CHAPTER 59

Dara abruptly woke up from an ugly dream. Drenched in sweat, she chased her breath. She looked towards her window and found that it was still dark. She clutched her chest, making sure that she was now widely awake.

She thought dreams would give her escape from the ugly reality she’s living but tonight, it was different. She dreamed of Jiyong. She knew it was him even though she couldn’t see his face. No matter how much she tried to make him look at her, he still kept his face hidden from her. He began turning away from her. And when she tried to run to him, her feet were suddenly glued to the ground. The ground slowly her down and the farther Jiyong went, the deeper she went down. And when she couldn’t see him anymore, when she couldn’t breathe anymore, she awoke.

An unsettling feeling loomed inside her. She quickly reached for her phone on the bedside table and dialed her husband’s phone. And just like before, Jiyong never bothered to pick up her call.

Maybe it was the stress. Maybe it was because she miss him so much that until her dream, sadness was haunting her. Yes, maybe it was. Of course her husband will come for her. He was just busy and he needed her support throughout all this. She gasped at the realization.

And so with still a heavy feeling inside her chest, she laid down on the bed and curled herself. She didn’t bother closing her eyes for the fear of sleeping and finding herself in the same situation as her last dream. She just stared at the dark sky outside the window and prayed for tomorrow to come quick, for maybe tomorrow, her husband will come and take her back home.

--

Jiyong winced as he felt the burning feeling of the bullet that pierced through the side of his stomach. He didn’t stop on his feet as he dashed towards Taeyeon’s brother who was about to shoot again. Yunho, shocked, on the other hand, sprinted towards Taeyeon’s brother as well and threw himself on him. Another loud sound was heard but this time, the gun missed either of them. The three of them fell on the ground, the gun slid through the ground.

The police arrived and rushed to the scene as they heard the shot.

Jiyong was quickly losing blood and felt his body weakened from the shot. Yunho managed to trap Taeyeon’s brother in arm lock, kicking the madman who was struggling to  be set free. Jiyong broke away from the two, feeling his body losing strength. He laid down on the floor, still aware of what’s happening but can’t move his body to help his brother.

Taeyeon’s brother managed to get free, Yunho tried to stop him from reaching the gun but he was too late. The former managed to get the gun and had once again tried to shoot them with it.

“Drop the gun, sir!” The voice of one policemen stopped Taeyeon’s brother from shooting one of them. But madness took over him, he raised the gun once again, aiming it to the police. He pulled the trigger but even before he could get a shot, the squad of policemen beat him to it.

The lifeless body of Taeyeon’s brother dropped to the ground pierced with a good dozen of bullets. Blood spread through the floor.

Yunho, with traces of blood on him, ran to his younger brother who was slowly losing life.

“Jiyong, hang on there.” Yunho cradled his brother in his arms as help came.

“Taeyeon. Please take care of her first. The baby.” Jiyong muttered through painful intake of breath.

The medics immediately carried Jiyong, with Yunho tailing them.

“Save your energy, Jiyong.” Yunho said, clasping his brother’s hand.

“Dara. Please keep this from her. I don’t want her to get worried. Please, hyung.” Yunho smiled this time. Until now it was still Dara in his younger brother’s mind. he squeezed Jiyong’s hand before letting go as the medics brought him inside the ambulance, with Taeyeon being catered on another.

--

Jiyong slowly opened his eyes and was welcomed with the faces of his parents looming over him. He realized he was in the hospital.

“Oh God, Jiyong!” His mother threw herself over him. He winced in pain but smiled at the realization that he was still alive after last night’s events.

“Hey, hey, you’re hurting him.” His father pulled his mother away from him. Jiyong tried to sit up and winced when pain shot through his stomach. His parents came to his aid and helped him to sit.

He looked around the room to find his brother. Yunho was leaning on the wall, wearing a smile on his face, he nodded to Jiyong who nod back. Their mom wiped the tears in her eyes before regarding Jiyong with a look.

“How could you be so careless? What you did was dangerous! You almost got killed!”

His father held on to his mother’s shoulders and squeezed.

“You made us so worried, son.”

“I’m sorry. I just… I just had to do it.”

Silence stretched out in the room. His parents stared at him with still worried looks on their faces.

“Please don’t tell Dara.” Jiyong broke the silence.

“But why? She needs to know. She would want to see you right now.” His father said.

“I don’t want to worry her. I don’t want her to see me like this. I haven’t fixed everything yet. She’ll know what happen but I want to tell her myself. She may get angry at me for keeping this from her. But… I just can’t bear seeing her sad if she sees me like this.”

“Oh, Jiyong…” His mom reached for him and hugged him, carefully this time.

“Where’s Taeyeon?” He asked, his gaze directed to his brother. His mother let go of him and stood beside his father.

“Why do you want to see her? She caused all this. You’re here because of her.” His mother told him angrily.

“Mom, please.” Jiyong started.

Yunho pushed away from the wall and stood closer to Jiyong’s bed.

“She’s in the other room. She hasn’t woken up yet since last night.”

Jiyong tried to stand up but once again the pain made him weak.Yunho held on to him to stop him from getting up.

“You still need to rest.”

“I will rest later, I just need to see her.” He regarded his brother with a pleading look. He turned to his parents and took a deep breath.

“Taeyeon’s probably carrying my child.”

Shock filled his parents’ expressions. His mom stepped back and almost fainted if not for his father’s arms around her.

“How? Oh God, Jiyong…” His mother said in trembling voice.

“I know. I’m sorry. What I’ve done was unforgivable. But what’s done is done. It’s my child and I have to make sure he or she is safe.”

“Does Dara know?” His dad asked. Jiyong could only nod. His mother gasped and while his father could only grunt. Jiyong turned to his brother.

“Hyung, I need to see her.”

--

Sitting on a wheelchair, Jiyong gazed at Taeyeon’s bruise-filled body. His heart clenched at the thought of her losing the baby, their baby after last night’s event. He learned from his brother how Taeyeon’s brother was abusing her after their parents passed away. It was sick.

And how could Taeyeon not tell this to him? How could she keep it to herself? She had been suffering all this time yet he didn’t have any idea about it. He felt Yunho’s hand on his shoulder, squeezing it.

“It’s not your fault.” But deep inside Jiyong felt that it was partly his fault.

But before Jiyong could answer his brother, the doctor came, interrupting his thoughts.

"How is she?" Jiyong immediately asked. The doctor smiled and answered.

"We conducted tests on her and everything turned out to be stable. There were minor wounds and  aside from mildly dehydrated, she's fine. She just need some rest to recover."

Jiyong was partly relieved from what he heard.

"What about the baby?" He asked. The doctor looked confused for a moment.

"Baby? I'm sorry but, what baby?"

Jiyong's brows furrowed in confusion, he gazed at Taeyeon who was peacefully sleeping and then to his brother who was wearing the same confused look.

"She's carrying my child." He finally answered. The doctor was taken aback for a moment but managed to recollect himself.

"We conducted tests... but there was no indication that she's pregnant. And with the blows that she took, she could have miscarried but we didn't see any indication of miscarriage. I'm sorry." Shocked, he could only stare at Taeyeon's sleeping body.

"But what she needed the most right now is mentally healing. With what she had been through, physical wounds would heal but deep inside her, she would still be wounded. Emotionally, and mentally."

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