A loving and comitted sever year marriage crumbles after allegations of cheating ends in a nasty divorce. International Idol, Jeon Jeongguk, and Celebrity Stylist, Park Jimin find themselves on the wrong end of a scandal that rocked the entertainment industry. Allegations of lies, abuse, infidelity and alcoholism destroy what was a once in a lifetime love affair. Where the truth ends and lies begin, neither of them really know.

But, after a year in court fighting viciously over alimony, stock options, savings, cars, property and assets, the divorce is finally settled and the judge is ready to rule. Seconds away from going their separate ways forever, there's a...complication.

The two discover a small contractual agreement from six years ago that neither remembered they signed. The obligation causes all of the proceedings to come to a screeching halt as they are forced to deal with a little matter they completely overlooked.

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Author's Note⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have a personal note to all of you here. 2025 has been an awful year for me, but day after day I continued to push through, all because of your love and support. You guys have supported me mentally, physically, emotionally and in some cases financially (even though I give ever penny back to you). 

I love to write Christmas a special story every year. This year, I decided to dedicate the story to you. I cannot thank you enough for the love and support and for just being here. A year ago I was bullied off of twt and sent death threats and had my AO3 account taken down by people who were angry because I praised Jimin for being a good singer. It was at that moment that I decided that I needed a safe place to express myself and focus on my writing. This website was born out of that need. And to my surprised. 89 of you have followed me. My goal is to have 500 members especially since it is free to join, but sadly I never came close to that number. Because this is not Patreon, it is hard to find new members and get new followers, but I am so extremely grateful for those of you who are here. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I pray we will have many more years together.

And now on to the story. SURPRISE! This 50k little nugget is for YOU! As you can tell by the title, it is truly for my Diamonds. Not once have I said I love you and you not said it back. I am so blessed to have a such a freaky, sexy, poly, parasocial relationship with 89 people. We are so NSFW and I love that for us. 

This story is a little different. By the end of the first chapter, you will discover an incredible surprise (Jimin and Jeongguk were surprised too.) This story is about divorce and it may seem like a pretty sad topic for a Christmas story. But hang in there and see it through. I will provide plenty of surprises.

Should be a fast read, so please leave comments. Please, please please. I am so worried about my readership even here on the site. SCALES never even cracked 200 kudos. And only about 10 of you read it here on the webpage. I really feel like I am doing the best writing I have ever done in my entire writing career (which is pretty long), so please continue to give my new content a chance. 

I won't say any more. Please enjoy my Diamonds. So...in the spirit of our naughty sexually satisfying parasocial emotionally dependent relationship, I LOVE YOUUUUUUU NOW SAY IT BACK!

 

Chapter Index

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Chapter Index

Chapter One: The Clause We Forgot about

Chapter Two: The Network's A Mess

Chapter Three: The Chronicles of Banana Milk

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Chapter One: The Clause We Forgot About

              🫧🫧⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆🫧🫧

 

The entire facility smelled like piss, shit and bleach. The same smell that had inhabited the place since the late seventies when the shithole was first built. Junghyun held the expensive cuff of his custom suit against his nose as he made his way down the hall. The forty-six year old attorney stopped in front of the rusted bars and peered through them. There he watched quietly, with irritation and disgust, as his younger brother sat on the metal bench with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands covering his face. He could smell the Vodka and Bourbon all the way from the hallway outside of the musty cell.            

The gash on the side of his brother’s head had to be pretty serious because the police had taken him to the medics before booking him into a cell. Junghyun could see the stitches spanning from his upper cheek up to his eyebrow. If he had to guess, he would conclude that at some point during the altercation, his little brother had a beer bottle broken over the side of his face. It wasn’t a good look. The more Junghyun stared at him through the cold steel bars, the angrier he became. His brother’s behavior was growing increasingly sporadic and this latest episode was the exclamation point at the end of a very turbulent year for his young sibling. The careless behavior needed to stop. Junghyun hoped that ending up in jail would be the wake up call that his brother needed to pull his life together. It was time to move on and stop allowing one man, one failed relationship to fuck up his life.   

 

The prisoner, Jeon Jeongguk, was placed in a general holding cell. Because of who he was, who his brother was, he was given special treatment. With the exception of a druggie who was passed out in the corner and a couple of rats scurrying over his feet, he had the cell to himself. 

He stared down at his fists which had been pulverized during the fight. They were bloody, bruised and swollen, like raw hamburger meat. More important than his blood stained hands, was the black onyx ring that was missing from his finger. He wasn’t sure if he had lost it in the fight or if it had been stolen but he wanted it back. That ring was special and despite everything happening in his life, he never went a single day without wearing it. In fact, in the seven years since he’d received it as a gift, he had never once taken it off. Other jewelry was missing as well, but he didn’t care about any of it. Only the ring mattered. He needed to file a police report immediately so the search to find it could begin. It didn’t matter that it no longer had any meaning - he wanted it back.

Jeongguk lightly tapped the butterfly bandage that covered his wound. It throbbed something fierce, like a fucking heartbeat of pain. He didn’t trust that the jail doctors had treated the wound properly, so he made a mental note to make an appointment with his own physician later in the week. Using the dull reflection of an aluminum dinner tray, he examined the bruises on his face. His face was fucked up. One of his greatest money making assets was destroyed. He had a photo shoot in three days. Showing up looking like a prized fighter who lost his championship bout was not going to go over well with the agency who hired him. He continued to analyze all of the bruises on his face. Most of them would heal fine in a few days. 

It was not until he shifted the tray to his left that he saw the reflection of his brother standing behind him in the hallway. Jeongguk clenched his aching fists and took a deep breath before turning around. As happy as he was that someone was there to bail him out, he really wished it could have been someone else - anybody else. He didn’t want to hear it; another lecture about the folly of his ways. He knew he was drunk again. He knew he had fucked up again. He knew that his brother was called to bail him out, again. He knew it all, but he didn’t want to have to listen to his brother bury him in shame because of it.

“Can we go now? Or do you plan to stand there another hour looking at your busted up face?”

“The other guy looked worse,” Jeongguk joked inappropriately.

 Junghyun was not in the mood. “Need I remind you that we have a fucking court date at 8:00am tomorrow morning? You’re going to lose your shirt if we don’t make a strong stand tomorrow and impress the judge. You’ve already been accused of drinking too much, abandonment and alienation. Now…,”  Junghyun took a deep breath. It was not the right time for the conversation. “Just get your shit and let’s go.” He started down the hall towards the exit as the guard unlocked the cell and slid the bars open to allow Jeongguk to leave.

 

They rode in silence back towards Jeongguk’s penthouse. It was cold out.  Junghyun blasted the heater as Jeongguk placed his achy hands in front of the vents to cup the warmth. The lights of the city seemed muted, no longer capable of its brilliant display. Or maybe that was just Jeongguk’s bleak outlook on life that made the world seem that way.

 

As angry as Junghyun was with his little brother, he more than understood his pain. He even understood why he was lashing out at the world. But that didn’t make it right.

“Look. I’m sorry for coming down so hard on you. But you can’t keep doing this Jeongguk. This is the third time in as many months that I have had to bail you out of jail. It’s killing your public image, not to mention my reputation.”

“Sorry for all of this. This time it wasn’t my fault though,” Jeongguk defended himself.

“Does it really matter? You’re rich and famous. The moment you put your hands on anyone in an act of violence, it’s going to end up with you being sued. I was able to settle all of the lawsuits so far, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep these incidents quiet. As your attorney, I am strongly, strongly advising you to get some help for your drinking. As your brother, I’m begging you to save your own life. You can’t continue this way. This isn’t like you. I remember a few years ago, you wouldn’t touch alcohol. Now you drown yourself in it like it’s water. It’s not healthy. Get help Jeongguk. If the judge finds out that…,”  Junghyun stifled himself. He pivoted to treat Jeongguk more like a little brother than a client. “I love you. You know that?”

“I know.”

“This year has been as fucked up as they come. You’ve been in a battle that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. But tomorrow - well tomorrow it all ends. You’ll be free to reclaim your life and put these last months behind you. I’ll never leave your side, Jeongguk. I’ll do whatever it takes to support you through this. But you have to help yourself first. I can’t keep bailing you out of jail and covering up these lawsuits and assault charges. Help me, help you. Say you’ll talk to someone about your drinking.”

Jeongguk began to cry. Maybe it was the liquor or maybe it was the realization of what was happening at 8:00am the following morning. It was all too terrible, too heartbreaking to even acknowledge. He just wanted the pain to go away so he self medicated with fine bourbon and expensive whiskeys. He wanted to be numb because numbness erased the painful reminders of how his life had spiraled. If he could just erase the last twelve months and go back to the moment he saw the strange video pop up on his screen, he would have just deleted it and never watched it.

 

***

 

Park Nari walked through the dark boutique. There was a single light coming from the storage room in the back of the building. She was comforted by knowing that after a night of looking everywhere from clubs to bars to hotels, she had finally found him. 

As she stepped inside of the storage room, she could see the silhouette of her blonde little brother hovering over the small desk behind the stocked shelves. He mumbled angrily as he scribbled through calculations in the sales tracker. 

“This isn’t right. None of these numbers are fucking right. I fucking hate this!” He yelled into the ledger.

The holidays were coming up and it was the busiest time of the year so the storage room was much fuller than normal. The boutique was much busier than normal but nothing justified Park Jimin working such late hours. She pulled off her coat, revealing a pair of flannel pajamas with Grinch faces all over them. Her mother had called her out of bed to search for her brother and she was none too pleased to have been mired with the responsibility. She folded her arms and tapped her foot with irritation.

“Well at least I can tell mom that you’re still alive.”

“What do you want?”Jimin snapped.

“You. I want you, preferably home in bed or at least returning phone calls.”

“Ok, let me rephrase. What are you doing here Nari? It’s 3:00am.”

“No Jimin, I think the question is - what are you doing here? It’s 3:00am. How much longer are you going to drown yourself in imaginary work?”

“I’m a grown man who does not need his mother and his big sister stalking him. I have work to do and I don’t owe you or mother any explanations.”

“That’s right. You don’t owe us any explanations. But you do owe us respect. We’ve been calling for two days trying to reach you, talk to you, console you, be there for you. Yet you refuse to answer any of our calls or give us the courtesy of a call back. Maybe if you would stop being an asshole, we wouldn’t have to go out searching for you at all times of the night.”

“Sales are down and profits are down. The shipments from Thailand are running late. The shipments from China never arrived at all. We need to readjust the budget to compensate for the inventory shortages. Everything is falling apart and somebody has to keep things running around here.”

“Jimin, that’s a bunch of bullshit and you know it. Mom and I do our part. I know the financial books better than anyone and there is nothing going on with the business that requires you to work these kinds of hours. You’re hiding. You’re avoiding us because you don’t want to talk about it.”

“No Nari. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m sick to death of talking about it. I’m tired of you and my mother always probing into my affairs. I don’t need you, I don’t need mom, I don’t need anybody. I just want to be fuckign left alone!” Jimin threw a stapler against the large row of steel shelves. He pushed several boxes off of the shelf as well, causing them to spill to the floor, dropping the contents all over the ground.

Nari had never seen her brother behave like this. But being the patient big sister that she was, she decided to ignore his tantrum. Casually she strolled over to the boxes of spilled merchandise and began restacking it on the shelf. 

“I know you’re scared. I know you’re hurting. I know you’re upset,” she said as she calmly cleaned up Jimin’s mess. 

“You don’t know anything about how I feel,” Jimin said with vitriol towards his sister. She didn’t deserve his disdain and he knew it, but she was the only one available for him to unleash his anger upon.

She completed her clean up and sat at the small desk as she watched her brother pace back and forth. “Ok, maybe I don’t know everything that you’re feeling. But I love you enough and know you well enough to understand how hurt you are. For the last year since this entire situation started, I’ve been by your side, watching you fight to try to fix it. Now you’re at the end and you have nothing to show for it. I get it, Jimin. I understand how painful this must be. But making an enemy out of me and mom just isn’t the right answer.”

Jimin sat on the hard cement floor and began to cry. This was exactly why he didn’t want to talk because he knew that inevitably Nari would say something that would break him and push him to tears. “I don’t know how to handle this. I don’t know what to do. What is my life going to look like from now on?”

Nari sat on the ground next to Jimin. “I don’t know. But there is one thing that I do know. You’re strong. You’re intelligent, young, and successful. You will survive this.” She placed her arm around her sobbing brother. “As much as this hurts right now, time heals all. You just need time. I’m begging you to focus more on tomorrow than you did on yesterday. Because yesterday is gone forever but your future is as bright as the stars.”

Jimin wiped his skin aggressively as if he wanted to rip the tears from his face. Because even his tears were a reminder of the pain that ached in his bones. He just wanted it to be over. He wanted to move on…

“Please go home Jiminie. You have an early court date tomorrow and you need to be sharp and focused.”

“I know what tomorrow is.”

“Yes, I’m sure you do. I’m also sure that is the reason you’re acting so distant. I almost don’t recognize you, baby brother.”

“I’m not the same man I was. I’ll never be that man again.”

“Please go home. Otherwise, I’m going to have to fetch one of those new Gucci blankets that we just got in from Italy and build a pallet on the desk to sleep until you finally agree to go home.” 

Without saying anything further, Jimin packed up his brief case and grabbed his coat. Nari was right, he had to be in court in less than five hours and he needed to get some sleep.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” he said as he headed back towards the front to leave.

“See you tomorrow? That’s it? That’s all I get? How about - hey thanks for coming to fish me out of my hiding place big sis. Or hey thanks for loving me enough to get out of bed and come looking for me. Or hey, love ya, thanks for being a shoulder to cry on. Or…anything polite and caring would do the trick,” Nari fussed as she put her large overcoat back on. Jimin was already gone. He didn’t even bother to see her back to her car. It was unlike him to be so callous. The pending court date was heavy on his mind and it was affecting his entire personality. Jimin was right when he said that he was no longer the same man that he used to be.

***

 

Seoul Family Court on Gangnam-daero in Seocho-gu began to fill with litigants as soon as the doors opened. The building was the staple location for all family litigations both private and public. Everything from child custody to paternity, child support to family inheritances, child abuse to domestic violence, anulment to divorce were all mitigated and evaluated within the glass walls of the twenty-four story building.

Thirty five different court rooms sat on the bottom level floors. At any given moment all thirty five of those rooms could be occupied with heartbreaking, devastating tales of family woes and broken homes. The beautiful building stood in direct contrast to the nasty matters that were often litigated inside.

But for more mundane matters such as divorce settlements and court ordered mediations, there were smaller, less intimidating spaces for lawyers, clients and opponents to huddle. Although both Jimin and Jeongguk had seen their share of drama in the large public courtrooms of the main floor, that portion of their long fought battle was mostly over.

Throughout the entire messy process, the judge had been stern but fair. Still the most delicate and financially substantive decisions had yet to be made. A final ruling was set to be delivered by the judge during their 8:00am hearing - the last of its kind. No more courtroom drama for them, it was all coming to an end.

 

Forty-year old Nari stepped into the building wearing a slim, exquisitely tailored charcoal grey suit. Her heels clicked against the shiny linoleum floor with the pace of a quickened metronome. She was a fast walker, a fast thinker, a fast talker and a fast negotiator. Even though she specialized in tax law and accounting, she agreed to take on this case purely because of the financial implications to her client. 

She carried a slim leather padfolio, with all of the details of the case divided into thirteen meticulously organized tabs. Her iPad held any other details that she may need at a moment’s notice. She checked her watch several times, nervous about her client arriving on time. It was 7:38am and she hadn’t heard a word from him despite her many calls and texts to his phone. 

Chapter Index

At the far end of the corridor stood her formidable, yet extremely attractive opponent, Junghyun. The two had once been good friends, even going on a couple of dates years ago. But the viciousness of their current case tore all of that apart. At this point in their lives, they were passing ships in a very turbulent sea, headed in diverging directions. Nari watched him as he spoke to several attorneys from his law firm. They laughed casually, while they stood there with their hands deep in the pockets of their very expensive suits. Junghyun caught Nari’s silhouette out of the corner of his eye and then turned fully to face her. He gave her a casual nod as a polite hello and then turned back to his group of colleagues. 

Nari did not return the gesture. They were out for blood, each trying to take down the other. There was no room for cordiality in such warfare. Hence, she would be the one considered weak if she allowed even one modicum of civility to breach their negotiations. Blood, she wanted blood - and his client’s money.

She continued to walk down the hall, looking for room 2242 which was the room that had been assigned for their hearing. After several more minutes, she finally found the correct room. The numbering system in the building was all fucked and confusing, which was why she always arrived early. She opened the door and stepped inside. The room was much smaller than she expected, with the fluorescent lights humming overhead. 

She was startled when she saw Jeongguk already seated on the opposing side. He was wearing dark sunglasses and he had his hair brushed down over his face, with thick unkempt bangs much better suited for a teenager. Several blotches of bruised dark grey skin peppered his face, with the largest wound expanding just beyond the rim of his dark sunglasses. 

Nari had her suspicions. She had no knowledge of how Jeongguk’s face had gotten that way but she was willing to bet all of the gold at the Fed that it was because of another drunken bar fight; the same pattern of fighting that was going to feed very well into her accusation of him being a violent threat to her client. Whatever fracas Jeongguk had gotten himself into, the timing couldn’t have been better. The judge was going to see him with yet another bevy of bruises that supported her case. 

Still, a part of her sympathized with him. Before everything went to shit, everything was really good. At one time, Jeongguk really loved her client. And she suspected that he still deeply loved him which was at the very core of his attention seeking behavior.

“Good morning counselor,” Jeongguk’s voice was deep, broken and barely recognizable. He removed his sunglasses and sought her eyes.

“Your attorney is in the hallway. You may want to get him,” she responded coldly.

He had lost a lot of weight. His face was sunken and his dimples were garishly shallow. But she wasn’t surprised. She had seen similar physical changes in her own client. They were suffering the exact same fate, ironically. The bloody battle between them had taken a toll on both of their souls, leaving them emaciated and spent. 

She grieved for both of them, but especially Jeongguk. He was no longer the happy man who had waltzed with her at his wedding. Or the man who carried her over his shoulder and threw her in the pool at her thirty-eighth birthday party. Nor was he the man who sent her on a one month vacation all expenses paid just because she had won a big case. He was no longer the man that she used to adore; the man that she proudly called brother-in-law. There was no fun, no light that remained in his eyes. Once again, it was all too familiar.

“You’re so wound up in this case that you can’t even speak to me like a human being? Until these papers are signed, we’re still family. You’re still my sis…,” Jeongguk shook his head in disgust. 

Nari didn’t want to argue. She felt it was best to allow Jeongguk to vent while she unpacked her files quietly. And there was still the pesky inconvenience of her missing client. As the clock ticked on, she worried more and more about his arrival. She had no idea what was going on in his head. Was it possible that he was so emotionally fucked up that he would miss the most important trial date of the entire process? In her mind, anything was possible. She stepped into the hallway to text him again. It was 7:50am. 

“Excuse me,” Junghyun said as he stepped past her to enter the room.

She shuffled two feet to the right as she stared down at her text screen. Junghyun whisked past her without another word. He settled next to Jeongguk as they began to whisper.

Nari’s stomach twisted. With only ten minutes remaining until the start of the proceeding, she feared that her client wasn’t going to make it. It was the final mediation settlement hearing and the judge was due to arrive at any moment. 

“Come on…answer,” she muttered into the phone as she attempted one last desperate phone call.

He still didn’t answer. No matter, Nari always came prepared. She had a Plan-B. It wasn’t ideal and it was really going to sour the court towards her client, but she was ready to ask for a continuance. If granted, it would allow them to postpone the day’s proceedings, in essence stalling until she could get her client mentally prepared to show up. It was considered a nuclear option and she hated to do it, but failure of her client to appear would have eradicated the entire settlement they had agreed to. After another couple of minutes with still no response to her text, she concluded that Plan-B was her only option.

She turned to go back into the mediation room and that was when she heard a flurry of accelerating footsteps behind her. She sighed with relief when she turned around. It was Jimin.

“Cutting it a bit close, little brother,” she rolled her eyes with anger.

Jimin slid to a stop before adjusting his collar and straightening his tie. He danced awkwardly into his suit jacket and buttoned it all up before entering the room.

“Sorry,” he said as he squinted from the glow of the overhead lights. 

 

Jimin found a seat on the side of the table opposite Jeongguk. He refused to look up, instead staring down at a stack of papers that required his signature. He could feel Jeongguk staring at him with angry daggers. Under no circumstances was he going to give him the satisfaction of eye contact. It was what he wanted, to force Jimin to look into his sad, pitiful, soulful, doe eyes. He wanted to force Jimin to swim in his pain. Jeongguk could speak volumes with a simple glare and Jimin knew it. Jimin continued to look down at the table. If it was eye contact that Jeongguk wanted, then he could share it with Jimin’s attorney.

Immediately Jimin placed his finger to his nose because he could smell Jeongguk’s cologne. The same cologne that he used to savor while burying his lips into his neck. How a smell could elicit such an emotional pain filled response was beyond his understanding. He tried not to breathe because each whiff of the scent was like a dagger to his heart. Though they were only a few inches apart, the space between them felt like expansive, woeful miles. 

Jeongguk fully understood Jimin’s refusal to look at him but it only enraged him more. It would have been easy to cry, to make a scene, to show weakness with the hope of drawing sympathy. But his tears were all dried up. Left in their place was something corrosive, a feeling as close to hate as he had ever felt for anybody. The face that he once never tired of gazing into suddenly sickened him. All of the nasty memories came storming back. The lies, the betrayals, the fucking deception. Yet Jimin had the nerve to play the victim, to deny the truth that was right in front of him. Yes, Jeongguk hated him yet he wanted to kick himself in the nuts for still being in love with them.

 

There was a thin line of separation between being counsel and being a sibling. Both parties, both Junghyun and Nari, played their roles well, ever cautious like two nervous chaperones. Tensions were running so high that anything could happen. They were so close to closing this chapter and walking away with all parties satisfied, but the tension in the room was at its height. They both glanced at each other, thinking the same thoughts and fearing the same fears. Neither trusted their little brothers. 

Jeongguk continued to stare daggers into his soon-to-be ex-husband. Junghyun leaned over and whispered into his ear, “You good?”

“Yea, yea I’m fine,” Jeongguk whispered back.

“Then maybe stare down at the paper and not at Jimin. You’re making him uncomfortable and we don’t need this, not today.”

Jeongguk pursed his lips and looked away. 

Jimin tugged at his collar and sat back in his chair. He continued to pretend to read through the papers. The moment Jeongguk pulled his eyes away Jimin dared to glance up at him. It was then that he noticed his bruised face. He was so alarmed that he instinctively muttered, “What the fuck happened to your face?”

Before Jeongguk could speak, the judge entered the room. He brushed through the door so swiftly that the wind followed him, rustling the papers on the large glass table. After a year of dealing with this couple, he was ready for them to be cleared from his docket. 

Judge Soon immediately dropped his reading glasses over his face and stared over the top of them at Jimin, Jeongguk and their attorneys, “Good Morning. The case of Park vs. Jeon…looks like we have everything in order. Your attorneys should have given you copies of the agreements. Let’s do a quick walk through of the terms. Just a few more minutes gentlemen and this will all be over.  Judge Soon shuffled through his copies of the settlement and began to read…

Jimin was too struck by Jeongguk’s appearance to turn his attention towards the judge. He continued to glare at Jeongguk. His hair was flat and listless, his hands were bloody and bruised as if he had been pounding pavement. And the most shocking of all, his black wedding ring was gone. No matter how ugly and contentious the divorce had become, the one steadfast constant in Jeongguk’s life was that he always wore his wedding ring. He refused to remove it and bristled angrily at the sheer mention of it from his friends and attorneys. But suddenly it was gone, leaving only the pale tan lines of where it had sat for seven long years.

For Jimin, seeing that ring gone was like being doused with ice water. It made everything too real. This was happening, it was really happening and just like the day he was first served with the divorce papers, he felt sick, unwilling and unable to move on. He didn’t want this. All he wanted was to drop to his knees and beg for Jeongguk’s forgiveness and make it all go away. His hands began to shake, a precursor to the scream that he wanted to let out. 

Perpetually unimpressed, Judge Soon didn’t read the room. He might otherwise have noticed that Jimin needed a break. “Let’s see here, both parties have agreed to nullify the prenuptial agreement that was signed seven years ago. Mr. Jeon has agreed to relinquish 50% of his assets from the premarital brokerage account that is currently valued at $13million with $7.5million going to Mr. Park. Is that correct?” Hearing nothing but silence, the judge broke his reading cadence and stared out over the table. “Is this correct?”

“Yes. Yes, your honor, that’s correct,” Jeongguk answered after being nudged hard in the ribs by Junghyun.

“Yes, my client has supported Mr. Jeon’s career, relocating twice to manage the household and other matters. That is active appreciation that entitles him to half,” Nari reiterated the basis for Jimin’s request.

“Fine. The next matter is the separation of property. Mr. Jeon has agreed to transfer the property in Narita, Japan to Mr. Park. A value of $4.1million. He has also agreed to maintain insurance coverage for all of the properties in Mr. Park’s name. Mr. Jeon, you have also agreed to give up all brokerage accounts and stock investments. Is that correct?”

“Correct,” Jeongguk said again, eyes fixed sadly upon his lap.

“Alright. This leaves but one matter to be litigated and then we can wrap this up. Mr. Park you have stated as grounds for the divorce that Mr. Jeon is violent and has an erratic temper. You have accused him of verbal abuse, and public humiliation. As a result you are also requesting ownership of the couple’s three cars and two motorcycles. You have submitted a claim to the court that would allow you 30% of all future earnings of Jeon Jeongguk for the next twenty years, terminable by cohabitation or marriage. Do I have all of that correct?”

Once again there was silence in the room. Jimin refused to answer. His knees were bouncing so hard that they shook the entire table. His face was frozen in a horrified expression as he listened to all of the vile things he had accused Jeongguk of doing. Having a bulldog for a lawyer was great if he hated his opponent, but more and more he realized that he didn’t hate his husband. He desperately still loved him. Pressure swelled in his chest. His heart felt heavy, his limbs felt heavy. He wanted to jump from his own skin just to flee the psychologically repressed feelings of guilt and regret. 

Suddenly the dam broke, “NO!” Jimin jumped to his feet, “No, your honor. NO! Jeongguk please. Please listen to me. It’s not too late…,”

Jimin’s sudden outburst startled everyone in the room, even the judge. They all winced and looked up as Jimin leaned over the glass table, eyes dead focused on Jeongguk’s bruised face.  

Jeongguk stared back at Jimin, eyes full of tears, pain and horror. He inadvertently used his thumb to touch his black onyx wedding ring for soothing, and that’s when he remembered it wasn’t there. He shook his head before responding coldly to Jimin’s outburst, “You started this, not me.”

“YOU STARTED THIS! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO GAVE UP ON ME! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO STOPPED BELIEVING IN ME!” Jimin yelled back, pounding his fists upon the table. The situation was quickly spiraling out of control.

The judge was irritated once again, “Counselor, please get your client under control,” he snapped at Nari.

“Yes, your honor.” Nari pulled Jimin back down into his chair and held his hand under the table. She rested her loving hand over his to snap him out of his tantrum. This was exactly what she had feared; some last minute antics by her brother that would threaten to reverse all of the hard work they had accomplished over the last year. 

The judge gave Jimin time to settle down. He took a few sips of water and shuffled through the papers again. Rarely had he ever seen one party or the other try to rescind at the last possible moment, especially when they were winning. 

After several minutes, he continued, “As I was saying, the last matter to be decided is alimony and possession of the vehicles, and the official grounds for the divorce. Is that correct?” The judge reiterated.

Nari answered immediately, “Yes, your honor. My client has submitted proof of the allegations as well as the documentation required to support our claims and why we are asking for such a substantial settlement. As attested to earlier this year, my client has been subjected to spurious claims and accusations both publicly and privately. As a small business owner and the spouse of a famous celebrity, these claims have directly affected the operations of his boutique. None of the accusations are true and we are asking for this settlement as fair compensation for the suffering my client has endured at the hands of the partitioner. As for the abuse, you can see by the partitioner’s current condition that he has a propensity for violence and aggression. My client has not suffered any physical abuse at the hands of the partitioner, but it is critical that we settle this matter quickly so the volatile situation can be remediated before it escalates into physical violence. The marks on Mr. Jeon’s face were not caused by an unfortunate fall in the shower. I would like to bring the court’s attention to this police report filed last evening, summarizing the reason for Mr. Jeon’s arrest and ragged condition. He was in a bar fight, your honor.”

“Nice try Mrs. Park. I’m aware of the supplemental evidence that you submitted early this morning while I was still sleeping. I’ve reviewed it all and it has no relevance to this case. Thank you for your speech but we are not here to litigate this issue again. We’ll talk more about that when I’m ready to make my ruling. But before I read my decision, I would like to finalize the partitioner’s claim for the final record because I do believe it is an important part of my ruling. So let’s move now to Mr. Jeon’s countersuit and why he is refusing to accept the terms that Mr. Park has requested in his bid for alimony.” The judge turned to Jeongguk and peered once again over the rims of his reading glasses, “Mr. Jeon, you are claiming adultery on the side of Mr. Park. Your claim is that Mr. Park has been keeping a mistress. You submitted your evidence of the affair along with your filing. It is for that reason that you feel the responder has relinquished all claims to alimony and future support. Is that a true statement?”

“Yes, your honor. My client has been more than generous with dividing the marital assets, property and investments. But to expect him to pay alimony when he is the real victim here of the respondent’s lies, betrayal and infidelity is beyond reproach.”  Junghyun answered on behalf of Jeongguk who was once again staring at Jimin with the most pain filled expression any of them had ever seen. The sadness in his doe eyes was almost unbearable to witness even for Nari and Jimin.

“Very well,” Judge Soon nodded. “Now that both sides have been read into the record, I’m ready to make my final ruling.”

Jimin was still shaking, unable to release the emotional remnants of his outburst.

After more shuffling of papers, the judge finally spoke, “Let’s start with the easy one first; regarding the family vehicles, Mr. Park you get one car and one motorcycle. The Porsche Macan as well as the BMW Motorcycle. Mr. Jeon you get two cars and one motorcycle. That’s as evenly as I can split it without taking a chainsaw to the last vehicle.” He laughed. “And that is not an invitation to either of you to do it either.”  He looked at both of them sternly. “Now on to my final judgement. The court has reviewed the respondent’s claims and your requests for additional spousal support on the grounds of verbal abuse, cruelty and abandonment. I have reviewed all of your claims and the evidence submitted to this court and I find that your claims, Mr. Park, are unfounded. You, yourself admit that there was no abuse. And what you’re claiming as

verbal abuse has been interpreted by the court as impulsive reactions from a hurt man who feels you have been unfaithful. Although the court does not condone Mr. Jeon’s behavior either publicly or privately, I don’t feel it rises to a level that would entitle you to alimony or ongoing spousal support. That claim is denied. However, as a condition of the divorce, I do hereby restrict Mr. Jeon from speaking publicly regarding this matter or the circumstances that he perceives led up to the divorce. Mr. Jeon, you are hereby gagged and restricted from mentioning Mr. Park explicitly by name or in vague reference during interviews, discussions or speaking engagements, effective immediately. Failure to comply with my court order will automatically override this ruling and grant Mr. Park the alimony he seeks. So tread lightly Mr. Jeon.”  

Jimin accepted the ruling without reaction. It was never about the money anyway. He just wanted Jeongguk to pay for the false claims he had leveled against him. He wanted Jeongguk to pay for ruining his life and destroying their marriage. He just wanted Jeongguk to feel his pain.

“Thank you, your honor,” Jimin said softly.

“Now moving on to Mr. Jeon’s claims of adultery on the part of Mr. Park. Based on the evidence provided, I am satisfied that Mr. Park is guilty of adultery. With that said, I will be granting this divorce on the terms of adultery and marriage abandonment. As previously mentioned, all claims to alimony and ongoing spousal support are dismissed. Mr. Park, the petitioner has been very generous with his settlement, take it and be happy that it wasn’t worse. Ok, I think that settles all of the matters that are before this court. Those are my rulings. Sign the papers, file them with my clerk and you two will be free to move on with your lives. I wish you both the best of…,”

“Your honor!” A disheveled court assistant rushed into the mediation room. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. “Your honor, please wait. Please don’t dismiss yet. We have…we have another issue,” he said out of breath.

“Juhoon, why are you here interrupting these proceedings? And why are you all sweaty?” Judge Soon grimaced.

“I was trying to get here in time, sir. I ran all the way from building six. I need to advise the court of something. Please excuse my interruption but it’s important and directly affects this divorce hearing,” Juhoon said.

Jimin and Jeongguk both stared at their attorneys. Neither of them had any idea of what this could have been regarding. All issues had been settled and as far as they were concerned, there was nothing else to be considered. They waited patiently for Juhoon to enlighten them.

“What is it? Make it quick. This case is all wrapped up, they’re just waiting for me to do my gavel banging thing,” Judge Soon joked.

“You asked me to do additional searches to make sure that all assets and contracts signed by both parties had been entered into the record. You told me to make sure there was no stone unturned and nothing outstanding that you didn’t know about. Well I did as you requested. I searched every legally binding agreement, and every contract and I stumbled upon something that is big. Very big.”

“What?” Jeongguk said, out of turn.

Junghyun shooshed him and repeated, “Whatever you found, it’s not relevant. There is nothing. I’ve scoured all public records as well. There is nothing outstanding that would affect these proceedings,” Junghyun assured them.

Juhoon slid the two pieces of paper across the table and placed them in front of the judge. The judge immediately began to read. It took him about three minutes to read through both pages and process it all. Juhoon was right, this was big. Very big.

“Is there something you two forgot to mention?” he said as he peered at Jimin and Jeongguk over the rims of his glasses. 

“No. Nothing,” Jeongguk said.

The judge decided to let him in on his little discovery, “About six years ago, you signed a contract with the Korea Welfare Services for adoption of a child. And not just any adoption, a contracted one where both of you agreed to co-parent if a child of your requested age became available. Apparently, a child recently became available which is probably why this contract was triggered in the system for Juhoon to find. It’s a boy. His name is Keonho and he is six years old. And he is indeed waiting for you. Has no one from the agency contacted you about this?”

Jimin and Jeongguk stared at each other with eerie recollection. At one time, long ago they had decided to become parents. But it was long, long before Jimin’s adultery and Jeongguk’s alcoholism. 

Jimin came to both of their defenses, “Your honor. Surely you can’t hold us to this contract given everything that has transpired. We never would have imagined that six years ago we would be in divorce court. Just void the contract and discharge us from the process. Surely you can do that?” Jimin asked.

“Surely I cannot. Did either of you bother to read the terms of the agreement before you signed it?”

“It was six years ago. I’m sure we read it back then, but…it was six years ago. We just wanted a son, so very badly. You have to understand, we were in love and we never thought our marriage would end - ever. We just wanted a child to complete our family. But all of that has changed now. We can’t bring a child into this mess,” Jeongguk said honestly.

“Mr. Park. Mr Jeon. This is not as simple as division of assets. I have no jurisdiction over the Korea Welfare Services. This is a contract that each of you signed freely. You’re on the hook for the adoption of this child as a married couple. The terms clearly state that you will take guardianship of this child. There does appear to be some rare situations in which you can appeal for the dissolution of the contract, but that will be up to you two to resolve. My hands are tied here. However, as a responsible officer of the court, I cannot grant the finalization of this divorce until you two figure this out. You’ve created quite a mess here and inadvertently involved an innocent child. That needs to be dealt with immediately. I have no choice but to grant a continuance based on your ability to resolve the terms of the contract with the Korea Welfare Services. Good luck gentlemen. See you again soon,” the judge banged his gavel and left the mediation room. 

The four of them sat there stunned. Neither Jimin nor Jeongguk had ever mentioned to their siblings/counsel that they had a pending adoption in progress. 

Junghyun was the first to blow his top, “What the fuck? What the fuck? I cannot with you two. You signed up for an adoption and didn’t think that tiny little tidbit of information was important to tell your attorneys or your siblings during a divorce hearing?” He screamed.

Nari was already two steps ahead. “I’m getting on the phone with KWS right now. Let me see what kind of damage control I can do to get us out of this. Damnit! This is not the publicity we need right now. Two very public figures reneging on a contractual agreement to adopt a poor innocent child in need. Great job boys. Great fucking job….HELLO!” Nari paused mid tantrum to speak with someone at KWS who had answered the phone.

“You can’t snap at us for wanting a child. We were a very happy and stable couple. We didn’t know things would end like this,” Jeongguk tried to explain again.

As the soon-to-be exes continued arguing with Junghyun, Nari chatted in lawyer-speak in the background. Her heels once again clicked against the floor as she paced up and down the hallway directly outside of the mediation room.

Junghyun was not finished yelling, “Fine. Fine. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a child. But this is not just wanting a child and waiting for your name to be called. This is a contractual agreement for fucks sake.”

“It was the only way to guarantee placement of a child who met our qualifications. We were too busy for an infant, but didn’t want a teenager either. We wanted someone young but not too young. The only way to guarantee that we would be given a child who was a match was to sign this contract. And it worked. They found a match,” Jeongguk spoke again.

Jimin was at a loss for words. As he sat there listening to the banter around him, his mind flashed back to the moment they first visited the orphanage six years prior. They were so happy back then. They were young, ambitious, wealthy, even tempered, loving - the absolute most perfect parents that a prospective child could have. He remembered specifically in granular detail the warmth radiating from Jeongguk’s palm as they held hands while visiting the children’s rooms. He remembered the beauty in Jeongguk’s face as he held an infant for the first time and crinkled his nose with joy each time it cooed. He could still hear Jeongguk’s laughter as he watched Jimin crawl along the floor with a three year old, playing hide and seek. The smells of fresh baked bread, the singing of Gom Se Mari coming from the room where all of the preschoolers were gathered around the table, the sullen expressions of the volunteers; all of it came rushing back to him. There were so many sweet faces to love. Of course Jeongguk wanted to take all of them home and it made sense back then to adopt. But in present-day, the entire concept seemed ridiculous.

“Shit. This is not good. Not good.” Nari cursed as she disconnected the call with KWS and threw her phone onto the table.

“What? What did they say?” Junghyun questioned.

“The process has already begun. There are certain steps that we must complete. In thirty days, this adoption will be final if we don’t get KWS to agree to let us out of the contract. We have to move fast. I’ll submit the formal appeal for dissolution of the contract and then we’ll have to cover the fees for all of the paperwork, housing, and work done by the team. And lastly we may have to appear in court for a quick briefing to explain why the situation has changed and these two can no longer fulfill the terms of the contract.”

“Ok…that all sounds great. There’s a way out. So, why so upset?” Junghyun asked with concern.

“Like I said. The process has already begun which means until we get this resolved and thrown out, these two have to follow the guidelines as outlined by KWS to avoid being sued for breach; starting with meeting the child.”

“Meeting the child? But we don’t want the child. Why would we meet him? That’s just going to make the process even harder on the poor kid. Does anybody in that place have a fucking brain? Why should we be forced to meet him, only to tell him that we don’t want him? Fuck that. No. I won’t,” Jimin folded his arms and turned his back to all of them. 

“Yes, maybe you little assholes should have thought about that before you signed a fucking contract!” Nari was still upset.

Junghyun was still trying to process the requirements, “Meet the kid, then what?”

“KWS will complete their background checks. There are a couple of required outings. The KWS committee will have subsequent meetings with the kid to discuss how things are going. And after 30 days, the adoption will be final. Apparently these two paid all of the adoption costs up front to show how serious they were about the placement.”

“What if we don’t get the contract dissolved before then? Surely they won’t place a kid in a broken home?” Jeongguk asked.

Nari tried to explain without revealing her innermost thoughts. “It’s worse than that. You and Jimin could end up in a custody battle with both of you battling over a kid neither of you want but are contractually obligated to. Like I said - this is a mess.” 

Nari fell down into her chair. She was almost in tears. For one full year, she had worked her ass off to get Jimin a good divorce settlement. Afterall, in the eyes of the law, Jimin had committed adultery and he was entitled to absolutely nothing. And if not for the fact that Jeongguk decided to be generous, he would have walked away with absolutely nothing. This was supposed to be over. Adding a custody battle into the mix would negate all of the previous settlements Jeongguk had agreed to. This can of worms did not bode well for Jimin.

Jeongguk’s voice broke the silence, “Jimin?” Everyone held their breath as they waited to hear what Jeongguk had to say. “The adoption was all my idea. I never thought…,” he shook his head, tears falling in large droplets from his eyes, “I never thought we would end up here. This is all my fault. I’m the one who insisted on signing the contract because that’s how much I wanted a son. If you want to walk away, you can. I’ll show up and face the kid. I’ll break the news to him. We’ll get the contract voided and move on with finalizing the divorce. In the meantime, you’re free to go. I got us into this. I’ll get us out,” Jeongguk said kindly.

After an eternity of having his back turned to the entire situation, Jimin finally turned around to face the group. “I’m coming too. If there is any decency left between us, we’ll handle this like adults who were once madly in love. Let’s do what’s right for this kid,” Jimin said softly. 

For the first time that day, the two looked at each other with soft eyes as they silently agreed.

***

 

Keonho bounded out of bed around 4:00am. He was too excited to sleep. Too happy to slumber. Too thrilled to keep his eyes closed. He ran to the closet and pulled it open, revealing the new suit he had requested for the meeting with his new dads. The suit wasn’t technically brand new, it had been purchased from a thrift store. But it was new for him and that was all that mattered.

In only seven more hours, he would come face to face with his new family. He imagined in his head over and over again how it would be. He would run and jump into their arms. They would cover his face with kisses, give him cool toys and then they would all travel to his new home on a pony. The day was going to be perfect, he just knew it.

 

His time living with his abusive uncle had come to a tragic end when Keonho found his uncle hanging from the balcony one day after school. He had committed suicide very publicly for all of the world to see. With no other family to care for him, Keonho was sent to the orphanage.

There was only one thing he wanted for Christmas - parents. Parents who wouldn’t beat him, or call him names or blame him for everything that went wrong in the world. He wanted parents who would love him, teach him things, take him places and tell him bedtime stories. Parents were all that he wanted. And after eleven months of living in the sad, lonely orphanage, a match had finally been found for him, just in time for Christmas.

The Director of the orphanage had promised him that the suit would fit, but Keonho didn’t trust it. He had to try it on for himself. The moonlight slipped through the bedroom as Keonho dropped from his bed. His bare feet found the cold floor one step at a time, toes curling against the laminate. The black velvet of the night pressed against his eyeballs. He held his breath as he found his way through the darkness, passing by each bed that was occupied by his sleeping roommates. He didn’t want to wake them but every wooden board seemed to have its own loud creek. He tried to avoid the noisiest planks by balancing his weight over his small toes and carefully placing them on the slits between the planks. As he moved stealthily, he floated over them like a tiny ghost.  

The closet was at the far corner of the large bedroom. After several minutes of tiny tot acrobatics, he finally reached it. He could barely see the crooked brass knob by the light of the moon but it was just enough to determine that the door was already open a small crack, just enough for him to see his suit hanging there. As he grew closer his nose was tickled by the faint hint of mothballs. He smiled. Keonho climbed up onto a chair that sat next to the window. He peeled his pajamas off and danced around the room in his Spiderman underwear as he pulled the tweed gray suit from the closet.

Suddenly a hushed voice spilled from behind him, “Hey…jerk what are you doing awake? Why are you making so much noise?” Jae, a fellow orphan dweller, age fifteen, was awakened by Keonho’s stirring in the darkness. He sat up and glared at his roommate. “Go back to sleep before you wake up the others.”

There were five other boys sharing the room: Jae, Taemin, Taeyang, James and Eunwoo. Jae’s voice woke two of the others. 

“Hey what’s going on?” Taeyang yawned.

“Keonho, why are you awake so early?” Taemin asked.

“Go back to sleep dragon breath, I swear to God you little kids are annoying,” Jae scolded.

“What’s going on? Why are you in your underwear?” Taemin asked again.

Keonho tried to settle them down, “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep. I’m just trying to take care of something. It’s no big deal. Please go back to bed.”

“No, you go back to bed,” Jae said. “You’re going to get all of us in trouble.” 

At fifteen years old, Jae was the oldest boy in the group, with Taeyang being thirteen, Taemin being fourteen, Eunwoo being twelve and James being eleven. Keonho remained the youngest, just having turned six in November.

“Hey, is that a new suit?” Taemin asked. “Why do you get special treatment, you freak?”

“It’s for my interview with my new parents. I asked Director Lee to buy it for me,” Keonho said proudly.

“It’s not even new, moron. She got it from the thrift store. Nobody around here gets anything new, especially you, you loser,” Taeyang laughed.

Keonho had wasted enough time. His only focus was trying on his suit for proper fit. Despite the other boys teasing and cat-calling, he slid into the slacks and then the suit jacket. He ran to the mirror to get a good look at himself. The suit was a little bit too long in the sleeves, but still a good fit. He liked the way he looked, proper, mature, ready for a new life with his new parents. He spun around several times in the mirror until he felt a heavy shoe strike him square in the center of his back. A thick, treacherous heat built between

his shoulder blades. The pain stung like a billion bees. He blinked hard, once, twice, staring at the scuffed floor as he tried to hold his scream. He couldn’t cry because crying would only make it worse. He hated his roommates. He hated being the youngest. He hated being their punching bag.

“GO TO BED and stop making all of that damn noise,” Jae called out again. He held another shoe in his hand and threatened to throw it.

“Go to bed, please Keonho, you’re going to get us in trouble,” James pleaded.

“Ok, ok,” Keonho hugged himself to try to disperse the pain in his back. 

Just then a light switched on in the hallway.

“It’s Director Lee, quick, everybody back to your beds,” Jae whispered.

The boys rustled and scampered to return to their beds before Lee Sunyoung, the Director of the orphanage, caught them awake.

Keonho had no time to put his pajamas back on, so he bounded towards his bed still wearing his suit. He covered himself from head to toe in his large blanket and began to feign a rather odd whistling snore. 

Thirty-five year old Lee Sunyoung stepped into the boys’ bedroom and switched on the light. She assessed the scene of the crime quickly. The closet door was open and there was a tiny pair of discarded pajamas on the floor and Keonho’s suit was missing. 

Everyone appeared to be sleeping soundly but the Director wasn’t falling for it, especially considering that she had just heard the loudly whispering voices a few seconds earlier. Even though she knew the boys had been awake, she didn’t feel they needed to be disciplined for it. All signs pointed to one single culprit who likely had started all of the trouble - Keonho.

***

 

The Korea Welfare Services building was on 21 Nonhyeon-ro in Gagnam-gu. It was regulated by South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare. There were several different orphanages located throughout the city but this by far was the smallest. With only thirty kids living on sight, it was one of the most efficiently run orphanages in the entire country. It was also where most of the younger children in the system were housed until they reached a certain age. 

 

It was operated by a young bleeding heart children’s advocate named Lee Sunyoung. Director Lee was raised in an orphanage herself, never having known the love of adopted parents. She entered the system at age eleven and remained there through the age of nineteen when she was finally released as an adult. Through Director Lee’s life, she had been physically abused, neglected and cast aside for younger children that were considered more desirable for adoption. Her life had not been easy, with most of the abuse falling at the hands of the Director of the old Social Welfare Services system; a system that had to be completely overhauled due to scandal and corruption in the early 2000’s. 

Director Lee was appointed as the Director of KWS when she was only thirty years old. After only five years on the job, she was highly regarded as one of the best in the industry. But that didn’t make her job any less difficult nor the complicated circumstances of discarded children any less heartbreaking.

 

Director Lee sat in her office looking through Keonho’s file. His case was a tragic one; years of physical abuse, an absent mother who was addicted to opioids, a father who was missing, presumed dead, and an uncle who maliciously hung himself right in front of the bus stop where Keonho was dropped after school. 

But sadly, this six year old’s case was not extraordinary and his story was not much different from all of the other children. But what was extraordinary was Keonho himself. With an elevated IQ that far exceeded the range for most kids his age, came a settled maturity that many of the others lacked.

Director Lee Sunyoung had a healthy heart full of love for all thirty children under her supervision. But there was something about Keonho that made him one of her favorites. It was not right to have favorites, but this precocious, clever, loving, intelligent, pure soul captured her from the first moment they met. Because of his age, she doubted that he would be quickly placed, but she was relieved to know that she was wrong. Eleven months into his stay at KWS, a routine query of the parental waiting list uncovered a loving gay couple who lived in Cheongdam-dong neighborhood within Gangnam. The adoption fees were already paid and they were waiting and willing to receive a son between the ages of three and seven and it seemed like Keonho was a perfect match.

Director Lee was ecstatic to see Keonho find a home. He was much smarter than the other boys and much younger, which often led to cruel treatment and harassment from his roommates who were intimidated by his ability to out-think them. The Director tried to keep an eye on him but with thirty other children in the facility, it was difficult to always keep the other boys in line. 

At last, there was hope because this was the day that Keonho would meet his new parents. All of the background checks had been completed, the mental health evaluations were passed, and the contracts were ready to execute. Everything was done. The only thing that remained was for the new parents to take their new son home. 

Initially, Director Lee didn’t receive any response to either her letters or phone calls alerting the parents to the fact that a match was made. That seemed odd, given that they had waited for six years to find their son. But her mind was eased when their attorney contacted her to schedule the pick up of Keonho. The parents wanted to meet as soon as possible and that was a very good sign.

Director Lee questioned whether or not it had been a good idea to tell Keonho about the pending adoption so far in advance. But with the process being so far along, she felt confident that it was safe to give him the news. Besides, he needed to know what was happening. He was so excited, so hopeful that it would be the beginning of a better life. She enjoyed seeing the newfound happiness on his face and the smile that never seemed to fade.

Even though the new parents were not scheduled to arrive for another two hours, Keonho was already dressed in his gray suit, powder blue bow tie and shiny shoes. Director Lee had managed to scrape together an entire corporate uniform based on the very detailed requirements provided by her favorite orphan. There was no budget for clothes or shoes within the confines of KWS, so she had to dip into her own pocket and shop modestly at a thrift store. This kind of favor shown towards a resident was strictly forbidden, but she was willing to bend the rules if it helped little Keonho with his adoption. And her deeds did not go unnoticed because Keonho was exceedingly grateful.

 

Jeongguk arrived first, his stomach full of dread and heartache. So much had changed since the time when they first pursued adoption. Under normal circumstances, this would have marked the best day of he and Jimin’s lives. But in their current situation, it was the worst. 

He stretched his long legs from his Porsche Macan as he exited the car. There was a chill in the air as Fall settled around him. Once upon a time, October, November, December were his favorite months of the year, but not anymore. Now they were just colorful, painful reminders of how far his life had fallen into the abyss.

Jeongguk double clicked on his key fob. Before walking away, he took a few moments to appreciate his car. It had been awarded to Jimin in the settlement and as soon as the divorce was finalized, it would no longer belong to him. That pissed him off. But he repressed those feelings and remained focused on the matter at hand. 

With a few lassos around his neck, he layered his long cashmere scarf to shield himself from the bite of the frosty breeze. A quick check of his email gave him the instructions he needed to know where to go. He was scheduled to have a conversation with the Director, Lee Sunyoung. His hope was that he would be able to convince her to bypass the actual meeting with the child since the adoption agreement was being challenged. The quicker he was able to explain his situation and flee, the better it would be for all parties involved. He decided that it was best to just be completely honest and make arrangements to pay everyone for their inconvenience. Until the adoption matter was settled, Judge Soon refused to finalize the divorce. Jeongguk had to convince KWS and Director Lee to void the contract. After a year of all out war against each other, the last thing Jimin and Jeongguk needed was to be forced to be tied together any longer.

Even though Jimin made a noble stance in front of their attorneys, with claims to stand by Jeongguk as they worked through the adoption mess, Jeongguk didn’t really expect him to be involved. It was Jeongguk who wanted a son. Jimin only went along with it because he loved Jeongguk and gave him everything he wanted. At least that was how Jeongguk felt about it.

So when his soon-to-be ex-husband pulled into the parking lot, Jeongguk was surprised to see him. Because of the sudden unscheduled nature of the meeting, both Junghyun and Nari were tied up in court, leaving the two exes to chaperone themselves. It was a risk because at that moment, Jeongguk felt nothing but hatred and anger towards the man he still called his husband.

 Jeongguk walked briskly towards the car door. As soon as Jimin exited, he was met with a vitriolic, “What are you doing here? I told you I would handle this.” Jeongguk folded his arms.

“And I told you, we were in this together. Look Jeongguk, you’re not the only one who wanted a son. Yea, I was a little reluctant at first, but by the time we signed the contract, I was all in. I wanted this just as badly as you did. Now that we have to…dismantle it…it’s not fair for you to have to do it alone. I know how painful this is going to be and it’s a pain that we will bear together. We need to be polite for the sake of this child. This needs to be handled delicately by both of us.”

“Fine. We’re a few minutes early but I’m sure she won’t mind. Let’s get this over with so we can get the fuck away from each other,” Jeongguk said bitterly. 

There was no need for Jeongguk to be so crude, but whenever he was around Jimin, he wore a filter of disdain with the purpose of hiding how vulnerable he still was to his presence. He still loved him, but he worked hard to bury it and keep it buried because he couldn’t risk giving Jimin the satisfaction of knowing that he wasn’t over him. 

“Your face looks much better,” Jimin said politely.

“I’m fine. Nothing to worry about,” Jeongguk replied. 

As they walked through the parking lot towards the front of the building, Jimin tried again, “You look good. A little thin perhaps.” 

“Stop it Jimin.”

“I’m trying to be fucking civil,” Jimin snapped.

“Don’t. We both know what this is. Can we please just get this over with, without making it more than it needs to be?”

“Hello, Mr. Park? Mr. Jeon?” Director Lee met them in the lobby as soon as they entered. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. I thought it would be easier if I met you down here and walked you back to my office. This building is a maze and can be difficult to navigate.” Director Lee immediately felt the tension between the two new dads. She was concerned but convinced herself that it was nothing. She reached out her hand to greet both of them. “I’m Lee Sunyoung, the Director here. I’m also a big fan of little Keonho and I cannot wait for him to meet you.”

Both Jimin and Jeongguk shook her hand, “Nice to meet you. I’m Jeon Jeongguk and this is uh…,”

“Park Jimin.”

“Nice to meet you both. Come with me and I’ll show you to my office. Then we’ll head out to meet Keonho. He’s so excited. This is a dream come true for him. If all goes well, you’ll be spending your first Christmas together as a family,” Director Lee smiled. 

The response that she received from the two new dads was not as expected. They glanced at each other nervously and had no comment regarding the ambitious timeline she laid out for them. They were not acting at all like two men who were excited to become dads. 

The group traveled through the building, taking the elevator up to the third floor. They passed several of the common areas where the kids were gathered, playing games, and singing, others doing school lessons. For Jimin, it brought back the memories once again from the last time they visited the facility. He felt a lump form in his throat as tears puddled in the corners of his eyes. This was supposed to be the final piece of their long meandering love story. This was supposed to be something so different than what it was. 

Once they reached Director Lee’s office, they took a seat at her desk, “Coffee? Tea? I think we may even have some sparkling apple juice to celebrate the occasion.” She laughed.

“No.” Jeongguk said bluntly. “I have some things that I need to discuss with you…,”

“We, have some things to discuss with you…,” Jimin interrupted. 

“Ok. Sure. What is it?” Sunyoung said openly.

“We no longer wish to proceed with this adoption. Our circumstances have changed. We’re willing to pay any out of pocket expenses you may have incurred.” Jeongguk was blunt and to the point. He wasted no time bullshitting around. His motive was clear - they wanted out.

Jimin interjected, “What my…what Mr. Jeon is trying to say is that we are no longer a couple. We’re divorced. Well…we will be divorced as soon as we void this adoption. We feel that a child needs a stable home and we cannot, given our current situation, provide that stability.”

“This…this is shocking news. Why didn’t you tell me this when I first reached out to you?”

“That’s just it, we never knew anything about this until a clerk at the courthouse found our names in the database. No one reached out to us.”

“That’s not true. I called several times and sent you multiple letters to notify you,” Director Lee argued.

“We didn’t get anything,” Jimin said simply.

“Wait,” Jeongguk added, “what address did you send it to?”

Director Lee pulled Keonho’s file, “781 Yangjae-daero, Gangnam-gu. Phone number 02-312-3456. There were no emails on file so we contacted you with the information you provided.”

“That explains it,” Jimin frowned.

“Because of the divorce, we no longer live at that location. We are still in Gangnam but in different homes. And that phone number is disconnected,” Jeongguk continued.

“If you no longer wanted to continue with the adoption, then why did you contact us and set up this appointment to meet the child?” Director Lee asked, fully irritated.

“Because our attorneys told us that this meeting was contractually required and we had no choice but to proceed with this step. We have already submitted the paperwork to have the contract voided. We thought that if we could meet with you first and explain the…,”

“Hello.” A small voice came from the doorway of Director Lee’s office. “Are you two my new dads?” It was Keonho.

“Keonho!” Director Lee jumped to her feet. The day that once seemed hopeful was turning into a complete disaster. Before she had a chance to alert the caregiver about the evolving situation with Keonho’s prospective parents, Keonho arrived to meet them. “Sweetheart, where is Eunji, he’s supposed to be keeping an eye on you?” She panicked. She rushed to block the door to keep Keonho from seeing the two losers who were suddenly trying to renege on his adoption. “We’re not ready for you quite yet. Run along and find Eunji. Tell him that I said to give you a popsicle." Director Lee spun him around and gently pushed him back into the hallway.

“But…but…but…it’s 11am sharp.” Keonho struggled with Sunyoung as she tried to push him away. He yelled around her, projecting his voice so that his two dads could hear him, “It’s time to meet my new parents. Is that them? They look like the faces that I saw on the internet. Park Jimin, age 33, owner and President of Serendipity Boutiques in Seoul. Jeon Jeongguk, Idol, singer, dancer, age 31. Park Jimin attended Global Cyber University where he graduated with a 4.0 and then went on to earn his MBA at Hanyang. Jeon Jeongguk, your MBA is in Advertising and Media. You also attended Global Cyber. You both have older siblings, your parents live in Busan. You met while working together on a video shoot where Mr. Park’s boutique provided the wardrobe and did the styling. Your favorite color is yellow Mr. Park. Your favorite color is black Mr. Jeon. I know all about you. I know all about you,” Keonho yelled.

Jimin and Jeongguk watched helplessly as Director Lee grabbed the struggling boy and pulled him away.  They thought the meeting would be simple, straightforward. They hoped to avoid seeing him at all. They hoped to settle things with the Director and flee like the cowards they were before ever coming into contact with the boy. They were so, so wrong. No one was expecting the boy to go rogue. 

Jeongguk walked slowly to the door as he listened to little Keonho call out all of the facts that he had learned about them. He struggled to remain upright because the pain of walking away from the child he always wanted was too great. They had known him for less than three minutes and he already seemed magical. The time and research that the young boy had committed to learning more about people he barely knew was incredibly sweet, and humbling. 

“Was he wearing a suit?” Jimin said softly with a delicate smile. 

“Yea.” Jeongguk nodded. For fear of bursting into tears, he chose not to speak much. The little one was indeed wearing a suit. An adorable, perfectly tailored little suit.

“He dressed up for us,” Jimin spoke again.

“Yea.” That was all that Jeongguk could take. After staring down the hallway to where the adorable little guy had disappeared, he excused himself. “Restroom. Be right back.” 

He stormed into the restroom and found an empty stall. In the most dramatic fashion possible, he huddled inside, closed the door and wept uncontrollably. As brief as it was, that simple glimpse of the child that should have been his, was enough to break his heart. Furthermore, knowing how much the boy wanted them and needed them amplified the pain of the entire situation.

 

Director Lee finally picked up the struggling Keonho and carried him back to the common area. Her assistant caregiver, Eunji, was there instructing the other kids. 

“Eunji. Change of plans. I need you to keep Keonho here while I handle…a situation.” She was careful not to say too much in front of the perceptive little boy. He clung to her every word and he knew that something was wrong.

“Eunji protested, “But I thought…,”

“I said change of plans,” Director Lee blinked her eyes several times to give him the hint that something was wrong.

Eunji read her expression and changed course quickly, “Oh, ok, I understand. Keonho, come sit with us kiddo. We’re working on our multiplication tables.”

“I already know all of my multiplication. I’m actually in Calculus…remember? Director Lee, why am I not being allowed to meet with my parents?” Keonho asked.

“Please. Just stay here. I’ll explain everything later. Please sweetheart. Trust me.” Director Lee whispered into Eunji’s ear, giving him a brief summary of what was happening, then she rushed back to her office. She found Jimin sitting alone. “I’m sorry about that. If I had known this sooner, I would have been more diligent with making sure that he didn’t see you. As you can see Keonho has a mind of his own. He was not supposed to come to my office. He was supposed to wait until I came to fetch him for the meeting.” She looked around her office. “Where is Mr. Jeon?”

“Probably in the bathroom getting drunk,” Jimin said under his breath.

“Drunk””

Director Lee shuffled through their file, “Did you say drunk? There’s no mention here of alcoholism or any other issues.”

“I don’t have a drinking problem,” Jeongguk suddenly appeared at the door after his return from the restroom. His face was red and swollen, stained with tears. “You see Mrs. Lee, this is why we can’t bring a child into our environment. We hate each other,” Jeongguk said as he reclaimed his seat.

Hearing the words ‘we hate each other’ only made Jimin more irritated. The hate was only one-sided in his opinion.

“I’m always sad to see a marriage end. This is going to affect Keonho very negatively. Forgive my frustration but why didn’t you make voiding the contract a priority when you first started your divorce proceedings? Maybe we could have avoided all of this if you had just been proactive and made this child’s welfare a priority.”

“We simply didn’t remember that we had signed the agreement. It was six years ago, a different time, a different space. The last year has been bitter and we’ve been fighting over everything from alimony to property. It’s been a chaotic time. We’re very sorry. Very, very sorry,” Jeongguk tried to explain.

“Sorry won’t heal that little boy’s broken heart. What you’ve done to him is reprehensible. I should have known that people like you couldn’t take these matters seriously.”

“People like us?” Jeongguk repeated.

“Rich, famous, public figures who have the world at your fingertips. You treat the world like your own personal playground. Well Mr. Park, Mr. Jeon, the rest of us live in the real world. We’re the ones left behind to clean up your messes. Were you ever truly serious about adopting him or were you planning to just use him as some type of accessory for your fancy parties?”

“We resent that,” Jimin said firmly. “We don’t owe you any explanations for why we wanted a child. We’re very sorry that things ended this way but don’t you dare question how dedicated and committed we were to this adoption. The only reason we’re breaking off this contract is because that is what’s best for this little boy. Now, are we done here?” Jimin stood to his feet and glared at Director Lee. 

“Yes. We are certainly done. Please see yourselves out,” Director Lee was steaming.

Over the last year, there was absolutely nothing that the two men could agree on. But this was the one exception. They both felt terrible about the situation they had created. And they both deeply regretted not resolving the situation sooner before the boy got involved. Shamefully they walked in unison, feeling the same feelings and thinking the same thoughts.  

“He was so cute,” Jimin said softly. “His little suit.”

“Yea.”

“And he researched us. How smart is that?”

“Yea. And did you see the little part in his hair and his cute little nose? Handsome kid.”

“Very handsome. Oh Jeongguk how did we fuck this up?”

“You fucked this up. You and your secrets and lies. Remember?” Jeongguk said bitterly.

“But…but…,” Jimin’s bottom lip trembled. His eyes inadvertently dropped to glare at Jeongguk’s empty ring finger. He didn’t want to cry. It was time to get away from Jeongguk. “Fuck it. See you around.”

Jimin felt his pockets for his car keys but they weren’t there. Not in his suit jacket, or his slacks or his Dior shoulder bag. He realized at that moment that he had left his keys in Director Lee’s office. He remembered laying them on the edge of her desk when he stood to shake her hand. Jeongguk kept walking, never stopping to look at Jimin or offer a goodbye. Jimin quietly circled back without Jeongguk even noticing that he was gone. He looked back over his shoulder and watched as Jeongguk continued to walk away. Even from behind, he was so beautiful. It sickened Jimin to know that Jeongguk no longer belonged to him. The love affair was over.

 

Jimin reached Director Lee’s office, but as he approached, he could hear her on the phone. Even though they had parted on nasty terms, he didn’t want to be rude and barge into her office while she was on the phone, so he floated around her door and waited for her to finish her phone call. He could clearly hear that she was upset, even though he wasn’t sure who she was speaking to.

Director Lee was close to tears, “This is my fault. I should have been more diligent with following up. Keonho is more sensitive than the others. Of all of the boys, he’s the one most likely to never recover from this disappointment. I screwed up. I didn’t protect him like I should have. I’m going to have to increase his therapy sessions right away so that a professional can help him adjust. I can’t believe this is happening. But because there was a contract in place, I just assumed it was a done deal. I should have been suspicious when the two candidates didn’t call after receiving the notification that their adoption had been approved. I didn’t hear anything from them until they scheduled this appointment and even then they didn’t mention anything about not wanting to go through with it until they were sitting in my office. And they were so flippant about it. As if they were returning a shirt that didn’t fit,” Director Lee vented.

Jimin’s ears perked up when he heard the kid’s name - Keonho. He stood outside of her cracked door and pressed his ear closer to the wall. He found himself eavesdropping on every word of the Director’s conversation. 

 “This is going to be a significant setback for Keonho. The bullying and teasing that he gets everyday is just unbearable. He’s a very sensitive child and now because he had a chance and it didn’t work out, he’ll be placed at the bottom of the list. He may never have a chance again at an adoption. Let’s just be honest, these kids get less and less desirable as they get older. I’m living proof of it. Once Keonho’s chance comes around again, he’ll be too old for any family to want him. I fear that this was his one and only chance. He was so excited about having his own family…,”

Jimin’s heart skipped a beat. Hearing first hand about the repercussions of their actions stymied him. “Oh no,” he whispered to himself. 

Director Lee continued her conversation, “The Ministry usually does a very good job with monitoring the candidates and making them sign attestations with each year that passes to verify they are still interested in adopting. But this time they completely dropped the ball. And of course it’s sweet Keonho who has to pay the price for a bunch of adults who can’t do their fucking job,” she began to cry on the phone. It was not like her to get upset, but she had a soft spot for Keonho. “Yes. Please email the forms and I’ll get the paperwork started. I don’t know how I’m going to break this to him. Yes. Yes. Thanks, Eun. I appreciate you letting me vent. Yea, goodbye.”

Jimin took a deep breath before knocking on her door.

“Come in,” she said sadly. “Mr. Park! What are you doing back here?”

“I-I,” Jimin wasn’t even sure what to say. “I left my keys and I…,”

“Your keys?” Director Lee looked around her desk. Jimin’s keys were sitting on the very outer edge of her desk. She picked them up and handed them to him. “I believe these are yours?” She said bitterly.

Jimin stood over her desk as he shared the sentiment that sat on his heart, “I need to apologize to you. My behavior earlier was out of line. Of course you have every right to be angry with us. You’re just looking out for the kids’ best interest and we understand that. But let me say just one thing. Having money or being famous is not a sin. You seem to think that just because we have modest wealth that we’re somehow bad people who don’t take life seriously. We aren’t. We wanted a child and obviously, with being a gay couple, it wasn’t simple to just have one of our own. We wanted someone to share our wealth, our hearts, our love. We wanted to leave a legacy of a son who was loved so much that he would be propelled to do great things, and become a gift to the world. We wanted to do our part to help a child who needed us. Don’t think for one second that this situation isn’t killing us too. I don’t even know that kid and I feel like he was meant to be ours.”

Director Lee grabbed a tissue and wiped her tears. She blew her nose loudly with a snort that sounded like a honking horn. She sniffled, “Sit down Mr. Park. Please?”

Jimin made sure to stuff his keys into his pocket and then he sat in one of the three worn leather chairs that bordered her desk. “I owe you an apology as well. I behaved very unprofessionally today and for that, I apologize.” She very bluntly bared her soul, “I tried to adopt Keonho myself a year ago when he first came to the orphanage. But due to conflict of interest laws and strict oversight by the Ministry, I was not allowed to do so. So when I saw that another set of loving parents had come along, I jumped at the chance to get him placed as quickly as possible. I may not have followed all of the steps necessary to protect him because I just wanted so badly for you to adopt him and give him the loving home that I couldn’t. This is mostly your fault,” she laughed, “but I bear some of the blame as well,” she said honestly.

“Thank you for that. However, I couldn’t help overhear something you said on the phone. You said that Keonho has to go back to the bottom of the adoption list?” Jimin asked.

“Eavesdropping. Nice,” Director Lee teased. 

“No, nothing like that. I just…I was lingering outside, waiting for you to get off of the phone and…,”

“...kidding Mr. Park.”

“Oh,” Jimin winced.

“Yes. Rules state that once a child has had a chance at adoption and it doesn’t work out for whatever reason, their name has to be rotated to the end of the list and other children who have not had a chance are elevated to the top to be matched. The problem is, there are more kids than available parents so it takes a long time for the kids at the bottom to come back to the top again. Unless a miracle happens, by the time Keonho’s name comes back up again to be matched, he’ll probably be too old to find a match. That’s not always the case of course, but it’s more likely than not to happen. There are exceptions and work-arounds but again, those are very rare cases.”

Jimin rubbed his chin as his mind processed the information, “Work-arounds? Like…what…?”

 

Jeongguk didn’t notice that Jimin was no longer behind him until he heard someone calling his name. He turned around to see a small boy chasing after him. He was still wearing his grey suit.

“Mr. Jeon. Mr. Jeon, where are you going? You’re not leaving are you? You’re not leaving without - me?” Keonho’s little feet moved as quickly as possible to keep up with the long elegant glide of Jeongguk’s gait.

Jeongguk spun around, “Keonho? What…I mean where is your supervision? You shouldn’t be out here in the hallway alone.” Jeongguk looked around desperately hoping to find an adult lingering nearby. The last thing he wanted was to face the kid alone, especially given his overly emotional state.

Keonho unexpectedly grabbed Jeongguk’s hand. The froward child was determined. “I’m leaving too, right? Can we get my stuff before we go? I don’t have much. Just a few of my favorite books and a teddy bear. Oh and my copy of Mentour Pilot magazine. I’m going to be a Pilot when I grow up. Yea, my room is this way, come on,” Keonho smiled as if he had caught a priceless mermaid on his fishing rod.

Jeongguk was not sure what to do. His first thought was to run for his life. But his calmer, more mature side told him to just play along until he could speak with one of the caregivers to explain. He was not trained nor emotionally equipped to tell this child that the adoption was off. He needed a professional or at least someone who wasn’t a coward.

“Sure. I would love to see your room.” Jeongguk wasn’t sure of the rules for strangers roaming around an orphanage full of kids. 

Sunyoung had given them an official visitor’s sticker when they arrived so at least the staff would know that he had permission to be there. So many thoughts ran through his head. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this. 

They walked for at least five-ten minutes as they twisted through the maze of hallways that led back to the children’s quarters. Jeongguk seriously began to question the supervision of the place because there was no way that Keonho should have been allowed to wander so far from the adults. 

The entire time, Keonho refused to let go of Jeongguk’s hand. He spoke a mile a minute, his excitement too bombastic to contain, “Where is Mr. Park? Will he be meeting us at home? I hope you didn’t go through too much trouble for me. I don’t need much. I’m happy to sleep on the floor or in a warm chair. Like I said, I don’t have many clothes. Just a few t-shirts and some shorts. My spiderman underwear is my most prized possession.” 

Keonho laughed with an innocence that made Jeongguk’s heart flutter. Ten minutes together and he already knew that he was a very special kid. “Children as special as you should never sleep in chairs.” Jeongguk responded.

“I’m nothing special. I’m just…me. My uncle says that I caused a lot of trouble. I think he killed himself just to get away from me. But I promise, I’ll be better. I won’t be a burden. Just…just…give me a chance.”

“What? You’re no trouble at all and if your uncle said that, then he was just confused.” Jeongguk stopped and pulled gently on Keonho’s arm to turn him around. He dropped to his knees and looked eye to eye with the timid little boy, “Your uncle’s death had nothing to do with you. He was ill inside of his mind and that was something that he couldn’t control. But don’t you ever, ever think that he did that because of you. It’s simply not true. Look Keo, may I call you Keo?”

Keonho giggled and covered his mouth, “Sure. That’s kind of cool.”

“Look Keo. I don’t know you very well, but I like you… and I care what happens to you. Promise me right now that you will never blame yourself for stupid things that adults do. You deserve the world. The. Entire. World. Do you understand?” Jeongguk said firmly, like a father.

“Are you sure about that because that’s not what my uncle says.”

“I’m sure. I’m very sure. I’m 100% sure,” Jeongguk double-downed. “Now, mind telling me how you got this far away from your caregivers without them noticing? It’s not safe for you to wander away like this. You could get hurt or lost or something,” Jeongguk lectured.

“Ever heard of Alcatraz?”

“No. No idea what you’re talking about.”

“It’s an American prison. Surrounded by sharks and waves and ice cold water. It was supposed to be escape proof - until one day three men escaped. Know how they did it?”

“I don’t even understand the words you are saying. So no…I have no idea.”

“They built replicas of themselves so that whenever the guards came by to check them, it looked like they were lying in bed sleeping. I thought it was brilliant, so I built one too. Whenever I need to sneak away to go to the library after hours or sneak into the kitchen for more cookies, or…,”

“Or…,” Jeongguk urged him to continue.

“Or…get away from the older boys who are mean to me - I put my fake me in the bed and cover it with blankets. Everyone thinks I’m sleeping. That leaves me to roam the place. When you didn’t come back to get me, I used my fake ‘me’ to fool everyone while I left to find you.”

Jeongguk was both terrified and impressed at the same time. “That’s not safe. You shouldn’t be doing that, Keo. What if you get hurt? Think about how worried everyone would be if they realized that you were

missing. Do not do that anymore. I’m afraid I’m going to have to tell your Director about this.” Jeongguk was again acting like an overly serious killjoy.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m leaving and going home with you. So tattle all you want,” Keonho laughed loudly, confident that he had bucked the system. Once again he grabbed onto Jeongguk’s hand. “Let’s go…dad,” he giggled again and started towards his room.

The kid was aggressive and not going to go down easily. Jeongguk instantly liked him very much. They finally made it to Keonho’s room. There, just as he explained, was a small replica of him lying in his bed. The resemblance was a bit creepy. Although, anyone who inspected the dummy a little closer would easily detect that it was an imposter. This too made Jeongguk laugh. 

Keonho was already packed. A small grocery bag held his entire life’s possessions; three pairs of socks, two pairs of jeans, two pairs of shorts, six shirts. And a large teddy bear. The bear’s head and one arm poked out the top of the bag like it was trying to escape, its worn fur glinting gold in the light and one button eye hanging by a thread. 

It was immediately apparent to Jeongguk that Keonho had not lived a privileged life. With barely any clothes or any possessions, he was a humble and modest child whose only desire was love. Jeongguk stood at the far corner of the room while Keonho gathered his things. He still had no idea how to get out of this. The kid was ready to go and had every intention of leaving the place. 

Just then, Keonho’s older roommates entered the room. Not realizing that Jeongguk was there, they immediately started throwing insults at Keonho. 

“Still here dragon face? Let me guess, your “new” parents took one look at your ugly face and ran screaming,” Taehyun said.

“Yea, I bet they never saw something so ugly and stupid in their lives,” the other kids joked.

Jae pushed Keonho hard in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground. 

“Nobody is going to adopt a weirdo. Loser. No wonder your uncle killed himself. I would kill myself to if I had to smell you everyday,” Eunwoo said.

“You look like an idiot in that stupid cheap suit from the thrift store!” 

All of the kids laughed. Keonho crawled to his feet again. He backed away from the gang of kids that surrounded him. He closed his eyes and braced as he saw Jae draw back his fist. He squeezed his jaws tight and tried to shield himself as he readied for the punch. 

Jae’s hand clinched tightly into a fist that was larger than Keonho’s entire face. The entire hand was aimed right at the center of Keonho’s stomach, the same spot he punched him almost every day. Jae tightened his shoulders, causing his arm to snap forward like a piston. But instead of the soft billowy stomach, his hand hit something hard, impenetrable, painful. He recoiled, and tried to pull his fist back as his eyes searched wildly to see what he had hit. He looked up to see a stranger standing there, shielding Keonho. 

Jeongguk had blocked Jae’s punch, using his large hand to catch the evil fist that dared to try to bruise the sweet innocent boy. He held Jae’s fist with his large powerful hand, angrily squeezing it until it turned beet red. And despite Taehyun’s wiggling and panicked screams, Jeongguk refused to let his fist go. At least, not until he said a few choice words.

“I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were just trying to help your young friend to his feet, since you accidentally pushed him to the ground. I’m also going to assume that you are not an absolute mind fucked little asshole who has been bullying a kid who is about ten years younger than you and half of your size. I am going to assume all of this because if I discover that you’ve been harassing this kid, I’ll have to kick your ass.”

“What’s going on here?” The caregiver Eunji appeared at the door after hearing all of the commotion. He was startled to see Jeongguk standing in the middle of the fray. “Who the hell are you?” He asked with concern.

“He’s my new dad!” Keonho jumped for joy. He had been so panicked and frightened by the ribbing from the other kids that he had completely forgotten that Jeongguk was even there. He hugged Jeongguk’s leg and beamed with happiness. Never had anyone defended him before. Never had anyone even cared enough to stand up to Jae. “Thank you dad. Thank you.” Keonho used the word quite liberally. “I told you that I had a new dad. I told you!” Keonho gloated in front of his asshole roommates.

“Shit,” Jeongguk mouthed to himself. Every second spent with this kid was getting him deeper and deeper in trouble.

“Keonho’s new dad? But I thought that was…I mean…,” Eunji stared blankly. He wasn’t quite sure what was going on because Director Lee had insisted that the adoption was off. “Sir, may I speak to you privately for a moment?”

“Uh, sure.” Jeongguk was relieved. 

Finally someone had arrived who could help him squirm out of this mess. As he left the room, he turned towards the boys who were gathered around Keonho. His angry glare spoke volumes. Without uttering a word, he warned all of them to stay away from Keonho or else face consequences. The boys disbanded, leaving Keonho alone to wonder why Eunji had asked to speak to Jeongguk privately.

Eunji pulled Jeongguk into an empty common area. “Mr. Jeon,” Eunji whispered. “Can you please explain what’s going on here? I thought the adoption was being voided or something? I don’t know any of the details, I only know that Director Lee told me that the adoption was off.”

“Do these boys assault him often?” Jeongguk’s eyes were focused on the bedroom down the hall.

“Assault? That’s a strong word. These are just kids being kids. They come from bad homes or no homes. The behavior is not ideal, but we do what we can to keep the kids safe.”

 “How old is that bigger kid? Thirteen? Fourteen? Beating up a kid half his age?”

“Jae does pose problems, but he’s not bad. He just needs discipline.”

“Discipline my ass. If I hadn’t stepped in, he would have pulverized little Keo. Look, I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job, but I’ve barely been here two hours and I’ve already been really troubled by some of the things that I’ve seen.” Jeongguk stopped just short of tattling about how Keonho was able to run freely throughout the orphanage by placing decoys in his bed.

“Sir, respectfully. Why are you still here? If the adoption has been cancelled, you’re free to leave. You’re so busy admonishing me for how I do my job, yet you’re here allowing this boy to call you dad when you have no intention of being his father. So who is really the one causing damage?”

“Listen to me. There’s been a mix up. We planned to take Keonho home today but due to unforeseen circumstances…,” Jeongguk didn’t know how to explain it all without sounding like a complete asshole. “This child needs better protection. He’s being bullied, hurt even. It’s affecting his behavior and it’s why he’s so desperate to get out of here. Is there anything I can do to help protect him?” Jeongguk knew that his question sounded ridiculous, but he was so rattled by what happened to Keonho that he felt the need to do something.”

Eunji could see the care in Jeongguk’s eyes. He did his best to explain, “We know that there are issues. But with limited funding and limited staff, we can only control so much of what happens here. Because of Keonho’s age, he’s too big to be with the toddler group, so KWS guidelines say he has to be here with the bigger kids. He’s a special little boy and I do everything that I can to look out for him. But we’re understaffed.” Eunji spoke defensively but with guilt dripping behind every word. “And now that his adoption has been cancelled, he’ll never leave this place. The system is designed to match the younger kids, but not the older ones. By the time his name comes up again, he’ll be too old to be a match. Unless he receives a foster parent who can house him until someone adopts him.”

Jeongguk looked directly into Eunji’s eyes, “A…what…?”

 

An hour into their conversation and Jimin was learning more than he anticipated about adoption. But there was something new that he learned, something called fostering. With his legs crossed, he settled in with his complimentary cup of hot coffee that Director Lee had kindly prepared for him. 

“We have a system where we place needy children with foster families. It’s a thirty day trial, just long enough to get the kids out of here and settle them in a normal home. Typically those parents are not interested in adoption, they just want to help out, especially during the holidays. But there aren’t many parents who are qualified to foster and even fewer who want to go through the pain of getting attached to a child only to have to return them after the thirty days are up. So fostering, although an option, is pretty rare.”

Jimin leaned forward, “What if…a single parent wanted to foster. Just for a while, until a new home was found?”

“And when you say single parent…would you by any chance be talking about yourself?”

Jimin didn’t want to answer that. He suddenly realized that what he was thinking was crazy. He had no plan, no vision, no practical theory about how this would all end. He was thinking with his heart and not his head. There was no way he could foster a child alone. He had the boutique to run. He had public appearances and a high profile holiday fashion show. He had no time for a kid…but damnit…he wanted to help that kid; especially considering how he’d fucked up Keonho’s chances to be adopted.

“I was speaking theoretically,” he covered.

Director Lee smiled. She could see it in Jimin’s eyes. He was very much considering fostering.

The loud pitter patter of expensive shoes sounded from the hallway. Someone was running towards her office. She looked up to find a sweaty, out of breath Jeongguk rushing through the door.

He ran up to her desk, “Tell me about the fostering program. One of your workers said that parents who are willing to foster can do it temporarily, just for the holidays.”

“Jeongguk? What are you still doing here?” Jimin asked, surprised.

“I thought you left. This doesn’t concern you. I just…need to discuss something with Director Lee.”

“Before you rudely interrupted, I was discussing something important with Director Lee. So could you please excuse us and allow us to continue our conversation? Wait outside.” Jimin said coarsely.

Jeongguk glared at Jimin with disgust. He turned his back to him and continued to speak directly to Director Lee, “As I was saying, tell me more about the fostering program. Can a single individual apply or…?”

“Wait a minute. Why are you asking about the foster program? Is this about Keonho?”

“Jimin, please leave. I’m asking you nicely to just give me a moment to speak with the Director.” 

“No. I was here first!” Jimin raised his voice.

“Stop it! You two are not going to do this in my office. Sit down, Jeongguk. Jimin and I were just discussing how it all works. Fostering is a temporary placement of kids in need. Rarely does anyone from my program ever enter the program however.”

“Is it something that I could qualify for?” Jeongguk asked.

“What? You want to foster Keonho? Alone?” Jimin was stunned. 

“I’m just asking what’s possible.” Jeongguk clarified.

Director Lee was intrigued. She suddenly went from neither of them wanting him to a budding bidding war over him. “Let me make something very clear. Although I’m sure you’re both lovely people, you were right when you said it wasn’t a good idea to place a child in your custody given the situation. Besides, you’re already in our system as a couple. The only way you would qualify without submitting a brand new application would be to foster him - as a couple. And I surely don’t suggest that because it’s pretty clear this relationship is over.” She was as blunt and honest as she could be. 

“A couple?” Jimin asked sadly. “That’s never going to happen.”

“Director Lee, could you give us a moment?” Jeongguk grabbed Jimin’s arm and pulled him out of his chair. They tussled until they ended up in the hallway. 

“Let me go! I swear to God I’m going to report this to the court. You and your assault.”

“Shut up. I’ve never laid a hand on you unless it was to fuck you against the wall and that was only because you begged for it,” Jeongguk fussed bitterly. “I can’t believe you accused me of being violent and abusive. I’ve never…,”

“...why did you bring me out here? Say what you need to say please,” Jimin cut him off. 

“Jimin we fucked up. I mean we really fucked up. We’ve got to get that kid out of this place. He’s being abused. Bullied. He’s unhappy and there…there aren’t enough resources to keep him safe.”

“I know. He intimidates the other kids. He’s unusually bright and…,”

“How do you know so much?”

“I could ask you the same thing. Why are you still here?”

“I was trying to leave and he found me. He started calling me dad and even grabbed his luggage - or uh his plastic bag.”

“Huh?”

“Nevermind. Listen, I know this sounds crazy, I know it. But we have an opportunity to help him. Just for a month, do you think we could…?”

“…could foster him? Together?”

“Yes. We’ve been very shitty to each other for the last year. But for once can we please think about something more important than ourselves? Can we maybe help him?”

Jimin began to walk back and forth along the hallway. “Your idea isn’t that crazy. Honestly I was thinking the same thing. Director Lee says that by backing out of the adoption, we will virtually ruin his chances of being adopted.”

“Right. Exactly. We have to fix this. Even if we can’t give him a forever home, we can at least give him a good  Christmas.”

“I can’t care for him alone because of work and honestly neither can you. But together…,”

“…together we could give him a home temporarily,” Jeongguk interjected.

“But how, Jeonggukie? How? We can hardly stand to be in the same room with each other.”

His head snapped up, “You called me Jeonggukie,” he said softly. 

“What? Oh yea sorry. Sometimes I…forget.”

“Forget that we aren’t a couple anymore?”

“Yea. That.” Jimin looked away. Jeongguk’s baby doe eyes were penetrating his soul and he wasn’t equipped to deal with it at that moment. 

“I’m in if you are.”

“But how? How do we push all of our baggage under the carpet for thirty days? We have to create a healthy environment for him. But we can’t do that if we’re always at each other’s throats. And where will we even live?” Jimin laughed. The more he thought through the idea, the more ridiculous it sounded. 

“We could always move back into our penthouse.”

“You told the judge that you sold it!” Jimin crossed his arms with anger.

“I lied to keep you from getting your hands on it in the settlement. It hasn’t exactly sold yet…it’s for sale but the market is slow. I still own it. We could move back in. I only moved because it was too painful to be there everyday without you…,” his voice trailed off. “You can have the main bedroom. I’ll take the guest bedroom and Keonho can have the room that was always meant to be his. It’s only thirty days Jimin. We could give him a great Christmas. Show him a little love and maybe even help find new parents for him.”

“But we’ll have to bring him back here when the thirty days are over.” Jimin said thoughtfully.

“Fostering is meant to be temporary. Our goal is to give that little boy a few very special weeks,” Jeongguk said passionately.

Jimin continued to pace. He shook his head while openly and blatantly trying to talk himself out of it. He finally blurted out, “Rules. We need rules.”

“Ok, rules are great,” Jeongguk nodded.

“No arguing in front of the kid. If we have issues with each other, we take it outside or leave the room to discuss it like adults.”

“Check.” Jeongguk nodded.

“No bringing up the past. Our marriage has been litigated by the courts and that shit is over. If you let it go, so will I,”

“Check.”

“No more drinking. No more bar fights. No more arrests. While this kid is with us, you must be at your very best.”

“Jimin, I’m not an alcoholic. I’ve been having a really shitty time since you moved out and since this whole divorce thing began. I’ve been using alcohol to cope, but that’s over. I have a sober coach, a therapist, all of it. I can get myself under control. ”

“Can I trust you?” Jemin looked deep into his eyes.

“You can trust me.” Jeongguk frowned as he surfaced another touchy topic, “What about…dating?”

“What about it?” Jimin scoffed. He already knew where this was going.

“I can’t stomach you bringing that bitch to our home. If I have to be on my best behavior, then so do you. Stay away from here while we have the kid.”

“You’re insufferable! Like a broken record. I never touched that woman. But you refuse to accept that. There is nothing between…,” Jimin knew that arguing his point, yet again, was fruitless. “Whatever Jeongguk. Yes. I promise not to violate our home by bringing anyone into our lives while we have Keonho. But you have to make the same promise.”

 

“I was never the problem, Jimin. I was the one in love, in this for life.”

“Jeongguk stop it! See this is exactly why this won’t work.”

“Ok, ok I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You’re right. I guess I already broke a rule,” he smiled. “Promise not to do it again,” he raised his right hand and gave a dimple filled grin.

Jimin ran his fingers through his long lush blonde hair. He heavily sighed, “What are we even doing? I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.”

“But you are agreeing?”

Jimin paused, “Yes. I’m…agreeing. We’re going to be foster parents at least for a little while.” He smiled. He was just as happy as Jeongguk to come to an agreement.

“Check.”

 

The two barged into the Director’s office to share their plan. 

“We want to foster Keonho!” They said in tandem. 

“What? But I thought you just said you’re incapable of providing a stable home?”

“Long term, we can’t keep him. But for thirty days we can put aside our differences,” Jeongguk explained. 

“We can be civil. You can have the ministry come by tomorrow to do the home inspection. We’ll pay for private tutoring to keep up with his studies, we’ll handle all of his living expenses and clothes and food. We’ll do anything. Anything. We owe it to this kid to make this right. This is the least we could do,” Jimin pleaded.

Director Lee gave it some thought, “If you’re willing to do this, maybe we can make a deal. I really want that boy to have a break from this place, especially for Christmas. If you agree to foster him for thirty days, then at the end of the thirty days, I’ll notify the adoption attorneys to dissolve your adoption contract. KWS will release you of responsibility. But if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain and keep him in a safe and stable home for the full thirty days, I swear to God, I’ll pursue full breach of contract charges against both of you. Listen gentlemen, for the next month, you will make that little boy your priority. This experience can shape the rest of his life, so make it a good one.

***

Chapter Two: The Network's A Mess

 

         🫧🫧⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆🫧🫧



Day One:

 

For Jimin and Jeongguk, the awkwardness of being back in the home they had shared for seven years, was masked by Keonho’s excitement. Seemingly all of their dreams were coming true, except this was borderline nightmarish and somehow they had to work through it.

The elevator hummed softly as it ascended to the 31st floor. The mirrored elevator walls reflected the illusion of a small beautiful family; only it wasn’t quite a family but rather two well intentioned parties faking their way through it. 

Keonho clutched his plastic bag with all of his life’s belongings as he held his frumpy worn teddy bear under his arms. Eyes darting between the two adults reflected on either side of him, he smiled wide and lovingly with a depth of gratitude that he was too young to know how to fully express. He glanced at himself, suited in grey, hair trimmed and freshly cut; he was proud to be standing with his new dads. He admired the irony of all of them being dressed similarly, grey suits of three different shades. This was definitely meant to be. 

The doors opened with a chime as a soft computerized voice welcomed them home. The first step into the palatial penthouse revealed a vast foyer bathed in the golden hue of the late afternoon sun. From floor to ceiling, massive windows lined every wall, revealing a picturesque view of the city below. The penthouse sprawled before them like an ancient relic preserved in time. Everything was still the same: the furniture, the drapes, the grand piano, and the elegant decor that Jimin had so meticulously selected when they first married. It was a step back into a life that had long diminished.

As they stepped inside, the marble floors echoed their footsteps. The high ceilings adorned with chandeliers revealed thin layers of dust. It smelled faintly of stale air and faded fragrances, as if the space had been holding its breath for months.

Jimin was overrun with emotion because he hadn’t been to the penthouse in well over a year. Memories pounded him in the face like angry fists. Each corner held a distant scene that played out in front of him like a faded movie. So much happiness once lived there.

Jeongguk watched Jimin’s face as he took it all in. He wondered what he was thinking, how it felt to be back where it all began…and ended. Jimin’s emotions were not easy to read as they walked through the main room

But now the space was home to a new resident; one who arrived with light, hope and no baggage. Keonho was to be their last joint effort, a fragile bridge over the chasm of their failed marriage. For the boy’s sake, they had to put on their best act yet, the act of still being a couple.

 

The further they walked into the penthouse, the more it opened up like a tremendous cavern in the mountains. Keonho’s head was on a swivel; his eyes unable to focus in one single place because there was so much to absorb. 

“This place is enormous! Do all Idols live like this?” Keonho gawked.

Jeongguk smiled, “I don’t know about all Idols. But I will say that many Idols live in this same building. 

“Why is everything covered in sheets?” Keonho’s little eyes were very perceptive.

“Jimin and I haven’t lived here in a while. In fact, we moved and now we live in different places. But because we have you now, we needed a bigger space. I still own the place so we decided to come back here to make sure that you had plenty of room.”

“You did all of that for me?” Keonho asked.

“We sure did. You’re very special to us and we want to make you as happy as we can. Now, what do you say I show you to your room?”

“My-my room? I have my own room? Alone? By myself?” Keonho wasn’t quite sure what it meant to have his own room.

“Alone, all yours, no one else. Growing boys your age need privacy,” Jimin added. He placed a gentle hand on Keonho’s shoulder before turning to speak to Jeongguk, “Do you mind if I…uh…get settled as well?”

“You don’t have to ask. Please make yourself comfortable. You can take your luggage to the main bedroom. I think you remember where it is since you designed it,” Jeongguk smiled. 

His eyes sparkled as he watched Keonho’s reaction to his new home. They walked down a wide hallway lined with elegant art that had all been selected by Jimin. Once they reached the room at the end, Jeongguk gave a prelude before opening the door.

“Here we are. This is where you will be sleeping,” Jeongguk advised. “Now, this isn’t exactly the set up we wanted for you. We didn’t expect you would be coming home today and we…,”

“Why didn’t you think I would be coming home with you?”

“Uhh, uh,” Jeongguk didn’t have a good answer. He wasn’t prepared to tell him the truth, not yet. “Paperwork. But tomorrow we have a surprise coming for you. For now, this is it.” He pushed the door open to reveal a large bedroom set up as an office. The walls were a navy blue and the curtains hung in waves from the tall ceiling. The windows were the same as the ones in the foyer. Against the wall was a large queen sized bed with navy blue and white bedding. There were a few toys, some books and board games hastily arranged on the desk. But the space was still glaringly a space for work. 

Multiple large screen monitors were hung on the walls converging into a massive network connected with keyboards, drum machines and consoles. There was a glass desk in the center of the room and several gaming chairs that he and Jimin used to use for their gaming tournaments.

“WHOA! My own office?” Keonho screamed as he ran into the room. Without Jeongguk showing him anything, the little one found each of the controls and switched on every computer, instrument and console in the room. The entire space came to life with a neon blue glow that highlighted the dust particles that floated through the air. He ran to the window and placed his hands against the glass as he stared down at his view below. “Is this really mine? All mine?”

“It’s all yours Keo. But tomorrow we’re going to make it even better. I heard that you want to be a pilot when you grow up. So how about we decorate the space like an airport with airplanes and a hanger? I have a designer coming by tomorrow. Would you like that?” Jeongguk asked.

“But I love it just the way it is. You don’t have to do anything more than what you’ve already done. This place is beautiful!” Keonho screamed again as he ran to the computer. “Let’s crank this baby up, it’s offline. What’s the network password?” he giggled.

“Baepsae,” Jimin said as he entered the room. “You sure you want to keep the room this way, sweetheart? I mean this isn’t exactly how we planned it to be for you.”

“No, please don’t change it. I love it. Don’t we Ian?” Keonho asked his tattered old teddy bear.

“Jeongguk, got a minute?” Jimin asked.

“Sure, is everything ok?” Jeongguk responded

“Everything is fine, I just need to discuss some adult matters with you,” Jimin said timidly.

“Have fun Keo. We’ll be right back.”

Keonho gave them a dismissive wave as he locked into the infrastructure of the aging network set up that his two new dads had going.

“Keo?” Jimin laughed as they walked into the hallway.

“Nickname.”

“Really cute. Yea, so ok. Now that we’ve got him. What are we going to do with him?”

“What do you mean?” Jeongguk asked quizzically.

“What’s the plan?”

“We need a plan? Can’t we just go with the flow and play it by ear?”

“Nice cliches but that only works in the fan fics. We need a way to keep this kid stimulated and engaged. I had a long talk with Director Lee and according to her, Keo,” Jimin smiled after using his nickname, “has a very high IQ. He’s inquisitive, smart and highly intelligent. We can’t just give him a cardboard box like other little dumb shits and think he’s going to be satisfied.”

“Plan…?” Jeongguk gave it some thought. “Like what kind of plan?”

“What is he going to eat? What is he going to wear? What activities will we do? That kind of stuff. And a tutor. We have to find him a tutor right away so that he doesn’t fall behind in his studies while he’s here.”

“Honestly never thought about any of that,” Jeongguk suddenly looked worried.

“We’re in this together. We just have to work through the logistics.We need a schedule of who can be with him on which dates. It’s the busy season at the boutique and although my mom can handle some of it, I’ll still need to stay pretty engaged and lend a hand. I know you have to travel for a few days next week so…,”

“...wait,” Jeongguk interrupted, “How do you know my travel schedule?”

Jimin realized he’d accidentally divulged information that he should not have known. “I heard Junghyun say something about it, I think. I don’t remember,” he lied. The truth was that he still had access to Jeongguk’s work schedule and for months he tracked his every move in a sad pathetic attempt to feel closer to him. “CLOTHES!” He quickly pivoted before untying his tie and unbuttoning his dress shirt. “I have to get him some clothes. I can’t let him walk around wearing hand-me-downs from a thrift shop when I own an entire boutique.”

“Great idea. Can you have some stuff sent over tonight?”

“Already one step ahead of you. I called mom and told her to pull everything adorable from the boy’s Dior line. It should all be here soon.”

“And exactly how did you explain all of this to your mom?”

“I didn’t. In fact Jeonggukie, I have no idea how to explain any of this because I haven’t told Nari either. We went to the orphanage to stop this adoption and ended up taking a kid home for Christmas all wrapped up in a bow and a suit.” Jimin shook his head and rubbed his temples.

“You…also moved in with your ex. Let’s not overlook that part. After working for a year to split us up and steal all of my money, we now have to live under the same roof for a month. Can I pleeeeease be in the room when you tell her all of that?” Jeongguk laughed and held his stomach.

“You mean Junghyun knows about this and he was okay with it?” Jimin asked curiously.

“I haven’t exactly told him yet either. But I know my brother well enough to know that given a chance to help this kid, he would have done the same thing.”

“He almost punched you in the stomach when he found out about that adoption contract. Don’t be so sure he’s going to take this well,” Jimin teased. 

“Jeongguk, another thing. Not only have we not told our family about this, we haven’t told Keo either. He thinks this is a permanent arrangement. He thinks we’re his new family. We have to tell him the truth right away.”

“No, we don’t. We can’t. Let him enjoy his Christmas. We can deal with that news later.”

“But he’s calling us dad. Dad Jk and Dad Min. Isn’t it cruel to let him do that when we know we’re sending him back soon?”

“We are his dads…his foster dads. You can decide what you want him to call you. For me…I like dad,” Jeongguk nodded.

“Dad it is,” Jimin agreed reluctantly. He still didn’t have a good feeling about not telling Keo the truth.

“Ok. So we’ve got clothes covered,” Jeongguk changed the subject. “Tomorrow, I have an interior decorator scheduled to come and spruce the place up and do a little Christmas decorating. Even though Keo likes his room, we’re going to do a little aviation overhaul in there as well. Then maybe…if you’re available…we can pick out a Christmas tree?”

“A Christmas tree?” Jimin walked into the foyer of the penthouse and stared up towards the ceiling.  The first of many beautiful memories struck him, “Remember that year, it was 2021 I think, the year after Covid, where we were just so happy to be able to leave the house again?”

Jeongguk followed him, “I remember. Who would have thought the tree would be too big.”

“I tried to tell you we needed to measure it first. But noooooo, you were so in love that we had the thing cut down and loaded on the truck within ten minutes.” Jimin began to laugh, “We had to cut the bottom off, just to fit it through the door. What a fiasco.” Jimin leaned against the wall. 

His teeth sparkled and eyes glinted. The true joy that had been missing for so long came flooding back with that single memory.

“We learned from our mistakes. That’s all that matters,” Jeongguk walked to the window. He peered through it at the city below. It was much easier to stare into the glowing sun than into Jimin’s glowing eyes. “Are you good with the Christmas tree idea?”

“Yea. I think that’s great. But then what?”

“We’ll figure it out. The key is to keep him safe, give him a little love and just enjoy our time while it lasts.”

Suddenly Keonho came marching down the hallway with his hands on his hips, “The network’s a mess. You’re missing software upgrades, patches, AI integration. You don’t even have the latest version of the Mac suite. And don’t even get me started on those lame firewalls you’ve got going. You’re an Idol, Dad. You should have state of the art everything with the latest in digital technology. It’s going to take hours for me to get everything up to code.”

“Up to…code?” Jeongguk looked at Jimin, confused.

“Yes. We can’t use the system the way it is. Too many vulnerabilities,” Keonho fussed. “Got any coffee, I’m going to be up all night dealing with this.”

“Coffee?” Jimin touched his palm to his chest in shock. “I can’t in good conscience give a little one like you coffee.”

“Mountain Dew? Let’s get the caffeine flowing. I didn’t sleep at all last night. If I’m going to get all this done in one day, I better get started.”

“I’m sorry, what exactly do you feel you need to do?” Jimin asked for clarification.

“Upgrade your network. I ran some diagnostics and the entire screen lit up like a Christmas tree. I need to fix it,” Keonho couldn’t understand why Jimin couldn’t understand.

“And you’re qualified to do this…how?” Jimin asked again for further clarification.

“It’s just my thing. You know?” Keonho pulled off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. “My uncle worked in cybersecurity for the government. Ever since I was two years old, he taught me stuff. Over time, I guess I just got good at it.”

“Director Lee mentioned that you were very savvy with computers.”

“Yea,” Keonho blushed. 

“I agree. The network does need to be updated. I think we even need new software. I’ve been meaning to install that new version of CoPilot as well. Can you handle all of that?” Jeongguk spoke to the six year old child like he was the tech guy from IT.”

“I sure can, just need a few supplies and I can get it all done while I’ve got the hood open.”

“The hood?” Jimin laughed. “What does that even mean?”

“It means that as long as I’m taking the system down for patches, I may as well install all of the new stuff you want. Easy,” Keonho shrugged. “Ian and I need to get started. May I ask? Is it time for lunch?”

“Lunch? Oh yea, I guess we need to feed you,” Jeongguk suddenly focused on food. “I love to cook. How about I cook you something nice?”

“You sure? We could order out just as easily,” Jimin added.

“No. It’s my pleasure to cook for our little guest. Tell me Keo, what are some of your favorite foods?”

“Hamburgers!” He said excitedly.

“Hamburgers. Ok…I think I can pull together a really, really nice hamburger,” Jeongguk said. “You run along and get to work on fortifying that network. I’ll start defrosting the ground beef,” Jeongguk said happily.

They both scurried off in different directions leaving Jimin standing there alone trying to understand how a six year old was going to build new firewalls.

***

 

Day Two:

 

Jimin placed the phone on speaker and dropped it on the table as Nari bore into him about how stupid and harmful his idea was to move back in with Jeongguk. Bringing a child into the fracas seemed like a shit for brains, ass-backwards idea that was destined to backfire- at least in her opinion. She was so angry that her voice was hoarse from all of the screaming, and shouting, and lecturing. Jimin was in too good of a mood to argue. He allowed her to vent and speak her peace, leaving the phone sitting on the table as he walked away.

The bags of new clothes for Keonho had arrived and he was much more interested in sorting through them and picking out a few favorites. His first task was to find something shabby chic for Christmas tree shopping. Even Jimin had to admit that he was excited to go on their first official adventure as a unit. He avoided the use of the word family because that was not at all what they were. But going out on a “date” with Keonho and Jeongguk felt like a beautiful bonding opportunity that might erode some of the vitriol between him and his ex.

Jimin’s mother had done a great job pulling together all of the latest styles in Keonho’s size. It took less than ten minutes to place together a pair of baggy jeans, a polo shirt and sweater with a teddy bear on the front that looked exactly like a younger version of Ian. The sweater was Ivory and he paired them with expensive brown Nike Airs. 

 

It had always been a dream of Jimin’s to have a ridiculously fashionable child. Given his background in fashion and styling, it was where he always felt he would shine as a parent. Even though his arrangement for Keonho was just temporary, he leaned into the fantasy and savored every moment of it because for one month, Keo would be his.

“Jimin, did you hear me?”

“What?” He jumped when he heard his name. His sister had been lecturing him for so long that he almost forgot she was still on the line. As a coping mechanism during their teen years, he’d learned early on how to ignore her and her self-righteous tantrums. “Yea, I heard you. Bad idea. Bad, bad idea.”

“That is not what I said you jerk. I can’t with you. All of the hours that I spent on this case are going to shit. Don’t think the judge isn’t going to consider this.”

“Yea, yea, yea whatever. Listen big sis, I have to go. Tonight is Christmas tree night and I have to get Keo dressed. Can you just…not be mad? I really don’t want to end this conversation with you pissed at me. Remember, I’m only doing this to make up for the fact that we may have ruined his chances at adoption. We’re trying to help a child. That’s all. This changes nothing about the divorce and it certainly changes nothing between me and that asshole ex of mine,” Jimin stated for the records

“Jimin, how do you know this isn’t some set up that he and Junghyun have planned to catch you off guard or to gather evidence that could be used in court against you? He’s tricking you Jimin. You’re too vulnerable to him and being around him for the holidays with a kid as a decoy, is going to end badly,” Nari pleaded with Jimin to listen.

“I’m a grown man. I know what I’m doing. Besides, the judge’s ruling is done and won’t be changed. He said so himself. Stop worrying so much. I have to go now. I love you,” Jimin didn’t give her a chance to respond because he knew she wasn’t done with her tirade. He quickly hung up the phone and moved on.

 

The first evening spent with Keo and Jeongguk had been tense, but palatable. They each retreated to their separate corners of the house without saying much to each other. The limited conversation they had revolved around arrangements for Keonho and his care. Given the civility of the first night, Jimin felt optimistic that this was going to work. 

He grabbed all of his favorite outfits and headed to Keonho’s room. There he found him sitting in Jeongguk’s lap, nearly asleep as Jeongguk read to him. His ex looked wholly official, like a new dad, as he rocked back and forth in the new rocker that the interior designer had added to Keonho’s room. 

Despite insisting that the little one go to bed at a decent hour, Jimin suspected that he had snuck out of bed to continue working on his firewall project. There were several empty bottles of banana milk strewn along the foot of his bed which Jimin suspected had been used for energy in the absence of caffeine which they firmly refused to give him. No matter how much Keonho’s dead uncle insisted that it was the key to good coding, they refused to relent.

Jimin quietly tip-toed into the room. He arranged the clothes on Keonho’s bed. Slightly disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to host a fashion show right away, he proceeded to walk through the large space admiring all of the updates that the designer had made. Gone was all of the old music equipment that Jeongguk had stored in there. In their place was a wall of rare collectable airplanes. There were pictures of airplanes, black and white photos of pilots, airplane chandeliers and even a bunk bed that looked like an airplane. The room was totally transformed, all while leaving the office style set up in the corner that Keo loved so much. Even Jimin had to admit that Jeongguk had done a great job. It felt a little excessive for a stay that was only temporary, but Jimin understood Jeongguk well enough to know that he never did anything half-ass. He poured his full heart into everything, especially things he cared about. That had always been one of the things that Jimin loved most about him. 

Before he knew it, he too was lulled by Jeongguk’s calm reading voice. Jimin found himself sitting on Keo’s bed, listening to him read the classic story The Fairy and the Woodcutter - a tragic tale about a failed love. It was such an ironic choice of stories. Jimin wondered to himself, did love ever truly fail anyone or did people fail at love? From his perspective it was always the latter.

Jeongguk was so engrossed in his story that he didn’t realize that Keo had fallen asleep. He continued to rock with the child in his lap, seemingly on cloud nine as they shared an intimate moment. Jimin watched him, mind twisting with angst. Why, Jimin wondered, after all of the bullshit that Jeongguk had put him through, did Jimin still love him? The answer was simple: his dark soulful eyes, his angelic singing voice, his large dimples and timid smile, his body, his sex, his everything that seemed to fit Jimin like a glove. He was the man of Jimin’s dreams so of course falling  out of love was a hard thing to do. The added component of seeing how he would be as a father only amplified the lingering feelings while bombarding him with all new ones. 

It wasn’t until Keo started snoring that Jeongguk even realized that he was asleep. He smiled down into his sweet little face and kissed his forehead.

“Hey,” he whispered to Jimin, “mind holding him for a sec? I’m late for a conference call with my manager.”

“Uh, yea. Sure.” Jeongguk placed Keo gently into Jimin’s arms. 

Both of them knew perfectly well that he had a bed but there was a certain satisfaction in holding him, showing him the kind of love that he had never had before in his six years on earth. Jimin took Jeongguk’s place in the rocking chair and continued lulling the little one to sleep. Jeongguk placed a blanket over both of them before leaving the room to hop on his call.

Holding the boy felt perfectly natural. A fissure in Jimin’s heart mended the moment he felt his tiny little breaths on his arm. He watched his chest move up and down while his red cheeks simmered like hot pads. His eyelashes were unusually long, adding to his overall adorability. His little lips were thin, kind of like Jeongguk’s, and his face was rounded and full despite his undersized body. The little toes on each of his little feet stuck out intermittently through holes in his frayed socks. Jimin pulled the blanket down over them to keep them from getting cold. Thick rows of the darkest brown hair lined his scalp, with an illshaped cut that was neither trendy nor flattering. Jimin made a note to ask Jeongguk to cut it. He was always great with styling hair. On a scale of one to ten on the cuteness meter, little Keonho was definitely a thirteen.

An hour passed before Jeongguk finally returned. “Sorry about that. Business. Is he ok? Do you want me to take him?”

“I guess we should lay him down on the bed so he can take a proper nap. He’s completely knocked out. I guess we should probably save the Christmas tree shopping for tomorrow?”

“I think that’s a good idea. It’s only 6pm but he’s exhausted, as he should be. Do you know that he completely rebuilt my entire network last night? I found him drowning in banana milk around 3am this morning. What a strange bird,” Jeongguk laughed.

Jeongguk watched Jimin walk Keo to the bed. “Should I put his pajamas on or…?”

“Let him rest. He’s perfectly fine in sweats and a t-shirt. We’ll get him a bath in the morning.” 

Jimin dropped Keonho gently on his brand new bed with the P-51 Mustangs adorned on his new comforter. He removed his tattered socks with the intention of throwing them away. He kissed him on the forehead lightly and rustled his hair. 

“Fatherhood looks good on you,” Jeongguk said kindly.

“It should. It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time. But I think you already know that.”

“Somehow that felt like a shot at me. Like it’s my fault this didn’t work out.”

“It is your fault. You were the one who refused to…,” once again Jimin stifled himself. “Rule number 2 was it?” He reminded Jeongguk of their agreement not to fight.

“Right,” Jeongguk nodded. 

“Since we aren’t going to get the Christmas tree tonight, I’m going to run out and take care of some things.”

“Some things…meaning what? Doona?” Jeongguk quipped.

“Don’t start that bullshit with me. I’m not in the mood. I know it’s only been one night, but things have been going well between us. Don’t fuck it up now,” Jimin whispered angrily to avoid waking Keo. “If you must know, I’m going to the boutique. I have some inventory to log and a new shipment just arrived this morning from Thailand. Mom is overwhelmed and needs help. So please stop with the fucking accusations.”

“Work. So you need to leave at 6pm on a Saturday to go to work.”

“Yes Jeongguk, yes I do. This is why this fucking marriage fell apart because of your jealousy and your willingness to believe every fucking tabloid out there but not the words of your own husband. I hate you sometimes and I’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done to me.”

“What I’ve done to you? How about what you’ve done to me? And the hate is fucking mutual. Get out of here. Go to your ‘job’,” Jeongguk said with fingerquotes.

Jimin threw up his hands and barged out.

***

 

Keo was down for the night. The entire evening had passed without a single word from Jimin. Several times Jeongguk had to stop himself from calling the boutique to verify if Jimin was  really there or if he had used work as an excuse to lie about where he was going. Old feelings of insecurity began to plague him. 

But it wasn’t only Jimin’s absence that had him on edge. It was the fact that the day marked the anniversary of when he first discovered Jimin’s affair. Being in the penthouse amplified the bad memories. The same chair. The same fireplace. The same view. And the same feeling of helplessness as he wondered where Jimin was and why he hadn’t come home. It was like deja vu all over again. The pain of that evening never left him. And this was the bleak anniversary of the day that his life and his marriage began to spiral out of control the year before.

The cleaning crew had restocked the bar earlier that day and that bottle of Blanton’s Kentucky Whiskey was calling his name. He walked back and forth between the wet bar at least seven times as he thought about all of the reasons he shouldn’t take a drink. Keonho was top of mind. If for no other reason than him, Jeongguk needed to stay sober. If Jimin whiffed a single scent of alcohol, he would take the information to the judge and back out of his agreement to foster Keonho. Everything hindered on Jeongguk’s sobriety. As much as he wanted a drink, he gulped down a couple of bottles of banana milk and sent a quick text to his sobriety coach instead. It was a small victorious battle within a much bigger war.

His manager had delivered mail from his second apartment in the city. Since his move back to the penthouse was only temporary, his manager agreed to gather his mail a couple of times a week and bring it to him. At the very top of the stack was a letter from the correctional facility where Jeongguk had spent his last stint in jail. But unrelated to his arrest, this letter was regarding the police report he had filed for his missing black onyx wedding band; the one that had gone missing the night of his last arrest. 

‘Dear Mr. Jeon, 

We are pleased to inform you that we have located the missing jewelry that was reported on the evening of November 29th. The ring was confiscated during your booking of that same evening and stored for safe keeping. A search by our procurement team revealed that it had been mislabeled in our evidence locker. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please see enclosed.’

 

Jeongguk turned the envelope upside down and his ring fell out. It was like seeing an old friend again. He immediately placed it back on his finger. As snug as the day he lost it, he flexed his hand to watch the black surface sparkle in the low light of the fireplace. Having the ring back was oddly reassuring. Even though it had been less than a week, he felt incomplete without it and despite the fact that it was a symbol of a long disintegrated marriage, it was important to him. For him, the ring was a reminder of the good times. It elicited happy feelings of the spirit in which it was given. He still remembered the moment he said I do and Jimin slid it on his finger over the dark JM tattoo above his knuckle. It was the happiest time in his life and despite how things ended, that time was real. It existed. It mattered.

The elevator chimed and the door crept open to reveal Jimin. He was carrying a large leather satchel and he looked exhausted. Maybe…Jeongguk thought to himself…he really had been working. 

“Hey,” Jeongguk said in earnest.

Jimin walked right past him without returning the greeting. Eyes set forward, his body remained rigid and tense. He walked straight to Keo’s room, checked to see if he was still sleeping and then disappeared behind the heavy mahogany door to his own bedroom. 

“Glad you’re home…,” Jeongguk said to no one.

***




Day Three:

 

Keonho strutted down the hallway wearing his Ivory teddy bear sweater and his new jeans. In addition, Jimin had incorporated a bevy of new designer socks into his wardrobe as well. The socks chosen for his outfit were also Ivory with a matching embroidered teddy bear motif. 

The kid understood the assignment. He gave Jimin everything including spins, twirls, face, attitude and sacshays as he showcased each of the outfits that Jimin had selected for him.

“Dad!” Keonho bellowed as Jeongguk arrived home. “Look at the new clothes that dad got for me. And, and and, I have over 100 pairs of socks now!” It was always the small things that made Keonho the happiest.

“Wow buddy, you look fantastic. Like a runway model from Paris,” Jeongguk complimented. “Sorry it took me so long to get home,” Jeongguk knelt down on one knee and beckoned Keo to approach him. He looked directly into his eyes, “Jimin and I have a surprise for you.”

Keonho’s eyes stretched wide, “What kind of surprise? More socks?”

“No, not that,” Jimin laughed.

“How would you like to go pick out a Christmas tree?” Jeongguk asked.

“A tree? A big one?”

“A very big one. As big as you want,” Jeongguk confirmed.

“Uh...but not too big,” Jimin had another flashback about the Christmas tree fiasco of 2021.

“I would love to.” Keonho wrapped his arms around Jeongguk. “Thank you dad. Thank you so much.” He released Jeongguk and then ran straight towards Jimin barreling into him, “And thank you dad.”

“Don’t thank us yet. Let’s get that darn tree in the house securely first,” Jimin warned.

 

The frosty December night was crisp but Jimin was ready. Keonho was bundled tightly in a down-stuffed overcoat, a knitted scarf, mittens and a dark beanie that matched the bowtie on his teddy bear sweater. He looked like the perfect little doll that Jimin always wanted. Even Jeongguk had to admire how absolutely adorable he looked.

As soon as they arrived at the tree lot, Jeongguk hoisted Keo over his shoulders. Rows and rows of emerald colored trees glittered with frost as they lined the rows of the lot. Jimin walked behind them, hand stuffed into his coat pockets, blonde hair hidden beneath a snug baseball hat. Their breath fogged the air as they spoke animatedly, excitedly debating over which tree was the best. 

Keo immediately found one that caught his attention, “This one is fat like Eunji at the orphanage. I like it.”

“How tall is it,” Jimin ran forward with a measuring tape, still determined not to repeat the christmas tree fiasco of 2021. He took a few quick measurements before yelling, “It’ll fit. This one is a good candidate.”

“Are you sure about this one? We still have at least five more rows to go.”

“Let’s keep looking. I want the best and the biggest,” Keo’s voice rang out.

They walked down several more rows until they reached the second to the last row and that was when Keonho alerted on the perfect tree. 

“Ahhh!” He gasped. “Look at that one. Oh dad, let me down, let me down.” Jeongguk lowered him to the ground. He darted forward and wrapped his hands as far around the tree’s trunk as he could reach. His final choice was a Douglas fir, about twenty feet high, and five feet around. It was enormous. “This one, this one,” Keonho yelled. 

“Wait…,” Jimin stepped forward once again to measure it for fitness. “Good to go,” he proudly announced.

Jeongguk paid the attendant while the tree was loaded on the truck for delivery. It was too big for them to tote on their Porsche, so they enlisted help. Keonho stood between his two dads, mitten clad hands clenching both of theirs, swinging slightly with satisfaction and joy. Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ blared in the background, enhancing their moods and filling them with the Christmas spirit. There was nothing like experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a child.

 

Tension between Jimin and Jeongguk remained high. They barely spoke to each other for fear of their communications degrading into an argument. Their biggest mistake may have been choosing to come back to the penthouse to share time with Keonho. It was the source of so much pain for them that they were reminded of sad memories around each and every corner. Memories followed them like ghosts, adding to their quick temperaments.

But like all fairies who were full of magic, Keonho brought out the best in them.

 

Day Four:

 

Since his stay was temporary, the foster dads hired a tutor to help him with his schooling. The tutor they chose had been referred to them by Director Lee because she was already familiar with Keo’s abilities. The kid was a freaking genius and it was only after being tasked with helping him with his homework that Jimin understood the true extent of the boy’s intellect.

Jimin used the newly installed CoPilot to check Keonho’s math homework. It had been a long time since he’s been saddled with calculus word problems and he was not enjoying the experience of verifying the answers.

“I don’t remember learning calculus at six years old,” Jimin laughed over his complete confusion of the last work problem.

“You know dad, I don’t need any help. I promise it’s the right answer,” Keonho laughed at his older dad as he watched him struggle with the math problem.

“I’m sure it’s probably correct too, but I just want to make sure.” Jimin shrugged. He plugged into his AI assistant and sure enough, it was right. “Hmph. Just as I expected, you really are a little genius. I’m so proud of you Keonho. You have such a bright future ahead. Uhh. I guess we should move on to your Korean history class?” Jimin moved all of his math books to the side and searched for the new history books he had purchased. “I think you were supposed to read chapters eight through eleven? Gosh, that seems like a lot of work for a six year old,” Jimin was concerned about the amount of work Keonho had to complete. “Do they always give you this much to do?”

“Yes. I’m not really like the other kids, I get more work which isn’t really fair,” Keonho seemed upset about it.

“You’re not like the other kids. You have a special talent. You may be the most incredible little boy I’ve ever met. I knew the first day you showed up with that suit that you were going to be my favorite,” Jimin laughed.

“I wanted to make a good impression…only…I’m not sure that I did,” Keonho said sadly.

Jimin closed the books and gave the boy his full attention, “What do you mean?”

“You two were going to leave me weren’t you? You took one look at me and decided that you didn’t want me. That’s what my friends say and they were right. Don’t lie. I saw Dad Jk trying to sneak out that morning. The only reason he took me was because he felt guilty or something.”

Jimin was sideswiped. He didn’t expect to hear this coming from Keonho. He had always heard that kids were perceptive and nothing could be hidden from them, but he didn’t realize just how intuitive they could be. “Tha-tha-that’s not true. Of course we wanted you. There were complications with taking you home, that’s all. Paperwork and stuff. Please don’t think that we weren’t ecstatic to have you here,” Jimin lied to protect Keonho from the truth. 

“Oh yea? Then why do you guys seem so unhappy all of the time.”

“We’re not unhappy. We have fun, don’t we?”

“Something’s not right. I can feel it,” Keonho lowered his head to his desk.

Jimin scooted closer to him, “Listen to me.” He decided to tell as much of the truth as he could, based on what he thought the little one was mature enough to handle, “What’s happening between me and your dad has nothing to do with you. He and I don’t always get along very well and it’s been that easy for a very long time, before you ever came along. But the main reason that we can laugh and smile with each other is because of you. You bring out the magic in us. You make us happy and proud. Do you understand?”

“Not really. But I trust you,” Keonho was much too smart for Jimin to handle alone. He really needed Jeongguk to balance the conversation. “Do you love him? My other dad?”

“Wow kid, you really ask the hard questions,” Jimin scratched the back of his neck and he pondered on how to answer that one. “I…used to love…no that’s not quite right. Ok, I love him. But love sometimes isn’t enough. In order for love to work, it has to have a lot of things that go with it, like trust, respect, honesty, those kinds of things. Somewhere along the way, we lost that.”

“Have you told him that you love him? Maybe he just needs to hear you say it,” Keonho said innocently.

“He knows.”

“I don’t think so. Have you ever noticed the way he stares at you? I think he loves you too but he’s too scared to say it.”

“I’m sure he likes me very much. Ok, no more of this. We still have homework to do.”

“You’re scared too, aren’t you?”

Jimin was rattled. “No. No. You’re too young to understand. Please refocus. We have three hundred chapters of Korean history to read.”

 “What happened? Why are the two of you not happy together anymore?” Keonho refused to move on despite Jimin’s warning.

“Because…,”

“Because what…?” Keonho pressed.

“I don’t know damnit! I don’t know!” Jimin slammed his fist on the desk and fought back tears. “Something just happened. Things just changed and we…,” he managed to gather himself before completely breaking down.

Even at Keonho’s tender age, he realized that he’d pushed too far. “Daddy Min please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to say anything to upset you.”

“It’s not you. It’s never you. Come here sweetheart. I’m sorry to snap at you but please understand that things between me and Jeongguk are very complicated. But it’s going to be ok. None of this has anything to do with you. Remember that.”

Keonho gave Jimin a tight hug, “Yep. I believe we will be ok. We have the rest of our lives to get it right and get used to being a family. It will be ok dad. You’re my forever parents and we’ll figure it all out.”

***

 

Day Seven:

 

Jeongguk arrived home late that evening. As the elevator doors opened, he was hit with a warm cozy rush of heat from the fireplace. After dropping his luggage and kicking off his shoes, he headed towards the  living room where he was greeted by Keonho’s Christmas tree as it sparkled with the large clear bulbs twinkling on and off. It felt good to be home. 

Just as he was about to remove his coat, he saw movement on the couch. He froze. It was Jimin, sitting there and reading a book. Jeongguk checked his watch, it was almost 2am so he was a bit surprised to find Jimin still awake. Jeongguk didn’t want to talk, he wasn’t in the mood. So he turned back towards the elevator and tried to sneak out. But before the door could close, he heard Jimin’s voice.

“Hey, got a minute? We need to talk.”

Jeongguk turned back around and tried to hide the fact that he was seconds from making a run for it just to avoid having to talk to him. 

“Is Keo ok?”

“He’s fine. Perfect really. Sleeping soundly. But I need to talk to you,” Jimin insisted.

“Can this wait? I’m exhausted. Twelve hours of flight delays, a seven hour flight, no sleep. Let’s just pick this up tomorrow,” Jeongguk slurred his words.

Jimin slammed his book shut, “No. We need to talk right now.”

Jeongguk rubbed his tired eyes and leaned against the wet bar. He really, really wanted a shot of Vodka before dealing with Jimin’s drama, but he resisted. “Ok, what is it?”

“Nari called me this morning. As a condition of the fostering agreement, KWS has agreed to void our adoption contract at the end of the thirty days. They felt that our efforts to mediate the damage showed good faith and they are sending the decision over to the court. This means that Judge Soon will be calling us in to finalize the divorce any day now.”

“Good riddance,” Jeongguk rolled his eyes. “Whatever happens, I’m keeping my commitment to Keo.”

Jimin bristled, “As if I’m not? Is that what you’re insinuating, that I’ll turn my back on him?”

“Don’t fucking start, Jimin. You know that’s not what I’m saying.”

Jimin walked closer to Jeongguk to examine his eyes. As soon as he got within a few inches of him, he could smell the alcohol.

“Fuck! Are you fucking drunk? You smell like a full bottle of whiskey! You’re fucking drunk!” Jimin yelled. The tone of his voice shook the walls. “I can’t believe you. You’re a raging alcoholic who only cares about his next shot, you don’t really care about this kid. You’re not fit to be a parent.”

Jeongguk was enraged. He released his angry words as loudly as his voice would carry, “Drunk? You think I’m drunk? I’m not having this conversation with you right now. FUCK YOU. I’m going to bed.” Jeongguk turned to walk away but Jimin grabbed him by the arm and spun him back around.

“You’re going to stand here and lie to my face? I can smell it all over you. I can see it in your bloodshot eyes. You’re fucking drunk!” Jimin stated again.

Jeongguk’s eyes darkened. Anger, rage, frustration and pain all bubbled to the surface and took control of his words. He lashed out, “You’re sick and entitled and pathetic. You and your fucking allegations, almost cost me everything. You spun the truth just to get your hands on my money. You and your greedy sister. I’m not an alcoholic. Being heartbroken and using alcohol to numb the pain doesn’t make me a drunk. And I resent the accusation.”

“What about the shit you accused me of? What about that? You are the one who spread lies all over the country, trying to destroy the business that I built from the ground up. You jumped to conclusions that weren’t true. YOU, you fucking asshole!”

“And that is exactly what you’re doing now!” Jeongguk’s screams were so loud that the paintings on the walls shook. “NO JIMIN! I have not been drinking. My eyes are bloodshot because I haven’t slept in almost two days. I’ve been stuck in an airport without a shower, without clean clothes. I smell like alcohol because I was on the plane ride from hell. We hit turbulence and the lady sitting next to me spilled her entire drink on my clothes. I had nothing to change into. But you, you want to believe the fucking worst of me. You want me to be a drunk because it feeds into your superiority complex. You’re always the victim, you’re always the righteous one. You played the victim so well that the judge gave you half of my fucking fortune. Money that I worked hard for. I had to give it to you just to make you go away. OUR MARRIAGE IS BROKEN BECAUSE OF YOU. BECAUSE YOU COULDN’T BE FAITHFUL, BECAUSE YOU COULDN’T KEEP YOUR DICK IN YOUR PANTS. AND A WOMAN…A FUCKING WOMAN. MAYBE IF IT HAD BEEN ANOTHER MAN, I COULD HAVE GOTTEN OVER IT. BUT A WOMAN?” Jeongguk’s face was full of anger. Tears flowed down his face as he unleashed all of the pain and hurt that he’d held for months.

“I WAS SET UP!” Jimin tried to keep his voice down, “I told you over and over and over that this was a set up. Everything was fake. I don’t know how she did it, but she intentionally wanted to break us up. I begged you to believe me. But instead of believing me, you believed her. You fell into her trap and you allowed her to come between us and destroy our love story; a love that was so powerful that we could have stood the test of time forever. Yea, I may have made some mistakes, I may have been too nice to her, I may have been naive and not understood what she was plotting, but I NEVER FUCKED HER! SHE WAS AN EMPLOYEE THAT’S IT! I NEVER LOVED HER. I NEVER FELT ANYTHING FOR HER! IT WAS YOU I WAS IN LOVE WITH YOU. YOU! YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE I EVER LOVED. BUT YOU JUST DUMPED ME. YOU ALLOWED LIES AND RUMORS TO BECOME OUR REALITY. You left me. You gave up on me. You didn’t even try to fight for me. You just - left,” Jimin screamed. “Don’t you dare blame this on me. Don’t you dare,” Jimin burst into tears and fell onto the couch. He buried his face in his hands.

“SHE HAD PROOF JIMIN! SHE SHOWED ME THE RECEIPTS. I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE STILL LYING ABOUT THIS!” Jeongguk was incredulous. 

“I’M GLAD THIS MARRIAGE IS OVER. I CAN’T WAIT TO GET AWAY FROM YOU!” Jimin screamed.

“You can leave. We don’t need you. I’ll take care of Keo,” Jeongguk said bitterly.

“YOU? TAKE CARE OF HIM? The drunk who can’t even tell him the truth?” Jimin said angrily, “I begged you to tell him that this arrangement was just temporary, but you couldn’t even do that. You’re so fucking fragile that you can’t even be honest with him. He thinks we’re his parents. He thinks the adoption is final and this is his new home. Do you know what this is going to do to him when you dump him on the steps of that fucking orphanage again after the thirty days are up?”

“Oh, here it is. I knew this was going to happen. Now suddenly, everything is my fault. Now suddenly, I’m the one who failed him. What happened to, ‘We’re in this together. We can be civil’. What happened to that Jimin?”

“I don’t know what came over me, thinking that I could partner with you for anything. I should have known there was no way we could foster him when the two of us hate each other.” As Jimin approached Jeongguk, he saw a small blur speed past them. 

Immediately after, they heard the chime of the elevator as it opened and then immediately closed.

“What was that?” Jeongguk said as he spun towards the elevator.

“Oh my God. Keo?”

“Keo?” Jeongguk yelled. 

“You don’t think he heard us do you?” Jimin asked. 

“Fuck! Fuck!” Jeongguk immediately began to panic as he ran to the elevator. 

He slammed his finger into the elevator button over and over, trying to get it to move faster. They could hear it stop at street level before slowly slumbering back into service towards the penthouse again. Keo had a significant head start. If they were going to find him, they had no time to wait for the elevator. Jeongguk bolted towards the stairs with Jimin following close behind.

They both knew they had fucked up. They didn’t know exactly what Keo had heard, but it had been enough to upset him so badly that he chose to run away. By the time they made it down to the street, the tiny little boy was nowhere to be seen. Nothing but darkness and fog filled the streets. Snow was falling at a steady pace and the temperatures hovered just above freezing. It was certainly too cold for a devastated little boy to be wandering through the streets of Seoul.

 Jeongguk was fully clothed in his liquor stained airplane attire and coat, but Jimin was only wearing his thin pajamas and slippers. Still they forged on running down the block calling after the little boy they adored.

“Keo!”

“Keo?”

“Keo!”

What they thought would be a quick search bled into ten minutes, and then fifteen, and then thirty. Keo was a very smart little boy, but emotionally, he was still only six years old. He didn’t know how to protect himself. He didn’t know how to get around alone.

“What have we done? What have we done?” Jeongguk chanted over and over.

“Where could he have gone?” Jimin’s teeth chattered as they continued to jog down the street looking for their little boy.

“There, up ahead. That convenience store is still open. Do you think he went in there?”

“I don’t know, but it’s worth a try.”

They ran into the store, “Have you seen a little boy, about four feet tall, big dimples, dark hair, six years old?” Jimin asked the clerk.

“Nope. Just me. No kids would be out this late at night,” the clerk said unhelpfully.

“Take my number. Call me if you see him,” Jeongguk scribbled his cell number on a piece of paper and left it with the clerk. “Come on Jimin.”

Jimin was so cold that he could barely contain his shivers. His blond hair was speckled with large flakes of snow. His pajamas were almost soaked through and his face was frozen red with cold. He was not dressed to be out in that weather. 

At a moment when they could least afford to lose time, Jeongguk fell into a trance. As oddly timed as it was, he took note of just how beautiful his husband was. Only Jimin could look like a runway model in the midst of freezing to death. No matter how angry Jeongguk was, no matter how much hatred he thought he felt, Jimin’s ethereal beauty always broke through and spoke to him. It softened his heart. It made him nourish the precious memories of their time together. It made him feel human again. An hour ago, he wanted to never speak to him again. But those feelings were replaced by empathy and the stubborn reminder that he still loved him.

Without thinking, Jeongguk pulled off his coat and forced it up Jimin’s arms until he was wrapped snuggly in the warm wool. He brushed the snow from Jimin’s hair and then fished through his coat pockets to find a hat and gloves. He pushed the beanie down over Jimin’s head and then slapped the expensive leather gloves into his hands. 

“Put these on. You’re not going to freeze to death and leave me all by myself to find this kid,” he said sarcastically. 

Jimin’s pride didn’t allow him to say thank you. But his eyes spoke paragraphs as he stared back at the handsome, caring man who had always taken care of him. It was ironic. Even at their angriest moment, Jeongguk still found it in his heart to worry about him.

“Some things never change,” Jimin spoke softly to himself as he wiggled his fingers into Jeongguk’s oversized gloves.

They left the convenience store even more frantic than before. They had no idea where Keo had gone and they didn’t know where to even start looking for him. How had such a small guy, with such little feet and short legs gotten so far, so fast?

Just as Jeongguk was about to call the police, Jimin looked up and noticed a bus sitting at the stop across the street. He squinted, rubbed his eyes and squinted again. There in the front row, he thought he could just barely see a few strands of unruly dark hair pressed against the bottom of the window. Could it be?

A thought popped into Jimin’s head. Unlike the two of them, Keonho was too intelligent to roam around in the cold snow in the middle of the night, wearing hardly any clothes. It only made sense that he would find someplace warm to hide. The overnight bus was the perfect place. The blue and white bus screeched around the corner, brakes hissing, as it came to a stop and then lurched forward again. Jimin’s mind raced as he inadvertently began walking towards the bus stop. By the time he pulled all of his thoughts together, he was standing in the middle of the street.

“JEONGGUK!” Jimin yelled as the bus disappeared down the street. “Follow that bus. He’s on the bus!” Jimin screamed as he took off running.

“Wait - what?” Jeongguk’s eyes widened as he saw Jimin running down the street like a lunatic.

Jimin screamed over his shoulder, “Our baby is on that bus!”

The two of them ran so fast that by the time the bus reached its next stop, they were standing there, leaning over, holding their knees, grasping to try to catch their breath. The bus slowed to a stop and opened its doors. Jimin could hardly breathe. He lifted an index finger and tried to speak, asking the driver to give them a minute.

“We…really…need…to start…jogging…again…,” Jeongguk complained. 

He grabbed Jimin’s hand and pulled him up the stairs onto the warm cozy bus. They stood there staring at the card reader, trying to think through how to use it. It had been a very long time since the bus was their preferred method of transportation. 

Jeongguk fished his hands through the pockets of his coat that Jimin was wearing. Jimin lifted his arms and gasped as he felt Jeongguk’s hands molesting him and patting him all over his body. He laughed when he finally realized that Jeongguk was just searching for his phone that was in the coat pocket so that he could pay the toll.

As Jeongguk tapped his T-money pass against the reader, Jimin scanned the bus looking for Keonho. Once the toll was paid, they moved into the aisle. The bus was completely empty with the exception of one tiny body pressed sadly against the window behind the driver. Neither wanted to crowd his space, so Jimin sat in the seat across the aisle from him and Jeongguk sat in the seat behind him.

They quietly observed the sad little soul sitting all along in his Boeing 747 fleece pajamas. The weight of parenthood rested heavily on their shoulders. This boy was only six years old and had lived a very fucked up life. Through their own selfishness and obtuseness, they had only added to his burden. How they handled this moment would likely affect Keo for the rest of his life. They looked back and forth at each other, each unsure who should speak first. Somehow, the entire situation felt like a Jeongguk thing. His level of sensitivity and his ability to say the right words was what they needed. Jimin crossed his legs and nodded his head, giving Jeongguk the signal.

Jeongguk took a deep breath as he prepared to say the most important words of his life. He paused and spoke with a confident and reassuring tone, “Jimin farted. That’s why we were arguing.”

Keonho covered his mouth and giggled. He couldn’t help himself.

Jimin’s eyes bulged as he shook his head left to right. That was not the sensitive, loving, apropos opening that he expected.

Jeongguk shrugged. He didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to say. He thought for a moment, reloaded and tried again. “When I was your age, I would ride this exact same bus whenever I got upset. The only difference is that I would bring snacks.”

“You’re from Busan. When you were my age, you lived in Busan. You couldn’t have ridden this exact same bus,” Keonho responded.

Once again Jimin shook his head, thoroughly disappointed with Jeongguk’s approach. Keonho was too bright to fall for his lies. “Strike two,” Jimin teased.

“Okay, how about this…we’re only human and sometimes we make mistakes. Being a parent is really, really hard,” Jeongguk offered.

Keo barked back, “You’re not my parents. You’re using me to keep from getting in trouble with the judge. You planned to take me back to the orphanage all along, but you tricked me into believing that you were adopting me. You lied to me. Both of you lied to me. You’re a bunch of liars, just like my uncle. Just like Director Lee. All adults do is lie.”

Jimin and Jeongguk stared at each other. They were starting to understand why he was so upset. He’d overheard their entire argument. 

“You heard us arguing. But I don’t think you understand…,” Jimin tried to defend their slip up.

“I’m not dumb. You two never wanted me. That’s why you tried to sneak out of the orphanage without taking me with you. You’re in a divorce. You don’t even want to be together anymore, how can you possibly want a new kid in the middle of all of this? Why did you lie? Why didn’t you just leave me there?”

“Please let us explain,” Jimin tried again, but he just couldn’t find the words. Once again he looked to Jeongguk for help.

This time he was ready, “All of my life, I dreamed about being a father. And when I met Jimin, we realized that he wanted that too. Six years ago, we applied to adopt a little boy, exactly your age. But it was six long years ago and the agency could never find a match for us. So, we started to think that it would never happen, even though we still wanted a son. Yes, Keo, Jimin and I are now divorced…almost.  But none of that changes the fact that we still wanted you. The bad stuff between us happened long before we ever knew about you. But because we are divorcing, we can no longer legally adopt you. So in order to fix our mistake, we agreed to take you for a while, just to get you out of the orphanage while they try to find parents for you, parents who can legally adopt you. We were only approved to be your parents as a married couple. Even if we try to adopt you as single parents, we would likely not be approved and if we were, we would have to start all over again and go to the back of the line.”

Keo began to cry, “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”

Before Jeongguk could take responsibility for being the one who made the decision not to tell him, Jimin chimed in, “We didn’t want to hurt you. You were so happy to be here. We were so happy to have you. We just wanted to protect you for a little while longer. We planned to tell you. We did. But it was just too hard. We made a mistake and we apologize. We should have told you.”

Jeongguk felt a tug at his heart. An hour ago Jimin had blamed the entire situation on him, but now he was taking his share of responsibility at a time when it mattered the most. He appreciated Jimin for that.

Keo had questions, “So at the end of thirty days, I go back to the orphanage?”

“Probably…unless we can find a set of adoptive parents within that time.”

“That won’t happen. No one wants kids my age. They all want babies,” Keo sniffled. Tears were beginning to fall in small little dollops. 

Jeongguk switched his seat and sat next to Keo and then pulled him into his lap. “We never meant to hurt you. We adore you. We would keep you if we could. Wouldn’t we, Jimin?”

“Oh absolutely.” Jimin leaned over the aisle and held Keo’s hand. “And even when we do take you back to the orphanage, we promise to visit. We promise to help you find good parents. We promise, sweetheart. We promise.”

“I don’t want new parents. I just want you,” Keonho released a full cry before breaking into breathy sobs.

Once again the two husbands stared at each other. The situation was a tangled up knot and there was not much they could say or do to change their circumstances. Keo was right to be upset because he knew that in the end, he would end up being collateral damage.

***

 

Day Eight:

 

The following day was quiet. Neither Jimin nor Jeongguk knew how to recover from such a devastating night. In their eyes, the entire fostering attempt was turning into a massive failure of two angry men who just couldn’t stay out of each other’s way. 

Keo running away was a serious problem because they had no assurances that he wouldn’t try to do it again. They thought about calling Director Lee for advice, but they decided against it out of fear of her insisting that Keo go back to the orphanage. 

In a moment of calm agreement, Jimin and Jeongguk decided that it would be best for Jimin to talk to him. He had the ability to be a bit more stern than soft hearted Jeongguk.

So, early that morning, Jimin ventured into the boy’s room to have a tough discussion with him. Keo rolled over to find Jimin sitting in the rocking chair.

“Good morning kiddo. How did you sleep?” Jimin asked.

“I was up all night riding a bus, so not great,” Keo said jokingly.

“That’s not…funny,” Jimin said, even though it was kind of funny.

“About that. Can we please talk for a minute?” Jimin pulled a chair close to him as Keo sat with his feet dangling over the edge of the bed. He placed his hand on Keo’s shoulder for comfort and loving reassurance. “Running away is never the answer. You could have gotten hurt. You could have been kidnapped or worse. Jeongguk and I were worried sick about you. I was so scared that I ran out of the house wearing pajamas and slippers. You can’t do that again, baby. You just can’t. It’s not safe. Help me understand. Why did you leave, sweetheart?”

“Why would I stay in a place where people don’t want me?”

“That’s not a fair statement, but I understand why you feel that way. Keo, you can always talk to us. Whenever you’re feeling sad, or lonely or upset, you can talk to us. We may not be your permanent parents, but we care about what happens to you. We care about you.”

“Whatever.”

“No…not whatever. Promise me that you’ll talk to us before running off into the night. Promise.”

“Ok, I promise,” Keo’s face was stuck in a frown.

Jimin had more to say, but he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from the other room. It sounded quite a bit like his sister.

“Hold that thought. Get dressed. I’m taking you to meet my mom today. Then we’re going out to a very special lunch. I’ll be back in a minute. Ok?”

“Yea.”

Jimin rushed from Keo’s room towards the living area. He found Nari standing near the fireplace with a stack of papers in her hand. She was smiling and appeared to be very happy.

“Hey, sis, what are you doing here?” Jimin took a seat on the couch.

Jeongguk was standing near the window, his eyes were bland with no luster, just darkness and lack of focus. It was eerie. Jimin knew from his husband’s expression that Nari had delivered some news.

Nari beamed, “Good you’re here. I was just telling Jeongguk the great news. Judge Soon received the order from KWS stating that they were going to release you from the adoption contract. Now, I have to warn you, the adoption contract won’t void until December 30th which will match up with the end of your fostering period. So you still must continue to foster this kid. But since KWS reached out to the judge to let them know the matter was resolved, the judge decided to enter his final ruling. He decided to proactively finalize the divorce. It’s done guys. I have all of the final settlements that you need to sign. Jeongguk, I hope you don’t mind, since Junghyun is in court, I took the liberty of bringing your copies to sign as well.”

“No…that’s fine. Thank you,” Jeongguk said with a strange and empty voice.

“It’s final? The divorce is final? Just like that?” Jimin asked.

“Just like that!” Nari was so pleased that she did a little dance as she doled out the copies to each of them.

“Ok then.” Jimin looked at Jeongguk who was still staring through the window. He had little reaction to anything that Nari had to say. Jimin quickly signed his copies of the settlement and handed them back to Nari. 

“Jeongguk, do you want to sign, or have your brother look through the documents first?” Nari asked.

“No…I’ll sign.” He quickly scribbled illegibly on each of the pages. Once he was done, he threw the pen on top of the stack of papers and stormed to the elevator.

“Is he going to be ok?” Nari asked.

“No. Tell mom that me and Keo will be there around noon to take her to lunch. Please let yourself out. I need some time alone,” Jimin said curtly. He resented the aloofness with which she delivered such horrific news.

Jimin rushed from the room and headed straight to his bedroom. He closed the door so that his private rampage would remain private. Tears streamed unchecked down his cheeks. He fell onto the bed and tried to keep himself from hyperventilating but his efforts were in vain. How could it be? How could a relationship born of the heavens crumble to dust? How could it all be over? He jumped to his feet and seized the lamp sitting on the dresser. With an angry pivot, he hurled it against the wall, causing it to shatter. He dragged his arm along the wooden bookcase and swept all of the books from the shelf, causing the pages to flutter in the sky like the wings of a wounded bird. He kicked the dresser, toppling drawers and throwing all of the contents to the ground. He punched the wall repeatedly until his knuckles bruised and he was out of breath. The ululation from his throat echoed against the walls. With one sad, laboured scream, he mourned the death of his life…the end of his days married to the only man he’d ever loved. 

 

The elevator doors slid shut, trapping Jeongguk alone inside of the mirrored box. He stared at his red blood shot eyes in the reflection; eyes full of despair and disbelief. It was over. His marriage of seven beautiful years was over. Maybe it was the mocking hum of the elevator cables, or the raging thud of his heart against his chest, or the tangled nerves that frayed with each thought of no longer having his husband, but something within him snapped. A whimper, low and steady at first, escaped him. But with each passing second, it grew and grew until he released a mighty, heartstopping roar that shook the entire elevator. He pulled at his hair and slammed his fists against the mirrored elevator wall, cracking it. Tears poured down his face as it contorted and twisted beneath his screams. He looked like a monster because that’s what the grief of his lost love had done to him. His life was over because there was no life without Jimin as his husband.

The elevator jolted before opening to the busy street. He stumbled out, shirt wet from tears, face red. Several people called to him, asking if he needed help. Passersby stared as he continued to weep and stagger along the street. To the world he was clearly a man in distress. He didn’t know where he was going or what he was doing. His mind was a blur. His marriage was over. Over. His thoughts went to his wedding ring, the one that he so protectively wore around his finger. The only artifact left that bound him to the light of the past. Because his present and future were definitely dark. He walked towards the end of the sidewalk, contemplating throwing his entire body into traffic. But more rational thoughts besieged him, reminding him that the pain would one day - eventually pass. He fell against the glass window of the downstairs bakery. Knees buckling, hands trembling, he slid down the window as he cried his pain away. 

***

Day Thirteen:

 

Keonho wasn’t himself. Despite their attempts to cheer him up, he refused to smile. He stopped referring to them as dads and switched to calling them Mr. Jeon and Mr. Park. That hurt the two husbands more than anything. The little one’s trust had been broken and for a child who already held so much emotional baggage, it wasn’t easy to get him to open up again. 

For what it was worth, the scare of Keo running away caused the two men to be much more cognizant of their behavior. They were much kinder with their words and they avoided arguments at all costs. They only had three more weeks with Keo and they planned to make the best of it. Their remaining time together had to be perfect if they were ever going to mend the little boy’s heart. 

Jimin had to be at the boutique by sunrise, so Jeongguk was left alone to get Keo up, dressed and fed. As a special treat he decided to make him a hearty breakfast full of his favorites that included, green eggs, Grinch pancakes, fresh orange juice and pork belly. It was a Dr. Seuss palooza. Although they refused to indulge in Keo’s frequent requests for coffee, they did love drowning him in hot chocolate with puffy white marshmallows. Jeongguk set the table and placed all of Keo’s favorites there while he went to wake him.

 

Snowflakes drifted past the frosted window, gathering in the corners and forming tiny frozen mounds. Keonho pressed his small hand to the cold glass, leaving a foggy print that slowly faded. He blew his warm breath against the pane and watched it melt the gathered snow. Outside, the world was active with the sounds of children’s voices laughing in the distance. Inside, the house felt too big, too quiet. It was a place where he no longer felt wanted. Tears slipped down his round cheeks as he stared at the white roof tops just below the horizon.

The room was unexpectedly dark when Jeongguk entered, and to his surprise, Keo was not in his bed. He found him sitting next to the window watching the developing snow storm. His face was solemn, not at all the expression that he would expect from a boy who was so close to Christmas. 

“Good Morning, sweetheart,” Jeongguk smiled. He pulled up a chair and sat next to the little one. Keo’s snowflake spotting became a team activity as Jeongguk joined him by pressing his nose against the windows to watch the fluffy flakes fall from the sky. “I cooked your favorite breakfast.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You have to eat.”

“I don’t have to do anything except die and pay taxes.”

“A little macabre this morning aren’t we?” Jeongguk had to laugh. At times, Keo had the spirit of an old man and it manifested itself at the least expected moments. He grabbed a brush and began brushing his foster son’s hair. “It’s time for another haircut. Your hair grows so fast, just like Jimin’s.” Jeongguk ran his fingers through the strands, pulling them and evaluating the growth. 

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters.”

“Listen to me.” Jeongguk placed his palm underneath Keo’s chin and lifted it so that their eyes could meet. “I know you’re hurt. I know we’re the ones who hurt you. But we’re doing everything we can to make this time special for you. We still have almost three weeks together. Why can’t we focus on that? Baby, if we could fix this, we would. But there is just not much we can do and I’m sorry for that.”

“I understand,” Keonho said softly.

But at six years old, could he really understand? Jeongguk wondered. 

“Let’s go have breakfast. It’s getting cold. After breakfast, I’m taking you to the studio with me. I’m working on new music and I want you to be the first to hear it.”

“Really?” That news gave Keo a spark. “The first?”

“The first. Now come on.”

 

As Keo and Jeongguk walked towards the kitchen, Keo noticed that the entire room was filled with gifts, gifts that had not been there the day before. 

“WHOA! Where did all of these come from?”

“Oh that?” Jeongguk smirked. “Me and Jimin did a little shopping. I guess we got carried away.” 

Carried away was an understatement. In their attempts to overcompensate for being the most horrible foster parents ever, they’d managed to turn their living room into the North Pole. Ornately wrapped gifts spanned the height of the ceiling, almost as high as the Christmas tree. 

“That’s a lot of gifts,” Keo’s eyes sparkled as he ran over to the tree and began reading the tags. The first twenty gifts that he looked at all had his name on them. “Why are there so many  gifts for me?” He asked innocently.

“You’re important to us,” Jeongguk said simply. “Plus there’s just so much good stuff out there that we wanted to buy you.”

“But…,”

“But what…,” Jeongguk still couldn’t understand why Keo seemed so unhappy.

“But…what about each other? There is nothing here for Jimin. Nothing here for you. Why did you buy me gifts but not buy anything for each other?”

Jeongguk rolled his eyes. Keo and his tough questions were becoming annoying. He wasn’t sure how to answer but he thought quickly. “Jimin and I spent years buying stuff for each other. Now it’s your turn.”

“That’s not the truth,” Keo challenged him. “What happened to you two? I’m old enough to understand. Please just tell me.”

“No. You may be old enough to understand but that doesn’t mean that we should burden you with crap that happened a long time ago - before you ever came along. Me and Jimin’s past doesn’t concern you.”

“But Mr. Jeon…you can’t see what I can see.”

“And what do you see, Keo,” Jeongguk asked curtly.

“You’re in love. He loves you. You love him. I’m only six and I can see it.”

“That’s not true. Nothing is that simple.”

“Then help me understand why you don’t love each other anymore,” the kid was not taking no for an answer. Just as he’d pressed Jimin for answers, he was now pressing Jeongguk.

“Jimin found someone else. I was hurt by that because I still loved him. But he’s in love with someone else. So when you say that you can see love in our eyes, you’re wrong baby. What I feel for him doesn’t even matter anymore because he loves someone else. Do you understand?”

“How do you know that?” Keo asked curiously. 

“I have proof. Now please drop this.”

“Have you told him that you love him?” Keo pressed.

“No! And that’s none of your business.”

“When you two were arguing, Dad Min kept yelling something about being set up. What did he mean by that?”

“Keonho! I said none of this is your business. We’re adults who have adult problems and I am explicitly forbidding you from getting involved. Do you understand?”

“Yea. I’m sorry,” Even though Keonho apologized, his quest for more information was far from over. Since neither Jimin nor Jeongguk would tell him the story of what happened, it was up to Keo to find the facts for himself.

***

 

Day Fifteen:

 

“Hey, need any help with dinner?”

“Hey. I thought you were staying late at the boutique tonight?”

“I was, but mom insisted that I head home to spend some time with Keo.” Jimin pulled an apron over his head and stood at the counter next to Jeongguk.

“How did she like meeting Keo?”

“Loved him, of course. But, she’s not too pleased with this temporary arrangement. She feels that it’s not good for Keo and even worse for us. She’s worried about how we will cope after the fostering is over.  She knows how much we’ve always wanted a son. By the way, she said to tell you hello and that she misses you. You should probably stop by to see her when you get a chance.”

“I will.” Jeongguk passed a knife over to Jimin along with a few pieces of garlic. “Dice those for me please?”

“Sure. I’ll do my best. What are we having?”

“Buldak Mayo in Perilla oil with buckwheat noodles.”

“Yum. Keo is going to love that.”

“I know. It’s one of his favorites.”

“In case I haven’t said it, you’re a good dad.”

“Actually…so are you. You know what else? I’m proud of us.” Jeongguk smiled. 

“I am too. We’ve been behaving very well. Putting our issues aside for the kid’s sake. I guess now that the divorce is final, we have nothing to argue about.”

“I knew we could do it if we just…worked together,” Jeongguk added. He supervised Jimin’s slicing of the garlic. “A little thinner. Slow down and let your knife do the work.” He placed a hand over Jimin’s to help guide his cutting. Jimin followed the rhythm until he picked it up. “There you go. Just like that.”

“Thanks. You’ve always been the cook in the family.”

“I enjoy it to be honest,” Jeongguk laughed. “I should open a restaurant or something.”

Jimin bit his lip as he stared down at the cutting board, “About the other night, when we fought… it wasn’t exactly our finest moment. Arguing in front of the kid, upsetting him so badly that he felt the need to run away…it was terrible. And if I haven’t said it, I’m sorry for my role in it. I should have handled it better.”

“Takes two. It wasn’t all on you. I’m sorry for my part as well. We were best friends at one time, Jimin. No matter what has happened between us, I pray that we can find that friendship again.”

“At least until Keo goes back and the divorce is final.”

“Yea.” Jeongguk pulled the knife from Jimin’s hand and made a sudden movement.

“Whoa!” Jimin felt his arm being yanked as he was pulled across the floor.

Jeongguk turned up the music and pushed Jimin into the closet. He closed the door and stood close to him, staring down into his face amidst the cloud of darkness.

“And why the assault?” Jimin used that word again as he fumbled around for the light switch. Realizing that it was triggering for Jeongguk, he corrected himself, “I mean…why did you pull me into the closet?”

“Because that kid has ears like a pit bull. He can hear everything. I need to ask you something without his little eavesdropping ass listening in.”

Jimin laughed, “This is a bit dramatic, but whatever. You do you.” In an attempt to escape his beguiling cologne, Jimin took a step back, slamming into the broom and mop that were hanging behind him. The wall rattled.

Jeongguk shook his head, “Calm down. I won’t bite.”

“You always smell so good.”

“Ah so is that what you’re running from?”

Jimin laughed again. He rubbed the back of his neck and stared away from Jeongguk’s face. “There was a time when I would have given anything to be shoved in a closet with you.”

“Stay focused. How are we going to handle taking Keo back to the orphanage? I can’t even imagine how difficult it’s going to be for him. How are we going to keep him safe from the bullies? I’m worried about him, Jimin.”

“I’ve been thinking about that too. But what can we do? We have no rights, no say in how he’s treated. Director Lee will do what she can, but our best path is to find someone to adopt him. Maybe we can petition with the KWS to keep his name at the top of the list.”

Jeongguk smirked, “Good idea. Maybe money as a little incentive?”

“Exactly.”

“Let’s keep Director Lee out of this. We don’t want her implicated in our little plot.”

Jimin agreed, “I’ll pay them a visit tomorrow.”

“Do I need to give you my checkbook?” Jeongguk teased.

“No thanks. My ex is rich and I won half in our divorce settlement,” Jimin teased back.

“Ha-ha,” Jeongguk rolled his eyes.

They laughed genuinely, together. Jimin took another step back, bumping into the wall again and causing a stack of feather dusters to fall on top of his head.

“Ouch!” He laughed so loudly that Jeongguk had to shoosh him. 

Jeongguk stepped closer and rubbed his head, “Ok, so that probably hurt,” he wanted to laugh, but chose to show a little kindness instead. “Need some ice?” Jeongguk continued to rub the area on the top of Jimin’s head.

“No. It’s not that bad.” Jimin instinctively placed his hand on top of his head as well.  

They grazed their fingers as Jeongguk quickly pulled away. The faded light above them cast shadows of their two bodies against the back of the door. Their touches were familiar. Their laughs were familiar. This was a moment that was long over due, not just civility, but friendship with a few remnants of love sprinkled on top. 

Jimin grabbed Jeongguk’s hand and placed it back on top of his head. He whined, “It kinda hurts.”

“Happy to rub it for you,” Jeongguk smiled. The light caught his dimples, making them look deeper and even more enchanting. He massaged his fingers open and closed over the sore spot where Jimin had been hit with debris. 

Jimin closed his eyes. His exes hands felt so good. He wanted them all over his body. Before he knew it, he was cradling his face into the younger’s palm. With a slight pucker of his lips, he kissed the skin on the inside of his hand. He could smell onions, fresh parsley and cloves. He lost control, slowly kissing up Jeongguk’s wrist, inhaling the scent of his cologne like it was life sustaining air. 

Jeongguk didn’t want to pull away either. Their divorce had only been final for a few days and this felt like stepping over the line of friendly exes. He could feel Jimin’s porcelain skin just beneath his fingertips. His elder’s skin was so soft, so addictive to the touch. The fluffiness of Jimin’s bleach blonde hair tickled the tattoos on his fingers. Even in the damp light, his crescent shaped eyes carved a path straight into Jeongguk’s heart. Breath trembling between them, their eyes inexplicably locked upon each other. Jeongguk hovered over the smaller Jimin as their faces leaned closer and closer. They led with their lips, eating away at the slivers of space that separated them.

 

The door swung open. “Why are you guys in here? There’s ramen on the stove boiling over.” Keonho placed his hands on his hips like an old man. He rolled up his sleeves and launched into a lecture, “While you two are in here playing hide and seek, I had to put out a fire.”

“Fire!” Jeongguk rushed from the closet and looked around the kitchen. “What fire? I don’t see any fire?”

“The fire that would have happened if I hadn’t come in here looking for more banana milk and turned off the stove,” Keonho fussed.

“So there technically is no fire?” Jimin remained in the closet. He suddenly realized that he had an erection so he felt it best to remain partially hidden amongst the brooms, mops and feather dusters.

“There almost was a fire. But I’m only six, trolling the house looking for fire hazards really shouldn’t be my full time job,” he giggled.

“You’re exaggerating just a bit,” Jeongguk corrected him.

Keo grabbed a banana milk from the refrigerator. “Soooo, who’s going to explain what you two were doing in the closet?” The boy was nothing if not persistent.

“Christmas!” Jimin yelled unevenly. “We were discussing Christmas gifts for you. A surprise...for you.”

“More gifts?” Keonho questioned. “Look guys,” He took a seat at the kitchen table, “I’m really grateful for all of the stuff you brought me. But I don’t deserve all of this. Especially after the stunt I pulled a few days ago. Maybe you two could buy some stuff for each other?”

Jimin and Jeongguk both laughed. Jeongguk turned his attention back to dinner.

Jimin finally felt comfortable enough to come out of the closet. “Noted. We’ll be more conservative with our gift giving from now on.”

“Now that that’s settled, I better get back to work,” Keonho jumped from the chair and headed towards his bedroom. 

Jeongguk was suspicious. “Work? What kind of work? Is the network acting up again?”

 

Keo froze, eyes big and wide as if he’d just been caught opening presents before Christmas. “Uh, uh, uh, yea. The network. That’s it. The network is slow and it’s messing up my AI flight simulation program. I have to fix it.” He laughed nervously.

“Ok. Well don’t get too involved, dinner will be ready soon.”

“Sure.” Keo quickly fled back to his room.

Jimin spun around, “I know we’ve only been at this dad thing for a few weeks now, but do you get the feeling he’s hiding something from us?”

“Yep. He certainly is. But it’s Christmas, so give him some space. I truly believe he’s probably just doing a little Christmas shopping for us.”

“Shopping? With what money?” Jimin asked.

“I loaned him a few dollars.” Jeongguk shrugged. “He saw all of the gifts under the tree with his name on them. He felt a little guilty because he hadn’t purchased anything for us. So I gave him my credit card and told him to go shopping.”

“You gave a six year old your entire credit card?” Jimin fell into the chair. “You do know that a 747- Max could end up being delivered to the loading dock downstairs?”

“It’s a chance I’m willing to take.” Jeongguk said confidently. “He needs a little independence. He’s such a good kid. I think we can trust him.”

“No…baby. We cannot.” Jimin burst into laughter. 

“You called me baby.”

“Freaudian slip. Sometimes your mind is so innocent that I feel like you’re my baby.”

“Well…I’m definitely not a baby...,” Jeongguk winked.

 

The next few days passed with neither of them mentioning the near kiss that almost happened in the closet. Keo breaking it up and throwing cold water on them was probably the best thing that could have happened. The goal was for the two of them to be friends; for the sake of Keo and for the sake of peace. Pretending that anything had changed was foolish because nothing was resolved. Memories had not faded and the hurt - still hurt. 

***

 

Day Seventeen:

 

With only six days remaining before Christmas, the two foster parents indulged in every Christmas event that Seoul had to offer. From the Lotte World Christmas parade to the Garden of Morning Calm Lighting festival. They visited pop-up Christmas cafes and every Christmas market between Myeongdon, Hongday and Seongsu-dong. They did everything for their little boy. Their commitment to giving Keo the best weeks of his life was steadfast. And when they found out that their little one had never gone ice skating, they took him straight to the outdoor rinks at Lotte World Tower.

 

Keonho wasn’t exactly a fan of the ice. He had already slipped twice and he was not interested in slipping again. Although his two foster dads held on to him tightly, he still felt uneasy. With his legs stiff as chopsticks, he wobbled in and out, bending his ankles as he unsteadily glided over the ice. With Jimin on his left and Jeongguk on his right, he pushed his feet forward in small intervals.

“You’re almost there. I think it’s time to let go,” Jeongguk said confidently.

“I think it is not,” Keo argued.

“You can do it, baby. Just keep gliding towards me,” Jimin released Keo’s hand and glided backwards a few feet in front of him. “Come to me. You’ve got this.”

“I do not ‘got this’. Why are you the judge of got-this-ness?” His panicked words didn’t make sense.

Both Jeongguk and Jimin found his over reaction adorable. Jeongguk continued to hold him from behind, placing his large hands underneath Keo’s arms. Keo glided forward tentatively, scratching zig zag patterns in the ice as his blades slipped left and right. He aimed for Jimin who continued to gracefully skate backwards like a swan. Keo thought he was beautiful and he very much wanted to be able to skate just like him. So he tried. 

He dug his left skate into the ice and pushed, propelling himself forward with one seamless movement. And then he did the same with his right. One glide became two and then three and then…four. Jimin still skated in front of him with his arms open and ready to catch him.

“Keep going. You’re almost here,” Jimin beamed. His smile twinkled brighter than the lights surrounding the rink.

Jeongguk smiled at him. He could see the joy in Jimin’s face. Fatherhood really looked good on him. 

Under Jimin’s urging, Keonho kept going, placing one foot in front of the other as he progressed towards Jimin’s waiting arms. He was so focused on his technique that he didn’t even realize that Jeongguk had let go. With his tongue planted in the corner of his mouth, he focused intently on Jimin’s arms which seemed to be slowly moving further and further away.

Jeongguk followed behind him, ever ready to control the boy’s wild windmills that he used for balance. Keo didn’t realize it, but at that moment he elicited a level of happiness in his two foster parents that they hadn’t felt in years.

“Keep going. Keep going,” Jimin purposely increased the distance between them to get Keo to skate further and further on his own. And just as his legs started to fatigue, Keo toppled straight into Jimin’s arms. He’d made it all on his own. It wasn’t until he was deep in Jimin’s grasp that he realized that Jeongguk had released him long ago. 

“You let me go? You left me to die? I could have cracked my skull open. I swear you two love to rage bait me,” Keo fussed. He tried to place his hands on his hips but his feet slipped on the ice and he couldn’t maintain the pose.

The two foster dads were overjoyed. They were not at all phased at Keo’s old man tantrum. Jeongguk raced towards them and barrelled into Keo and Jimin, knocking them over on the ice. They all laughed as Jeongguk had a proud dad moment.

“YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT ALL BY YOURSELF! WE KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!” Jeongguk screamed with joy.

“WE’RE SO PROUD OF YOU! Look how far you skated all by yourself,” Jimin turned Keo around to see his little scratch marks in the ice. 

“I did that?” Keo asked.

“You did that,” Jeongguk beamed. He wrapped his long arms around both of them, holding them tightly against his chest. There simply were no boundaries, not anymore. 

Keo felt more and more like his two dads were his family. He closed his eyes as he felt the tangle of arms around his little body. They warmed him, coveted him, and appreciated him. And that was a feeling that he had never before experienced in his sad pathetic life. He never wanted the feeling to end. 

“How about some hot chocolate to celebrate?” Jimin offered.

“I’d love that, thank you,” Keonho was suddenly released.

 Jeongguk lifted him from his feet and placed him over his shoulders to carry him to the observation bench. 

Jimin returned a few minutes later with piping hot chocolate. “Here you go. Be careful, it’s hot.”

“Mr. Park, Mr. Jeon, how did you learn to skate so well?”

“Practice. Lots of practice. Jeongguk is a dancer so it came a little more natural to him.”

“Don’t let Jimin fool you. He’s a terrific dancer and an all around athlete. He picked it up much faster than I did. Hey Jiminie, do you remember that routine we put together when we first met?”

Jimin burst into laughter, “Every single step.”

“Watch and learn, kid. We’ve got something to show you.”

Jimin gasped, “Wait. You’re not suggesting that we try to do that now? Jeongguk I was a teenager when we first did this stupid routine.”

“Wow! Please Mr. Park. Please, show me,” Keo rooted for them from the bench.

“Come on Ex, let’s give him a show,” Jeongguk grabbed Jimin’s hand and pulled him to the ice.

They stepped onto the rink, hand and hand. A small dusting of snow greeted them as their blades hit the ice. They hadn’t attempted their silly routine in years. They were both curious about how their thirty something bodies would react to the physicality of it all. It started with a wobbly spiral, a simple crossover with Jimin spinning under Jeongguk’s long muscular arm. And then they balanced themselves, side by side, as they picked up speed around the twisting corners of the rink. Their coats brushed against each other as their scarves flitted in the wind.

“Ready?” Jeongguk called out as he entered the first lift of the evening.

“Ready,” Jimin giggled as he lifted his arms, allowing Jeongguk to grip his waist.

With a single extension of his arms, Jeongguk lifted Jimin into the air and proceeded to skate along the lanes of the rink with Jimin positioned above his head. The cold wind flipped through Jimin’s soft hair, parting it along the center and tapering it down over his forehead. 

“Weeeee,” Jimin said as he held his pose.

Just as quickly as he lifted him up, Jeongguk lowered him back down. Once again they skated side by side, posturing and mumbling with joyful laughter. Each time they passed Keo on the bench, he stood to his feet to drown them in applause. 

By the time it came to their final lift, Jimin was more than ready. As Jeongguk bent his knees to lower himself towards the ice, Jimin leapt into his arms. The athletic spin started slowly but built speed as Jimin switched positions throughout. They ended with Jimin slowly being returned to the ground as they entered into a synchronized, single leg spin. Their laughter could be heard all the way to the bleachers. Towards the end of the spin, they tripped over each other’s skates and toppled to the ground with Jimin falling over the top of Jeongguk’s body.  This only created more laughter as their thirty year old bodies struggled to get up from the cold ice. Each time Jimin would manage to get up, he would fall back down as soon as he tried to retrieve his younger partner. And with each fall, their faces were pulled closer and closer together until the accidental lips smack became inevitable. 

Keonho really liked that part. He stood to his feet and gave them a standing ovation. 

***

Chapter Index

Chapter Three: The Chronicles of Banana Milk

 

🫧🫧⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆🫧🫧

 

Day Nineteen:

 

They found themselves in the closet again. What started as a quick and easy escape from Keonho’s nosy ears, gradually transitioned over time to a cozy meeting place where they could share each other’s aura. Of course they would never admit that. So the closet remained, on the official record, as a safe space for the two of them to discuss parental issues involving Keo.

Jimin searched for the light and switched it on. “I think we need to take him to the doctor. This isn’t normal.”

Jeongguk didn’t immediately respond. He was zoned out, focusing on Jimin’s new dye job on his hair. The blonde was even brighter and it suited him well. When they first met, Jimin was natural. Jeongguk never really had a preference on hair color until they started dating. That was when Jimin went permanently blonde. He loved the ombre effect on his dark roots. It was just gorgeous, as was everything about his ex-husband.

“Jeongguk are you listening?”

“Listening to what?” Jeongguk snapped out of his malaise.

“I’m worried about Keo. We may need to take him to the doctor.”

“Just because he’s a little tired? We’ve been dragging him around all of Korea for weeks now. He has a right to be a little worn out.”

“Yea. But still, he’s lethargic and always falls asleep in the car. We can barely get him out of bed in the morning. Yet, he always wants to go to bed by 7pm every night. Even for a six year old that is really early.”

“Maybe…let’s try to talk to him first. Let’s get his side of the story. And if we still have concerns, then we can take him to the doctor.”

“Sounds fair and balanced. You’re a good foster dad, Mr. Jeon.” Jimin nodded. He was satisfied with the approach. Without thinking he rose to his tip toes and gave Jeongguk a kiss on his nose.

“Oh we’re sharing nose kisses now?” Jeongguk teased. “Twenty days ago, you hated me.”

Jimin blushed. “I still hate you,” he said with a smirk. “But you’re an incredible father. The way you’ve changed your habits is so commendable. You stopped drinking, you stopped fighting. I’m really in awe of how you turned your life around so quickly.”

“You know I have help. Junghyun, my AA coach, my therapist…you. It hasn’t been a solo effort. Plus I’m motivated to change. I have six lawsuits against me for property damage. It was about time for me to get my shit together. All of you have stood by my side and held me accountable for my actions. This time for Keo is very important, I can’t let a lack of discipline keep me from making the best of it.”

Jimin held Jeongguk’s hand, “But you can’t do this just for Keo. You have to do it for yourself. Very soon, our little one will be gone and you will be stuck with just you. Will you be able to handle that?”

“It’ll be hard. I’ll need friends who are willing to stick by me and help me through it.”

“And by friends, does that include your ex-husband?”

“I would like to think so. Our divorce has been nasty, hurtful. I’m not asking you to forget about any of that. You’re entitled to your feelings. But I am asking you to look beyond that and try to reimagine what our relationship will look like in the future. Is there a path for us to be best friends again?”

Jimin wrapped his arms around Jeongguk’s waist and placed his head on his chest, “It’s all I ever wanted. I don’t want to be your enemy. The marriage didn’t work for a lot of reasons. There’s fault on both sides. But…at some point we have to move on from it.”

“I don’t agree there is fault on both sides. You broke my heart. I reacted as any betrayed spouse would react. Surely you didn’t expect me to stay in this marriage after what you did.” Jeongguk pouted again.

“Ok, if we’re going to be friends, you can’t throw that in my face. I’ve told you the absolute truth about what happened. It’s up to you to believe it or not. If we’re going to be friends, then we have to accept the past and keep it in the past. Can you do that?” Jimin asked seriously.

“I don’t know.”

Jimin opened the closet door and stepped out, “Well let me know when you figure it out.”

***

 

Keo dropped the empty bottle of banana milk to the ground and kicked it under his bed where it joined the other 145 empty bottles of banana milk. Hiding the bottles under his bed was the only way to keep his two foster dads from getting suspicious about what he was doing. It was 3am. He rubbed his eyes and released a loud powerful yawn. He was entering into his sixth consecutive all-nighter as he worked to unravel the mystery of his dads’ scandal from a year prior.

“Hanging in there with me Ian?” He asked his tattered teddy bear. 

Ian was sleeping and had no response. The poor bear was listing heavily to one side as he stood watch beside his best friend. Keo gave him a kiss on his wooly ear and continued his work. 

 

The boy’s job was simple; find the truth. And doing so was easy, but time consuming. Because both of his foster parents were well-known public figures, it was pretty simple for him to retrace the steps and access the original footage. Just a quick search and his browsers were flooded with images, videos, news stories, internet sites, blogs, fan chats and newspaper articles. The story was everywhere. What should have been a private moment between his dad Min and his dad JK ended up being very publicly posted for everyone to see. And the receipts were damning. 

Over the previous week, Keo had consumed all of the footage, everything that was submitted as evidence of the affair. The first time he saw the images was very difficult for him. Without even realizing it, his thin lips turned downward into a dismal frown. It was hard seeing his Dad Min kissing and hugging another woman, especially considering how he always looked at Jeongguk with such big heart eyes. Watching the clips made Keo’s tummy grumble angrily. He felt sadness and he didn’t like it. If these were the same videos that his dad Jk had seen, it made sense why Jeongguk was so angry with his dad Min. There was no doubt in his mind that these stupid videos were the reason that they were getting a divorce and the reason for his botched adoption. Even though they were kissing, at no time did Jimin ever look at that lady the way he looked at Jeongguk. He didn’t love her, it was so clear. Whoever the lady was, Keo hated her. 

To the untrained eye, everything looked very legit and the clips all looked very real. But as the days passed, he watched the videos over and over and over and that’s when he noticed the strange cuts and uneven coloring on each of the clips. There were also strange shadows and pixels that appeared out of nowhere. Something wasn’t right, but Keo didn’t know exactly what. There were pictures too and even those were weird. He needed to uncover the mystery of why the video images didn’t match up. His gut was telling him that the video was altered. The first task was to find the original footage and the most obvious place to look was the cloud. Since most of the clips appeared to come from the lady’s personal cameras around her apartment, it made sense that she was the one who leaked the clips to the public.

 

As a standard practice, Keo never considered hacking as part of his skill set. He had launched a couple of enumeration attacks to bypass passwords here and there, but nothing as elaborate as a full fledged account attack and penetration of fire walls. But when he saw how easily accessible the data was in the lady’s private cloud, he couldn’t help himself. She had virtually no protection, not even an MFA. She was a sitting duck, leaving herself completely vulnerable to anyone who wanted to have a closer look at her files. And Keonho definitely wanted a closer look. 

In just a few clicks he was already entering the code to bypass the device checks of the Samsung cloud plex. With almost no thought, he entered the bypass script for the redirect. The script churned through his wordlist. When it got to the words “IloveJimin123” the redirect changed. Keonho immediately killed the loop, opened the Burp Suite and replayed the successful request. 

“I’m in…,” he smiled, “hello Doona.”

The actress named Bae Doona was the person in all of the leaked videos. She was also the person that Jeongguk accused Jimin of having an affair with. This was the enemy. Even though he was in her cloud, there was still much investigating to do. He had to sort through all of her unorganized files to access her videos and photos. And the task only grew more difficult from there. She had over 20,000 videos and photos in her cloud folder. Sorting through all of them was going to take all night and there was no guarantee that he was going to find anything useful. But he had to try.

***

 

Day Twenty-Two:

 

They huddled together with the long roped hair of the mops dangling over their heads. Jeongguk used his phone to add a little light to the damp closet.

“Ok, how did it go?” Jeongguk leaned into Jimin, knowing that the smell of his bleu de chanel cologne made the elder swoon.

Jimin beamed, “I spoke with the KWS and they agreed to keep Keonho’s name at the top of the list. His age is a small issue, but not nearly as much of an issue as it is for older kids. I have a feeling that the healthy donation that I made will make sure that he stays visible for prospective parents. Plus, anyone who meets him is going to fall in love with him. He has a good chance of finding a match very soon. He may not have to go back to the orphanage at the end of the thirty days. At least that’s my hope.”

“Jimin…that’s great news.” Jeongguk gave him a soft hug of appreciation. 

“I know. Although…,”

“...although…what?”

“How are we going to say goodbye? This kid has been part of our lives for almost a month now. He’s left an indelible impression on me and I…well…,”

“Say less. I know it’s hard. But at the end of the day, we have to do what’s best for him. We‘re not what is best for him, not in our current situation.”

“He should have been ours. I can’t believe this is happening. It’s like a cruel joke. We finally found a son, and he’s perfect, everything we could have ever wanted and we can’t keep him.”

“It’s the law. Not our choice,” Jeongguk said lovingly.

The overhead closet light was on, but fading as it neared a burn out. It had been used so much over the previous weeks, that it barely had any flash left. Jimin could see Jeongguk’s face, but barely. The younger’s cologne was mesmerizing. So many feelings swam through him. He took a step back and once again, he slammed into the brooms and mops that were hanging on the wall. The feather dusters came crashing down, but this time Jeongguk caught them and swatted them away before they slammed into the top of Jimin’s head.

“Careful,” he said kindly as he pulled Jimin free of the mix of cleaning supplies. Just below the dim of the light, Jimin could see the small glint from the black onyx wedding ring on Jeongguk’s finger. “Hey, hey, hey where did this come from? Why are you wearing it again…I mean.”

“I never stopped. I just lost it for a while. Back in November, I had one of those really bad nights where I ended up in jail and my ring was misplaced in the evidence locker. They found it and sent it back to me. I’ve been wearing it for a few weeks now, you just noticed?”

“I purposely didn’t look. The first time that I noticed it was missing was during our final divorce hearing. I thought I was going to throw up. Everything felt so dark and hopeless. You never took that ring off and then suddenly it was gone. I couldn’t stand the thought of it so I just kind of avoided looking at your hands.” Jimin inadvertently touched the warm metal. He twisted it over Jeongguk’s finger and watched as it circled his tattooed knuckle. “It’s still so pretty on you. Your hands are so elegant.”

“Do you know why I still wear it?”

Jimin laughed. “Absolutely not. Strangest fucking thing ever. I remember when we broke up. The night you moved out, you were still wearing that ring all while slinging nasty insults. Even at your worst, you never took it off. After everything we had done and said to each other, you never took it off.”

“I never took it off because this ring predates the bad times.” Jeongguk took a heavy breath, “Baby. Love like ours is…or…was…rare. Very few people find someone who vibes with them so completely that they become their better half. That is what you were to me. My better half. I loved you so much that at times I thought my heart would burst. Regardless of how this ended, never, ever forget that you were the love of my life. You gave me nothing but happiness. This ring is a reminder of those happy times. And with so much darkness in the world, so much sadness and anger between us, why would I destroy a memory that reminds me of my happiest moments? That’s why I wear it. That’s why I will never take it off. It’s how I pay homage and honor the love that once was.”

“With everything that has happened, how can you still say those things?” Jimin asked.

“Because it’s time for me to grow up and forgive you. Not forget…but forgive. Being forced together like this has convinced me that my life is much better with you, than it is without you. Even if we’re just friends.” Jeongguk shrugged.

“Shit…what time is it? How long have we been here talking?”

Jeongguk checked his phone, “Over an hour,” he laughed.

“It’s 10am, Keonho is probably wide awake and looking for us. I’ll get him dressed. Will you handle breakfast?”

“Sure thing. But hey wait before you go…one more thing.”

“Yea?”

Jeongguk scratched the back of his neck, “Uh…I was in his room yesterday, looking for my credit card. You were right, giving my American Express Black Card to a six year old was a party foul. Got the bill and he spent about $5,000 U.S. but I digress. As I was leaving his room, I noticed a pile of banana milk bottles under his beds. Like…hundreds of them.”

“Uh-oh. You know what that means,” Jimin grimaced.

“He’s been up to something. Staying up all night, I would guess.”

“That explains why he’s been so tired. Do you think we should have a talk with him?” Jimin was pensive.

“About spending $5000 U.S or…?”

Jimin laughed. “Well, yes, that. But also, should we ask about the banana milk?”

“Definitely, but let’s wait for the right time. Can we give him a break until after Christmas?”

“Yes, but I still think we need to know what he spent 5k on.”

“Probably an airplane.”

***

 

Day Twenty-four: Christmas Eve

 

Keo was incredibly happy. It was his first Christmas Eve with a real family. He hurried to greet his two dads. Adorable as usual, he was wearing another Dior sweater that Jimin had snagged from his boutique. This one had a knitted Christmas tree on the front. With his hair freshly cut and styled by his foster dad Jk, Keo was all smiles. He was definitely back to his old self again and ready for Christmas. 

 

He ran and jumped into Jeongguk’s arms. Jeongguk scooped him up and greeted him with a hug tight enough to crush his ribs. Keo laughed.

Jeongguk kissed his cheek, “I hope you’re hungry. We’re having a feast this morning.”

The younger dad had prepared enough food to feed an army and that was exactly as his heart desired. Cooking was his love language and enjoyed seeing those he cared about well fed. Jimin trailed behind them and took a seat at the table. He laughed at the garishly absurd amount of food that Jeongguk had prepared. Everyone’s spirits were buzzing with the joy of Christmas.

But as they settled around the table, both Jimin and Jeongguk’s phones began to alert with texts, emails and eventually phone calls. And the alerts were all coming from different sources and unidentified numbers. The noise was so loud that it startled all of them, causing Jimin to jump up from the table. There was one number that stood out immediately; Nari, his attorney and older sister. 

Jimin answered right away, “Hey, what’s going on? My phone is blowing up with a bunch of strange phone numbers.”

At the exact same time, Jeongguk answered a call from Junghyun, his attorney and older brother. His brother screamed so loudly that Jeongguk had to hold the phone away from his ear.

“Calm down. Calm down. Why are you screaming, Junghyun? What’s going on?” Jeongguk asked. 

It was not lost on either of them that their attorneys were both calling at the same time. They both began to pace around the breakfast table as their hearts thudded. Something was up and it didn’t sound good.

“My phone has been ringing off of the hook with people wanting a statement. An official statement,” Nari said nervously.

“About what?” Jimin asked.

Nari continued, “I have no idea. Something about you has been leaked to the press and I have no idea what it is. I have refused to give anyone a statement, but I was told that a bombshell story is about to break and it involves you.”

“What do you mean a story about me is about to break? Break where?” Jeongguk’s conversation with Junghyun closely mirrored Jimin and Nari. None of them had any idea what all of this was about.

Junghyun gave Jeongguk all of the information that he knew, “Turn on the news. From what I’ve been told, there is something that is about to be aired. Jeongguk do you have any idea what this could be? I’m blindsided by this. I have no idea how to react to protect your interest without knowing what it is.”

“I don’t know. There’s absolutely nothing that could be a story this big.” Jimin advised.

“Are you watching the morning news? Turn it on right away,” Nari yelled at Jimin.

“Well no, we’re having breakfast…,” Jimin stuttered.

Nari yelled at her obtuse brother, “TURN ON THE NEWS! My phone has been ringing off the hook and the sources say that the story is about to air on KBS News-24.”

“I don’t know what this is about.” Jimin held his hand over his phone and spoke to Jeongguk, “Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?” Jimin asked.

Jeongguk looked worried, “I have no idea. Damnit, I hope it isn’t something to do with mylawsuits,” Jeongguk grabbed the remote and turned on the television. He flipped through the channels until he found KBS News. 

And there it was, a photo of Jimin and Doona standing side by side holding hands. The crawler on the lower third said, 

 

***BREAKING NEWS*** Bombshell allegations reveal a plot by Actress Bae Doona to blackmail celebrity stylist Park Jimin.***

Jimin’s phone slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. His knees buckled as he saw image after image of him and Doona splash across the screen. He didn’t know what to do or what to say or what any of this was about. 

Jeongguk was just as stunned. He placed his phone on speaker and set it down on the table. The last thing he expected was to be pulled back into the worst memories of his life by the local news. 

“What the…,” remembering that Keo was in the room, Jeongguk paused before saying an actual curse word. 

They turned their attention to the broadcast:

 

“Good Morning, thank you for joining KBS News at noon. This hour, we have breaking news. An arrest warrant for famous actress Bae Doona has been issued after an investigation team at Palantir Open AI revealed that the actress had fraudulently used their software to alter images of her and Celebrity Stylist Park Jimin. Most fans of Mr. Park will remember when these images first surfaced of the two kissing inside of what appeared to be Mr. Park’s apartment. This footage, which was originally released over a year ago, created a social media storm when Park Jimin was seen kissing and fondling the actress despite being married to Grammy award winning Idol Jeon Jeongguk. The footage kicked off a firestorm of criticism which eventually led to the couple’s divorce. But now, a source from our KBS affiliate WWBS channel 13, has obtained exclusive footage that appears to show evidence of tampering, with generative AI being used to create fictitious videos and photographs of the two of them. Our on the spot reporter Jung Hoseok has more. Jung.”

The shot turned to a picture of a reporter standing at the headquarters of Palantir and open sourced AI company. “Thanks, Soyoon. Yes, I’m here at Palantir where I just completed an interview with CEO Alexio Kanon who was able to analyze the reported video by comparing it against the original images. The CEO confirmed that the images had indeed been altered through the use of their AI software. He confirmed that over fifty altered images were discovered within their database. Mr. Kanon was able to pull the account where the deep fakes originated and that’s when investigators discovered that the account belonged to famous actress Bae Doona. CEO Kanon confirmed that they launched an investigation into the illegal use of their software after receiving an anonymous tip  with a file that contained hours of video footage that showed the original images before they were altered to add Mr. Park. The investigation has revealed that not only was Mr. Park a victim of the deep fakes, but several other wealthy businessmen were also violated by the scam. Mr. Kanon was not able to give us an exact number of victims because the investigation is still ongoing. Creating deep fakes is illegal and carries significant penalties and jail time. Authorities say the actress violated Article 307 of the Korean Criminal Act. A warrant has been issued for the actress’s arrest. KBS News reached out to the representatives for both Park Jimin and Jeon Jeongguk to get their response to the breaking news. Neither party has provided a comment. KBS will keep you posted as this story develops. Back to you Soyoon.”

 

“This can’t be real. It just can’t be real,” Junghyun spoke through the speaker in Jeongguk’s phone.

Jimin’s face was red with anger, “Yes, it can be real.” He turned to face Jeongguk, “I told you that I was set up. I told you that bitch was out to get me and break us up. I told you that I never cheated on you. None of the pictures or videos were real. She faked all of that other stuff too; the matching outfits, and matching jewelry and fake phone calls. None of it was me.  I lost my marriage because of this. I lost my husband. I lost my chance to adopt a son. I lost my entire life. And now she’s going to jail for it, but that isn’t enough. I swear to God it isn’t enough. It isn’t enough for what she did to my life! She deserves to die for this,” Jimin said emotionally.

Jeongguk was completely pale. He backed away shaking his head, not able to fully process the reality of what was happening. He thought back over the hellish year that had led up to the divorce. All of the pain he had suffered believing that his husband had cheated on him. All of the fighting and unforgivable words exchanged between them. It was unreal, too horrific to fully recount. Jimin had always maintained his innocence. He never faltered, never not once did he admit to having an affair. But Jeongguk never believed him. He viewed him as a man who was just trying to cover up his sins. Never once did he imagine that Jimin could be telling the truth. The evidence that Doona fabricated looked so real that it tricked even him. He accused his husband of being a liar and that was the worst part.

All at once Jeongguk couldn’t breathe. He held his chest as his skin grew more and more pale. Without speaking to anyone, he grabbed his coat and ran to the elevator.

“Jeongguk!” Jimin ran towards the elevator to try to stop him, “Jeongguk wait, we need to talk. Don’t…,” it was too late. The elevator doors slammed closed in his face with Jeongguk disappearing behind them.

***

 

Yoongi, the bartender at the Grand Ole Opry, stood behind the bar top staring at his most frequent customer. Despite Jeongguk’s 24 days of sobriety, this day seemed like the day that was going to break him. Yoongi wasn’t sure what was going on with his young customer, but it didn’t look good. Jeongguk had been there for hours, sulking, crying, contemplating, grappling with the urge to fall off of the wagon. Yoongi’s heart went out to him, but it wasn’t his role to question, so he quietly went about the business of cleaning the dirty wine glasses and preparing to close the bar down for the evening. But deep in his soul, he prayed that Jeongguk didn’t take that first drink.  

Jeongguk sat hunched over the scarred oak of the bar top, seven shot glasses of whiskey lined up in front of him. His hands shook as he fought hard to avoid taking the first shot. He caught a glimpse of the worried bartender as he monitored him from behind the counter. Jeongguk knew what he was thinking but he didn’t care. He didn’t want his opinions and he certainly didn’t want his pity.

Twenty-four days sober and it all came to this; will power that he didn’t have, pain that he needed to drown, and guilt that he needed to forget. He could taste it already, the burn, the satisfaction, the release. One swallow and the noise in his head would quiet: Jimin’s accusations of him being a tired drunk, Keo begging him to become his permanent father, the lawsuits, the fights, his dead marriage, the arrests, the betrayal that never was... 

His fingertips brushed the first glass. The rim was iced, just like he liked it. There was so much satisfaction mixed within the pale auburn color, he wanted it so badly. So badly. 

The right thing to do would have been to call his therapist or his sober coach. But he didn’t want to do the right thing because he didn’t want to be talked out of it. He didn’t want to be held accountable. He just wanted to drown in his sorrow, the desperate regret of what he’d done to his own marriage. 

 

It was Christmas eve and the bar was mostly empty. There was only one lone customer sitting at the bar top and lucky for Jimin, that was the single customer that he’d been looking for. After three hours of searching every single bar in Itchaewan, Jimin had finally found him.

Jimin dusted the snow from his heavy coat and shook the dampness from his long blonde hair. He sent a quick text to everyone: Nari, his mother and Junghyun to let them know that he’d found him. Jimin wasn’t sure what to say or how to even start the conversation, but he knew they needed to talk. Watching Jeongguk sit there all alone reminded him very much of when they found Keo sitting alone on the bus. His heart wanted to burst for him because he understood exactly what his ex-husband was feeling at that moment. 

As Jimin approached him, he noticed the seven shot glasses full of whiskey sitting in a perfectly neat row in front of him. The good news was that the ice cubes had melted. That meant the drinks had been sitting there for a while. It was further evidence that Jeongguk was battling for his sobriety, and so far, he was winning. Jimin took a relieved breath. With any luck, he had gotten to Jeongguk just in time. He quietly slid onto the empty bar stool next to Jeongguk.

“You know, typically in these types of situations, you’re the one who does all of the talking. I’m not very good at saying the right things.”

Jeongguk looked up to see Jimin’s reflection in the mirror behind the bar. He quickly lowered his head again. 

Jimin continued, “Judging by the ice to whiskey ratio, these shots have been sitting here for a few hours, probably for as long as you’ve been missing. And you haven’t taken a drink. That is commendable.” Jimin slid all seven of the shots over to his side of the bar. The first step was to get the temptation as far away from Jeongguk as possible. The younger one didn’t protest which was another good sign. Jimin politely ordered a soda for Jeongguk. 

“Are you here to gloat? To tell me how wrong I was? To tell me how I ruined a perfectly beautiful love story?” Jeongguk croaked.

“Nope.” Jimin turned away and drank two of the shots of whiskey behind Jeongguk’s back. He needed to fortify himself for the conversation. The shots burned, but only slightly since they were mostly water. He slid the other five shot glasses towards Yoongi and motioned for him to take them away. Just like that, Jimin had deescalated the situation. Now he and Jeongguk were free to talk without the threat of liquor within arm’s reach. “The only reason I’m here is to gather you up and take you home. A very special little boy is only a few hours from experiencing his first Christmas with foster parents and he is going to expect both of us to be there.”

“Where’s Keo?” Jeongguk asked.

“Junghyun and Nari. They were so worried about you that they agreed to come over and sit with him while I went out to look for you. I’m sure they’re bonding over tales of the A380 Airbus as we speak.”

“Sorry for leaving you like that.”

Jimin placed his hand over Jeongguk’s hand. He stared down at his black ring that remained steadfast on his finger, “It’s ok. This news was a shock to both of us.”

“Any idea who the anonymous whistle blower was who discovered all of this?”

“No. But I wish they had come forward sooner. I would have given anything to have had this information a year ago. Now it’s…too late,” Jimin said sadly.

“Our marriage is over because I lost faith in you. I took away the one thing that bonded us…trust. I ruined our lives because I couldn’t trust you. I was so jealous. I hated that you two even knew each other. I hated that you worked together and over time I just built up this scenario in my head. I was more than willing to believe the worst when I saw the footage. A good husband would have stood by your side no matter what. But I left. I accused you of betraying me and I left. Maybe deep down, I didn’t think I deserved you. Maybe deep down, I thought she was better than me. I don’t fucking know. But the one thing that I do know is that this beautiful marriage is over - because of me.”

“Yes it is. But there is enough blame to go around. I made mistakes too. But cheating on you was never one of them. You know, the accusations that I slept with her never bothered me. The evidence she paraded around never really bothered me. The fact that you questioned me and had your doubts, never really bothered me. But the moment I got down on my knees and told you my side of the story and begged you to believe me, to trust in me and you still turned your back - that was the moment that I knew this marriage was over. Without faith, without trust, we had nothing. And that’s when I stopped fighting and let you walk away. I knew there was nothing that I could say or do to change your mind and convince you that she was lying. I could see it in your eyes. Your heart was broken.”

Jeongguk dropped his head in shame, “Yes, but it was all based on lies.”

“I was a target from the beginning, but I was too naive to realize it. I should have known she had ulterior motives. She was plotting from day one to break us up with the hopes that I would date her. She’s not my type. She’s not attractive. She’s not a man. Sweetheart, I like taking dick much too much to ever be interested in a woman. After fucking since I was a teenager, I would have thought you knew that. She’s a manipulative bitch who was out to get me. She staged the evidence. The voice recordings that she produced were clones of my voice. I’m not in love with her nor have I ever been. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you for over a year now,” Jimin explained.

Jeongguk turned to look at Jimin, “I’m sorry for all of this. I don’t have words strong enough to apologize for what I’ve done. But I want to start by saying, I’m sorry.”

Jimin agreed, “I am too. I’m the one who allowed her into our lives. I’m the one who gave her a job. We were a high profile couple. I should have known to be more careful.” 

Jeongguk smiled. “You’ve been vindicated. The world now knows the truth and even better, she’s going to prison.”

“I’ll be front and center, ready to testify,” Jimin laughed. “How are you doing…with the alcohol cravings, I mean.”

“You know, as catastrophic as this day has become, I couldn’t stop thinking about you and Keo. You were so proud of me for not drinking. And my time with Keo has only been better because I stayed away from alcohol. Your voices were the loudest two voices in my head and both of you were begging me not to take a drink. So I didn’t. Glad you showed up when you did though because my resolve was waning,” Jeongguk smiled.

“Now what?” Jimin asked.

“The divorce is final and…I think that’s for the best. But a few weeks ago, we promised each other that we would be friends forever. Best of friends. Nothing has changed. I still want you in my life, Jiminie.”

“That sounds like a great plan.” Jimin dropped a few bills on the counter to pay for the drinks that Jeongguk never touched. “Jeongguk, as much as I’m enjoying this little chat, we need to get out of here. You ran out just before the weather forecast. There’s a pretty intense snow storm coming, a bad one. It’s expected to shut down the streets and most of the businesses. We need to get home.”

“A snow storm? I didn’t know.”

Jimin stood to his feet and buttoned his coat, “Yea, that’s another reason that I needed to find you. I would hate for you to get caught out here in this weather. Honestly, I didn’t know what I was going to find…I mean I didn’t know what condition you were going to be in. So I’m relieved.”

“Honestly, I didn’t know what condition I would be in either. I fully intended to drink until I could no longer feel my legs. But for some reason, I just…didn’t. I was so intent on getting drunk that I took an Uber here so that I wouldn’t have to drive home,” Jeongguk explained.

Jimin grabbed Jeongguk’s hand and held it, “I’m proud of you. Since you didn’t drive your car and I have the fancy new Porsche that I won in the divorce.”

Jeongguk laughed, “I would appreciate that.”

 

They held hands, left the bar and headed towards Jimin’s SUV. As soon as they stepped outside, they were hit with a solid blanket of fluffy white snow falling across their bodies. They rushed across the street to get to Jimin’s car before they froze to death. The city was in a complete white out, with buildings, signs, even streets disappearing beneath the quickly accumulating snow.

“I picked a really bad day to fall off of the wagon,” Jeongguk said remorsefully.

“Ah, but you didn’t fall off the wagon. So technically, you just picked a really bad day to play chess with seven watered down shots of whiskey,” Jimin tried to be positive and focus on what really mattered.

They immediately buckled tightly into their seatbelts as Jimin pulled away from the curb. The weather was growing exponentially worse as the minutes ticked by. He sped off quickly, with the intent of getting home before the roads froze.

The wipers fought hard against the huge individual snowflakes that pummeled the glass. They exploded across the windshield like butterflies as they collected over the speeding car. The road ahead quickly vanished, leaving Jimin struggling to catch his bearings. Jeongguk peered nervously through the passenger window as he watched the conditions worsen.

“This is really bad. Be careful,” Jeongguk added. 

“I am,” Jimin responded. 

The roads were covered in snow just that quickly. With the sun already setting, watching for ice became impossible. Just as Jimin hit the breaks to slow down, a hidden sheet of ice suddenly caught the tires. The car fishtailed into a heart-stopping slide that Jimin couldn’t control. Both he and Jeongguk screamed as the car spun around and around, traveling across several empty lanes of traffic. Jimin steered into the spin to regain traction, but it was too late. The SUV glided completely off the road, emptying into a ditch on the opposite side of the expressway. They could hear the crunching of metal, followed by a loud hiss as both of their tires rolled over a spiked grid and popped. The car finally slid to a complete stop leaving everything around them quiet. 

“You ok?” Jimin whipped around to examine Jeongguk.

“Fine. Fine, I’m ok. What about you? Does anything hurt?”

“No. But I do think we just blew a couple of tires,” Jimin said. He looked through the window to make sure the coast was clear before pushing open the car door and hopping out to survey the damage. 

Jeongguk jumped out as well. The car was embedded in mud and both tires were completely flat. There was some minor damage to the undercarriage, but other than that the car was mostly unscathed. 

“That scared the shit out of me,” Jimin mumbled as he walked around the car. “I must have hit some ice or something.”

“I think so. Not your fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s me for creating this situation. We’re only in this because you came looking for me.” Jeongguk leaned down and looked underneath the car, “This isn’t good. We’re stuck, Jiminie. There’s no way we’re going to be able to get free of all of this mud. Both of the front tires are flat. We better call someone. This car has 24/7 roadside assistance. We just have to call them to come and pick us up.”

“It’s getting dark and the blizzard has hit the city. Do you think they’ll still come?” Jimin asked with concern.

“They better. Do you know how much I pay for this service every year,” Jeongguk smiled. “Call Junghyun and Nari to let them know what happened. I’ll get on the phone with roadside assistance. It’ll be dark in about an hour, we need them to get here fast.”

“Sure thing. At least we’re in a good location. The roads are pretty much abandoned so we should be safe here while we wait,” Jimin explained. 

He felt awful for getting them stranded. They walked around the car for about ten minutes before realizing that the temperature was dropping. It was getting dangerously cold.

“ETA four hours,” Jeongguk said as he disconnected angrily.

“Four hours?” Jimin repeated, eyes wide. 

“We’ll freeze to death waiting that long,” Jeongguk complained.

“Not necessarily.” Jimin smiled. “Jump in. I have supplies.”

“What do you mean supplies?” Jeongguk asked.

“Jump in the back seat, I’ll show you.”

They settled in the rear of the vehicle. Jimin explained, “We have plenty of gas, the heat works, I have blankets and hot chocolate packs in the trunk. I even have those plug in thermos mugs that you got me for Christmas a few years ago. My Spotify playlist is loaded with Christmas music and we can charge our phones whenever we need. If you can stand to be trapped in the backseat with me for four hours, I think we’ll be fine until help arrives,” Jimin laughed.

Jeongguk watched Jimin as he pulled open several neatly packed duffle bags full of supplies. “You’ve always been organized, prepared. You would think that after seven years together, I would have picked up on that habit but no luck. That’s one of the things I appreciate most about you. You never get rattled by anything. Besides, spending four hours together pales in comparison to moving in with you for a month to care for a foster kid. I think I’ll survive this.”

Jimin wasn’t kidding when he said supplies. He had several thick blankets, a heating thermos, snacks, pillows, even toiletries and extra clothes. He truly was prepared for anything. The first order of business was to fix themselves two healthy thermoses of hot chocolate. They lowered the seats in the back, snuggled under the blankets and prepared to wait for the tow truck. The disparity in temperature between the inside of the car and the outside caused the windows to steam over, creating a screen of privacy that isolated them from the world.

The first hour was tense, with Jeongguk still reeling over the news of the deep fake. He didn’t talk much and the few words he did say were all words of regret. Jimin could see the despair all over his face. He made small talk to lighten the mood.

“It’s really coming down hard out there. Should we cut the engine to save gas?” Jimin asked.

“The tank is full. We’re ok.” Jeongguk’s mind wandered,  “Jimin, if we had stayed married, do you think we would have adopted more than one kid?” Jeongguk asked.

“Nope. We can barely handle Keo. It’s been less than thirty days and he has run away, spent over $5,000 on your credit card, and consumed over 200 bottles of banana milk. I think our hands are full.”

“Speaking of that $5k, I never had a chance to talk to him to understand what he purchased.”

“Yea, I think we’re definitely going to need to put up some guardrails when it comes to giving him access to credit cards,” Jimin teased. 

“Whatever he bought, I hope it made him happy. He deserves to be happy,” Jeongguk added. “Jimin, I need to say something. After our thirty days are up and we take Keo back, you and I will go our separate ways and this will all become a distant memory. But I want you to know that even though things started out rocky, this ended up being one of the best moments of my life. I loved being with you, I loved seeing you every day. And even though we couldn’t save our marriage in time, I want you to know that…,” Jeongguk stopped short. He didn’t want to speak the words that crowded his mind because he didn’t know how Jimin

would respond to them. It was too late to tell him that he still loved him. So he settled on, “...I want you to know that I will never forget the time spent with you and Keo. Thank you for making this sacrifice.”

“It wasn’t a sacrifice at all Jeongguk. These have been some of the best days of my life as well. We always wanted to be parents. We always knew that we would be good parents and for the most part…we have been. The truth is…,” Jimin paused. It wasn’t the right time to say the words that danced on the tip of his tongue. Telling Jeongguk that he loved him while they were stranded on the side of the road seemed very anti-climatic and somewhat callous. So he kept those thoughts to himself. “...the truth is, you’re still my favorite person in the entire world and I’m going to miss you when this is all over.”

Jeongguk began to cry, he was overwhelmed with emotion that he just couldn’t contain, “You’ve told me so many times that you hated me and I couldn’t understand why. You were the one that I thought cheated, so why did you hate me? It just wasn’t fair. But now I understand. Now I understand how much it must have hurt you to know that the one person you trusted most in the world had turned his back on you. Oh Jimin, I am so, so, so sorry. You have a right to hate me. I didn’t believe in you. I didn’t trust you. I am so sorry.” Jeongguk broke down. He pulled his large tatted hands to his face and wept openly into them. 

Jimin bracketed his face and stared into his water logged eyes, “Baby, we were manipulated, targeted, tricked. This was a malicious plot to deceive us. If I were in your shoes, I would have reacted the exact same way. The evidence was damning and it really looked back. Those voicemails sounded exactly like me. But for the record, I never cheated on you baby. I never had any interest in anyone else. Since the first day I laid eyes on you seven years ago, I knew you were my one and only Prince charming. Don’t feel bad about this. We know the truth now, so let it go. We have to move on for both of our sakes.”

Jimin’s words did nothing to stop Jeongguk’s breakdown. Seeing Jeongguk in such despair touched him deeply. As such he reacted with his heart, not with his head. Fully focused on soothing him, he cupped the younger’s face in his hands and then crashed their lips together in a fierce, hungry kiss that wreaked of desperation. The urgent need to kiss healing into him overpowered the containment of discipline he’d steadily maintained for weeks. 

Jeongguk was momentarily stunned by the unexpected act of aggression. His eyes popped open as he felt Jimin’s lips suddenly pressed up against his. But as the kiss lingered, he fell more and more in love with it until he found himself leaning forward, lips pursed, offering more of his mouth for Jimin to devour. It had been months and months and months since they’d last shared this kind of kiss. It harkened back to the days when they were just two innocent kids in love.

Jimin gradually rolled out of his seat until he found himself on the other side of the car sitting squarely in Jeongguk’s lap. Instinctively he began to grind his hips, in search of the hard cock that lay dormant beneath the piles of blankets and baggy jeans. It was just supposed to be a kiss, a loving gesture to stop Jeongguk’s tears, but second by second it was turning into something more; a testimony of the longing that he’d buried for months. There was no opposition from his ex husband. Jeongguk seemed to cherish the forbidden touches just as much as Jimin. He could feel the younger’s hands groping along his back, tickling his spine as his fingers slid under his shirt.

Jimin’s nose once again found the sexually charged scent of Jeongguk’s cologne. He melted. Like a vampire, he chased the veins in Jeongguk’s neck with his lips and the tips of his teeth. He buried them there, savoring the warm concentrated smell. After several wiggles from his arms and torso, Jimin slid out of his heavy coat. Heat from the car vents blasted them, causing beads of sweat to trickle down their faces. The need to be naked possessed them as they raced to press raw skin against raw skin. Hedonism blunted their cognition, causing them to respond with their hearts and sex-starved libidos.

Jimin turned savage. He pressed the lever on the seat causing it to drop back with a thud and flatten, turning it into a bed of finely crafted leather. He climbed over the top of Jeongguk clawing at his coat , zippers and buttons. The younger one helped by slightly lifting his hips so that his pants and underwear could be pulled free. Clothes flew all over the back seat. There was no time to think their way out of it because their bodies responded with the intensity of two feral wolves, moving so frenetically that their images blurred. 

 Jimin refused to stop until his ex-husband’s golden cock popped free between them and punched him in the stomach. Like a serpent, he slid down Jeongguk’s body, his tongue flitting across his skin, gathering the subtle taste of salt on the tip of his tongue. Once Jimin settled between his legs, he didn’t hesitate to push his ex-husband’s entire cock into his mouth. He wanted his cock to be so hard and swollen that it hurt. And he was going to be the savior that ushered his release. His pink bubble lips bounced over Jeongguk’s balls before sucking them into his mouth with a loud slurp. Spit dripped from his mouth, sliding down Jeongguk’s shaft before disappearing into the thickness of his pubic hairs. Jimin loved the raw smell of him. He was so aroused that he began to stroke himself as he sucked him. Jeongguk’s hips began to rotate with a steady pace. Jimin gagged several times from the intensity of having his mouth fucked. It had been so long since he serviced his baby Doe, he wanted to savor every moment of it. The feel of their bodies and intensity of their touch felt like no time had passed at all. It was as natural and fulfilling as it had always been.

Jeongguk released a labored groan. He grabbed Jimin hard by the hair and pulled him off of his cock. “Stop. You’re going to make me…,”

“...cum?” Jimin said sadistically. “That’s exactly what I want, for both of us to cum. We have no  more ties to each other, no more baggage, no more expectations. Nothing to lose. Let me have you…one last time.” His words were a statement, not a request. 

Jimin knew that fucking him raw was going to be dangerous and painful but he didn’t care. The most important thing at that moment was to feel his ex-husband inside of him one last time. They both wanted it, they both needed it. One last chance to fuck out the anger, resentment and love.

Jimin’s body moved with sinister intent as he repositioned himself; tight ass puckering as it hovered directly above Jeongguk’s quivering cock. He could feel the droplets of Jeongguk’s pre-cum slide along his thigh as their bodies tussled into position. Passion muddied his thoughts as he held his ex-husband’s meaty shaft and bounced down over the tip, angrily trying to push it through his resistant rim. He grimaced and yelped loudly, but continued to push.

“Stop, baby please. Stop. I don’t want to hurt you,” Jeongguk whined as he felt the thin layer of warm flesh surround his tip.

“Don’t say no, don’t say no, don’t say no,” Jimin pleaded. He stopped momentarily to give his body time to adjust.

Jeongguk’s tip rested painfully along the outer ridge of Jimin’s entrance. He could barely stand the pressure, but he hid his pain, “I could never say no to you. My body will always belong to you,” he sucked his teeth and trembled as the large dick sat partially inside of him.  

Jimin’s teeth began to chatter, not from cold, but from discomfort. Jeongguk couldn’t stand to see him like that, so he pulled him off of him. Like the sex master he was, he switched their positions, placing Jimin on his back and lifting both of his legs to finger his entrance. It was tight and already swollen from the failed attempts to enter him. 

The backseat of their Porsche SUV was luxurious, but tight. He didn’t have much room to work and somehow that made their actions more concentrated and lubricious. There wasn’t enough space to stretch Jimin’s legs above him, so he simply stuffed their coats in the small of Jimin’s back to tilt his ass upwards, making it easier for Jeongguk’s mouth to reach it. His long outstretched tongue found Jimin’s space and began lapping him up. They hadn’t lubed each other with spit since college, but if they were going to fuck in a broken down car that was stranded on the side of the road, they had to make the best of what was available. And the best thing available was Jeongguk’s soft and eager tongue. 

One touch and Jimin was already gripping large clumps of Jeongguk’s hair. “Shit, yes. That. Do more of that,” he moaned.

He slid his pink muscular tongue into Jimin’s hole, wetting the rim and licking the wrinkled slit. Jimin peered through the darkness between his legs. He could hear Jeongguk moaning with delight as he ate him. The younger’s powerful fist stroked Jimin’s cock as he switched back and forth between eating Jimin’s ass and nibbling his pubic hairs. Jimin literally had to hold his hand against his chest to contain his pleasured screams. As the intensity grew, he shivered, moving his hips in slow circles to meet each individual swipe of Jeongguk’s tongue. Jeongguk devoured him, leaving him supple, stretched and ready to be fucked. 

Jimin couldn’t wait any longer. He hurriedly pulled Jeongguk against his chest and kissed words onto his lips, “Take me, please. I need you.”

“Oh baby,” Jeongguk leaned forward. “Its going to hurt though…,” he said as he plugged Jimin’s mouth with kisses. 

There was some movement, enough to gently rock the car. And that’s when Jimin felt it. His husband of seven years and enemy of twelve months was suddenly pushing inside of him. The entrance stung. It was rocky and tense and it hurt. Jimin grabbed the end of the seatbelt and pulled it hard, causing it to retract around his arm. 

But beneath the pain was pleasure like he’d never felt before. All at once he was so full and so satisfied that he began chanting, “Yea baby, fuck it, fuck it like you still own it.” 

Jimin writhed in pleasure against Jeongguk’s shallow fuck. In and out, the shapely mushroom capped tip pushed through him, pressing against his rim over and over. With each thrust came a fresh sting, more friction, more pressure, more ecstasy. His flesh parted as his lover’s long cock fucked him for the first time in over a year. In and out, in and out. As Jeongguk’s pelvis crashed into him, Jimin buried his fingers into his hard muscular arms. He could feel that his ex was giving him a tip only experience, but that was an erotic cocktail all of its own. 

The discipline and restraint that Jeongguk had to show to keep from hurting him was all of the evidence that Jimin needed to realize that Jeongguk still cared about him. He refused to fuck him coldly and take what he wanted, even though Jimin had given him permission to take it all.

He could hear Jeongguk’s breaths grow heavy as his hips dipped lower and rotated forward. He accidentally thrusted further into Jimin than he meant to and that caused him to release a lusty moan. There was a slight tremble in Jeongguk’s body as his hips worked in a wild but controlled pattern. It barely registered to Jimin that his lover had already cum inside of him until he felt the warm spew against his walls. The glide of Jeongguk’s strokes eased subtly, elevating the fuck to an entirely new level. 

Jimin opened his eyes partially, pupils dilated, mouth dry, pleasure building in his balls. He stared into the smokey grey, ice frosted windows that encapsulated them. As his orgasm grew, so too did the sting of tears that rolled down his cheeks. His mouth dropped open and his back arched as the feeling of euphoria ripped through his body. His lusty groans came in hiccups as his body trembled. Pools of heat gathered in his stomach. He tried to talk, to tell Jeongguk how good it felt and how much he…loved him. But his words came out in jumbled screams instead of cogent sentences. He clawed into Jeongguk’s back, leaving a trail of bloody scratches along his spine as his cock shot warm cum like a geyser against Jeongguk’s stomach. 

The younger man smiled down at him. Even in the darkness, Jimin could see his bright eyes and brilliant smile as he lay on top of him. The heat still blasted causing them to squirm in the sweat of each other’s bodies. The atmosphere inside was the complete antithesis of the icy blizzard that fell over their stranded car. 

They had made love. The reality of it washed over them like ice water. But there would be plenty of time to deal with those consequences later. In that moment, the two shared the bliss of redamancy, a kind of truce where they chose to be lovers instead of enemies.

The sun had long set. The music was soft and demure, perfectly suited for lovers. A few lights flickered in the distance, but the rest of the world had been stripped away, leaving them as the only two to ever exist. Tangled in a mix of blankets and discarded clothes, they embraced with Jeongguk falling listlessly across Jimin’s chest. Within minutes, they were both asleep in each other’s arms.

***

Twin beams of amber light pierced the swirling snow, headlights cutting through the dark night like a razor. Heavy chains rattled against the flatbed as the tow truck from Porsche’s roadside assistance membership came roaring down the street. It stopped a few feet away from the stranded SUV, lights flooding the window and leaking through the frost covered glass.

Jimin and Jeongguk lay quietly sleeping, naked from head to toe, covered by an arrangement of random blankets. It wasn’t until they heard a knock on the window that either of them stirred.

“Hey, is anybody in there? Did someone call roadside assistance?” The tow truck driver pressed his nose against the glass, trying to see inside. He tapped the window a second time, louder this time, “Hello? Did someone call? This is the location that’s on my map.”

The light blinded him as his eyes flitted open. “Fuck! Baby wake up.” Jeongguk shook Jimin’s shoulder and crawled off of him. “Wake up. Roadside assistance is here.” 

Jimin jumped awake with a start. He scrambled to cover himself. He and Jeongguk had fallen asleep naked at the most inconvenient time.

“Shit,” Jimin scrambled just as turbulently, “Uh…just a minute. We fell asleep and we…uh…we,” he didn’t know exactly what else to say.” He glanced at Jeongguk, hoping that he could come up with something that could stall the tow truck driver and buy them more time to get dressed.

Jeongguk obliged with a perfect excuse, “We just fucked and we are soooo naked. Give us a second or else you might see something that could scar you for life.”

That was enough. The tow truck driver jumped several feet away from the window. He was not interested in seeing anyone naked. He shined the beams of his tow truck forward and he navigated it into position and prepared to lift the stranded vehicle onto the flatbed. 

Jimin and Jeongguk dressed quickly in the darkness. They weren’t sure which coat belonged to who or which pair of underwear came from which butt, they only knew that they needed to cover themselves before they were hit with an indecent exposure complaint. By the time they made themselves decent and exited the car to speak to the tow driver, he already had the front end of the car secured and ready to be lifted. 

He seemed a bit surprised when he saw two men step towards him to discuss the vehicle. “Uh…are you two the owners?”

“Yes.”

“The two who have been stranded here?” The driver asked.

“Yes.” Jeongguk chose to cut his line of questioning short, “Please tow it to the shop. It’s going to need a bit of work. Send me the bill. You have my information,” Jeongguk said. He fished in his wallet and gave the driver a very hefty cash tip. 

“Sure thing.” The tow truck driver gave them a once over. He was very curious to know more about the two of them fucking in the car, but he thought it was best not to probe. “Look, I don’t think there’s too many Ubers out tonight. All of the streets are closed because of the weather and it’s just too dangerous for anybody to walk. If you want, I can give you a ride back to your house,” he offered.

“Yea, that would be great. We’d really appreciate it,” Jimin said as he noticed that his shirt was on inside out. 

“Jump in the front. I’ll lift her up and then we’ll be ready to go,” he smiled as he went back to work.

The ex-husbands awkwardly avoided looking at each other. Neither knew how to feel about what had just happened. “What time is it?” Jimin asked.

Jeongguk looked at his phone, “Almost 10pm. We’ve been here for a while. It’ll be good to get home to let Keo know that we’re ok.”

“Yea. Yea it will.”

“So…shall we?” Jeongguk swallowed. 

He still refused to look at Jimin. He didn’t want to be gobsmacked by his beauty. He didn’t want to fall into the vortex of memories of their blissful love making. He didn’t want to deal with that beautiful toothy grin and those sweet baby dimples. He didn’t want to think about the softness of his blonde hair and smooth skin and how good it felt being inside of him again. He wanted Park Jimin away from him. 

They hopped into the front seat of the tow truck and waited for the driver to hoist their SUV onto the flatbed. After four hours of the most inane time they had ever spent together, it was finally time to go home.

***

It was eleven o’clock by the time they arrived at the penthouse. Junghyun met them at the elevator. 

“Thank God you’re ok. I was worried to death,” he grabbed Jeongguk and pulled him into a hug immediately as soon as he took a step into the penthouse.

Nari ran up and hugged Jimin, “Thanks for finding him. We were all really worried. Is he ok?” She whispered to her brother.

“I’m fine,” Jeongguk responded. “I had a bad day, but luckily Jimin found me just in time to set me straight,” he said solidly as he glanced at his ex-husband.

“And how’s the car?” Junghyun asked.

“Fucked,” Jimin explained. “I hit a patch of ice and slid off the road. I could have killed us. I was going too fast…,”

“...no Jimin.” Jeongguk interrupted, “That’s not at all what happened. The road conditions changed in the blink of an eye. It wasn’t Jimin’s fault. Accidents happen and this was an accident. He wouldn’t have even been out there if it weren’t for me. I’m just happy that no one was hurt. The car can always be fixed,” Jeongguk locked onto Jimin’s eyes. They both blushed before looking away.

“Is Keo ok? He’s probably not too happy about me and Jimin being gone for so long.”

“Talk to him in the morning. He’s confused about what’s going on and why you ran out the way you did. He’s worried about you. But overall, I think he’s ok,” Nari explained.

“Thanks to both of you for staying with him. We’ll make sure to explain everything. Tomorrow is Christmas and it’s going to be a very special day for him.” Jimin removed his coat, revealing a jumbled mess of clothes.

“Uh, Jeonggukie, can I have a word, please?” Junghyun pulled Jeongguk hard by the elbow and pushed him into the elevator. “Ride down with me. We need to talk.” He pushed the elevator button hard, several times to make the doors close quickly.

“Talk? About what? I just got home, it’s late, can’t this wait until tomorrow?” Jeongguk pulled his arm free.

“Why are you wearing Jimin’s pants? And why is your shirt inside-out? And why for God’s sake do you have lipstick and scratches all over your neck? What the hell is going on and why were you two gone so long?” Junghyun hissed with anger.

Jeongguk looked down at his clothes. Not only was he wearing Jimin’s pants, but he was also wearing one of Jimin’s shoes. After the tow truck driver busted them naked inside of the Porsche, they only had a few minutes to dress in the darkness of the backseat as they attempted to hide their nudity. Neither of them gave much thought to dressing in the right clothes. The fact that Junghyun noticed was definitely a problem. Now Jeongguk was faced with telling the truth about what had really happened. He imagined that Jimin was being forced to have the same conversation with Nari.

“You’re very observant. Can’t get anything past you lawyer types,” Jeongguk joked.

Junghyun sighed with irritation, “Tell me the truth.”

Jeongguk threw his hands in the air, “Ok. We had an incident. That’s all you need to know. It’s under control now and there’s nothing to report.”

“An incident? By any chance did your dicks accidentally crash into each other? Is that the incident you’re referring to?” Junghyun placed his hands on his hips as he queried his brother.

“Drop it. Please.”

Junghyun looked directly into his little brother’s eyes, “Look. As your attorney, what happens between you and Jimin is none of my business. But as your brother, I can only imagine the pain and confusion that both of you are experiencing right now after finding out what that fucked up actress did to you. She’s the reason that you lost your entire life. What she did almost drove you to alcoholism. I’m sorry this happened. I’m sorry for my role in making this divorce as contentious as possible. I’m sorry that I didn’t do more to help you two mend things. But I was mad at Jimin for hurting you the way he did. I believed her manipulation too. I was so wrong and I am so sorry. Even so, much has happened and you can’t just forget about it. The divorce is final. You have to deal with that. Please don’t make the same mistakes all over again.” 

The elevator reached the bottom floor and opened to the street. Jeongguk followed his brother to the sidewalk. “I still haven’t processed everything that happened. I need time. But I promise not to do anything reckless. I’ll call you tomorrow. Now get home quickly. The weather is terrible. And…Merry Christmas big brother.”

 

By the time Jeongguk returned to the penthouse, Nari was gone. He found Jimin sitting in Keonho’s room, rocking in the rocking chair and watching him sleep. He crept into the bedroom and sat at Jimin’s knee. They could hear Keo’s tiny sweet snores as he slumbered away.

“He’s sound asleep. That’s a good sign. Whatever project he was working on, it must be over,” Jimin whispered.

“I can’t believe it’s already Christmas. Time has flown so quickly. It seems like he just got here. Next week, we will say goodbye to him,” Jeongguk whispered sadly. “It’s starting to hurt…the thought of letting him go.”

“I don’t even want to think about it. So much has changed, but it’s too late…it’s just too late. Too late for us, too late for him…,”

Jeongguk spun around on the floor to face Jimin, “Are we going to talk about what happened tonight?”

“Nope,” Jimin smiled. He kissed Jeongguk on the forehead, “In fact, that’s my cue to go to bed. We have a big day tomorrow. And maybe we’ll finally find out what the hell this kid purchased for $5,000.” Jimin gave Keo a kiss and then left the room.

Jeongguk took his place in the rocking chair. He laughed when he realized that he was indeed wearing Jimin’s socks and pants. They were tight, especially around the thighs. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed it sooner. The night with Jimin had been glorious, but he wondered what it all meant. Was it just a one night thing? Did it mean anything to Jimin? Did they possibly have a chance at rekindling the love that was stolen from them? Or…was it just sex? If it was just sex, he wanted more of it…

***

Jeongguk was awakened when he heard the creak from his door opening. He glanced quickly at his phone to check the time. It was 4am. He sat up slightly to see the taught muscular image of someone walking across his room. The pale reflection of the moonlight instantly revealed the figure as Jimin. 

There was an empty look on his face. Jeongguk wondered if maybe he was sleepwalking or had entered the wrong room by accident. He remained silent, carefully watching and wondering what his beautiful ex-husband was up to.

There was no need for useless talking. Jimin walked directly to the bed and stood over him. He whispered familiar words again, the same words he’d spoken in the back of their expensive Porsche, “I need you - again. Don’t say no.”

“Horny - again?” Jeongguk laughed.

“It’s not just that.” Jimin had a different need, not just sexual. He needed to be held, and secured by the ex-husband he was missing so much. His eyes were teary, he’d been crying, obviously coping with the confused emotions they were both harboring. “Make the pain stop. Just make this last year go away,” he said as his tears dropped over Jeongguk’s bare stomach.

“Oh Jimin. I would take all of your pain away if I could.” 

Jimin removed his pajama pants and slid into bed naked with Jeongguk. He wasted no time, it was clear what he wanted. He slid a bottle of lube into Jeongguk’s hand, knowing that his sensitive ex wouldn’t fuck him twice without prepping him. 

“Do everything to me. Whatever you want, just take away the numbness and let me feel you again.”

Jeongguk kissed him tenderly, like his newlywed and his life’s love. He watched his pleasured face as he caressed him, stretched him and prepared him with his lubed fingers. He grabbed the anal plug from the nightstand and inserted it gently into Jimin’s body, just to give him a little more flexibility before he went in with his hungry dick. He played with the ass plug, rotating it around and around, allowing it to rest inside of him as they kissed passionately and whimpered in each other’s arms.

Jimin was silent. Just like that, they fell into their familiar routine with Jeongguk lubing him and prepping him for entry and then rolling him over to all fours to fuck him from behind. Jimin’s small hands squeezed the silk sheets, balling them into his fist as he felt the heavy youngster climb over his back. He tapped Jimin’s hole several times with the tip of his cock, causing droplets of lube to drip from his eager entrance. His ex was very ready to be fucked.

“Shit, you’re wet,” that was the last thing Jeongguk said to him before gently sliding his tip through the slotted entrance. He steadily pushed his dick into him, running through him like a sword, feeding his greedy ass with the ultimate feast. “Oh you’re such a good boy, letting me in like that. Sssss,” he hissed, “I’m all the way in, so deep. Fuck, I missed you,” he hummed through gritted teeth. 

Cognizant that they had to be quiet, Jeongguk grabbed the back of Jimin’s hair and pushed his face down into the pillow as he began to fuck him from behind. If Jimin was going to scream, he had to be quiet about it. 

Steady on his knees, Jimin held on to the bottom of the headboard as he felt Jeongguk’s hips rock forward. He released all of his breathy moans of passion into the fluffy down pillow that muted his filthy words.

Jeongguk’s hands gripped either side of Jimin’s waist and held him in place as he began his slow deep thrusts. More of Jimin’s muffled moans came from the pillow as the pace quickened and Jeongguk fucked him as he desired. Their bodies began to clap like a theater full of applause. The skin around Jeongguk’s shaft rolled up and down, back and forth, sending waves of pleasure through his groin.

“Fuck my pain away,” Jimin barked back, as the top of his head slammed over and over into the headboard. A steady squeak from the bed, the clapping of damp skin, the squelching of Jeongguk’s cock  pummeling his hole, the muted moans, and the loud heavy breaths, together created an erotic symphony that became soundtrack of their fucking.

He kissed Jimin’s back, running his tongue up and down his inky tattoos. He rotated his hips around in circles, pushing in briskly until his balls began to bang against Jimin’s upper thighs.

“Oh fuck, Jeonggukie, I’m gonna’ cum,” Jimin’s knees weakened, causing him to fall to his stomach. His hard cock was trapped between his stomach and the mattress as it squirted velvety cum all over Jeongguk’s bed. 

Jeongguk never stopped, he repositioned himself and continued fucking into Jimin’s ass. He laid on top of him, hips rotating wildly as he fed every single centimeter of his dick into Jimin’s body.  

“Yes, fuck yes, make me cum, make me cum,” Jeongguk growled as his thighs tingled and back spasmed. He arched as if he was howling at the moon. “Oh my God!” 

With a violent shake, he came. Before they could even enter a moment of blissful afterglow, Jeongguk pulled out. His cock was still leaking and his lips were still quivering from the best sex they’d ever had between them. He rolled Jimin onto his back and attacked him with kisses and hugs of gratitude. 

“Merry Christmas,” Jeongguk finally said once he caught his breath.

“Merry Christmas.”

It wasn’t enough to heal all of the terrible things that had happened between them, but it was definitely a start.

*** 

 

Keonho was at Jimin’s door early the following morning. He knocked several times before running down the hall to Jeongguk’s door. There he knocked several more times before running back to Jimin’s door. He did this for at least three iterations, ready to pounce on the first one who answered. Little did the kid know that both of his foster parents were in the same bedroom, sharing the same bed. 

Early that morning, they had both showered, dressed in their most innocent Christmas pajamas and settled in Jimin’s room. They weren’t sure which room Keo would visit first, but they were dressed and ready to greet him when they arrived. 

“It’s Christmas Mr. Park and Mr. Jeon. It’s Christmas, where are you?” He knocked heavily on Jimin’s door again. “I swear you do nothing but rage bait me,” Keo said overly dramatically.

“Merry Christmas!” They both yelled with sparkling eyes as they swung open the door to Jimin’s bedroom. Jimin had a green set of pajamas covered in elves and Jeongguk’s pajamas were red and covered in Santa Clauses. 

Keonho squealed. His eyes grew large and he jumped up and so high that he lost a slipper. He wasn’t exactly sure why the two were coming out of the same bedroom, but he hoped it was a sign that his Christmas plan was working.

“It’s Christmas, Mr. Park and Mr. Jeon. It’s Christmas.” Keo danced around the hall with silly little pelvic thrusts, “Can we open gifts now?”

“We sure can.” Jeongguk swept Keo into his arms and placed him over his shoulders as he carried him towards the living room. Jimin raced behind them, sliding across the hardwood floor in his Christmas socks. 

Keo’s twenty foot Christmas tree stood towering against the picture window. It was opulent and bold in its splendor. The monstrosity had taken days for the three of them to fully decorate but they were more than pleased with the final result. In the end, she looked more like a runway model than a Christmas tree. They had Jimin’s unique styling and impeccable taste to thank for that.

The lush evergreen branches of the Douglas Fir dripped with baubles of silver and crystal that adorned it like expensive jewelry. Black and white glass spheres with matching velvet ribbons clung to every needle, layering over the branches. Strands of warm lights twinkled in the shadows like a meteor shower in the sky. And the flames in the fireplace popped and crackled with yuletide cheer that made them all gleeful. 

“I’ve got hot chocolate duty,” Jeongguk sang and danced as he whipped up three steaming hot mugs of cocoa. 

He punched up the volume on his Spotify Christmas playlist and blasted Bing Crosby with Kim Taehyung in the background. The entire penthouse was filled with happiness and cheer with an intensity they had never experienced before.

Jimin danced in circles with Keo in his arms as he sang loudly to him. He knew every word because Taehyung was one of his favorite singers. He dropped Keo on the couch.

With his hands on his hips, he grinned down at him, “Sit down baby. It’s time to get to work. All of these gifts are yours.” 

“All of them?” Keo kind of suspected that but it was still a bit overwhelming.

Jimin had to use a step ladder to climb towards the top of the gift pile and fetch the first one. They had truly gone overboard with buying expensive gifts for the boy they cherished but it was done intentionally to make the boy’s Christmas special.

Keo began the arduous task of opening all of his stuff. Each present was more elaborate than the previous one. From gaming units, to new computers, a Boeing 747 lego kit, a Airbus A380 lego kit, clothes clothes and more clothes, toy trucks, teddy bears, bikes and hover boards. Kites, mittens, drones and soccer balls. Every gift imaginable was paced at the feet of the little boy.

Jeongguk transitioned in and out as he prepared breakfast for his insta-family. He hummed and danced the entire time. Happiness felt so damn good. It took two full hours for Keo to finally open all of his gifts. But as he looked around at all of the stuff that surrounded him, he began to cry.

Jimin rushed to his side and wrapped his arm around him, “Oh sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

Keo sniffled, “I love my gifts so much…but…but…but…when I go back to the orphanage, I won’t have anywhere to put them. Everybody always steals the stuff that belongs to me. They’ll probably steal all of this too.”

Jimin and Jeongguk gave each other the brain dead foster parent stare again. How could they have overlooked that? Keo had one closet and one drawer that belonged to him at the orphanage. Of course there was no place to put all of the stuff they had given him. Once again they had spun straight into a ditch. Neither of them had really given much thought to what it would mean for Keo when he went back. Suddenly their Christmas didn’t seem so spectacular. 

Jeongguk thought quickly, “Sweetheart, no one is going to take your gifts. I’m going to store them all at my house so whenever you want to play with them, you can come for a visit or I can bring them to you. I have plenty of room and I promise to keep all of them safe.”

That seemed to satiate Keo, at least long enough for him to scarf down three pancakes. They sat around the table listening to the music and that’s when Jeongguk decided to address a long overdue topic.

“Keo, buddy.” He looked at Jimin for courage. Jimin touched his hand and urged him to continue, “I noticed that there weren’t any gifts for me and Jimin under the tree. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but baby you spent $5000 on my credit card. I assumed it was to buy gifts for me and Jimin. Afterall, that’s why you told me you needed the money.”

“Yes, Keo, if you didn’t buy us gifts, what did you do with the money?” Jimin chimed in gently.

Keo smiled. He crawled half way across the table to fetch a handful of bacon and another bowl of cereal. “I already gave you your gift. I spent every penny on it too,” he smiled like a greedy canary as he stuffed more food into his mouth.

“You did?” Jeongguk asked.

Jimin looked back at the tree, wondering if there were boxes they had overlooked.

“I did,” Keo giggled and covered his mouth. “The software required for gaining back door entry to cloud plexes is very expensive. Most people think you can just go to the dark web and find everything you need. Not in this economy.” Keo squinted and curled his lip. “You have to pay for the really good stuff. And to get the information that I needed, I had to have the really good stuff.”

Jimin frowned and quipped at Jeongguk, “I told you we should have taken him to the doctor. He’s gone mad.”

Jeongguk cupped Jimin’s hand across the table to calm him down. Keo wasn’t going mad. He had a story to tell and it was up to his two foster dads to get to the bottom of it. “Ok, so we don’t really understand any of the words you just used. Does this have something to do with airplanes?”

“Airplanes?” Keo laughed. His foster parents were so incredibly clueless. He wondered how they managed to even turn on their computers. “No. It’s much bigger than that.” 

Keo gave it some thought. It was time to explain his very special Christmas gift. He grabbed both of their hands and pulled them away from the kitchen table then plopped them down on the floor in front of the fireplace as they gathered in a circle. Jimin and Jeongguk still had no clue where all of this was going.

“What is this about, baby? What gift did you give to us?” Jimin asked.

“Why did you get divorced?” Keo asked. 

Jimin rolled his eyes, “Not this again…?”

However Jeongguk took the bait. His gut told him that Keo was going somewhere with his random question. “Because I made a very big mistake. I thought that Jimin had done something unforgivable. But I was wrong. However, by the time I found out about my mistake, it was too late and the divorce was already final,” Jeongguk was honest. If he was ever going to heal, he needed to openly claim his mistakes and admit his role in ruining their marriage.

“Right. And now you know the truth, right?” Keo nodded. His eyes were big and round. The two dads could see there was a very bright light burning behind them. 

“Sure.” Jimin nodded.

“Yesterday, you found out that Mr. Park never cheated on you, right Mr. Jeon?”

Jeongguk stopped him again, “That’s not something for you…,”

Keo smashed his palm against his forehead, “...I know, I know. It happened before my time and you don’t want to discuss it, yadda-yadda-yadda. But given that it was all over the International news yesterday, I think it’s safe to talk about it now,” Keo laughed. “Alright, if you’re still not comfortable talking about it then let me cook.” Keonho stood to his feet and rolled up his sleeves. As he paced with his hands on his hips, he began a meticulous breakdown of the details of his Christmas present. “You got divorced because of a lady who lied. Her lies hurt a lot of people. It wasn’t fair that she got away with telling lies that caused your divorce. You guys were so busy fighting that you didn’t even try to find the truth. Somebody had to find the truth. Director Lee says that you always have to stand up to bullies. And she was a bully so I stood up to her,” Keo said sadly.

“What does that mean? What did you do…exactly?” Jimin asked.

“I found the truth,” Keo beamed proudly.

“But what does that mean…?” Jeongguk was pulling his hair out.

“Oh God.” Jimin’s eyes suddenly bulged. “YOU! It was you.”

Jeongguk was still lost, “What? What am I missing?”

Jimin sprang to his feet, “The banana milk! The late nights where you wouldn’t sleep. The exhaustion and fatigue. The missing $5000…it was all you. You’re the anonymous source that leaked the original footage to the AI company. You. It was you.” Everything suddenly came to order. It all made sense. Their little computer genius was also a hacker. 

“Yes. Everybody needed to know the truth of what that lady had done. Most of the money I spent went towards the purchase of some software and a few upgrades that needed to be done to your computer. The rest of it went to secure storage files that could be encrypted with resting APIs when I transmitted the footage,” Keo explained.

“But how? HOW? You’re a hacker?” Jeongguk asked.

“No, I’m not that smart. I just scraped a few files and bypassed a few passwords. This lady was an idiot. She had no protection on her cloud account. I figured out her code, IloveJimin123, and then I casually browsed through her photos and videos. That’s when I found the originals that she had altered. She took old footage of herself and video of Jimin that she found online. She merged the two together to create events that never happened. Photos that never happened. Conversations that never happened. Voicemails that never happened. Everything that she leaked to support her claims of an affair was fake. If you pay attention closely to her fake videos, you can see color mismatches, missing time and strange movements. It all looked like AI. But I had to prove it. So that’s why I went fishing in her files. The rest was luck really.” Keo paused to check the expressions of his two foster dads.

“You did all of this? Alone?” Jimin asked with tears in his eyes.

“Yes. Because that was the best Christmas present that I could give you. The truth.”

“Oh Keo,” Jeongguk and Jimin dog piled him and pulled him to the floor. They smothered him with kisses and hugs as they cried happily in each other’s arms. It was truly a Christmas miracle. 

“How can we ever thank you?” Jeongguk sniffled.

“You can get back together now and make us a family,” Keo smiled hopefully.

It was Jeongguk who chose to address him, “No, we can’t Keo. Legally, Jimin and I are divorced. It’s final and we signed all of the paperwork. The contract to adopt will be nullified and we no longer have legal rights to be your parents because we aren’t married anymore. Plus…we can’t just forget about all of the bad things that have happened between me and Jimin. Our marriage is over, for good.”

Keo burst into tears, “Please don’t say that. Why are you both so stupid? You never should have broken up in the first place. You’re in love. Why won’t you just say it?” Keo grabbed Jeongguk by the collar of his pajama shirt, “Mr. Jeon when you ran out of here yesterday, Jimin was out of his mind with worry. He ran after you and searched for hours until he found you. That’s love. Mr. Jeon, everytime you look at him you stare at him with heart eyes, like he’s the most beautiful man in the world. That’s love. You two stopped fighting and took me in as a foster child. You worked together to make a home for me. That’s love. Say it. Why won’t you just say it? What are you afraid of?” Keo screamed. 

Keonho could feel his plan falling apart. After all of his hard work, his two foster dads were too stupid or too stubborn to grant him his only Christmas wish. 

“You’re too young to understand…,” Jimin added.

“I’m not too young to understand. You both said over and over again that sometimes love wasn’t enough. But what if it is? What if all you have to do is put all of the sad stuff behind you and start over? Why can’t you just start by being honest? If you love each other, say it.”

There was silence between them. Neither dared to look at the other. Frustrated and defeated, Keo ran crying from the room. They could hear the powerful slamming of his bedroom door over his pain filled tears.

They could deal with Keo later, but first they had to deal with each other. It was time to make some very hard decisions and the issue could no longer be glossed over with sex. The things they needed to say to each other had to be private. Keo had meddled enough in their lives and he needed to be left out of it. So Jimin yanked Jeongguk from the floor and pulled him to the closet.

The light bulb was completely dead. The only light they had was from Jimin’s phone. He turned it on the brightest setting as he stared blankly at Jeongguk. 

“Keo is right.”

“What?” Jeongguk said with surprise.

“He’s right. I have absolutely nothing to lose by being honest with you. And that honesty starts right here and now.” Jimin’s voice trembled with a tinge of nervousness, “I never wanted this divorce. Even during our final divorce hearing, I wanted to stop it. I wanted to walk away from the table and try to work things out between us. But the momentum of anger and pain was too powerful for us to control. God bless our siblings, but they never stopped for a second to ask what we really wanted. They were too blinded by greed and competition. They were just as shocked about Doona’s setup as we were. I imagine that if they had the chance to do it all over again, they would have pushed us harder to work things out.”

“What are you trying to say, Jimin?” Jeongguk met his eyes.

“Every night I would lay awake, wondering what would happen if I told you that I still loved you. Would you say it back? At times you were so angry, so vitriolic that I thought it was impossible. But, making love to you last night and again this morning has taught me that nothing is impossible. I can feel it, Jeongguk. Even if you’re too scared to say it, I can feel it. We found our way back to each other through the heart of a child that was destined to be ours. So today, I’m begging you from the depths of my soul to risk it all and listen to your heart and tell me how you really feel. I love you, Jeon Jeongguk. Now please…say it back.”

Jeongguk shouldn’t have been moved by Jimin’s admission, but he was. Before jumping into the heat of the moment, he made one thing clear. “No matter what I say or do, it won’t fix the mess we’ve made. It

won’t change the reality of where we are. But for my own peace and yours, I’ll speak my truth. I never stopped loving you. The drinking, the fighting, the lashing out, it was all my pathetic attempt to cope with my self-hatred over the fact that I lost you. Jealousy raged through me and I hope you can forgive me for that. I love you too. You’re the best part of me and I only exist because of you.”

Jimin didn’t want to cry. It wasn’t the right time but privately his heart leapt through his chest from hearing Jeongguk tell him that he loved him. “Thank you. Thank you for your honesty. And you’re right. I have no expectations that this will change anything. But at least we both know the truth. We have to figure out where we go from here and that…will take time. Meanwhile, I think we need to talk to Keo. We owe him an apology.”

“Agreed. I don’t think this is how he expected his diabolical plan to turn out.”

***

 

Day twenty-seven:

 

It was two o’clock in the morning. Everyone in the Jeon/Park household should have been sleeping. Yet, there were faint thuds and scratches coming from the kitchen closet where all of the brooms and mops and cleaning supplies should have hung unbothered. Heavy panting intermixed with a series of lusty moans escaped through the cracks beneath the bolted closet door.

Certain things needed to be private. Certain things needed to stay out of the range of eavesdropping ears - at least that was the excuse they used for every rendezvous in the closet. The space was so small, so tight. Brooms and mops fell across them, blocking every corner. All the better, because they liked it that way; a haze of sloppy disorganized passion.

Jeongguk’s strength was on full display as he stood there holding Jimin in his arms. Jimin straddled him, arms looped around his neck as he was physically bounced up and down while his raunchy ex-husband’s large hands cradled his ass. Their chests were seared together as their sweat binded them like glue. It had been years since they fucked standing up with Jimin placing all of his trust into the capable arms of the man he loved. Detergents, feather dusters, bottles of bleach, and sponges littered the floor beneath their barefeet as Jeongguk fucked into him.  

His slimy, overly lubed dick slid into Jimin’s ass at an angle, causing his shaft to bend slightly. Wetness dripped from Jimin’s ass each time the cock squelched through his hole. He held on for the turbulent ride with his legs firmly crossed at the ankles in the small of Jeongguk’s back. His ass took a much needed pounding and he loved every moment of it. Their lips zig-zagged across each other’s faces as they fought to land sloppy kisses. The closet door began to buckle slightly under the weight of them fucking against it. 

Jimin squeezed his legs tighter as Jeongguk began to bounce him faster and faster, up and down, each thrust carving through him like a sharp laser. Their moans were no longer hushed whispers, they were mouthy and foul as they made their filthy demands.

“Harder, fuck me like a man. Harder, give me all of it, fucking all of it. Oh fuck you for making me feel like this, Jeon Jeongguk,” Jimin said through gritted teeth.

“You nasty little brat. You want more? You want my filthy cum inside of you? Beg for it. Let me hear you beg, you spoiled brat.”

“Please?” Jimin whispered in his ear.

“Again,” Jeongguk said as he pressed Jimin harder against the door. With each of his thrust, the door rattled.

“Please, please, please, please?” Jimin obeyed. He was not too proud to beg for what he wanted.

“Oh, you feel me starting to cum inside of you? Can you feel it?” Jeongguk rested his head on Jimin’s chest while his hips bucked like a jackhammer.

Jimin lost all focus. He accidently twisted the door knob causing the door to spring open while the two of them crashed to the floor. But that didn’t stop them. They simply crawled across the kitchen floor and switched positions.  Jimin sat on Jeongguk’s waist and lowered himself once again over Jeongguk’s bulging hot dick. He began to ride him, picking up exactly where they left off. He slithered over Jeongguk’s chest as his hips worked up and down, fucking his ex-husband with all of the lust he could pour into him. 

He whispered to him, “Don’t fucking scream, you’ll wake the baby. Don’t fucking say a word,” he demanded as he cupped his hand over Jeongguk’s mouth.

The younger one was ready to explode. The sudden switch up sent him over the edge. He was so aroused by how Jimin was riding his dick that his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He was going to scream, there was no stopping it. He could only hope that Jimin could muzzle him enough to avoid waking the kid.

“Fuck I’m about to cum,” his muffled words were barely audible.

Jeongguk released. His hot breathy screams slapped the back of Jimin’s palm as he continued to silence him. Jimin was riding him so hard that Jeongguk’s cock fell out of his hole, causing several squirts of his cum to splash against Jimin’s stomach. Jimin quickly pushed himself back down so that Jeongguk’s cock was deep inside of him once again. Just as Jeongguk had accused, Jimin was a greedy spoiled brat and he wanted all of his cum inside of him, all of it. He bounced slowly as he milked his exes’ velvety essence from his body. He loved the feeling of it so much that he wanted to bathe in it.

Just as Jeongguk released, Jimin suddenly felt a warm rush of fluid dripping down his own shaft. The sensation started slowly, but grew and grew with each of his bounces over his lover’s cock. And just like that he exploded. His cum shot across Jeongguk’s stomach, reaching his chocolate nipples. The screams coming from his throat were rough and grimy with ecstasy that bubbled up from his soul. He hadn’t been fucked like this in months, since his beautiful husband left his bed. And now they were back together like some sort of Christmas miracle. 

Jimin fell over Jeongguk’s chest as the fluids from his body were depleted. Beads of sweat trickled down his face as he caressed his ex husband’s dimples. “Tell me you love me.”

“I love you.”

“Tell me again.”

“I love you.”

“Tell me…one more time.”

“Ok, but maybe at this point you should write it down. I…love…you.”

***

 

Day twenty-nine:

 

Although parts of Keo’s Christmas present didn’t go as planned, there were other parts that went exactly as he expected. Exactly five days after Doona was exposed by Keo as a liar and a criminal, they all watched as she was arrested on national television and thrown in jail. Both Jimin and Keo felt a strong sense of satisfaction because knowing that she was behind bars made every day brighter. They also found it quite humorous that she was taken down by a six year old, all because she used weak passwords. 

But Keo had done much more than just catch a criminal, he had also laid the foundation for restoring a love affair. Jimin and Jeongguk hadn’t fully decided where to go in their relationship, but they had made one small decision which was to remain in the penthouse while they worked through the next steps. It wasn’t the magic wand that Keo had hoped for, but it was a start. And they owed it all to him.

All was not happy, however, in the Jeon/Park household. With Christmas behind them came the day that no one wanted to see; the day when Keo would have to return to the orphanage. With everything out in the open, the remaining days became less awkward but it was still difficult to face. 

Keo felt an overwhelming sense of sadness because his plan to save his family had failed. He was set to return to the orphanage and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He tried to cheer himself up by playing with his new toys. He even filed a flight plan to Fiji on his new flight simulator. But none of that erased his sadness over leaving his new home and the foster dads that he felt certain were meant to belong to him.

As he walked around his room packing, he thought about all of the wonderful people he had met while staying with his foster dads. He was going to miss his new tutor, Junghyun and Nari and even his foster grandmother who always sent him expensive new clothes from the boutique. His life as a rich kid was very different from anything he had ever experienced before. Still, the money never mattered. It was the love and caring from his foster dads that made him feel special. And that was the one thing he was not allowed to keep.

When he first arrived at Jimin and Jeongguk’s penthouse, he had a single plastic bag that held all of his belongings. But he was returning to the orphanage with three suitcases full of designer clothes, a laptop and a brand new teddy bear. All of his other gifts were to stay with Jeongguk until the time came for Keo to be adopted by a new family. He already knew that his bullying roommates would give him a hard time when he returned, however, he hoped that they wouldn’t continue teasing him and beating him up.

 

Jimin stood outside of Keo’s door with his head pressed against the wall. He didn’t want the kid to see him crying so he remained in the hallway just long enough to compose himself. The realization that Keo was leaving was hard for all of them, but Jimin felt particularly vulnerable. If they had known that things would turn out as they did, they would have done everything possible to keep him, to postpone the divorce until they figured out how to adopt him. But as it stood, nothing was in their control. The courts would decide what happened to their little foster child and that was a thought that Jimin could barely stomach. 

During their last day at the library, Jimin found a book about family and the different types of families that existed in the world. He wanted to read it to him one last time, but he didn’t know if he was strong enough to do it without collapsing into tears. The boy felt so much like their own. In only thirty days, he had burrowed into their hearts and they just weren’t ready to let him go.

 

Jeongguk sat down to fold what would be Keo’s last basket of laundry. Tears dripped from his eyelashes as he cooed over the tiny little t-shirts and underpants. The feeling of being a dad had given him a sense of purpose that was so profound, it inspired him to stop drinking. His demons were not all gone, but having Jimin and Keo in his life definitely kept them at bay. And although his future with Jimin was still up in the air, his time with Keo had come to an end. 

He wondered, could they ever adopt again? Could they ever find another child who was as perfect of a match as he was? Or was this destiny’s way of telling them that their relationship was too fucked up to bring a child into it? Was it a sign that they were never meant to permanently be parents, no matter how much they wanted it? He pondered as he folded each of Keo’s t-shirts and stacked them neatly.

Out of nowhere, his phone rang. A quick check of the caller ID revealed that it was Director Lee. He wasn’t expecting a call from her and that made him nervous.

“Hello!” Jeongguk answered quickly.

“Mr. Jeon? Glad I caught you. I have…I have some news. Good news, really.” Director Lee’s tone was hard to read. 

This only made Jeongguk more anxious. “News? About what?”

“Keonho. KWS just called, and they found a match for Keonho. They found new parents for him.” Director Lee explained. “I don’t know how it happened, but Keonho was never dropped to the bottom of the adoption availability list per the policy guidelines. Instead, he was left at the top with a clause added, something about an error in his processing paperwork. Between you and me, it sounds like someone was paid to add that note to his file. But I digress. Anyway, I just received notification today that they have found a married couple who is willing to take him and give him a home. They’ve fostered other children before and they were hoping for a newborn, but since none are available, they’re willing to adopt a child who is older. Keonho meets all of their criteria,” she explained.

“A new home? A new family?” Jeongguk wanted to be happy about the news. It was all that they had hoped for since removing him from the orphanage. If they couldn’t have him, then they wanted him to go to a good home with people who would love him. Still, it hurt. Watching another family drive off into the sunset with a child that should have been theirs was a gut punch. He wanted to throw up. “That’s…that’s great news. I’ll let him know. Uh, when will they be arriving to pick him up?”

“In a couple of days. You’ll bring him back here to the orphanage, we’ll get him checked back in and then prepare him for transport to his new family. It should all be very quick and painless.”

“There’s nothing painless about any of this…,” Jeongguk mumbled.

“Excuse me?” Director Lee wasn’t able to clearly register his mumbled words.

“Nothing. I have to go. I need to give the good news to our little boy,” Jeongguk purposely used those words because in his heart, Keo would always belong to them.

***

Jeongguk found Keo sitting in Jimin’s lap. They were reading a story that Jimin held close to his heart. They rocked back and forth in the rocking chair, like a proper father and son.

“Fatherhood looks so good on you,” Jeongguk said as he stepped into Keo’s room. “I’m sorry to interrupt. But I have some very exciting news. Can I talk to the two of you.”

Despite his declaration that the news was exciting, Jimin could see nothing but pain and anguish on his ex husband’s face. His doe eyes were very expressive and he always knew when he was suffering inside. Jimin braced for what Jeongguk was about to tell them.

“Keo. KWS has found a family for you. Two parents, a man and a woman who have been married for quite a few years. They are an older couple who were never able to have kids of their own. They wanted a baby initially but when they learned about you, they decided they wanted to have you. You were a match.”

“Parents? But…you’re my parents,” Keo said stubbornly.

“You know that’s not true. We were fostering you. That’s it. We have been completely honest with you about all of this, so please don’t start. This is painful enough,” Jeongguk said.

“No matter who they place me with, you will always be my parents. Don’t you get it, we were meant to be. Things didn’t work out in this lifetime, but they will in another. I’ll go with these new people and I will probably learn to love them. But I’ll never forget you. No one has ever made me feel loved the way that you did. No one has ever made me laugh and protected me and made me feel safe like you two. And for that reason, you will always be my parents,” Keo hugged both of them.

That was too much for Jimin to bear. He ran from the room, leaving Jeongguk and Keo alone.

“Jimin, Jimin don’t go,” Keo called after him. 

They could hear the door to Jimin’s bedroom slam shut. Jeongguk knew that Jimin just needed some time alone to process the news.

Jeongguk tried to explain, “This is very hard on Jiminie. We’ve always wanted a son just like you. But he’ll be ok. We’ll work something out with your new parents where we can visit. And of course we’ll deliver all of your gifts to your new house. You’ll still have to go back to the orphanage, but only for a couple of nights. They’re scheduled to pick you up in two days. Isn’t that great news?”

“It’s news. Not sure how great it is, but I’ll take it. I’ll miss you though,” Keo said sadly.

Jeongguk assured him, “And I’ll miss you. This isn’t a goodbye. It’s just a…see you later.”

***

 

Leaving Keo at the orphanage was just as painful and heartbreaking as everyone expected. There was so much sadness in his little eyes, that even Director Lee cried as they were leaving.

Jimin was perfectly quiet on the way home. Despite Jeongguk promising to cook him a special version of his shrimp carbonara, Jimin remained unresponsive. 

“He’s going to be ok,” Jeongguk promised. “I haven’t met the new family, but I was able to read about them online and sort through their social media posts. They seem like a nice family. He’s a chiropractor and she teaches. They’ll be good for him,” Jeongguk said as his eyes watered. 

“We were good for him,” Jimin argued. “There has to be a way, Jeongguk. There has to be a way that we can keep him.”

“There is absolutely nothing we can do. Our time is up. The adoption contract ends tomorrow and will be nullified and voided.”

“Wait…what did you just say?”

“I said the adoption contract ends tomorrow. Effective tomorrow it will be nullified and no longer valid. Our agreement with KWS will be over.”

“Oh my God! Pull over. PULL OVER!” Jimin screamed.

“Ok, ok, what is it, why are you freaking out?”

“Today is December 29th. The contract isn’t over until December 30th. We still have time.”

“Time? Time for what? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jeongguk pulled the Porsche Macan over to the side of the expressway. Cars sped by, shaking the SUV as the two sat there in the snow.

“Listen to me. What I have to ask you is very, very important. If we could turn back time and go back a year ago, would you have done anything differently?”

“What kind of question is that?” Jeongguk balked.

“Just answer me. Would you have done anything differently?”

“Of course I would have. I would have done everything differently. I would have believed when you said you were faithful. I would have worked harder to find the truth. I would have hired a professional to look into Doona instead of leaving it up to a six year old. I would have watched the footage over and over, I would have found the discrepancies myself. I would have never hired my brother…all of it baby. I would have done all of it differently.”

“Same. I should have been more aggressive with protecting myself. I knew that the footage was fake, but I never fought to clear my name. I felt so victimized and I was suffering from so much depression that I just wasn’t thinking clearly. I should have hired someone to help me. But instead, I let everything just spin out of control.” Jimin ran his fingers through his hair, “Don’t you see, Jeongguk? If we just had another chance to do this differently, we would have never gotten divorced.”

“Yea, Captain Obvious. I think we already know that…,” Jeongguk lifted his hands in confusion.

Jimin interrupted him, “Do you still love me?”

“I told you to write it down…yes I still love you. We have some issues to work through to get things back on track, but I’m willing if you are. Yes, I still love you.”

“And you already know that I never stopped loving you,” Jimin took a deep breath. “I have an idea.”

“What? What’s your idea?”

Jimin immediately dialed Nari, then he dialed Junghyun. He merged the calls and put everyone on speaker…

***

 

Keonho didn’t feel like wearing his suit. Somehow, that seemed like an honor reserved for his two foster dads. Besides, things had not exactly ended the way he hoped, so maybe ditching the suit was a good idea. His dad Min had purchased him plenty of jeans and warm sweaters. He decided to put one on as he prepared for his first official meeting with his new parents. 

The little one struggled with feeling ungrateful for not being excited. At least he had new parents. So many of the other kids were too old to be adopted and they would be stuck in the orphanage while he started a new life. He wondered if Jeongguk and Jimin had used their money to make sure that he found a new home. If they did, it was just more proof of how much they loved him and cared about him. He was really going to miss them.

Keonho was nervous about the meeting. Would his new parents like him? Would they treat him as well as his foster parents? Would they love him as much? Would she be beautiful like Jimin or lovely like Jeongguk? Did they have other children that he could play with? Where were they going to live and what would his new home be like? He wished that he knew more and understood what to expect.

They were due to arrive in less than ten minutes so he sat by the window and watched the cars entering and exiting the parking lot. Maybe, he thought to himself, he could get a glimpse of them before they came inside. But as the time ticked on, he began to worry. There were no cars in the parking lot. No one had come to fetch him. In fact, they were twenty minutes over the time they were supposed to have arrived.

The last time that he took upon himself to visit Director Lee in her office, he found Jeongguk trying to sneak out of the building. Could it be possible that it was happening again? Was he really becoming the kid that no one wanted?

Just as his mind began to think the worst thoughts, Eujin arrived. “Ok kiddo. It’s time to go. Your new parents are here. It’s a shame really, just went I got you back, you have to leave again. But this time it’s for good. Say goodbye to these old squeaky beds and your snoring roommates. I have a feeling that your new life is going to be everything you ever dreamed of.”

“They’re here? Whew, thank goodness. I was starting to think they changed their minds.”

“No…not these two. They’re very eager to take their new son home. Need help? Looks like you have a ton of luggage over there.”

“Yes, please. I don’t think I can roll all three bags on my own,” Keo said politely.

He and Eujin meandered through the hallway, headed towards Director Lee’s office. Keo wondered why he hadn’t seen any cars enter the parking lot. If his new parents were here, when had they arrived? They

must have been there for a long time considering that he never saw them come in. He had more questions for Eujin, “Did you see my new parents? Are they pretty? Do they look happy? Were they ok?”

Eujin laughed, “All of the above. And they are both very, very pretty. They are very nice people too. Trust us kiddo. This time I think we got it right,” he boasted.

 

Keo arrived at Director Lee’s office, “Ok, I’ll leave you here,” Eujin said as he knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Director Lee called to the hallway. “Ah, Keo, you’re here. Please come in and meet your new parents.”

Keo took a deep breath and stepped inside. Eyes wide and focused, he immediately scanned the room looking for the new faces that he would call mom and dad. But instead, he saw two familiar faces that didn’t belong there. 

“Mr. Park? Mr. Jeon?”

Jimin stood to his feet and then fell to one knee. His bright smile glistened beneath his teary eyes, “Hello, Keo. My name is Park Jimin…and I’m your new dad.”

“What? What…? What does that even mean? Where are the other people?” Keo wasn’t sure if they were playing some kind of game or if everyone was just really, really confused. Before he could get another word out, Jeongguk fell to one knee as well.

He held out his hand for a handshake, “Hello Keo. My name is Jeon Jeongguk, and I’m your new dad. This is my new husband Jimin and we would like to take you back home…forever.”

Keonho rolled up his sleeves and began to pace. “Wait a minute. There you go rage baiting again. I’m going to need a full and complete explanation of what’s going on here. Where are the other people that I was already promised to and why are you guys suddenly back? You told me that the law wouldn’t allow you to adopt me.”

Jimin looked to Jeongguk to explain, “Jimin farted. That’s why we couldn’t legally adopt you,” Jeongguk was a big silly mess.

Jimin sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes. As usual whenever he was accused of flatulence, he downright denied it and forced Jeongguk to recant. “Could you please be serious? This is a very important moment. And I did not fart!” Jimin defended himself.

Director Lee sat back in her chair and laughed loudly at their antics. She was so overjoyed with the scene playing out in front of her that she chose to settle in and just watch. 

“Ok, ok. Legal stuff. We were not supposed to be granted a divorce until we completed our fostering period. Then and only then would KWS void the adoption and allow us to cancel the contract. However, things just didn’t work out in that order. Our divorce was granted before the adoption contract was cancelled. That meant as long as we were still married we still had time to adopt you.”

“But you aren’t legally married. Jeez, are you two ok? Like, really, I worry about you,” Keo put his  hands on his hips and continued to pace.

Jimin showed Keo a sparkly new ring, a platinum band covered in diamonds. “But we are legally married. We’re newlyweds.”

Jeongguk showed Keo his brand new ring, the one that replaced his old black onyx wedding band. This one was covered in diamonds and identical to Jimin’s. “We got married last night.”

“Married? Again?” Keo’s mouth was agape. His eyes were wild and he didn’t know what to do or think.

“Come here,” Jeongguk pulled Keo into his lap. “That little lecture you gave us on Christmas really stuck. You were absolutely right. We never stopped loving each other. We allowed a bunch of lies and manipulation to get in the way of a once in a lifetime love and you, my friend, led us right back to each other. We didn’t get married just so that we could adopt you and fulfill the contract. We got married because we’re in love. And since we are officially a married couple now, we have every right to adopt you. And so we did. Our attorneys, your uncle Junghyun and aunt Nari, helped us work the contract and get in front of a judge. We’ve been here for hours completing all of the paperwork and finalizing the process. You are officially our new son.”

“I’m yours?” Keo asked.

“And we’re yours,” Jimin added.

“Forever?”Keo asked.

“Forever,” Jeongguk added.

“So I really am getting my Christmas wish?”

“Well, if this is what you wished for, then yep,” Jeongguk hugged Keo. 

“Wait. What about the other parents who were supposed to adopt me? They won’t try to take me from you will they?”

“No. They have come and gone. They’re new parents too. We were able to match them with another child. They took her home early this morning, a much younger child, a girl that matched their profile even closer than yours. They’re very happy with their new daughter,” Director Lee explained.

“I’m really free to go back home?” Keo asked again.

“Sweetheart, we already covered this. Can we please go now? We have a reservation for ice skating,” Jeongguk began dressing Keo in his coat and hat. He rushed him towards the door while Jimin grabbed his luggage.

“Wait, before we go.” Keo ran back towards Director Lee’s desk. “You were the first person to love me…to want to take care of me. I’ll never forget you. Thank you for almost being my mom. I’ll miss you.”

Director Lee gave Keo one last hug. It suddenly hit her hard that her favorite resident was leaving for good. She tried not to cry in front of him, but her tears flowed anyway. “Goodbye Keo. I’m sure your new dads will bring you back to visit.”

“Thank you…for everything.” Jeongguk swept Keo up onto his shoulders as they headed towards the car. 

Before driving off, Keo took one last look back at the place he had called home for almost two years. He was so happy to be leaving and even more excited to start his new life with beautiful parents who loved him. He said a quick prayer with a thank you to Santa for granting his Christmas wish.

***

Chapter Index

Thank you for your reading!

Thank you so much for your support. I will always be YOUR biggest fan.

CHF