Lost & Found

Chapter Seventeen

Present Day
22-Years-Old

"What?!"

"Yeah."

"T-That's not possible."

"I was in the courtroom when she came to relinquish her parental rights."

Yoongi sat back against the couch, dumbfounded. After a few moments, he turned to Aera.

"You're sure?"

"Well, if I wasn't before, I certainly was after she told me that if I left you alone for good, I could 'have the brat.'"

Yoongi's mouth fell open. "She said that?"

Aera nodded.

"That's why you stopped texting..." Yoongi said with realization.

"I'm sorry, Yoongs. I'm so sorry. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. But I didn't know where I stood with you, and – "

"It's okay," he said quietly. "I would've done the same thing in your shoes."

"Really?"

Yoongi nodded. "The way I treated you... I don't blame you for not knowing what to do."

"Yoongs, please stop punishing yourself."

He shook his head. "Anyway, you didn't uphold your end of the bargain when you started talking to me again, so – "

"She made sure I paid for it."

They both sat there in silence, stunned this was actually happening.

"What do I do?" Aera whispered. "How do I show them that I'm not that person? That I would never do that?"

"I'm not sure," Yoongi admitted. "I... I don't really know what else to say right now."

Aera laid her head in Yoongi's lap again, wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face against his stomach. She then began sobbing again. If Yoongi didn't know how to comfort her, how was she supposed to get through this?

"I'm sorry, A," Yoongi said softly. "I'm so sorry. I wish I knew what to do."

They sat there like that for a very long time, until Yoongi could tell that Aera had fallen asleep. Her arms had gone limp, and he could hear her heavy breathing. He was able to disentangle himself from her and stand up. He then carefully lifted her up and carried her to his bed. He laid her down, tucked her in and kissed her forehead.

"I love you," he said quietly before heading to the bedroom door. He turned off the light, and returned to the living room. He sat on the couch and pondered for a long time how they could remedy this situation.

Yoongi thought through lots of harebrained scenarios, but he couldn't seem to make any of them work out in the end. He even wondered if he should call Sunhee and try to reason with her, but then he worried that might just exacerbate her anger. Calling her on behalf of Aera didn't seem like something she'd react well to.

Yoongi was stumped. He knew he needed to get some sleep soon, as he had work the next day. But he felt really uneasy about leaving Aera alone. She was in such a bad state, and he didn't want her to have no one. He considered calling out from work, as he had no doubt Aera would. But then he remembered the hearing was in just two days' time, and he would definitely be calling out that day in order to be with Aera in court. So, he decided it would be best not to skip work the next day.

He sighed as he laid down on the couch. There was so much that needed to be done, but he didn't even know where to start.

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