Chapter 44: Cover-Up

Jealousy. I never really considered myself the jealous type. My parents taught us to appreciate whatever we had, despite the fact that it wasn’t very much, so I was never really allowed to be jealous of the kids at school, with their fancy toys and clothes. But really, in all honesty, I was happy with what I had as a young child. I had loving parents, shelter, food and a baby sister on the way. I was happy.

But it was when my father passed away that I became, maybe, slightly less happy and the jealousy had started to seep its way to the surface. I was jealous of other people my age and how they could be normal and go to school and not have to work their fingers to the bone. It was just so unfair. But over time, I had learned to accept it and move on to do what was best for my family, and then Tiffany came into my life and all that jealousy dissipated into thin air.

But right now, as I look down at our intertwined fingers and listen to the sound of her husky laughter, and the unfamiliarity of his voice and seeing the way he looked at her, I was beginning to feel that same jealousy cluster up inside of me again.

I’ll admit that I had been very slightly jealous of Hayeon this morning because she had cuddled Tiffany instead of me, but that was a very petty matter, and Hayeon would never steal Tiffany away from me, she was only nine. And then there was Siwon, and really, I had been jealous of him at one point, and how he had known Tiffany for so long and could call her his own, but I didn’t feel that way towards him anymore, because he was trying to move on, promising that he would no longer interfere with our lives.

But this guy, sitting right here in my living room, laughing and having a ball with my wife, I didn’t like him very much at all.

They seemed close. And Tiffany seemed to be extremely happy to see him.

“Oh Jay, you’re so funny!” She told him as she leaned over and gently pushed him, laughing as she did so.

I didn’t find him very funny at all.

In fact, I found him rather annoying, with his shiny black hair, diamond earrings, perfect teeth and little dark beady eyes. I didn’t like him. I didn’t like the fact that he was here right now, in our room, with Tiffany and I, with us, making her laugh, and making me feel like I was somewhat invisible.

He had been polite, greeted me with a bow, and of course he had to give Tiffany an extremely friendly hug as he spun her around in circles, his arms around her waist as she tightly gripped onto him to prevent herself from falling. It was exactly at that point that I had decided that I didn’t like him. Him and the aura that he emitted, just made my skin crawl.

“That’s really great, Jay. I’m glad you’ve been doing well.” Tiffany said, her fingers still interlocked with mine.

I looked up, and gave a small and polite smile, to show that I had been listening, even if that wasn’t true.

“It’s been hard.” He said, leaning back on the sofa, “But it feels great to be back.”

I took a minute to really analyze him. He was skinny, on the short side, but he did have a very slight charm about him that annoyed me to no end.

“Enough about me,” He said, leaning slightly forward. “How have you been doing, Tiff? It certainly looks like the years have been kind to you.” He smiled, charm oozing out of his pores. “You don’t know how much of a shock it was to me when I heard you were getting married. Especially to uhm…” He paused, looking at me, giving me the elevators “…someone like Taeyeon-shi.”

What was that supposed to mean?

What a jerk. I could’ve punched him in the face right there and then, but seeing as I now had an image to uphold, I resorted to squeezing Tiffany’s hand a little tighter as I gave him a rather tight smile.

Was I being childish? Was it stupid that I was jealous?

It may have seemed that way, but the mere thought of losing Tiffany to someone else made me want to curl up into a ball and stay that way forever. I had become so reliant on her. I needed her. I seriously couldn’t live without her.

“What do you mean?” Tiffany asked, looking over at me and smiling. She took my arm and wrapped it around herself and leaned closer to me, essentially snuggling into my side as she quickly pecked my cheek with a sweet kiss, making me smile.

He frowned slightly, but quickly removed it from his face when Tiffany turned her attention back to him.

“Taeyeon is the best. She’s so my type.” She said, and he forced a smile.

“It just took me by surprise because I thought you were still with Siwon…but obviously not.” He smiled at me. He was just so irritating. “I really wish I could’ve made it to the wedding, but this past year has been so busy for me.” He said, faking his disappointment. “My father says that I’ve been doing so well that he wants to hand the company over to me.” He boasted. “And I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it to the funeral.”

Tiffany only gave a small smile and nod. She had become good at coping with her mothers death. “It’s okay.” She said, and I knew this was something that she didn’t to talk about.

A few moments of silence passed, and Tiffany’s hold on my hand tightened a little.

He stood up, “Well, it was really great seeing you, Tiff.”

“Yeah,” Tiffany said, the both of us standing up. “You too.”

“Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you guys tomorrow?” He said, looking between us.

“Tomorrow?” Tiffany asked, confused.

“Yeah, tomorrow.” He confirmed. “Didn’t your father tell you? We’re going into business together. So, we’ll be seeing quite a bit of each other in the next few months to come.” He smiled.

This Jay Park really did have quite a few tricks up his sleeve, didn’t he?

“Oh, really? That’s great.” Tiffany said excitedly, with a happy smile on her face.

“But, I better get going. I’ve got some errands to run.” He said, bowing politely to the both of us.

We showed him to the door, and he shook my hand and of course he had to hug Tiffany, didn’t he.

We exchanged final goodbyes, and he finally left.

* * *

TIFFANY’S POV

“Don’t you think Jay is so funny?” I asked Taeyeon as we brushed our teeth together before we headed off to bed. She was standing in front of the sink, as I sat on the counter top, watching her, my own toothbrush in my mouth. “I really can’t believe I saw him again.” I said, after I had spat out the remaining foam of toothpaste into the sink and setting my toothbrush back in its rightful place.

“Not particularly.” She said, mimicking my action and wiping with a towel.

“What do you mean? He’s hilarious.” I asked, following her out of the bathroom as she proceeded to pull her shirt over her head to change into her nightwear. I looked at her half clothed state, her abdominal muscles flexing as she moved. I couldn’t really help but stare.

She shrugged, “I just don’t t