Chapter 27: “You used to shine so bright but I watched our love in vain-Taylor Swift”

-o0o-

It was an abrupt sound, surprising him to open his lids and notice that his room was in total darkness; only the light from a lamppost across the street penetrated to his blinds. Rubbing his eyes, he lazily got up from bed, still hearing the irritating groan from somewhere. With bare proper vision, he looked at the clock, trying his best to read it even in the dimness, and Kyuhyun noticed it was two hours before sunrise. He slept early because of Sijoong’s peaceful cooperation.

The baby, because Kyuhyun disliked having anyone sleep with him, was in his room. Of course, Kyuhyun had to make sure he wouldn’t roll off the bed before leaving him asleep. Large pillows, one particular gray of his, were bordering Sijoong, trapping him to stay still. He didn’t have to be a father to know common sense. But the groaning was getting louder, coming from across his room.

Weakly, he got outside. The living room lights were already off, and the kitchen’s were switched on. That same night, he remembered wrestling with Sijoong, and the throw pillows were impossible to clean up. The two of them were having so much fun that they completely felt drowsy at once. He concluded, because of how squeaky clean it had gotten, that Seohyun had been cleaning after her shift.

Then again sidetracked, Kyu remembered why he got up at 4:45 am. The guest room, the one where he laid Sijoong to sleep, kept him awake. Now more awake, he recognized that noise, something his past made him recall. Hazily and a bit infuriated, he knocked on the door.

A small squeal was heard before the stopped completely. Kyuhyun sighed, rolling his eyes as he knocked again.

“You won’t get any sleep if you don’t let me in,” he declared in that business-tone of his, loud enough for Seohyun to make another continuous soft whimper. She wasn’t answering him. Kyuhyun cautiously held the doorknob and turned it, realizing the door wasn’t locked at all.

He didn’t expect it, though. Because even when the two of them were still dating, when she had agreed in living with him, she would never leave her door open. It would annoy him at nights when he would sneak into her room. Even knocking, Seohyun would not agree. She had kept her promise to Kyuhyun’s mother, about being pure and all before marriage.

Aish, how could he remember this?

“May I come in?” Kyuhyun asked, still afraid to push the door open. But his hand remained on the knob, as his heart went thumping on his chest. Why was he so nervous in entering her room?

“No oppa! You can’t,” Seohyun answered, followed by a loud groan of soreness.

Worried, he had no other choice but to disobey. He got in and found her on her bed, covers all over herself, Sijoong as where he had left him, still soundly asleep beside his mom.

“I said no,” Seohyun stated again, eyes like daggers on the man as he approached her.

“No doesn’t exist in my dictionary,” Kyuhyun replied.

She looked so frail and distressed, troubled probably again with her leg cramps. She was bending down, to reach maybe her legs. Kyuhyun noticed she kept on doing this, as if rubbing some oil to comfort the pain---and each time she just got worse. He managed to remain calm when she moaned, keeping all the dirty thoughts of its previous reasons away. He realized it was harder to take control, to keep the temperature down, when he was actually staring at her innocent face and all the way down.

“What...what can...can I do?” he stammered, sitting by her bedside.

Seohyun shook her head, persistent, but her face apprehended the actual ache. She pushed her knee, rounded it up and she gritted her teeth. “Nothing. You won’t agree to it.”

“I’ll do anything if you’ll stop that noise,” Kyuhyun responded, sweating when Seohyun revealed her legs rebelliously.  Seohyun shoved her covers aside, calling the man closer. She was wearing shorts, the tiny white one, paired with the oversized red tee. Even when sleeping, she was still as trendy.

“My legs...hurt,” Seohyun grunted. “I don’t know if you wish to massage them for me...like the usual days. You’re pretty good at it.”

“I can’t sleep because of this?” Kyuhyun smirked, going to the end of the bed and stared at how her legs had gotten longer than usual. Seohyun moved slowly upward to the headboard, so that Kyu could squeeze himself by her legs. He crossed his own and then held her ankles properly.

Seohyun’s eyes widened. “I thought you hated...we’re avoiding each other, remember? Why are we...why are you---”

He just chuckled lightly. “I’m not scared of touching you. And it’s not the first time you had cramps.”

“I guess this happened because of my unusual routine,” Seohyun blankly stated, Kyuhyun gingerly holding on her toes, and carefully going up, applying pressure each time he stopped.

She blushed when he felt his hands on her skin. She shivered slightly as he played with it. He had always been wonderful at massages, Seohyun recalled clearly. Every night before going to bed, he would massage her shoulders, as she would do the same for him when he got tired from work.

“What?” Kyuhyun gazed at her uneasy state. He smiled in assurance.

She shook her head, actually feeling better as he applied pressure to her burnt muscles. “I...I...I just...am not used to it. And...Oppa doesn’t have to do it.”

“And stay awake all night with your noise?” he pressed on her knees with those skinny hands, making her jerk and flinch.

“Yah oppa!” she cried and he started laughing, moving away. Seohyun glowered at him.

He continued to work his way upward now, Kyuhyun noticing at how tensed Seohyun looked. Halting, he sighed.

“I know...I know...my hands are different from his,” he told her, but he shuddered swiftly, hating the image of Yonghwa and Seohyun in his head. Seohyun smiled at him even in her state. Kyuhyun gazed at her affably. “Bear with me, Seo. I don’t want you to be in pain. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You’re dead if you hurt me,” she warned, Kyuhyun enjoying her cuteness.

So he continued massaging her legs, up the thighs then down again, a gradual process of self-restraint. Kyuhyun had to remember he couldn’t just pounce on the woman; she was someone else’s property. But all the while, through this excitement arousing in him, he couldn’t hide the fact that he wanted to do exactly that. And he knew very well, a prudent woman like Seohyun would not comply to his desire.

He hadn’t realized he stopped, his hands settled on her knees again, as Kyuhyun stared straight at the curtains. He shook his head to erase those thoughts, saying to himself that it was drowse, looking back at the flushed face Seohyun.

He moved away, getting off the bed at once and lowering his upper body in disclosed apology.

“I...I’m...I’m sorry,” Kyuhyun stammered edgily, troubling him.

“Thank...thank you, oppa,” she replied, satisfied for the pain had magically disappeared.

The man stood up straight, rubbing his eyes. “Are you hungry?”

She grinned, delighted at the thought. “I thought you wanted to sleep.”

Chuckling he shrugged at his sudden abruptness that must have surprised her. “Sorry, I just thought...it’s already 5. I won’t need it anymore. Early breakfast sharpens the brain. When did you come in last night?”

“Around 1,” Seohyun answered. “Slept a few hours.” Her eyes were expressing it already.

He nodded in understanding. “After you eat, you go back to bed at once, okay?”

“If Sijoong doesn’t wake up that is,” Seohyun replied. “I really appreciated that you laid him here and placed all...these pillows. But...next time...I suggest you sleep with him. He moves a lot.”

“It’s hard being a mommy,” Kyuhyun stated. “Now...I know why my own mom left me.”

Seohyun frowned. “Now, now. Don’t start with that. We all know she loves you.”

Kyuhyun scoffed coolly. “You want breakfast or not?”

He started his way to the door when Seohyun reached for her slippers. When Seohyun was about to get down the bed, she tripped, causing her to nearly stumble on the floor. Kyuhyun turned his back in time, catching the woman by his arms.

They looked at each other’s eyes, the man’s deep ones were so concerned, while the other one, the younger one, remained unsure and hesitant. Time swiftly passing, Kyuhyun cleared his throat, looking away as he helped her up.

“Do you want breakfast in bed?” he blushed when he said it, which also made Seohyun red.

She shook her head, getting back on the bed. “No, no. Don’t go through all that trouble. I think...I’d want to sleep.”

Kyuhyun started laughing, seeing that every time he asked for something, she would decline it every time. He shook his head, biting his tongue and then gazing back at his subject.

“Yah, we’re not going anywhere, you know that?” Kyuhyun told her.

She was blank. “Huh?”

He rolled his eyes, walking away now towards the door. He had zero patience for this so it was best to just leave her there, trying to figure out her own problem.

“Sleep well, then.” Kyuhyun told her before closing the door behind him.

-o0o-

 “Good morning, Mrs. Lee Jinki.”

She stirred sleepily, like a little baby, pushing the man with her fist that Onew fell to the other side of the bed. She didn’t bother getting up to check if he was okay, his grunt meaning that he was still alive, so she closed her eyes, still dreaming.

“God, why’d you have to do that?”

She groaned, clicking her tongue. “Shut up, okay?” She covered her ears with her pillow, turning to the other side of the room. Onew, playful as he was, sprung on her, tickling her sides until the woman grabbed his hands and pulled him close to her, her eyes flaring in anger.

“Why are you so hyped?” she wondered, staring at him. “Are you taking any kind of medication? You didn’t try smoking, right? I told you it’s going to worsen your asthma.”

He shook his head, kissing the girl’s forehead. “No, no. I’m just...happy.”

“Happy with what?”

“With Jessica,” Onew answered. “I’m happy staying with Jessica. I’m happy I’m with Jessica. She’s the only one I want.”

She suddenly felt flattered, satisfied. “I love you too, Onew-oppa. I always will.”

Onew ran his hands down her soft hair. Jessica was gorgeous this way, just this way without the stress and trouble that bothered her so much. Lately, because of the transfer of hospitals, she had been quiet but lighthearted, keeping up with everyday duties with a smile, even though the smile appeared forced.

Yet it worried him when she would come home in the early morning, because of her night shift. Since it would go on for a month, she’d be pooped, tired and hardly energetic. Last night was her first time working, but she left the hospital earlier because of Yuri’s arrival and because she wanted to have fun. When he got home after confessing his feelings to Sooyoung, Jessica was in the bedroom, asleep.

“Where were you last night?” Jessica asked.

“Out with Sooyoung,” Onew replied carelessly. “Since you were out, I thought I’d go out a little as well. Fresh air by the sea, you know. The usual stuff.”

“With Sooyoung?” her voice was a bit high. Who could blame her, she deserved to be annoyed. “Wh..Why?”

Onew kissed her abruptly, moving away at once to answer her. “Why are you so jealous all of a sudden? Didn’t I just propose to you?”

“But...you...were on a date with Sooyoung,” Jessica retorted. “Sooyoung. Choi Sooyoung, one of my closest friends. We’re not even married yet and you’re going out with my friends?”

“Whoa, hold up,” he said, putting a finger to her lips. “It wasn’t a date. Get your facts straight, sweetie. Sooyoung and I are just friends. What’s with all this drama? You know I respect her as a Hubae, my hubae, since my last year in SMEU. Sooyoung and I have been closer before you and I have been. Remember that without, Sooyoung...you and I would never meet.”

She could remember Sooyoung’s stories back in Dorm 9, about her new boyfriend. Siwon...indeed, for a chatterbox, it was the only thing could spill---not a single Onew or Jinki. She just knew they were related through the newspaper, but that was what all she knew. What if they really were secretly in love with each other? Jessica had no one to blame since she had been stuck with Donghae back then.

Jessica thought clearly for once about Sooyoung, then sighing. “I’m just afraid I’ll be cheated on.”

Onew pointed her cheek, her pout extremely adorable. “You mean me cheating on this gorgeous creature? I possibly cannot. Anyway, I just had to see her off. She’s going away for the meantime, along with...’Siwon’. Romania, I think. We should travel too for our honeymoon. I’ve been saving up.”

She agreed. “That’d be perfect.”

“Let’s have breakfast? Are you hungry?”

She nodded. “Yes. Let us.”

As they were about to get up, a loud knock, an angry one maybe, surprised them since it was barely 7. Who could it be?

-o0o-

“Okay!”

Leeteuk said, putting his thumbs up. The l