Chapter Twenty-Six: Lee, Fear, and Pain

            Julie sat on her bed, thinking. Her babies were downstairs with the five boys playing or something – she couldn’t remember. Two days had passed since her youngest four showed her their painting of the room, and the five boys her age were upset and amused by the wall, just like her. Now, all she could think of was Lee – whom had been killed in her home the same day she was shown the room by her youngest four. She could still remember Lee’s pretty face, beautiful smile, tall physique – everything about her was seared into her mind like a scar. The first time they met had been one of the best days of Julie’s life, and she was sad she didn’t tell Lee before she died.

~+~+~+~

            Julie walked down the hallway in her high school, books piled in her arms so that she could not see where she was going. She heard laughter coming down the hallway towards her and she maneuvered the books so she could see where she was going. However, she was too late as someone stuck their foot out to trip her. She tripped and spilled her books and papers everywhere in the hallway. Laughter sounded off from all around her, making her face grow red and her eyes beginning to water. She looked up, seeing the bully queenkas and kingkas standing in front of her with smiling faces.

            “What a nerd,” one girl said, sneering at her.

            “She can’t even see where she is going even with her thick-rimmed nerd glasses,” one of the males said, making everyone laugh. “How pathetic, don’t you think?” They all hummed in response.

            “If you think about it,” one of the evilest ones began, causing everyone to look at her, “she tried to make us move out of her way, coming towards us like that.” They all frowned, glaring at Julie.

            “She tried to act superior to us,” one male said. The evil girl smiled, her eyes giving a glint of maliciousness to everyone around her.

            “I think she should be punished,” she said, smiling wider when everyone agreed. Julie trembled.

            “I-I’m s-sorry m-miss, s-sirs,” Julie stuttered out, scared beyond belief. “I-It w-won’t h-happen a-again.” They snorted.

            “What? Do you think we will let you go for trying to act better than us?” A different male asked, annoyed. “What would that show everyone else? That we are lower than a first year high schooler when we are smarter, stronger, and older than her?”

            “That will make everyone think we are weak!” The evil girl exclaimed, annoyed. “That cannot happen, girl.” She smirked and they all surrounded Julie.

            Julie trembled, scared, and closed her eyes when one girl was starting to wind back and swing at her. Just when she was about to be hit, nothing came. Hearing gasps, she opened her eyes to see a girl around her age standing in front of her, holding the closed hand of the queenka. The girl wore black jeans and a black leather jacket, hair reaching her waist. Clearly, she was not a student in the school – well, she wasn’t a student, yet. The evil girl glared at the girl holding her friend’s fist.

            “Yah! Who the hell do you think you are?” She asked, glaring. The girl opened to answer, Julie assumed, the evil girl reeled back and threw a punch at the girl protecting Julie. The girl pushed the first girl to the floor and grabbed the evil girl’s fist, keeping it mid-punch.

            “I am Kim Lee,” she said, her tone sounding angry. “I am a transferee and have seriously come to dislike you in less than the minute I have been here.” They scowled at her and tried to corner her when another voice rang out.

            “Ms. Jung! Ms. Kim! What is going on here?” A voice asked, angry. They all turned around to see the headmaster walking down the hallway, angry. The evil girl immediately tried to act innocent, but Lee stepped in before she could say anything.

            “Headmaster Sung Ho,” she said, sounding annoyed and confident. “This little group is being very rude and mean to this young girl, here. If this is how your students treat other students, I do not want this terrible school.” His eyes widened and he bowed to her, angry and upset.

            “So sorry, Ms. Kim,” he said, rushing out his words. “I will make sure to deal with the disobedient students promptly. Please, do attend our school.” He glared at the students surrounding the two girls, all looking very shocked and furious. “All of you to my office. Now.” They ran to his office, tails between their legs while he followed them, bowing to Lee before leaving. Lee helped Julie pick up her things.

            “I’m Kim Leanne, but you can call me Lee,” she said, standing up as she took half of Julie’s load. She gave Julie a blinding smile, making Julie smile back. “I am your new best friend.”

~+~+~+~

            The memory of Kim Lee saving Julie from bullies always made her smile, but now, it made her smile, giggle, and cry at the same time. Tears streaming down her face, she remembered how Lee would always be around her, protecting her; how Lee would always give her the best birthday and Christmas presents; how, one time, a boy tried to flirt with Julie, but it ended up as ual harassment, so Lee put a stop it – making sure he never looked at Julie again. Lee was her best friend and she loved her almost as much as she loved her sons. She remembered the first time she met Jillian because of Lee.

~+~+~+~

            “Yah! Jules!” Lee called down the hall. Julie turned around, seeing her best friend, Lee, pull another young girl down the hall. Julie felt a bit of jealousy as the girl smiled at Lee, but she shook it off. “I got us a new friend.” The girl smiled shyly at Julie, Julie giving a shy smile, too. “This is Song Jillian, or Jill for short. She’s going to hang out with us from now on, alright?” Julie nodded, even though she didn’t really want a new girl in the group.

            “I am Randi Julianne, but everyone calls me Julie,” she said, smiling a fake smile. “Welcome to the group.”

            They hadn’t really hit it off very well, but after a while, Jill began to open up and make everyone smile and laugh. Lee was the tough one, Julie was the smart one, and Jill was the crazy one. They all fit together perfectly and couldn’t stand being away from one another. One night, a sleepover happened and they all went out to get ice cream. Sitting in the cold ice cream parlor, they talked for ages, smiling and laughing, when Julie brought something up.

            “I wanna leave Daejeon,” she said, quietly. They stopped talking and looked at her, eyes wide. “We are in our junior year, girls. We need to think about our future and…and I want to leave Daejeon for college and go to Seoul University.” They were quiet.

            “Why?” Lee asked, emotionlessly. Julie averted her eyes from them, staring out the window with a dazed look.

            “I want to be a History Major and teach history to high school students,” she said, dazed. “I would be the awesome teacher that does her best to make sure everyone has fun and knows what’s going on in the world. I also want to be a Business Major and get a teaching credential while I minor in Music. I want to travel the world and see things.” She was silent for a while before looking at Lee and Jill’s shocked faces. “I want to leave Daejeon and never step foot in it again. Is it wrong for me to want that?” They shook their heads, frowning sadly at her.

            “Nothing is wrong with wanting to become better than you are, Jules,” Jill said, putting a hand on Julie’s. “Truth is, I want to leave Daejeon, too.” They looked at her, eyes wide. “I want to become a child psychologist and work with children my entire life. If I ever get bored of it, I want to become a dermatologist and help people with whatever they have hiding under their skin.” She wiggled her fingers on Julie’s neck, making her squeal and laugh with the others. Lee stared at them, smiling softly, before looking away.

            “I don’t have any dreams,” she whispered, sadly. “I don’t have anything I want to be in life.” They frowned at her. “I have nothing I am good at.” They protested.

            “You are an awesome fighter!” Julie exclaimed. “You can become a taekwondo master and teach others; you can become a bodyguard for hot famous people; you can go into fighting and win a bunch of tournaments. You can do anything you want to, Lee!” Lee chuckled, nodding silently, and Jill jumped in.

            “You type really fast! Maybe you can become an accountant or a bank manager. I heard they make a lot of money,” she said, smiling slightly before remembering something. “You can become an author. You love making up stories. Why not write one down and publish it? It could be made into a movie, you know!” They laughed, smiling at each other.

            “Alright,” Lee said, smiling wide as she leaned over the table, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “We all go and live in Seoul when we leave this school. Jules can major in history, minor in music, whatever she wants; Jill can major in child psychology or psychology (whatever they have there) and minor in dermatology; and I will major in accounting and minor in Korean Literature or whatever. Arraso?” She held out her hand. Jill and Julie looked at each other, smiled, and put one of their hands on top of their leader’s, smiling wide.

~+~+~+~

            Julie frowned, tears flowing down her face as she remembered everything from her past high school years with her friends. Since they had entered college, they had grown slightly apart than what they were in high school. Maybe that’s why Lee hated me having twelve kids and being pregnant with another one, Julie thought to herself. Suddenly, the negative things Lee ever said to her since she got the boys popped into Julie’s head, making her realize how much Lee had changed.

            "Why didn't you take them back to the orphanage? You would get tired of them, soon."

            “Look what a you’ve become.”

            “I always knew you and Jill would be s. What? Did you the adoption agency’s head just to get them? Or did you really give birth the months we never saw you and just adopted those little things as a cover up?”

            “Can’t you see? Those…things…are holding you back! You don’t need them! Nor do you truly want them.”

            Julie sighed, crying even more than she was before. When she began to calm down, a thought entered her head: if I took the boys back like she said, would she still be alive? Julie shook the thought away, angry with herself for thinking – wishing – that. If you did that, Julie, you would be killed because of it.

            Julie stood up, walking to the bathroom to take a cooling shower since she was practically sweating a puddle. She the water, wiping her face, and undressed until she was in her underwear. She made the mistake of looking at herself in the mirror. Her stomach was wider than she thought it should be as she was only supposed to have one baby. Her stretch marks showed obviously on her pale skin, making her look like a tiger or a zebra. Bad thoughts entered her head, making her frown and tears roll more down her face.

            I’m ugly, she thought, silently crying to herself. I look like a whale! She gasped, a thought entering her head. What if this baby’s really fat? I’m only having one, but I am too big to have just a small baby? Why did I have to be the one to adopt special kids that were sons of a tree? Why did I have everything bad happen to me? I’m going to have thirteen baby boys until I die. What man would want me with that many children? Julie looked at herself in the mirror, again, glaring at her stomach. I killed Lee…being pregnant and adopting kids made her so angry she got killed in a home robbery. I am to blame for everything: deaths of my parents, my stupid roommate, my grandparents’ death, Bambam’s death, and now Lee’s death. Why does everyone around me die? The evilest thought entered her head, making her feel numb.

            Why can’t I be the one to die?

            Suddenly, water from the shower went on the mirror, cracking it into tiny bits. Julie jumped, screaming loudly at the sudden flood of water and glass on the floor. Feet were heard banging on the floor towards her room. She fumbled for her robe, slipping it on when ice suddenly covered the floor. She moved her hand over , sobbing harder from fear, when fire suddenly covered the floor. She screamed loudly, backing up into the waterless bathtub, when the door was beginning to be banged on.

            “Julie!” Mark screamed, banging on the door. “What’s wrong? Open the door!” She sobbed harder, unable to form words. Suddenly, the door was broken down and three of the five boys rushed in, flinching at the heat of the fire. Mark, Jackson, and Junior rushed towards Julie, half carrying and half pulling her out of the bathroom. Junior stayed in her room to comfort her while the other two grabbed a fire extinguisher from under her nightstand and a bowl she had used for lunch earlier. Together, they extinguished the fire, shocked.

            “Julie, what happened?” Jackson asked, kneeling down in front of her and Junior with Mark next to him. Julie sniffled, tears still running down her face.

            “I-I was g-going to t-take a sh-shower a-and s-started to think of L-Lee,” she said and began sobbing harder than before. They rubbed her back, frowning, until she was ready to speak again. “S-Suddenly w-water covered e-everything a-and th-then i-ice and th-then fire.” She leaned into Junior, sobbing from fear. “I-I w-was s-so s-scared!” They frowned, patting her back.

            “It seems you used your son’s powers for the first time, today,” Mark said, frowning. Julie looked at him, sniffling, with wide eyes.

            “What do you mean?” She asked. They shared a look.

            “Well, when you got the kids, you also got the necklace, right?” Mark asked. She nodded. “Well, that is supposed to help protect you against supernatural powers, but also help you obtain and control your sons’ powers so that when they learned them, you could train them to control them. You gained the powers over ice, fire, and water.” Julie’s eyes widened and she frowned, confused.

            Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen, making her jump. They looked at her, worried, but she shook it off. The pain went away and she looked up.

            “B-But h-how d-do I c-control it?” Julie asked, sniffling and wiping the rest of her tears off her face. They shrugged.

            “We don’t know,” Jackson answered, frowning. “We don’t have powers, we’re just strong and smart enough to attack the Tree of Life and his enemies if they try to hurt you. You will have to learn how to control your powers by yourself.” Julie frowned, nodding. “The good thing, though, is that nothing is burnt in your bathroom, only the glass on the floor.”

            “Would you like to come downstairs with us, Julie?” Junior asked, worried. Feeling another jab of pain, she ignored it. “They are all worried about you.”

            “I know,” she said, looking away. “But, I would like to go take my shower, if that’s alright.” They nodded and helped her up. Jackson and Mark cleaned up the glass and put in towels she forgot to grab. When they finished, they hugged her and left, leaving the door slightly opened so they could listen for anything that sounded suspicious. She walked in, closing the door, and leaned against it as another jab of pain hit her. She took a deep breath and let it out, again.

            Turning on the water, she undid her rob and jumped in so that she wouldn’t have to look at her body and freak out again. Throughout the shower, however, she felt the pain in her abdomen worsening and become more frequent. After she rinsed out the conditioner, she stood there for a while, holding her stomach with worry.

            “I’m alright, baby,” she whispered to it, patting her belly in worry. She didn’t want the baby freaking out about her freaking out as it could harm the baby. The pain became more frequent as she felt the baby kick her hand. She jumped and turned off the water, getting out. Sighing, she dried off as well as she could and wrapped the robe around her, again. Walking into her bedroom, she took a deep breath, stomach hurting worse. “Just hungry, Julie; just hungry.” She put on a pair of sweatpants and a big T-shirt and wandered downstairs, stopping frequently on the stairs from pain. When she pushed open the kitchen door, she saw her sons sitting in their high chairs, ready for dinner with the other five setting the table.

            “Ah, Julie!” Youngjae said, smiling wide. “Are you feeling better?” She nodded, everyone staring at her. Her babies wiggled, screeching for her. She walked over to them, kissing their heads and smiling down at them.

            When dinner came, she fed them as best as she could, trying not to show her unimportant pain. Finally, dinner ended and they went to the living room to watch a movie. Julie held Sehun and Tao while the others sat around her, eyes glued to the screen. Every time she felt pain, she would adjust Sehun and Tao, making them look up at her. They began to notice she didn’t feel good and after being moved the tenth time in fifteen minutes, they sat down next to their brothers, worried. Julie didn’t pay it any mind and stood up when the movie finished, putting on a fake smile as the pain worsened.

            Julie walked into the kitchen to get water when she felt something odd with her sweatpants. Holding the glass cup, she looked down at her lower body, seeing the entire front near her crotch was wet; soaking wet. She gasped in shock as the pain worsened and dropped her cup, shattering it. The five older boys rushed in, eyes wide. They looked at her, not seeing the wetness as she stood behind the island.

            “What happened?” Yugyeom asked, worried. She opened to answer, but pain hit her head on and she leaned over, holding on the island as she groaned. They rushed to her, not noticing the wet sweats she wore.

            “Look at me, Julie,” Mark said, making her look at him with wide eyes. “What happened?” She answered this time with wide, fearful eyes.

            “M-My water broke. I…I am g-going to h-have a b-baby.”