When visitors were finally permitted, Baekhyun urged the girl to see her mother first. After all, it would be strange if they went together. He excused himself to give her some much needed privacy. Taking an empty seat in the waiting area, Baekhyun glanced over at the wall clock to realize that he spent a good few hours at the hospital already. He did not plan to stay this long, but leaving her here alone did not sit right with him either. Meanwhile, he still had some information to soak in from their unfiltered conversation earlier. 

“A disgusting man,” he recalled Yumi telling him. 

After experiencing the tearful encounter, he became quite curious— but more than anything, Baekhyun had never felt such fury over the subtle hint she dropped about a potential mistreatment. 

“Who made you angry?” 

Yumi’s eyes widened in surprise at his abrupt interrogation. Gradually, she pulled herself away from the hug to gather her thoughts together. Being highly aware of her prideful tendencies, it was always difficult for the girl to open up about her feelings. Others should never have to carry her burden and that was the mindset that she had always lived by. Yet the so-called unsympathetic man before her may be the only person who could make her let go of that mentality. She doesn’t quite get the reason why, but Yumi simply can’t lie to him. With her lips tugged into a small frown, she began to share a little bit about herself. It was then when Baekhyun fully understood a part of his student’s life, one that he wished he could have learned about earlier. For someone who tried desperately to escape his endearing parents, it somehow still warmed his heart to hear Yumi express so much love for hers. He learned that in order to let her father start a new and happier life, she had to let go of him somehow. But her mother worried her the most, and for someone her age, she should not be weighing out her options like this. It’s ridiculous how life works sometime, he thought to himself. To be begging for his parents to let him go, there was someone else in this world who wished hers could have held on to their daughter.  

Baekhyun snapped out of his thoughts in order to focus on the main issue. He knew he should not be getting involved on a personal level, but this goes beyond a teacher’s duty. He refused to let this borderline criminal share the same roof with Yumi and her mother. But that man, they had met once at school before— he remembered. His rigid features were hard to forget after all. Baekhyun wondered how much he could do with only a name and some miscellaneous information to go off on. Though he knew of one person who could probably dig up his whole life history if she wanted to. With a heavy sigh, Baekhyun pulled out his phone to make a quick call, all while preparing himself to be teased for this. 

“I almost deleted your number, ” he was immediately greeted by his sibling’s sarcastic self. 

“What do you want?” Jieun continued. 

“I need your help,” he declared firmly. Those words weren’t foreign at all when Jieun practically spent her whole life covering for Baekhyun’s disinterest in their family line of work. But for some reason, there was a hint of desperation in his voice. This favor was not for him, she quickly caught on.

Jieun was interested in what her brother had to say, but she didn’t expect him to only drop a name for her to work with. She scoffed, but whoever needed this favor really had him riled up. It was rare to hear such passion in his voice, she knew Baekhyun really wanted this. 

“You’re asking me to put this random and potentially innocent man behind bars?” she concluded after the thorough explanation. 

“He’s definitely NOT innocent,” Baekhyun shot back, “…and I’m asking you to file a restraining order.”

“For a genius, you should know that the victim is the one to file a restraining order, not me. Contact a family law attorney, sweetie.” 

The line went dead for a few seconds before Jieun spoke up once again. “But for the right price…” she started out amicably, “I can make him legally disappear.”

“You’re unbelievable,” the younger one commented. He knew well enough how capable his sibling is, and she proved just that— her main source of motivation? Money.

Jieun laughed, “What can I say? I’m a hardworking woman.”

Leaving the rest up to her, Baekhyun decided to gamble this decision. He did way too much already to pretend that he doesn’t care. After hanging up the call, he went to check up on the girl one last time before they close up visiting hours for family members only. Baekhyun knocked softly before poking his head inside the designated room. He spotted the girl asleep next to her mother’s side with their hands entwined. The heartwarming image left a smile on his face as he approached Yumi. Baekhyun crouched down slightly to tuck a fallen hair piece behind her ear then proceeded to take off his own blazer. He carefully placed the jacket over her shoulders, trying his best to not wake Yumi up. And with one last look at the girl, he exited the room quietly to call it a day. 

As predicted, Yumi did not attend class the next day. Baekhyun automatically marked her down for a family emergency so her absence would be excused. By lunch time, he found himself staring at her unoccupied seat, knowing very well that the girl will not show up. Even so, the emptiness felt odd to him. Maybe he had gotten used to her petty remarks, or the way she would complain about his boring lunch. The memories alone had Baekhyun cracking a small chuckle without realizing. Moreover, he wanted to show off his brand new and improved meal, in which he spent an extra hour in the morning preparing. Maybe tomorrow, he told himself. She’ll surely be in that empty seat by tomorrow, he thought. 

By tomorrow, Yumi never occupied that empty seat. A few more days went by without any further notice from the girl. A few classmates grew worried, but Jaemin fortunately informed them that Yumi was doing fine from an alleged phone conversation they had last night. Like a matured adult that he was, Baekhyun unknowingly eavesdropped