I have a new fanfic if you're interested. Sorry, it's not Khunri this time. The characters are Min (Miss A) and Lee Joon (mblaq): My Regretful Revenge     I worked really hard on that one so please support it!

Please enjoy. I'll be updating this story regularly since I found my plot structure again. I lost it for a while and forgot what came next. It's been so long. I'm thruthfully sorry.

   The word “dead” gave him a paralytic feel throughout his entire body. It was as if he had lost all senses in himself in that very moment. Nichkhun’s lips became dry and almost savorless. He never even got the chance to see her. Not one footprint, not one picture was in trace.

   “Yuri is… No,” he insisted stubbornly on getting his way as Victoria continued to rock the baby in her arms. Nichkhun gazed nervously at the little boy before trembling once more. “She can’t be gone.” He looked away from the baby, not wanting to believe that its mother was dead. Nichkhun rushed past them both and made his way hurriedly out the gate.

   Not exactly having a destination in mind, Nichkhun ran to who knows where. He felt an invisible force pulling him to the faint place. Without control over his own body, he bumped into a woman passing by. She gave out a shout.

   “Watch it!” Her glare came piercing through.

   “Sorry,” he apologized with a short glance. The woman’s guard became softer. It changed so suddenly, it almost seemed fake. Nichkhun held his hand out for her to get back on her feet. He didn’t have time to think as he already sprinted away. The woman dusted off the dirt on her pants and continued to eye the man running away.

   “He didn’t recognize me,” she whispered to herself. Yuri didn’t know what to feel. Deep down, she was entirely disappointed in Nichkhun for not being able to feel her presence. “Should I follow him?”

   How could she? Yuri had just dropped off the baby with Victoria. Tagging along would have made the whole plan pointless itself. She even took the time to change her identity completely. Legally of course. There was no turning back now. All there was to do was to look ahead and live the life of her new self: Kim EunSeo.

   He came back later on in the evening. His clothes were soaking wet from his run in the rain. Victoria was still on front of his house, waiting with the baby sleeping in her arms. Nichkhun stayed back merely observing the two for a while. He couldn’t bear looking at the child without thinking of Yuri. Now, she was but a dead corpse. He brushed those thoughts away and gathered his courage to walk towards them. Victoria gazed up and smiled dimly.

   “Oh, Nichkhun oppa!” she exclaimed in surprise. “Where have you been?”

   Without a word, he simply stared at the baby with a grimace. The little boy almost looked exactly like him. He had a thin shaped nose, slender lips and even dark soft hair. Without a doubt, this baby was his.

   “His name is Nihyun,” blurted out Victoria as she held out the baby closer for him to see. His arms automatically opened to hold the small body. He was so light, just like all newborn babies were. “Yuri never got the chance to name him, so I did for her.”

   “Why not?” asked Nichkhun while shooting a quick glance upwards.

   “She died right after labor,” said Victoria dimly. Nichkhun paused for a second and gawked to the baby. His heart became lighter every time he looked at him. He felt Yuri’s presence at Nihyun’s touch. Although, it would take time to get over her death, Nichkhun didn’t have a choice. He figured that even if Yuri wasn’t around anymore, the gift she left behind was enough for him to feel her presence and… her love.

***

  Loving the baby wasn’t difficult at all. Nichkhun loved kids in general. Even if the child left bitter memories of Yuri, NIchkhun tried turning them into sweet ones. He learned to see it as a final gift before passing away.

   Even without Yuri in the world, he wanted to fulfill her wish by giving the baby a complete family. He knew deep down that it was the best he could do. As you might have guessed, they did eventually get married through their parents’ orders. The event wasn’t too big. It was a very simple and traditional wedding. The ceremony didn’t particularly mean anything special to him, but he told himself that it did.

   After thinking about it, Nichkhun was still confused to the person he saw the day he took off his bandages blinding his eyes. For the most part, he convinced himself that Victoria was the first face he saw, which is why he forced himself to love her. However, deep down in his memory, he found a blurry image of someone else that day in the hospital. It was an image that appeared before even seeing Victoria’s face. Nichkhun remembered this person having her back turned with long hair dangling down her back. She was standing near the door with her arms in blocking the way.

   He hadn’t seen that same person again. Perhaps, it was Yuri?  Maybe… Maybe not. There was no use dwelling on it anymore. Yuri was dead. If God wanted Yuri to ultimately be with him, she would still be alive.

   Despite having her constantly in his thoughts, he loved Victoria in a different way. Even if his heart didn’t flutter at her presence, he certainly didn’t feel burdened by their marriage. Nichkhun felt like they had a good relationship overall.

   Nihyun grew up in good hands. Nichkhun and Victoria very rarely fought, mainly because there wasn’t much to fight about. Both families contributed greatly to financial situation, making the job easier for both parents. Despite the initial shock and rage of Nichkhun’s parents, they had no choice but to let it slide. It was their responsibility whether they liked it or not.

   Victoria’s parents, on the other hand, were understanding towards the decision, mostly because they also believed that Yuri was really dead. Even considering the multiple risks that involved their daughter, they felt sorry for Yuri’s child.

   It was a difficult experience for them. Growing up, both still regularly attended school. Nichkhun managed to convince his sister Yoona and his mother to babysit once in a while. 

   Nichkhun went inside his son’s small room. It was already late in the morning and it was one of those rare days when Victoria and Nichkhun didn’t have work. The boy’s room resembled the one of a regular 5 year old boy. He tapped on Nikyun’s shoulder and kissed him on the check.

   “Nihyun, get up. You’ve been sleeping for too long.”

   The boy’s eyes opened slowly. Every time he would see them, Nichkhun felt like he was looking at his own reflection. Nihyun was a child full of energy. The moment his father called out, he stretched his limbs before jumping into his father’s arms.

   “Appa, do you have work today?” he asked while rubbing his big brown eyes.

   “Nope. That’s why we’re going out today with your mom.”

   Nihyun’s eyes grew wide as he twitched recklessly. Nichkhun carried his agitated son to the kitchen where Victoria waited and sat him on a chair. They had the regular breakfast as a family. The sun shined through the wide glass window, making the inside warm on their skin. Finally, Nichkhun and Victoria had time for their son. Their family was at peace.

   “Nihyun, are you excited to spend time with your appa and omma today?”  threw out Vicotira while pouring some milk in her husband’s cup.

   “Ye,” he responded with a mouth full. Victoria brushed her son’s hair with soft tenderness.

   “Omo! Our Nihyun has grown up to be a handsome young boy, “commented Victoria with much enthusiasm. “You look so much like your father. So handsome.”

   “How about omma? Do I look like you?” he suddenly asked curiously, shocked at the questions. Victoria stuttered heavily, glancing at Nichkhun for some support. How could Nihyun look like her if she wasn’t actually his mother?

   “Of course!” defended Nichkhun as he dropped his fork and messily flipped the boy’s hair out of his face. “You’re omma is very pretty too. You got a lot of good features from her.”

   “But a lot of kids at school say that I don’t look like my mother.” It was true. A lot of parents said that as well. It wasn’t the first time Victoria heard this. Both had nothing to say. They were always afraid that their child would notice such detail. To cover up the awkward situation, Victoria put a spoonful into Nihyun’s mouth.

   “Here, have some of this,” she ordered brightly as a spoon came closer to the boy’s mouth, pretending like he had never asked.

   Nichkhun and Victoria threw nervous glances at one another. The bright and calm breakfast they began with turned silent.

   Yuri came back inside her house with a pile of mail. Going through them quickly, she couldn’t spot her name on any of them. She quickly found herself searching for “Kwon Yuri”, when her new name was completely different. She had nearly forgotten. Looking at the pile a second time, she stopped at the bigger envelope reading ‘Kim EunSeo’.

   She smiled at the sender: Victoria Song. Yuri sat on the couch and unsealed the flap of the package. She put her hand inside and reached for the content.

   It felt like think and slippery cardboard. They were pictures. Yuri’s expression looked more excited. She studied each picture carefully and examined them individually in pure admiration. Her mesmerized attitude overtook her surroundings. She couldn’t even hear her father shouting in the background.

   She finally stood up and made her way to her father.

   “Appa, look,” she said while holding out the picture to his face. He hung up on the person he was screaming out and focused on the picture in awe. “Your grandchild has grown big, hasn’t he?”

   He smiled and snatched the photos out of her hand.

   “He’s quite handsome, your son. He took after you a lot,” he said jokingly.

   “Appa, he looks more like his father.” As Yuri grabbed the pictures back, she held them near her chest, looking like she was protecting them. Mr. Kwon leaned on the counter and sighed. Yuri knew that this meant bad news was going to come out of his mouth.

   “Yuri-ah…”

   “EunSeo…” corrected Yuri with a gloomy air. He nodded and remembered that she didn’t like to be called that anymore.

   “Oh, ye… Eun Seo-ah. You shouldn’t stay here anymore.” He looked as if he were about to cry while saying this.

   “What do you mean? I’ve always been living here with you.”

   “Which is why you should stop taking care of me.” His hands covered her shoulders with much warmth. “They’re after me again. They want me to pay them back, but I don’t have anything left. I decided that I’ll be selling everything. If it isn’t enough… I guess that I’m in trou-”

   “Aniya appa, we’ll stay together and figure it out…”

   “I don’t want you involved anymore,” he mumbled as he placed his hands inside his pockets. “It’s best if you stay away from me and go back with your family. You’re an adult now.”

   Yuri could see a tear run down her father’s cheek. He rarely cried, let alone show emotion. The idea brought shivers down her skin.

   “Go. Find them. There’s no point in coming back to me. I’ll be on the run.” He cleared his worn-out throat and turned his back to her. “Don’t worry about me, arasso? Just think about yourself.”

   Yuri was lost for words. Even if she wanted to speak up, nothing came out. Her brain was confused. She didn’t want to leave her father, but hearing him took out a huge burden off her chest. She began to tremble at the thought of seeing her 5 year old son that she abandoned heartlessly for all these years.

Thank you for reading. Even if I don't hear from all of you, I'm just happy if your silently enjoying it!