‘’What...did you just say?’’ his father went speechless after hearing his son. It was like the words Jiwon spoke didn’t make sense inside his head. It was almost like the words hurt him to the point he just wanted to hurt Jiwon as much. Rage grew inside of him the second his brain processed the meaning of the words. It was not that he didn’t want his son to be happy. He made a promise and promises were meant to be kept but knowing a kid was on it’s way, he couldn’t simply ask his son to turn his back on the baby, could he?

‘’Abort it!’’ he shouted out loud after a few more seconds - he ran out of options. Even those words sounded wrong inside his head as he had just no idea of how this would affect both the human beings standing inside that room. Jiwon didn’t take long to react to those words, scoffing it off at how his father was acting - in his opinion, it was childish and even mean. It was his grandchild, the one he almost begged for the day before.

‘’Are you hearing what you’re saying right now? Are you asking me to kill my own son or daughter?’’ Jiwon’s voice was calm but it was only a sign of how mad he actually was. The male didn’t allow his father to answer as he already knew the answer anyways. ‘’Why are you being so childish? Either you want it or not, I’m going to have my daughter or son and raise it.’’ he informed, glaring at his father who wasn’t pleased with the situation. It wasn’t even about Lia not being the daughter of an important person anymore, it was over his son’s behaviour.

Biting his bottom lip, his father had finally made a decision. ‘’Fine, have your kid’’ he spoke, standing up as he glared at his son - he was going to play by the same rules as Jiwon. Jiwon got happy for a second but by the way his father looked at him, he knew he wasn’t done talking. ‘’But don’t you dare to show up to this house anymore. And make sure to earn the position you own on the company because you can crawl down just as easily as you climbed up.’’ with those words, his father asked him to exit the room. His son stared at him quietly for a second, thinking about how unfair his father was being in that moment.

‘’Fine, but don’t ask for your grandchild later on.’’ he commented, heading towards the door. ‘’I’ll make sure to let him or her know how his or her grandfather turned his back on them because he can’t get his together.’’ he was even surprised he spoke in such rude way to his father but in that moment, he couldn’t care less. His father just turned his back on him when he wanted to make things right so, how could he just  forget that?

Lia frowned a bit at the sight of Jiwon. He didn’t look happy, the slightest. It made her fear his words but his expression brightened up once he saw her - he was hiding things from her that later on he would just talk about and that was why she didn’t bother him any more. ‘’Let’s get going.’’ he asked her, taking her hand in his as if searching for some strength. He knew she was able to provide him that.

Once they were standing inside the car, Jiwon simply let himself rest. He didn’t start the car, he just stared at the house he had exited with Lia who was worried for him. She felt like a burden to him in that moment and she almost wanted to quit on what they had to make it easier for him but she knew she couldn’t - both would be miserable if she did. It wasn’t just about them anymore. There was a third party involved. After hesitating for a few minutes, her hand rested over his to get his attention. ‘’Do you want to talk about it?’’ she asked him, watching his head turn to meet her. At her question, he shook his head slowly, he wasn’t ready to talk yet.

‘’Are you two doing fine?’’ he asked, concerned about her accidentally hearing his father say something or both of them arguing while she was waiting. He didn’t feel like speaking in that moment but he didn’t want that to create a barrier between them that later on would just grow thicker with time. Lia smiled a bit, nodding her head to reassure him they were fine. ‘’Do you want me to drive?’’ she asked him, knowing that he would have a hard time focusing since he just fought with his father but the question might have sounded wrong to him. ‘’I...I don’t mean to say you don’t drive well...it’s jus-’’ she was cut off with a chuckle from the male ‘’I know what you meant...and it’s okay. Let us just stay a bit here, hm? I will drive us home safely and we’ll plan things out.’’ he promised her, shifting a bit on his seat so he could reach her. His lips pressed against hers for a couple seconds.

‘’Can we please go home?’’ she asked even though she didn’t want to pressure him - she did hear their fight and at some point, she felt guilty for it but a bigger part of her accused his father of being unfair. It was not like Jiwon was ever planning on having a kid with Lia. It happened.

The male noticed her actions and it was at least suspicious for him - he knew her too well just to shrug it off like it was nothing. ‘’This is not your fault. Whatever happens from today on, it’s not your fault.’’ he told her, looking at the wheel in front of him as he couldn’t even blame his father’s behaviour on himself. His father was wrong on this one. Lia only nodded slowly at his words, she thought the same way as he did. If it wasn’t for their child, Jiwon would probably have less one argument to use against his father.

The male knew that even if his father was against it, he wasn’t heartless. He wouldn’t take Jiwon away from his kid or the person he fell in love with but that didn’t mean he would make it easier for any of the parties. Something else kept Lia’s mind busy once she thought over their life while Jiwon drove - she was jobless thanks to his father who was trying his hardest to make Jiwon see the path he wanted to follow.

Soon, both arrived home but none of them thought about the day after the Christmas Eve, the one they were supposed to be spending with their family. For him, it was almost like he had no family in that moment since his father just forbid him to go home. For her, she simply didn’t want to be around anybody in that moment, it would almost be unfair for the male she wanted to build a life with.

Both sat by the couch but none of them dared to speak. The wall his father worked so hard to build was actually growing between them, not the way he planned but it still was slowly growing. Lia wondered if she did the right thing to tell him about the baby who had no fault over what was happening yet, was blamed the second they knew about it. She wondered if she should have said yes when he unsurely asked her to follow the same path as his brother. This was probably the stress being in a relationship brought to people.

‘’I’m going to sleep, I feel tired’’ Lia commented, getting up from the couch calmly as Jiwon only nodded his head slowly, not even remembering or caring enough to see the sun was up; it wasn’t even lunch hour yet, she was already wishing the day to be over.

She sat down by the bed, looking at the paper she ripped the night before. It was over the floor, laying down calmly like she would be if she hid the truth from him. She couldn’t help but take a deep breathe to pull back the tears she knew she would cry sooner or later - she was not a robot; the words she heard hurt her. She had nobody to talk to since her friends had decided to point out the flaws Jiwon showed to everyone instead of the qualities he hid for her only.

Since nobody else was in the room, she decided to talk to herself, to her body and maybe even to her baby that wasn’t big enough to even know she was talking to him or her. ‘’Your father gave up on so much just for you…’’ she told the baby, almost blaming it like everyone else did but she did regret the second her words escaped her lips. ‘’I’m sorry, it wasn’t because of you.’’ she shook her head slowly, rubbing her eyes as she laid down on the bed. She was upset with Jiwon’s father. ‘’It’s because of me. It’s because you come from me.’’ she rest her head over the pillow and her hand automatically rest over the baby bump she could notice if she stared for too long in the mirror. ‘’What should we do to help your father out?’’ she whispered, staring at the ceiling that seemed too white for her, maybe it was representing the emptiness she felt in that moment.

‘’Just stay by his side, everything else will come later on.’’ Jiwon’s voice announced his presence. He knew he had to talk it out with her sooner or later and in that moment, the conversation could make her stop blaming herself and understand that it was just one of life’s hardships they had to go through. She didn’t look at him. She went quiet after hearing him. The male sighed quietly. ‘’This is what he wants. If you even think of leaving, then you’re letting him win a fight you didn’t give me the chance to stand in.’’ he told her, approaching the bed she was laying in.

He sat down by her, looking at the female who still didn’t look at him. ‘’Wouldn’t it be easier for you?’’ she asked him rather quietly, like her voice didn’t allow the volume to go up. She felt like it’d be obvious for him that she was broken if she spoke louder. Jiwon chuckled at her remark even though it wasn’t nearly funny. ‘’It’d be so much easier if I didn’t have you both but where’s the fun of having it easy?’’ he honestly told her, resting his hand over hers, noticing her head turned to his. ‘’What’s the sense of having something else I don’t want in my life when I can have you two and feel happy over it?’’ he asked, leaning down to peck her cheek - even if he was feeling bad, this would easy his thoughts and maybe even the pain.

‘’If I don’t have you, then what can I have?’’ hearing his words made her notice he was crying quietly by her ear. With her free hand, she hugged his body, understanding that he was right in what he was saying. Sure he’d have all the women he wanted, all the money he needed and even all the sympathy of the people who surrounded him. But would he find anyone who’d understand him and get to him more than skin deep? Would anyone bother digging deeper than that? Wasn’t it easier to come, get the money and leave?

‘’We’re not going away.’’ she reassured him, rubbing his back gently. The male could only cough out a few quiet ‘’thank you’’ in between his sobs. Life seemed unfair sometimes but maybe that was what gave people a reason to live. ‘’We’re getting through this together.’’ she commented, pecking his head gently since in the end, life was about picking up each other even if each time they stuck a piece back together, their whole work broke down apart.

He pulled away to look at the female who shared a gentle smile with him. ‘’Promise me that much.’’ he asked her, caressing her cheek with his free hand as the other still rest over hers that was almost protecting the baby bump where their child grew. ‘’Promise me that no matter what, we will manage to get through it together instead of giving up because it is easier…’’ he asked her, holding out his pinky in a childish way.

Lia smiled a bit at his actions, lifting her head slowly from the pillow so her face would be closer to Jiwon’s. She pecked his lips gently, wrapping her own pinky around his to answer him once her forehead rested over his. ‘’I promise.’’