Chapter XII: Getting Somewhere

Dong household: 7:15 AM

Dong Youngbae was a very protective man…very protective indeed. So what's a protective man to do when an earthquake suddenly hits? He simply forbids is pregnant wife from anything and everything he deems as unsafe for her as well as his child.

Therefore IU had been sentenced to an unnecessary bed rest and was not permitted to be outdoors or anywhere else but the bedroom.

"Youngbae, you've gone overboard!" shouted IU. She was lying down on their bed in a large black sweater and pants while doing absolutely nothing. Youngbae was down stairs making breakfast.

He tried to convince her to stay home from work but IU put her foot down on that one.

"I'm getting up!" she shouted. As she began to get up, Youngbae came busting in with a tray in his hands.

"You're not going anywhere," he said while bringing the tray to her. IU pouted and looked at what he made, which was a traditional korean breakfast.

"I know you're trying to be a good husband, but really, it's not like I can't move around and do stuff for myself." She said while subconsciously bringing her hand to her belly and inching away from the tray. The soup was starting to get to her.

"After that earthquake I'm not taking any chances with you," he said. "You're going to stay here where you're safe. Besides, Dara said you're not allowed to do anything strenuous."

"Strenuous not mundane Youngbae," she clarified. She sighed as he sat next to her.

"I think you shouldn't go to work today," said Youngbae. IU narrowed her eyes at him. "You need to take it easy."

"Youngbae, I've practically been stripped of my title as a 'well-respected surgeon'. I will not have you tell me that I'm not allowed to do what little work I can do. It won't hurt the babies."

When Youngbae didn't say anything, IU turned to find him staring at her with a questioning face.

"What?" She asked.

Youngbae's eyes traveled to her rounded stomach then back up to her face.

"…Babies?" he asked. He saw her eyes widen a fraction before correcting herself.

"What? I mean baby…yeah…it won't hurt the baby." She said stirring the soup.

‘Oh crap I almost slipped!’ she thought. This was the one thing that she knew she could keep from him for as long as she could, but she wouldn't be surprised if he found out about it.

‘I had to marry a genius didn't I?’ She thought as she brought the soup to her lips. Before she could even taste it, she put the spoon down. She didn't feel like throwing up today.

"Can you hand me my B6 vitamins?" she asked. Youngbae reached for the bottle that was next to the nightstand and handed it to her. She popped the lid and took a tablet while drinking the water that Youngbae brought her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. IU placed the glass down and sighed. She turned to Youngbae and smiled.

"Yeah…I'm fine." she said. Youngbae looked as though he didn't believe her, but he couldn't do anything about it. He brought her into his arms and lay back down on the bed with her. IU snuggled into him and inhaled his scent.

"When is your next appointment with Dara?"

"In a few weeks," she answered. "I'm scheduled for a second trimester ultrasound. Why?"

Youngbae just shrugged and re-positioned them so that she was lying on her back and he was lying on his side. He ran his warm hand over her noticeably rounded belly.

"You're growing pretty fast." He commented.

IU placed her own hand on her belly and rubbed it as well. Dara told her that she would be showing faster than normal due to the circumstances. The next two months were going to be her fastest periods of growth and after the second ultrasound Youngbae was going to find out.

"I know," said IU. "I think I'm feeding him too much."

"Him?" asked Youngbae. IU turned her head and smiled at him.

"I just have a feeling that it's going to be a boy. But then again, I only have that feeling right now. Sometimes I feel like it's a girl too."

"Is that supposed to be your mothers intuition or is that you just being confusing?" he asked. IU laughed and shrugged.

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" she asked. Youngbae looked thoughtful. He read somewhere in a certain periodical (coughparentingmagazinecough) that these questions could land you in big trouble with your wife if you automatically shout out a preference. So he decided to play it safe.

"Both would be nice," he said. IU just gave him a look and rolled her eyes at him. "What?"

"Seriously, boy or girl?" she asked. "Come on Youngbae."

"I'm looking forward to either a boy or a girl, IU. Besides," he said as he carefully hovered over her. "It's not like this will be our only child." He said smirking.

‘CRAP!’ thought IU. ‘Don't tell me he figured it out already!’

"What do you mean?" she asked astounded. Youngbae leaned in and started kissing her neck and working his way up to her cheek.

"I plan on getting you pregnant again…" he said with a kiss to her jaw "…and again…" he said kissing her cheek "…and again." He finished with a kiss to her lips.

‘Okay…so he didn't figure it out yet,’ she thought with relief as she wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. ‘…and for now…I don't care.’ She thought as the kisses became more intense.

IU's hands traveled up from his back to entangle themselves into his mohawk hair. Oh how she loved his hair. All thoughts about babies were pushed out of her head when she felt his hands sneak their way underneath her shirt and making a line for her bra hook.

IU pulled away from the kiss for two reasons: she and the babies needed oxygen and they would both be late for work if she didn't stop this now, because when Youngbae gets started…things happen. Youngbae continued with his kisses along her face and neck while she caught her breath.

"…Youngbae," she said. "We need to go to work soon." She said as she felt his fingers play with the hooks.

"I'd rather you stay right here." He said as he moved to sit next to her.

IU remained lying down as she rolled her eyes again and sighed.

"Youngbae I'm going to work and that's that. I will not use this pregnancy as an excuse to get lazy!" she said flinging her arms above her head. "I know you're worried and that's sweet and everything but think of it like this," she said sitting up. "If anything bad happens, which it won't," she added hastily. "I'll be in the best hospital in the country anyway so when you think about it, it's better to be at work, with the best doctors on hand, then here at home alone."

Youngbae sighed at his stubborn wife. Although he preferred she stay at home, he couldn't help but acknowledge that she did have a very good point. It was better to be somewhere where she had medical attention available than anywhere else without him.

"Alright then," he said. "But you're still out of commission as far as surgeries go."

She just smiled at him as he got up and helped her to her feet. They both went and got changed for work. After grabbing a quick breakfast from the kitchen, they set off for the hospital.

 Jiyong's office: 12:00 pm

Jiyong left his office and went to the elevator. A few weeks had passed since his day off with Hayi and he found that he actually enjoyed taking a small break every now and then. He would now leave the hospital once a day to go out for lunch with either Seungri or just by himself. He found it to be a nice break from his usual routine and to his surprise the paper work seemed to get done quicker when he came back. Who knew?

He stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the first floor. As the elevator descended, he began to think about someone who he seemed to be seeing less of these days: Dara.

It was strange. As soon as he makes it a point to ask her out, he barely sees her at all. He does his thing and she does hers. The few times that he had seen her in the elevators were uneventful too. She would quickly say hi and then bolt from the elevator and go off to do whatever it was that she had to do. In other words, she seemed to be pretty busy.

Jiyong was getting fed up with trying to date in general. This was why he hated it so much back in his college days; it required too much effort. The elevator stopped at the 7th floor and the doors opened.

" …" was what was going through his mind when he saw Dara walk in. She was wearing green scrub pants and her scrub top had teddy bears printed all over it. She had her purse slung over her shoulder and her phone in her right hand, supposedly checking her messages. She looked up with surprise written on her face and put her phone in her pocket.

"Um…hi Jiyong," she said as the doors closed. "I'm surprised that you're out again."

"Hnn," he said. ‘You're the one that told me to take breaks.’ He thought. Dara sighed.

‘There he goes with those one word answers again.’ She thought.

After her discussion with Bom about dating again, Dara still couldn't seem to get going on that plan. Work seemed to "conveniently" keep her occupied and give her no time to make any plans with anyone. The trouble was, it kept her thinking about it…or rather someone, and he was standing right next to her.

Jiyong on the other hand, saw the perfect opportunity to get his "plan" in motion.

"Are you going out to lunch?" He asked eyeing her purse.

"Yeah," she said. "I was thinking about trying out that Chinese place down the street. IU recommended it. I asked her to go with me, but she said she probably wouldn't be able to handle it. It's a sad thing when pregnancy makes you hate your favorite foods." She said with sigh.

"…Tsk," he replied. ‘How do I ask her without sounding ridiculous?’ He thought. Thinking about asking her was one thing, but actually asking her was another. He somehow found himself unable to do it.

Dara seemed to be having a similar problem. ‘I wonder if he's going out to lunch too,’ she thought. ‘Maybe I should ask him to come with me.’

She hadn't seen him in a while; almost three weeks. It gave her some time to think about her conversations with both Ino and IU. The person that always came to mind was Jiyong. It was like there was no other man she knew that she could go out with. Everything seemed to point to him…and half of her didn't want it to.

But here he was, standing with her in this elevator and thinking about whatever it was that was on his mind. If only she knew what was on his mind.

Dara glanced at him from the sides of her eyes. He seemed to be in deep thought. His eyes were staring straight ahead and Dara swore she could see her reflection in the darkness of his iris. What she didn't realize was that she was beginning to lean towards him. She snapped out of her staring when his eyes turned to look at her, effectively catching her in the act.

"Something wrong…Dr. Park?" he asked. Dara stood up straight and looked forward.

"No…nothing." She said.

She was a little embarrassed to be caught staring like that. She began to fidget when she felt his eyes on her. She must have looked ridiculous looking at him like that.

‘I should just ask him already!’ She thought.

Jiyong looked at her and decided that this was it. He was going to ask her right now and nothing was going to get in his way. They both looked at each other and were about to say something when the elevator stopped on the second floor and a familiar voice called out to them.

"Hey hyung…and Dara!" shouted Seungri as he stepped into the elevator and stood right in between them.

‘Idiot!’ thought Jiyong. Leave it to Seungri to have perfect timing.

"You guys want to go have lunch together?" He asked while looking between the two. Dara smiled at him while Jiyong sighed.

"Sure." They both replied. Since they were going to lunch with Seungri, Twosome's was inevitable.

Twosome's: 12:30 pm

Seungri, Jiyong and Dara arrived at Yeolbong's and took seats at the bar. Seungri immediately ordered his favorite chicken menu while Jiyong and Dara both ordered the pork and pasta.

"So Dara are you coming to Hayi's birthday party?" Seungri asked.

"Oh I didn't know her birthday was coming up," she said leaning forward from her seat. She had to talk over Jiyong, since he was sitting in between them.

"It's this Saturday," said Jiyong. "She wanted me to ask you and Hanbin to be there."

Dara smiled. "Well, I'm on-call on Saturday so I guess I can be there. She's turning five, right?" Jiyong nodded.

"Great," said Seungri. "That means that whole gang will be there. By the way…I'm going to need a little help getting her present to your house." He admitted.

Jiyong narrowed his eyes. "…What did you get her?"

"I built her something and it's too big to fit in my car. It's not like I made her some screaming metal death trap or anything." He shouted. Their orders came and he quickly dug into his chicken.

Jiyong and Dara began eating their food as well. Although it might not be what they had planned, internally they were both a little grateful for Seungri being there. At least this way, they could talk without the pressure. Plus, Seungri was too busy devouring his food to really be included.

"I thought you wanted to go to the Chinese place." Jiyong said.

"I can always go another time. Besides, it's nice for all of us to hang out like this." She said as she twirled her pasta on the chopsticks.

"How's Hayi doing?"

"She's doing well. I think you inspired her to become a doctor." He said surprising her.

"Really?"

"She said she wants to be just like you," he said. "I think that means she wants to become a doctor. Personally I wouldn't mind it if she did."

Dara smiled. "Awww she's so cute. And was that a compliment I just heard from you?" She asked smirking.

"Maybe." He replied as he sipped his water.

"I think Hayi would make a great doctor. You might as well get her a toy doctor's kit. That's what my appa gave me when I turned three. It turned out to be good practice." She said thoughtfully.

"You based your career off a birthday gift?"

"Of course not. My appa told me that my omma was in the medical field," she explained as she stirred her soup. "Since I never knew her, I wanted to do things that she did. In some strange way, I felt like I was sort of bonding with her. It turns out Hyesun-unnie was in the process of training her before she died."

Jiyong watched her carefully. She had a small smile on her face and her eyes looked as if they were lost in her memories. "Anyway, what about you?" She asked.

"What about me?" He asked.

"Did you always want to run your family's hospital?"

"It wasn't really a choice so much as an obligation." He replied.

"Well…did you want to do anything other than this?"

"I grew up knowing that one day I would have to take over the hospital. There really wasn't any point in dreaming about anything else."

"Jiyong…every kid has dreams. I'm sure you did too."

"Hnn."

Dara just frowned. "I really wish you would stop saying that. What does 'Hnn' mean anyway? Yes? No? Maybe? Whatever? You're annoying?" She asked twirling her pasta again.

"The last one." He answered.

He received a nice punch in the arm for that. The sad thing was…a petite brown haired woman wearing teddy bear print scrubs was the one who punched him.

"For a doctor, you're pretty violent."

"So I've been told," she said with a smile. "Hanbin seems to be following in my footsteps then. His karate teacher told me that he was his best student. My little karate man." She said affectionately.

Now that she mentioned her son, Jiyong felt as though he should confront her about Hanbin's attitude with him. He hadn't seen the kid for a few weeks, but Jiyong couldn't get the way Hanbin looked at him out of his mind.

Speaking of Hanbin," he said, grabbing her attention. "Does he have any problems with me?"

Dara put her chopsticks down and looked at him. "Problems? What do you mean? Did he say anything to you?"

"I know you've noticed how he gets a little distant when I'm around. I want to know if there was any reason for that." He said.

Her eyes bore into his for a second before looking down at her ramen.

"…I'm trying to figure that out myself," she admitted. "Honestly I have no clue why he feels so strange around you. He's not like that with anyone else."

Jiyong remembered Hanbin's question from the okonomiyaki place a while back.

"He asked me something interesting a while ago."

"What did he say?" She asked, completely turning to face him from her stool.

"He asked me if I used to play with him when he was little." He answered, observing how Dara's face changed from curious to confused.

"Why would he ask you that? It doesn't make sense to me." She said looking away in thought.

"I made no sense to me either," he replied. "Maybe he's confusing me with someone else." He added without thought.

Dara's eyes shot back to him when he said that. She took a look at his face and was thinking hard. Suddenly it made sense. Dara gasped and covered with her hand.

Jiyong was right. Hanbin was confusing Jiyong with someone else…Mino. But how was that possible? Hanbin was only two years old when Sai died. There was no way he could remember anything from that age.

"Oh my…" She whispered.

Jiyong gave her a confused look and became concerned when her eyes began to water a little.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Seungri stopped and looked over at Dara.

"Hey Dara, what's wrong? Did hyung do anything to you?" He asked giving Jiyong a look. Dara shook her he