CHAPTER THIRTY

“You weren’t sleeping?!”

“I am sleeping.”

“No you’re not! You’re awake now! , did you hear everything I said?!”

“If you want we can pretend that I didn’t.”

Instead of saying anything, Soojung turns away from him in horror, blushing deep red from what just happened. Thank God the lights were off so he couldn’t notice. Jongin was too busy giggling and rolling in his bed though. He can’t seem to believe that Soojung just said that he was good-looking. Soojung was just sitting at the floor, sighing.

“Hopefully, you won’t remember anything tomorrow.”

When she looks at him again, Jongin stops rolling around and looks back at her with his head resting on both of his hands. He starts to tell her irrelevant stories mostly about him and their friends. Soojung has already heard some of them before, but some were new to her. Just like how he kissed Seulgi before in front of Taeyong when he knew that he had thing for her.

“Taeyong and I got into a fight after he found out that I started going out with Seulgi. It was epic.” He laughed. “We were threated to be kicked out from the football club so we pretended that everything was alright again, but eventually he got kicked out next year because of that fight against Ehra. What a loser, am I right?”

“Why would you just kiss Seulgi? Are you crazy?” She shook her head in shock. She wasn’t so sure if she should be glad that Jongin is telling her things that she missed out when she was still in California, or should she be worried that his fiancé caused a ruckus between the two. “They could have been a cute couple!”

“Okay first of all, Seulgi liked me before. I remember that she asked me shyly if she could kiss me. I kissed her instead and I didn’t actually know Taeyong was watching. That’s what he gets for being such a creep.” Jongin shrugs. He actually misses when Seulgi was all shy around him. Now she’s all scary just because she became the school president. “Secondly, are you jealouuus? Because I’m talking about how I kissed Seulgiii?”

“Uhm, no?”

“Ayeee, that’s what jealous people always say.”

Soojung rolls her eyes. “I’ve kissed you a lot of times anyways, and I will probably have more chance to so whatever.” She mumbled quietly, not minding the teasing sounds the drunk Jongin is making.

“Anyways, Taeyong has been a great friend to me before that happened. Seulgi told me that he has forgiven me, so I guess he can’t really resist me.”

“Good for you.” Glancing at the table watch at his night table, Soojung realizes that it was already late. She stood up from the floor to go to the bathroom and get changed, leaving Jongin who unwillingly fell asleep again.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the headmaster finds out about the so called accident that they have caused against Ehra High. Policemen came to the school not only to inform the headmaster but also to question the boys about it. That’s why most of the students were confused when they saw some of them wandering around their lobby, but the school’s faculty staff has decided to keep it as a secret to them.

The members of the football club looked nervous and scared as they wait for their turn to be interviewed outside the headmaster’s office. While the older ones were making sure that no one actually tells the officers that they made a mistake, the newer ones were freaking out, scared that this accident will make an impact in their future.

“What if they kick us all out?”

“That’s rubbish. The school won’t kick all of us because of this. We’re the best team in Seoul, for God’s sake!”

“Second best. This won’t happen if we won against Ehra.”

The only one who didn’t say anything was Jongin. He was sitting at the corner, looking silently at his shoes and ignoring everything his sunbaes are saying. Most of the time, he doesn’t get nervous but he just can’t help feeling that way, despite Seungwan assuring him that her father will do everything for him to not get into trouble and for his name to be cleared. He felt empty. He felt guilty. What he did last night wasn’t like him at all.

“Kim Jongin?” The assistant calls his name, causing him to finally lift his head up. “You’re next. Please follow me.”

The young boy does what he was told to and followed the headmaster’s assistant. When he enters the office, Taeyong was about to leave, accompanied by an older man that wasn’t his father. Jongin is almost sure that it was his lawyer. He didn’t look very happy to be there. His fringe was covering his eyes and he avoided any conversation with him. Jongin brieftly holds his shoulder to stop him, in which Taeyong responded by removing his hand forcefully. The lawyer could only bow apologetically, following his client out of the office.

“Jongin, come.” Headmaster Son orders when he was about to follow his friend outside. He had no choice but to sit at the chair the headmaster gestured him to go sit at. “This is Kim Jongin, one of the best students in our school.”

Those words… Jongin has heard of them a lot of times already.

Beside the headmaster there stood a man in his 40s wearing a police uniform. He introduced him as Park Jungho, a policeman that was sent to ask the members of the football club what happened. His interview started and he wasn’t scary as he thought he was. In fact, he and the headmaster were sometimes even joking, which Jongin thought was kind of strange. The questions were hard, but he answered all of them honestly. He didn’t lie just like what his the older members of the club told them to do.

“Well, that’s it.” Park Jungho says. “You may go now.”

“Can I ask something, sir?” The boy asks, and the policeman nods. “What happened to that kid Taeyong beat up?”

Both Headmaster Son and the policeman exchanged looks.

“Did he… Did he die? I-I saw him. He was bleeding a lot. What will happen to Taeyong?”

“Mr. Park, shall we take a break?” The headmaster asks with a smile. The policeman agrees, and as soon as they were left alone, his smile fades. “You must not talk about this with others-”

“Let me guess, the school has already paid the police to keep their mouths shut, am I right?” Jongin utters. “What happened last night against Ehra High was a mistake. No matter how much I loathe them, I still regret what we’ve done. We must pay somehow, but this time we cannot use our power to do it.”  

“People like us don’t make mistakes. What happened is unfortunate, but it has already happened. We cannot do anything about it.”

Frowning because of the bull the headmaster was saying, Jongin asks, “Is it because I’m dating your daughter, sir?”

“If it’s because of that, then I shouldn’t have talked and offered the money to the officers then.” The Headmaster states furiously. He wasn’t planning to admit it to anyone, but he just did. Much worse, he did it in front of a student. “This is for the school’s reputation. Don’t feel special.”

Jongin finally looks at him. In his eyes, he wasn't the same professor that he respected anymore.

Later that day, he breaks up with Seungwan.

When Jongin opened his eyes, Soojung was in his sight. Seeing her made him glad after the nightmare that he was having. She looked perfect, even when she has already removed her makeup and her messed up hair. She had already changed into her casual clothes, the ones that she had on when she came there, but she also borrowed one of his hoodies.

“Hey, are you alright-”

“Soojuuuung!” Because of Jongin’s sudden bear hug, Soojung wasn’t able to finish her sentence. She didn’t know why he looked super happy when he woke up from his nap, but she just let him hug her. It seemed like he really need it so whatever. “I thought you already left!”

“I was just changing at the bathroom… And taking selfies… and singing… And dancing…” She admitted, but he didn’t seemed to be interested in what she was saying as he kept on hugging her. “I was about to leave when I heard you shouting something so I thought that I should check on you-”

“Please stay and sleep with me.” He suddenly says after breaking off their hug. Obviously, she was taken aback by what he just said. She even thought he was joking but he quickly puts the pillows back into their places and told her that she could sleep beside him.

“W-why?” was the only thing she was able to say.

“Because you'd sleep better in my arms.” He states, making the girl blush, again. “Pleaseeee.”

“Well, we have slept in the same bed before.”

“Yes.”

“And I am much more scared of going outside in the darkness than sleeping with you so…”

“Yeeeees!”

In the end, even though she hasn’t actually agreed on staying there, Jongin just pulls her beside him. At first she was about to get up and tell him that she’d be sleeping in the sofa instead, but the warmth from his back hug that she gave her as soon as they laid on the bed was too comfortable to resist. Thinking that that was what her future life with Jongin is going to look like, Soojung couldn’t resist smiling.

After cuddling for a long time, she realizes that he hasn’t slept yet despite the both of them not speaking. His hands move from hugging her waist to playing to her hair, which she low key loved.

“Soojung-ah?”

With her eyes closed, she just lazily answered with a hum. “Hmm?”

“If I tell you that I love you, what will you do?”

“I don’t know. Probably laugh… or something.”

“You better start laughing then.” She then realizes that Jongin has stopped playing with her hair. Slowly, he faces the other side of the bed so she could sleep comfortably. She does start laughing, until she realizes what he just said.

“Wait, what?”

When Soojung slowly opens her eyes the next day, she found herself staring at the ceiling for quite a long time, refusing to get out of the bed nor even move since she was too comfortable on it. She shifts into her left side and sees the gloomy clouds of Seoul from the window.

That’s when she realizes that she wasn’t in her bed, since the only thing that she could see from her window were trees, and that in fact she was in Jongin’s bed. She quickly jumps out of the bed and looks around to search for Jongin, but he was nowhere to be found. She was pretty sure he has already woken up before her so she silently goes down stairs to look for him in the first floor. She finds him sitting in the kitchen table with an apron on and his messed up bed hair, staring into nothing.

“Oh, you’re awake.” He says upon seeing her standing creepily in front of him. He tells her to sit and eat with him, which she does. He made fried eggs and toasted bread for both of them, but the eggs didn’t look pleasing (but it surely looked better that her cooking, in her opinion) and he blames his hangover because of it. “My ing head has been hurting as soon as I woke up. Why did I even drink when ing Oh Sehun asked me to? Ugh.”

“U-uhm, do you remember anything that you did last night?” Soojung asks in hopes that they could talk about what he told her before sleeping last night.

“I wish I could, but I really don’t.” He sighs, thinking that he might have done something embarrassing in front of her. “I did receive a message from Kris hyung saying that I punched two dudes in the club. I don’t regret it thought because apparently they were flirting with you.”

Soojung just laughs awkwardly, still thinking about what he said last night.

“What’s wrong?” He asks after taking a bite of the bread.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Did I strip or something?”

“That’s what I said when I got drunk in Paris.” She rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, and I still find it funny.” Jongin laughs. “Listen, if I did something stupid like kissing you or something, I’m very sorry or f I said something like… I love you or something… Well, uhm… Just forget it ever happened.”

The girl looks up at him in shock at how he guess what happened last night. She was hoping that he would remember at first, but now she regrets that he kind of did. Why does she suddenly feel disappointed?

“Oh, by the way your phone was ringing a lot that its battery got drained so I had to charge it. It seems like your red headed friend whose name I couldn't really remember is really worried about you.”

Soojung eyes widen. She doesn’t even remember if she sent her a message that she won’t be sleeping in the mansion last night. She must have worried as for her because she didn’t come home. She asks him where her phone was and when she finally has it, she quickly turns it on to see 15 missed calls from her last night, and another 5 more that morning. The last one was actually done five minutes ago.

When she dialled Youngji’s number, she didn’t take long for her to answer. She must have been waiting for her call and Soojung felt a little guilty.

“Jung Soojung, you better go home right now.”

“Okay, I know you’re mad because I didn’t tell you that I wasn’t going to sleep there, but I can explain.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just…” Before Youngji continued her sentence, she hears a loud scream in the background that made her uneasy.

“Oh my God, what the hell was that?!”

“I… Uhm... your siblings are fighting. And I think you’re the only one who could stop them so please come home as fast as you can.”

Just like what she was told, Soojung went home after talking to Youngji, much to Jongin’s dismay. He was excited to eat breakfast with her but it turns out that she had to leave earlier than he thought.  Soojung didn’t want to leave as well since she was already hungry and was craving for something to eat, but Youngji sounded really serious when they talked on the phone that she had to.

All of the servants were on the first floor when she arrived in the mansion much to her surprise. From there they could hear both Jessica and Jaejoong screaming at each other from Jessica’s room at the second room. They all looked very worried but nobody dared to go there and stop them out of fear. One of the oldest employees actually went there before. She had to go back immediately though because both of the siblings threaten that if she got in the way between the two of them, she won't be having a job anymore.

“Thank God you’re here.” Youngji walks over to her as soon as she saw her enter. “When your brother arrived, he went straight to your sister’s room and they have been fighting ever since. What should we do?”

Honestly, Soojung had no idea what to do but pretended to so. She stood in front of them, in the middle of the stair with a fake smile. She told them that they all can have an off that day and that they are free to roam around the city even though it wasn’t even scheduled. This gave confusion to the servants, but most of them were happy as well. Youngji was about to follow and help Soojung who ran upstairs, but then she suddenly received a call from Sehun.

She would be lying if she says that she wasn’t nervous to face her siblings. The last time he saw Jaejoong mad was when he got caught dating his middle class first love and he was sent to London for 3 years while the last time she saw Jessica cry was when H.O.T disbanded years ago. Rarely showing negative emotions was almost normal in their family so knowing that they’re doing exactly that just behind the door that she was about to knock to was pretty nerve wrecking to Soojung.

Upon hearing a vase shuttering, Soojung didn’t knock anymore and just opened the door to enter. There she sees her brother on his feet, looking very surprised to see her and her sister who wasn’t looking at her but was consent of her presence. Jaejoong pulls her quickly further inside and closes the door, probably because he didn’t want people to hear them.

Jessica was a wreck. She wipes the tears on her face but the fact that she has been crying was evident. Her hair was a mess, which never happens to her since she brushes her hair all the time, and she looked very tired despite just waking up. She seemed weak and fragile, she didn’t look like the strong woman she adored at that moment.

“Oh my God, unnie are you alright-”

“Get the out, Soojung.” She orders, still not looking at her direction. “You shouldn’t interfere in our conversation.”

Being the good girl that she is when she’s with her family, she was about to do what her older sister told her to do when Jaejoong tells her not to. “Stay and listen to what your sister is going to say.” He says, walking back closer to Jessica. “Tell her, Sooyeon.”

“She doesn’t need to know.” Jessica looks up to him with an icy glare.

“Of course she does. She’s our sister. If you won’t ing tell her, I will.”

Instead of actually telling her younger sister whatever Jaejoong is talking about, Jessica bursts into tears again. She doesn’t stop glaring at him though and kept on cursing him in a low voice.

“W-what’s going on?”

“Your sister’s pregnant.” He tells her, looking firmly at the crying Jessica. Soojung was surprised but in a good way. Something was off though. Their family was growing, but why does her siblings have such heavy expressions plastered in their faces?

“That’s great, unnie!” She beams in hopes that her sister would stop crying and would just smile. She wanted to hug her so she could stop crying, but for some reason her conscience was telling her not to. “I bet Jin oppa is so happy right now!”

“I do not think so since it’s not his baby.” Jaejoong laughs half-heartedly. “It’s Lee Donghae’s. Your sister has been staying here in Seoul because of him. She even lied to us when she said that she went to Hong Kong last Christmas when in fact she went to Mokpo with him-”

“Enough!” Jessica screams. “Why can’t you just be happy for me? I thought out of all people, you’re the one who would understand! We’re basically the same! We fell in love with the people who aren’t like us!”

“What I did in the past is something I regret! You do not understand the pain I had to go through when I was sent off from Seoul!” He shouts furiously. “I was fifteen that time! You’re 23 now, Sooyeon! , you should know what’s wrong and right and yet you chose the wrong one!”

“Because I love him! I love Lee Donghae!”

“That’s bull!”

Watching the two people that she loved the most fight was abosolutely the worst. Even if she tried to stop them, Soojung felt like her body was frozen. There was so many emotions that she was feeling at that moment… Confusion, pain, disappointment…

“Terrible things will happen to Lee Donghae, and you’ll get disinherited-”

“That won’t happen because father will not know that I’m carrying Donghae’s baby.”

“He won’t because you’re going to abort the child. You have to if you don’t want to give father a hard time.”

Surprised on what her brother just said, Soojung looks at him. “That’s too much oppa.”

“Are you crazy? The one who’s having a hard time is me and the baby! I won’t do it!”

“Well, ! You should have thought about that before ting around, Sooyeon!”

Hearing what he just said, Jessica immediately slaps him. Soojung just watched in shock with both of her hands covering from what his brother said, but she wasn’t agreeing on it either. Jaejoong himself looked shocked from what he just said as well. He admits that he doesn’t get along with Jessica most of the times but deep inside he loves her as much as he loves Soojung so he didn’t know why he just said that.

“I… I’m going to call you once I talk to a doctor.” Jaejoong says in a deep voice.

Soon after that, he leaves the room with Soojung still looking surprised and unable to process things while Jessica crouches to the floor to start to cry again. But this time, a lot harder than before.

author's note: 

Short chapter, but the scene that I've dying to write is here which is Soojung finding out that her sister dear is pregnant but not with her husband. Since her sister is one of her rolemodels, she of course supports her in whatever her desicion will be but she also couldn't help but feel a little disappointed to what she has done.

Sorry for the random Ehra flashback. It was a continuation of the one from chapter 25. Was it out of place? I don't know I think I'll tell flashbacks in Jongin's dream. And Jongin kindaaa confessed? Lol I don't even know either. But he quickly takes it back again smh. He also unknowingly revealed that Taeyong had a thing for Seulgi back in the day, when Seulgi had a thing for him. I actually don't even ship the two. All I know that they trained together in SM and are probably close. Anyways, after seeing this picture of them together, I realized how cute they look together...... 

(Look at that dog tho omg)

Last note: allkpop wrote an article about kai and krystal and i got too excited bc i thought it was a dating news (well it was... kind of.) but it was from pann so it really isn't legit and now i'm sad :(((