Spring fades closer to summer, and, surprisingly, Jinri finds a lot of her stress melting away. She’s settling in with her foster family – who are genuinely good people, something she hadn’t thought existed anymore – and she still gets to see Himchan enough that she doesn’t miss him as much as she’d expected.

As often as Jinri sees Himchan, she sees Yongguk twice as much. He seems to take both his promise to take care of Jinah and his vow to keep Jinri occupied so she doesn’t go sleeping around anymore very seriously.

It’s a warm day in May and Jinri and Jinah are over at Yongguk’s apartment. Though initially her foster parents had been worried about letting her go anywhere with her little sister, they trust her enough now to know that she’d protect Jinah at any cost and they don’t worry as much when Jinri asks to take her out. They’ve also met Yongguk several times and have decided that he is a responsible adult and they don’t mind when Jinri and Jinah go to visit him – if they suspect that Jinri and Yongguk are sleeping together, they don’t mention it.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Yongguk says, pulling aside the curtains enough to glance outside. Everything is green, budding. There is a bird building a nest on the tree below his window; the play park across the street is crowded with children and their parents.

Jinri looks up from where she’s playing dolls with Jinah. “Right now?”

“Yeah,” Yongguk says, a lazy grin on his face. “It’s a nice day, and it’ll be dark soon. We can go out for dinner afterwards.”

Jinri gives in, as she usually does. She gets to her feet and pulls Jinah up after her, dusting off the knees of her pants. “Okay. Let’s go,” she agrees.

It’s warm enough that they don’t need jackets, bordering on hot. Jinah walks between the two of them, holding each of their hands, swinging them back and forth and singing a little song she’d learned at her preschool.

“How are things at with your foster family?” Yongguk asks as they walk, a warm breeze against their cheeks.

Jinri shrugs, swinging Jinah’s hand. “They’re okay. They’re really nice. It’s completely different from back home.”

Yongguk hesitates. “Have you heard from your parents at all since you’ve left?”

She shakes her head, lowering her voice even though Jinah, who has rushed off to chase a butterfly, can’t hear them. “No, not a word. I don’t know if they’ve tried or not. My foster parents assured me that my mom and stepdad can’t get to us. They don’t have any way of contacting us anyway.”

“Do you think they’re going to try and get you guys back?” he asks next, shoving his hands in his pockets as they follow a bit more sedately behind the exuberant Jinah.

Jinri shakes her head, trying not to feel any particular sense of loss over it. “Jinah, maybe. But not me. They’ll never try to get me back. I’ve only been a thorn in their side since they got married. Even before that, probably.”

Yongguk reaches over and takes her hand, linking their fingers together in the most natural of ways. “That’s their loss, you know. You’re not a bad kid.”

Jinri has to laugh at that.

“Jinri, right?”

They both stop and look at the man who has addressed her. He’s older, probably in his mid to late twenties. He’s got a wicked looking smile and a backwards snapback. He’s vaguely familiar to Jinri, but then again so are a lot of guys.

“Sorry, I don’t think I know you,” she says coolly, and Yongguk’s hand tightens almost protectively around hers.

The boy looks her up and down, and it’s pretty obvious that he’s recalling her to memory sans her clothes. “No, we definitely know each other,” he assures her with a salacious leer. “I’d definitely remember any chick who can open her jaw quite as wide as you-”

“You’ve got the wrong person,” Yongguk cuts in smoothly, eyes flashing. “My girlfriend isn’t that type of person.”

The guy in the snapback scoffs. “Yeah, she’s got that little mole right beside her-”

“I told you, you’ve got the wrong person,” Yongguk repeats, more firmly this time. “You’re confusing my girlfriend with someone else.”

The guy falters a bit; Yongguk is intimidating under the best of circumstances. “Yeah, I must be confused. Sorry, bro.” And he hurries on.

Jinri feels the shame wash over her as if she’s had a bucket of cold water upended over her head. “You didn’t have to do that,” she mumbles, head lowered. “You don’t need to lie and say I’m your girlfriend.”

Yongguk doesn’t even skip a beat. “Who says I’m lying?” And then he raises his voice. “Jinah! Let’s go play on the playground!”

Jinri doesn’t know quite what to make of Yongguk’s words. She asks Himchan about it the next time they hang out together.

“He said he wasn’t lying?” Himchan repeats once she’s told him what happened. “Then he means it. He thinks of you as his girlfriend.”

Jinri gapes at him. “B-but he hates me.”

“Jinri, don’t be stupid,” Himchan says with a laugh. “You know he doesn’t hate you. If he said it, then he means is. Yongguk doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean. So I guess you two are officially dating now. It’s about damn time, if you ask me.”

“Shouldn’t he have, I don’t know, asked me first?” Jinri demands, trying to cover up how surprised she is. “Isn’t that what usually happens when people start to date?”

Himchan only laughs and ruffles her hair.

The days bleed together into something that is possibly the happiest time of Jinri’s life. She gets to spend time with her friends and her boyfriend – though it still feels weird to call Yongguk her boyfriend. She gets to see her little sister. Both she and Jinah are well taken care of and she is, as far as she can work out, genuinely happy for perhaps the first time in her life.

Of course good things can’t last.

It’s well into June, months after Jinri and Jinah have gone to live with their foster family, when Jinri finally hears word about her mother.

Her foster mother sits her down after Jinah has gone to bed and explains, in a serious sort of voice, that they have a court mandated meeting with their mother the following week.

“A meeting?” Jinri repeats, suddenly very dry. “About what? Surely they’re not thinking of sending us back there?”

The foster mother gives a reassuring smile and squeezes Jinri’s hand. “They’ll do what they think best, and I can’t imagine that they’ll choose to send you back. But unfortunately you have to go.”

“Jinah too?” Jinri panics at once. The last thing she wants is for her precious little sister to have to see their mother again.

But the foster mother shakes her head. “No, we managed to convince the judge that Jinah is too young and at an impressionable age. We told them it would be better if she stayed home. Unfortunately, since you’re so close to being an adult, you have to go. I’m so sorry, Jinri.”

“It’s okay,” Jinri assures her. “Better me than Jinah.”

So the following week, she puts on some of the nicest clothes she has and her foster parents take her to the courthouse for the meeting, leaving Jinah with Youngjae’s mother as a babysitter.

“Don’t be nervous,” her foster father coaches her as they drive along the busy streets of the city. “Just answer all the questions they ask you honestly and tell the truth. Everything will be okay.”

Jinri doesn’t answer. It’s been months since she’s had to face her mother, and she’s not sure how she’s going to react when they come face to face again. What’s more, she’s not sure how her mother will act. Will she explode? Will she attack Jinri? Things could go very, very bad, Jinri knows.

The courthouse is a flurry of activity when they arrive, and the woman at the front desk directs them to the correct office. Once there, they have to wait in a freezing waiting room for what seems like forever. Her foster mother holds Jinri’s hand, but she can’t help wishing for Yongguk or Himchan instead.

Eventually the secretary calls them back into the judge’s office. Jinri had been expecting some big court room scene of cinematic proportions, but instead they’re just shown into a well-decorated office, where Jinri’s mother already sits in one of the armchairs.

The judge, an old and balding man wearing a pressed suit, invites Jinri and her foster parents to sit on the sofa. The air seems to be buzzing with a sort of tension.

Jinri glances at her mother. For once Mrs. Kwang seems put together. She’s dressed nicely, makeup and hair done well. She doesn’t look drunk for the first time in years.

“We’re meeting today regarding some rather unfortunate circumstances,” the judge begins, hands clasped before him on his desk. “First of all, I’d like to thank all of you for coming today. This is an important matter and we’d all like to get it resolved right away.” He looks down at the papers on his desk and clears his throat. “Mrs. Kwang, if I’m reading this correctly, you wish to give up all rights to your children? Is this correct?”

“Yes, your honor,” Mrs. Kwang says calmly, looking at him rather than at Jinri. “After having some time to reflect, I feel that my daughters will do better with others who are more capable at parenting than I.”

The judge looks at Jinri. “How do you feel about this, Jinri?”

“I think that’s great,” she answers shortly. “I think both Jinah and myself will do better with someone else as well.”

The judge nods, as if he’s pleased that everyone is on the same page. “Alright, then we’ll get all the paperwork in order for Jinah to be put up for adoption.”

“Wait!” Jinri exclaims. She looks at her foster parents pleadingly. “Aren’t you going to adopt her?”

The man and woman share a nervous look, and the woman takes Jinri’s hand. “Sweetheart, we would if we could, but we’ve just found out that I’m pregnant. We can’t take on the financial responsibility of Jinah. We’re only foster parents. We’ve never been looking to adopt.”

Jinri feels like time has stopped. If Jinah is adopted, then that means that the two of them will be separated. As selfish as it is, Jinri doesn’t know if she can survive that. “And what about me? Will I be adopted too?”

The judge gives her a sympathetic sort of look. “I’m sorry, Jinri, but you’re just not of an adoptable age anymore. You’ll be of legal age soon, able to look after and care for yourself. We’ll arrange for foster care until your birthday and then you can make your way in the world as you see fit.”

“What about emancipation?” Jinri tries next. She’s done her research; she knows that, in extreme cases like this, emancipation is granted for a teen who is not yet of age. “Can’t I become emancipated and take Jinah myself?”

The judge’s look turns a bit harsher. “I understand that the separation will be hard on you, Jinri, but you have to think about what’s best for your sister. She needs a loving family, and she’s still young enough that many families will want her. You want the best for her, don’t you?”

“I’m the best for her!” Jinri is practically shouting by now, but no one does anything to try and calm her down. She turns on her mother, who still hasn’t even looked at her once. “How can you let them do this?” she screams. “Do something!”

But Mrs. Kwang only gets to her feet and leaves the office.  

So just as a disclaimer, I know absolutely nothing about the judicial system in Korea. My dad was a lawyer and I have a lot of friends who are lawyers or judges because of him, but that's in America. So that's what I'm basing my knowledge on OTL