Chapter Eighteen:

 

Taecyeon knocked on his father’s door.

 

“Come in.” A gruff voice said.

 

Taecyeon took a deep breath and walked into his father’s office. He bowed.

 

“Father…”

 

Mr. Ok faced him with a stern expression on his face.

 

“I heard from the Bae family that you aren’t going to marry Suzy.”

 

Taecyeon bit his lip.

 

“Dad...I...I don’t want to marry Suzy. I have a girlfriend.”

 

Mr. Ok slammed his fist onto his desk.

 

“You son of a…..!” Mr. Ok glared at him. “You and Suzy are going to get married, and that’s FINAL!”

 

Taecyeon shook his head.

 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

 

He knelt down on both knees and bowed his head.

 

Mr. Ok stared.

 

“Father…I…” Taecyeon shut his eyes. “I can’t leave my girlfriend. She’s carrying my child.”

 

“WHAT?!” Mr. Ok yelled. He stood and smacked Taecyeon on the head. “You irresponsible brat! How could you have a child before marriage?!”

 

Taecyeon swallowed.

 

“Father, I’m sorry. I found out about the child only a few weeks ago. I did not know.”

 

Mr. Ok covered his eyes and sank back into his chair. There was a small silence.

 

“Does Suzy know that you have a child?”

 

Taecyeon looked up.

 

“Yes. She found out.”

 

Mr. Ok slowly nodded.

 

“Alright. Okay then.” He pointed to the door. “Leave. We will talk about this matter later...away from the company.”

 

Taecyeon bowed and left, rubbing his bruised cheek.

 

Mr. Ok sighed.

 

‘Like father...like son….’

 

“What? We...are grandparents now?” Mrs. Ok said on the phone.

 

Mr. Ok sighed. “Yes.”

 

“Oh goodness...how could Taecyeon…how could he have made the same mistake we did?”

 

Mr. Ok rubbed his temples.

 

“That idiot…”

 

Mrs. Ok took a deep breath on the other end.

 

“Honey…” She said quietly. “Our child...Taecyeon also came at an unexpected time. Taecyeon probably never imagined that something like….that would happen. You should accept the grandchild into your life.”

 

Mr. Ok ran his hand through his gray hair.

 

“I am worried about who the mother is...if Taecyeon had a child with an unsophisticated, lousy young woman, then our reputation is ruined!”

 

Mrs. Ok chuckled.

 

“Don’t worry. Our son has good taste. He would not goof off with just any girl.”

 

Mr. Ok looked down.

 

“Fine. I, uh, have to go now. Hang up.”

 

“Alright. See you at home, honey.” Mrs. Ok hung up.

 

Mr. Ok stared out his window.

 

‘I have begun walking down a new path in life...I am now a grandparent...’

 

Taeyeon set down a vase of pretty flowers on the windowsill.

 

“There! Now your room is complete!” She scanned the hospital room, happy.

 

Yoona laughed.

 

“Thank you, unnie.”

 

Taeyeon winked.

 

“Yup.”

 

Just then, someone knocked. Taeyeon opened the door and gasped.

 

“T-Tiffany?”

 

Tiffany smiled.

 

“Hi, Taeyeon. Yoona told me a lot about you.” She walked into the room and waved. “Hi, Yoona!”

 

Yoona smiled and waved back. Taeyeon stared. She pointed at the two.

 

“You two...are friends now?”

 

Yoona nodded. “Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, unnie. Tiffany and I...we’ve gotten to be good friends.”

 

Tiffany gave Taeyeon a killer wink.

 

Taeyeon slowly nodded, smiling.

 

Tiffany handed Yoona a gift box.

 

“What is this?” Yoona asked. Tiffany smiled.

 

“A present for your baby.”

 

Yoona opened the lid and smiled. She pulled out a baby outfit with a cute duckling on the front.

 

“Aw….thank you! It’s so cute!”

 

Tiffany smiled.

 

“I wanted to get pink, but I wasn’t sure if your baby was a girl or not, so I chose yellow, since it’s a uni color.”

 

Yoona grinned.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Tiffany leaned over and hugged Yoona. Taeyeon joined in on the hug.

 

Suddenly, Yoona winced. She put her arms around her stomach.

 

“O-ow…”

 

Taeyeon looked at Yoona.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Did we hug you too tight?” Tiffany asked, worried.

 

Yoona shook her head weakly.

 

“Ah...the baby just…” She winced again and groaned. “U-unnie…”

 

Taeyeon gasped.

 

“Is...is it time?”

 

Yoona groaned again.

 

“The baby…”

 

Tiffany rushed out of the room.

 

“Doctor! Doctor!”

 

Donghae ran out of his office.

 

“Wha...what happened?”

 

Tiffany pointed to Yoona’s room.

 

“My friend….Yoona...I think she’s in labor!”

 

Taecyeon and Nickhun sat across from each other. They were in a sushi bar, meeting up after a long, long time.

 

“So…” Taecyeon started. “How have you been?”

 

Khun smiled.

 

“Great.”

 

Taec nodded.

 

“You?” Khun asked.

 

“Great.”

 

There was a small silence.

 

Khun smiled.

 

“You taking care of Yoona well?”

 

Taecyeon looked up and smiled back.

 

“Yeah...at least, I hope so…”

 

Nickhun raised an eyebrow.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Taec stared into Khun’s eyes.

 

“I...uh...Yoona is pregnant...with my kid.”

 

Khun was shocked. Taecyeon half expected Khun to start yelling at him, but Nickhun just smiled.

 

“You should take care of her well then. Make sure she’s eating.”

 

Taec stared.

 

“You...you’re not mad?”

 

Khun shook his head.

 

“Nah. Yoona...will always be a girl I will be fond of...but I have a girlfriend now. Someone I TRULY love.”

 

Taec grinned.

 

“Who?”

 

Khun blushed.

 

“Tiffany.”

 

“What?! Really?”
 

Khun nodded. Taec smiled.

 

“I love her...but I’m not going to get her pregnant like YOU did to your girlfriend.” Khun smirked.

 

Taec blushed.

 

“It was an accident…”

 

They ate for a while.

 

“So...how is Yoona doing now?”

 

Taec sighed.

 

“She...she has heart failure.”

 

Khun dropped his chopsticks.

 

“What? AND she's pregnant?!”

 

“Don’t worry. She’s almost done with treatment. She just needs bypass surgery, and then recovery.”

 

Khun slowly nodded.

 

“I hope she’s okay…”

 

Taec sighed.

 

“Me too.”

 

Suddenly, Taecyeon’s phone rang. The caller id read: “My loving girlfriend Yoona.” Khun glanced at his phone screen.

 

“Looks like Yoona’s calling you.” He smirked. “Your ‘loving girlfriend’.”

 

Taec grinned and answered.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Taecyeon! Taec!”

 

Taecyeon blinked.

 

“Taeyeon?”

 

Taeyeon’s voice was frantic.

 

“Hurry over to the hospital! Yoona...your kid is about to be born!”

 

Taecyeon stood.

 

W-what? You mean...Yoona’s in labor?!”
 

Khun stared.

 

Taecyeon nodded.

 

“Okay. I’m coming. Hang up.”

 

He hung up.

 

“Khun, I have to go.”

 

Taec turned. Khun stood and ran after him.

 

“Let me go with you. I...I want to see Yoona again...and I want to see your kid.”

 

Taec looked at his friend.

 

“Okay. Let’s go.”

 

They rushed to Taec’s car and sped off towards the Seoul Medical Center.