“Well, this place is cute.”

“I didn’t think you even knew the word cute.”

“Gotta have something to call cute.” Devan said sticking her tounge out.

“You’re pretty chicky for being on an almost 8 hour plane ride.”

“Well it’s like 14 hours from Australia to Seoul, I can deal with 8 hours. Although you mom is quite the chatterbox.”

“She’s really taken to you.”

“Why wouldn’t she? I’m every mother’s dream for their song.”

“You knew?”

“How could I not? I’m not stupid, besides the baby photos would have been a dead giveaway if she hadn’t asked me to call her mom yesterday.”

“She asked you to call her mom?” Ten asked, getting a nod from Devan as she unpacked her luggage looking at for an outfit to wear for the nights dinner.

“I’ll talk to her, tell her to back off. I know this trip is a little much at the moment.”

“It’s fine. I know what it’s like for a mother to love their child.”

“Are you talking about Lennox?” Ten asked, dropping down on the bed.

“Kind of. After talking to her, I say her in a different light. She’s really doing all she can for her daughter, but there’s something about the bond a mother and son have.”

“I don’t get the difference. Isn’t it the same love a mother would give her daughter the same as her son?”

“Absolutely not. Simply because it sets standards for the rest of a child’s life.” Devan stated as she dug out her bathroom bag. “For example, a daughter is bonded to and their father. A father is essentially the first male to show their daughter love. They way a father treats their daughter is an example that the daughter takes with her to judge the men that follow after. The same for a mother. She is the first female to show their son love. Although it’s a little different with a mother. The bond is amplified a little more because the mother has carried the child to term. There’s a sense of responsibility to protect, but it penetrates deeper than the normal protect the family.My mom and brother were inseparable when I was growing up. She spent more time of work with my brother than she did when I was born. I can definitely say even though we all lived together, my mom spent majority of her time with my brother. And any time he got hurt she was right by his side, no matter what, no matter how long, she didn’t care she was there.”

“Wow! I didn’t know you have a brother. I just thought you were an only child. So did he come to Seoul with you or did he stay back in Australia?” Ten asked, oblivious to the tension surging through Devan’s body.

“I’m going to hop in the shower, wouldn’t want to feel the wrath of your mother.” Devan spoke as he booked it to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her.

“That wasn’t awkward at all.” Ten whispered to himself as he facepalmed, moving to go through his luggage.

 

 

“Make sure you’re a good girl and listen to daddy.”

“Yes mommy.”

“You know you can always change your mind and come. There’s plenty of room on the plane.” Jay offered as put on his jacket.

“I can’t miss a whole week of work. I’m already on thin ice.” Lennox spoke, putting a hat on Phoenix’s head.

“I told you work is unnecessary.”

“And I told you you get off your high horse. Now less focus on me and more on our daughter. It’s colder out especially in the states, since it’s almost winter. Please make sure she’s bundled up. I’d hate for her to catch another cold.”

“I got everything under control Babe. You just try not to miss us too much.” Jay said kissing Lennox.

“I’ll only miss my little buttercup.” Lennox spoke, moving out of Jay’s hold to pepper Phoenix with kisses.

“We better head out, the others are waiting on us.”

“I’d hate for you to keep them waiting. Take lots of pictures for me.” Lennox told Jay as they walked to the door.

“I’ll even FaceTime you when she goes to bed and then after maybe we can-”

“Not in front of Phi.”

“Bye mommy.”

“Bye baby.”

After getting Phoenix settled in the car, Jay gave Lennox one last kiss before getting in the car.

Lennox watched the car speed off down the street before walking back into the house.

It was the first time since she moved in that the house was completely hers and she wouldn’t have to worry if Jay would randomly pop up.

“I’ll look around tomorrow.” Lennox spoke aloud turning away from Jay’s room and went to hers instead.

You probably thought that they slept in the same bed, but nope. Lennox has made it explicitly clear that she wasn’t going to stay in his room, not wanting Phoenix to get the wrong idea. Although, right about now, the line between lovers, ex’s, and friends was heavily blurred. Lennox came into this with a plan. The plan being to get her daughter back, find anything against jay that would give her an edge against him, while making sure she was perfectly fit for sole custody. But Jay can be very persuasive to say the least. Being back with Jay definitely reminded her of the old times they had, the good times, before she had gotten pregnant. If she didn’t know he was faking she would actually consider being together with him as the best option for their little family, but even the sweetest fruits can be bitter.

Lennox pushes aside her thoughts and rushed to the bathroom when she felt a wave of nausea go through her.

Lennox flushed the toilet and walked over to the sink to brush her teeth. She stared at herself in the mirror, Sungjoon’s voice echoing in her head.

 

“For your plan….. For your future…. you need to rule it out.”

 

Lennox opened the cabinet, her hand hovering over the small box.

 

“Rule it out….”

 

“There’s no way…” Lennox whispered to herself as she picked up the box and closed the cabinet.

Lennox sat on the edge of the bathtub debating on actually taking the test. There were only two outcomes, Yes or No, but not knowing was obviously the best choice, or was it.

Lennox dropped the box on the floor when she was scared by the sound of her phone ringing. Lennox picked up the box, put it back in the cabinet, went back to her bedroom to see who was calling.

 

“Hello?”

“Hey! I didn’t think you’d answer.”

“I was a little preoccupied, but what’s up?” Lennox spoke into the phone as she sat on her bed.

“I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner together?”

“Umm…. sure why not.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah. I don’t work tonight and I don’t have anything better to do tonight.”

“Great! Honestly I wasn’t sure you’d want to go with me….”

“.... I have to go take care of something, but you can text me the time and the address.”

“Sure thing.”

 

Lennox ended the call and walked to her closet to find something decent to wear, when her eyes caught onto a picture of her holding Phoenix as a baby.

 

“There’s no way I’m pregnant….” Lennox spoke before locking herself in the bathroom.

 

 

 

“You can’t keep her all to yourself.” Mrs. Leechaiyakul said as soon as Devan and Ten arrived. “Darling you look wonderful. Simple and beautiful.” Mrs. Leechaiyakul spoke as she played around with Devan’s outfit.

“Why don’t we head inside? I’m sure we’re all hungry and want to head back soon.” Mr. Leechaiyakul spoke, pulling his wife away from Devan and leading her inside.

“Sorry she’s so touchy with you.” Ten apologized.

“It’s fine. She’s a mother, I can chop it up to not having a daughter.”

“Actually I have a little sister, but my mom isn’t really touchy with her.”

“You have a little sister?”

“Yeah. Did I not mention that?”

“Ahh.. you probably did…”

“Well let’s head in or my mom’s going to come out here.” Ten said, getting a laugh from Devan.

Ten led Devan up the stairs and into the back room that his parents had reserved.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like so I ordered some options.”

“Mom, it looks like everything on the menu.” Ten said as he took a seat beside Devan, but his mother just shrugged.

“Thank you for the consideration. I’ll eat well.” Devan bowed as she began eating what she believed to be chicken curry.

Dinner went smoothly with light conversations and laughing in Ten’s embarrassment when his parents started going over his childhood.

“Can we stop talking about my childhood?”

“I’m sure Devan’s parents have plenty of story’s about her right Devan?” Mr. Leechaiyakul suggested.

“I’m sure they did.” Devan said thoughtfully.

“I think I should go ahead and take her back to the room. I’m feeling a little tired myself.” Ten spoke breaking the tension before it could start.

“But we haven’t even had dessert yet.”

“Darling, you’re spending time with her tomorrow, let the two spend some time together, that is why we’re here after all.” Mr. Leechaiyakul spoke as Ten snuck away with Devan.

“Sorry about them. They’re a little to talkative and not for their own good.” Ten spoke, trying to end the silence that had started when they left the restaurant.

“It’s fine. How would they know my parents aren’t around….”

“They aren’t? Wait, don’t answer that if you don’t want too.”

“It’s fine. After my brother died, my mom really took it hard and went into depression, shortly after committed suicide. I found out my dad had MS when I was 17. It wasn’t slow on his body.”

“So you’ve been alone since you were 17?”

“If we’re being honest I’ve been alone since I was 7. But don’t feel sorry for me, I hate that look of pity give me when they find out.”

“I was just going to say I’m proud of you.” Ten said quietly with his hands in his pockets,stopping Devan in her tracks.

“You’re….you’re proud of me?”

“Yeah. You’ve gone through a lot but it hasn’t stopped you from being moving forward in life. You don’t let your past affect what you’re doing, the life you’re trying to build yourself and honestly i'm a little jealous.”

“You’re jealous of me?” Devan asked staring at Ten but instead of answering he resumed walking.

“Hey! Why are you jealous of me?” Devan asked following behind but got no answer as the were standing in front of the door to their door.

“Let’s get some sleep, my mom’s going to ware you out in the morning.” Ten said placing a kiss to Devan’s cheek and walking through the threshold.

Devan put a hand on her cheek as she stared at the door.

“Get a hold of yourself Devan.” Devan whispered to herself. “You take 10 steps out of Korea and suddenly you’re spilling your life story.”

Devan walked to the door and shut it. Instead of going inside she decided to sit on the edge of the pool.

“I hope Lennox isn’t busy….” Devan wondered as she pulled out her phone.

 

 

 

“Just don’t make any sudden decisions…… Have you even really thought about what you’re saying….. You have a plan? Devan what plan? Why do you even need a plan?..... Why are you thanking me, I haven’t done anything… Devan?....Devan?!”

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m going to hope so. Sorry to keep you waiting.” Lennox apologized putting her phone back in her bag.

“It’s fine I haven’t been here long. You look nice.”

“Thanks. You don’t look too bad yourself.”

 

 

 

“Let’s go inside it’s starting to get a little cold out here.” Heedo spoke, opening the door for Lennox.

“Thanks.” Lennox spoke as she walked through the opened door.

The pair took their seats across from one another, ordering their drinks and the food they both agreed on.

“So what made you want to ask me of all people out to eat?”

“I want to apologize properly. I feel like if I handled things differently when we had first met then maybe you wouldn’t be treated this way by the other members.”

“You mean the hoodie?” Lennox asked and got a nod from Heedo. “Trust me when I say that it’s not you. Maybe with that leader of yours, but Jaewook is completely me.”

“Regardless, I got you something to make up for it.” Heedo said pulling a bag from his side.

 

 

“You got me a hoodie!?”

“Yeah...I know it doesn’t replace your hoodie…..”

“You didn’t have to buy me a new one.”

“I know…. I wanted too…Devan told me how it was your uncles..I felt bad about ruining it....”

Their dinner set arrived and Lennox placed the hoodie back in its bag.

Heedo took it upon himself to start cooking the meats.

“Thanks for the hoodie. Friends?” Lennox asked.

“You want to be my friend?” Heedo asked and Lennox nodded with a smile.

“You sure? You’ll more than likely ended up like Gunmin.”

“Well then I’ll finally understand Devan feels.” Lennox laughed.

“So first duty as friends, what’s up with you and Jaewook?”

“I should have known.”

“Either that or that guy you’re living with.”

“If I tell you will you tell me about Yerin?”

“How do you know about Yerin?”

“How do you know I’m living with a guy?”

“That friend of yours told me.”

“So did yours.”

“You know what nevermind.” Heedo spoke focusing on the meat and Lennox rolled her eyes.

“Jaewook and I used to go to school together. We were in the same music program, you for prodigy’s. We got paired up and I let him down without realizing it. We’ve been on bad terms ever since. Not that I could blame it I really was a in my younger days. I smoked, ditched classes, went clubbing. I thought I was so cool disobeying my parents that I ended up hurting people around me. I never showed to his show, I was supposed to perform this song her wrote. He was going to confess to this girl and it was also his audition song for a major company.”

“How come you never showed? That’s pretty ty considering what was on the line for him.” Heedo asked handing Lennox a lettuce wrap.

“I got pregnant.” Lennox spoke, putting the lettuce wrap in .

“You got pregnant?!” Heedo said, his face pale.

“You make it sound like a sickness. But yes I was pregnant so I didn’t make it because my parents found out that same day. By time I could actually get to apologize to him, it was already so many rumors going around that I slept with all these guys and how I didn’t know who my child’s father was. My ‘friends’ abandoned me and so did my family. That guy I live with is actually my daughters father. We haven’t gotten along for years but we’re ‘trying for our child’.

“Trying?”

“He’s really trying to take away all my rights and I’m trying to get full custody.” Lennox shrugged.

“So you aren’t together?”

“Of course not. Not officially, anyway.”

“Do you want to be?”

“No….yes….. I don’t know….”

“Indecisive much.” Heedo spoke placing more meat on Lennox’s plate.

“I mean…. he’s my first love…. father of my child…. his life would be different if it wasn’t for me but seeing the look in my daughter's eyes makes it all with the struggle. She seems so much more happy now that we’re all together.. yes I know he’s faking the feelings but there’s a part of me that thinks maybe...just maybe we can set it all aside and give it a real try for our daughter.”

“So what are you going to do? Doesn’t he have someone else?”

“I’m not sure how serious it is. He’s dated someone else for 2 years off and on, but he’s going through a lot of trouble to hide this girl from the media… either way I’m not going to run away. I’ve done enough running. I’m going to face him…. it’s just about when.”

“At least you’re not running some people are still running.”

“Would you be one of those people?”

Heedo kept silent, filling his mouth with food.

“You don’t have to tell me. I get that some situations are harder than others. You just have to remember that no matter how hard it gets, there’s always a better ending.” Lennox spoke, placing her hand on Heedo’s and smiling.

“Thanks..” Heedo smiled.

“So I need your help with something….” Lennox spoke, breaking the last little bit of tension.

“You need my help?”

“Don’t feel flattered. I was gonna ask Gunmin but since we going to be friends I’ll ask you.”

“Sounds big.”

“Well I was looking over some documents and I noticed that Minpyo’s birthday was yesterday. You guys have been so busy in the studio that none of you remembered, so I got permission for you guys to have the weekend of to celebrate, but I don’t know anything he’d like to do.”

“I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“I hope so. I really want to be on good terms with the guys.”

“I’m sure everything will work. I’ll make sure of it.” Heedo spoke raising his cup. “To a redo.”

Lennox smiled and raised her cup. “To a redo!”

 

 

 

Heeeeeeey guys! Long time no see lol. Yes i know im slacking because youve had to go a whole month without updates, my bad, but i stayed up to make sure this chapter got finished and ive already started the next one, so please stick around... drop your comments below and a ill see you soon with a new chapter! :)