Chapter Twenty:

 

It was had been a week since Yoona gave birth to Jae Hwa. She was still in the hospital, worn out from giving birth with a weak body. Taecyeon stayed with her and Jae Hwa pretty much all day, sleeping on the chair and eating from the hospital’s cafeteria.

 

The day of the heart surgery was closing in. Taecyeon prayed that nothing would go wrong.
 

The day before the surgery, he picked up Taemin from his house and the two drove to the hospital.

 

They walked into Yoona’s room. Yoona was sleeping on the bed as Jae Hwa was sleeping in his incubator. Taecyeon quietly walked over to

Yoona, kissing her on the forehead, and made his way towards Jae Hwa. He picked him up, causing him to wake up.

 

“Did you miss me?” He smiled, kissing his son. Jae Hwa smiled. Taecyeon kissed him again, delighted to see his son’s smile.

 

Taemin took off his jacket and set it down on the chair. He walked up to Jae Hwa and smiled.

 

“So cuteeeee….”

 

Just then, Jae Hwa began fussing and crying. Yoona woke up at the exact same moment.

 

“Oppa…”

 

Taec frowned.

 

“Hey, you made your mom wake up.” He scolded his son jokingly. Jae Hwa kept crying.

 

“I think he’s hungry.” Taemin said.

 

Taec handed the baby to Yoona.

 

She fed Jae Hwa, and he stopped fussing. She smiled.

 

Taec her hair.

 

“You should rest more. Tomorrow’s the surgery.”

 

Yoona turned.

 

“I’ve been asleep for half the day. I should stay awake for a while.” She kissed Jae Hwa. “I want to stay awake with Jae Hwa.”

 

Taec smiled.

 

Jae Hwa finished drinking. Yoona fixed her top and laid back down on her pillow. She patted Jae Hwa’s head.

 

“Are you hungry?” Taec asked Yoona. Yoona shook her head.

 

“No. And either way, the doctor said to not eat a lot the day before the surgery.”

 

“Do you feel sick?”

 

“No…”
 

“Does your chest feel okay? It doesn’t feel tight or anything?”

 

Yoona shook her head.

 

Taecyeon sighed worriedly. Yoona glanced at him and smiled.

 

“Don’t worry so much.”

 

Taecyeon ran his hand through his hair.

 

“How can I not worry? If something goes bad tomorrow then….then…”

 

Yoona leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

 

“I said don’t worry.”

 

Taecyeon kissed back and then broke away reluctantly. He nodded slowly.

 

“Alright. I’ll stop worrying.”

 

Yoona touched his shoulder.

 

“And sleep at home tonight. You’ve been sleeping in an armchair for the past week. Have a good night’s rest.”

 

Taecyeon looked at her.

 

“Are you sure? But...if Jae Hwa wakes up…”

 

She smiled.

 

“You should take him home tonight. Dong-, ah, the doctor said it’s fine if he goes home now.”

 

Taecyeon held her hand.

 

“Are YOU going to be okay?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Taec took a deep breath and nodded.

 

“Alright. Okay.”

 

He kissed Yoona.

 

“But make sure to have a good night’s rest. Sleep well.”
 

Yoona smiled.

 

“You too.”

 

Taecyeon walked into his family’s mansion, holding a baby basket. He set down the basket and gently took out Jae Hwa. He held his son and sat on the couch.

 

Mrs. Ok appeared from the master bedroom and gasped.

 

“You finally brought him home!”
 

Taec turned.

 

“Shhh!”

 

Mrs. Ok tiptoed over and sat next to him.

 

“Aigoo...he looks just like you did when you were a child.” She whispered. She glanced around. “Isn’t your wife...” She blushed. “I mean, your

girlfriend back from the hospital? It’s been a week since she gave birth.”

 

Taec sighed.

 

“She has to stay there a bit longer.”

 

“Why?”

 

Taec looked down.

 

“She...is having surgery tomorrow. For her heart.”

 

Mrs. Ok stared.

 

“W-what?”

 

“Yoona...has heart failure. She’s getting surgery tomorrow at 9 am.”

 

Mrs. Ok was shocked.

 

“My goodness...I hope the surgery goes well…”

 

Taec nodded.

 

“Me too.”

 

Jae Hwa woke up and began to cry. Taecyeon rocked him gently in his arms.

 

“Shh...shh…” He tried to comfort him but he kept crying. He sighed. “He wants Yoona…”

 

Mrs. Ok took the baby from him and held him in her arms.

 

“Stop crying, little one. Grandma is here….grandma…” Jae Hwa stopped crying and looked up. He looked at his halmoni’s face and a smile

spread on his face. Taecyeon grinned.

 

“He likes you, mom!”
 

“Of course he does!” Mrs. Ok laughed. “So cute…”

 

She turned to her son.

 

“Taecyeon...Yoona has gone through so much to give you the most precious gift you will ever receive…”

 

Taecyeon nodded, feeling guilty for all the months he had been away from Yoona.

 

“...so make sure, that no matter what, you will stay by her side forever.”

 

Taecyeon nodded again. He took a deep breath and turned to his mom.

 

“Mom...can you look after Jae Hwa tomorrow? I’m going to be at the hospital while Yoona has surgery.”

 

Mrs. Ok nodded.

 

“Of course.”

 

She kissed Taec on the cheek.

 

“Take care of Yoona...never leave her side…”

 

The next morning, Taecyeon drove to the hospital. He rushed to Yoona’s room and saw that the doctors were preparing her for surgery. They gave her a pill that would make her fall asleep for the surgery and did a final examination to make sure they were ready for the operation.

 

Taecyeon hurried over to her bedside and realized Taeyeon and Taemin were both already there.

 

“Taecyeon! You’re here!” Taeyeon said.

 

“Hyung…” Taemin said. “Yoona…”

 

Yoona looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.

 

“Taecyeon oppa…”

 

The doctors wheeled her on a stretcher to the operation room. Taecyeon walked beside the stretcher, holding her hand. Taemin and Taeyeon followed the doctors and Taec from behind, worried.

 

“Be strong, Yoona. Be strong for Jae Hwa...for Taemin...for me.” Taecyeon said, forcing his tears back.

 

Yoona nodded, slowly dozing off because of the pill.

 

“Oppa…”

 

Taecyeon nodded.

 

“What is it, Yoona?”

 

“Oppa…I love you…”

 

Yoona shut her eyes, falling asleep just as they reached the operation room.

 

“Visitors are not allowed beyond this point.” One of the surgeons said. Taec stood back and watched as the doctors wheeled Yoona into the

operating room and shut the doors.

 

He felt tears in his eyes.

 

“Yoona...I love you too…”

 

With that, he, Taemin, and Taeyeon sat outside the operating room, praying that the surgery would be successful.

 

Two hours later, a doctor came out and called for the three.

 

“Is Yoona...was the surgery successful?” Taeyeon asked.

 

The doctor took off his gloves.

 

“Miss Yoona was rather weak, since she gave birth only a week ago. We were careful and tried our best…” The doctor looked at him, his expression unreadable.

 

Taemin looked away, expecting the worst.

 

Taecyeon felt anxiety building up in his chest.

 

The doctor suddenly smiled.

 

“The surgery was successful. Miss Yoona will be in recovery for a few weeks, but after that, she should be fine.” He checked the clock. “Yoona will be in her room. She will probably be sleeping, but if you want to go see her, you can.”

 

The doctor shook hands with Taecyeon and turned.

 

Taecyeon felt tears of joy coming into his eyes. Taemin burst out crying, relieved his noona was going to be okay. Taeyeon hugged Taemin, sobbing as well.

 

Taecyeon wiped his eyes and turned, hurrying towards Yoona’s room. He wanted to see his girlfriend more than ever before.

 

Nickhun and Tiffany sat in Khun’s car. Tiffany fidgeted with her phone. Taeyeon had said that she would text her when the surgery was finished, but after two hours, she hadn’t received any messages.

 

“Oh my gosh...why isn’t she texting me? It’s been two hours…” Tiffany gasped. She turned to Khun. “Hopefully...hopefully nothing went wrong...right?”

 

Khun took a deep breath and forced a smile.

 

“Don’t worry. Yoona...I’m sure she’s fine.”

 

He felt a bit of uneasiness in his mind though.

 

Tiffany stared out the car window, tapping the glass worriedly. Nickhun glanced at her hand and reached over. He gently held her hand.

 

Tiffany turned.

 

“Stop worrying.” He said. Then he leaned over and kissed Tiffany.

 

Tiffany was surprised but kissed back.

 

Slyly, Khun unbuckled his seatbelt. He reached over with his other hand and unbuckled Tiffany’s. Almost naturally, he slid his hand under her shirt. Khun let go of Tiffany’s hand and slid his other hand into her skirt, beneath her underwear. Tiffany kissed more aggressively, enjoying Khun.

 

Suddenly, before they could go any further, Tiffany’s phone rang. She let go of Khun and answered.

 

“H-hello?” She said. Nickhun removed his hand from under her shirt and her underwear.

 

“Is it Taeyeon?” He asked.

 

Tiffany nodded.

 

“Taeyeon, is Yoona okay? Nothing went wrong, right?”

 

“Everything went well. Yoona’s sleeping right now.” Taeyeon said from the other end, obviously relieved.

 

Tiffany nodded.

 

“That’s good...okay. Call me or text me later...alright.” She hung up and let out a huge sigh of relief. She looked at Khun. “The surgery was a

success! Yoona’s going to be okay.”

 

Khun smiled.

 

“That’s a relief.”

 

Tiffany put away her phone.

 

Khun stared at her for a while before leaning over again and kissing her. Tiffany kissed back.

They started from where they had left off, and at that point, there was no end in sight.