“Wonnie.” Yongguk walked into the quiet home since Mrs. Woo had left, leaving the two together.

He took light steps towards the bedroom but Wonnie wasn’t there. He was going to go past the second bedroom but stopped out of instinct. He opened the door gently to find Wonnie lying on Joon’s bed.

“So, you were in here.” Yongguk comments lightly as he makes his way over. “You know this is a child’s bed, right? You’re too big for it.” He joked to lighten up the atmosphere. He was just met with silence as he took a seat on the bed beside Wonnie.

Her eyes were opened as she stared off into space. He felt a prick at his heart as he watched a single tear slide down at the corner of her eyes.

“I tried calling them today.” Her voice was soft but there was so much pain behind it. “They didn’t let me come in to see him.”

Yongguk took in a deep breath and looked down at what she was clutching in her hands. It was Joon’s shirt. How could he have ever doubt the love between the two? It was simply heartbreaking. “What did they say?”

“There is a hearing tomorrow and they want me to come in.”

Yongguk blinked in surprise. “So, why are you like this? You get to see him tomorrow.”

“There’s a chance he wouldn’t be returned to me.” Wonnie didn’t waste a single second to respond.

“What do you mean? You’re Joon’s mom.”

Wonnie blinked her eyes rapidly to prevent herself from crying. “I feel like she’s won.”

At the sound of Wonnie giving up, Yongguk grabbed her arms to pull her up. He leaned forward so he could get her attention. “Don’t say that. You haven’t lost yet.” He said firmly. When she doesn’t respond, he holds her face in his hands. “Kim Shiwon, do you want your son back or not?”

“I do.” Wonnie began to tear up again.

“Then don’t think so negatively. Tomorrow, we will go down together and we’re bringing Joon back, you hear me?” Wonnie nodded her head and Yongguk smiled. “That’s my girl.”

He brought his arms out to pull her into an embrace. And to his surprise, Wonnie also wrapped her arms around him tightly.

***

I stood in front of the building and my heart thumped crazily against my chest. I looked down in surprise as I felt Yongguk hold onto my hand tightly. He sent me a comforting smile. “Everything is going to be okay.”

I decided to trust him and nodded my head. Everything was going to be okay. I breathed in deeply and we walked into the building together. The hallway seemed endless as we made our way down to the office we were told to arrive in.

106. 107. 108.

109.

There it was. We stood in front of it as I prepared myself. Joon was behind there and I was going to bring him home one way or another today.

“Ready?” Yongguk whispered.

I swallowed a lump in my throat and nodded. He reached out and pushed the door open. Inside were my aunt and…Joon. All at once, I felt myself almost breaking down. “Joon.” My voice quietly broke as I walked further in. I wanted to bring him into my arms but before I could even get close enough, a man slid out and stopped me.

“Minhee?” I flipped my head around in surprise as Yongguk mentioned the name. “What are you doing here?” He asked in complete confusion. Beside her stood another man in a suit with a briefcase – assuming to be a lawyer.

She smirked. “I heard her story and decided to lend a hand.” She motioned at my aunt.

“You have got to be fu – “ Yongguk stopped himself from going further. He breathed out in anger. “How long were you a part of this?”

I stared at Minhee in disbelief. They were working together? How did they even know each other? “What is going on?” I finally found my voice to ask. But honestly, I didn’t care about the answer. I turned my head in the direction of the reason why I was here to begin with.

“Joon, I'm here now.” I gave him a little smile and watched as he stared back at me. “We’re going to go home now.”

But what he did next was not what I expected. He shook his head and I couldn’t wrap my head around why.

“Ms. Kim.” The same woman that took Joon from me stood before me. “My name is Gongjin and we need to get started. She motioned for me to take a seat at the table and Yongguk managed to stop glaring at Minhee to sit down beside me. My eyes remained on Joon as his attention remained on his hands in his lap. I didn’t even look at the wicked woman beside him. But when I saw her reach out to pat his head, I wanted nothing more than to snap her arm in half.

“Don’t touch him.” I blankly stated.

“Shiwon, you should really watch what you’re saying.” My aunt answers confidently.

Gongjin sighs and folds her hands on the table. “Ms. Kim, we called you here to talk about your current guardianship.” I stayed silent so she could continue. “Depending how things turn out today, your guardianship may be turned over to your aunt, Mrs. Kim Sangmi.”

My hands clenched on top of my lap. “I don’t understand why that is even an option.”

“Ms. Kim.” Gongjin started again. “There are claims that you are unfit as Joon’s guardian and the proof supports the claims.”

“What are the proofs?” Yongguk asked from the side.

Gongjin looked towards him. “Claims about a man living within the home, a cut upon his hand showing the negligence of the guardian, and we also found out that Ms. Kim is too busy to care for Kim Joon.”

I bit my lip at her words. Yes, those were all true claims but it wasn’t just black and white. I could explain it all.

“It was because of such claims that you took a boy from his mother?” Yongguk asked in disbelief.

“You and I both know the discrepancies to your statement.” Sangmi blurted out. “Joon isn’t her son.”

Yongguk was ready to blow up. “They are mother and son.”

Sangmi snorted in response. “What a joke.”

Yongguk forced himself to face Gongjin instead. “Yes, I have been living with them but I have done nothing to pose a risk towards Joon. The cut on his palm was from him trying to make his own breakfast, which ended with him breaking a bowl and do you know what happened afterwards? Shiwon took care of it right away. A