CHAPTER 40

STRONG MAN TAEIL

“None of the potential donors matched Kun. I’m sorry.”

Tears began falling from Doyoung’s once hopeful eyes. He was looking forward to that day, only to be welcomed by a news that crushed all the hope remaining in his system.

Taeil also couldn’t believe what he heard and wanted to leave the room immediately to see his son, but he had to be strong for Doyoung. The weak and pathetic Taeil was gone the moment he met Doyoung once again and his son. He was Doyoung’s last line of defense before he succumbed to insanity and he was going to be strong no matter what, even if it hurt a lot.

The doctor, who was Kun’s doctor since he was a baby, was sympathetic and equally saddened by the results of the test. 

Five people had their bone marrow tested, a very hard and painful procedure and yet, not a single one passed. It was indeed a bad news for everyone inside that room.

“How could that happen?” Taeil asked while comforting an almost hysterical Doyoung in his arms. “I am his father. How is it possible that we don’t match?” There was still a tiny drop of hope lingering in his voice. The doctor knew that that question was going to be asked so answer almost instantly.

“It can happen. There’s always a high chance that bone marrow won’t match even if both donors are blood-related.”

“So, it’s the end now? Does this mean that there’s no hope for my son anymore? My son is just 3 years old. He’s too young to die and I refuse to let him die!” Doyoung sobbed harder when he heard what Taeil said.

“He’s still on the waiting list.”

Taeil shook his head in disappointment. “He’s not even no. 1 on that list,” he whispered to himself, not wanting to give Doyoung another heartbreak.

The doctor then looked at them intently and said, “There’s still hope.” 

In an instant, Doyoung looked at the doctor with tears still falling from his eyes. It was the same with Taeil. The couple held hands as they wait for the doctor to say something, something that might revive their lost faith hope.

“Someone can still save Kun and it’s up to you to make this happen.” The doctor looked at them in pure seriousness and determination. He too refused to let his young patient surrender into his disease.

“Who?” Doyoung found his voice to asked, heart pounding with every second that passed.

“A sibling.”

***

“Welcome home.”  Ten’s tone was different from what he practiced before Johnny arrived. He refused to look at the girl in Johnny’s arms as he tried to regain his cheerfulness as he welcomed the guy back. His eyes were failing him, though, because they instantly watered the moment he opened the door.

With an aching heart, he stepped aside and waited for Johnny to come inside, secretly planning to slam the door into the girl’s face the moment she steps foot inside.

It was a good thing that Johnny told the girl to go home already and told her that he was tired from his trip. The girl pouted, acting all cute that made Ten wanted to boil her head and feed her brain to the dogs if she has one, to begin with.

Ten wanted to puke at the failed aegyo of the girl, but it was replaced by a thousand daggers piercing his heart when he saw Johnny kissed the girl on her lips in front of him. 

The pain was immeasurable, it was more than jealousy, it was the murder of his heart. Yet, no one could tell that his heart just died at that very moment. The smile intended only for Johnny remained on his face like a tattoo, a genuine smile only for his love.

They said if you could still smile at the person who hurt you means that you truly love that person. Johnny only realized what it meant the moment he saw Ten’s eyes lost their sparkle.  His heart felt a sharp fang that made him want to cry. 

Ten’s smile was so warm, but the feelings it delivered to Johnny was pure pain. He hated to treat Ten that way. He loved the guy, he still does, but his ego was taking over and the feeling of wanting to see Ten realized his worth drown him. 

The plan was simple at first. Make Ten regrets and realize his mistakes, but it escalated quickly that Johnny lost control of the situation. He had inflicted unnecessary pain on both of them and with his job, he lost the chance to redeem himself and make things right.

With the expression Ten was giving him, Johnny knew that the guy would break any moment, and he had to do something about it. 

Slowly, but surely.

***

Taeil was still tired from his trip and shaken by the news he just received, but he made a promise to Taeyong and he was going to fulfill it. He told Doyoung and his son to take a rest and wait for him to come back. Doyoung nodded absentmindedly and took Kun with him to their room. 

The older did not waste his time and went to see Taeyong. He knew exactly what was waiting for him the moment he stepped into their house. Anxiousness was written all over his face, and Taeyong was clutching his phone like his life was depending on it.

Taeyong immediately stood up when he saw Taeil. Anyone could tell that he was eager to know something about Jaehyun, hopeful that he was going to see him soon.

That hope was crushed when Taeil told him that Taeyong decided to stay in Japan longer. And like adding salt to the wound, Taeil also told him that it was indefinite.

Taeyong swore he had no more tears to cry. His eyes felt so dry and yet, fresh tears made their way out when he heard the news. It wasn’t what his husband told him before he left.

He slumped down on the sofa, still clutching his phone to his chest.

“He told me he’ll come back soon and I’ve been waiting for him,” Taeyong almost whispered, particularly to no one, even if Taeil was with him.

“He doesn’t know that you’re waiting for him. Uncle Jaejoong told me about the papers and asked me to urge Jaehyun to come home.” Taeil sat beside Taeyong. “I bet this time you already know that he’s not that easy to persuade. Especially if he knows that he doesn’t have a home to come back to.”

“But…” Confusion was written all over Taeyong’s face. Since when did Jaehyun become homeless?

Taeil understood the confusion, so he gave him some enlightenment. 

“You are his home, Taeyong. The belief that you already signed the divorce papers practically made him homeless. Tell me, would you still want to come back without someone to come home to? I know my brother can be cruel and stubborn. Our relationship with our parents made Jaehyun hide his old self. It only came out again when he met you. The old Jaehyun that I knew came back and he was the happiest when you got married. I know it was forced, but did he do anything that made you feel anything but loved?”

Taeyong shook his head.

“He gave you the freedom to ran away from him with no string attached and yet, you’re still here.”

“Because I love him. I love him and there’s no way I’m going to leave him.” The conviction was still there and Taeil believed.

“Why are you telling me this? Why don’t you tell him?”

“How?” Taeyong asked in utter frustration. “I’ve been calling him for countless of times, but he’s not answering his phone. I don’t want to sleep or even do anything because I’m waiting for his call. I want to tell him everything. I couldn’t reach him,” he cried. “I want to get mad at him for doing this to me, but I can’t because it’s my fault why we became like this.”

“He doesn’t have his phone with him.”

Taeyong looked at the man in front of him, eyes asking why.

“He doesn’t have any phone when we arrived in Japan. I haven’t seen him use it."

With what he heard, Taeyong abruptly stood and went to their room to rummaged every drawer he could. He succeeded and felt disappointed at the same time. 

There it was, inside the drawer at the side of their bed. He carefully turned it on and his picture, sleeping with a soft smile on his face, welcomed him as the background image. It wasn’t even their picture together. It was his picture during their honeymoon in the Maldives. It was their first night and Taeyong couldn’t help but cry once again. He put down his own phone and clutched Jaehyun’s phone like his new source of life.

“I want to see him,” he said when he felt Taeil’s presence behind him. “I want to see him now.”

“Can you take care of my family for me?”

Though still confused, Taeyong nodded.

“Well then, I’m going back to Japan tomorrow, and I promise to bring him back to you.”

In an instant, like a child who just received his Christmas gift, Taeyong’s eyes sparkled.

“I know that what my brother did was wrong. I know that forcing you into marriage was not right at all, but I also don’t approve of letting him fall deeper and telling him all the things that you said without making sure of what you feel first.”

Guilty as charged Taeyong looked down.

“I hope you don’t get me wrong. I like you because I know you are perfect for my brother. I also want to tell you that I’m doing this not because you deserve to be happy, but because Jaehyun deserves to be happy.”

With those words, Taeil left and went back to his hurting lover.

***

That night, the night before Taeil return to Japan, was full of rough and desperate lovemaking. Doyoung dominated and Taeil let him, knowing all too well what his intentions were. 

Both were sweaty and tired already, but Doyoung wanted more, in fact, he didn’t want to stop. Taeil had to force him to rest because they had enough. There was no use making love like rabbits because it will take time to get what they wanted. 

Doyoung let his body fall on top of an equally Taeil and buried his face on his neck as he cried. Angry tears kept on coming, and the former felt that everything was unfair. Kun, at his young age, had suffered more than enough and if a sibling could save his life then Doyoung will not stop until they conceive one. That was his plan and Taeil knew that there was no stopping him.

Kun was going to be saved, by hook or by crook.

***

On the top floor of a famous luxury hotel in Tokyo, stood Jaehyun by the glass window with disheveled hair and a whiskey glass in his hand. 

He was a wine kind of guy, and it was his first time to drink whiskey, tried it and he liked the taste. The only thing he had to endure was the head-splitting hangover the next morning.
 
Jaehyun laughed bitterly at his own thoughts. Hangovers were easier to deal with than his broken heart. The pain was unbearable that it almost numbed his head from all the bottles of whiskey he had since that day. He lost his count of how many bottles the hotel staff delivered into his room since the night he was left alone in that hotel and in Japan. 

He could die from alcohol poisoning and yet he didn’t care. The idea sounded great to his ears as a matter of fact. Perhaps dying was easier than to endure the pain of his heart, the pain that almost paralyzed his body. As exaggerated as I may sound, but it was the truth. 

His stomach was churning nonstop and his limbs were too heavy to move. He felt like a machine whose main engine was broken, in his case, his heart.

Another shot from the glass, and it was once again empty. Jaehyun poured the bottle and another emptiness welcomes him. He threw the bottle away in frustration. It was a bother to order, but it was the only way to make him forget or at least temporarily make his heart numb.

Jaehyun ordered once again, and this time he got two bottles of the expensive liquid. It was delivered to him as soon as possible and his session started once again.

Two glass down from the new batch and one face repeatedly flashed in his mind. The face of his husband Taeyong or his ex-husband Taeyong. No amount of alcohol can erase the guy from his mind or maybe, it was the real reason why he drank himself almost into insanity. He drank not because he wanted to forget the pain, but to see the face of Taeyong in his mind, because he knew that there was no way the guy would want to see him again.

How he envied Yuta, Johnny, and his brother when they told him they were going home. They all had someone at home waiting for them. The only thing that was waiting for Jaehyun was a divorce paper, signed by his beloved husband.

The thought made his eyes watered and he immediately wiped them with his arm. Another set of tears poured right after the first ones were dried, and another, and another until Jaehyun gave up and let himself cry.

That night, he cried like a child. Loud sobs and painful chokes filled the hotel room. No one was there to tell him to dry his tears or even give him a pat on his back. No one was there to tell him that everything was going to be okay.

He faced the truth that no one was going to help him with his pain because he inflicted it to himself. It was his fault why Mark hates him, it was his fault why Taeyong didn’t fall for him despite all his efforts he made to make him fall. 

He thought that it was finally time to accept that no one was going to love him as he always wished. Why was he even surprised? His own parents hated him so what’s new? What was the difference?

Taeyong was a huge difference. 

Jaehyun can endure all the hate the world can give to him except for Taeyong. He would rather die and that’s what was happening to him.

The pain was slowly driving him into insanity and his sadness was drowning him deeper into nowhere. 

Yes, the mighty Jung Jaehyun was slowly dying.

aejae22

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Hi.

Sorry for making you wait this long. I've been busy with work.

Work's done now, so I hope I can update just like before.

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