twenty-nine

  “Sweetheart, that does not suit you.”

  With a tired smile curved along the contours of her lips, Jessica tactfully poked her husband. She touched his worn maroon sweater which he had practically snatched out of the closet in the morning, then she pointed at his faded denim jeans. Jonghyun suppressed a groan, giving his wife a somewhat exhausted nod.

  “Yes, yes, honey…” Jonghyun mumbled, sounding rather fatigued. Then his eyes fell upon his wife and a witty comeback line came to his mind. “Well, honey, I don’t think you’re in the position to say that… considering what you’re wearing.”

  “Even when you’re tired, you can think of good ways to rebutt me. I must applaud, Kim Jonghyun, but let me just say that it’s not commendable.” Jessica narrowed her eyes at him. “…Pink tights go well with flower print dresses – I read it on a magazine.”

  “And what magazine is that?” Seohyun interrupted, sitting up slowly as she gazed comically at the both of them. “It’s fascinating to see the usually chic, trendy and fashionable Jessica Jung lose her fashion sense.”

  Jessica reflexively gave Seohyun a sharp whack on the forehead, causing Seohyun to lean back against the chair once more, whilst Kyuhyun instantly shot Jessica a death glare. “Hey! Watch who you’re hitting!”

  “Oh, yes, yes… Dear Kyuhyun, I forgot that Seohyun had become her majesty, your wife. And of course I can’t lay a finger on your precious darling, huh?” Jessica snapped back sarcastically, smirking. “You’re whipped, for crap’s sake.” 

  “Daddy, what does ‘whipped’ mean?” Seonjung posed a question innocently.

  Seohyun began chuckling as she saw her husband turn a shade of deep red. “Well, sweetheart, it just means that Daddy loves Mommy very, very much.” Seohyun took the liberty to reply, then nudged Kyuhyun. “…Right?”

  “Of course.” Kyuhyun’s reply was immediate.

  Seonjung blinked, somewhat understanding. “Oh! Sounds cool!”

  “Whipped, whipped, whipped-“ Jonghyun was about to start teasing once more.

  “Unnie!” Krystal called from the corridor, as she carried Yeonjung towards the living room. “Mijeom’s pooped in her pyjamas again. Did you forget to put on diapers for her?”

  Jessica’s eyelids shot up in surprise. “That’s impossible; I always remember to put on diapers for her…” She trailed off, then shifting her glance to her worn husband, groaning loudly as he realized what he had forgotten. She jabbed him with her finger, irritably pointing towards the bedroom of her youngest daughter. “Start running, Kim Jonghyun.”

  With a heavy sigh, Jonghyun dragged his body up. “…Babies.”

  “And you call me whipped?” Kyuhyun cleverly mocked Jessica.

  Jessica gave him a wry look. “Yes, you are whipped, really, really whipped.”

  “Eat slowly!” Victoria nagged, half-gaping as she stared at Yoona, who was practically gulping down her food whole. “…Have you been starving yourself, Yoong, or is there a dragon in your stomach? This is the third bowl of beef noodles you’ve had! Too much red meat is not good for the baby!”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah…” Yoona brushed it off, busy wolfing down her noodles. “He’s not here anyway,” she said between bites. “Unless you’re planning to rat me out to him.”

  “You ungrateful little girl!” Victoria folded her arms and frowned, beginning her preaching once more. “You should be thankful that Luhan’s been conscientiously supervising your diet! Most husbands wouldn’t actually show much care to what their wives consume-“

  “That’s just because I’m pregnant with his baby.” Yoona pointed out. “…He loves Jun to the core, what’s to say he won’t love this kid? Either way, as long as I get my usual fix of food, I’m content. Besides, he’s a horrible cook and when I’m too lazy to cook, I’ll come here. I suppose that’s fine right, Vic-unnie? This house needs some brightening up anyway.”

  Victoria’s frown deepened. “And why would you say that?”

  “Yoona’s right, actually.” Seohyun remarked casually as she stepped out of the kitchen, sipping water from one of the glasses. “…You’re as dead as the house, Vic-unnie. Haven’t things been patched up with Mi-oppa?”

  Victoria stiffened at the sound of his name, especially since Seohyun had brought up a rather sensitive matter, to Victoria, at least. “Things are perfectly fine.” Victoria forced herself to maintain her calm composure. “…We haven’t had any heated disputes since that issue, and life has been progressing pretty smoothly.”

  “Come on, Vic, we all know it’s not smooth,” Yoona persistently badgered. “Pretty much the entire world’s screwed right now. Since Taemin and Sulli are happily enjoying their honeymoon, maybe not the entire world’s screwed, but almost the entire world. There’s you, and then there’s the big fall-out between Krystal and Sehun. Solving things step by step will lead to world peace, you know…” Yoona said a-matter-of-factly, causing Victoria to roll her eyes.

  “Yeah well, you’d best just take care of that little one, Yoong. The baby will be coming out any time right now and it’s best that you don’t bother about anything else.” Victoria made an attempt to sweep everything under the carpet, but the attempt was unfortunately futile.

  Seohyun’s sharp ears perked up, and she whipped her head around to look at Victoria. “Matters should be solved before they truly heat up; it’s not funny to be facing the fire. I mean, it’s often that miscommunication occurs between couples but it shouldn’t be the thing to beat you down.”

  Victoria let out a heavy sigh. “Such things aren’t easily solved. There are always other matters that at hand that are way more important, like Huiling, for example, her fifth birthday is around the corner, in a couple of weeks and there’s so much to prepare. She wants to have her birthday party at some princess play-land at the mall, and we’ve got to make bookings and-“

  “Unnie! Stop switching the topic, and stop overstressing yourself!” Seohyun cut her off, feeling rather agitated. “You improving your relationship with Mi-oppa will only improve things between you and Huiling as well. It’s obvious that Huiling wants to see you happy with him.”

  “I know, I know…” Victoria couldn’t bear to admit it, though her conscience was already yelling at her. “…It’s just rather tough and all. Feelings don’t change, but then sometimes actions, attitudes and gestures… It all conforms to the general atmosphere and of course, to the situation that is concurrent-“

  “Vic-unnie, I think you ought to put an end to this. It’s making everyone miserable.” Yoona advised, rubbing with the back of her hand. “It’s enough that Sehun’s moved in with us and he’s constantly showering us with his problems… I don’t want you to become in denial like he is. Denial, pride and all that crapload pretty much doesn’t get you anywhere.”

  “How severe is it with Krystal?”

  “…He broke up with her and he doesn’t intend to get