Chapter 117. Flight Risk

Sleep eluded her after that conversation with her brother and when she was awoken in the middle of night, it felt like she only drifted a blink. Seohyun blindly grabbed her phone by her head and frowned seeing the caller ID but she had no choice but to answer before it could wake her baby. “Oppa, do you have any idea what time it is?” She croaked.

“Uhm, I’m so sorry to call at this time…”

Seohyun sat up when the voice on the other end sounded unfamiliar and her whole being just went on alert mode, “This is Jung Yonghwa’s number. What happened to him?

“Yes, yes it is… I got your number from the emergency contact of this phone but don’t worry nothing bad happened,” the man replied hastily at her premature assumption, “I’m the owner of the Blue Jazz Bar and, uh, your husband is very drunk and we are almost closing. If you could pick him up? We don’t really want to call the police…”

She managed to exhale heavily out of relief but remembered what she needed to say, “Oh, uh… can you give me the address?”

“Yes, I will text it to you if that’s okay?” He replied calmly once more signifying that this wasn’t the first time he made a call like this.

“Yes, that would be better. Thank you so much and sorry for the bother. I will be there as soon as I can.” Seohyun looked at her sleeping daughter wondering what to do then stood. She paced in the hallway outside the bedroom before finally calling her brother to ask for help. Thankfully, they came a few minutes later and she didn’t waste any more seconds with useless greetings, “I’m so sorry to bother you like this. I can’t take Euna with me—”

“I’m going with you,” Joowon spoke showing her his car key.

“And I’ll stay here with Euna,” her unnie said with a sympathetic smile, “Don’t worry it’s not a bother. You two better leave already.”

She nodded and took her coat and followed her brother until they got in the car. Inside, she couldn’t stop herself from biting her fingernails muttering to no one, “How could he be this stupid?”

“Give him a break,” Joowon said with a chuckle, “It has been almost a week since you left. It’s definitely hard for him.”

“It’s hard for me too but I don’t go around drinking myself to stupor,” she retorted edgily mostly worried that the bar owner would get impatient and throw him out of the streets.

“Because you have Euna. What does he have?”

That simple remark quieted her and her gaze just focused on the passing view outside her window. She remembered the last time he was drunk like this. Her heart fell realizing it was probably during those days he found things out or he had the inkling. Seohyun couldn’t deny that it was mostly terrible for him not being able to tell her during those times. She sniffed trying to fight the tears but her brother reached out and touched her shoulder that she couldn’t stop them anymore.

She cried quietly as her brother drove and after a few minutes, he cleared his throat, “Wipe those tears. We’re close.”

She laughed softly then turned to him, “Did you ever cry for Unnie?” Joowon only snickered and she was sure that the answer was a big fat ‘yes’. Besides, the two parted when they were in their teens and her oppa would be most likely vulnerable than this strong almost cold man that he was now. She looked out of the window again as the words from her heart just flowed out freely, “He cried for me, Oppa. A few times actually…”

“If you’re doubting his feelings for you, remember those ‘few times’…”

She laughed shaking her head, “You’re still that romantic big brother I knew…”

Joowon only shook his head with a small smile on his lips.

The Blue Jazz Bar was a hole-in-the-wall establishment just by the junction of the suburb and the city a few blocks away from the bright lights of the loud clubs and restaurants around. They arrived past midnight and the place was almost too dark with a few young men stacking chairs over tables and two more mopping the floors. At the far end of the bar, she caught sight of him head resting on his arms, body slouched like he had fallen asleep— he most probably did.

“Good evening.”

A man in his late thirties approach and greeted them. She came forward and couldn’t seem to figure out how she would introduce herself given her current relationship with the man involved, “I’m uh— we spoke on the phone?”

He nodded and looked over his shoulder by the bar. Smiling, he spoke, “As you can see, he’s over there. Been like that for a couple of hours now, I thought he was just waiting for someone.”

“Thank you for not phoning the police,” Joowon spoke beside her.

“Ah, yes. He had been coming here for the past weeks and was not a trouble at all, seems like a good fellow. Only this time…” he looked over his shoulder once more and smiled, “Anyway, thank you for coming to pick him up. He was insisting on leaving a while back but I couldn’t let him drive.”

With the help of some of the staff, they managed to get him in the car and it also took two watchmen from their apartment building to help carry him into her floor. Seohyun opted to put him in the master bedroom since the bed was located close to the en suite. It was also the best choice because she and Euna had been sleeping in the other room across it since the baby couldn’t be trusted not to roll off the bed. After she convinced her brother that she could manage on her own, she was left alone to take care of the almost unconscious man sprawled on her unused bed.

“Aigoo,” she sighed with her hands on her waist watching him breath from his mouth. After a few seconds of contemplation, she decided to proceed to the inevitable. Carefully, she took off his shirt to give him a sponge bath. Starting from his face, she gently washed him while murmuring in the quiet room, her annoyance starting to escalate, “Didn’t I tell you not to drink like this? What good does drinking do?”

“Seohyuna…” he mumbled trying to open his eyes, “You came… you came home… I knew—”

“You’re in my home, you fool,” she grunted and winced once she started ping his pants. It seemed weird somehow compared to the last time that she did this. They broke up, right? So she should really feel awkward. He groaned once she started peeling off his pants and when her eyes drifted up his face, she saw that silly grin he was wearing, “What? Just pass out already, okay?!”

Yonghwa chuckled then tried to raise his arm a couple of times until he managed to touch her hair, “Miss you…”

She rolled her eyes but her heart was definitely singing, “Right. That’s what you get for being stupid. You’ll miss me for sure.”

“Why you left?” He slurred with eyes closed but obviously trying to open them.

“Ha, you ask me that now?” Seohyun grunted again pushing his body to the side harder than intended as she needed to wipe his back as well, “I left because you’re a stupid idiot!”

“Right… right,” he nodded trying to turn back while pointing a finger at her then giggled silly when she started running the washcloth on his waist, “Tickle…”

“You’re being a baby,” she huffed rinsing the towel then ran them on his leg.

“I really…” he mumbled.

“What? You really what?” She asked but her hands just went on doing their job. She couldn’t even understand the point of her answering to this drunken conversation.

“Like you… really like you…” Yonghwa replied, his lips starting to move even slower this time then he sighed closing his eyes.

“Right,” she muttered, “Tell me that tomorrow when you’re a lot sober.”

“Love you…”

Every movement in her body stopped.

She couldn’t even lift her eyes to look at his face. She swallowed feeling the lump that clogged so suddenly until she heard him snore.

Shaking her head, she laughed helplessly, “You stupid, stupid coward.”

~~~~

Yonghwa groaned after feeling his head almost expanding just by that little movement. He couldn’t remember if he didn’t pull the blinds down since