Chapter 41

His eyes were glued onto her firmly. He noticed her eyes widening slowly & her lips parting. She seemed too surprise. Stopping at the end of the bed, he tilted up the right corner of his lips, “You lied.”

Tiffany gulped, “What are you doing here?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” He asked, a bit of sarcastic in his voice.

She closed her eyes briefly. As her lashes fluttered up, her eyes gave him the look he had never wanted to see.

“I told you not to follow me, Jae Oppa.”

“But I love you too damn much not to do that, don’t I?!” He clenched his jaw tightly as she didn’t respond. His body heated up for some unclear reasoned. She had made her words clear in the letter. Her body doesn’t want him there but her soul was aching for him. Her mind, he could clearly tell, had been thinking about him.

Yuri coughed, putting on a tricky smile, “I’ll go help your mom with dinner, Ti.” She stood up nervously but somehow, gave Jaejoong a wink.

As the door closed from behind, he raked his hair back in frustration with a huge sigh. The nerve to gather her into his arm was uncontrollable & he thought he would never see her again. The silence circled about his ears, scratching the platform of his brain. He hated the thought of losing her forever & here she lay in bed without a care.

“You’re one woman who never think of anyone else, Fany.” He whispered, breathing uneasily, “Do you really think that running away will solve our problem? You’re right. Thanking me wasn’t enough from the last words you had said. If you really want to thank me, try being more sophisticated. Try to accept my love through that stubborn heart of yours. Try admitting that you love me instead of lying.” He raised his head, looking at her straight in the eyes, “Is that too hard now?”

Tiffany narrowed her brows, feeling tears coming to her eyes, “No, it’s easy.”

“Why not try it?”

She sniffed, looking away, “You don’t understand, Oppa.”

“Don’t understand what? Name that bothering sensation you keep in secret. Does every guy you meet have to go through this? Or is it just me?” He bit his bottom lips, unable to continue for a second, “I’m not going anywhere until I hear your words.”

She looked up at him standing at the same spot ever since he had entered her room. She shook her head sluggishly, “You don’t know what you’re saying. I’m still the stubborn woman I am.” Her brows twitched.

“If you really love me, Oppa, please just leave. You’re making everything worse.”

“For who?”

“For the both of us, Oppa!” Tiffany shouted. She quickly wiped a tear away as it slid down her cheek, “My answer for you had always been no. You’re wasting your time. You have your life to continue & I have mine. I just want some peace & quiet now.” She abruptly reached for the mug of tea but quickly leaned back in pain. He looked away, not moving a muscle to help her, though it was killing him inside. A knock came at the door. At the corner of his eyes, Jaejoong stared as Yuri appeared with a tray of food. He moved forward, taking it from her & whispered, “I’ll feed her. Tell her parents I’m not hungry.” As he turned around, she had her eyes closed, leaning back against the pillow. He sighed, set the tray on the nightstand & touched her hand. Her eyes flashed open, turning to look at him. He smiled the best he could, “How much does it hurt?”

“As if I’m dying.” She whispered, snatching her hand back.

Sighing, Jaejoong reached over, taking a spoonful of the creamy cauliflower soup, “Slowly open your mouth.” “I’m not hungry.”

“Fany.”

She shut her eyes again, “I told you, Oppa, I’m not hungry. I ate a few hours ago. I’m...I’m just tired.”

Jaejoong grimaced, set the spoon back down in its bowl & brought the blanket up to her neck, “When will the nurse come back?” Instead of answering him, she made a humming sound underneath her breath. He smiled, “I’m going to come back tomorrow.” She didn’t respond, “I’m going to take you out for some fresh air.”

“I won’t be able to go.”

“You will. We’re just going to take a few walks outside. It’ll help you.”

“No.” Tiffany opened her glinting eyes, “I don’t want you here anymore, Oppa.”

He grunted softly, “I want you to rest.”

“Oppa.” She repeated again, her voice growing sharper, “I mean it. You can’t stay here & I don’t want you here.”

He his lips, looking down, “I’m afraid I can’t go back, Fany. I need to be here with you.” He peered up, “& I’m here to help your father with his business.” Her face blanched, “Look, just go to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You seriously won’t listen to me, huh?”

He pressed on a grimace, “I love you too much to go back home.” He removed a lock of hair from her cheek. The grimace on his face changed into a smile, “Try being in my place, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me that.” Tiffany whispered, eyes shutting.

Jaejoong bit his bottom lips in hesitation. He stood at a leaning angle towards her & said lowly under his breath, “Goodnight, Fany.” She half-opened her eyes, staring straight into his. He wanted to kiss her; she can easily read from his eyes.

Through half-breathlessness, Tiffany turned her head, whispering “Don’t, Oppa. Please.”

He stared at her turned face. It seemed as if she was afraid of him & he hated to be the monster, “I just wanted you to know, Fany, that I had never thought of you as Hannie when we were making love.” She closed her eyes tightly then, trying to shut out the memory. Her breathing paced. Jaejoong winced inwardly, clutching onto the edge of her blanket, ‘Idiot!’ He thought, running his right hand through his hair. Still leaning over her, he slowly touched her cheek. She flinched, aching him as far down to the core of his heart. She had already started to unplug that core, “Fany, I really.” He sighed, unable to continue for a moment, “Do you remember that morning in your office after that night?” He didn’t wait for her answer, knowing fully well that she won’t answer him, “Well, I had never apologized for what I had said & I had been regretting about it everyday. I’m so sorry. You were a pleasure in my arms. The best at it too, & when I saw Kyuhyun hovering over you, it scared me to death. I could have killed myself if I wasn’t there to save you.” He nibbled her chin with his fingers, “From that night on after you laid in my arms, I called you my own. You don’t know how glad I’m to have met you. Life seems so dead to me & you’re the one to wake me up. Please reconsider, Fany.” He pressed his lips together, closing his eyes briefly & then turned. His body left her room but his soul clung onto her. As he turned, Yuri appeared, carrying a cup of water, “She’s trying to sleep but I know she can’t. She won’t eat anything. Try to convince her to eat for me, will you?”

“Of course.”

Hands in his pocket, Jaejoong walked into the living room. Mr. Hwang was leaning over his work like the usual. Taking in a huge deep breath, he walked to the seat nearby & sat down. The elder man looked up.

“Did she eat?”

“A little.” Jaejoong lied, pressing on the best smile he could. He looked down at the paperwork, reaching for one, “When do you expect to begin? We can easily merge my company here with your new one until it is fully developed. It’ll help with initiations & give your future business the advancement. Besides, building a skyscraper takes more than a year & the develop of new ideas such as search engines, new software & hard drives needs to be planned somewhere.”

Mr. Hwang looked up with a small smile pushing its way up, “Your father gave all his time into teaching you, huh, kid?”

Jaejoong smiled, “He did.”

Mr. Hwang grunted, “He was a great friend of mine back in high school & was also the one who got me addicted to computer programming. He taught me all the things he knew from old advance to new advance. Things got messed up a little bit towards the end of our final year. We never did try to correct it & went our separate ways to college. I regretted it so much after thinking about it in prison. If only I had talked to him, things wouldn’t be like this today.”

Looking down, Jaejoong rubbed his mouth. Though his eyes were glued to the paper in front of him, his mind was way off the topic. If all of what had happened didn’t happen then he would have never met his Fany the way he did.

“What’s up with you & my daughter?”

He looked up & met the eyes of a worry father. His wanted doubts weren’t in them. What was to cover up was already uncovered. How could one, exception of his stubborn Fany, actually hide love?

“What do you think, Mr. Hwang?”

“I think you’re being unfair.” His eyes turned hard, “I have no interruption in your love with her, Jaejoong. However, I’m asking you if you’re making her as a substitute of Stephanie. If you are, I think my daughter is smarter than that. She’s not something to be messed around with or be a substitution of something you had lost. I don’t think Stephanie would appreciate it as much as she.”

“They are twins, Mr. Hwang. I still love Hannie as much as I had back then. To be truthful, for the first few weeks when I saw Fany again, for years, I thought she was Hannie but I had never placed her as a model of her sister.”

“& what about her lung cancer? You know about it.”

“& I’ll be quiet about it as much as I can. She doesn’t know that I know. Her only goal in mind now is for me to leave but I can’t. She’s stubborn but her heart is getting softer than usual.”

“She doesn’t want to hurt you or any of us, you know that.”

“I do.” Jaejoong tucked his fingers in his hair, “We should continue on our last topic.” He said, chuckling.

“Good idea.”

Jaejoong reached over, grabbing a pen. He his bottom lips, ready for work, looked up & then looked back down again, with a quick pause. Slowly, he brought his head up & gazed at the portrait hanging on the wall. They wore the same face, same black inc international concepts sleeveless belted sheath dress & same smile at the age of fifteen. The only difference the two possessed were their poses. One posed with her hands folded together & the other posed with a fighting fist with a smile on.

He chuckled. That was so her.