"So it was about her?" Jisung asked.
Minho nodded, "Julianna left Vi alone and Vi got hurt. The neighbour took her to the hospital, where Vi called Hyunjin. Now, Yuqi is helping Hyunjin try to get custody of Viola and until the situation is sorted viola will be staying with Yeji and Juni," he explained.
"How long do they think it is going to take?"
"Days. The cards are so stacked up against Julianna that they don't think it'll take long,"
"That has to some major things," Jisung said.
"Viola is six so she is supposed to be in school, somehow if flew over everyone's heads that she was never enrolled. Hyunjin thought she was because she'd talked about things she learned and she could read, so he never questioned it.
However today he found out that she isn't and that she's been basically teaching herself. That's not even the tip of it all. It is just one thing after another that he keeps finding out and it is just stressful for him, because he didn't know this stuff and he thinks that he should have known something was up," Minho said.
"He can't blame himself for this. He only sees Vi for a couple days out of the year and that's not enough time to realise that something is wrong,"
"He knows, but he's finding it hard not to blame himself,"
♠
Felix groaned as his phone rang.
Who was interrupting his sleep at twelve in the morning?
"Hello?" He muttered, sleep evident in his tone.
"Hey,"
It was Hyunjin.
Felix groaned and sat up, "Professor Hwang, hi,"
"I'm sorry if I woke you,"
Felix looked at the clock and yawned, "It's fine, I was just playing games,"
Hyunjin chuckled, "No you weren't,"
"No I wasn't," Felix said.
"I'll let you go back to sleep, I'm sorry for waking you," Hyunjin apologised.
"Wait, I'm already awake. Why'd you call? It had to have been important,"
Hyunjin took a breath, "To be honest, I just wanted to hear your voice,"
Felix pursed his lips, "I'm sorry about the other day, I shouldn't have brought that stuff up," he said, picking at the blanket that was over him.
"Don't be, I was a jerk. I do think we should set a boundary though, what happened shouldn't happen again,"
Felix bit his lip and nodded, "Yeah, you're right," he agreed.
The two sat in silence for a minute.
"Was there another reason you called? You usually don't call unless it's important,"
"There is something that I wanted your opinion on. It is a case that I am on without the class,"
"What is it?" Felix questioned.
"Custody case. Father trying to get custody of his daughter from the mother,"
"Well there is the thing that courts prefer the mothers over fathers, however, in most cases they look at what is in the best interest of the child. So look at the facts, the child was living with their mother and now the father wants custody.
Some big questions would be: what accommodations has the father made? What accommodations has the mother made? Why shouldn't the mother have custody? Why should the father have custody? That stuff. So if you answer those, it'll be easy to know the best interest. How old is the kid?"
"She is six," Hyunjin answered
"Okay, so that is something courts may look at, she is school age what accommodations has the mother made for her with school?" Felix asked.
"None, she isn't in school,"
"Okay, did the father know?"
"He thought she was in school because she talked about things she learned. He only sees her a few times a year due to the custody agreement before,"
"Okay, what accommodations is the father trying to make for her since she isn't in school?" Felix asked.
"He's trying to enroll her into online schooling," Hyunjin said.
"Why is the father trying to get custody?"
"The daughter called him from the hospital, where she was, because she was left alone and got hurt. The mother's next door neighbour took her there,"
"Has the custody case already started?" Felix asked softly.
"Yeah, the daughter is staying with a relative until it is over," Hyunjin said.
Felix pursed his lips, "From just what you told me the best interest for the child is to be with the father,"
"How would you go about this case? Because I know that they'll bring up the fact the father hasn't been there much?"
"What was the custody agreement?" Felix asked.
"Three times a year. A couple days in December, March, and July," Hyunjin said.
"Why was it like that?"
"It was either that or he didn't see his daughter at all,"
"Use that. If she told him that this was the way it was going to be or he couldn't see his daughter, then it could create an issue, because if the father is a good guy who would do anything for his daughter, then why only a few times a year would he be able to see his daughter, unless there was more going on,"
"I didn't think of that,"
"Sometimes we just miss small things," Felix said.
"Felix," Hyunjin said softly.
Felix hummed.
"Thank you,"
The younger was confused, "I'm just doing what I usually do," he said.
Hyunjin pursed his lips.
"You should get some more sleep,"
"Probably, I have few things to do tomorrow and I'm sure you're busy,"
"Goodnight, Felix,"
Just as Hyunjin went hang up Felix spoke, "Wait professor Hwang,"
"Yes?"
He could hear Felix take a breath, "Uhm, nevermind, it isn't important. I'll talk to you later,"
The call ended.
Hyunjin looked at his phone the hang up screen flashing for a moment before disappearing and showing Felix's contact.
He looked at Felix's photo for a minute then turned off his phone.
Shuhua's words were echoing in his mind.
Was she right?
