"Sounds reasonable. You mentioned work. Did you plan the visit because of work?"

Her eyebrows narrowed in confusion, as she nodded her head.

"So you're saying that the visit was out of convenience. That if you were not coming in for work, you would not have visited?"

Namjoon smiled.

Her eyes widened, and she went still.

"T-that's not what I-"

"As we can see, her priorities are elsewhere. If it was not for work, she would not have bothered visiting her son."

"I didn't say-"

Ji-hoon turned to the judge. "I think we should all be looking at the cold, hard facts here. Yes, Ms. Kang may love her son, but it is not to the extent that Mr. Kim does, nor that he's been willing to sacrifice for. While one might argue that Mr. Kim's actions towards Ms. Kang during mentioned arguments was completely out of line, is it so unreasonable that a parent who loves and cherishes their child dearly would become extremely protective when that safety is threatened? If we even look at the witness testimonies Mr. Choi submitted, we can see that yes there were noise complaints, but Mr. Kim was arguing with Ms. Kang about her inability to properly care for Kim Young-Jae. Can we all agree that she has been unfit in her role? "

"N-no wait-"

"Ms. Kang feels entitled to her son's guardianship based upon the fact that she is his mother and that she can provide him with a more 'normal' life. The real questions we should be asking are why she suddenly feels this role of entitlement?"

He turned back to Seulgi. "You believe that because you are a woman, and that you gave birth to this little boy, that you are entitled?"

She was shaking her head now, clearly holding back tears as Ji-hoon pressed on.

"Are you not aware that adoption and surrogacy for same-sex couples is prohibited in South Korea? That circumstances out of Mr. Kim's abilities mean that Kim Young-Jae is Mr. Kim's only shot at a son of his own DNA unless he chose to be with a woman?"

Seulgi tried to open her mouth to say something, but Ji-hoon cut her off.

"Do you still feel entitled, Ms. Kang? Knowing that you are taking away this man's chance at a 'normal' family? That you believe this case is warranted because your feelings were hurt and you were embarrassed by your own mistakes and you wanted to hit back? Do you still feel entitled? Or should we use a better term here, selfish-"

"Mr. Jung," the judge interrupted. "Spiteful and unprofessional language is not tolerated. I will have to fine you if this continues," she warned.

Ji-hoon bowed. "My apologies, your Honor."

He turned back to the girl, who Namjoon thought, legitimately looked on the verge of tears.

"Ms. Kang, I don't mean to embarrass you, but the fact is that I don't think you are right for this role. You have told me you visited your son out of convenience, you refused to be a parent for the first three years of Young-Jae's life, you have proven to be unqualified at caring for the boy and then there is the whole issue of biology. You are capable of having children of your own-"

"But I'm not!" Seulgi exclaimed, before bursting in tears.

The room went silent, as everyone seemed to be processing her words. Without objection, she got up from her chair and rushed out of the room.

What did she mean she wasn't capable?

The judge banged the gavel on the podium.

"We'll take a small break, before convening for the verdict- unless you have your own witnesses to testify, Mr. Jung?"

Ji-hoon's eyebrows were furrowed as he shook his head, bowing before the judge, and walking back to Namjoon.

"Well, this might change some things."

Namjoon's eyes widened, but he was mostly thinking about what Seulgi had said moments ago.

She wasn't capable of having children?

She was a girl. She had girl parts. How could she not have any more children?

"Namjoon-"

"Can you excuse me for a moment?" the man said, standing up abruptly and moving to exit the room.

Opening the door, he looked around seeing Jin and his mother, talking with one another.

Jin looked up seeing the confused look on Namjoon's face and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Joonie? What's wrong? Are you guys done?"

The man shook his head, looking around.

"Did you see Seulgi?"

Jin's head tilted to the side in confusion, but he nodded anyways.

"She went that way. Towards the bathrooms I think," he said, pointing with a crooked finger to his left.

Namjoon nodded, before walking in that direction.

When he came to the women's restroom, he stopped, hearing the sobs from the other side of the door.

He didn't know why, but he felt so guilty.

He sighed, closing his eyes, before knocking on the door.

"Seulgi? Are you in there?"

The sobs quieted down to sniffles, as Namjoon assumed she was listening out, unable to hear the first time.

"Seulgi, it's me. Namjoon."

"Go away, Namjoon."

"I just want to talk. Please? Can I please just talk with you?"

Namjoon held his breath, waiting to see what she decided.

He exhaled in relief, as the sound of the lock from the door clicked open.

Looking around to see if anyone was watching, he quickly slipped in, closing and locking the door behind him.

He turned to see the girl sitting on the toilet seat, arms wrapped around her body, as she dabbed her eyes with some toilet paper.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Like you actually care," she mumbled in response.

Okay, he deserved that one.

"I'm serious. It clearly upset you. What's wrong?"

She seemed to stare at him for ages, eyes going glassy as a sudden spill of tears left her eyes.

"I'm done. I'm done!" she cried out. "Namjoon, I don't want to do this anymore, I just want it to be over!" she was full-on sobbing, as Namjoon awkwardly stared down at her, unsure of how to comfort her.

"Hey, hey," he said, crouching down, trying to get her to stop crying. "Tell me what's wrong. Why are you done? Why did you get upset when Mr. Jung said-"

"Because it's true!" she exclaimed, her hands coming to cover her face. "Because it's true."

"What do you mean?"

It was silent for such a long time, Namjoon thought she was ignoring his question, choosing to just cry instead.

Finally, she stopped crying, inhaled deeply, and sat up straight.

"I can't have children anymore because I had an abortion," she said softly, almost whimpering. "S-sung-ho...h-he...he-" Namjoon knew what she was trying to say, and chose to put a comforting hand on her shoulder to tell her she didn't have to continue.

"I couldn't tell anyone, because I was scared what they might do to keep me silent," she said, a few tears leaving her eyes. "I-it's illegal, but I came here to a clinic that does them." she shook her head, wiping at her eyes. "They did a rushed job. Damaged my ovaries, and I ended up having to recover for a while. T-that's why I needed money, why I lied to everyone, why I got caught up in this mess in the first place."

She looked at Namjoon, eyes full of tears.

"Namjoon, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that I dragged you into this mess, that I let it go this far. I wanted to stop, to forget it all, but it was too late, and the lies just kept piling on top of one another. There was just so much I couldn't say that it became difficult for me to even speak some of the truth. And then it was all just spiraling out of control." she pulled at her hair with her hands. "I wish I could speak the whole truth, how I never intended on bringing up custody, tell the judge how amazing of a father you are, how much you deserve this. How much Young-Jae needs you, but my lawyer told me exactly what I had to say and how to say it. I suspect he's under my sponsor's payroll. I wish I could do more for you to apologize, but I can't. Not without possibly exposing so many other helpless people, putting so many in danger. Please understand."

She looked into his eyes, before handing him her phone.

Namjoon looked down in shock, seeing the screen was on.

She was recording herself.

"I think you should go speak with your lawyer. Tell him how sorry I am. That I wish I could say more, but I can't."

She said, nodding her head as if urging him to take her phone and go.

He stared at her for a moment longer, just wondering if this was actually it.

Was this the end? Was she truly done?

And even if she was, would the judge think the same?

He stared a moment longer before pocketing the device and pulling her into a hug.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help you," he said, feeling her nod into his shoulder, tears streaming down her face.

-

After Namjoon showed the recording to Ji-hoon explaining as much as he could without the other lawyer present, Ji-hoon told Namjoon he'd be a few minutes as he went to find the judge.

Namjoon waited patiently, as the other two slipped back into the room.

He looked over at Seulgi who was wiping her eyes, the lawyer looking down at a few papers, mumbling to himself.

She turned to see Namjoon staring, and gave a small smile, the man returning it.

Finally, the door swung open, Ji-hoon coming in from the back, just as the door opened at the front.

"Please rise for the judge," the employee said again, just as Ji-hoon slipped into his spot next to Namjoon.

They all bowed as she entered and took her position at the podium.

For some reason, Namjoon was no longer worried about the outcome. A weight seemed to lift off his shoulder while he was in that bathroom with Seulgi.

He waited calmly for the judge to sit in her seat, and mull over the papers in front of her.

"This was the case between the plaintiff, Kang Seulgi, and the defendant, Kim Namjoon, over the sole custody of their son, Kim Young-Jae. I have heard your statements, cross-examinations, re-examinations, and have come to a verdict without the need for your closing statements."

She said, looking up at the two sides.

Both remained standing, as she spoke.

"The verdict is that the sole custody of Kim Young-Jae will be awarded to..."

oop 👁👄👁