Chapter 15
The Vine

"Well Mrs. Jung," the doctor started and opened her folder just to double check her results. She looked up and on her face was a smile…which only meant one thing.

"Congratulations! You're pregnant!"

What?

It was the last coherent thought Seohyun managed to make until her world turned black while hearing a faint yell of her name.

It was probably sheer luck or of great fortune, in a way, that she fainted in a hospital. It wasn't a very popular reaction to pass out after hearing the great news of bearing a child, but for Seohyun, it was probably befitting for her to have that kind of reflex. After all, she just turned 20 recently and was bombarded with a lot of unexpected news so for her to get pregnant at such an early age wasn't exactly a big cherry on top of her cake.

She wasn't aware of how long she was unconscious, but the small murmurs she has been hearing around her were already enough to wake her up from her state. Her eyes slowly fluttered as they opened, noticing the soft mattress she was lying on, contrast to the cold, marble floor she fell on awhile ago.

Seohyun tried to sit up with a moan, catching the attention of the people inside the room. Jessica was present and so were a doctor and a nurse who were explaining Seohyun's condition.

"Ah Seohyun! I'm so glad you're finally awake!" Jessica exclaimed, rushing up to Seohyun’s side of the bed and engulfing her in a bear hug.

Seohyun let out a small, tired smile and did her best to return the hug. She was still feeling a bit woozy with her condition, but she was feeling better as the seconds pass.

"What happened?" She asked, pulling away from Jessica gently.

"You fainted after hearing your results." Jessica replied, grabbing a bottle of water from the table and gave it to Seohyun to drink.

Seohyun mouthed a thank you and drank the water.

"You scared me, Seohyun! It's a good thing the nurses and doctors were quick in taking care of you immediately." Jessica said. "But they did say that your reaction is somehow normal, something about feeling light-headed during the first stages of pregnancy or something like that." She tried to explain but it was already enough for the heiress.

Seohyun just smiled at her friend's help and effort to explain such things to her. She then looked at the doctor and nurse present and waited for an explanation from them.

Song Jihyo, the doctor assigned for Seohyun's pregnancy, smiled and walked up to her with a nurse behind her. "What Ms. Jessica is trying to say is that your fainting awhile ago is just a normal reaction during your first weeks of pregnancy, especially for a young expectant mother as yourself. This is usually due to low blood pressure in your system so I'm going to recommend a healthy diet with lots of citrus fruits to avoid passing out frequently in the future. Your baby's going to be fine, Mrs. Jung." She explained.

The heiress smiled at her explanation. She nodded and thanked the kind doctor for taking care of her. "Um, will I be able to go home today?" She asked, not wanting to stay in the hospital any longer. If anything, she doesn't want to stay in any place more boring than the Jung mansion.

Dr. Song nodded. "I don't see any reason not to. Just stay put here for a few more minutes so I can go get the diet needed for your body. I'll also give you your tests results and you're free to go." With that, she left the room with the nurse and fetched Seohyun's diet plan and tests results.

Now alone, Jessica let out a huge grin and pulled Seohyun in another hug.

"This is very good news, Seohyun! Aren't you excited?" She asked.

Seohyun returned the hug and smile. "I'm excited too, but I can't help but feel nervous. This is totally unexpected for me even if—" even if it is kind of expected because of what happened at our honeymoon, she couldn't dare to voice out the last part but Jessica was smart enough to catch on. This made Jessica's smile turn into a mischievous one with a teasing glint in her eyes.

"So I guess you two did have fun during your honeymoon. No wonder you two felt awkward around each other when you came back!" Jessica teased making Seohyun's cheeks turn hot from embarrassment.

"It was just an accident," Seohyun murmured.

Jessica raised a brow. "Did Yonghwa force himself on you?"

Seohyun instantly shook her head. "It's not like that, I just…I don't know." She bit her lip and closed her eyes tight, not really wanting to remember the same scenes again.

"Okay, you don't need to force yourself to tell me, Seohyun." Jessica gave her a pat on the back which earned her a smile from the heiress. "So, when are you going to tell that idiotic husband of yours?" She asked.

Seohyun's eyes widened. She kind of forgot about that little detail when she finally heard her results. She knew Yonghwa need to know about this too, but…how? Yonghwa's practically not speaking to me so I wouldn't know how to tell this news to him. Her face fell thinking about the previous days when they haven't conversed with each other properly. Sure, they slept on the same bed but usually Yonghwa would go to bed when she's already asleep and by the time she wakes up, he has already left.

Jessica, seeing Seohyun's sudden sad face, got worried and asked, "Is something the matter?" This shook Seohyun out of her thoughts and passed on another reassuring smile.

"None at all," she started. "It's just that, I don't know if Yonghwa wants this to happen so soon…" Her last word only went beyond whisper which made Jessica even more confused than she already was.

"What are you talking about? Of course he wants this! This was what the whole deal was all about right?" Jessica said, tilting her head in confusion.

"Yeah, I know. I just don't know how I should tell him, I guess. I mean we don't really talk much these days." Seohyun admitted.

Jessica quieted, seemly thinking about something until the doctor came back with the nurse and their results.

"Here are your tests results and diet plan, Mrs. Jung. I expect a monthly check up for your little one." Dr. Song said, passing the envelopes to Jessica since Seohyun was taking her time standing up from the bed.

"Thank you very much, Dr. Song. I'll see you soon." Seohyun smiled and bowed, turning her heel to exit the room with Jessica by her side.

The two of them were quiet as they walked back to the parking lot and to Jessica's car. Seohyun was still in deep thought about this whole new chapter in her life where she, just in her late teens, is now an expectant mother with the Jung heir in her belly. She was ecstatic honestly, very happy indeed, but she knew she had to do something about her relationship with Yonghwa quickly since she kind of needs him at this critical moment in her life. She was carrying their child for heaven's sake and a little support from him wouldn't hurt, right?

At least the deal's finally coming to play, it's only a few more months until I get out of the Jung mansion…and out of their lives.

She sighed as she got inside the passenger seat with Jessica on the driver's seat. The envelopes lie on top of Seohyun's lap as she buckled her seatbelt and Jessica did hers and drove off onto the main roads.

"Hey Seohyun, are you hungry? We could pick up some food before going home if you want to," Jessica offered, eyes still fixed on the road.

"No thanks, Jessica. I'm fine. I'll just eat when we get home." She answered.

Jessica frowned. She was a wee bit disappointed that Seohyun wasn't feeling up in the heavens after hearing such good news.

So Yonghwa's really getting to her, huh?

The brunette blindly grabbed her phone from her pocket and placed it on the holster, much to Seohyun's confusion. She quickly put a number on speed dial and turned it on loudspeaker. It rang a few times before the person from the other side picked up the call.

"Jessica, who are you calling?" Seohyun's question was suddenly answered when the voice from the other line spoke.

"What is it now, Jessica?"

Seohyun's eyes widened. It's been awhile since she heard his voice. Her eyes turned into worried ones after noticing a bit of exhaustion coming from the raspy voice of the owner.

"Hey Yonghwa, are you busy today?" Jessica asked as she swerved from bumping a careless car.

"I always am," he replied. They then heard a few ruffles from the background, most probably papers he was signing while conversing with them.

"Yeah well, stop being busy and listen to me for a moment." Jessica said.

All the while, Seohyun remained quiet and just listened to their conversation. Her eyes were also fixed on the road as her fingers clutched on to the envelopes she had on her lap.

"I don't think now's a very good time—"

"I'm dropping off Seohyun to a restaurant near your office so you'll have no excuse of not meeting her, understood? She has something very important to tell you so pause your little office game for a moment and meet her at The Vine, understood? Make sure she gets something pretty good to eat or else you'll be dealing with me. I'll just leave you a text message after I drop her there."

Jessica didn't even let her cousin respond since she already hung up after statement. This left Seohyun to look at her companion, mouth wide-agape at the sudden agreement.

"What did you just do?" Seohyun asked, still shocked from what happened.

Jessica threw a grin in her direction and said, "I gotta do what I gotta do! Besides, it's not like I haven't noticed you two haven't been on friendly terms ever since you guys came back. I don't think you're enjoying such state right now, are you Seohyun? You miss my cute little cousin." She teased and turned right to a street.

This made Seohyun suddenly turn red. "I do not! I'm actually quite happy with the way things are. He has to do his own stuff while I get to do mine." She defended, her voice quite higher than normal but this just earned her a loud laugh from the brunette.

"Quit being so defensive. You love Yonghwa." Jessica said, and it wasn't a question either. It was just like she was stating the obvious and she need not any answer from the heiress.

Seohyun's eyes widened. "Okay, now that is something unreal. Fine, maybe I do miss him, but having feelings for him such as love is not very likely as of the moment." She said, and she wasn't being quite defensive. This time, she said it as if it was the most golden truth of all: that she did not love Jung Yonghwa.

Jessica's lips turned into a frown. "So you don't love Yonghwa?" She asked.

"No. We're just friends, Jessica. And as I've told you before, I'm leaving after the child is born because I don't see any reason why I should hang around him when he's got better things to do. I don't think I'm even part of his list of priorities."

"That's harsh." Jessica commented.

"That's just life. He gave me a choice and I choose to leave after. I'm sorry Jessica."

Jessica's frown just deepened. "You know, you still have 8 months to think about it. Maybe his priorities might change, and also maybe by then, you might already realize that yes, you do love him. You might not see it now but some people have noticed something."

Seohyun silenced. She's now actually finding that hard to believe. Maybe before, when they were still close, she could still see that happening, but now? When he's so busy and coming home late? That just became impossible.

I don't love Yonghwa.

I…don't, right?

The rest of the short ride was silent.

It was already 5 in the afternoon when they arrived, a good enough time for Yonghwa to already leave the office and meet his pregnant wife. Jessica finally stopped in front of a little Italian restaurant called The Vine and it was just a few blocks away from Yonghwa's office. She eats there every now and then and she always recommended their tasty meal.

Jessica picked up her phone from the holster and sent Yonghwa a text message indicating that she just dropped Seohyun off at the restaurant. The heiress still felt a bit uneasy to meet him this way and was also reluctant in going out of the car.

"I just texted Yonghwa saying that you're already here. Just wait for him a little while inside, okay? Make sure to tell him the good news too!"Jessica cheered; finally back to her old, normal happy self. She gave Seohyun a reassuring pat and convinced her to finally enter the restaurant.

"Thank you very much Jessica," Seohyun smiled gratefully. She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, bringing with her the envelopes for Yonghwa to see later on. She got out of the car and waved goodbye to her frie