Nichkhun’s POV

(Right after Jessica called him)

Nichkhun placed his phone on the coach beside him. He rested his legs on the table in front of the coach. “Is it Jessica?” asked someone who apparently just coming out from the kitchen. Nichkhun raised his head toward the voice. He raised his eyebrows toward that person.

“who are you talking with?” asked his friend. He appeared with foods in his hands. It happened that this guy really knew how to make himself comfortable wherever he was.

“yeap,” he answered shortly.

“what did she want? She still at Thailand?” his friend asked.

“oh God, Taec. You acted like a jealous boyfriend,” Nichkhun said before laughing out loud.

“how dare you. I’m just concerned of my bestfriend,” Taecyeon replied. He ignored Nichkhun and replaced the foods on the table. He sat on the coach opposite Nichkhun’s and pushed Nichkhun’s legs off the table.

“I asked you here not to talk about her, Taec,” Nichkhun said.

“whatever khun, but believe me, you’ll end up talking about her,” Taecyeon said. He opened a can of beer and handed to Nichkhun. He opened his before placing it on the table.

Nichkhun ignored Taecyeon’s comment and drank his beer. “I’ve been busy these days. Seriously I felt left out about everything. So, khun, do me a favor. How’s your life? Your marriage life I mean,” Taecyeon continued when Nichkhun ignored his comment.

“what are you now? A marriage counselor?” Nichkhun felt annoyed with Taecyeon’s question. Sure, it was Taecyeon who always counseled him about his problem. He always there when Nichkhun needed someone to talk and he was really a good listener and advisor. But he can nag like an old lady too. And that was the thing that Nichkhun wanted to avoid the most nowadays.

“khun, I know you and I know Jessica pretty well. With the characters of yours, I’m pretty sure that you both had a… should I say a very ‘colorful’ marriage life?” Taecyeon replied.

“you know your Jessica well. So, I guess without talking about it, I know you can guess how happy my life is,” without he realized, Nichkhun slowly opened up to his bestfriend.

“go on,” Taecyeon said. Nichkhun replied with a sigh before continued. “she’s the most stubborn person that I ever know.”

“well, she’s pretty famous with that. And you know what khun, sometimes I think she’s the female version of you,” Nichkhun smirked at Taecyeon. “are you crazy? She’s nothing like me,” Nichkhun replied.

“khun, I’ve known Jessica for such a long time and one thing that I learnt from our friendship was that, be patient. She is someone that need time to get close to someone, let alone to accept the fact that she needs to spend her whole life with someone that she barely knows. She has this kind of barrier that prevents herself from someone outside her circle. That’s why she always appears cold. And after everything happened between both of you, if I were her, I would react like that too,”Taecyeon said.

Nichkhun fell into silent mood. His mind started to process Taecyeon’s words. Of course he knew why Jessica was mad at him. It was because of him they had to get married at the first place. It was because of him everything became so awkward with her group members. Everything was not the same as before. But, even though he realized this, he stubborn mind did not want to admit it.

Taecyeon looked at Nichkhun. He knew that Nichkhun heard him. “khun, I really hope that your marriage will go well, despite of what had led to it. At least try to make it goes well. I know what happened to both of you and how much of hatred that you both shared. But believe me, there’s a thin line between love and hate. Don’t hate her too much khun. I’m afraid you’ll love her more than you hate her,” Taecyeon joked.

“in your dream,” Nichkhun replied.

“we’ll see,” Taecyeon laughed. “okay, back to Jessica, why did she call?” he said between his laugh.

“just telling me that she’s planning to visit my family tomorrow,”Nichkhun replied.

Taecyeon choked his drink. Okay, he was shock with the fact that Jessica wanted to visit Nichkhun’s family. Jessica was not someone that went to the place with complete strangers alone. Of course they were Nichkhun’s family but, they were still strangers. “Jessica? Your family? Visit?” he said while coughing.

Nichkhun laughed at him. “why? Loss the ability to talk already?” Nichkhun handed him the tissue box.

“well, it is a very weird action of Jessica. She never went to some place full with complete strangers let alone to socialize with them,” Taecyeon said.

“maybe she just wants to show off?” Nichkhun said off-handedly.

“so, are you going with her?” asked Taecyeon.

“what? No! why do I have to be there?”

“because you’re her husband. H.U.S.B.A.N.D”

“yes, I’m aware that she’s my wife and I’m her husband but, I don’t have to be there. I’m pretty sure that she would rather be there alone than being together with me,” Nichkhun replied.

“I don’t know you’re this kind of jerk,” Taecyeon said, slowly planting guiltiness inside Nichkhun’s heart. “and you told me that you’re nothing like Jessica. Your ego is just big as hers. Just admit it khun,” Taecyeon continued.

“you really know to make me feel miserable. Thank you for being here. You really helped me with my worries. You may go now. The exit is that way. Oh I forgot, you already know this house like your own. So, I don’t have to show you the way,”Nichkhun said sarcastically.

Taecyeon ignored Nichkhun’s sarcastic words. He grabbed Nichkhun’s phone while Nichkhun continued to nag. He handed the phone towards still-nagging-Nichkhun and he looked confused with Taecyeon’s action. His eyes opened wider once he realized what his bestfriend just did. “you did what?” Nichkhun screamed. Well, not like banshee type of scream but, well he screamed.

“no need to thank me. And I’ve already pay for the fare. Don’t forget to send my best regard to Jessica and your family,” Taecyeon said while standing. He walked toward the door and without turning his head, he said, “and no need to show me the way. I’ve known this house all my heart.” He coolly waved his hand before disappeared behind the door. Nichkhun stared at the screen. Taecyeon bought him an airplane ticket and he was going back home in less than three hours.

“damn you taec!”

**************************************

(back to Nichkhun’s childhood room)

“I know what you are going to say but first of all, I want you to consider it since this room doesn’t have much space for me to lie on. So please, be good to me, the father of your child, please, let me sleep on the bed,” Nichkhun begged.

“this is why I hate you. You can go sleep somewhere else,” Jessica said. “you can sleep on the couch in the living room. That couch looked comfy,” Jessica commented.

“try sleep on that one night and you tell me it is indeed comfy,” Nichkhun said under his breath.

“what?” Jessica asked since she didn’t quite catch with what he said.

“nothing,” Nichkhun replied. Be patient Nichkhun, patient. “just in case you might forget my dear wife, my family members are still there. I can’t just go there and sleep. And again, if you might forget and I think you did, my family didn’t know about our conditions. They think that we’re madly in love with each other. Well, except my parents and my siblings. So, for the sake of them, please, just bare with me for a few days,” Nichkhun said.

Jessica let out a sigh. “okay, I’ll let you sleep on the bed. But, just stay at your place during the night. Don’t try to do stupid things like you always did when we shared a bed,” Jessica finally gave in.

“Can’t promise that. You know, when sleeping, my hands seemed to have their own mind,” he said while smiling mischievously.

“try that and you’ll end up without hands!!” Jessica said before stormed into the bathroom. Nichkhun laughed at her angry expression. Oh, how much he missed this!

****************************

Nichkhun laid his back on the bed. He switched off the light and let the room filled with moonlight that entered the room. It was good being in his childhood bed. Since a few years back, he rarely back here. He was so busy with his own schedule. Sometimes, his family needed to visit him when they missed him so much. He stared into the darkness and despite of his tired body, his eyes were stubborn to shut down. He turned to his left and saw Jessica sleeping soundly beside him.

They fought again that night right after Jessica came out from the bathroom on who will get to sleep on the left side of the bed. Of course he knew that fight was childish and he was pretty sure that Jessica will always win the fight. But, he hated to admit but these few days made him miss their banter. He saw Jessica peacefully in her dream and she unconsciously smiled in her dream. Nichkhun can’t help but wonder what the dream that made her smiled like that was.

Nichkhun raised his right hand and his fingers slowly played with Jessica’s eyebrows. She quirked her eyebrows but she didn’t wake-up. His hand slowly went lower before playfully pinched her cute nose. Nichkhun restrained himself from laughing when Jessica’s hand waved in front of her own face. His fingers went to lips but before touching them, he stopped himself. He stared at those perfect lips and remembered their first kiss. He gulped down his own saliva and turned himself back to his original position, facing the white ceiling above him. He needed to sleep before those stupid thought entered his head.

He closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten. He needed to calm down so that he could sleep. But, when he was about to sleep, he felt Jessica’s hand rested on his chest. His eyes automatically came to live again. He turned his head to his left side and saw her hand rested perfectly on his chest and she slowly snuggled closer to him.

‘maybe she’s cold,’ Nichkhun thought. The air started to chill down a little bit. Nichkhun grabbed the blanket that rested on her stomach and placed it over their body. He brought her closer to him. Jessica sighed with relief and she snuggled closer to him. And without both of them realized, they both ended in the middle side of the bed. Nichkhun closed his eyes and breathed in her sweet smell. Without him realized, he fell into a deep sleep.

*********************************

Jessica woke up and the first thing that she heard was bird chirping outside. It was weird since that was the first time after these recent events she woke up feeling so peaceful. She opened her eyes and scanned around. She realized that she was alone inside the room. Her hand rested on Nichkhun’s side and it was cold, meaning that he had been awake for a long time already.

Lazily, she walked herself to the bathroom and washed her face. While she was brushing her teeth, her mind replaying her weird dream she had last night. She considered it was weird because in that dream, she, without being forced, hugged him tightly. And, the most shocking and embarrassing thing was, she liked it and unconsciously, she wanted that to happen in real life. Of course she won’t admit this to him but still, if he knew about him, he will laugh at her until next year.

She walked downstairs and saw no one in the kitchen. She made her way outside the house and saw Nichkhun’s family near the pool. Her eyes landed on Nichkhun who was currently swimming peacefully inside the pool. “good morning Sica. Come. I was about to call you but you’re already here. We always have our breakfast outside if the weather is nice,” her mother-in-law said. Well, Jessica could understand why this family loved having their breakfast outside. They have this breathtaking view and it shouldn’t go to waste.

“don’t mind him. He always likes to have his morning swimming,” her mother-in-law continued once she saw Jessica’s eyes landed on Nichkhun. Jessica sat on a chair while her eyes still on Nichkhun. Nichkhun slowly exited the pool and approached her. He held his hand toward Jessica and she was suddenly confused with his action.

“thanks but no thanks. I don’t swim in the morning. The weather might be nice but I would rather keep myself warm than being frozen inside that pool,” Jessica said. Nichkhun smirked at her words.

“excuse me, sorry to disappoint you but I’m not asking you to join me, I’m just asking for my towel. The one behind you. Plus, the water isn’t cold at all. You should try it sometime,” Nichkhun said. He pointed the towel that he placed earlier on the chair where Jessica sat. Jessica blushed at her own stupidity. Her blush grew darker once she learnt that Nichkhun, who was currently standing in front of her,was only in his swimming suit. Her eyes met his perfect chest. Jessica turned her head to her other side and tried to focus on other things such as re-arranging the cutlery that were already arranged by her mother-in-law.

“Jessie,” Nichkhun called her with that stupid nickname. Jessica felt her hairs stood as she felt his breath on her neck. This guy really knew how to play around. She felt the urge to push him back into the water.

“what do you want?” she said between her teeth. She didn’t dare to turn her body around. Considering the closeness of his voice, she was pretty sure that he was just inches away from her. Jessica tried to stay compose. She knew that he wanted to play around with her liked he always did.

“my towel,” Nichkhun said before circling his hand around her waist. Well, he wanted to take the towel but, of course he will take the chance to tease Jessica first. It seemed that teasing Jessica was one of his best hobbies now.

Jessica calmed her own heart. What’s wrong with her heart this morning? Why did it have to be working extra work today? Since this morning, whenever Nichkhun was near, her heart did that funny job. She was mad at her own self for feeling that way just because of that stupid dream. “go further and I promise you that you’ll lose one of your limbs,” Jessica said in a slow voice, referring to his hands.

“oh, just relax. I just want to get my towel,” Nichkhun replied before grabbing his towel. “good morning by the way. And good morning to you too my dear baby,” he continued with a kiss on her nose and a small pat on her stomach. Jessica was shocked at his sudden action.

“Nichkhun Horvejkhul, get yourself come clothes now. Don’t treat your wife like that. She might catch a cold,” his mother said.

“mom, did I ever tell you that you’re beautiful? Don’t get yourself stress up for such simple thing or you’ll end-up losing your beauty in such a young age. I was just greeting my wife and my baby,” he said to his dear mother.

“I know but you can do it later after changing. Go, we’re waiting for you for breakfast,” his mother instructed.

“yes mother,” he said playfully before disappearing inside the house.

hey, do you still remember me? ahha. mianhe for this late update. miss you guys too btw. i've started working and this surely taking most of my waking time. i spent almost 11 hours standing and only God knows how tired i am. when i think student time was busy, surely i was mistaken. this working world really tired me out. but, hey, i double updated again and sorry, i know chap 12 is a bit short. i promise with a longer update later. so, hope u guys enjoy and don't hesitate to comment. for the new readers, welcome to ugly mistake.

arinalee, xoxo