One year later.

Dara woke up early to make her doctor’s appointment without alarming Jiyong. She wanted to keep her suspicions to herself while there’s no medical test to back it up. She also wanted to give him the test result as a birthday present because his birthday is coming up at the end of the week, if her suspicion is correct.

Dara missed her period this month, which does not happen to her at all. At first, she thought it was just the stress coming from tight taping schedules, but last week, she started hating the smell of Jiyong’s aftershave. That persuaded her to take a pregnancy test the day before, which returned a positive result. Her feelings about the possibility of having a baby with Jiyong is a mixed bag. She is happy because she’s not exactly at the prime of childbearing, and any delays will probably be detrimental to her pregnancy. On the other hand, she the idea of being in charge of the life of a human being is daunting. But then she imagines the little one to have Jiyong’s eyes and smile, and her heart melts at the mere thought.

She continued to sip on her mug of coffee as she dialed the OB-GYN’s number that Bom recommended. Her BFF mentioned that this particular doctor was a big help to her sister-in-law.  A friendly female voice answered immediately and Dara was able to book an appointment before lunch.

Right after the call ended, she felt warmth from her back, and a pair of familiar arms, enclose her body. A little alarmed, she stiffened and then willed herself to relax. She thought, if Jiyong heard about her doctor’s appointment, she could just tell him.

“Morning, love.” Jiyong greeted huskily, his voice still filled with sleep.

Dara faced her husband and gave him a peck on the lips.

“Morning, Ji. Want a cup of coffee?”

Jiyong nodded sleepily, but he didn’t let go of his hold. Dara was still stuck inside his arms.

“Ji?”

He just grunted, his hands, getting a little frisky. Dara chuckled when he started putting his right hand through her top.

“Not again, Jiyong! We have to get ready soon. You have a meeting later, remember?”

“Don’t remind me. I’d rather do this…or do…you.” His lips curved into a naughty smile, which Dara was so familiar with. For some reason, he liked making love to her especially when they have a morning packed with activities.

Dara just shook her head in disbelief, but her arms went around his neck, her face slowly inching towards his. Jiyong kissed her tenderly and led her towards kitchen counter, her legs now hooked around his hips. Dara felt his hardness through her pajamas, as Jiyong continued kissing her, but more urgently.

“Ji....I’m so tempted to do this. But it’s almost 9 am.”

Jiyong just grunted in between kisses, not minding her. Despite her protests, Dara arched her back towards Jiyong, welcoming his kisses and his warmth.

And before Jiyong can even remove any of Dara’s clothing, the phone rang. Because they ignored it, the message immediately went to voicemail. When Dara heard the message, she froze, immediately removed herself from Jiyong’s hold, and ran towards the phone. It was the lady from the OB-GYN.

Jiyong gave her a puzzled look, confused with her sudden attentiveness to the phone.

“Okay…no problem. Sure, 2pm is okay. Thank you, bye.”

Jiyong was staring at her, his hands planted on his hips.

“What was that?”

“Oh…just someone from MBC whom I was supposed to meet before lunch but it got moved.” Dara tried to smile in a relaxed manner, but she knew Jiyong was suspicious.

“Oh..okay.” He said, then ran a hand through his messy hair. He sighed, probably frustrated because of the interruption to their “morning routine”, then continued. “I guess I’ll have coffee then i'll shower. You’re right, I need to leave in 30 minutes.”

Dara came up to him and put her arms around his neck. “We can make it up to each other tonight. I’ll be home early.”

That made Jiyong smile. She smiled back, kissed him on the lips and gave him a playful slap on the .

“Off you go to your coffee. You need to hurry.”

“Yes ma’am.”

**

Jiyong didn’t hear what Taehee was telling him. His manager had to repeat it because his mind was just wandering.

Why was Dara so jumpy earlier?

Whenever he’d get frisky in the morning she usually obliges. Sometimes it’s her who initiates. His mind was thinking maybe she was just thinking they’d be late to their respective activities for the day, that’s why she was jumpy, but a part of him knew that something isn’t right.

Jiyong decided he just have to find out. Resolute, he stood up and grabbed his car keys.

“I’ll just go somewhere quick. I’ll be back in time for our meeting with the creative director for the concert.”

His manager just shook his head in disbelief, but he let Jiyong go, noticing that he wasn’t all there the entire morning.

He didn’t know how he’ll get on with his fact-finding mission, but he decided that calling Dara was the first step.

Dara answered on the first ring.

“Love!”

“Hey, there. Want to grab some lunch together?”

“You’re not busy?”

“Nah, I wanted to eat with you. Eodiya?”

“Oh, I’m still home. My stylist came by to drop some clothes. We just finished talking about what I’ll wear this week.”

“Okay, I’ll pick you up then. Be there in ten.”

They hung up, and when Ji