Kris was a lot calmer by the time they made it home, his coffee half finished, and he was laughing about silly things with Umma by the time they pulled into the driveway and saw a car they didn’t recognize. Kris blinked a few times, wondering if maybe Baekhyun’s mom had come for some reason, but Umma’s mouth was pressed in a line so he didn’t think that was it.

“Come on, baby. Let’s go see who’s here.” She said, opening her door and hearing Kris do the same. They went into the house and Kris remembered, somewhere in the fog that was the previous day, that Mark had said he’d be back again today. He looked relieved to see that Kris wasn’t crying, and Kris took a sip of his coffee just for something to do.

Umma ushered him into the kitchen and they sat at the table - a somewhat rare occurrence, as they usually sat on the stools at the counter - and Kris settled into his seat a bit uncomfortably. He wanted the adoption to happen, but the feeling Mark brought with him wasn’t one Kris generally liked. He was a nice enough guy, but he always seemed to bring news Kris wasn’t fond of.

“I see you’re feeling a little better today.” Mark said, his voice soft. Kris glanced toward the living room, where he could see Tao trying to listen, and nodded.

“For the most part.” He said, looking up at the other a bit sheepishly. Umma rubbed his back as Lay took a seat, not terribly skilled in English, but he didn’t want to be left out.

“Good.” Mark said. “So, I have good news and bad news. What would you like first?”

“The good news.” Umma said right away, wanting to know what exactly it was. Kris was a bad-news-first type, but he stayed quiet.

“I got through to a judge in Vancouver last night, and we’ve got a court date to finalize the adoption process on November 6th.” Mark said, and Kris perked up at that.

“That’s my birthday.” He said, and Mark chuckled, nodding.

“Yes, I know. I thought you might like that.” Mark said, and Kris glanced at Umma, shrugging a little bit. Mark hummed. “That’s also kind of where the bad news comes into play.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” Umma asked, curling her hands around her coffee cup.

“Well, as you know in order to adopt a child we have to receive consent from any living biological parents, or remove all parental rights.” Mark said, and Kris’ eyebrows pulled together. His parents were dead, so it shouldn’t be an issue, and he was about to say so when Mark spoke again. “The problem here is that Kris’ parents want to see him and hear it from him directly that he wants to live with you.”

“They’re alive?!” Kris all but shouted, standing up quickly. “They’re supposed to be dead! What are you talking about?!”

Mark’s eyes went round, and he held his hands up, leaning back in his seat as he nodded. Umma slowly pulled Kris back into his seat, but he was shaking like a leaf. He looked like he’d seen a ghost, and Umma figured maybe it made sense.

“Well...I don’t know who told you they were deceased, but they were misinformed.” Mark said, his voice gentle, and Kris felt like he was going to throw up. “Your biological parents want to meet you, and I believe they’re intending to bring their daughter when they come-”

“Their daughter?” Kris whispered, his stomach knotting up painfully. He didn’t want the coffee anymore. He didn’t want anything to do with this entire conversation.

“Yes. Your biological sister.” Mark said softly, looking at Umma for a moment before continuing. “There’s...something else, as well.”

“What?” Kris asked, his voice bitter and shaking.

“Because you’re a Canadian citizen, we have to complete the adoption process through Canadian courts. You’ll have to meet with a guardian ad litem and a psychiatrist to determine that this is the best place for you to be.” Mark said. “As you know, all of that takes a few weeks, so you’ll have to come back to Canada.”

“Go back to Canada?” Kris echoed, then shook his head. “For a few weeks? That’s too much, Umma can’t take that much time off of work-”

“Kris, you’re misunderstanding me.” Mark said. “Haerin won’t be going with you. You’ll have to stay in a foster home in Vancouver for a couple of weeks while we sort everything out.”

Kris, at first, thought he’d heard wrong. Then, he hoped he had instead. But he knew exactly what was being said to him, and there was a high pitched ringing in his ears as he tried to process that. He wasn’t even sure if what he was feeling was a panic attack coming on, or just standard depression coming in and taking over, but he opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally managing to speak.

“I...what?” He asked, his voice quiet and uncertain, and Mark nodded.

“Kathy said she’s perfectly willing to take you in again, during the adoption process, and I think that’ll be helpful because you already know her and her rules.” Mark explained, watching as Kris took slow, deep breaths, like he was trying not to throw up.

“Kathy hates me.” Kris said, shaking his head a little bit. “I can’t...I can’t go back there.”

“She doesn’t hate you, Kris. She understands that not all children click with their foster parents. There’s no grudge.” Mark said.

“No.” Kris said, still breathing the same way. “No. I-I changed my mind. Nevermind. That’s all too much, just no.”

“Kris, you don’t mean that.” Umma said, rubbing his back gently. “I know you’re afraid, but I promise, it’ll be okay.”

“Mama...” Kris said, looking at her with wide eyes. He wasn’t even sure he could cry right now. He just felt sick. “Y...you want me to go?”

“No.” Umma said. “But I want to make sure no one can ever take you away. And this is how we’re going to be able to do it, so this time, I think it’s what’s best.”

“There’s no psychologists here that can…?” Kris gripped his pajama pants tightly in his fists, and Mark shook his head gently.

“I know it’s scary, but I promise, you will be coming back. This isn’t a move.” Mark said, and Kris did his best not to throw up. “You can fly back with me tomorrow, and we’ll get your appointments set up. We’ll get everything taken care of, so you can go home on the 6th. I promise.”

“Tomorrow?” Kris whispered, and Umma rubbed his back gently.

“It’s just for a little while.” Umma promised. “You can talk to us every day. There’s facebook and video chatting. You won’t have time to miss us.”

Lay was looking around the table with a curious expression, not really sure he understood what was going on. The conversation was a confusing mix of English and Korean, and Lay was bad at paying attention, but he knew something was wrong. He knew Kris was leaving.

Tears slipped down Lay’s cheeks faster than he could control, and he stood up, walking away from the table and going to his room. Kris wished he could do the same.

“Kris?” Mark prompted, and the teen looked at him, more upset than he could realistically put into words. “I know you’re scared. But this is what’s best. I’ll be by to pick you up around nine tomorrow morning, alright?”

“Okay.” Kris whispered, knowing this was a fight he wasn’t going to win. He didn’t want to go to Canada and stay with Kathy and her rules and her cat. He wanted to stay here with Lay and Umma and Tao and all of his friends. He finally felt like he was at home, and he didn’t want to walk away from it all, because no matter what they said, Kris didn’t trust that this wasn’t some elaborate trick. Kris didn’t believe he was coming back. “Okay. Can I go?”

“Of course, baby.” Umma said.

Kris stood up, going through the living room and taking Tao’s hand, leading him to his bedroom with him and going straight to his bed. He didn’t want to be alone, right then. He knew how alone he would be in the morning, and this hurt. He just wanted to stay.