New chapter! I apologize if this seems to be dragging on forever. Things will move faster after this chapter. The past couple of chapters all happened in December, just so you guys know. :)

Thank you for all the comments! And thank you for continuing to read. I really appreciate it. :) Anyway, please let me know what you guys think of this chapter. It's barely beta-d, disjointed and just... well, see for yourself.


Chapter 23
A light breeze blew as the sky turned a picturesque mixture of red, purple and orange with the setting of the sun. She crossed her arms across her chest and lightly rubbed her arms to keep herself from feeling cold. Normally, she reveled in such beautiful wonders. Sunrises and sunsets were something she had grown to appreciate. But, at that moment, she could barely appreciate it or anything for that matter.

There was a movement behind her and she turned around.

“Are you okay?” the visitor quietly inquired.

A smile was the only answer she could give.

“Come,” were the visitor’s next words. “He’s waiting for you.”

“Is he really?” she couldn’t help but question, turning her attention back to the window. The sky had gotten dark. It eerily reflected the lack of light in her life.

“You know he is. He’s always waiting for you.”

“How can you continue sounding so optimistic?” she couldn’t help but ask, eyeing the tall Chinese male.

Earlier that day, the doctor had come to talk to Jin Ri and Zhoumi, since he was with her, about Kyuhyun’s condition. The doctor detailed to them the medicines and treatments that they’ve been doing, all in hopes of making his condition better. But, so far, there hadn’t been any changes. He added that it really was too early to tell, but that they shouldn’t lose hope. Some comatose patients wake up after a couple of months or even after years.

Years.

Jin Ri didn’t know how to describe what she felt at that. She didn’t mind the waiting—she would wait for as long as she had to. But the thought of it still scared her. What if she waited forever and he never came back?

She didn’t think she could live with that.

“Just because I cried, doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep my promise,” Zhoumi told her. When he gave him a questioning look, he reminded her, “I’m going to be strong for all of us.”

“I should be the one doing that,” she muttered, turning to face the window once more.

It seemed the sun was setting far too often in her life recently. She thought back to a time when she thought she was too lucky for her own good. She wished that luck with be on her side this time as well. She wouldn’t wish for anything else. Kyuhyun waking up and being healthy would be enough.

“You’ve been too strong for your own good,” Zhoumi told her, approaching the window she was leaning against. “You think of us too much, whether we’re okay, how we’re coping… the more important thing is how you’re coping. With the incident with Hyo Sun, Kyuhyun and then this… no one is expecting you to be strong.” He reached out and gently caressed her cheek, making her look at him. “You need to get some rest. At home,” he added when she opened to protest. He knew that she was going to say that she has been resting.

Jin Ri was quiet, turning away. She knew that he was just looking out for her, being hers and Kyuhyun’s best friend and all. Still, resting was the last thing on her mind.

“You can sleep at the dorm,” Heechul’s voice came through the doorway.

Jin Ri and Zhoumi turned to him, both surprised at his sudden appearance. Jin Ri looked away at the piercing gaze that the older male gave her. It was one that told her that he knew why she was so hesitant to go home.

“I’m okay,” she insisted. “I’m able to rest well here and I want to be near Kyu—.”

“You aren’t getting any sleep,” Heechul knowingly pointed out. He walked towards them until he was face-to-face with her. Touching her chin, he lifted her face up toward him. He looked at her face and took in the dark circles under her red-rimmed eyes and the paleness of her face. “Don’t start lying to me now, Cho Jin Ri,” he retorted. “I know more than you think.”

Zhoumi’s eyes shot towards his hyung at this as the older male looked at him when Jin Ri bowed her head in defeat. It was then that he knew that he wasn’t the only one who knew about what happens when Jin Ri thinks everyone has left the hospital.

~ * ~

Jin Ri stood in the middle of the room. There was a lot going through her head, but one person screamed most noteworthy in the midst of everything else. Hyo Sun. Zhoumi and Siwon had come to her, with express permission of the eldest members of the group—Yesung, Heechul and Leeteuk, as well as Angie—telling her what Na Young had so chillingly shared.

She had taken it in stride, having just talked to the doctor and having just reiterated that her husband might never wake up. She couldn’t really think about anything else after that.

And now… she could think of nothing else but what the boys had told her.

Sure, considering that Hyo Sun tried the best possible way to break what she had with Kyuhyun by sleeping with him, which is something that would always be there between her and Kyuhyun. But to actually physically hurt him? After a while, it had been quite obvious to her that Hyo Sun had more than friendship to offer to her husband, but she thought none of it because she was his old friend. She wanted to give him credit that he greatly deserved. She trusted him that much. But, despite everything, she still couldn’t imagine Hyo Sun ever doing anything to hurt Kyuhyun. It didn’t make sense to her. If she wanted him all to herself, shouldn’t she have hurt her instead?

Silently padding through the room, she situated herself against the window and just watched whatever it was that was outside, trees dancing with the wind, birds chirping, cars driving by. There was a shuffle on the bed and she turned to look.

Heechul had the bed, clutching the blanket closer to him. He had insisted on having her sleep at the dorm. She agreed just so it would get him and Zhoumi off her back. Because they knew her well and there wasn’t any form of lying she could do to discount that fact.

And she had tried to sleep. But sleeping in a place where Kyuhyun clearly wasn’t in was foreign to her. Even if it was in the dorms, even if Heechul tried his best to comfort and shoo away whatever nightmares and anxiety that she had. It was never going to be enough. If it wasn’t him. There was always going to be a void.

Quietly, she picked up her bag and slipped from the room.

“Where are you going?”

Jin Ri jumped and whipped around just as she moved towards the dorm entrance, about to put her coat and shoes on.

“It’s amusing to see you trying to escape from the Super Junior dorm. You do know that other girls would never want to leave here, don’t you?” Donghae gave her an amused stare as her cheeks pinked.

“I wasn’t trying to escape,” Jin Ri defended herself. “I was just leaving to go back to the hospital.”

“Are you sure Heechul hyung’s not going to bite our heads off for not waking him when you tried to leave?” he asked innocently.

“Please don’t tell him,” she said, shaking her head. She glanced at the door of the room she was just in. “He’s even more tired than I am.”

“I’m sure no one’s more tired than you are,” he commented almost to himself.

Donghae regarded his sister-in-law with more fervor than he had in the past. The first time that he’d met her, she fascinated him because he had seen the changes in Kyuhyun right from the moment they met. Kyuhyun usually had a one-track mind, always just thinking about his singing and his games. He rarely looked at girls because he felt it was hard to keep them happy. But one look at Jin Ri, one measly comment, and his head had turned.

But now, there was more than just fascination. There was also concern, care, and love. How could he not love someone who made his younger brother so happy? And how could he not love her when, in a time when most women would have gotten up and left, she chose to stay?

“Have you done any shopping yet?” he then asked.

“Shopping?” she repeated confusedly.

“Of course you haven’t,” he said, almost rolling his eyes. He took a step towards her and grabbed her hand. “You’re coming with me.”

~ * ~

The occupants of the room stood up just as Jin Ri entered. Most of the boys, sans Shindong, Leeteuk, Yesung, and Eunhyuk, who all had schedules, and Heechul, who was in a meeting, were all gathered together. They looked deathly worried about something.

“Are you guys okay?” she asked just as Ryeowook wrapped her in a tight hug.

“We were so worried—,” Kangin started to say then bellowed when Donghae followed after her, carrying some shopping bags, “YOU WENT SHOPPING?!”

Siwon put a hand on Kangin’s shoulder to calm him down. He then turned to Jin Ri and Donghae, who were both stiff scared of Kangin’s sudden outburst.

“Why weren’t you both answering your phones?” Siwon calmly asked the two of them. “We’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the whole afternoon.”

“I left my phone in the car,” Jin Ri began just as Donghae answered, “No battery.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” Jin Ri then asked as some of the boys groaned in annoyance at their answers. Her eyes flickered to Kyuhyun and immediately made her way to the side of his bed. “Did something happen?”

Sungmin shook his head and she didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed. Sometimes, she just wanted something to happen—anything—just so she wouldn’t be so obsessed with waiting.

“Heechul hyung panicked when he found that you’d left the dorm without saying anything and no one knew where you were,” Sungmin shared, glaring at Donghae, who suddenly looked so interested at his shoes. “You’ve been so restless these past few days and…” He let out a frustrated breath, running a hand through his hair.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she immediately apologized and went through the effort of hugging and assuring each one of them. They looked after her so well that she felt that the least she could do was assure them that she was fine and that she wasn’t going to go and jump off of a bridge or whatever it was that they were scared of happening. “I’m going to call Heechul oppa and tell him—.”

The door burst open with a bang, causing all occupants of the room to jump.

The first to react was Siwon with a smooth, but menacing, “What are you doing here?” He had stood up to his full height, making the one who had just walked in take a step back.

“Sorry,” Na Young apologized, hovering in the doorway with Taeyeon.

“We tried holding him back, but…” Taeyeon added, glancing at the members, their eyes trained on the young man who had burst into the room. The tension had risen considerably. With a look from Kangin, she turned away from the door.

Keiji stood in the middle of the room, the eyes of the members, boring into him. He knew what those looks meant and he couldn’t really blame them for feeling the way he did. But he didn’t care what they thought. The thoughts he cared about were Jin Ri’s. And she was looking at him… like she never had before. Her eyes were on him, but were shuttered and guarded.

“Jin,” Keiji began, taking a step towards her.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Donghae demanded, stepping towards him and blocking his way. “What right do you think you have for even thinking of coming here?”

“Hyung,” Ryeowook quietly held him back, touching his arm lightly. The last thing he wanted to happen, the last thing everyone needed, was for a fight to break out.

Keiji ignored them. “Jin Ri, can we talk? Please,” he asked. “Please.”

“What you want to tell me, you can do so here,” Jin Ri answered him.

Donghae stepped aside and some of the boys shuffled out of the room. No one was sure they wanted to leave her alone with him. Keiji was always suspicious to them and they still weren’t sure who had a hand in what happened to Kyuhyun.

Suddenly, in a move that surprised all of them, Keiji knelt to the ground. He bowed his head and his hands touched Jin Ri’s shoes, astonishing her.

“What…what are you doing?” she stammered, glancing helplessly and worriedly at the members in the doorway.

Keiji’s voice came out in a sob.

“Do you think you can ever forgive me for what I’ve done?” he blurted out, his voice muffled and broken. “My conscience can’t hold it in any longer. My heart can’t bear what I’ve done. I’m asking for your forgiveness and then after this I’ll hand myself over to the police.”

Na Young and Zhoumi exchanged a surprised look.

Jin Ri’s heart thudded in her chest. Was he confessing to stabbing Kyuhyun?

~ * ~

“Where’s all the food?” Shindong demanded as he entered the kitchen and found the table empty of anything. He looked around and found the members rushing around the dorm. “What’s going on?”

“Get ready, Donghee,” Heechul told him, coming out of a room.

“Why, where are we going?” Shindong asked confusedly just as Donghae and Eunhyuk hauled a big bag of what looked like presents out into the hallway.

“Chung Mansion,” Kibum, who was passing by, a bag on his shoulder, told him. “We’re celebrating Christmas Eve there so we can all be with Jin Ri.”

“So she won’t have to choose with whom she’ll be spending Christmas with,” Henry added before running after Ryeowook, who appeared to be having a hard time carrying the food basket.

The dorm door opened with thuds following after the door clicked shut again.

“I’M HERE!” someone yelled in greeting in very broken Korean.

Everyone literally dropped what they were doing and crowded around Hangeng, who looked a bit tired from the flight, but nevertheless happy to be around the members again. Ryeowook wasn’t quite done hugging him when Heechul squeezed through everyone and launched himself on the Chinese man. And, as if someone had cued them to, the members all walked away, resuming what they had been doing.

Hangeng held Heechul, who had buried his face on his shoulder, tight against him. He had wanted to fly back to Korea as soon as he had heard of what happened with Kyuhyun and Jin Ri but was unable to because of his schedules. When Siwon had called to tell him that Kyuhyun was in the hospital and in a coma, he tried and practically begged his management to let him off earlier. But he couldn’t. And so, here he was, a week later than he had intended to arrive, hugging his best friend, whom he knew was having a hard time.

“I’m here, Heechul,” Hangeng comforted him. “I’m going to be here for time.” In exchange for not being able to leave earlier, his management allowed him to stay for at least a month in Korea. He had hoped that Kyuhyun would have awakened by then. He wasn’t sure if he could leave, knowing that their magnae hadn’t recovered.

“You should have never left,” Heechul mumbled through his shirt and shoulder.

Hangeng sighed. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to escape that issue, especially not from the second oldest member of the group. Even after four years, Heechul still hadn’t really let go of the fact that he had decided to leave the group and pursue a solo career in China. The older male always brought it up in their phone conversations.

“Chullie,” Hangeng began, knowing that they were going to have another unfruitful argument.

“Your Korean has gotten even worse,” Heechul interrupted him. “But I appreciate that you’re going to be here for time.” He lifted his head up and laughed the laugh that he had been holding back.

Hangeng made an exasperated face, causing Heechul to just laugh even more.

~ * ~

The members filed into the Chung mansion and stood in the middle of the foyer as the footman walked briskly towards the study to inform the masters of the house that their guests had arrived.

“So this is where Jin Ri used to live,” Henry said in awe, staring at the huge and expensive-looking chandeliers.

“How can people live like this?” Hangeng muttered, looking around as well.

“Be careful,” Heechul teased. “You’re offending Siwon. And Sungmin.”

“Hey,” Sungmin defended himself just as Siwon rolled his eyes. “I do not live like this. Jin Ri’s uncle is one of the richest men in South Korea.”

“Behave,” Angie suddenly chided, quieting the boys down. She looked up at the sudden lack of bantering between them then sheepishly smiled. “I was referring to the twins,” she informed all of them.

Ever since Sunhee’s legs could hold her upright and she could walk with support, taking care of the twins seemed just that much harder. Sungjoo,who didn’t seem like he was going to let his twin sister give all the joy to his parents, also started to walk with support. Therefore, Leeteuk and Angie were doubly tired with all the walking around that they had to do around the house.

“Let me help you,” Donghae offered, easily picking up Sunhee, who giggled. He smiled like a little boy before turning to Eunhyuk, who frowned. “See, I’m her favorite uncle.”

“She just likes you for your face,” Leeteuk muttered, which everyone clearly heard.

“What?” Heechul violently remarked. “If we’re talking about faces, then I should be her favorite uncle.” He sided at Donghae and moved to get Sunhee from him.

And he would’ve been successful if she hadn’t started crying.

Donghae grinned in glee. “I am her favorite uncle,” he concluded.

“It’s interesting how none of you are fighting over Sungjoo,” Taeyeon commented as Kangin put an arm around her shoulders. In the beginning, the boys fought over who would be teaching Sungjoo what and who would be his mentor, to which Leeteuk just looked horrified.

The members looked at the little boy, who was now in his mother’s arms.

“He’s just like his father,” Eunhyuk commented, making a face.

When Taeyeon gave them a blank look, Kibum clarified, “He gravitates towards pretty girls.”

Sun Young greeted them as they were in the middle of their laughter. She gave each of them a hug and told them how happy she was that they were all spending Christmas Eve together, that it was something that they should carry out everywhere since they were all family anyway.

As she said this, she kept on looking around and checking each of them as if counting and looking for someone.

“Is something wrong?” Siwon wanted to know.

“Where’s Riri?” Sun Young asked them then turned to look behind her. “She probably went straight to appa’s study.” Smiling, she turned to lead them to the dining hall.

“But isn’t she here?” Heechul voiced out, making everyone stop moving.

“I thought she was arriving with you guys,” Sun Young told them.

Heechul and Zhoumi immediately exchanged a look.

“She’s probably at the hospital,” Zhoumi announced.

“But I was just there,” Hangeng told them. “I went there before coming to the dorm. I’m sure that she wasn’t there because the doctor said he was surprised that she wasn’t there when he came to check on Kyuhyun.”

“She’s at the hospital,” Heechul insisted, exchanging another look with Zhoumi.

~ * ~

Jin Ri quietly closed the door behind her and walked in the dimly lit room. She ignored the almost-deafening silence of the whole building and just put the bags she had been carrying on the sofa, only to bring out a medium-sized box. She placed it on the space on the foot of the bed in the room. Carefully, she lifted the cover of the box and stared at its contents.

The box was filled of polaroids and snapshots.

Every photo in the box was taken from the very first day that she had met Kyuhyun. She hadn’t realized it then, but her photography changed when they met. Her pictures had become more thoughtful somehow and more romantic.

She took the photos out and, with some tape, started to place each of them on the wall beside the bed.

“I have something for you, seobang,” Jin Ri finally spoke once she had finished sticking all the photos on the wall to form a heart. She took a step back to admire her work. “Do you like it?”

Each picture represented a moment in their journey together. There were photos of them eating, Kyuhyun spilling coke on his shirt, Jin Ri tripping all over herself. There were photos of them in Japan, in her apartment, in the Super Junior dorm. There were photos of Kyuhyun on the phone, one that he had taken himself while talking to her on the other end. There was the photo when they decided to be in a relationship, after they had just first kissed. There was the Polaroid shot of them that they took after they had just gotten into the car after exiting the church on their wedding day.

Now, more than ever, she was happy that she was a photographer, that she loved keeping moments frozen in time. Because without them, what else would be left? Unconsciously, she placed a hand on her tummy.

Forcing a bigger smile on her face, she then turned to the other bags she had brought.

“I have something else for you,” she then said as she took out containers of the food that she had cooked at him. All of Kyuhyun’s favorites.

She laid them out on the small table, opening the containers, not caring if the hospital room would start smelling weird because of the mixture of Kimchi, samgyupsal, etc. She even placed two pairs of chopsticks beside the plates as if they were actually going to eat them.

After which, she then brought out some Christmas lights and started hanging them on the curtains with much effort. Despite the lights being hung a bit shabbily—she was sure Kyuhyun would call her out on it if he had seen them, she decided that it was better than nothing.

Satisfied with everything that she had done, and after taking out the wrapped presents that she had also brought with her, she slowly walked towards the bed. Leaning forward, she took Kyuhyun’s hand in her own and kissed it gently.

This was supposed to be their first Christmas together as husband and wife with just them and no work or anything else to get in between. The “first” was spent with him working, performing for his fans in Japan. It wasn’t really a fun Christmas for both of them (although they were happy that they were together) because they wanted to be able to be together and spend it like a normal family would. And they wished they were back home in Korea.

Jin Ri wondered if the airport incident hadn’t happened, but considering the circumstances of their marriage, if they would actually get to spend Christmas together, like married couples normally do. She wondered if they would be happy with his cheating hanging over their heads.

As she climbed onto bed with her husband, she decided that they would be. She had come to the airport with good news, in hopes of starting to mend things and she knew that he was very open to that. They weren’t the only two people in this marriage anymore after all. There was their baby.

Squeezing herself in between his body and his arm, which she wrapped around herself, she gave him a kiss on the cheek just as tears started to slither down her own.

“Merry Christmas, Kyuhyun.”