Chapter 6. Jessica : Baby

“Soojungie! I bring you lunch.” I call loudly from the kitchen but Soojung doesn't answer.

The spa time with Mom last for more than three hours and now it's past lunch time already. I feel a little guilty to Soojung. My poor sister probably has fallen asleep waiting for me to bring some meal home. I promised her lunch after all

I bring the tray of food upstairs, knocking on her door first. Still no answer. “Soojung, are you sleeping?” I whisper, gently pushing her bedroom's door open. She's not on her bed though.

“I'm bringing you lunch.” I set the tray on her bed, walking to check the bathroom. Is she on that awful episode of vomiting her guts out again?

No sound of my sister retching coming from the bathroom but I decide to check anyway. The bathroom is empty. But something on the vanity steals my attention. It's the pregnancy test I have bought her. The pregnancy test she has been refusing to use despite my encouragement.

Has she took the test?

I'm about to take it and see the result myself but then it dawns on me that Soojung will tell me herself whenever she feels like to. It's her privacy.

I fish my phone out of my pocket while walking back to the kitchen, feeling concerned that Soojung is nowhere to be seen. There's a notification signaling a message left in our chat room though.

Out with Sehun. Don't wait. Don't tell Mom.

Sehun? The name makes me sigh. It's not that I don't like Soojung's ex-boyfriend or something. We used to be signed under the same agency, the three of us. I know enough about him to tell that Sehun is a good man. But a good man is not necessary the perfect man for Soojung.

Sehun belongs to the most popular boy-group in this country. Boy-group's fans are the scariest when it comes to possessiveness. They sometimes can be the biggest source of hate and malicious comments.

I'd rather have my sister not dating someone as famous as Sehun. I always tell Soojung that such relationship tends to be too risky, too complicated it will end up badly. And sadly, their relationship did end up badly, leaving Soojung in a mess right in her very first days living alone in LA.

I guess Soojung just has it bad with Sehun that now she's out with him again. Heck he even visited her in LA sometimes ago, right?

Wait a minute.

Oh no.

What if Soojung really is pregnant and Sehun is the father of the baby?

Just the thought of it giving me a headache. I rub my temple, typing rapidly into the chat room.

Sehun?

Why him? Why?

I can't help myself from nagging. I'm the older sister, I have the right to. I need to protect Soojung.

Where are you going?

When will you be back?

She doesn't reply. I rub my temple harder. What if she's still out there when Mom and Dad home? The ugly break up has made our parents dislike Sehun too.

Be careful, okay?

Just come back home before Mom and Dad, yes?

I wait for a full minute yet there's still no reply.

Aaaaargh, I'm so choking my sister later. How will I tell Mom that her favorite daughter is out with her ex-boyfriend again?

The bell rings, startling me. I walk outside, praying that it's Soojung.

It's not her though. A familiar face greets me as I open the door wide.

“Yul.” I can't help but whisper. It feels like we haven't see each other in a very-very long time instead of just a week ago.

“Hey.” He stands in front of me holding the handle of his traveling bag and his favorite blazer in one hand. His shirt looks ruffled, his face too. “Mom's home?”

I shake my head.

“Can I come in?”

I nod, knowing that I shouldn't have treated him like a guess. The one who usually comes and goes through the door as he likes. The one who has spent as much nights and days under this roof as I did for the past five years. The one who promises my parents he will love me until the end of his life and beyond. My husband, Kwon Yuri.

He tails me to the family room. Seating himself on the couch in front of the TV, he sighs loudly. “I just got back from Kuwait.”

I keep silent.

“Are you still not speaking to me?”

I restrain myself from answering, standing in the middle of the room with my hands crossed over my chest. He better comes here to say an apology.

He rubs his face and for a fleeting moment I feel bad for him. He looks tired. Stubble grows on his usually clean-shaved face and bags formed under his eyes.

“Let's go home Jess.”

“Didn't succeed on finding another woman then, did you?”

“Jess...”

“You said you want to send me back to my parents. I'm at my parents now, happy?”

“Jess... baby. I was angry back then. I wasn't in my right mind. Come on.” He stands up, reaching for me but I flinch away.

“So, whenever you are not in your right mind you are free to hurt me just like that. How convenience.”

“Jess. Wasn't it the first time I say such words to you? I won't do it again. I promise.”

I make no reaction. The memory of our fight sticks in my head. The anger in his eyes and the awful words he said back then are such venom flooding my mind.

He comes closer, his hands on my shoulder, his eyes on mine. “Jessica. I've been under a lot of stress lately, I didn't mean the words I said that day. I love you. You know that, don't you?

“You love me? How could someone who love me, who marry me in the name of God, telling me to go back to my parents? How can someone who has promised me his lifetime devotion has the capability of saying how he'll just find another woman? What kind of love is that?” I spit my words out, thing that I didn't capable of doing that day because I was too surprised of his words.

“Jess. I...” He flops back onto the couch, rubbing his face again. “Let's just go home first okay? Let's cool down a bit and talk about this in better condition.”

The urge to get the disappointment and anger off my chest is so strong that if my phone hasn't rang I would have lashed out on him. I take the ringing device from my pocket, looking at the screen in annoyance.

The call comes from Soojung's number though. “Hello.” I immediately pick the call up.

“Jessica noona?” A male voice comes from the other end.

“Sehun? Where's Soojung?” I ask warily, can't help but thinking that something is wrong.

“Noona we're in the hospital right now. Krystal, uh, she's bleeding.”

“Hospital? What's happened? How is Soojung?” Panic starts to engulf me.

“I have no idea noona. She was crying and there was suddenly blood on my jacket, on the car seat.” Sehun's frustated sigh sounds so clear through the connection and it makes me even more worried. “We're in the ER right now, Krystal is inside with the doctors. She told me to call you.”

“Oh God. I'll be right there. You stay with her, Sehun. Don't let her be alone.”

“Yes. Noona. I will. Please come hurry.”

I disconnect the call and look up at Yuri who's already on his feet. “Soojung is in a hospital Yul. Soojung is in a hospital.” The words come out of my mouth like a chant, I'm in total panic. For a moment I don't know what to do but holding the phone close to my chest.

“I'll take you to the hospital.”

“It's okay. I can go myself and-”

“You can't drive trembling like that Jessica.” He points at my hands which really are trembling. “Where's the key?”

“Uh?”

“Jess. Breathe.” I feel him taking my hand in his, leading me to move. “Where's the key to mom's car outside?”

“Right. Key.” I think for a moment. “In the kitchen.”

I hurriedly retrieve keys and my purse from the kitchen counter. When we finally get into the car, he squeezes my hand gently after starting the engine. “Everything will be okay, Jess.”