Siebenunddreißig

Sizz…

I frowned slightly and crinkled my nose as the sausages made sizzling noises inside the frying pan. The strong smell of oil and meat filled the massive penthouse, and despite my stomach churning and twisting at the smell of food, a small smile crept onto my face.

It’s been a while since I woke up this early in the morning, and it’s certainly been a while since I’ve done any work at all apart from sulking in my room.

In fact, I could even say that I’m in a good mood.

Tap Tap Tap

My mood died down a little as I could hear footsteps coming down the stairs, yet I shook my head and told myself to perk up a little. This was going to be a new start for the both of us, and if I’m going to let myself fall back into the Nari that hated Jongin, nothing will change.

I want my baby to grow up in a complete family – even if it means to try and love Jongin.

“What are you doing?”

The footsteps halted behind me, and though I wanted to turn around and give him a bright smile, the frown in Jongin’s tone prevented me from doing so. So instead, I remained with my back to him, and tried to press down any hard feelings.

 “Cooking breakfast for you.” My voice came out alright. It wasn’t the brightest tone in the world, but at least I didn’t sound angry and sunken like before.

There was a short moment of silence – perhaps out of surprise that I was actually cooking breakfast for him, but the annoyed tone in Jongin’s speech quickly changed to an awkward cough.

“Right.”

There was another moment of bewildered silence before I could hear Jongin shuffling over to the table and sitting down.

Sizz…

“Its 5am in the morning,” Jongin finally spoke after a while, “Why are you up so early?”

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly.

“Maybe I’m in a good mood.”

Another short moment of pause entered between us. Then, Jongin let out a short, surprised laugh.

“Good mood, hey?”

My lips tilted upwards a little as I placed the sausages onto the plate, my other hand pressed gently against my stomach.

“Yes, good mood.”

Now that I have finished cooking, I admired the plate of sausages and egg proudly. Heaving the tiniest of sighs, I finally turned myself around to face Jongin and brought the plate to the table.

Yet when I lifted my eyes to meet with Jongin’s face, the image of the cold, hard-hearted president was nowhere to be seen. Instead, before me sat a Jongin with swollen eyes and a reddened, blotched face – evident of the amount of tears he shed and slaps he received yesterday night. His nose was a little red, and dark circles lined the lower area of his eyes. Though I should be feeling sorry, but with him sitting so straight and dressed neatly in a suit which contrasted with his unsightly face, it suddenly seemed really funny.

And before I could help myself, the smallest bubble of laughter escaped my lips.

At first, Jongin looked confused. Then, when recognition dawned, a slight blush crept onto his face. Coughing loudly, Jongin turned his face away from me. Trying hard not to seem too conspicuous, Jongin pretended to scratch his cheeks whilst using the hand to block view of his face.

“Eat.” Jongin mumbled as he reached for the sausages and eggs.

Still stifling my chuckles, I too, began filling my plate with sausages.

We ate in silent.

Jongin was still trying to hide his face whilst eating, whilst I focused on trying not to laugh out loud. And in the back of my mind, I realised how much more harmonious everything felt without as much hatred and unforgiveness in between.

In fact, it felt too harmonious that all of sudden, it made me uncomfortable. And it immediately killed the chuckle bubbling inside of me.

Before long, the plate of sausages and egg was emptied – with Jongin eating most of it. My stomach was still turning nauseously, and I was too scared to eat too much at once. But I was still mildly proud over the fact that I had breakfast.

How long had it been since I’ve had breakfast?

“Well, I better go to work now.” It was Jongin who broke the silence and brought me out of my thoughts. Blinking a little, I glanced at him over the empty plate between us.

“R-right.” Standing up awkwardly, I followed Jongin to the front door.

Another round of silence entered between us as we stood facing each other. Jongin almost looked as if he was waiting for me to do something, something like fix his tie for him or give him a goodbye kiss.

But I just stood there, my hands unable to fix his tie, and my lips refusing to kiss his lips. It was still too much for me…not when my wounds were still so raw in my heart.

One step at a time, Yoo Nari. I thought as I gulped and gave him a shaky smile, One step at a time.

“Good luck for work.” Was all I managed to say. Jongin seemed a little disappointed, but no longer staring down at me with that look of curious anticipation, he nodded his head and headed out the door.

Watching his back wordlessly as he entered the car and drove away, I bit my lips and once again pressed my hand against my stomach.

“Good job, Nari.” I told myself, “It was a good start.”

After Jongin left for work, and after I cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes, I was once again left with nothing to do.

“Ah, so boring.” I mumbled to myself before plopping down at the sofa. Grabbing the remote control, I turned the T.V on and began flipping through the channels.

A small smile lifted my expression when the kids channel came on, and bringing my feet up to the couch, I patted my stomach.

“Do you like cartoons?” I asked the baby inside, chuckling softly, “When I was a kid, I used to love watching Disney cartoons…I wanted to be one of those beautiful princesses who lived happily ever after-“

Cutting myself off my reminiscent memory, a small frown entered my face.

But my happily ever after never happened.

“It never happened because of Kim Jongin.” Unknowingly, these words spilled out of my lips, and slumping down against the couch, angry tears began gathering around my eyes as the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. Just who was Kim Jongin to steal my happily ever after away from me? What right does he have-

“No, no, no.” Slapping my cheeks, I tried to slap those negative thoughts out of my mind. Brushing the tears away, I patted my stomach again, “I’m sorry, my child. Mum was just being a little emotional. Don’t pay any attention to anything I just said, okay?”

Heaving a heavy sigh, I rested my head against the back of the couch and closed my eyes. With the television still on, the sound of laughter and catchy songs in the cartoon acted like a peaceful lullaby, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

Ding Dong.

“Hmm…” Frowning a little, I turned to the side, still in sleep.

Ding Dong.

“mphjsd…” I turned to the other side, my eyes still stubbornly closed.

Ding Dong. Ding Dong. Ding Dong-

“Alright, alright, I’m coming!” Letting out an irritated sigh, I opened my eyes groggily and stumbled off the couch. Walking over to the door, I opened it, expecting to see Jongin.

Yet my eyes flew open in shock when the person who stood before the door was not Jongin, but his half-brother Chanyeol.

Eyeing the figure in front of me suspiciously, I was about to close the door on him when he quickly blocked the door with his foot and leaned towards me.

“I…” Chanyeol breathed, his eyes searching mine, “need to talk to you.”

For a moment, I paused and stared back at Chanyeol, but then with a firm shake of my head, I pushed Chanyeol away and attempted to close the door again.

His other foot appeared and blocked the door from closing.

I frowned, and with an annoyed growl, slammed the door hard against his toe, earning a pained gasp from Chanyeol.

“Please!” Chanyeol shouted – half with pain and half with exasperation, “I just want to apologize!”

Apologize?

The look of surprise must’ve been really obvious on my face, for Chanyeol let out a small laugh despite still wincing from his bruised toe.

“Now can I come in?”

Biting my lips, I let go of the door and allowed Chanyeol to enter. Hissing softly as he tried walking over to the couch with his injured toe, Chanyeol turned and gave me an half accusing look.

“You could’ve been gentler on me, jeez,” Despite h