puzzle piece | jeong jaehyun

12

"Well taking things literally is a clear sign of autism but we can't just make this diagnosis lightly—especially given the information you've told me. With his upbringing it could very much be a case that he has just lacked core development skills" the doctor explained, watching the little boy who was sat against the carpeted floor on his office playing with the lego blocks

"I don't understand..." Yunhui admitted sheepishly

"Well...suffering from an abusive parent from a very young age really impacts the mental state the child is in. And when they grow up in the state in their early developmental stages of childhood, this can impact their thinking abilities, flight or fight responses, interpretation of words and actions. It also really impacts their social skills and emotional development as well" the doctor explained clearly

"While Minhyuk does show some signs of early onset autism, he's also showing overlapping signs of post traumatic stress disorder" the doctor said and she let out a heavy sigh as the words sunk in

"His need for having set routines, sticking to what he feels comfortable with, not interacting with other kids and being more standoffish and quiet could be more of a self defence mechanism than a personality trait" the doctor said

"But if he's usually always like that then..." she trailed off

"He seems to be defensive majority of the time. It may just be a sense of impending doom or the fear of uncertainty that nothing has actually changed or it can't be too good for too long. This is very evident in children who have parents that have bipolar disorders or tend to switch from happy to angry very quickly. They're always on guard and trying to protect themselves just incase the parents switches their emotions. It's a form of self defence, an incredibly hidden form that even some adults have. It's subconscious so it's hard to even tell" the doctor said, his hand reaching over to Yunhui's as she interlocked her fingers.

Her eyes closed tightly, not believing the words she was hearing. All that hard work of escaping from her abusive ex husband only for her son to still be suffering from it. She was suffering too, she was just better at hiding it. She didn't realise her child was far too sensitive and had been absorbing every little emotion like a sponge—and none of it was even his fault.

"I know this is hard to hear, especially when the past is just as traumatic for you, if not more. But he can be helped. You just need to be patient with him and be consistent. Keep reminding him that you are a safe place for him to go to and confide in, that you will give him all the time he needs to be able to express his emotions, slowly but surely he will learn to open up again and not be on edge all the time. It won't be easy but it's not impossible" the doctor said and she nodded slowly, wiping a tear that flowed down her cheek

"I know but...it's just been so hard and...you know, all that fight only to have my kid suffer from PTSD—I just feel like I did it all wrong—"

"No you didn't...I promise you, you did the best you could. You did better than most people do in your situation. You've both come so far since it happened" the doctor reassured. He knew of her situation since the early years of her life—he was one of the people who even encouraged to leave that godforsaken situation with her ex-husband too. She really trusted him, especially with the wellbeing of her own child.

"Survivors of domestic abuse wake up everyday with a survivor mentality. It's just how you've both been programmed to react to certain triggering situations. The best you can do right now is to keep this in mind. Examine how he plays and interacts with other kids, even with you. Watch how he tries to express his emotions and try to figure out his thinking process. Really try to understand your child as best as you can. After all, he is always going to be a part of you, there's no one else in this world that can understand him better than you can"

The words of the doctor overplayed in her head again and again ever since they left the doctor's office. She honestly couldn't believe that a kid so young would be suffering with a disorder so severe, especially when she mistook it for something else this whole time. She was determined to spend the whole weekend getting to the root of the problem before it got any worse.

But her mind couldn't help but wonder if Minhyuk's defence mechanisms had become more apparent with Jaehyun's presence. She wondered if he was the trigger since things only seemed to heighten with him around. She knew this wasn't his fault either but simply the fact that Minhyuk was raised without a healthy father figure—but was the thought of even having any father like figure near him that stressful for her own child?

But just as her mind had wandered to thinking about him, the said father stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway with a slightly relieved expression, happy that he was finally home on a Friday night and could take a break over the weekend. He froze in his steps for a bit as he saw Yunhui leaning against her door frame with a pile of paper in her hands while two other guys stood beside her, going on and on about the workplace drama she missed out on today

"Oh and I also left copies of the meeting agenda for next week with KPMG" Doyoung added and she furrowed her brows, her eyes moving away from watching Jaehyun's actions, lost in thought as she remembered their earlier encounter. Doyoung gave her a slight look of approval as soon as he saw the very hot neighbour that she mentioned at work a few times now, a look that she completely ignored

"What does that firm have to do with us?" She asked

"Well apparently the client hired them for risk assurance and us for tax auditing and now there's a conflict of interests" he explained with a sigh, and she practically groaned at the prep for the meeting she would have to do over the weekend

"I'm going to rip that old man's wig off him one day" she muttered under her breath realising that the difficult meetings were pushed to her since she took the day off work

"Hey remember, the grind never stops!" Haechan said, mimicking the old man's voice as he mocked his cringey motivational one liners

"Hustle hard, sparkle harder" Doyoung repeated and she rolled her eyes with a snicker

"You're so gay" she said, almost baffled at how gay one could be and she had only begun to realise it recently. Her eyebrows furrowed as the two boys walked towards the elevator, an idea creeping its way into her head

"Haechan" she called out, making them both turn back to her

"Yeah?" He asked

"What type of shoes are these?" She asked and he scratched the back of his head with confusion

"Black ones...?" He asked with a shrug, not giving a single fuck about the shoe

"Doyoung?" She asked and he practically scoffed at her request

"They're obviously the Prada brushed leather pumps from their 2023 Fall Winter collection" he said, as if it was common and pretty basic knowledge. She watched as the two boys entered into the elevator before her eyes turned to Jaehyun's apartment door

"I know what you are, Jeong Jaehyun."