Chapter #27:

      The Reconciliation.

The next time that Haejin woke up, it was already the middle of the night. The soft glow of the moonlight coming from the window gently eyes as she tried to open them to squint at the otherwise dark room. Bringing her hand up, she slowly caressed her aching temples and shifted her attention towards the small bedside lamp which was doing a poor job at illuminating the room. It might have been doing a poor job, but she didn’t miss Baekhyun’s figure that was sitting on the chair right beside their bed. Her husband looked deep in thoughts; that would explain why he had a foregone expression on his face. He was staring into the space with furrowed eyebrows which brought her to the conclusion that he was thinking about something which was troubling him. The young queen didn’t want to move or do anything else. She was scared that if she disturbed him or gave away any signs of movements than he would be gone once again. She tried her best to stay still; she really did, still, she can’t stop the small whimper of pain that escaped past her lips when she felt the sudden jabbing ache in her skull.

“You are awake.” Haejin immediately whipped her head in Baekhyun’s direction; who was now intently looking at her instead of the wall that was previously occupying all of his interest. She wasn’t really sure whether she was supposed to give an answer to that or not.

“You are here.” The look on her husband’s face told her that he exactly knew what she meant by that. It was not a question and the eldest was well aware of that fact. To be honest, she was actually anticipating his response after that and was left a little bit disappointed when he decided to dodge the obligation.

“I heard that you fainted at the ice cream parlor.” Baekhyun was clearly avoiding having any kind of eye contact with her and he was not being discreet about it at all; which only caused the irritation to bubble up inside her even more – it would explain why the only response that he got in return was a small scoff.

“The doctor told us that it was because you didn’t eat and hydrate yourself properly.” The young King continued awkwardly when he noticed that his wife was not going to give any other reaction than the one that he had already received. Haejin was adamant on ignoring him and she was making it painfully obvious which caused the eldest to press his lips in a thin line. He knew that he deserved that kind of attitude after being such a jerk, but can’t she see that he was making an effort over here.

“You are not a kid! You are supposed to take better care of your health.”

“Why do you even care? I thought we stopped caring about each other a good two weeks ago!” Haejin countered back in an agitated tone when she registered the scolding that her husband was directing at her and watched with intense eyes as the latter stared back at her with raging ones. She was aware that he was only concerned for her. It might be surprising, but it was all written on his face. It was for the first time that she was seeing him displaying his emotions and concerns so openly and even though it made her feel happy because it proved to her that she meant something to him, still, she can’t help but think that he had no right to be angry at her.

Why does he suddenly care?

“I didn’t stop caring.” It might have taken him a lot of courage to say that out loud to his wife, but at that moment he felt like he needed to let it out. He felt like if he didn’t then maybe he won’t ever get a chance to do that again; he was afraid that things would transcend towards another fight that he wanted to avoid. He was tired of fighting with her; which was stupid because it was his own choice all along. He can’t even blame her for it.

God! This is so awkward.

It was awkward indeed; especially when Haejin didn’t deem him with a response once again. It might have been awkward, but Baekhyun was still thankful because even though she didn’t give him a response, still, she did lift her head up to stare right into his eyes and he was okay with it; he didn’t need her to say anything. Maybe, it was better this way.

I should bring her something to eat so she could take her medicine.

The young King thought to himself with a small sigh and averted his gaze away from his wife. He might have been wrong, but he had a feeling that she wanted him to say something else too; which of course, being the socially awkward person he was- he couldn’t bring himself to do. What was he supposed to say anyway? Actually, there were a lot of things that he could have said, but the problem was that he didn’t know how to deliver them properly. Baekhyun pushed back his chair a little bit to create some space and stood up to finally walk out of the room to bring her the chicken soup that Kyungsoo has promised him to make when he stepped out of the room after checking up on Haejin a few hours back; but he was stopped dead in his tracks when a small hand wrapped around his wrist immediately. Startled, he turned around to gaze down at his wife; who was looking up at him with wide, frantic ones which genuinely made him concerned.

“Where are you going?” The way her voice was laced with so much fear squeezed his heart a little because he knew exactly why she was being so scared. She was scared that he would leave her alone again and go back to avoiding her; which honestly at that moment didn’t even cross his mind. The frown that has been decorating his face melted away into a soft smile as he placed a hand over hers to pull it off his wrist.

“I’m just going to bring something for you to eat. You can’t take your medicine without it.” Baekhyun explained to her as gently as he could before he turned around and tried to walk away, but was once again stopped by his wife; who hugged him from the back even before he could move feet. The hug was kind of awkward since she was still sitting down on the bed and was slightly straining her body to wrap her arms around his waist part, but it didn’t temper down the storm of emotions that he was experiencing at that moment.

“I don’t need it. J-Just…don’t go.” His wife replied stubbornly while holding onto his waist forcefully. She was not going to let him walk away this time; she was not going to allow him to walk away ever again. The young queen was done playing his games.

Is she really that scared?

The eldest looked down at the hands that were tightly wounded around his waist and bit his bottom lip to calm his frantically beating heart. To say that he was startled by her sudden movements won’t be a lie because he was greatly shocked. It was not because of the hug itself, but the feelings that came with it. It was something he had never felt before. It was something that he has been looking for ever since he came back from that lab- it was this warmth and comfort that he has been silently begging for throughout his life. Baekhyun has had always known that it was what he needed all this time, but he didn’t know that it would feel so good and refreshing. He didn’t know that it was the only thing that someone needed to do to break all those walls that he has created around himself. A shaky gasp escaped past his lips when he felt tears gathering in his eyes.

Oh ! No…

Baekhyun once again bit down on his lower lip and lifted his head up while rapidly blinking his eyes. He was confused beyond belief at that moment. Why the hell was he even crying just from a single hug when he hasn’t even shed a single tear for the past 7 years of his life? Why the now? Why with Haejin? Why was he being so weak? There wasn’t even anything to cry about. More than confused, he was loathing it. He had promised himself that he won’t cry. He was so determined about it and he had done everything in his power to uphold it for so many years so why was a stupid, single hug making him scum like this.

“B-Baekhyun, I’m sorry… just please stop a-avoiding me like I don’t even exist.” Came his wife's muffled voice breaking through the haze of thoughts that were surrounding him. He could tell that she was crying; the tears that were wetting his shirt from the back were the dead giveaway of it.

“I-I…” Baekhyun attempted to provide his wife with a response but stopped in the middle of his act when he heard his voice cracking due to the lump that was currently forming in his throat.

!

He was seconds away from breaking down; that fact alone was making him freak out. He didn’t want to cry; at least, not in front of anyone. Maybe, he could allow himself the pleasure of crying in solace, but he completely refused to let a single tear escape past his eyes at that moment.

“I’m sorry!” Haejin cried again while tightening her hold on her husband and buried her face in his shirt further; completely disregarding the fact that she was wetting the dress shirt he has been wearing. The eldest brought down his slightly shaking hands to take hold of his wife’s and applied some force to pry them away from him; the task he thankfully succeeded in after some reluctance from Haejin’s side. Baekhyun stood there motionlessly for a second after the persistent arms were finally gone. He was completely blank about what he was supposed to do next; all he knew was that the urge to turn around and hug his wife back was very huge. He wanted to let go of all the inhibitions. He wanted to let loose and his wife was giving him the perfect opportunity to do just that. The eldest was stuck in the dilemma. There was no one who was going to tell him what was right and what was wrong at that moment. On one hand, he wanted to let go and cry everything off his chest, but on the other hand, he just wanted to run away from his wife. He was so scared of letting her see what he has been trying to keep inside himself for years; something he couldn’t make her forget once she sees it.

 “Baekhyun…” The desperation in Haejin’s voice was the thing that finally made him snap, as the first tear transcended down his cheek with a small, contained sob that he tried so hard to keep in.

I-Is he crying?

The eldest supposes that the sob that left his lips involuntarily might have alerted his wife. It was the only thing that would explain why the latter hastily got off the bed to take a firm hold of his arm. She wanted to turn him around. She was pulling on his arm. She was giving him a silent command to face her, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He felt embarrassed that he was acting like such a child. It was just a freaking hug. Why the hell was he acting like an emotionally retarded person?

“Baekhyun!” This time Haejin was being more forceful and honestly, Baekhyun didn’t have the strength to fight her off so he let himself be turned around. He refused to meet her eyes though. It was the last thing he could do to hold on to the stubborn ego that never makes things easier for him, but even that didn’t seem to work out for him long when his wife’s fingers came up to carefully wipe away the tears that were now uncontrollably flowing down his cheeks.

I can’t believe I actually made him cry.

Haejin knew that crying was in a human’s nature and it wasn’t the biggest wonder of the world that her husband was crying, but she still clearly remembered Sehun’s words when the latter told him that Baekhyun has refused to cry even for once ever since he came back from that lab. She knew that she might have hit some nerve inside him to get that reaction and she wasn’t interested in it at all because all she wanted to do at that moment was to comfort him. She hated to see him this way; so weak and so vulnerable. At that moment, he wasn’t some unbeatable King which was kind of oddly comforting for her. It made her