Chapter 63

Tiffany touched the smooth silky fabric of the pitch black smocked back slip dress she was wearing & smiled nervously. She took two steps in her black patent pointed toe flat & took in some deep breaths to calm her nervous heart. Reaching into her black quilted chain embellished cross body bag, she touched the card that Jejung had given her, hoping that it could provide her with more strength to still her racing nerves. It slowly did warm her as she remembered the words that were inscribed on the card. He hadn’t forgotten her after all. Everything will be fine by the end of the night, “It’s our one year anniversary, Jaejoong Oppa.” Tears welled up in her eyes, “We are going to make it. We will.” She said, reassuring herself.

Tiffany then reached underneath her dress to her lower right thigh where the rose pouch was tied to her leg, making sure that it was tied on tightly before she finally proceeded towards the hospital entrance where a limousine was waiting for her, provided by Yunho. Inside the interior, she opened her purse again, & felt for the jar of stars that she had folded for Jejung. Each star had an inscription of her love for him that she wrote with her own penmanship. Those stars provided her with the hope that everything will indeed be as it was before the accident once again.

Tiffany felt the limo stop moments later & she took in more deep breaths, trying to steady her breathing. When it didn’t steady enough, she took out her inhaler to puff some medicine into , letting the air flow down her pharynx & into her lungs. She sighed as she felt the immediate effect it had on her breathing. The limo door opened & the chauffer smiled widely at Tiffany, “Miss, may I do the honor of escorting you out of the limousine?” Tiffany smiled & nodded. The chauffer gingerly helped her out of the car & helped her to the middle of the park where the hedged secret garden was. Her heart started beating faster & faster as she smelled the scent of the rose gardens everywhere, “This was meant to be.” She said softly. The chauffer smiled as he heard her soft exclamation, “Mr. Kim will be meeting you here shortly. Happy anniversary, Mrs. Kim.” “Thank you.” Tiffany said, & then the chauffer left, leaving Tiffany to wait in anticipation. Tiffany counted to herself & then walked towards her right & then straight until she felt the bench underneath the apple tree. Closing her eyes, Tiffany prayed for the hundredth time that day to help her through this time when she felt most insecure & alone. She prayed with all her heart that Jejung will remember & that she & him will be together once again. Tears came to her eyes as she ended her prayer. She moved her hand on the tree trunk, smiling as she felt the heart that Jejung had carved for them before he left. Her hand shook as she traced the KJ+TH FOREVER. Wiping her tears away, her breath caught as she heard some people arguing to her left, “No, I want to stay here with Jejung Oppa.” Boa said, for the umpteenth time. Seohyun shook her head.

“No, you got to go shopping with him & besides, don’t you care about your poor sick cat at home? She’s really sick. I got a phone call from your housekeeper at Jejung’s place earlier.” Boa eyed her suspiciously but she did look genuine at the moment, “Is Sarah really sick?” Boa asked again. Seohyun nodded. Boa sighed. She gave in & gave Jejung one last hug, “Good luck, Oppa.” & then she left, leaving Seohyun & Jejung alone, “Bye, I will call you later.” Jejung called, after her.

Seohyun squealed in delight & grabbed Jejung’s arm, “It’s eighteen until eight. We have some time to be by ourselves before your concert.” Jejung nodded, “I need to go see Yunho before the concert though.” He led her towards the secret garden, “Jejung Oppa, this place is so beautiful but such a waste of space, don’t you think so?” Seohyun asked. Jejung looked around the park as if seeing it for the first time, “My family owns this land...No, I own this land.” Jejung suddenly said, out of nowhere. He didn’t know where that came from. As he thought about it, he winced as the pain that came back again. He took in a deep breath to ease the pain. Seohyun quickly reached up to rub his head but he stopped her before she did, “I’m okay.” Seohyun pouted.

“I’m really fine. I just don’t know why these blasted headaches are especially painful today.”

“Oppa, what do you think about demolishing this park & building a huge shopping mall, the biggest one ever in Seoul? Won’t that be great?” Seohyun clapped her hands in glee at the prospect. Jejung looked at her in surprises. Another exclamation of surprises sounded behind his shoulder. Jejung whipped around to see a anguished Tiffany with her hand over , shaking her head furiously. She walked blindly over to Jejung, her arms outstretched. When her hands felt the front of his light blue madras short sleeve woven shirt, she quickly reached down for his hands, grasping them in her own, “No, Oppa. You can’t tear down the park. You just can’t.” Jejung glared at the woman in front of him, “What the heck are you doing here?!” He asked furiously.

“Oppa.” Tiffany said, still shaking her head, tears spraying everywhere, “You have to remember our park. Remember our garden, treehouse, roses.” Tiffany sniffed, reaching for his hands again, “You promised to never take the park away. It’s our sanctuary. Don’t take it away.” Jejung stepped away from her outstretched arms, “What kind of craziness are you talking about? If I want to make it into a mall, I can make it into a freaking mall! It has nothing to do with you.” He scoffed, “Actually, the mall idea sounded really good right now. I will have someone come remove everything in this place by tomorrow after the concert.” Tiffany gasped loudly, “No, you can’t. You won’t. I won’t believe it. You won’t do this. No.” Jejung glared at her intensely.

“Watch me.” He said menacingly.

Seohyun smiled widely & gave Jejung’s arm a squeeze, “Oh, you are just the greatest Oppa.” Tiffany’s crying stopped for a moment as she heard Seohyun’s voice. Her heart dropped, “Seohyun.” She said softly. Seohyun smirked at Tiffany. Upon hearing Seohyun’s voice, something inside Tiffany clicked. She went up to Seohyun & pushed her down, “Get away from Oppa. Don’t touch him.” Seohyun let out a scream of surprises & fell down on the ground. As Tiffany tried to tackle her down, Seohyun kicked her in the stomach. Tiffany winced as she felt some of the stitches in her abdomen do to her c-section rupture but nothing prepared her for what happened next. Jejung took a hold of Tiffany & pried her away from Seohyun. He slapped her across the face, hard. Tiffany’s heart stopped. Her eyes brimmed with newly formed tears. Her eyes contorted in pain & silent tears flowed down her cheeks nonstop.

Jejung’s chest heaved with anger. He had never lifted a hand to a woman before but this woman had been meddling in his life long enough. She was like a thorn that wouldn’t leave his side, “You are the most infuriating annoying woman that I had ever met in my life! I hate you! I hate having you disrupt my life! Just leave me alone!” He said angrily. Tiffany lifted a shaking hand up to her cheek. The pain from what he had just done & said pierced her heart & mind deeply. It hurtled her like nothing hurtled her before. started trembling & she closed her eyes & remembered something from the near past.

In her mind, she heard Jejung say, “Don’t you ever say that. I will never hurt you. Never.” She had then touched the side of his face & smiled & said, “I know that.” That voice disappeared to be replaced with a new one, “I could never hate you, you know that? Don’t ever think for a moment that I would hate you. No matter what, I would love you forever, just like I promised you those many years ago. Always know that.” She had believed that. Out of all the people in her life, she trusted him with her life, love & whole being. He was her protector, her anchor of strength, the reason why she was living. He was all those things & one thing was for certain since the first time she met him, he would never ever hurt her. He was the one that stopped her from being bullied, the one who applied medicine to her wounds & took care of her whenever Donggun was in a bad mood.

The silent tears continued to fall & Tiffany spoke for the first time. Her voice in an anguished whisper, “Jaejoong Oppa.”

Jejung threw his hands up into the air & cursed out loud, “Stop calling me that! My name is Jejung! No one calls me by that name anymore!” Tiffany sobbed uncontrollably at that, “Jaejoong Oppa.” She said again. Seohyun got up from the ground & gave Tiffany a sharp kick on her bare legs. Tiffany didn;t even wince in pain but she did feel the rose pouch slide from its hold & onto the grass that she was sprawled on. She reached her trembling hands out to search for it but what she felt was Seohyun’s black/silver I. Miller Fancy Heeled shoes stomping on her hands. Seohyun smiled evilly at the distraught Tiffany & picked up the rose pouch from the ground, “Looking for this?” Seohyun asked. Tiffany reached a bloodied hand out for it, “No chance you are getting this back.” Seohyun then forced open the pouch & dumped all the dried up rose petals in front of Tiffany, letting her feel the petals fall. Tiffany uttered her first cry & scrambled to pick up all the petals but Seohyun wouldn’t let her. Jejung felt inside his own pocket & took out the rose pouch, throwing it to the ground, “It’s trash, Oppa. We need to get rid of it in order to get rid of her.” Seohyun said.

Seohyun pulled Tiffany up & pushed her away, “Oppa’s mine now as he always should have been. Did you honestly think that he would want to be with you, a blind woman? I mean, have you no shame?” Tiffany stopped struggling. The words hit close to home. She was selfish! This was her chance to make Jejung happy & leave him, giving him a new life to be with someone that could see him when he touched & kissed her. Someone that could meet him eye for eye when he looked at her. Someone that wasn’t her.

Tiffany swallowed hard, “I just want Oppa to be happy.” Jejung laughed a mirthless laugh, “What makes me happy is you out of my life for good.” Tiffany’s eyes were blank but the look on her face spoke the pain that she felt. She reached a hand out to touch Jejung again, but then pulled back, knowing that if she touched him again, she would never be able to leave him. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out the jar of stars that she had made for him. Swallowing hard again, she placed it at his feet & then turned away from Jejung & started walking away, her tears watering the ground with every blind step she took.

Jejung stared down at the jar of stars & then after Tiffany’s retreating back when a sudden bevy of lights came on, “Miyoung.” Tiffany stopped in her tracks at the sound.