~TAEYEON~

For the next hour, I busied myself tidying the kitchen and setting the dining room table in readiness for our guests. I’d just put the finishing touches on the table when the phone rang. Thinking the caller might be Jiyong, I hurried to the kitchen and grabbed the receiver.

“Hello!” I said cheerfully.

“Taeyeon, is that you?”

“Taerin?! Yes, it’s me.” I replied, the brightness gradually fading from my voice.

“You won’t believe what’s happened. I’ve got incredible news.” Taerin rushed on excitedly. “My agent just called. I’m gonna go solo! A well-renowned composer likes my voice and he thinks I’m the perfect muse for his latest songs! Taeyeon-ah, he offered me a record deal!” she followed her announcement with a squeal of pleasure before hurrying on. “I’m thrilled, flabbergasted, ecstatic! This is the break I’ve been waiting for…dreaming about. After this, I just know my career is going to skyrocket.”

“Taerin! How wonderful! Congrats sis!” I said, trying to inject enthusiasm into my voice, all the while thinking Taerin seemed to have forgotten Jiyong’s threat to take Hayi away from her.

“I knew this would happen.” Taerin continued, oblivious to my growing concern. “I’m on cloud nine! I have goose bumps just talking about it! Picture this! My voice, my own songs are being played all over South Korea and Japan! Everybody’s finally gonna hear me sing!”

“That does sound exciting. But I thought….”

“Recording doesn’t start till December which is great. That gives me lots of time to get back in shape.”

“Taerin, wait. Aren’t you forgetting something? Didn’t you get in touch with a lawyer?”

“Why do I need a lawyer? I have a terrific agent, and she’s negotiated a great deal.”

“I’m talking about Hayi, Taerin. You told me Jiyong threatened to take her away from you if you went back to singing. Have you talked to a lawyer? Maybe if you sat down with your husband and told him your news, explained to Jiyong just how much…”

“Husband? Did you say husband?” Taerin asked, amusement lacing her voice.

“Yes.” I answered, bewildered by the question.

Laughter echoed down the phone line. “Jiyong isn’t my husband. We’re not married.”

“Not married?!” I repeated, agast from the impact of my sister’s astonishing revelation. “But he wears a wedding ring.”

“That’s just his father’s memento.” Taerin explained. “I teasingly told him he should put it on his left hand and I would wear one, too. That way everyone would assume we’d secretly gotten married. It was just a joke.”

“You and Jiyong aren’t married?” I asked again, wanting to be sure I wasn’t mistaken.

“Don’t get me wrong. Jiyong is a hella nice guy. We had some good times together. But he’s one of those guys with old-fashioned ideas about love and marriage and when he proposed I just told him I wasn’t ready for all that. Heck, I’ll probably never be ready for it.”

“Besides, I knew about this audition since before I knew I was pregnant with Hayi. I’m a huge fan of the composer and it had always been my greatest wish to sing a song composed by him. I couldn’t just walk away from my dream, could I?”

I couldn’t think of a thing to say. My mind was still pondering over the fact that Jiyong had offered to marry Taerin, had offered to do the honorable thing and had been turned down.

“What about those threats you told me Jiyong made?” I suddenly asked as I tried to sort things out in my head.

“That’s not important right now.” Taerin brushed aside the question.

“You can’t be serious!” I protested, stupefied by my twin’s lack of concern. It didn’t make sense… nothing made sense. Unless… My thoughts shuddered to a halt.

“You lied to me about Jiyong, didn’t you?” I asked.

“Not exactly.” Taerin hesitated. “He does want custody of Hayi…”

“Why did you lie? Why did you want me to pretend to be you?” I interrupted, anger rising like a hot air-balloon inside me. “And while you’re at it, maybe you could explain why you ran off in the first place. It’s a question Jiyong had asked numerous of time. I’m a little curious to know the answer myself.”

Taerin made no reply. Several seconds ticked by and I began to wonder if the connection had been broken.

“I’m listening.” I prompted.

“Look, sis. When you told me Jiyong had showed up at your house, I couldn’t see the harm in letting him to go on thinking he’d found me. And I felt better knowing you’d be taking care of Hayi, that’s all.

“And the reason I left before Hayi was born was because I feel like a prisoner. Jiyong was constantly talking about the baby coming and…well. I was tired of the whole deal. He didn’t care about me, he only cared about the baby.” Taerin’s tone bordered on sulkiness.

“So you decided you’d had enough and you were leaving?”

“Not exactly.” Taerin replied. “I got an urgent call from my agent telling me the studio had already mentioned about me being chosen to attend the audition asap.”

“And in all honesty, the auditions weren’t supposed to start for another month. I freaked out! I had to do something! I thought if I showed up at the studio, I could somehow showcase my vocal to the composer and convince him that I really was the best candidate.” Taerin said.

“I knew if I told Jiyong what I was planning to do, he’d stop me. So, after he went to work the next morning, I just left. It was stupid, I know.” Taerin acknowledged. “I guess I could have called him after Hayi was born. But I was afraid that if he came and took the baby, he’d never let me see my daughter again. And to top it all, I didn’t even get to the studio. I went into labor two hours before my flight to Tokyo. But right after I gave birth to Hayi, I called my agent and told her I’d be able to make the auditions after all. Lucky for me she’d already managed to push my audition back two weeks.”

I sighed, having difficulty understanding why my twin had jeopardized the safety of her unborn child simply for the sake of an audition.

It appeared she’d lied about Jiyong making a threat, and in doing so had involved me in an unnecessary deception. A deception that had nothing to do with Hayi’s welfare, but in fact, after all had everything to do with Taerin’s own driving ambition to succeeed.

“Taeyeon…listen. None of this matters now.” Taerin said. “Can’t you just be happy for me? Don’t you understand what getting this record deal means to me?”

“Frankly, I don’t, Taerin.” I replied, unable to fathom my twin’s total lack of regard for her daughter’s welfare or for that matter the pain and anguish she’d put Jiyong through.

 “You’ve never understood.” Taerin’s to