Chapter 7

Seohyun stared lovingly at her daughter inside the incubator with tears not ceasing. Only knowing about her for a few minutes already made her maternal instincts kick in. She was very small but she was hanging in there. Ever since she laid her eyes on her after learning the truth, she had kept apologizing.

Kyuhyun did not expect that she would learn about the whole truth this early. He wanted to tell her himself or let her parents tell her when the time was right. Seohyun needed proper rest from such a traumatic experience.

"I'm sorry. Mommy was stupid, wasn't she?" she continued to apologize. "Mommy is guilty right now and even she cannot forgive herself. She can't even look at your daddy because... because...." she sobbed even more.

Kyuhyun pulled her body towards his' and embraced her, rubbing her back to comfort her as she cried on his chest. It was difficult for both of them but he was sure that Seohyun was having a harder time. She woke up as a thirty-two year old woman all of a sudden and couldn't remember the past eight years of her life. She felt out of place because she missed what had been happening recently. She found out she got married but her parents didn't tell her who he was. She wasn't beside her child from the very beginning. Knowing everything in one day was not good for her health but she didn't want to be in the shadows anymore.

"It's okay. I forgave you a long time ago Hyunnie. Nobody got hurt badly and our baby girl is still here. I knew you have a good reason why you did it. That girl's family will be forever grateful to you," he said.

Seohyun circled her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulders. It was the only comfort she could reach out at the moment to the point where even her parents would be useless. Her old folks would break down and panic and that was the last thing she wanted to happen. Parents should be living a luxurious and relaxing life instead of worrying of their married children. But parents would always be parents. Worrying for their child is their way of caring.

"But you know oppa, I really want to know what I was thinking back then. Running to sacrifice my baby's life when somebody else could have saved the child instead is careless thinking. Did I get careless and stupid, oppa? If I could just remember everything, I would feel less guilty."

Kyuhyun pulled away from the hug, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean, Joohyun-ah?"

"It's not like me to do this type of thing. If only I have my memories then maybe we can have a clearer picture of everything."

Kyuhyun was even more confused, no words forming in his mind.

She shook her head with a sad smile. She wished she did. A painful trigger would be worth it as a payment for her precious memories. She would do anything and everything. 

"I'm sorry I checked your phone without permission. I was looking at the pictures when I saw a picture of us. It didn't grasp me fully so I went Dr. Kang for confirmation. You never know, your wife might a be Girls' Generation's Seohyun's doppleganger."

Kyuhyun only nodded, at chuckled at her joke at the end. She had the time to joke after all that happened. Was she losing her mind?

"Umm... Why don't you sit down. Do you need anything? Drink? Food ?" Diverting topics wasn't appropriate but he needed to think everything through. It was getting messy.

"No thank you, oppa. I'm fine," she replied.

"I'm sure you are thirsty after crying for quite a long time. I'll get some food as well. When I come back, I'll tell you eveything that you want to know. It'll take a long time so we might as well have something to chew on while we talk. Deal?"

She smiled and nodded in response.

"Good, I'll go and get some in the canteen downstairs. I'll be quick," he said and exited the room.

She was left alone with the baby in the room. But she wasn't worried. There was a bell within reach. The baby has been fed and was sleeping soundly. The monitor was connected to the nursing station so the nurses knew the baby's vitals without going in to the room. The only thing Seohyun did was look at her daughter lovingly like she was the only one in the world.

While she continued to wait, she grabbed some disposable soft wipes and wet it under cold running water in the bathroom. She went back to the recliner chair and made herself comfortable before placing the cold, wet cloth on her eyes. Hopefully, the swelling of her eyes from crying would come down before Kyuhyun returned back.

He hit his forehead gently on the walls of the corridor leading to their room. He knew she would have to know the truth but didn't expect it to be this soon. He didn't know what was the right thing to do anymore. His baby girl needed a mother on her side but on the other hand, Joohyun was still recuperating. During a family meeting between the specialists and of course Seohyun and Kyuhyun's parents, it was recommended she recover without any stress. Failure to do so could lead to psychological complications, especially if she hadn't remembered anything.

That's why he never step foot on her hospital room ever since her eyes opened, let alone knew who he was. Once her eyes would set on him, she would most likely faint but most importantly feel strange. To her, Kyuhyun was a close friend when she was twenty-four. Romantic feelings probably didn't develop until a few years later so him being her husband would blow her mind away.

He took his phone out of his denim pants pressed the side button on. His fingers were tempting to call every single person on his contacts. His heart was beating too fast and too hard that his breathing rate increased. His thoughts clouded and thinking rationally was impossible. There was no way he knew what was running through her mind. She was already blaming herself. If she continued.... 

No, he reassured himself. He was going to be there by her side supporting her and doing whatever it takes for her to be able to adapt to this new environment until her memories returned. His wife wasn't weak. In fact, he was a wuss comparing to her.

After making up his mind, he went to get what he needed. Some food and a lot of drinks to keep him talking. A bit of soju perhaps. He was scared and that was an understatement. 

His face was pale as soon as he entered the room. Seohyun was lying back on the recliner chair with a cloth covering her eyes. She was strong. Definitely. She was taking this a lot better than what he expected. Plus, Seohyun was facing everything with courage. She didn't run away.

She removed the wet cloth when she sensed him. He was back with a lot of food that she wasn't sure she had the appetite to eat, especially at this time where anything from her past could shake her. Seohyun was sensitve when it came to the accident, knowing all of it was all on her to blame. Regret and guilt filled up her heart but the happiness of seeing her little angel fight for her life enabled her to be stronger and more courageous than ever before.

Seohyun did have a feeling Kyuhyun wouldn't spill everything there and then. She didn't know what has changed in him from the last eight years but from the way he acted in the past few hours of their meeting, he cared more of her well being. More than anything. 

"So, what do you want to know?" he sighed. He wasn't ready. He thought he was but now he was facing her, all his guts turned jelly. Why am I a coward when it comes to her?

"Everything that is to know."

He took out everything from the plastic and placed them on the overbed table before dragging it closer to where Seohyun was sitting. He grabbed the nearest chair and sat close to the table, adjacent to Seohyun and facing the incubator.

From what she saw, he bought two different types of packed lunch: salmon and chicken. Each beautifully arranged despite being a hospital food with a serving of rice and three side dishes which consisted of kimchi, salad and a piece of rolled omelette. In another packaging, there were two slices of cheesecake as their dessert and two bottles of lemon iced tea. Luxurious enough in this type of environment.

Kyuhyun didn't know where to start off. Their love story was quite interesting enough and too complicated at the same time and telling her that now was probably not a priority.

"I want to know how she has been doing," she pointed the baby comfortably sleeping in her incubator with her gaze.

He wasn't expecting that at all. He could only look at her in confusion and amazement. Her eight years of lost memories formed what she was now but he was certain, the woman whom he fell in love with was still here.

When Seohyun was only twenty-four, she was still the same girl that the public loved. Innocence and intelligence covered her from head to toe. She had fears of coming out of her comfort zone. As soon as she hit twenty-five, she was slowly breaking down her walls and decided to enjoy her life more. Flirt, date and do the intense things she hadn't done before. Ever so slowly, she was less awkward with her peers.

But her empathy was still there. Seohyun's talent at understanding was what charmed Kyuhyun and made him love her other traits after her change. She could be stubborn but if she was given a logical reason or response, she would understand right away. Otherwise, Seohyun would fight back.

She was at a disadvantage. She wanted to know more. She wanted to remember more. She wanted to understand more. She could pull everything out of Kyuhyun but she knew she had to slow down. It wasn't just her that was suffering. He was too. He nearly lost both of them and with a concert at the same time, he was the most exhausted going back and forth the hospital and practice.

Pushing him to the his limit was not a good idea. Kyuhyun looked too exhausted and a break is what he deserved.

A smile cracked his lips. Just remembering what they have been through clenched his heart with pure joy. The path to where they were now was not always on smooth, even ground. But knowing they walked together gave his tired legs more strength to face another obstacle, no matter what shape or size, and they were going to go face the challenge head on, together.

"She was an unexpected blessing," he started. His face eased. "Plans of giving Dahyun a sibling has always been open, but the timing was not suitable. At that time when you were experiencing the early symptoms, there was an internal conflict between the artists and the company. It was so big that SM could shut down within a day. Countless of lawyers were called to a secret meeting to discuss options, lawsuits, shares... It was all money."

"What was the main cause of the conflict? Even if it was money, the company is quite fair when dividing profits. It's in our contracts."

"It was all about what we should have gotten. The financial department insisted they had all the calculations correct but all the artists were getting too little of the expected income. Earnings that we deserved disappeared somewhere."

"Then, what has my pregnancy got to do with this conflict?"

He grabbed his drink and took a sip before he continued, "All of the artists were part of the discussion. At that time as well, Girls' Generation's comeback preparations had a bit of problem. With only a few days left until the first performance... costumes prepared couldn't fit you anymore." He was hesitant with the second half of his sentence. His cautious eyes read her facial expressions. It took a while for her to piece it all together but when she got it, she smiled at his reaction and urged his to continue.

"You need an budget extension to cover size adjustments especially if costumes were of high brand. On the meeting, that was the topic. Debates flew from all over the room when you started getting nauseous. Unfortunately, you were seated on the opposite side of where the doors were. Plus, escaping without disturbing was quite impossible since you have to pass the desk where the big bosses were sitting and you looked really sick."

For some reason, Seohyun was getting irritated. Kyuhyun was smiling as he told her. My own husband laughing at his wife suffering from morning sickness... I am appalled.

Before she could speak, he continued on. "Looking back at that moment, it was quite hilarious. Because not only all eyes were on you, you also accidentaly knocked over a stack of folders for the big bosses to read. However, you didn't stay to help pick it up or even apologized but ran to closest toilet. Everybody's minds started clicking and I got congratulations and applauses the next second. While the majority of attention was on me, one of the opened folders contained the answer to our questions got the attention of Kangta-sunbaenim. It showed the corrupt side of the accounts manager. He was stealing the money. He was quite stupid to leave that evidence in the folder."

"And this is somewhat a blessing because..."

"The accounts manager was planning on handing his resignation letter later that week to flee. If he escaped, he wouldn't be even a suspect because the blame would go to someone else. That was his plan. Unlucky for him, he left his bank statement in the folders where it was shown how much money he got."

"He's an idiot," commented Seohyun, shaking her head in disappointment.

There were still those types of people in this world. The greed for power and money filled their lives. But there is no such thing as a perfect crime. Mistakes tend to happen and his mistake was leaving his bank statement open to the world filled with corrupt transactions. The complete list.

Conversations went on between the two. From time to time, Seohyun would get to carry the baby for a few minutes and they would talk about her. Other times, they would talk about what has changed on the times she missed. 

Getting angry at the people around her was not her top most priority. She understood their intentions but deep down inside, she wanted them to understand what it felt like being kept in the dark. 

Her daughter needed her most now. The time lost between them could not be repaid but she was here now. All her love and affection would go to their bundle of joy.

A/N

Thank you guys once again for reading, commenting, subscribing and voting. Saranghaeyo guise <3

Edited: August 7, 2017

I'm confused if the child who nearly got hit was a boy or a girl XD Oh boy