The warm scent of breakfast in the air made Kangin roll over on the sheets. Tilting his head back he inhaled long and deep, trying to imagine what the origin of the scents were. A smile appeared on his face when realized that his husband, Leeteuk, must have woken up early to prepare this meal for them.

Not wanting to waste another second, he pulled himself out of bed. Still a bit groggy as he walked out of their bed room and into the kitchen, he walked up to Leeteuk who was standing at the counter, and slipped his arms around his narrow waist.

“Good morning baby,” he mumbled placing a kiss below Leeteuk’s left ear.

Leeteuk’s  body jumped ever so slightly, before a warm smile graced his lips.

“Good morning yeobo. Did you sleep well last night?” he asked as he finished ladling their breakfast of soup into bowls.

“Better than you,” chuckled Kangin as he broke away so that Leeteuk could take their dishes to the table.

“Sorry if I kept you awake. I’m just excited is all. This could actually be the most life changing meeting we’re about to walk into. And for once, that snippy little social worker didn’t sound so disheartening on the phone when he called last night,” Leeteuk with a look of relief as they both sat down.

Kangin his lips, hesitating to speak as he picked up his spoon, “You know…I still think it’s best if we go in with low expectations. The higher we build ourselves up, the farther we have to fall, right?”

Leeteuk paused as he looked at him. His eyes searched Kangin’s for any sign of lightheartedness.

“So what are you hinting at? Are you saying that you already think this is going to fail?” he asked, a little dejected.

“No, that’s not what I said at all. It’s just…we’ve gone through this three times already baby. And every time…it’s like a piece of you dies with each rejection. I just think that if we treat it like any other day, and then the outcome isn’t ideal, maybe if won’t be so jarring.”

Leeteuk shook his head. “No, I can’t be in that place right now. I just have a feeling this time everything will finally work out. I hear what you’re saying, but I just really think the fourth try will be it. This is the child for us.”

Not waiting for a reply, Leeteuk began eating his breakfast as Kangin stared at him. Finally realizing that he was set in his mind, Kangin sighed and then nodded.
 

“I hope you're right baby…I really hope you're right,” he said dipping his spoon into the warm broth of the soup.

                                                            ~~~

Later that morning after putting on their best suits, at Leeteuk’s insistence, they walked into a building downtown to meet with their social worker. Leeteuk had always felt it was best to bring their social worker a little something to help brighten his mood, and today he had asked Kangin to stop for coffee.

“I can not believe you’ve bought this man an eight dollar coffee,” Kangin laughed quietly.

“The smallest things can change a person’s demeanor. You never know the type of morning he’s had,” said Leeteuk as they walked to the front desk to sign in.

“Good morning, how may I help you?” asked a young woman with round glasses and a shoulder length brown hair.

“Good morning. We’re here to see Mr. Seok, we have an appointment at 11:30,” said Leeteuk with a smile.

“Ok, please sign in and I will let him know you are here,” she said motioning towards the sign in sheet and then she rose to go towards the offices.

Leeteuk’s hands seemed to shake at he wrote their names on the paper. Seeing this, Kangin gently took the pen from him and proceeded to finish the task.

“Thank you. The anticipation is making me jittery,” said Leeteuk apologetically.

“Don’t worry, everything will work itself out,” said Kangin putting the pen back down as he finished.

He rubbed Leeteuk’s arms and then leaned forward to give him a chaste kiss on the lips, when they heard a throat clear.

“Mr. Park, Mr. Kim? I’m ready to see you know,” said Mr. Seok as they broke apart.

Leeteuk lightly blushed, and then quickly moved to follow Mr. Seok who had already begun walking back down the hall. Kangin followed at a normal pace, already sensing the man’s disapproval peeking out.

Mr. Seok was a thin, middle aged man. His hair was black with strands of grey speckled throughout and his stature was small and unassuming. Both Kangin and Leeteuk towered over him and they could tell this made him a little bitter, so they always tried to stand a few extra steps back.

“How are you Mr. Seok? I hope that your morning has been well,” said Leeteuk as Kangin finally walked in and closed the door.

“Busy, busy, busy,” he said absent mindedly as he moved aside other files to make room for opening theirs.

“Well, we stopped for coffee this morning and picked this up for you,” said Leeteuk offering it to him with a smile.

Mr. Seok eyed the cup that Leeteuk was holding out to him. He grabbed it and then placed it on the corner of his desk, looking back at the file.

“Thank you,” he finally murmured.

Leeteuk tried to hide his disappointment as Kangin clenched his jaw. He could care less what Mr. Seok thought about their personal lives. But he knew how important it was to Leeteuk to make a good impression, so he bit his tongue even though he wanted so desperately to speak.

“I was so excited to get your call last night Mr. Seok. You have no idea. I couldn’t believe that you had finally found us our son,” smiled Leeteuk breaking the silence.

“Well, I actually received another phone call this morning gentleman,” said Mr. Seok still looking down at the chart.

“Oh, really? What about?” asked Leeteuk curiously.

“If you remember, the boy that we found for you was orphaned a month ago, when his parents died in a car accident?”

“Yes, it was an awful accident from what you were able to tell us,” said Leeteuk, slightly shuddering from his memories.

“Right, well luckily, as you know, the boy survived with no serious injuries, but it was assumed he had no living relatives when no one came to claim him. As of a week ago, they were able to find a paternal grandmother living in the province. As it were, she would love to raise him, but she’s nearing eighty and realizes it’s not practical. With that said, she now has some…power, if you will, over choosing a family for her grandson.”

“And what has she chosen?” asked Leeteuk softly.

“She was fine at first with the two of you. You make a good amount of money, you live in a nice apartment in an affluent neighborhood, you're a little bit older than his parents were, but she liked that.”

“Well that’s great, so she’s chosen us?” asked Leeteuk lightening up a bit.

“Not exactly. She asked to see any other couples that were interested, and I showed her a young couple that’s been married for maybe two years but are having fertility issues. She seemed more sympathetic towards their situation. Not to mention that she and I both felt having a mother and father would be more suitable for the child,” said Mr. Seok looking back down at their paperwork.

Leeteuk sat back absolutely heartbroken.

“But….he was ours. E—everything was set up! He was our son!” he said anxiously.

“He was never officially your son Mr. Park. You have to understand that regardless of whether or not laws have been passed, many people still don’t support same couples adopting children. I’m sorry, but that’s the honest truth.”

“It’s also illegal to deny us a child on that basis,” said Kangin narrowing his eyes.

“That’s true Mr. Kim, but are you going to be the one to charge an eighty year old woman with discrimination? I don’t think so,” he sighed taking off his glasses. “Look, gentlemen, we’ve gone through four failed matches at this point. You’ve been very patient, and I understand this is something you're passionate about. But maybe it’s time to accept that this might not happen for you.”

“Excuse me?!” bellowed Kangin leaning forward. “First of all, you're our social worker! How dare you tell this woman that you don’t agree with same adoption?! Why would you even take our case if you’ve felt this way all along?!”

“Mr. Kim please lower your voice, we are in an office building—

“I don’t give a damn where we are! You have an obligation to represent us as loving and capable family! Not waste our time coming in here every few months to tell us a family suddenly changed their minds! It’s probably you isn’t it?! You're the one convincing them to not go with us because of your own homophobic agenda!” said Kangin placing his hands on the desk, the anger pulsing through him as he stared down Mr. Seok.

Feeling Leeteuk’s hand on his back, Kangin glanced at him. Leeteuk’s eyes were pleading as he looked at Kangin and then to Mr. Seok. Sensing that he was becoming a little too forceful Kangin backed up a bit as Leeteuk slightly leaned forward.

“Mr. Seok, I’m sorry if we’ve done anything to upset you, but please don’t turn us away. We have so much love to give to a child and if you’d just open up your eyes and give us a chance, you would see that!” said Leeteuk, his eyes growing red and teary.

“It’s not my decision Mr. Park, I’m sorry as well—said Mr. Seok as he gathered their paperwork.

Kangin snatched it out of Mr. Seok’s hands and threw it against the wall. “That’s bull. Either you figure out a way to fix this, or I’m reporting you for obstruction on the basis of ual discrimination.”

Mr. Seok exhaled deeply, though he didn’t make eye contact with Kangin.

“Mr. Kim, Mr. Park, I suggest you leave now before I have to call security. You are threatening me and my safety right now and I won’t stand for that—

“Aish!” said Kangin turning away after he smacked a cup over that held pencils and pens on Mr. Seok’s desk.

“I promise you this will not be the last time, you see us,” said Kangin pointing his finger directly at Mr. Seok. “We will have our family one day, with your help or not.”

Leeteuk’s body was shaking as tears suddenly began rolling down his cheeks. The reality of the situation had finally dawned on him, and it was completely breaking him down.

“Come on, baby, we need to get you away from this place,” said Kangin, his soft demeanor returning when he looked down at Leeteuk.

Kangin helped him stand up from the chair. His body had suddenly gone weak as he continued to take large gasps of air.

Neither of them looked back as they left the small office, leaving Mr. Seok to pick up the scraps of paper and ball point pens from his floor alone.