The next day, I was just eating breakfast with Donghae beside me when the door opened without warning. The both of us looked up to find Lee Hyukjae standing there.

“Er…, I’ll just let you two have some privacy,”Donghae mumbled as he began to stand.

“No, stay,”I said as I went back to my food without acknowledging Hyukjae’s presence.

“Why didn’t you answer my calls?”he asked without greeting me.

“Because I didn’t want to,”I simply replied.

“Haemin, don’t be like this. You know we weren’t supposed to end,”he sounded frustrated.

“But we did,”I answered.

“You didn’t even give us a chance to talk over it,”he argued.

“Because there’s nothing to talk about. Now, would you please leave? I need to rest,”I looked up at him to point at the door.

“Haemin, I…,”I refused to let him talk further.

“I said, leave! Or do you want me to get security?”I tried my hardest to raise my voice without it wavering.

I watched as the man I love breathed in a deep breath, trying as hard he could to control the tears that threatened to form in his eyes.

“I’m not giving you up, Kim Haemin. You hear me? I spent almost a month wooing you eight years ago. I’m not going to just let you go. I’m coming again tomorrow,”he said firmly before walking off.

I heard the door close and I pushed my food away.

“You two need to talk. Even if you are so bent on breaking up, there has to be some sort of closure. It’ll be better for you two,”Donghae commented.

“Have you been in a relationship?”I asked, curious.

“Of course. It’ll be weird if I said I didn’t at the age of 24,”he chuckled.

“Did you talk over it as well?”I asked.

“No. But because all my break ups needed no more closure,”he replied.

“What do you mean?”I asked.

“I had two girlfriends before. One of them cheated on me. The other simply got bored,”he sighed.

“I’m so sorry…,”I held onto his hand.

“You don’t have to be. I’m over it,”he laughed.

I smiled at him.

“But I can tell that you two still have feelings for each other. Maybe you all could get back together after talking it out?”he suggested.

“No, I don’t want to. I’ve had enough. This emotionally traumatic journey had been rather torturous for me,”I shook my head.

“At least talk to the guy. He’s miserable enough. And you have to tell him you get discharged tomorrow. You don’t want him coming here tomorrow morning, making a scene,”Donghae said firmly.

“That’s his problem,”I answered.

“Haemin…,”he started but I stopped him.

“Let’s just leave it at this. I don’t want to talk about him now,”I fixed my gaze on him.

“Fine. Then, let’s talk about your plans from now. What are you going to do after discharging?”he asked.

“I was pondering over it last night. Sorry, Donghae, I know this is very unfair for you. But I’ll be moving back to the city. I have to. I need to start earning a keep now that I’m no longer with Hyukjae,”I answered.

“Can you cope? I mean, it’s your first job, after all,”he asked in a soothing voice.

“I’m sure I’ll be alright. I’m even excited about my new life,”I smiled.

“I’m happy for you, Haemin. It’s been long since I last saw you smile such a sincere smile. But I need you to let me do something for you,”Donghae held onto my hand.

“What?”I asked.

“Let me go to the city with you. At least for awhile. You’re still a little weak from the miscarriage. I’ll be worried sick if I let you go back all alone. Once you are able to stand on your two feet, I’ll come back here. How’s that?”he suggested.

I looked into his worried filled eyes.

“Alright then,”I nodded my head with a smile.

“What about your accommodation? Do you have a place to stay there?”he asked.

“There’s my parents’ place but I don’t want them to fuss over me. I have a friend, Soobin who has her own apartment. I can stay with her till I find a place for myself. Though it’ll have to be a rented apartment,”I answered.

“You’re really serious about this, huh? You have everything planned out,”Donghae chuckled.

“Of course,”I smiled back.

That night, we made arrangements to leave and Donghae had went back to pack up.

“Do you have to leave?”Sungmin asked for the umpteenth time.

By then, I was already discharged. I didn’t like just lying there, mourning over the loss of my child. I figured that I could get over the loss faster if I numbed it by distracting myself. Moreover, I didn’t want to be at the mercy of Lee Hyukjae. I didn’t want him to just barge in just to demand that we get back together.

Right now, Donghae and I were already waiting for the train to go to the city. Taeyeon and Sungmin had came to send us off since we all wouldn’t know when we will meet again.

“Sorry, Sungmin. But you and Taeyeon are welcome to come visit me and I’ll come by every month,”I smiled.

“Really?”Sungmin asked.

“Yah, can you be a man? It’s not like she’s going to a foreign country. She’s only one and a half hours away,”Taeyeon shook her head.

“I know but I just can’t help feeling sad,”Sungmin sighed.

Taeyeon rolled her eyes before coming forward to give me a hug.

“Take care, my dear. You can always call me if you need a listening ear. This period of time must be hard on you but you have to stay strong, understand? I’ll miss you. You’ve been a great friend. Meet up soon, alright? I love you,”Taeyeon hugged me even tighter.

“Thank you so much for being such a strong emotional support for me, Taeng. I’ll miss you too. Feel free to come up to the city and I’ll make sure to host you while you’re there. I love you so much,”I smiled.

After we let go, we smiled at each other before I turned to Sungmin.

“Yah, fool, she’s waiting to hug you,”Donghae nudged him.

“I’ll miss you,”he simply said as we hugged.

“I’ll miss you too. Come visit anytime and I’ll bring you around,”I smiled as we let go.

“Alright, we got to go,”Donghae said he bent down to get our suitcases.

“Wait, wait. Haemin, come with me,”Taeyeon suddenly clapped her hands together before pulling me away.

“Where are we going?”I asked as she pulled me into a quiet corner.

She glanced a little in the direction of Donghae and Sungmin before fixing her gaze on me.

“Well, er, I don’t know if my intuition is correct but you can never go wrong with a woman’s sixth sense. I, er, just want to let you know that Donghae has never left the centre in the care of Sungmin and me before you came along. And for him to travel to the city is almost…do you get what I’m saying?”Taeyeon tilted her head a little.

“Well, that’s because he made a promise to Hyukjae to take care of me,”I answered.

“Yeah but that was before you two broke up. What’s he doing now when you’re all single and he has no promise to fulfill?”she asked.

“I think it’s cause he feels guilty for this whole incident. Moreover, we’ve gotten closer through these few months and I know he’s someone who worries a lot and does a lot for his friends,”I answered.

“I guess that’s a part of the reason but what I’m trying to say is…I think Donghae likes you,”Taeyeon said firmly.

“What are you talking about?!”I exclaimed.

“That’s just my guess. But I’ve a strong feeling about it. Anyway, you better go. Donghae keeps looking at us,”she pulled me back.

We joined the guys and bade farewell one last time before we boarded the train. As the train pulled out of the station, we kept waving at Sungmin and Taeyeon till they were out of sight.

“Haemin, does your friend know you’re going back?”he asked.

“Yeah, I called her to tell her all about it. Even the pregnancy. So, if she starts nagging later on, just bear with her. And, er, she won’t be the only one waiting for us at the city. There will be three of them altogether,”I answered.

“What do you mean?”he raised an eyebrow.

I went on to explain about how I called Soobin the night before using the hospital phone to tell her that I was going to go back. And being my friend for so long, she had forced me to come clean with her. She had suspected this whole going-to-the-outskirts-to-stay thing way too suspicious. When I finally told her that I had been pregnant, she was too shocked to speak and when I went on to tell her that I had broken up with Hyukjae, she had almost fainted. Never would anyone close to me have thought this day would come.

Knowing Soobin, she would definitely tell the rest and I am certain that those three will be waiting for my arrival. And I was right when Donghae and I were out of the station; we spotted my friends leaning against Soobin’s car with a cup of iced coffee in their hands. Taeri was the first to spot us and she quickly nudged the rest and they hurriedly came over.

“KIM HAEMIN!!”Taeri yelled as she pulled me into a hug.

“Idiot, be careful. She’s still weak from her miscarriage,”Hyun-na frowned.

“Oh, right, right. Are you feeling better?”Taeri let go of me to scan me from top to toe.

“I’m fine. By the way, guys, this is Lee Donghae, Hyukjae’s friend whom I stayed with for the past few months. And Donghae, this is Kwon Taeri, Jung Hyun-na and Park Soobin, the friend that I was telling you about,”I pointed them out.

“Hello, nice to meet you all. Sorry to impose on you, Soobin sshi,”Donghae bowed and the rest did the same.

 “It’s alright. A friend of Haemin is a friend of ours. You can stay for as long as you like,”Soobin said as she opened the boot for Donghae to put all suitcases in.

We all got into her car and she drove us to her apartment. She brought us to the 15^th floor and gestured towards her front door.

“My apartment is really small. Please bear with me,”Soobin grinned sheepishly as she unlocked it.

Her apartment was relatively big for a place in Seoul but she knew I was used to big places like Hyukjae’s swanky house. But her house would really do for the three of us to stay. Moreover, it was a temporary thing since I would be moving out once I have money to rent a place. Soobin’s apartment consisted of just three small rooms, a kitchen, living room and a bathroom. Compared to Hyukjae’s apartment, I would say she made full use of the space given. Hyukjae’s apartment may be spacious but he wasted it by having only two rooms, he had actually converted the other bedrooms to be some sort of a storage room for all our things. But those rooms were humongous and he had it carefully designed by interior designers.

“This is your room, Donghae sshi. Your room is the other, Haemin,”Soobin pointed.

“Thank you so much,”I smiled at my friend.

“Anytime,”she smiled back.

End of Chapter

DarkAngel