Hongjoong waited anxiously in the coffee shop. He had finally reached out and they had set a time to meet, so he had gotten there half an hour early, as one does when they're incredibly nervous.

He hadn't even ordered any coffee yet since he was already far too jittery without caffeine.

Every time the bell jingled over the door his eyes flew towards the sound. He really needed to take a breath.

Finally when the bell jingled, he remained calm and stared at his hands.

"Kim Hongjoong?"

He looked up immediately and saw her.

As many times as he'd seen her photo, he still couldn't believe she looked so much like Seonghwa. From her slight hooked nose to her soft, angelic eyes.

He stood up and bowed immediately, and even moved to pull her chair out. She laughed and waved him away, taking her seat.

"Hi—um—wow this is—so different meeting you in-person," he laughed and she laughed too.

"Yes, it sure is," she said with a soft smile and they were quiet for a moment.

"Well—can I buy you something to drink?" she asked and Hongjoong quickly shook his head.

"No, no! I should be the one buying something for you! What do you want? I'll go get it!"

"Oh you don't have to—"

"No really, it's on me!"

She smiled and gave in, so he went and grabbed their drinks. He decided that having something to do with his hands would help ease the awkwardness at the table, so he got a black coffee.

He brought back the drinks and sat down, taking a long sip.

"So—I wanted to talk to you first. Before—before you talk to Seonghwa."

"Of course. I understand. I'm still not sure that I should talk to him either."

"Yeah. I'm not sure I should even be talking to you," Hongjoong laughed awkwardly.

"That's one thing I wanted to ask, why did you reach out to me?"

Hongjoong bit his lip, unsure how much he was allowed to reveal. If he said too much before deciding if she was trustworthy, he would cause Seonghwa more harm. He decided he'd follow his script.

"When I said Seonghwa was a friend of mine—I might not have been telling the entire truth."

"You mean—you're not friends?"

"No—I mean—we're more than friends. Seonghwa is my boyfriend."

He waited in anticipation. His biggest concern was whether or not she would be accepting of his sexuality. Something his parents never did for him. If she wasn't, he would never bring her into his life. He knew how much that hurt.

"Oh my God you mean—my baby—he's in a relationship? Is it—if you don't mind me asking—is it serious? Oh my God I'm sorry—he never seemed interested in girls so I always had a theory but it's so exciting to see that he's accepted himself!"

Hongjoong was blown away. His eyes started watering with the emotion expressed before him. She was really okay with it? Even—happy about it?

He wiped his tears away before they fell, wanting to maintain control of the conversation. So far, she was passing his test with flying colors.

"It's not very serious yet," he laughed awkwardly, scratching his head. "But I really like him. We just—we've known each other since last year but we didn't start dating until a few weeks ago. I just really care about him."

Tears streamed down her face as she smiled, and she took Hongjoong's hands.

"I can tell. If you reached out to me you must really care about him. I—if I'm being honest, I haven't stopped thinking about him since I left—his brother either. I cried myself to sleep knowing I left them with that horrible man. But I knew he was their best option financially and I needed to do one thing for myself. I still feel incredibly selfish and I'll never forgive myself. I hope I can get him to understand. Only if you let me, of course."

"I think you think too low of him."

She looked at Hongjoong in shock, somewhat offended by his words but he quickly explained.

"He doesn't really harbor any hate towards you. He did at first—but he knows how much you love music. And how talented you are," Hongjoong smiled and she covered her mouth as more tears began to fall.

"My precious star," she gasped, trying to wipe away as many tears as she could.

Hongjoong had decided she was definitely trustworthy, and decided to tell her the hardest part. He wasn't sure she was ready—but she deserved to know what she put her children through.

"There's—there's a bit more to the story. Than what you think. The situation you left him in—it's a lot worse than you think."

She covered her mouth, eyes widening.

"Your husband—ex-husband—he's been abusing them."

She dropped her cup, spilling coffee across the table.

All she could do was stare at Hongjoong and Hongjoong didn't know what else to say.

"No—he wouldn't—he was awful but he would never—he couldn't—"

Hongjoong nodded his head.

"He pulled Seonghwa and his brother out of anything music-related and punished them if they strayed. And now he's holding Seonghwa responsible for his brother's safety, pressuring him to be a successful businessman. And—it's really hurting him. And I couldn't stand to see him taking it all on by himself so—I reached out to you because I thought you were the only one who could help."

At this point Seonghwa's mother had dried her tears and spoke to Hongjoong in the most serious tone he'd ever heard anyone take.

"How can I help?"

He realized he'd been sniffling this whole time and he tried to appear serious as well, as an emotional breakdown was not going to aid the situation.

"If you fight for custody, you can save him. Seonghwa is old enough that he'll be able to stay away but his little brother is at home and he's still got—"

"Three more years of high school. I know."

"Of course, sorry."

"It's alright."

They both suddenly remembered the spilt coffee and grabbed napkins to wipe it up. Thankfully it hadn't landed on either of their clothes. Once the mess was gone, they sat back down and looked at their hands.

"So," started Hongjoong, wanting to break the silence. "Will you do it?"

She looked at him and nodded solemnly.

"Yes. I swore I'd never see that man again but if he's hurting my children I have no choice. I have to save them. They're my babies."

Hongjoong nodded and they both stood up, ready to head out. He felt awkward but impulsively gave her a big hug and she squeezed him back. As he pulled away he felt her hand on his cheek.

"Don't cry! It's alright, I'm going to help them," she smiled but she didn't know the true reason for his tears.

It was the first time in the past year and a half that he'd felt a motherly embrace. And he really needed it.

She pulled him into another hug and held him tightly as he let out a few more tears. He wanted to hold them back but it was long-awaited.

He finally pulled away and gave a sheepish smile.

"Thank you—I'm sorry about that. This is just—very emotional for me," he sighed, trying to cover it up.

"It's alright, I don't mind. I—I'm actually quite emotional too. It reminded me of hugging my boys and—I haven't done that in five years."

He smiled back and they both walked out together, trying to pull themselves together.

As Hongjoong walked her to her car, he realized he needed to add one more thing.

"Hey, you know what I said before, about Seonghwa being my boyfriend? Can you pretend that I didn't? It's just—I want him to be able to come out to you himself. I know I spoiled it but I needed to make sure you weren't going to hurt him."

She smiled and nodded.

"Of course."

"Thank you."

Hongjoong gave her one last hug before walking back to his dorm. His heart soared, knowing he was doing the right thing.