Author’s POV:

 

Kris only stood there stupidly after Jessica stormed out on him. Pivoting, he looked back at the sniffling Jihae. An expression of remorse coursed through his face before he gave Jihae an apologetic look. Without another second worth of doubt, Kris rushed himself out the door and ran after Jessica. Seeing his wife entering her suite, Kris darted forward to catch the door from closing all the way.

 

“Babe, wait,” Kris called out, entering the suite. “Let me explain.” He caught Jessica right when he stepped into the room.

 

Jessica only shot him a glare before releasing her hand from his hold. Continuing with what she was doing earlier, Jessica started to pack her bags diligently. She effectively ignored Kris.

 

Kris let out a sigh. “Jess, listen to me.” He stood right next to her while she was busily packing. “I’m not sure if you understood what I meant back there.” He tried to wrap his arms around her.

 

Jessica dodged his contact and strode into the bathroom to gather her last belongings. She knew perfectly what Kris meant back there. Jessica knew that Kris tried to protect Jihae, and that was not what she expected. A husband is supposed to side with the wife. At least that’s what Jessica thought was common sense. Why would Kris try to help Jihae when she was the one who did something that crossed the line? Jessica felt as if she was at fault, when the problem lies with Jihae. Just when life seemed to be going great, it seems that reality is betraying her.

 

“Babe, are you listening to me?” Kris trailed after her, wanting to get some signal that told him that she was hearing him. “I want you to listen to me. I don’t want you to be mad.”

 

Jessica only silently stuffed her belongings into her duffle bag. Without a care in the world, Jessica only shoved clothing into her bag without a second thought. She had a flight to catch and she was more than willing to leave. She wasn’t going to stand here and listen to her own husband tell her how wrong she was when she believed she did the right thing.

 

“What are you doing?” Kris exasperated, not receiving any acknowledgement from her. “Jessica, listen to me.” his voice was serious as he gripped onto her hand to stop her from doing anything else.

 

Darting her eyes up, Jessica looked Kris in the eyes with audacious eyes, as if telling him that if he touched her once more, she would do something he would regret. Kris only gave her a tender look, wanting the both of them to be on the same page. He absolutely hated it when the two of them had their differences.

 

“I have a flight to catch.” Jessica only spoke up when Kris didn’t say anything.

 

Zipping up her duffle bag, Jessica then slung it over her shoulder. She gave Kris a final glare before heading towards the door. She was suddenly stopped when Kris grabbed her arm again. He spun her back around and gave her a soft gentle gaze. At the moment, Jessica yearned for him to make things right. For him to apologize and tell her that what he did was a mistake and that it was something he had said out of the moment.

 

“Jess, I think you misunderstood. I was thinking about Jihae. You shouldn’t have—”

 

“You don’t need to explain yourself anymore, Kris!” Jessica exploded, cutting his sentence off. “I get it! I completely understand!” Her breathing was choppy and heated with painful emotions.

 

Jessica’s expectations had shattered. It tore at her heart when Kris spoke those words. She couldn’t believe what Kris was telling her. He was thinking about Jihae and not about her. He was thinking about Jihae’s safety and Jihae’s emotions. What about her? What about his wife? Did he even think about what Jessica was feeling? Shouldn’t he have been thinking about his wife in the first place?

 

Kris’ facial expression was starting to become relieved. “You…you do?”

 

“Of course I do.” Jessica’s voice was demoralizing. “I understand that you thought of Jihae’s feelings before mine. I understand that you thought of Jihae’s pain before mine. And I sure as hell understand that you chose to put someone else before your wife.” her undertone was nothing close to sympathetic.

 

“Jess, I didn’t mean—”

 

“No, I understand what you meant!” Jessica didn’t give him a chance to speak. “It was my fault. It was my fault for stupidly slapping her in the face because she clearly did not deserve it after kissing my husband!” she gave a hurtful, pathetic smile. “I’m the one at fault, right? Because what I should’ve done instead was watch another woman kiss my husband, am I right?”

 

Kris’ face contorted of regret and hurt, not realizing how his own wife was feeling. He knew he had just made a big mistake. “No, Jess…I’m sorry…”

 

“You don’t need to apologize, Kris! Because I’m the one at fault, right?” Jessica’s face showed how painful her heart was at the moment. “I’m the one who went too far. I’m the one who should be apologizing. Apologizing for what? I don’t even know myself. But one thing that I’m sure of is that my own husband chose his secretary over his own wife. And that hurts. It hurts a lot.”

 

Jessica was trembling with her intense release of emotions. Her eyes were welling up in tears just by looking at a silent Kris. All her husband could do was just stand there and give her a sympathetic look. Jessica just knew that Kris was at a loss for what to do. But then again, was he even thinking about what she was feeling?

 

“I have a flight to catch.” Jessica took in a shaky breath, making sure not to let the tears fall. “Have fun staying here in Japan with someone else who comes before me.” She turned back around and opened the door.

 

“Babe, wait—” Kris stopped short when he noticed that Jessica stood in place after she opened the door to leave.

 

Jessica only stared at the puffy eyed Jihae in front of her. Of course Jihae would be listening to everything. Not sparing another second wasting her time looking at Jihae, Jessica only shoved her way past her and quickly paced herself down the hall. Kris’ first reaction was to chase after her, but he was only held back when Jihae spoke up.

 

“Kris…” Jihae glanced at him with a sad look on her face, after seeing Jessica run off. “What’s going on?” she blinked at him, as if she had no clue in the world.

 

Kris’ mouth opened without saying anything for a minute, not knowing what to tell her because of all he could think of at the moment was Jessica. “I-I’ll tell you later, Jihae. I just…I have to go after Jess right now.” He shut the door behind him and ran down the hall in the same direction Jessica had gone down, leaving Jihae in the middle of the hall.

 

He cursed under his breath when he realized that Jessica had already taken the elevator down. Pressing the button hurriedly, Kris had no patience. He wanted to make this up with Jessica before she flew back home. He knew he was wrong and that he shouldn’t have been so insensitive towards Jessica’s feelings. Kris was being one sided and only noticed one side of the situation. He agreed with Jessica, knowing that he should’ve been looking out for her instead. Kris just felt stupid at this point. How could he do that to his own wife? It was in the spur of the moment. His perspective was messed up after seeing Jessica physically hurt Jihae.

 

Rushing into the elevator, Kris impatiently waited till he reached the lobby. He couldn’t stand still at all. Kris didn’t want Jessica to leave in a bad mood. The goodbye he had in mind was filled with kisses and hugs. It hurt him physically and emotionally to know that he’d be missing Jessica’s touch for days until he is able to go home again. More than that, he’d have to face the fact that they would have a stall in their argument and who knows what his wife would be thinking or doing while they were separated.

 

Crap. Kris just remembered. What about Jessica’s stomach? He knew that Jessica had told him that pregnancy doesn’t happen that fast, but what if she was going to get pregnant? There were multiple possibilities. His wife could’ve been ovulating when they were having and the thought that he’d be separated from his wife during this time worried and scared him. He wanted to be there when his wife would find out if she were to be pregnant or not. Kris junior…

 

Running a hand through his hair, Kris hurried rushed out of the elevator to find his wife. Once he spotted her hailing a taxi, Kris full out sprinted towards her. He couldn’t let her leave without giving her a goodbye. Right when Jessica was about to get into the taxi, Kris caught her just in time and full out hugged onto her, preventing her from entering the car with his whole body. Kris huffed, trying to catch his breath before speaking to her. It wasn’t until he calmed down did he realize that Jessica’s body was shaking. Slowly pulling away from her, Kris finally saw Jessica’s teary eyes. The dam had broken.

 

“Jess, don’t cry.” Kris reached up to wipe away her tears, but Jessica turned her head away. “I’m sorry.” He apologized with regret.

 

Jessica only ignored him, trying to push him away to get into the taxicab. Kris wouldn’t budge and didn’t let her through. He gazed at her longingly, never taking his arms off around her waist. He wanted to at least give her a kiss, a sign of affection. When Jessica only stared at him with blank eyes, Kris took it as an approval. Leaning forward slowly, Kris never took his eyes off of her. His eyes hooded when he advanced closer to her lips. Just when Kris was about to close in the remaining gap between them, all he felt was the cold air.

 

Jessica had looked away, not letting him place his lips on her. Kris felt her unreceptive attitude, knowing that she didn’t want to deal with him at the moment. He didn’t want to push her buttons even further. He didn’t want her anger to flare up. Kris only did what he thought was rational, even if Jessica might not have wanted it.

 

Wrapping his arms around her, Kris caressed her with extreme care. “I know you don’t want to talk to me right now. I understand that you’re angry. I know that when I come back home, we can solve this.” He whispered in her ear, not breaking their hug. “Have a safe flight home and take care of yourself. Be careful and don’t hurt yourself. You know how worried I get.” He felt Jessica try to wriggle free from his hold. “I love you.” Kris kissed the top of her head, knowing that she’d deny all contact between their lips.

 

At his last three words, Jessica stopped trying to resist and froze in place. Kris only held her tighter when he felt her giving in. Those words of affection hit Jessica like lightning. How could those three simple words make her tear down her guard, as if something has casted a spell on her? Kris was just like a key to Jessica’s heart and Jessica felt that it was unfair for her to be manipulated like this.

 

It made Jessica confused. She needed time to herself to think. She sighed. Giving Kris a light push, she signaled him to stop. Kris of course obeyed and unwillingly let go. With a deteriorated look, Jessica shuffled towards the cab. Kris held her back and squeezed her hand. Leaning forward, he placed a lingering kiss on her temple. Jessica only soullessly glanced away and slipped into the car. Kris finally let go of her hand and helped her shut the door.

 

It wasn’t long until the cab drove off. Kris only stood there and stared at the leaving car in sadness. He hopes Jessica would be fine. As much as he didn’t want her to leave, he couldn’t do anything about it. They had a fight and Jessica wanted to leave. He didn’t want to force her. Jessica was in a fragile state. Kris just hopes things will prevail and they’ll return back to normal.

---

 

 

“Are you okay?” Jihae asked, seated on her bed. “You’ve been looking really down ever since the incident from this morning…” her fingers trailed her cheek, where Jessica had slapped her.

 

It wasn’t a big secret that Jihae became extremely ecstatic when Kris had to move back into the same suite as her. Now that Jessica was gone, she could be with Kris. What made it better was that Jessica had hurt her and Jihae got more attention and worry from Kris. Things became more natural between the two and Jihae couldn’t ask for anything more.

 

Kris hummed. “Not really. It feels empty and desolate without Jess.” Shifting on his own bed, he turned to look at Jihae with apologetic eyes. “Is your cheek okay?”

 

Jihae only gave him a meek smile. “It’s okay. You don’t really need to check up on me. You weren’t the one who hit me…” she trailed off, not wanting to rant on Jessica.

 

The conflicting feelings reoccurred yet again and Kris lay flat on his back again, deciding to confront her. “Can I ask you something?” he began, catching Jihae’s attention yet again.

 

“Sure, anything.” Jihae grinned.

 

“Do you know why Jess slapped you?” Kris questioned rather straightforwardly, staring at her straight in the eyes.

 

Jihae was taken aback and stuttered. “Uh…well…” she gulped. “Because I held you back and because I…I…”

 

“Because you kissed me.” Kris bluntly finished her sentence, making Jihae recoil. “Do you remember what I told you the day we first met at the office?”

 

Blinking, Jihae was forced to reflect back. Truthfully, how could she forget the day she first met the man of her dreams? Jihae remembered every single detail of that day. Now what was the first thing Kris had told her?

 

“I’m not implying anything, but I want to be clear. I’m a happily married man with a wife who works as the brand manager of this company. I will not tolerate any nonsensical tactics that will be used towards me to garner any sort of affectionate attention.”

 

Jihae lightly gasped in recollection. She had violated the first rule Kris had set for her without realizing. Jihae bit her lip. But she couldn’t help it. She has grown used to watching Kris from afar, to see his all around perfection. Her hopes felt crushed, but surely, just surely, she knew Kris had some sort of feelings for her.

 

Hearing her intake of breath, Kris took it as she remembered his first regulation. “I’m happily married, Jihae.” He sat up on his bed and looked her straight in the eyes, holding up his hand to show her the evident wedding band on his ring finger. “And I will not tolerate any affections you have towards me.”

 

Jihae’s lips quivered, staring at him with big eyes. “B-But…you…I…” she sighed. “Why not?” she finally sputtered out.

 

Kris tilted his head. “Why?” he repeated her query, making her nod her head. “Because I’m married. Happily married to the perfect woman.”

 

“It doesn’t mean I can’t still like you!” Jihae lashed out, wanting to find a loophole.

 

“Are you telling me to commit adultery?” Kris remained calm, raising a criticizing eyebrow at her.

 

Jihae’s words got caught in . “…No, I’m not. I just don’t understand why I’m not allowed to like you.” She looked determined. “It doesn’t matter if you’re married, because you can always change that and get a divorce. You can have a change in heart.”

 

Her words fell sharply at Kris, as the word divorce, was not in his vocabulary list, simply because he planned on never using it. Ever. “Let me tell you one thing that will never happen, Jihae.” He eyed her seriously. “I will never get a divorce.”

 

Clenching her teeth, Jihae tried her best not to let the threatening tears fall. “Fine! That doesn’t matter! I’m still going to like you!”

 

Kris briefly shut his eyes in frustration. “Don’t.” his one worded response confused Jihae. “Don’t like me.”

 

“Why not?” Jihae defiantly exclaimed.

 

“Because I have absolutely no feelings towards you.” Kris explained, making a clear fine line that he is not interested in anyone except Jessica. “I never had and I never will.”

 

Jihae’s heart broke into pieces, as her whole world flashed before her. “B-But…” she tried to speak with her deep shock.

 

“I thought I made this clear on the first day. I’m married and I love my wife with all of me. No one else claims my heart except Jessica. I do not love anyone else except Jessica.” Kris pronounced each word with precision.

 

The waterworks finally and Jihae’s eyes spilled tears. “But…but I liked you!” she sobbed, sniffling uncontrollably. “It’s…it’s just that Jessica got there first! It’s not fair!”

 

“Jihae, I need you to get one thing straight.” Kris only spoke in a composed manner. “Jessica is not at fault for slapping you.”

 

Jihae’s hitched breathing sounded throughout the room as he looked up at Kris with wide eyes. “What do you mean it wasn’t her fault?” Jihae sniffled and shouted, wiping her red face. “She hit me!”

 

Kris tolerated her childishness. “We both know why she hit you, Jihae.” He gave her a serious look, only to see Jihae with an angry face. “My wife saw you kissing me and she didn’t like it at all. Jessica did you a favor and didn’t lay a hand on you at first, but when you took it a step further and grabbed me back, you provoked her to slap you.”

 

“Just because I kissed you, doesn’t mean she can hit me!” Jihae replied immaturely.

 

“I’ve known Jessica for over five years. She has never laid a finger on anyone with bad intentions. Jessica does not let out her anger by assaulting someone.” Kris proudly defended his wife. “You need to understand that she did it because she didn’t want you touching me. As her husband, I should not be kissing anyone other than her. Seeing your other half kissing or being kissed by someone else is heart wrenching and a violation of trust. Jessica had every right to slap you.”

 

Jihae only kept quiet, knowing that every word that came out of Kris’ mouth was valid and true. The tears in her eyes were falling like a waterfall, unending. How could she have been caught in her own act? She felt so guilty, but refused to accept it.

 

“I love Jessica and I know for a fact that she loves me back just as much. Jessica is my world. I’ve seen her in every shape and form: sad or happy, unforgiving or loving. Everything. When I had to be separated from her because of this trip, I despised the idea of being away from each other. I never wanted to leave her in the first place. When she took her own time and effort to come here, I knew she did it for me. She did it for us. We both understand each other and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. As a matter of fact, we are each other’s strength and we are each other’s weakness. Nothing can separate us. We live for each other. But what I’m trying to get at here, is seeing my wife run off, trying to get as far away from me as she can. My Jessica was hurt by the fact that I was putting her in second place because in Jessica’s heart, I am number one. Why was she hurt, you ask? Because I defended you, Jihae.”

 

Kris’ words were giving Jihae the lesson of her life. There was so much insight to what she had done and little by little, Jihae was becoming more and more regretful and sorry.

 

“Like I said, I have never seen Jessica hit another person. So I told Jessica that she had gone too far by hitting you. My wife became stunned, shocked by the fact that I chose to protect you, Jihae. As my duty as Jessica’s husband, I should be defending her, protecting her.”

 

“Why did you choose to protect me then?” Jihae questioned quietly, the tears slowly slipping away.

 

“Because I didn’t know how Jessica felt at that time. I’ve never seen her physically hit anyone, but when I finally did, I was surprised. But my wife had every right to do what she did to you. If you saw your loved one being kissed by someone else, you would feel the same anger Jessica had felt.” Kris spoke deeply, knowing that this turmoil was also partially his fault for being so insensitive.

 

It was true. Seeing Kris and Jessica kissing and hugging made Jihae furious and angry. There were times where Jihae felt like ripping Jessica’s hair off when she would witness Jessica kissing Kris. Jihae could finally understand where Jessica was coming from. She now understands why Jessica had slapped her and it was not because of jealousy. Now that she has figured all this out with the help of Kris, Jihae felt as if she was a home wrecker. She had just destroyed a beautiful marriage because of her blindsided little crush on Kris.

 

“…I’m sorry.” Jihae apologized, feeling extremely guilty for doing such a bad deed. “I shouldn’t have ruined your relationship. I was being stupid and naïve. I just liked you and I thought that if I liked you, you would like me back.” She frowned, revealing that she was still quite new at love and relationships.

 

“Judging from your lack of experience with many things,” Kris remembered that she hasn’t done much with her life except study. “You haven’t gotten a first love before, haven’t you?” he uncovered the truth.

 

Jihae’s eyes widened as she tilted her head up. “How’d you know?”

 

Kris gave her a smile. “You’re pretty easy to read.” He ruffled her hair. “You still have a lot to learn, Jihae. Should I help you learn about love?” he suggested helping her.

 

Jihae was interested in learning new things, as learning is all she did for the majority of her life. “Sure— but wait…” she quickly caught herself. “Do you accept my apology? I don’t want to force you to help me when I did something bad to you.”

 

A bitter smile slid on Kris’ lips. “Well, you shouldn’t be apologizing to me. The person you should be apologizing to is Jessica. In fact, I need to apologize to her too. I’m at fault too, but she’s unwilling to listen to me right now. She’s been pretty emotional.” He sighed hurtfully, before he remembered something. “Do you know anything about pregnancy, Jihae?”

 

A stunned expression pasted on Jihae’s face from Kris’ sudden question. “What are you talking about? I haven’t gotten pregnant before! I haven’t even dated before!” she hugged her body.

 

“I’m not saying that you’ve been pregnant before. I’m not instigating anything.” Kris defended himself. “I’m just wondering…since you’re a female. You’d know about how the female body is when women are pregnant, right?”

 

“…Well I do remember from school studies. All girls we supposed to take this one class back a couple years ago at school.” Jihae recalled, nodding her head.

 

“Great,” Kris grinned. “Then we can teach each other something.” His comment made Jihae perplexed. “In exchange for me teaching you about relationships and love, you can teach me about pregnancy.”

 

Jihae’s eyes became the size of golf balls. “What??” she was dumbfounded. “But…you’re a guy! You’ll never give birth!” she gave Kris a crazy look.

 

“Doesn’t mean my wife can’t get pregnant.” Kris blinked ever so seriously.

 

Jihae froze. Oh. My. Goodness. Remembering back to when she skipped over to Jessica’s suite this morning, Jihae knew that the married couple had an ‘active’ night, judging from what Jessica was wearing when she answered the door. No way. Did Jihae just destroy a marriage and possibly a happy family?

 

“Is…is Jessica pregnant?” Jihae looked as if she was going to get eaten up with guilt any minute.

 

“Well, we don’t know yet,” Kris shrugged. “But we’re aiming for it.” He gave a genuine grin.

 

Jihae threw her forehead onto her knees, feeling anything but remorse. “I’m sorry…I ruined everything for you two…”

 

Kris was more optimistic with hope. “Don’t worry. I’m feeling just as bad as you, but I never give up when it comes to Jessica. I’ll just have to try my best to fix everything once I get back home.” He sighed, rubbing his forehead with his fingers in frustration and worry. “You’ll have to apologize to Jess though…somehow. You still have a lot to learn.”

 

“Sorry…” Jihae knew nothing could fix what kind of damage she had done.

 

“It’s alright.” Kris waved it off, but the worry and thought of Jessica remained in his head. “Would you like to teach me about pregnancy now?”

 

Dragging herself up the stairs, Jessica collapsed onto the bed. She had looked like a blank slate the entire time she flew back to Korea. Now that’s home, she just wanted to relax, but the mattress she was currently lying face down on was making her even more upset. The scent of Kris was evident. Of course, the environment she was in took part of making her feel even more down than she already was. How could she possibly zone out anything that connects to Kris when she’s in the house she shares with him?

 

Groaning, Jessica forced herself to roll over onto her back, for there was lack of air. She sighed. There was nothing she could think of except Kris. It was an upsetting surprise that Kris had not backed her up. In any case, Jessica had never seen Kris go against her as well. It was too alarming for her to see it happen for the first time. Why did Kris have to take Jihae’s side?

 

Jessica believed that she was right. There was nothing she did wrong in that situation. She had the right to slap Jihae, even if it seemed unlikely of her. Jessica knew her anger got out of hand and she did feel bad for slapping someone, but she wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been for Jihae kissing her own husband. But then again, why would Kris even think Jessica was wrong in the first place?

 

Pouting her lips, Jessica curled up on the bed. “Maybe Kris was right,” she murmured. “Maybe I was wrong. I shouldn’t have hit her.” She felt remorse for physically hurting someone.

 

Jessica could fix the past. She had hit Jihae in the face and she was too furious and upset to realize what she did until she got on the plane. For the first time in her life, Jessica had actually hit someone with her bare hands with the intention to inflict pain. Come to think of it, the way she hit Jihae did seem harsh and painful.

 

Jessica clenched the pillow in her hand, hugging it closer. “But she deserved it!” she reminded herself, trying to hold her ground. “But I shouldn’t have hit her so hard…” Jessica couldn’t help but feel apologetic. “I guess Kris was right…” she sighed. “I was wrong for hitting her.”

 

Jessica is too nice for her own good. 

 

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{Author's Note}: To bring you guys out of your grief from the previous cliffhanger, I've updated with a filler chapter. Don't think this dramatic rollercoaster ends here~ Harharhar...there's more coming!! 

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