twelve

  “Why are all the women in the world getting pregnant?”

  Krystal let out a yell of frustration as she flopped on the sofa, drinking the apple juice that she had just gotten from the refrigerator. Luhan and Yoona, who had been snuggling on the sofa, jumped when Krystal bounced on it, the both of them rather startled, deliberately giving Krystal dirty looks as they edged away from her.

  “Oh for gawd’s sake, Jung Soojung, not all the women are pregnant.” Jessica frowned at her sister. “Just me, Yoona-“

  “-Sooyoung, Luna, even Amber.” Krystal folded her arms huffily. “The whole world’s moving on, having kids, and I’m still attached to that childish man who won’t get on his damned knees. Gosh, at this rate, I think that the only time a church will be rented for my purposes will be during my funeral. Of I will die single, alone and- Can you two stop being so ?” Krystal snapped at Luhan and Yoona. “We’re sitting on the same damn couch, for crap’s sake!”

  “It’s about time someone said that to these two idiots.” Sehun said as he came over, completely oblivious to the fact that he had been related to the conversation. “…I have had such a harsh time settling you two and now you’re both back to being unable to get your hands off each other.”

  Luhan gave Sehun a dry look. “It’s called intimacy. You two should try it out some time.”

  “Alright, alright…”  Jessica stopped them both from continuing to quarrel, as Jonghyun joined them. “We didn’t come here to quarrel, you know. We came here to discuss and settle some matters – Sulli’s wedding.”   

  “They haven’t even decided on a date yet, sweetheart.” Jonghyun reminded his wife, leaning against her. “Shouldn’t we consult them before we make any plans?”

  “Taemin can be rather indecisive when he wants to be, and I figured we should do some slight planning as well.” She threw her gaze at Krystal and Victoria. “You both knew Ssul best – what sort of wedding venue would she like? A church? A luxury hotel? A private island?”

  Krystal tossed her hair, sticking her nose up haughtily. “…I’m not going to involve myself with Sulli’s wedding prep – not until I get a ring on my own finger.”

  “…I wonder how you live with her, Sehun.” Yoona shook her head, disgusted with Krystal’s conceited answer.

  “I also wonder how you managed to get pregnant – especially since you’re two months pregnant and two months ago, I was staying over at your place. I wonder what I had overlooked.” Sehun smirked, making both Yoona and Luhan blush. “…Seriously speaking, why are you guys making such a big ruckus out of a wedding? Like Jonghyun-hyung said, the wedding is still really, really far away.”

  “…This calls for expert advice.” Jessica concluded, seeing that everyone was taking different sides. “Vic, what do you think?”

  Victoria was rather startled as she heard Jessica call her name, and only hers. She had been spacing out for the entire time they were talking, to the point that she had no idea what the conversation had been about. She was much too immersed in her own thoughts, caught up in her own suspicions of the true reason behind that particular scent she had smelled from her husband’s clothing. But she quickly brushed the thought away, trying to seem neutral.

  “Wha- what?” Victoria was jolted back to reality. “I’m sorry…What?”

  “Victoria-unnie were you even listening?” Krystal exploded in frustration. “Sulli’s wedding, Sulli’s wedding, Sulli’s wedding!” She yelled her words out loudly, making much emphasis on them. “What on earth were you thinking about? Don’t tell me that you’re pregnant too?”

  Victoria raised her eyebrows. “Uh…no.”

  “I knew it, so you are interested in Sulli’s wedding after all!” Jessica jumped up. “I knew-“

   As the others began squabbling once more, Victoria sunk back in her seat. There was a little too much to think about, and none, none of her thoughts had been positive.

  “Mommy, Daddy will come, right?” Seonjung chirped cheerfully as she ran towards her mother, wearing a big smile on her face as she clutched a piece of paper. “I hope he will – all of my classmates have been talking about how awesome it is for Cho Kyuhyun to come! Their mommies and daddies are all excited too!”

  Seohyun chuckled softly as she her daughter’s hair, holding her other daughter in her arms. “Daddy promised, and you know Daddy will never break his promises, right?” Seohyun reassured her daughter. “Don’t worry, just read your speech. Daddy will definitely come and hear it!”

  Not so far away, little Huiling had rushed up to her mother as well. “Daddy will be able to make it, right Mommy? He…”

  However, unlike Seohyun, Victoria did not have any confidence in giving her daughter a firm assurance. She herself was insecure, and she could not, she just could not give Huiling a definite answer when she could not be sure of herself. “…I’m sure he will, Huiling.” She patted her daughter’s shoulder. “Run along now.”

  As the children ran along to receive instructions from their teacher, Victoria’s heart trembled. It trembled because of the way her daughter had asked ever so innocently, ever so innocently, about Zhou Mi, and Victoria had not been able to give her daughter any affirmation, though she dearly desired to. Seeing Victoria seeming rather troubled, Seohyun took several steps towards her friend, offering her friend a warm gaze.

  “…You alright, Vic-unnie?” Seohyun asked kindly. “Are you feeling the usual motherly sadness, for the fact that Huiling has grown up quite a bit?” Seohyun did not misunderstand Victoria; she just made an assumption too quickly. “…I’m feeling that way too, especially when I watch Seonjung.”

  Victoria returned the smile. “Really? Well, Seonjung’s a fine girl. Smart, clever and decisive… Just like her father.” Victoria gulped as she said those words. Mi had never been decisive.

  “Indeed, she has inherited her father’s intelligence, that’s for sure, and she’s also inherited her father’s crude wit.” She shook her head, chuckling softly. “What can I say? She’s like the girl version of Kyuhyun, after all, and she sticks to her father like glue.”

  “…Yeah…True.”

  “It’s interesting, isn’t it – how we both didn’t end up with our ‘We Got Married’ partners?” Seohyun continued, still not noticing that Victoria seemed rather perturbed. “…That show just proves to be rather bogus, if we look at current circumstances.”

  “Not really… Jo Kwon and Gain got married, didn’t they?”

  “Oh yes, they did.” Seohyun mused, as she remembered. “Well, they were one of the more intimate couples on the show, after all. Hey wait, you and Nichkhun were rather intimate too,