Man - y.kh

sixty-seven.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked, walking with Hyungwon into the courthouse. "It's gonna be slow, it's gonna be a long process."

Hyungwon nodded, holding my hand. "But it's going to be so worth it if I can raise my son." I smiled, looking behind me to see Minhyuk, Jaesung, and Ms. Lee coming behind us. To the right of us, Akira and her lawyer were walking up the stairs. She glared at me, muttering something to herself.

We all filed into the courtroom, standing for the judge. Mari began to remind Hyungwon of things to keep in the forefront of his mind. "No attitudes with the judge. Even if there's a lackluster agreement for you, you should be respectful and respect what has to be said. Who knows, maybe it'll make the judge respect you more." He nodded, sighing softly. "Remember, testimonies to your character have been evaluated. The judge is telling you today whether you get visitation or if there's gonna be a custody agreement. I wouldn't expect a custody agreement right away, Benji doesn't know you." He nodded again, taking a deep breath.

The magistrate walked in, "You may be seated." We all sat down, tensions rising. "Let's get to the bottom of it. I've looked over evaluations of the characters you each provided to me. Let's start with you, Mr. Chae." Hyungwon stood up, shaking softly. He was starting to spiral and I knew it, but I could reach him. He had to try his hardest to be okay. Having a seizure in court would not look good on him, even if he can't help it. "Mr. Chae, I've found you to be quite pleasant. Despite your past suicidal tendencies and aggressions toward others. You present a... a somewhat changed man to me today. I appreciate that about you. I really want to know, this is a genuine question. What made you decide to detest this situation?"

Hyungwon bit his lip for a second. "In late October, early November of last year, my best friend needed my assistance. He wanted to see his father. At that point he was a very fragile person, you tend to extend yourself and give them everything they want. He knew that. Due to his state of mind, the state of mind that you want to take care of at your own expensive, he got his way. He got what he wanted from me, effectively breaking us apart. As mentioned previously, it seems everyone knows me as part of the two guys on top of the bridge that had to be talked down. At this point, paired with my past and my present, I didn't see any purpose. Until my boyfriend saved me. Since that day, I've been diagnosed with PNES and I struggle to take care of myself mentally sometimes. This sounds like a weak argument, I know. But it was the moment that I found out that my best friend, the guy I was on the bridge with, my literal brother. He was with Akira and Benji's been calling him Daddy... when I was told that, a whole new man emerged. I don't know how to explain that ignition, but that pushed me to fight against the previous arrangements. I take care of my family, my friends, my loved ones. Even when I sometimes fail to take care of me."

It was at that point that Hyungwon started crying. "Take your time, Mr. Chae." The judge smiled softly. He seemed to be an understanding man.

"While I take care of any and everyone, I've never had a chance to take care of my son. And I've always wanted to. I've given away parts of myself to other people that should've been given and reserved for my son. Akira cannot deny how involved I attempted to be in her pregnancy. If you pull out doctor's notes, there's things she would forget to mention that I would tell them and they'd make a note of it, just to keep a track of her health. She cannot deny that I wasn't allowed to be in the room for my son's birth. I wasn't allowed to be in the labor and delivery wing, I wasn't allowed to be in the nursery. I was served with a restraining order on April Fool's Day and my son was born 11 days later. He was born in the evening time, it was raining. But I know nothing else. Akira cannot deny that I wasn't allowed near them, otherwise I would not only know these things, but my name would be on his birth certificate. I know he's allergic to peaches and he's got eczema. He gets it from me, I have a slight intolerance to peaches. His hair when you leave it to grow, I imagine comes in as black curls. I don't want to imagine anymore. Today is March 11th, a month away from his third birthday. I've missed his life, and I want to be a part of it. I want to give me what I never had. Maybe that's a standard answer you hear, but it's true. If rumor has it, no offense, I don't want him to go to sleep at night with every light and television on in the house, while his mother is doing whatever she wants. We don't get to do whatever we want. And we don't get to prevent the other parent from trying to do their job. I wanted to fight because my son deserves to have his father in his life. And he deserves to have his father and not be confused by calling his uncle Daddy. I wanted to fight because that's my son, and I've always wanted him. I just didn't know I was able to fight."

The judge nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Chae." After a few notes were taken, he turned to Akira. "Ms. Nakamura," he offered the conversation up to her.

Akira stood up, smiling a bit. "I am happy with my current relationship. He is so good with my son. Benji is happy. What would be more confusing is adding another person to his life that hasn't been there for him. While he is allergic to peaches and has eczema, he also only speaks a few words. Only a few when he should be using around 200 words. I have to work with him on speech therapy and my ex-boyfriend helped with that."

Judge Kim looked at her. "If he's your ex-boyfriend, then this contradicts your earlier information. You said you were happy in your relationship, you said adding another person would confuse him. Seems to me you're the confused one, Ms. Nakamura. And it's not good to hear around town that you're promiscuous, and no one quite notices or remembers that you're a parent. This causes some concern for me." He sighed, looking at all his information. "At this point, Ms. Nakamura, it seems that you're just limiting Mr. Chae out of spite. That's not constructive to your son. And with that, I have reached a plan for you two." I sat on the edge of my seat. I held hands with Minhyuk and Ms. Lee, hoping for the best start. "Ms. Nakamura, you and Mr. Chae will participate in mediated supervised visits to get your son acquainted with his father. As he gets comfortable, there will be a split custody agreement."

Tears came to my eyes. He did it. Holy fuck, he did it. "Oh my God," I whispered as tears blurred my vision.

"We will reassess progress in June. Case dismissed." The gavel pounded and we stood up, rushing to Hyungwon and Mari.

Hyungwon grabbed onto me. "Goddamn it," he sniffled, starting to cry. "I-I get to be a father. I get to see my son. Oh my God."

I nodded, kissing him softly. "I told you this would work out." I smiled, running my fingers through his hair.