The Lobby

@S. Maia ⚕ Of course, you deserve your privacy
/she agrees with a small smile/
A life time of practice makes anything seem easy
/she points out, heading towards the door/
Thank you for helping him, and for being willing to see him for who he is and not just what he has done wrong
I hope this will be a new start for him and not an end

*chuckles a little and nods slightly*
Your a lot better with it than I am.
Taemin said he was goingto make surenot to name me
Give me some...privacy.

@S. Maia ⚕ Our family is doing it's best
/she assures you with a small smile/
The media is always a circus, but it's one we're well used to
Things are going rather well actually, we still get fan mail for him
So not everyone has turned against him

*smiles a little and nods slightly hugging you back*
Of course... just try to keep thing quiet on the outside.
That will be best for now.

@S. Maia ⚕ Thank you
/she smiles softly, walking over to hug you briefly/
I'll trust you then, please let me know if there is ever anything I can do to help you or him

*nods a little and smiles8
it was lovely to meet your Mrs Lee.
I promise to look after him.

@S. Maia ⚕ I hope you're right
/she agrees, nodding slowly/
I shouldn't take up any more of your time. Thank you so much for letting me see my son, and for talking to me today.
Please take care of him, I'll be back to visit again next weekend.
It was lovely seeing you Ms. Shibutani.

He needs a lot of support.
*smiles a little and nods*
And I think he has it. with you, with Debbie, with me, with Minji.
He will get through this.

@S. Maia ⚕ I know they don't his... his life is his own and he doesn't need it broadcast all over the world anymore than it already has been
/she agrees with a heavy sigh/
I just blame myself. I wish there was some way that I could help.
I don't know how i'm going to talk to his father, I don't even know if I will tell him honestly. I'm not sure how he would take it...
But Taemin is still our son, and he still needs our love and support, whether the charges against him are true or not.

And thats all you should tell people.
They dont need to know what he's been... diagnosed with.
They dont need to know anything else.
And it doesnt matter what they say, you know the truth now.

@S. Maia ⚕ I just want to be sure that I didn't fail him as a mother
/she says quietly, shaking her head/
There's been so many horrible people asking me these awful questions and accusing me of such terrible things.
They ask me how I could love a monster, but he's not a monster. He was always the sweet, if a little reckless, boy I've watched grown up.
He's great with everyone, kids, elderly, animals, he's never been cruel or unnecessarily mean with anyone before.
I suppose there were a few times growing up, a few questions he asked sometimes that were a bit strange but nothing that set off any red flags.

No, not at all.
As horrible as the name is... Taemin is a sociopath.
He's full functioning normal member of society without a little voice that says 'dont kill'
In the most basic way...
Unless you were the children he killed you would never have noticed anything, there way no... feelings to pick up on, he wouldnt have acted different...
it wouldnt have even been on his mind

@S. Maia ⚕ I hope that you're right
/she agrees quietly, looking up at you again/
Will you be honest with me?
Was this something we should have seen? Were their signs that we just missed?
Was this our fault for not realizing he needed help?

I hope he will, yes.
*chuckles a little and smiles weakly*
We basically have to trust him, and thats why I cant tell you that yes he will get out one day.
I want him to be able to get out... but he has a lot of barriers to break down and a lot of... habits to change.
I believe he can do it

@S. Maia ⚕ Are there warning signs? Triggers? Anything that can tell us when he's slipping or when something isn't right with him?
Or are we just going to have to trust him to tell us when he's struggling?
/she asked, feeling horribly useless and wishing there was more that she could do for her son/
do you think that he would tell someone? You, at least?

*smiles a little and shakes my head*
Shes safe, I promise.
He would never hurt her and he loves her.
I can see that when he talks about her.

@S. Maia ⚕ /she sighs softly and nods, looking down at her lap again as she quietly gathers the courage to ask another question that had been weighing heavily on her mind/
What about Minji.... is she safe around him?
She loves him, and he's always been so good with her, with children in general.
do we need to keep her away from him?

I cant discuss the things hes told me... not without his permission
While I am sure he would grant me it, I legally cant right now.
I can tell you that... what he has told me is safe with me.
Nothing he has or has not confessed to me will be said to anyone else.
But... its not all bad, I can promise you that.

@S. Maia ⚕ If you really think so, then I will trust your judgement
/she agrees with a soft sigh/
Just, be honest with me please...
How bad is it? How bad is he?
I know there were four children, but is that really all?
One of the girls died nearly a decade ago.... in all that time what was he doing?

He says no he wouldnt...
and believe him... in this moment. Or the moment he said it.
I can see the change in him when he lies, and I have talked about it with him.
He's told me there is no point in him not telling me the truth now and with some of the things he has told me I agree.
I know enough now that nothing else would really make things worse.
He wants to get better, he doesnt want to hurt people... I believe that.

@S. Maia ⚕ It either didn't work at all... or it worked too well
/she sighs heavily, closing her eyes for a few seconds/
He's my son, he's an excellent liar when he wants to be
I need you to be honest with me Ms. Shibutani, do you think that he's been telling you the truth?
I don't know what to think right now... I love my son, of course I do
But... if he's capable of these things... he was hurting these children all this time.... what exactly is truly capable of? Would he kill me? Or you?

*closes the door and comes back over*
Oh I know.
Our first session he was already trying to manipulate me, playing his cards right to try and get what he could.
It didnt work all that well
by his second session he was... much more open.
It didnt take long for him to understand the problem and ask for help with it.
Hes a good man thats done questionable things.
You cant ignore what he has done but you shouldnt forget the good as well

@S. Maia ⚕ If you want to
/he agrees, looking back at his mother for a moment before he sighs softly and heads back to his room/

/his mother watches him go with a saddened expression, looking down at her lap once the door closes/
He is a good man you know
We were good parents, he may have been spoiled but he got in to his fair share of trouble too
He's smart, very smart, he always has been even if he never cared much for applying himself
This doesn't make him less of a person

*stands up as well and heads over to the door*
I'll come and see you later.
*opens the door for you*

@S. Maia ⚕ I am not a child
/he argues, frowning in annoyance/
This isn't some matter of smacking me on the hand and telling me no.
I'm sorry Mom, I should probably go before the guards get dragged in here, I don't want hauled off to isolation again
/he says softly, smiling a little and leaning over to hug her one more time, kissing her cheek/
I love you, hopefully i'll see you again soon
/he nods, glancing at Maia before he stands up to leave/

You are a child Taemin...
*shakes my head a little and looks back at his mum*
*smiles apologetically*
I am not going to lie...at this point. No.
I couldnt sign him out of care without knowing that the chances of this happening again would be well below 10 percent.
Having support is going to help him, but its a long process and I need to be... sure.
If I release him and something were to happen to someone else by his hand I would be the one at fault for that.

@S. Maia ⚕ You make me sound like a child
/he points out, rolling his eyes a little bit/

I suppose I don't quite understand fully yet, but if you think it will help, and if he says it's helping then I want him to continue to get that help
/she says, looking at Taemin for a few seconds before looking back at Maia/
Do you think we will ever be allowed to take him home again?
Will he ever be released?

Taemin... not important.
*shakes my head a little and sighs*
action here is being taken, to reinforce those negatives to Taemin.
If he is punished for doing wrong it should help him learn not to do wrong.

@S. Maia ⚕ That was a specific, isolated incident and I knew full well what I was doing
/he points out, sighing softly at the scolding looking on his mother's face/
I know it was wrong. I apologized to the girl I hurt. She knows it wasn't personal, and she seemed very happy to have her arm broken actually.
I've never met anyone that happy to have a broken arm before, she's certainly something special. She will do really well here

Until the hospital he was doing well...
but that was a miscalculation on a few people parts there...
and unfortunately I wasnt able to be there to... help