Ewon

Fourth of July...

"I am a good man."

"I am strong."

"I am amazing."

"I am filled with love."

"I have friends who love me." 

Jung Ewon was staring at himself in the bathroom mirror repeating his litany of daily affirmations. Ewon said these words to himself every day, but felt like they held greater importance today.

To the rest of the world, in Korea today was just an ordinary Tuesday. But in America they were celebrating their independence from tyrannical rule and if Ewon was lucky, really lucky, he'd be able to set one little boy free from a life of misery.

He took a couple of deep, calming breaths, that weren't really helping to calm him down.  it. Maybe his anxiety would give him an edge. Ewon needed his friends to understand just how high the stakes were in this situation before he asked them for their help.

His newly engaged friends, elementary school principal Kim Minjun and speech therapist Ok Taecyeon were hosting their first annual Fourth of July bash and what better time or place to marshal his friends together for a good cause? Ewon picked up the case of Gangseo he'd bought and headed out the door.

Ewon, Jun, and Junho, had been friends since their first day together at Little Wonder Clovers Montessori School. Ewon taught the first grade, while Junho taught kindergarten and Jun was the principal.

These men were the best friends Ewon had ever had in his life. Their little group had expanded over the last year with Junho getting engaged to librarian Hwang Chansung who had a five-year-old, dinosaur-crazed, son named Jay. 

The tragic death of Jun's sister from cancer back in January made him an instant father to his five-year-old niece, Gain. After a few fits and starts, Jun managed to make a smooth transition into fatherhood and was engaged to marry Taecyeon, the ex-boyfriend Jun had never stopped loving.

With just those friends alone Ewon thought he could conquer the world, but in the situation he was facing, it paid to have some extra ammunition in his arsenal. Pediatrician Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul had been of some help to Chansung in a custody situation last year and had become an instant member of the group. Nichkhun was a smart, giving man. Ewon was really hoping he could count on Doctor Perfect's help with the situation he was going to bring up today.

Speaking of the custody situation, Ewon hoped another weapon in the fight would be Kim Jongup, Jun's younger brother. He was a lawyer who specialized in family law, specifically child custody. He was the reason Chansung and Junho had full custody of Jay.

Lastly would be Hwang Narsha and Kwanghee. Chansung's parents had taken on Gain as if she were their biological granddaughter and served as surrogate parents, of a sort, to himself and Taecyeon. Ewon knew that his group of friends, who he'd come to think of as his family, would be able to help him bring this situation to the right conclusion.

Knowing that didn't keep his hands from sweating. He wiped them off on the thighs of his shorts and hopped out of the car. From the driveway, he could hear the party was in full-swing. Ewon had left late on purpose so 

that he could gather everyone together and tell his story once, hopefully before his friends had too many adult beverages.

He grabbed the beer and headed through the back gate. Ewon could see Minjun and Junho manning the grill and laughing about something. Nichkhun was sitting at the large patio table talking with Jongup and the Hwangs. There was a woman sitting next to Jongup who Ewon didn't know, but thought looked familiar "Hey, guys."

"Ewon!" Junho hurried away from the grill and grabbed the case of beer. The brown bottles inside clinked together "We were just about to call you." Junho shivered in the hot July sun.

Damn it. Minjun and Gain had been in a bad car accident a few months back. Everyone was still on edge and tended to worry when one of them was late without calling. Ewon should have sent Junho a quick text that he was running late.

"Thank goodness the beer is here!" Taecyeon hurried over and helped Junho add the bottles to a green cooler full of ice.

Ewon made his way over to the table to hug Kwanhee and Narsha "Nichkhun."

"Good to see you, Ewon." Nichkhun didn't sound particularly thrilled to see him.

Junho had been trying to push him and Nichkhun together for nearly a year. Ewon realized early on that Nichkhun wasn't his type. Sure thai man was handsome with his brown, silky hair and black eyes, and a rip body he would love to explore, but the two of them mixed like oil and water. They were so opposite that Ewon had wondered how they'd even managed to become friends "You too, Nichkhun. Who's your friend, Jongup?"

Jongup grinned from ear to ear "This is Jennie Kim. She works in the D.A.'s office."

"That's where I know you from. You were the lead prosecutor in that child abuse case last year where two kids in state care were killed in their foster home." Ewon said finaly recognizing her.

Jennie nodded, reaching out for Jongup's hand "Toughest case of my career."

Jongup patted Jennie's hand "My girl's a fighter."

"You two are...?" Ewon grinned. It might not be a bad thing to get the opinion of a prosecutor either, even if she had the bad taste to date Jun's bachelor brother.

"Jennie heard me deliver a mock closing argument and it was love at first sight." Jongup practically swooned over his girlfriend.

Ewon took a seat at the head of the table "What's a mock closing argument?" 

"Court was in recess to allow the attorneys to prepare for closing arguments the next morning. I like to practice in the actual courtroom. It lets me know how loud I actually sound in the enclosed space."

"I heard impassioned yelling from the hallway and poked my head in the courtroom and was mesmerized by Jongup's obvious belief in his client's cause. We've been together ever since."

While Jennie had been telling her story all of the others had gathered around the table. Ewon wasn't going to get a better chance to speak to everyone. When Jennie finished her story of true love, he took a deep breath "I need to talk to all of you about something."

"You've been a bit on edge lately. Is this why?" Narsha asked.

Ewon nodded "It has to do with Jang Wooyoung." he felt a bit more relaxed just saying the boy's name out loud. He'd mentioned Wooyoung's struggle with his home life to the guys a few months back, but had kept the new details to himself, until now.

"Who is Jang Wooyoung?" Jongup's eyes narrowed. Ewon could tell he'd switched over to attorney mode.

"He's a six-year-old boy who was in my first grade class last year. His mother died from a heroin overdose around Halloween last year. His Aunt Rania was granted emergency custody and had started the formal adoption process which was formalized around Thanksgiving." 

Jongup sat up a bit straighter in his chair "I don't mean to sound like a , Ewon. The boy has a sad story, but what does it have to do with you?"

Ewon didn't think they'd get to the crux of the situation this fast. Leave it to a lawyer to cut to the chase "His aunt doesn't want him anymore and surrendered him to the state." he paused for a moment to let the news sink in, and then announced "I do. I want to adopt Wooyoung."

Nichkhun

Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul quickly checked himself over for signs of a . The news that was hitting him the hardest was that Wooyoung's aunt had finally done what she'd been threatening to do for months now. The idea that Ewon wanted to adopt the boy could have knocked him over with a feather "You want to do what?" Nichkhun asked incredulously.

Ewon withered a bit at Nichkhun's outburst "I want Wooyoung to be my son."

Okay, so Nichkhun wasn't having a . He'd heard Ewon correctly. In all of the conversations they'd had, Ewon had never once mentioned that he wanted to become a parent "Why? You can barely take care of yourself. How the hell do you think you could raise a child?"

"Jesus Christ, Nichkhun!" Taecyeon hissed "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Wrong with me? Ewon eats Lucky Charms for dinner five nights a week." Nichkhun cringed internally at the superior tone in his voice. He liked Ewon well enough but he hadn't been wrong when he'd said Ewon could barely take care of himself.

When Jun had his car accident back in May, Nichkhun had spent a lot of time with Ewon who'd honestly looked and acted like he was only a step or two away from needing a mental health intervention.

They'd spent three nights while Jun was in the hospital on life support eating Italiano's out of the carton and marathoning episodes of Moon That Embraces The Sun. Granted, Jun's injuries had been life threatening and the doctors weren't sure at first if he was going to make it. Nichkhun shuddered to think what would have happened to Ewon if the unthinkable had happened to his best friend.

He knew it wasn't necessarily fair to pass a quick medical judgment on Ewon like that with no facts beyond what his five senses told him, but raising a child took hard work. It was tough enough for a single parent to raise a child in this day and age, never mind being a gay single parent with a special needs child.

It was against doctor/patient confidentiality for Nichkhun to divulge Wooyoung's conditions. Again, he was equipped with more data than Ewon, but Nichkhun was realistic enough to know that when it came to raising a child who had special challenges, sometimes love wasn't enough.

He'd decided to specialize in children's medicine so that he could protect the most vulnerable segment of the population. He'd had no idea that as a pediatrician he'd also wear the hats of social worker, counselor, and shoulder to cry on. First time parents were especially fragile.

"If I may be allowed to continue, Doctor Horvejkul?" Ewon sneered, quickly looking away from Nichkhun. "Wooyoung is a sweet little boy. His interest in wanting to be a Disney Princess, wanting to wear dresses to school and his collection of My Pretty Ponies made him a target for bullies."

"Ewon, are you saying Wooyoung might be transgender?" Jun asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"I'm no doctor, but I think that might be the case." Ewon seemed to be deliberately not making eye contact with Nichkhun.

"Jesus, Ewon. I can't break doctor/patient confidentiality. Not even for your dream of becoming a father." Nichkhun raked a hand through his dark hair. Wooyoung's aunt had come to him several times over the last few months because she'd been unable to cope with the fact that Wooyoung wanted to wear dresses and be called Ariel, like The Little Mermaid. 

Nichkhun had been reluctant to diagnose Wooyoung with Gender Dysphoria, not only because of his young age, but because he'd been sure the diagnosis would tip the scale in favor of Aunt Rania abandoning her nephew, which it seemed like she'd done anyway.

"I don't recall asking you to break anything, with the possible exception of the ginormous stick up your ." Ewon raised an eyebrow at Nichkhun and focused his attention on Jongup "As a gay man, what are my chances of being able to adopt Wooyoung?"

"Aside from your cereal preferences." Jongup rolled his eyes at Nichkhun "I don't see any obvious reason why you'd be turned down. If this is something you'd like to actively pursue, we can meet in my office this week. There's a lot of paperwork that would need to be done, as well as running a background check. It would also be a good idea to get you enrolled in the foster care program so that we could get him transferred into your custody as soon as possible."

"Wait a second! Ewon can't adopt Wooyoung!" Nichkhun felt like he was spiraling out of control. He was usually calm and collected, but at the moment, his heart was pounding and he was having a hard time catching his breath.

"Why can't I adopt Wooyoung, Nichkhun? Because I stay in my pajamas on Sundays? Or maybe because I eat raw cookie dough out of the plastic sleeve?"

"You can't adopt Wooyoung because I want to." Nichkhun hadn't planned on saying it like that. He hadn't planned on saying it at all. Being able to adopt Wooyoung had been a dream he'd been nurturing in his wildest fantasy. He didn't want to hurt Ewon, but he was obviously the better choice between the two of them.

The table exploded with everyone talking at once. Nichkhun looked around at his friends. Hwang Narsha and Kwanghee were staring open-mouthed at him and Ewon. Chansung and Junho were shouting some version of "No ing way!" Jun and Taecyeon seemed to be arguing about which man would be better suited to adopt the little boy.

Jongup after whispering something with Jennie, pounded his hand on the glass table top until everyone quieted down "Here's a crazy idea, why don't you both adopt Wooyoung?"