his nature. He never liked it when things became serious. He tried to go out with his friends more often. He made new friends, so that he could go out with them. But, somehow, he'd always come to the store before he went home. While he was there, he'd feel bad for trying to desert the people who were trying so hard to get Sungyeol away from danger. But then, he'd drown in the tense atmosphere and be gone for a couple hours the next day.

Woohyun was affected as well. He was thinking all the time now, which was bad for the man. It made him more clumsy and resulted in broken merchandise and dents in walls. He had been placed at the register for the remainder of the case. Somehow, even though the case was always present in his mind, he'd immediately forget it as soon as Sunggyu appeared. The man just had this power over him. It made his mind go blank. As a result, his lover still had yet to know of Sungyeol's predicament.

Sunggyu, blissfully unaware of the situation thanks to Woohyun, thought that the dark atmosphere surrounding the others was due to one of Sungjong's boy problems or something like that. He only ever saw them for a little less than an hour each day, so it wasn't as though he could guess what was going on. He was left in the dark.

It was a week until the summons were to be sent in. Hoya had made a countdown on their flower-themed calendar (Sungyeol and Dongwoo had picked it out) back home. Sunyeol stared at it for a good part of every morning.

Nothing interesting happened until a little after noon. Woohyun was playing a game of tic-tac-toe by himself when a little girl walked in. She marched right up to the counter and tapped Woohyun on the wrist. He jumped and then looked at the girl and smiled. “Hey there, sweetie. How can I help you?”

The girl smiled. “Is Sungyeol here?”

“Excuse me?”

“These people told me to give this,” She held up a small red folder “to Sungyeol.”

Hoya slid out from a nearby aisle. He'd heard everything. He walked up to the girl with a sweet smile and crouched down in front of her. “How about you give that to me and I'll hand it to Sungyeol. I promise he'll get it.” He held out his hand.

The girl stared at it and then shook her head. “Nope. Don't feel like it.” She made to run out the door. Hoya wouldn't be able to catch her if she got outside. It was quite busy on the street today, and unlike Sungyeol, this girl was tiny. He'd never be able to track her down.

Dongwoo, who'd stationed himself by the door in case something like this happened, snatched the folder from the girl's hand. When she looked up at him, about to cry, he had a lollipop–the latest gift from Sungyeol's sugar momma–at the girl. She took it and ran. Dongwoo walked over to Hoya and handed him the folder.

“Thanks.” Hoya sighed, taking the folder.

“No problem.” Dongwoo put his back to the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. He didn't really want to see what was in that folder.

Hoya grimaced, opening the folder. He'd dreaded this day. But, he couldn't back down now. He began reading the story given by Sungyeol's parents and gaped. “Dongwoo, go get Sungyeol.”

The man didn't need to be told twice.

Sungyeol ran over to Hoya and stood in front of him. He stared at the folder and gulped. “What is it? What does that say?”

Hoya remained silent, staring at the boy for a few seconds before going back to the folder.

Dongwoo let his head fall onto Hoya's shoulder. “What did they do?” He murmured, not really wanting an answer.

“Well, they've started by denying any harm to Sungyeol.” Hoya forced out through gritted teeth. “And they've also claimed that he has a mental disorder that prevents him from being able to function in school. In short, this says that if Sungyeol is not at home, and by that they mean their home, he is a menace to society.” Hoya read slowly, slamming the folder closed with anger clear on his face.

Sungyeol merely stared at the man. “They said what?”

A/N: So I did some calculations, and it looks like I've got at least 4 chapters to go. It's not that I want the story to end. I love this. It's just that I have a track record of not finishing things, so if I can complete this, that would just be awesome.

50 subs!!! We did it! I was, and am still ecstatic. So, I woke up early to write this chapter. Ta-da!