85. Younger A.U - Policy

Kang watched the crowd from his corner of the room. He could see his aunts catching up with each other at one of the tables, though it was more likely they were gossiping, and his uncles by the bar, drinking as much as they needed to get plastered. After they had tried to coax him into doing the same, only for him to refuse the offers.

Kang swallowed his annoyance with a side of hard lemonade. He really didn't want to be there. At all. Han-jae, that coward, left the first chance he got, leaving Kang with no car of his own to get back home. Han-jae figuratively threw him to the wolves with that, leaving him by himself to deal with their extended family until he found an appropriate time to slip out. Granted, public transportation was a godsend, but that didn't mean that he was happy about being sacrificed to said wolves.

The only bright side was that Han-jae already texted him that the highway was backed up to hell and back, so Kang felt vindicated. That's what Han-jae got for leaving without him. Although Kang would be happier if he just didn't have to be there.

Purposely, Kang stayed in a corner of the room. Hello if someone went up to him, polite conversation if they lingered, and goodbye once they left, especially if they had him talking longer than he wanted to. He already did his part in saying hello to everyone once he and Han-jae arrived and that was enough for him. If anyone wanted to find out about his life, they were going to have to start the conversation, in which Kang would only give polite answers.

Even though Kang had tried to put himself out of sight, out of mind in the corner, Byung-woo, the only other cousin that was his age, sidled up next to him. A slight smile plastered onto his face that Kang couldn't quite tell if it was out of intoxication or arrogance. Byung-woo got straight to the point. "Hey. I was at the mall the other day. I saw you and your brother," Kang was already cursing on the inside. He already knew who his nosey-ass cousin was going to bring up. "Who was that kid with you? I saw you guys' shopping and man did he have a real bitch face." Byung-woo said with a chuckle, his demeanor was light, but Kang could see the way Byung-woo was carefully watching him. His cousin eyed him intensely, trying to find a moment of weakness at any moment. How annoying, the conversation just started and Byung-woo was already trying to glean information from him.

Kang didn't give it to him. He kept his voice steady, unphased after years of serving in the military. "He's my ward." He didn't offer any more. Byung-woo was not intimidating and to be frank, Byung-woo was going to have to step up his game if he ever wanted to be.

He already knew that his maternal family wasn't going to accept the squirt, especially since they were not related by blood. It had happened once before to extended family and it was most certainly going to happen again with the kid. Kang was going to keep his cards close to his chest and he was going to keep the kid hidden under wraps for as long as he could. If he could.

Byung-woo looked interested, and already, Kang was planning his escape. He needed to talk for a few more minutes if he didn't want to be called rude. That or wait until Byung-woo pissed him off. "Wow. Getting that good foster money huh?" Byung-woo nudged him, a stupid smile on his stupid face, "Good for you man. That's smart. You don't have to take care of a teenager for shit. Where can I sign up?" Kang had to take a deep breath. It wasn't an accurate guess of the situation, but good god was it annoying to hear Byung-woo value money more than a human being.

Despite his efforts, Kang couldn't quite keep the hard edge out of his voice. "I'm not fostering him," Not once had he been paid to take care of his kid, and even so, it had never been a deciding factor. He took the kid under his wing because he wanted to and that was that. "I'm his guardian." He already submitted the paperwork and it had already been processed, all he needed was for a CPS worker to come along, inspect the house, and ask a few questions to the kid. Once that was done, Kang would officially be the kid's guardian and then he could figure out the adoption from there.

Byung-woo scoffed, his hand patting Kang's shoulder roughly, "Yeah, sure you are bud. Seriously, how much do you get paid to take care of the little shit? At least a couple hundred a month, right?" Kang started grinding his jaw. He was going to lose it at that rate.

"Hamchan, hey!" Kang didn't break eye contact with Byung-woo as Jun-seo popped into the conversation, a light tone in his voice, "Where's Han-jae? My mom said he came with you." Byung-woo knew exactly what he was doing because he had a smile on his face, his eyes watching Kangs' each and every reaction. Byung-woo was fortunate that Kang was a good man. That Kang had been trained how to control his temper and emotions once he had become a killing machine for the military. If Kang had been a lesser man, then he absolutely would have had no problem setting things straight with his fists.

Kang still didn't break eye contact as he answered Jun-seo, "He went home." for some reason, that seemed to make Byung-woos smile wider. Kang was almost offended that Byung-woo saw him as a bigger target without his younger brother being there as if he needed help defending himself.

Jun-seo finally caught on to the situation and elbowed their cousin. Annoyingly enough, Byung-woo huffed, as if he was some type of child that had their fun interrupted. "And Jangsu? How's he doing?"

"He's okay." Kang answered honestly, glowering at Byung-woo before he finally gave Jun-seo the attention he deserved, "He's been in something of a mood lately, but he's okay." Who knows, maybe the kid just wanted some alone time. He was a teenager after all, and he was at about that age where privacy was a must.

"That's good," Jun-seo commented as he nodded his head slowly, pursing his lips as he did so, "by the way," Kang sighed, he already knew what he was going to say, "How did Jangsu start staying with you? I thought you came back from a tour a few weeks ago." It was a valid question, as there was no way Kang would have been able to foster a kid right after returning to Korea.

He sighed. There was no point in trying to hide the truth from his cousins. His extended family was going to find out once the squirt was added to the family registry and he would rather get over the outrage sooner than later. Besides, they would tell the problematic family members and it was much easier to ignore phone calls than to try and leave a party after dropping something like that. "I did. I found the kid while I was on tour. He stayed with me and my men about a year and a half before we came back and I brought him back with me."

They stared at him, even Byung-woo seemed to be surprised. The two men exchanged side glances. "That's called human trafficking," Byung-woo said flatly, earning another elbow from Jun-seo and an unamused look from Kang. Why did everyone seem to think that Kang brought the kid illegally? He did everything through the legal routes and most importantly, Kang brought him to reunite him with his family. Though that original intent was slowly fading into the background. But that was neither here nor there.

"So what? He was born in the middle east and you decided that he looks Korean enough for you to bring him here?"

"No." Kang said firmly, annoyance saturating his voice, "He was born here in Korea and he got stranded in the middle east when he was younger. I brought him back to help him find his family." Thankfully, that was enough to replace their suspicious looks with looks of curiosity.

"Oh?" Jun-seo said curiously, "what about his parents?"

"The accident that stranded him killed his parents. I know he still has some living relatives left, but they disappeared after the media pried too much. I haven't been able to track them down."

"Take him to the cops and open a case." Byung-woo said flatly, his demeanor portraying just how stupid he thought Kang was, "They have the power to track down his death certificate and then his family."

Kang huffed. "That's the problem. The kid has amnesia from the accident. I was able to figure out his family name but not his personal name. To make things better, his family name is Yu. Jangsu isn't his real name, it's just the name I put on his legal documents." That had been the first thing he had considered, and he wouldn't be in that position if it had worked. The kid would have been reunited with his family faster if fate had just decided to look upon them.

Jun-seo caught onto his train of thought, "And Yu is one of the most common last names here in Korea. You can't track down his death certificate if you don't have his full name either." Theoretically, Kang could find his parent's death certificates, but that still didn't change the fact that the Squirts death certificate, who was still a minor, would be locked away from public access. Korea had admirable privacy laws until it got in the way.

"Yeah," Kang let out a sigh that puffed out his cheeks, "All I can do is look at the national database and try to find his family registry. I know his parent's names but they're not showing up either." Probably because they were dead and for some odd reason, that left them out of the database, or at least the website's search engine.

It was asinine whenever Kang thought back on it, and infuriating as well, so he wasn't going to dwell on it for long.

Byung-woo let out a low whistle, "Sounds like a pain. I wouldn't do that." Kang wasn't surprised. It was obvious that, unlike Jun-seo, Byung-woo hadn't changed from his selfish ways.

"I know." Kang snarked back, earning a glare from his cousin as they started to butt heads once more.

Jun-seo must have picked up on the tense energy between the two of them because he stepped in, "Alright alright. Hamchan," Kang almost reluctantly broke off the glare to look at his much more tolerable cousin, "why don't we go for those drinks now? Some of the others want to come along too." He asked, his calm demeanor almost reminding Kang to tone it down. Which was perfectly fine by him, as long as he could get away from Byung-woo and could avoid pissing each other off. Kang had a feeling that if they fought, it wouldn't end well.

Besides, he shouldn't have gotten so riled up in the first place...

"Sure," Byung-woo said lightly, grinning as if Jun-seo and Kang weren't glaring at him. "I could go for a drink."

Kang huffed to himself. Whatever. He didn't want to deal with him anymore.

After getting his stuff together and a few goodbyes to select relatives, t wasn't long until Kang, Jun-seo, and a few more of their cousins were on the way to the closest bar by foot. They were close enough that they could take a ten-minute walk and avoid the entire mess with the traffic. Kang didn't complain because at least then, he wouldn't have been stuck in a car with Byung-woo, besides, he was used to walking long distances anyway.

With their cousins walking in front of them, Jun-seo and Kang hung back, walking in silence as their cousins chit-chatted up front. People milled around them and to their right, was the traffic that the accident on the highway caused. The cars were slow-moving as everyone tried to avoid the highway, only to cause more traffic jams because everyone had the same idea. There were even a few people who were taking their bags out of the cabs in the middle of the street and joining them on the sidewalk.

He should probably text the kid, and ask him how he was doing. Kang had to sidestep a couple so he wouldn't walk into them, maybe when they were at the bar, where he wouldn't walk into someone because he was on his phone.

"So," Jun-seo dragged out, a light tone in his voice as he brought Kang out of his thoughts, "Jangsu." He said simply.

Kang cut in with a firm tone, "What about him?" He didn't care if Jun-seo was being nicer than he remembered or if he had changed, Kang wasn't going to let anyone talk bad about his kid.

His cousin huffed as he smiled, Jun-seo giving Kang a knowing look as he did so, "You're really protective of him. I don't think he's just your ward like you said." Kang didn't say anything, he didn't even look at the man as he stared straight ahead, his eyes lingering on the back of his cousins. "Is he really not your kid?"

Really? Slowly, Kang looked over at his cousin with an incredulous look, "The kid is fifteen. I would have been thirteen when I had him." It was obvious that Kang was far too young to be his father and it was even more obvious that everyone would have known if he was a father or not at age thirteen.

Jun-seo's knowing look didn't go away, "I know. But you called him 'My kid' earlier. So, is he really not yours?" Kang blanked.

Did he say that? Did he really slip up by calling the squirt 'his' kid? And even worse, his silence seemed to confirm what Jun-seo had been suspecting, his smile getting wider by the second.

"Not biologically." Kang admitted. "I didn't realize I said that." Kang added after a moment.

"You didn't. I just wanted to see what you would say. So, are you gonna adopt him or...?"

Oh, that asshole. "Fucker." If Kang hadn't been annoyed at the fact that Jun-seo outsmarted him, he would have been more embarrassed about the fact that he was so obvious. "Yeah, I'm going to adopt him. In a few months." Kang sighed as he admitted. As soon as he was listed as the kid's guardian, then Kang was going to start moving forward with that.

Jun-seo hummed, his hand tugging on Kang's sleeve as he nearly walked past the bar. "I'm gonna guess you're going to hide it from the others." The bar was annoyingly full, but at least it was loud enough where even with the proximity, it was difficult to overhear conversations, which was exactly what Kang needed.

Kang lowered his voice, eyeing the others as he purposely tried to keep their conversation private from the others as they started to settle in. "Mhm, you know how the others are when it comes to things like this." Jun-seos and Byung-woo's parents in particular wouldn't accept the adoption well. The amount of bad-mouthing that happened when Jun-seo's extended family adopted an infant was shameful, embarrassing even. To make things better, the foster system had a bad rap, Kang already knew they would demonize his kid even though he had never entered the foster system in the first place.

He should text the kid. Taking out his phone, Kang sent a quick 'How are you doing?' to the squirt before pocketing his phone.

"Cool." Jun-seo said lightly, "Tell me when it happens. It would be a shame if I was out of town when my parents hear the news." Kang snorted. Fair enough, at least Jun-seo was willing to admit that his mom would not react kindly.

The conversation between them dropped off after that. It wasn't long until all of them, Byung-woo included, were catching up over drinks for the first time in years. It had been years since Kang had been able to talk to any of his cousins like that and for the most part, all of them were more pleasant as adults than as teenagers. But, as much fun as he was having, Kang decided that he wasn't going to have more than two drinks before he had to go.

The universe must have agreed because the server barely set down Kang's glass of water when his phone vibrated obnoxiously loud on the tabletop, much to the other's joy. They had agreed that the first one to get a message or phone call would have to pay the tab for the night. That meant that Kang was going to have to pay for everyone that night. Alcohol was not cheap when five full-grown adults were drinking together. Kang groaned remorsefully. Ah, he could already feel his wallet weeping.

"Ha." Byung-woo had a smug look on his face, well everyone had a smug look but it was Byung-woo's face that annoyed Kang the most, "Looks like you're paying tonight." Just that comment in itself was enough for Kang consider asking for a separate check, but he was nothing but a man of his word.

"Yeah yeah," Kang sighed, picking up his phone as he said, "I know." The phone still hadn't stopped ringing. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that it was Squirt who was calling but he swallowed his panic. He didn't even know why Squirt was calling him, for all he knew, the kid was too lazy to text him back or something.

The others noticed his look, "Who is it?" Jun-seo asked, leaning over to try and get a look at his screen.

"It's probably his girlfriend. If he has one." Byung-woo commented, much to Kang's annoyance.

"Fuck off it's my kid." Kang snapped out, he was already done with the situation and if it wasn't for the fact that the kid rarely called him, then he would have been happy for the distraction. Answering the phone, he held it up to his face, "Kid? Did something happen? What's wrong?"

"Kang. How long until- " He paused and the feedback from the mic being jostled around made him cringe, "How long until you come back?"

He frowned. So, something had happened? "If I leave now, probably like an hour. Why? What's wrong?" Han-jae had texted him that he was still stuck on the highway so it was going to be at least an hour on the bus, assuming it took a side route.

"I-I..." the kid trailed off, a low moan crackling through the connection. " It hurts ."

Within a second, Kang was grabbing his shit and rushing out. "What hurts?" it had to be bad if his kid was admitting it. How did he get hurt? Did he have an accident? Did someone hurt him? What happened- "Fucking-!"

The waitress looked horrified as the beer dripped down his clothes, the excess creating a puddle under Kang's feet. He was soaked.

He did not have time for that.

All he offered was a rushed reassurance towards the woman before he was running out of the door. "I'm on my way, kid. What hurts?" raising his hand, he hailed a cab, damn near running into the road just to streamline the process. Thank god, traffic had cleared up quickly.

Just as the driver pulled over and Kang opened the door, a jerking motion nearly made him stumble backward, "Hamchan! Hey!" Byung-woo was holding onto the back of his shirt, keeping him from entering the cab, "Hey, what the fuck man! I'm not paying for your tab!"

That asshole. "I'll pay you back!" Kang snapped out, and jerking his shirt out of his grip, he started to get into the cab again, "I need to get home to my kid." quickly, he gave the driver his address and just as he was able to slam the door shut, the fucker stopped him from doing it.

"Dude! He's not even your blood! I'm not letting you use him as an excuse you fucking cheapskate!"

Kang almost saw red. That absolute fucking asshole seriously thought that he was trying to get out of paying his tab? With his own fucking kid!? He didn't even hesitate as he lifted his leg and kicked the asshole away. Slamming the door shut, he handed a generous tip to the driver as an incentive. "Get me home as fast as possible." Kang snapped out to the driver, who thankfully, matched Kang's urgency. "Where are you? Can you move?" Kang forced himself to be calm. His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest, dread filling his entire being as he latched onto every word.

"I-it agh." There was a dull thud in the background. "No. It feels like someone's stabbing my stomach ." okay. Stomach. His stomach was hurting, and he couldn't move.

Fuck it was bad. It had to be bad. It had to be with the kid's pain tolerance. How bad was it where he was asking for help? The kid never asked for help, not even when his ribs were broken. How long had he been in pain before he asked for help?

"Where are you? I'm on my way." Snapping his fingers, he held his hand out for the driver's cell phone until the kid was answering. His mother would have been appalled at the way he was treating the man, but Kang felt like the situation called for it.

"Bathroom." his words were ground out, a long hiss ending in a muffled moan of pain. " Hurry."

"I'll be there soon kid. Hang on. I'm calling the ambulance." quickly, he typed the emergency number into the borrowed cell phone and for the first time in a while, he was grateful that all of those battles had taught him to keep the adrenaline to do nothing more but give him a fine tremor in his hands, "Everything is going to be alright. If I don't get there before the ambulance, I'll see you at the hospital, okay?" his words were spilling out of his mouth, his anxiety coming out from under his calm tone. "I'm coming. Just hang on."

All he got was a terrible, low warble of pain that made his heart skip several beats. "It hurts." His kid's voice was raw with emotion and if that wasn't enough to tear out his heart, he could hear the kid's breath stuttering from the pain.

The entire car jerked to the right as the cab driver weaved in and out of traffic, the engine revving in an attempt to beat the incoming yellow light. "I know it does, Squirt." It felt like there was cotton in his mouth, it felt like it was nearly impossible for him to overcome the fear in favor of being calm. "I'm on my way, kid. I'm right here. Help is on the way." The dispatcher answered and Kang wasted no time in making it clear that his kid needed an ambulance and he needed it five minutes ago.

If he had been standing up, it would have felt like his feet were being knocked out from under him when he heard it. A sharp gasp made him sit up straighter, his legs fidgeting as if he could stand up to do something right then and there. " Kang." Squirt keened out, a high-pitched whine turning into a warped sob, " please. It hurts. I-I can't- help-"

Kang would have done anything, anything to alleviate the pain his boy was going through. "You're gonna be fine." He said as a poor replacement. Kang didn't know if he was saying that for his sake or the kids. "You're gonna be fine. The ambulance is on its way. Hang on kid, they're almost there." and if the dispatcher was right, then they were going to have to go straight to the hospital and meet him there. "They'll be there any second kid. I'll meet you at the hospital. Ok? I'll be there. They're gonna help you." Kang didn't even know if the kid was processing what he was saying. The only responses he was getting at that point were stifled noises of pain that threatened to break his heart in two each time.

The car lurched to a stop, and the seat belt strained to keep him from tumbling out of the seat and nearly made him drop the phone in the process. Ready to snarl out his words, Kang turned to the driver to ask him what the fuck was his problem only for the words to die on his tongue. The highway was back up as far as the eye could see, hundreds of red lights starting back at him through the windshield. It was at a standstill and there was no hope of the car moving in a timely manner.

Kang didn't have time for that, his kid didn't have time.

Throwing the phone and what was probably enough money for a second trip at the driver, he got out of the car, slamming the door closed. Looking up and down the street, he realized that while there was no hope of anyone moving, that meant that he wasn't at risk of getting hit by oncoming traffic.

"Ka-ng?" Squirt croaked out, his voice was weaker but still strained with pain. His voice took on intonations that Kang could only relate to a wounded dog that was crying for help.

Kang answered within a second, "I'm here," Weaving around the cars and their bewildered owners, Kang could see the exit sign for the hospital, it was only a mile away. He could easily cover a mile in less than seven minutes if he really tried.

He was going to try. He had to.

"I'm on my way to the hospital," he took off at a light jog, still talking into the phone. He was trying to talk over the background noise, the sound of the cars nearly covering up the new voices in the call. Thank god, the paramedics were there. Squirt was going to be fine, all Kang had to worry about was getting to the hospital. "I'll be there kid, I promise." Hanging up the phone, Kang took a deep breath, he'd run a mile in less than ten minutes when he was wearing his full gear, he could definitely make it if he tried.

The intrusive thoughts of not making it in time only made him run faster, and push himself harder as he weaved around the crowd. More than once, Kang didn't even bother waiting for the crosswalk signal to turn green, he was running across the intersection if it was clear without skipping a beat. More than once, he nearly ran into someone, and likewise, he heard multiple people make sounds of disappointment at his behavior. But Kang didn't care. His mother had always been the type to assume the worst and it wasn't until then when Kang understood. The worry, the anxiety that something would happen to Squirt in the ambulance was overwhelming. The thought of Kang being unable to make it to the hospital on time, only for the worst to happen, filled him with anxiety. Every potential outcome formed in Kang's thoughts as he ran, filling his head with the way everything could go right and the way everything could go wrong. Positive outcomes ones where Squirt returned home, happy and healthy but also negative outcomes, where the kid never left the hospital after entering it.

He must have broken his personal record. Kang nearly skidded into the emergency room, awkwardly hopping on one foot just so he wouldn't fall over. Adrenaline was still running through his veins as he ran up to the desk, nearly running into it in the process. "Hi. Kang Hamchan. I'm here to see Sq- Jangsu. Yu Jangsu. He's fifteen, he should have come in an ambulance." Kang cringed as he stumbled over his words, but he had heard the paramedics show up and help his kid, so he knew that they had to be there or at least close to arrival. There was no way the paramedics took the highway.

The nurse, who was used to panicked people, was calm as she started to type on the computer. "What's your relationship to him?"

Fuck. "I um- fuck I'm his spokesman. He lives with me." Fuck he wasn't his official guardian yet, all Kang was to the kid was his legal spokesperson that helped the kid qualify for visas.

She hummed as she typed away at her keyboard. "Mr. Yu has not arrived yet. Are you his guardian?"

"No. I'm his spokesman. How long until he comes in?" Kang repeated, hoping to god that he would be granted the same abilities as a guardian, even though deep down, he knew that they wouldn't.

It didn't work. Her hands stopped moving and at last, she looked at him straight on, only to lay down the rules. "Only family and guardians can visit minors." Her voice was unforgiving and Kang already knew that she wasn't going to give in.

Kang still tried. He had to. "He doesn't have any family. He's an orphan. Look, I wouldn't be here if I didn't care for him." he wouldn't have run a goddamn mile in record-breaking time if he didn't care for his kid!

If it had been any other time, Kang would have admired the nurse's determination to protect a minor. It would have been admirable any other time.

All he wanted to do was scream as she repeated herself. "I'm sorry sir. But you are not his guardian or family. You cannot see him."

He felt like he was going to go insane. "No, I have to see him. I'm all he's got, and I promised him I would be with him. I need to see him when he comes in." he promised the kid that he would see him and he was going to uphold the fucking promise!

It was like he was talking to a stone wall. "Sir. You cannot see him."

"I am all he has goddammit!" Kang snapped out, nearly slamming his fist on the counter only to restrain himself at the last second. He knew full well that he was bringing attention to himself, but he thought it was well deserved.

"Sir. I will call security."

"Listen to me-!" The sound of people rushing into the department made Kang look over and Kang's feet were already moving before he even registered the silver hair that was passing by. "Kid! Hang on, kid, I'm right here!" Someone tried to grab his arm, "Fucking let go of me!" Without a second thought, Kang twisted his arm out of the hold, and at last, he was running alongside his kid. "Squirt, kid, kid, I'm right here. It's okay, I'm right here. You're gonna be okay. I'm right here." he was so pale, God his kid was so pale. He wasn't even pale, he looked almost gray, his hair had more color than his skin. Even the oxygen mask wasn't enough to hide just how ashen his kid was, how his face was scrunched up in pain.

Kang set his hand onto his boy's arm and his heart ached when Squirt immediately latched onto his sleeve, his hands grabbing the material in a white-knuckled grip. "Sir! You need to go!" one of the paramedics tried to pull him away and just like before, Kang pulled his arm free.

"I'm not leaving him!" Kang snapped out, gesturing to the way the kid was clinging onto him, his kids' hands desperately holding onto his sleeves. "He needs me!" Kang laid his hands over the kids to secure the hold and-

Squirt's hands were ice cold.

He almost did a double-take. His hands, his kids' hands were so painfully cold, his skin was so gray.

Kang knew the symptoms of extreme blood loss far too well.

That time, Kang let his kid be taken away from him, but he was right on their heels. The nurses almost skidded into the triage room and before the gurney was even locked into place, the nurses were a flurry of movement. His clothes were being cut off, machines started screaming the moment he was hooked up to them and his kid was so painfully limp as they maneuvered him onto his side. The only thing the kid could move was his head, his head moving side to side as he tried to process everything, as he tried to find Kang.

"We got internal bleeding!" One of the nurses screamed out and it was like everyone moved even faster. The only noise his kid made was a choked scream when a nurse pressed down on his distended stomach and for a moment, it was like the world slowed as his kid made eye contact with him from his gurney.

He was scared.

His kid was scared.

And Kang couldn't do anything. He so desperately wanted to run to the kid's side and hold his hand, to let his kid know that he was right there and that everything was going to be fine. But he couldn't.

Kang couldn't go to his side.

The kid was internally bleeding, enough that it looked like his stomach was swollen, where his skin was gray and his hands were cold.

He would be in the way.

His kids' eyes fluttered close when a nurse pushed something through the I. V and just like that, another nurse was pushing an intubation tube down the kid's throat, forcing his way through the kids gagging before hooking him up to the machine.

He wasn't even completely out before they did that. They had to restrain him and keep him from trying to pull out the tube as he gagged hard enough to make his upper body lift off the bed before they forced him back down. More than once, the nurse had to keep Squirt's head straight as the kid fought him out of desperation to find him.

It was rough treatment, but Kang knew that they needed to do it.

The moment they finished restraining the teen, the entire team was disappearing down the halls, taking his kid with them as they screamed who to call for emergency surgery.

They disappeared around the corner, out of sight but nowhere near out of mind.

"Sir." The nurse nearly made him jump out of his skin, she hadn't been part of the kids' team – he thinks- and she had a clipboard at the ready. "What's his medical history? Has this happened before?"

Right. Right.

The kid was out of his hands, he couldn't do anything to help directly, but he could at least try and help them with the information. Kang stumbled over his words more than once. He wanted to help but what could he tell them?

The squirt had only been in his care for less than two years, and save for the fact that he's up to date on his vaccines and his healed concussion, there wasn't a lot he could provide. He didn't know anything about the kid's family, nor did he know anything about his kid's past illnesses and injuries.

Kang wasn't even his guardian.

He wasn't even supposed to be there.

"Sir." The nurse said sternly, Goh, her name tag said Goh- as Goh waited for him to provide anything.

He needed to get it together.

It was a stressful situation, just as stressful as the battlefields he'd been on, but he could handle it. Kang took a deep breath and scrambled to put something together. He needed to get back into the game. "He's an orphan. I don't know his family history, all I know is that he's up to date with all of his vaccines. He- he has amnesia, he lost his memory of his family and I've been taking care of him for the past two years and that's all I know." Kang cringed internally. He ended up wasting time by repeating himself.

Goh raised her brow as she wrote down everything. "Jangsu has no family to take care of him?"

Kang firmly shook his head, "No. I'm the only one he has."

She nodded slowly, "I see." She finished writing down whatever she was writing and with her pen poised over the paper, she asked, "And you are his guardian?" he nearly groaned at the question.

"Not his official guardian," Her face hardened, and her eyes looked at him up and down, "Look." Kang started to plead with her, "He's been living with me and my family for the past three months. I'm all he has. He doesn't have a guardian. I may not be his legal guardian but I'm his guardian in all other aspects." Nurse Goh was silent, her eyes hard as she scrutinized the soldier.

"Then Jangsu is a ward of the state." Kang bristled at her words, that wasn't the point! "Not only are you not Jangsu's guardian, you are not reliable for important decisions. I can smell the alcohol on you."

"What?" He didn't even finish his drink before Squirt called him! How could he smell like alcohol- understanding dawned on him and taking a tentative sniff of his sleeve. "A waitress spilled beer on me when I was leaving the restaurant," Kang calmly explained to the stone wall that was Nurse Goh, "I barely drank anything tonight!" He didn't even finish the beer he had ordered! He was more than capable of making decisions!

Her eyebrow rose, "You were out eating while Jangsu was like this?" she asked with an accusing tone.

Kang physically recoiled at the question. Just what the hell was she trying to suggest!? That he knew that his kid was sick and he decided to go to the bar?! "No! I noticed that he was acting off and he told me that he was fine! He hid this from me!" She was not convinced, not in the slightest.

"It's nearly impossible to hide internal bleeding, "Nurse Goh said plainly, and it was painfully obvious that the nurse thought Kang was trying to pull something.

"He called me for help first," Kang ground out, resisting the urge to shove his phone into her face just to prove his innocence, "I'm the one who called the ambulance for him, I ran out the bar as soon as he called me. I got here within fifteen minutes of the phone call. I'm here because he's like a son to me." It was difficult to control his voice due to the high emotions, but he managed to do it.

For a long time, Nurse Goh stared at him, trying to find some type of deception in his eyes. Kang didn't break eye contact, nor did he look away because he had nothing to hide from her.

She held out her hand. "You can stay. If you give me your I.D" Great! Kang had no problem with that. Within seconds, he was flicking out his wallet and handing over his id. It was collateral he would gladly give up. "I can't let you see him but you can at least stay without getting kicked out. If there is a way you can prove you are the only one viable for medical guardianship over Jangsu, you can submit it to our legal department and they can decide if you will be allowed to see him."

Finally! A solution! "Ok. Thank you, really." All he got was a hum, but he didn't care because Kang had to call his brother.

Thankfully, Han-jae answered on the first ring, prompting Kang to bulldoze through whatever greeting Han-jae said, "Hey. Listen. The kid is in emergency surgery right now. I need you to go home and in my room, grab the folder on my desk. It has all of the kids' papers and I'm going to need them so they can let me see the kid." Han-jae tried to ask what happened, but Kang talked over him. " Han-jae, I will tell you everything when you get here! Hurry up and get that folder!" Kang knew full well that if he let Han-jae ask questions, then he wasn't going to stop in the slightest. Hanging up on a note like that was going to piss off Han-jae, but Kang needed him to move his feet, not his mouth.

Thinking on his feet, Kang pulled up his email and was quickly downloading the PDFs of the documents he sent to their case worker. Thank god he hadn't procrastinated on sending an email for once in his life, he just hoped the documents would help with his case. After asking Nurse Goh where he could find the legal department's email and as soon as he sent the email, he took up pacing up and down the hall. The entire time on his phone as he called everyone who needed to know, as his parents confirmed that they were going to be on the next flight back, as Dae-hyun sent the meager medical file they compiled for the kid while he was on base. Anything that could help convince the legal department that Squirt was safe under his care was promptly sent to them.

Either Kang had lost track of time due to his worry, or Han-jae had broken more than a few laws trying to get there as soon as possible. All Kang got was a simple 'here' text from Han-jae before his brother was limping into the waiting room, relying heavily on the crutch in his rush, a folder in his hand.

"Oh, thank god," Kang met him halfway, and after confirming that Han-jae had brought the right folder, he helped his brother into the nearby chair, "Finally, what took you so long to get here?" Kang was just rambling, he didn't mean it as he flipped through the folder, the ball in his chest getting smaller when he saw that on every piece of the kid's documents, Kang had been listed as the liability holder for everything. He may not be the kid's legal guardian, but hopefully, his being liable for the kid would let him get at least medical guardianship over him.

Kang didn't wait for his answer because he was going back to the front desk, practically begging Nurse Goh to just take the entire thing and run up to the legal department to expedite the process. He nearly sobbed when she passed the folder off to someone else, most likely an intern, with firm orders to go up to the legal department before anything else.

With nothing else to do, Kang sat down next to Han-jae, his knee bouncing to a fast beat that only Kang seemed to know. There was nothing else to do, his plea and documents had been submitted to the legal department, it was the middle of the night but Kang knew that the hospital was big enough to have at least one person on the overnight shift.

Han-jae nudged him. "What happened? Why is he in surgery?" he wanted answers, rightfully so.

Pursing his lips together, Kang shook his head, "I don't know." All Kang knew was that the kid called him in pain and that he had internal bleeding, "He called me that he needed help and then I called the ambulance for him and-god Han-jae he was so pale. He lost a lot of blood because he was bleeding internally and fuck I knew something was wrong with him-"

"Dude," Han-jae kicked him lightly with his good foot, stopping his rambling in his tracks, "Slow down. I can't understand you. He's here in the hospital and he will be fine, the doctors are taking care of him now." He said slowly, taking in the way Kang kept on fidgeting in his seat. "Ok, so he called you, an ambulance brought him here. What else?"

He swallowed thickly, "The nurses said that he was bleeding internally before they took him to surgery. He...he lost a lot of blood. He was gray. His hands were cold when I touched them." And the worst part was that Kang had no idea what caused the internal bleeding. Was it appendicitis? They hadn't done anything physical, not unless the kid got into a fight without either of them knowing, there was no way blunt force trauma caused the bleeding. Was it some type of health condition the kid himself didn't know about?

"I knew there was something wrong with him," Kang said remorsefully, shame burning deep inside his chest as he thought about all of the signs. "I should have noticed." The signs had been so obvious! The lack of appetite, the attitude, the lack of activity, he should have noticed that his kid was in pain.

Han-jae seemed to know what he was thinking because again, he was kicking Kang's leg, "This isn't your fault. He hid it from us. He didn't want us to know and he did a good job at doing that. There's no way we could have known. Not with the way he was hiding it." Kang begged to differ.

He noticed that there was something up with the squirt, he should have asked more questions, and he should have pressed harder to find out what was wrong. "I shouldn't have gone to the party. I should have stayed home." At least then he wouldn't have left the kid at home by himself, where he wouldn't have been alone to deal with the pain by himself.

His brother was firm. "That milk has already been spilled. I had no idea, you had no idea and we thought we had no reason to stay. There's nothing we could have done. Not with what we knew."

"I know." Logically Kang knew that Han-jae was right. He knew that his kid had done a very good job of hiding his pain. To the point where Kang had mistaken his boy's pain for moodiness and hormones, but every time Kang thought back on Squirts' state, on the way his kid kept on looking for him, the way he struggled against the nurses, a deep ache in his chest appeared, one that couldn't be soothed with logic. "He was just so pale Han-jae." His voice was raw, his leg bouncing on the floor again, "They had to intubate him before he went into surgery and he kept on just gagging on the tube. And I couldn't do anything. All I could do was watch and he kept on trying to find me." And it felt like he was trying to swallow a ball of cotton as he finally said, "He was scared."

Han-jae rested his hand on his shoulder, his voice was as steady as ever. "Anyone would be scared."

His eyes started to burn, "He kept on looking at me for help Han-jae. And I couldn't do anything, and he was so scared." Just the mere thought was enough to make a knot in his throat appear again. The guilt loomed over the soldier each time he envisioned the sight of his boy trying to find what little comfort he could in him. If he had just noticed, if he had been a little bit more persistent in finding out the truth, then Squirt wouldn't have had to deal with the pain, by himself, for who knows how long.

"You make him feel safe. You can't do anything right now, but," Han-jae paused as he motioned to the right with his head, "you can make him feel safe when he comes out. Now get it together. It looks like a social worker is here." What?

Kang followed his brother's gaze and he nearly leaped onto his feet when he realized that a man in slacks and a dress shirt was approaching them, the only ones left in the waiting room. He quickly blinked away the forming tears and as soon as the man was close enough, Kang introduced himself. "Major Kang Hamchan. I'm the squirts- I mean Jangsu's spokesman. He lives with me and my brother." Despite the fact that it was nearly two am, the social worker looked almost impeccable, as if he was ready to work at two in the morning. Kang had been right about an overnight shift worker.

"Kang Han-jae. Nice to meet you." Han-jae introduced himself, standing up from his seat before the worker motioned for him to stay seated.

The worker gave them a nod. "Jeong Sang-hoon." That was all the greeting they got before he started to delve into the situation, his pen, and clipboard at the ready. "I have to ask a few questions. I understand that Jangsu has been in your care for the past three months correct?"

Kang shook his head, "No. I met the kid in the middle east almost two years ago now. He stayed on base with me and my men for about a year before I brought him back to Korea." Jeong didn't even stop writing as Kang said that as if it was something he expected.

"I see. Well," at last, Jeong finished writing and made eye contact with Kang as he announced, "with that, I have no need for more questions. Due to the lesions and scars the staff found on Jangsu's skin, they will be enforcing policy. You two are not allowed to see Jangsu until further notice." Kang damn near bristled at that.

"What."

"Policy?"

What the fuck?

What the actual fuck?

Did they really think he was the one who gave the kid all of those scars?!

Jeong continued as if he hadn't just accused them of abuse. "It's a policy. You may see him when he wakes up and proves your relation, but until then, he is off limits."

It took every ounce of self-control to control the wave of pure indignation that threatened to drown him. "Jangsu had those scars when I met him, "Kang grounded out, properly glowering at the man, "I sent your department the medical files my medic made for him when I met him." Han-jae nudged him as if he was in the wrong to be so upset with such an accusation and Kang would have snapped at him if Jeong wasn't right there.

Infuriatingly, Jeong didn't seem to care. "We cannot trust the documentation provided by you at the moment."

"Then what the hell was the point of us sending you the shit then," Han-jae snapped out, getting just as aggravated, "you told us to prove that we're the only ones viable to be Jangsu's guardians, what's the problem now?!"

Jeong looked at them as if they were particularly stupid. "The problem is that there is a fifteen-year-old in emergency surgery without any legal guardians with his body showing signs of severe abuse." That didn't change the fact that Kang proved that they didn't do anything to the kid! Kang didn't get a chance to interject because Jeong leveled a look at them. "It's policy. I suggest you comply. You two are already being suspected of abuse. A police officer will be along to talk to you shortly." Jeong left them in the waiting room with that, his leisure walk away nearly made Kang want to strangle him.

"Oh, fuck this." Han-jae hissed out, his hand jabbing at his phone, "fuck this. I'm calling our lawyer. You call Dad, we need to figure this out before they try to pin his scars on us."

Kang nodded. As infuriating as it was, they were going to need a few favors.