Fate and Destiny

TWO

As promised, Irene met with her lawyer-cousin to ask for help as soon as Joy gave her a copy of the documents she needed for Youngjae's adoption.

"Oppa, thank you for seeing me in such short notice. I know how busy you are," Irene told her cousin, Lee Minhyuk.

"Anything for my favorite cousin," Minhyuk teased her.

"So, like I said over the phone, my friend wants to adopt her nephew. The child's parents died in an accident three years ago and Joy had been taking care of him ever since," Irene explained as she gave the documents to Minhyuk.  "Well? What do you think? Does she have a chance of getting the adoption?" she asked him after he evaluated Joy's financial documents.

"Honest opinion?" Minhyuk began.  "It's going to be hard. She's young and single. She's not earning much and she doesn't have any property. The only advantage she has is that she's the only relative of the boy," he continued, looking at the other documents.

"That's basically what Seulgi said," Irene sighed.  "But will you take her case?" she asked Minhyuk who was looking at the boy's birth record and a family picture.  "Oppa! Can you help her?" she repeated, thinking he didn't hear her.

"I'm sorry, Irene, but I can't take on this case," Minhyuk told her.

"Why not? Joy is a good person. I assure you that she'll be a good mother and take really good care of Youngjae. Please, oppa. Do it for me," Irene pleaded.

"I'm sure she's a great person, seeing that she's your friend. But, aside from the fact that family court is not my specialty, this case is a conflict of interest for me," Minhyuk said.

"What? Why?" Irene asked in confusion.

"You know about Sungjae's brother, right?" Minhyuk asked her.

"Vaguely, but, yeah," Irene nodded.

"His hyung refused to marry the daughter of their dad's friend because he's already found the girl he loves. So he left their home to be with her. That was nine or ten years ago. Their dad had a change of heart after Sungjin hyung left, and asked Sungjae to find him. The last info they got, which was about five years ago, was that he's got a wife and a son," Minhyuk said.

"Okay. But what does that have to do with Joy's case?" Irene piped in, wondering where his story is leading to.

"Irene. This kid's dad is Sungjin hyung. His name is on this birth certificate. And this picture confirms it," Minhyuk said, holding the photo up.

"Oh. My. God! Youngjae's been calling Joy, eomma, for as long as I can remember. I completely forgot that his surname is Yook, not Park. What kind of cruel fate would play this trick?" Irene said, massaging her temple.

"Sungjae is not just my friend. He's also my client. You do understand that I don't have a choice but to tell him all this?" Minhyuk said apologetically to Irene who nodded in understanding.  "And word of advice. If your friend is really set on adopting the kid, she'd better prepare for a battle because it's not going to be an easy one. Knowing Sungjae, he'll want to take custody of the boy once he learns that his brother is dead. Sungjae fights to win, so she better get a good lawyer," Minhyuk told Irene.

"Oh, my God!" Irene said again in frustration.

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The next morning at school, Irene was in a dilemma.  She spoke to Seulgi, Wendy and Yeri, asking for advice on how to tell Joy of the outcome of her talk with Minhyuk.

"What a small world. Who'd have thought that your cousin's friend would turn out to be Youngjae's uncle?" Wendy said.

"Right? Now I don't know how to tell Joy about this. I feel like it's my fault if they take Youngjae away from her. I don't want her to hate me," Irene said worriedly.

"She won't. I mean, how were you to know that it would turn out this way?" Yeri said.

"Just tell her. She'll understand. She knows you were only trying to help, just like the rest of us," Seulgi encouraged her.

"Don't run, Jaejae. I'll see you later," they heard Joy say.

"Okay, eomma," Youngjae said, running towards his classroom despite Joy's reminder.

"Aish! This boy," Joy said, looking lovingly at the boy.  She smiled as she walked to where her friends are.  "Good morning!" she greeted them cheerfully.

"Good morning, Joy," the three girls greeted back.

Noticing Irene's silence, Joy nudged her playfully.  "Good morning, unnie. Are you okay?" she asked Irene.

"Huh? Oh, uhm, good morning to you, too," Irene said.

"Were you able to talk to your cousin?" Joy inquired.

"Yeah, I was," Irene replied, uneasy.

"So, what did he say?" Joy asked.  Fortunately, the morning bell rang, saving Irene from answering.  "Oh, shoot! Let's just talk at lunch. See you later, unnies, Yeri," Joy said, heading to her class.  Irene let go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Don't worry. We'll help you explain," Wendy consoled her, rubbing her arms.  Irene could only nod.

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When lunch break came, Irene knew she has no other choice but to tell Joy what happened.  Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to the Teacher's Lounge where she found Joy, Wendy, Seulgi and Yeri already eating lunch.  Approaching the table, Irene sat on the empty seat beside Joy.

"Unnie, let's eat," Joy said, smiling at her.

When they were done, Irene turned to talk to Joy but she doesn't know how to start.  Looking at the other three who nodded their encouragement, Irene finally spoke.  "Joy, first of all, I'm sorry," Irene said.

"Sorry for what, unnie?" Joy asked, puzzled.  "Did you talk to your cousin? What did he say?" Joy prompted when Irene remained silent.

"Yes, I did. He basically said what Seulgi has already told you," Irene told Joy.

"But would he take my case?" Joy asked Irene.

"He can't," Irene replied.

"Why not? Unnie, just tell me what he said," Joy said.

"Joy, did you know that Youngjae's dad is a *chaebol?" Irene asked her.

"Yes, I do. But his family disowned him when he married Sohee unnie," Joy replied.

"Well, apparently, that's not the case. At least, not a year after he left," Irene said, and proceeded to tell Joy what Minhyuk told her.

"So, all these years, they've been looking for Sungjin oppa? And now they know about Youngjae," Joy said, almost to herself.

"I'm really sorry, Joy. If I had known, I wouldn't have asked Minhyuk oppa for his help," Irene apologized.

"It's not your fault, unnie. You didn't know this will happen. None of us did," Joy said, taking Irene's hands in hers.  "But I'm not going to let them take Youngjae from me without a fight," Joy declared.

"We'll help you," her friends promised her.

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CHAEBOL – 1. a large, family-owned business;  2. son or daughter of a rich family