twenty-two

  “Joke of the century!” Krystal burst out in robust laughter, clapping her hands vigorously, whilst nearly falling off her chair. “He came to your place with the excuse of wanting to see Jun, and Luhan-oppa said that in his face?” Her eyes were watering up, laughing so hard that her stomach ached. “Dear gawd, oh dear gawd, that Kim Jongin is such an idiot.”

  Yoona blushed, turning slightly pink. “Well, Sehun is Jun’s godfather by chance. Kai would’ve been Jun’s godfather too, in any case, and besides… He’s a part of Luhan’s group, and I’d welcome anyone from Luhan’s group.”

  “Luhan’s group?” Jessica enunciated her words, scoffing slightly as she folded her arms. “Please Yoona, if the both of you weren’t obvious enough already…”

  “And what do you mean?”

  “Dear, dear Yoona, do you truly not know what I’m trying to imply?” Jessica made a further emphasis on her words, staring straight into Yoona’s eyes, only to be met by a rather uncomfortable shake of the head by Yoona. “…Will somebody please help me knock this girl through the head with a nice steel hammer?”

  “…Yoong, Kai’s obviously still in love with you.” Victoria piped up, sounding rather casual as she flipped through the catalogue of wedding cakes. “And I’d bet you knew that.”

  For a moment, it was as though Yoona’s heart was seized by strange feelings, and she tightened her grip on the pages of the recipe book she had been looking through. “…That’s ridiculous.” She quickly brushed the thought away, trying to maintain her calm composure as she browsed through the book once more, though barely paying attention to it.

  Krystal clasped her hands together, sighing dreamily at the thought of it. “You’re such a twit, Yoong-unnie! How romantic all of this sounds! Imagine this – you’re married to a handsome man who loves you and practically worships you and you have a beautiful son, and then, this chiseled, dashing other guy comes chasing after you! Oh gosh, what a desirable rendezvous!”

  “So Yoona, whilst married to Luhan, with Jun and also at the sixth month of pregnancy with her second child, should secretly cherish a ‘forbidden’ affair with Kai?” Seohyun was amused, purposefully adding onto the exaggeration to create a dramatic effect.

  “Why not?” Krystal furrowed her brows at Seohyun who had just popped her little imagination. “I mean, it’s so romantic!”

  Yoona was just as amused, shaking her head as she chuckled softly. “I wouldn’t dream of doing something like that.”

  “But why?”

  “Well, for starters, Krys, this isn’t some sort of drama. In dramas, it’s fun to watch and you’d thrive with the drama, but in real life, such affairs cause only pain to families.” Seohyun began her usual, righteous lecture. “Besides, why break up an almost perfect family? The unimaginable grief and hurt that could be caused by an affair… It’s also another major matter altogether.”

  Yoona shrugged her shoulders furtively as she set down her book. “I love Jun and Luhan immensely, really. Luhan doesn’t abuse me nor does he lash out profanities when he’s upset, and Jun happens to be both lovable and loving.” A small smile formed upon Yoona’s face. “…I’m blissfully married and soon will be gifted with another child – having an affair is ridiculous.”

  “But Yoona, think of Kai’s feelings for you.” Krystal persisted, dropping her formalties. “I mean, he hasn’t actually gotten serious about anyone else since he had that crush on you before you married Luhan. In the first place, you liked him too. You and Luhan were an even more ridiculous, mismatched pair than you and Kai-“

  “That’s merely speculation.” Yoona put up a good argument, attempting to remain firm. “Last time, I just casually praised Kai’s good looks, and that’s all. It’s not like one small praise will equal to me actually loving him. And Seohyun’s right – affairs are notorious little buggers that we shouldn’t even take one step towards.”

  Victoria grinned at the way Krystal was harshly silenced. “Oh well, Yoona, all I can say that this is probably the hundredth time you stomped on the poor boy’s heart… In any case, we have a more serious matter to handle, don’t we? Sulli’s wedding – two months.” She held up the catalogue. “This is a huge crisis, and I hope you know, ladies, that we’re in for a tough, tough time if we want this wedding to be absolutely perfect.”

  “Sulli’s wedding is trivial; we can tend to it later. We have more serious matters at hand, don’t we?” Krystal attempted to wave it away. “But Kai-“

  “We won’t have time to deal with drama right now, Krys. We’ve got to divide our roles up well. One tends to the kitchen, one tends to the hall, one tends to Heechul and Kyuhyun to make sure they stay out of trouble, one tends to Sulli to ease her temper and calm her when she wavers, and of course, we need someone who’s going to keep you at bay.” Victoria smirked. “Now, shall we begin?”

  As they begun sorting through the details, there was one person who was still unconvinced – not Yoona, but Krystal.

  “I’m telling you, she’s out of her mind!”

  Her words came out rather harsh, as if she was enraged and infuriated by the matter. Truthfully, the matter was not even about her, not even having the faintest relation to her except that it was the little gossip that she thrived on. Sehun was flanked beside her, keeping his silence, giving her amused smirks every now and then when he focused his attention away from the television.

  “I mean, Kai’s totally in love with her and she’s acting like she completely doesn’t care about it at all! She’s always been treating him in such a nonchalant manner ever since she had met him, and let me tell you, it’s seriously getting on my last nerve!” Krystal continued to rant loudly. “And then, though all of this is evident- Oh Sehun, will you switch off that damned thing and listen to me?!”

  Sehun snickered as he pressed the button and the TV screen turned black. “Alright, alright, tell me.” He still seemed rather entertained by the contents of her words, putting his head on his hands as he tried to show that he was listening intently.

  “For starters, I seriously think that Yoona should take Kai’s feelings into consideration. I mean, he’s an eligible bachelor, and not just that, he’s also one of the world’s most desired guys! He’s handsome, he’s romantic, he knows how to make women tick…” Krystal mused, deeply immersed in her own thoughts. “He’s the best person to have an affair with.”

  “Well, Krys, have you thought about what might happen to Luhan and Jun?”

  Krystal hesitated for a moment, before shrugging he