Chapter 5

The elevator was occupied. Jiyong pushed the button like mad only to realize that it would take forever for the moving box to go back down. He dashed for the stair, nearly collided with a nurse who helped an elderly carry the IV pole.

“Sorry. Sorry.” Not slowing down, he apologized. “I have to hurry. I'm late!”

He was late, thank Tabi and his idea of taking the new frame for a spin. The new frame that had made Jiyong's lips tasted the asphalt. The new frame that ended up unusable.

Now, with swelling lips, he had to sprint to the fifth floor of the hospital while thinking of nice things to say to his girlfriend. Sprinting and making excuse, two things he never really good at.

“Damn it!' Jiyong swore, earning himself glares from the three pregnant women in the excessively pink waiting room. Three pregnant women and no Taeyeon, which could only mean one thing.

“She's already inside.” The nurse passed a judging look from behind her glasses as she tilted her pen toward the examination room.

“Right.” Jiyong tried to comb his hair with his hands. On the mirrors lining the wall, his wet-rat-like reflection stared at him hopelessly.

“What are you waiting for? Get inside.” The frown on the nurse's face didn't help his case at all.

“Right.” He slid the door open while checking the mirrors one more time only to catch a glimpse of the three pregnant women whispering and staring.

He didn't blame them for the heavy judgement. He was admittedly  a lousy father-to-be.

“Hi, baby.” Trying to sound  cheerful, he sat on the stool by the examination table. “Sorry, I'm late.”

Taeyeon doesn't even look at him.

Trying to make a mend, Jiyong reached for Taeyeon's hand and gently rubbed her knuckles. “Everything's fine, right? Doc?”

“Strong heartbeat, just like previous ultrasound.” The female ob-gyn smiled as her hand moved the ultrasound around Taeyeon's exposed bump. “Fingers. Toes. Cute little nose. I'd say that you're cooking a perfect one in there, mommy.”

Jiyong grinned, happy to hear the news and happy to see a smile formed on Taeyeon's face.

“And since it's the 24th weeks we now can see the gender for sure.” The doctor moved the wand again. “Do mommy and daddy wish to know or shall we keep it a secret?”

“I want to know.” Jiyong stood up, eagerly staring at the blurry image on the screen. “It's a boy isn't it?”

The doctor glanced at Taeyeon. The room went silent for a moment before Jiyong realized his mistake.

“Of course everything is up to the wonderful mommy here.” He kissed the back of Taeyeon's hand. “Do you want to know the gender, baby?”

“I don't want you to brood if it's actually a girl.” Taeyeon finally opened to speak. “And don't tell me that your face is all swollen because you fell from your bike again.”

“What? No. I tripped over.” He threw the obvious lie, glancing to gauge Taeyeon's reaction.

“Yeah, right.” The roll of Taeyeon's eyes, a tell tale sign of her distrust, effectively put Jiyong back in his place.

“And I swear I won't brood. I'd love a little princess as much as I'm excited for a little boy.” He told the truth this time, for he knew he'll love their kid either way. Sitting back on the plastic stool, Jiyong caressed Taeyeon's head to lighten her mood. “I'd love to have a mini Taeyeon bossing me around. I'd say she will have me wrapped around her fingers since day one, just like her mommy.”

"You and your saccharine ridden words." Even as her lips pursed, her fingers moved to gently touch Jiyong's cheek “This looks painful. Have you got it checked?"

"Sandara dabbed something on them and made me took painkiller. I feel nothing but the excitement of seeing our baby right now." Kissing the side of her belly, Jiyong could feel Taeyeon's anger dissipate. "Our tiny sparkplug is healthy in here."

"That was the last time you call our baby sparkplug." Taeyeon retracted her hand, eyes panned back to the monitor. "Allright, doc. Let's see what we're having so we can start calling our baby by name."

“Alright. Let's see.” The doctor grinned. “Can you guys see it? There, near the leg.”

“I don't want our dear mommy here to be mad but I swear I can't see anything.” Jiyong leaned in, finger pointing hesitantly. “It's all blurry. Is that our baby's little soldier?”

“No. That's the hand.” Letting out a little laugh, the doctor moved the cursor and zoomed in the picture. “There, those are the scrotums.”

“Scrotums?”

“Balls, Kwon Jiyong. Our baby has balls.” Taeyeon laughed too.

“We're having a boy! I have a son.” Grinning, Jiyong smacked a kiss onto Taeyeon's cheek. “Little baby has balls, just like daddy!”

“Yah!” Taeyeon smacked his arm in return.

“What? You heard the doctor, our baby has b-”

“Shut up, dork.” She laughed, grabbing him into a hot searing kiss despite the grimacing doctor.

“I'm ugly.”

“So I heard, but I'm not exactly Brad Pitt too. We're both a couple of lost cause here.” Jiyong looked up from the automotive  magazine he was reading and grinned. A few seconds late to recognize the distressed look on Taeyeon's face.

“Oh come on, baby.” He scurried to his feet, wrapping his hands around her belly and kissed the nape of her neck. “You are wonderful.”

“Don't lie.”

“When did I ever lie to you? You are beautiful.”

“You lied to me all the time when it came to your dear motorbike.” She stuck her tongue out. “And I'm nowhere near beautiful. I'm huge. I'm a sack of potatoes.”

“Well. You're probably not as skinny as before but let me tell you.” He cradled her s in both hands. “These s, these thighs, this belly. Yummmm. You're one hot momma, Kim Taeyeon. If it's up to me I'ma have you in this bed all day.”

“.” She leaned back, starting to smile.

“No. No. No. It's not just about me being over my y girlfriend.” He kissed her neck again. “Your skin? Look. Look closely baby. You're glowing. And when you smile, with those rosy lips and those fair cheeks, bam! You look like a goddess. An ethereal goddess blessing my world with your exquisite presence.”

“Either you memorize that words from the internet or you have been secretly reading trough my trashy novel collections.” She stuck her tongue out again, with blushes on her cheeks this time.

“I spent too much time watching K-drama in the oby-gyn's waiting room.” He grinned. “Point is, you're beautiful. Now shall we go out? Our dinner reservation awaits.”

“I can find a dress that fit.” She frowned again.

“Then go wear that hoodie you love so much.”

“You can't go to Blue Veranda in a hoodie. That joint is stacked with rich girls in expensive dresses.” The frown got deeper. “Why on earth you book us dinner in such place anyway? We don't belong there.”

“Baby, we're celebrating.” Rubbing her belly, he flashed another grin. “Celebrating my baby boy. Celebrating you being only two weeks away from your due date. We're celebrating our future as three.”

“Hmm. Can we just celebrate here? I don't feel like going out looking like a bloated cow.”

“Come on now, I've been saving for this.” Trying his best to copy her puppy-eyed plea, he begged through the mirror. “We can even shop for a dress first.”

“Really? Where did you get the money?”

“Well...” This was it. The place he had been trying to steer their conversation away from. “It's my saving.”

“Blue Veranda. New dress.” She turned around, squinting at him. “The new crib you had shipped last week and all the baby stuffs you let me order from the online shop. Jiyong, those are beyond our budget. Where did you get the money?”

He refused to look into those eyes. He was trying to celebrate, not fishing for a fight.

“Kwon Jiyong?”

“Come on baby, let's just have dinner.”

She took a step away

“Baby, please.” He caught her arm.

“You go have that dinner. I'll just order in.”

“Taeyeon, please.”

“Let me go, Ji.”

“Alright. Alright. I've gotten appointed as Gold Dragon Racing Team's main racer last week. The money came from the contract.”

He didn't have to see her eyes. The way her arm tensed in his hand was enough sign of another storm.

“Let me go.”

Her cold tone. The fact that there was a hint of tears in her voice. Jiyong couldn't