Single Father • Namjoon + BTS!Kids

lvii.

warning: explicit language

"I loved you like there was no tomorrow...and then one day, there wasn't."

-Unknown

***

"I see," Lisa said, nodding slightly before stopping and rubbing her fingers against her face with too much pressure. "I'm so stupid, I never even-"

"What now?" Namjoon asked, cutting her off instead of denying her.

Because she'd worked 5 years and gotten nowhere when a 9-year-old's one sentence changed everything. It gave Song Eungi motive, the motive that she hadn't been able to come up with years ago.

"Well," Lisa began cautiously. "We don't know for certain that it's-"

"What now?" Namjoon asked, cutting her off again. He felt closer to Jimin than he had in years. He needed this to be right. He needed it so fucking badly.

Lisa sighed before biting away at her lip. "I suppose...I'll have to call a judge with the information and get a search warrant written up. But the judge has to agree that we have enough to go on to give us a warrant, and at this point, I don't know if a 9-year-old's statement is going to convince the judge."

"I don't care what you have to tell the judge, Lisa," Namjoon said, tightening his hands into fists. He could still vaguely remember what it had felt like to hold Jimin's hands because they were so small inside his, so soft. "We need that warrant. If not..." He shrugged. "I'm going there without a warrant."

"Namjoon! We can't do that!" Lisa argued, frowning. "That's what happened last time. And before you say you don't care, think about it. It wasn't just me affected by my mistake, okay? Jaebum got suspended for two weeks. I was almost put on probation. Okay? So we have to do this the right way.

Namjoon felt guilty about Jaebum and nodded reluctantly.

"Now I'll go make that call. You stay here with the kids, okay?" Lisa rushed off with her cell phone and got to work trying to pressure the judge into giving her a warrant on such limited evidence. She may have left out her informant's age, which could be argued at a later occasion, but Namjoon was right. She needed that warrant.

The kids played at Lisa's desk. They'd been at the police station frequently enough to each have a coloring book in the second desk drawer, so Jungkook took out the crayons and passed out the books and began to color.

Even Jin, who was almost a teenager, colored along with them, sensing that they needed the security of following an older brother and knowing that Namjoon didn't have the mental capacity to worry about them right now when Jimin was all he could think about.

Namjoon was barely conscious enough to call his boss and cancel his shift for the night. "I'm sorry, it's just that there's been a break in the case and it might-"

"It's fine, Namjoon. Take the night off. I'll be praying for you," PD-nim said, and they both hung up.

Namjoon inhaled deeply. He'd been missing so much work lately that he'd been worrying about paying bills, but just as he'd gotten home after picking the kids up, he'd found a blank envelope with a check inside and a small note attached.

For all the child support I didn't pay. It was immature of me to think that by refusing to cooperate, I was hurting you and not them. I'm sorry, Joonie. I know you don't believe me but I really am. I hope this helps.

Namjoon didn't know if it was hearing Jungkook's voice again that had done it or just because she had another baby on the way. He didn't understand her at all, but he couldn't turn down the money, not when he needed it so desperately.

He was jolted out of his thoughts as Lisa walked back to her desk with a frown.

"Well? Did you get the warrant?" he asked, sitting up rigidly.

"About that. Good news. The judge approved the warrant."

"That's great. Now we can go and-"

"Namjoon."

"Yes?"

"There's something else you should know."

Namjoon frowned. "What is it? We got the warrant, shouldn't you be happy? Let's go-"

"They found a body by the river."