ENTICE || JJk•PJm•KTh

Chapter 44 || Closer To You

"mr kim," the man stands up a with smile, straightening his coat before extending out his right arm. "it's a pleasure meeting you. please have a seat."

"thank you, mr hwang. it's nice to meet you." taehyung smiles briefly, opening a button of his coat and sits down in front of the man's desk, while his manager takes the chair beside him, exchanging a forced smile with the advocate.

"i heard about your case from mr. jung, i'm sorry to hear you've to deal with it." hwang says, "but don't worry, i'll try my best to help you out now that you're here."

"of course. i had to get the best lawyer. i can't afford losing my son." taehyung nods.

"you can definitely leave that on me, mr kim. i only step in the court to win." the man says with a proud smile, picking up the file in front of him, skimming through the pages, "would you like to tell me more about the case- about park jiah? something that's not written in here and might be helpful for me."

taehyung sighs softly, glancing at hoseok, gesturing him to leave him alone with the lawyer for a moment. hoseok, with a tired look, gets up, walking out of the office and taehyung looks back at hwang seongmin, one of the best lawyers in seoul, who is going to take this case for him.

"i met jiah in college." taehyung starts, "she was a freshman and i was a senior. we didn't really talk for a whole year in the beginning, until that college fest. i don't remember how exactly we started talking, but from that point we just grew closer. within a few months we were dating and fell in love. her parents didn't allow her to date because according to them it might affect her studies negatively. she managed it, though, she has always been a bright student.

"it was a month or two before my graduation that i asked her to move in with me. she wasn't sure, but i convinced her. we both loved each other too much. we started living together, i graduated and started going for auditions— i was already trying modeling since college. it was all good, then one day i had to leave. i told her i was going to daegu to meet my parents, but from there a drastic change in plans occured and i had to leave the country. my uncle is a director in an american entertainment company and he had made an offer.

"i could debut as an actor, and be a model if i signed that contract with their agency for two years. i wasn't allowed to work for anyone else during that time or even tell anyone until my debut, because of the nature of job. i agreed, and didn't get the time to talk to jiah. so, i never came to know she was pregnant until i returned back this year and saw her with my child. at first i thought her family married her off to someone and they have a child, but eventually she told me the truth. she was raising our son all by herself."

the lawyer nods his head, leaning back on his chair and asks, "so she kept it a secret from you?"

"i wouldn't say she kept it a secret. we had no means of talking since my number changed and all. but yeah, she wasn't going to tell me even when i came back."

"and is she working right now?"

"no. she was working, but now she's not."

"oh, why not?"

"she had some differences with jimin. she worked there." taehyung sighs, "do we really need to talk about that too?"

"well, you really want your son then, yes. it's not easy taking a child's custody from the mother, mr kim. we need to prove in the court that she's not a good mother for you to have the child's custody."

"that's messed up." taehyung massages his temples, "it's gonna ruin her."

"it might. taking her child from a mother can be devastating for her, and that is why, mr. kim, i want you to really think it through." the advocate says, putting the file down under his palm, pressed on the table. "i have no problem taking this case and i can promise you that the final decision will be in your favour. this will be just another case for me, but for you, your child and his mother, it would be life changing; though i am a lawyer, i'd never want any of my clients to regret their decisions that they once made while being angry."