Eighteen - 1

Kim Joonmyun has always been good at taking tests. She usually aces all her quizzes and tests with perfect scores and no mistakes. She doesn’t make mistakes. Her high test scores have helped her climb to the top of her grade and become her school's top student. 

Joonmyun has never failed a test before. The closest she’s ever gotten to failing was never. She even passed her driving test, which was a complete surprise for her because she could barely park. Don’t even get her started on parallel parking. It’s shocking that she hasn’t crashed her car yet but she’s thankful for that because her car is not cheap.

But for this test, she’s praying that she fails. 

Joonmyun tries really hard not to think of the worst case scenario as she sits on the closed toilet seat, worry filling her body and mind. Her anxiety and nervousness levels are at an ultimate high as she waits for the results. How could she be so careless? She never thought she’d ever be in this position. She’s a good girl. Things like this aren’t suppose to happen to her.

The timer on her phone goes off loudly and she immediately jumps up, half scared and half nervous. She hesitantly reaches for the small white stick, not at all wanting to know the results but she has to face the music. It’s now or never.

Joonmyun is still hoping and praying to every god out there that she gets a minus, which means negative and also means that she failed.

When she takes a look, Joonmyun is in shock and the small test drops from her hand to land on the floor. No. No! This was never supposed to happen to her. It was suppose to happen to some irresponsible teenager, not her.

On the small stick that has landed on the tiled floor, there is a plus sign with something next to it. In small bold letters, it says the word pregnant.

~

Joonmyun has another date tonight. This one will be her fourth date this month. A lot of people would have given up at this age, but she’s determined to find the perfect someone.

She's been on a ton of dates before and none of them have had any success. Most of the time the guy is attractive and good looking but his personality is terrible. Sometimes it’s vice versa with the guy's personality being great but he is horribly unattractive. 

But in all the dates she's been on, she has learned that they all have one thing in common: they're not ready to be a father.

Tonight, Joonmyun has a date with a guy from work. She had never even spoken to him before until he walked up to her and asked her if she wanted to go on a date with him. She was going to reject his offer since she knew nothing about him but Baekhyun suggested that she give him a chance.

She tries to dress casual and not too elegant since they're not going to a fancy restaurant or anything like that. The location of the date is at a restaurant that families usually go to with their children. She puts on a simple black dress and a pair of flats. She isn't the hugest fan of heels since she has terrible mobile coordination and would most likely trip in heeled shoes.

Joonmyun can sense Sehun's eyes on her as she gets ready for the night. She knows how much he hates when she does this but she only wants what's best for him. Having a father is what's best for him.

"Do you actually want someone or do you just enjoy the free fancy meals?" The teenager questions from his standing position by the door. His permanent frown is present on his face again and his eyes are emotionless.

He barely gets to see her cause he's at school all day and she's at work all the time but when he does, she's already preparing for her next date. He’s spent too many lonely nights to care anymore.

"Sehun, you know it’s not like that." Joonmyun knows her relationship with her son is broken but she isn't sure if it can be fixed. She’s his mother and mothers are supposed to provide the best for their kids.

"Why do you go out every night? Is it because of me? Do you hate spending time with me?" Joonmyun starts tearing a little because she knows that this is all her fault. Sehun's words are harsh and they're like a sword that has stabbed into her heart.

"I just want to find someone. Someone who likes me and accepts me for who I am and accepts everything that comes with me." Joonmyun tells Sehun the truth indirectly and it clicks instantly in his brain.

"The problem is me right? Nobody wants me. My dad never wanted me and clearly you didn't. Maybe I should just leave. Maybe if I didn’t exist, you’d be happy." Sehun leaves his position by the door and heads to his own bedroom before his mother has a chance to reply.

When he reaches his bedroom, he slams the door so put emphasis on his anger. He pulls out an old picture from under his pillow. It was taken when he was five and in the picture, he’s wrapped up in his mother's arms. Back then, they were a small but happy family. Where did all the happiness go?

~

The date is already horrible before it even starts. When Joonmyun arrives at the restaurant, her date isn't even there. She sighs as she takes a seat by a nearby bench. The weather outside is kind of chilly so she’s glad she decided to throw on a blazer at the last minute.

As she sits there, Sehun's words keep replaying in her mind over and over, like a broken record. The words are sting but she really wants Sehun to have a father figure in his life. It’s been seventeen years since he’s been born and never has a day gone by that she doesn’t regret her decision to keep him.

Almost half an hour passes and there is still no sign of her date. The temperature keeps dropping and she's about to leave when a man comes up to her. She glances at him and recognizes him as her date. At that exact moment, she realizes that she doesn’t even know his name.

"Hi Joonmyun, I'm so sorry I'm late. I lost track of time while I was getting ready. Perfection takes time, you know?" Her date says arrogantly and flashes a perfectly white smile.

No, I don't know. Please tell me more.

"It's alright." She fakes a smile and is starting to regret ever listening to Baekhyun. What does she know about dates? She hasn’t been on one for years.

"Are you hungry? We should eat. Let's go." He leaves and heads for the door, not bothering to wait for her. 

Rude.

She sighs again and just follows him. He doesn't bother holding the door for her and just goes straight inside, leaving her alone again. 

I totally regret this, she thinks. Thanks, Baek, glad you care so much about me.

"So, Joonmyun, have you ever eaten here?" Her date asks when they're seated and sorting through the menu. She finds it funny that she still doesn't know his name.

"I don't think so. Is the food good?" He starts to type away at his phone when she asks a question and ends up ignoring her completely. 

Thankfully, the waiter comes back with their drinks and temporarily stops the awkward silence. He's still texting when the waiter leaves and Joonmyun is seriously contemplating getting up and just leaving right after she eats.

As the night progresses, she learns a lot about him as he blathers away about himself and his life. She eats her food silently, barely speaking since he really doesn’t give her any chance to talk.

He informs her that he hates kids. "All they do is scream and cry. It's so annoying. Like why can’t they ever shut up?" She doesn't mention Sehun at all during the night.

He has an obsession with his nose. "You know, I think my nose is my best feature. I think it's shaped beautifully and it's so smooth. It's perfect. Like I think everyone wishes they had a nose like mine. Wouldn’t you want a nose like mine?" No, not really. 

He's only 25. "So my birthday just passed like last month. I can't believe I'm already 25. I was like 2 yesterday. Can you believe it? I feel so old. Like I’ll be 30 soon. That’s so old." She feels offended by what he’s saying. 

By the end of the night, Joonmyun isn't sure if this night can get any worse but of course, she's wrong.

Just as they’re about to call the waiter so that he can give them the check, her date’s phone rings loudly. He scrambles to reach for it since it’s on the table but when he sees the caller ID, he groans out loud. 

“Hello?” He answers and a scowl is planted on his face. 

“No, I’m out.” Pause.

“No, baby, I’m not with him. I’m only in love with you! Why do you always assume I’m cheating on you?” Her date stands up and ends his phone call.

“Sorry, that was my boyfriend. He’s thinking I’m cheating on him. Like why would I cheat on him? This was nice but I gotta go so here’s twenty for the meal. Bye!” Mystery date says to Joonmyun before rushing out of the restaurant.

Worst date ever, Joonmyun thinks as she fishes out the rest of the bills from her purse to pay for the meal. He didn’t even leave half. What a rude and he was already in a relationship. Not to mention he was gay and clearly not into women. Did he mistake her as a man? Is that why he went out on the date with her? She’ll never know because she doesn’t ever plan on speaking to him ever again.

It’ll be fun Baekhyun said. He looks like a nice guy she said. I’m sure you’ll have a nice time she said.

~

Joonmyun decided on the way home to stop by Sehun’s favorite bubble tea store to get him one as an apology for tonight. It wasn’t too late and she has a feeling that Sehun was still awake. Just after she placed her order, she heard some voices behind her.

“Hm, what kind should I get?” A voice behind her asked in Mandarin. It sounded a bit feminine and indecisive. 

“Get whatever you want. It doesn’t matter to me.” The other voice replied back in the same language. The person speaking sounded really familiar and Joonmyun froze when she realized who it was. She hadn’t heard that voice in over eighteen years.

She moves off to the side and tries to hide her face because she really doesn’t want the person behind her to notice her. It’s been about nineteen years and she still looks like she did when she was seventeen.

“One chocolate bubble tea!” The girl at the counter yells and Joonmyun scrambles to get it while avoiding to show her face at the same time. Too bad it doesn’t work because the voice behind her speaks up.

“Joonmyun?”

She sighs quickly before turning around to face the mystery man she hasn’t seen in almost nineteen years.

“Hi Yifan.” He still looks as handsome as he did years ago but instead of a bleached blonde, he has jet black hair. He was still tall with his 186 centimeter glory. Joonmyun can feel her heart racing on the inside and she doesn’t understand why she still feels this way after all those years.

There’s a woman next to him who’s almost as tall as him. She has dark bags under her eyes and her long hair is bleached blonde just like how his was nineteen years ago. Their hands are connected so they must be together. Or married. Joonmyun’s hopes go down at the sight.

“Wow, it’s been what? Nineteen years? You still look the same.” Yifan looks the same too.

“So do you. When did you move back?” Joonmyun can feel Yifan’s wife eyeing her as if she wanted to take Yifan away from her.

“We just arrived yesterday from China. This is my wife, Tao. She was feeling a little homesick so we stopped by to get some bubble tea.” Yifan introduces his wife looks confused.

“Nice to meet you Tao.” Joonmyun forces herself to stick out her hand in politeness. Tao takes it with hesitation.

“Oh, Tao doesn’t speak much Korean. She’s Chinese so she’s used to Mandarin.” Well, that explains a lot.

“Hi. I’m Joonmyun. Nice to meet you.” Joonmyun tries again but in Mandarin and Tao’s face lights up.

“Oh hi! I’m sorry, my Korean is terrible.” Tao smiles sweetly and takes Joonmyun’s hand with kindness. Joonmyun wants to hate her but Tao’s making it really hard to.

“It’s alright. How long have you guys been married?”

“About five years. We just moved here since my company moved me from their Guangzhou branch to the Seoul branch. What do you do now?” Yifan explains and Joonmyun wonders if he’s an engineer since that’s what he’s always wanted to do with his life. Or at least that’s what he used to tell her.

“Oh, I work as an accountant at a law firm. My best friend’s the lawyer so she got me the job. You remember Baekhyun right?” Joonmyun can see Yifan trying to remember and it’s a cute sight.

“Oh the short one who dated Chanyeol? Are they still together? Last time I spoke to Chanyeol, they were.” Yifan questions and Joonmyun is so glad Baekhyun isn’t here right now because talking about Chanyeol is still a touchy subject for her.

“No. They broke up about two years ago.” Joonmyun glances down at her watch and sees that it’s almost eleven and she realizes that she has work tomorrow.

“Oh. How about you?” Her relationship status is so depressing.

“I’m single still. It’s nice seeing you again and I’d love to stay but it’s late and I have work tomorrow.” Joonmyun can see Yifan’s smile drop a little before nodding.

“Yeah sure, it’s no problem. It’s nice seeing you. Maybe I’ll run into you again.” Joonmyun smiles and waves one last time before heading off to her car. Once she’s inside she tries to calm her racing heart. It feels like she was eighteen again.

Joonmyun sighs and puts her head of the steering wheel. She can’t believe that even after all these years, her feelings for Wu Yifan haven’t changed a bit.

Hey guys. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I’m sorry I made you wait so long ): Writing a chaptered story is harder than drabbles which is why this one took so long. I don’t know when the next update is but I hope soon.

Until next time!