The Day You Saved Me

17.

It is difficult to recognise the place you are in, the lights are dim, and the place is empty and silent. The walls are gray, not a single splash of color in them, too impersonal, too strange, as you start walking a little into the room, echoes resound through the walls, mimicking your steps.

Hiding behind the shadows you can barely distinguish what it is, until you get a little closer and get a better view. A crib, placed in the middle of the room, swaying softly, the shadows seem to dance in harmony with it casting silhouettes that mockingly copy your steps.

As you inch closer, a chilling cry grips your senses, the haunting cries of a baby piercing through the air. You get startled, covering your ears with your hands, but the cries only intensify, echoing through the gray walls that seem to close in on you, suffocating and oppressive.

You are scared of looking into it, but you can't help but wonder how the baby that's inside it looks like. Though you want to reach the crib and try to stop their cries, you notice the more you try to come closer to it, the more it fades into the darkness of the room.

You hold out your hand, as if to reach it and prevent it from getting any further away. And just as you think it is going to disappear completely, you touch it. You can't really tell if it's a dream or not, until you attempt to scream, then lucid terror takes hold, as your voice is imprisoned, you can't hear it, you can't wake up. You are trapped in this terrifying dream, haunted by the echoes of your subconscious.

As you muster the courage to peer into the crib, you are faced with nothing but an abyss of darkness. The cries persist, escalating in intensity with each passing moment. In your desperation to reach the crib, to soothe the unseen infant, you find your movements sluggish, as if going through a thick fog.

"Y/n wake up", Suho shakes you violently, trying to get you out of that hunting dream, you are breathing heavily, as if you've run up 20 flights of stairs in 2 minutes. "I'm fine", you take her hands off of your shoulders, trying to get her to give you some space. "You don't look fine", you get up from the bed, and go to the kitchen to get some water.

"Seriously, Y/n. What is going on, you've been having these nightmares repeatedly", Suho comes up behind you as you grab the glass and pour freezing cold water on it. She grabs your shoulder and turns you forcefully to face her. "You want to know what's wrong with me?" you stare at her sleepy face as the knot throat grows, "My life is fucked up Suho, I can't have one good thing because it's always taken away from me, and my mind makes sure to remind me that every night". You place the glass in the sick and leave the kitchen, shutting your door with a slam.

Suho had been kind enough to let you stay with her as the whole thing about the article cooled down, but it had been particularly hard since you were suspended from your job the last few weeks while JYP figured the whole situation out. Your days consisted in staying home and letting your mind destroy you, and although Suho had advised you to stay away from social media, you couldn't help but read through the hundreds and hundreds of comments there, poisoning your head even more.

------

Your ears ring, white noise coming from the back of your mind as the lawyer in front of you keeps explaining the news he just broke to you. There's no way, it's actually impossible. Out of all the shit Yunho has done to you, this had to be the most fucked up yet. "Mrs, Park?", you direct your eyes to him again, the room feels way too big, and you feel way too small. "We need you to confirm if you want to proceed this way, Mrs. Park", but you don't understand, you stopped listening to him since he pronounced those words.

"I'm sorry, I just don't understand what you said. It's not... He can't do that", you push your hair behind your ears and brush your hands against your face, trying to erase what he said. "Mrs, Park, your husband is declaring you mentally unstable and he is requesting the court to give him legal rights as your guardian." Your head falls against the table again, there's 3 other lawyers there in the room with you, all from the JYP team, and they are all looking at you with pity.

Turns out for adults who are unable to protect themselves due to mental or physical disabilities the court may appoint a guardian to make decisions on behalf of them under certain circumstances, and that is exactly what Yunho wants to do with you. "I'm done with you, Y/N. I'll make sure you get nothing, I'll make sure your life is ruined", those were the last words he had said to you when you last saw him before he was taken into custody all those months ago, and now it all made sense, this was his plan all along.

"He was the one abusing me, how am I the mentally unstable one?", you ask the team of lawyers, hoping to understand the situation you are caught up in now, "His team said you guys were in a serious car accident a few years ago, he says after that you started to have auto destructive behavior and he was only trying to help", he moves the papers he has in his hands around, trying to find the report Yunho's team had sent them.

"What? That's ridiculous", you can't actually believe he would do something like this, "Yeah, I know it's tough, but we can win this. We need to collect all the evidence incriminating him, hospital reports, witnesses, texts, pictures. Everything we can get". He says, but you can only think of all the lies you've told to cover for him every single time he abused you, even at hospitals, every lie you've told the doctors, and every time they believed you.

They continue explaining the kind of evaluations the court would request for you, including medical exams and tests you would have to take during the next few weeks, to prove you are able to take care of yourself. "What if I lose? What's gonna happen then?", you ask him, feeling defeated and powerless against your husband. "Unfortunately he would become your legal guardian. But that's not gonna happen Mrs. Park", the lawyer assures you, but there's a terrible feeling about this settling within you.

You don't know how much time passes in between signing consent for the tests and reviewing all the places they could get evidence from, you just know that when you are done, the first place you run to is the rooftop of the building, wanting to get some air. As soon as you open the door, the first thing you see are his tired eyes, which glitch in surprise as he sees you cross the door and walk towards him slowly. "Y/n", he says in the softest voice.