C h a p t e r   43

*Years later*

S e h u n

I stare at Ae Soo's body as she remain unconscious for the past years. Her hands were warm, her body is too. Her heart is beating, her chest rise and falls too. She's alive after giving birth to our child. I was a bit too optimistic back then.

Scratch that. I was too optimistic.

I thought doing this would make it easier for her to stay alive but turns out, I am not quite sure anymore. When Ae Soo's due to give birth to our son, it was all terrifying to me. She was very weak as she get close to giving birth so I thought maybe, just maybe, my idea will work. I asked Tao to slow down Ae Soo's life so that her fox bead will not be consumed fast as she gives birth, Minseok hyung freezing her body from the inside so that it can be protected after she gives birth. Ae Ryu's the one making Ae Soo's life hold on to the cliff right now. He gave half of his fox bead to her after our son took everything from her the moment he got out of her body. Turns out, her body rejected Ae Ryu's fox bead and it returned back to him.We thought that would be her end not until her heart continued beating after all of that which made me had a glimmer of hope. But up to know, she's still not waking up and it's been almost five years since it happened.

I hear footsteps behind and I can tell it's him again. I promised Ae Soo what she fears won't happen again but being in her father's shoes right now makes everything harder. I promised you Ae Soo. But I'm sorry, I need you to be alive and seeing our son's face just makes me despise everything.

"Luka! I told you to stay in the dining room! Your fath-" I hear Chanyeol hyung's voice behind me and he stops seeing my presence. "Sehun.." I stood up from Ae Soo's bed and turned to the door.

My body immediately reacted after seeing Luka's presence. I feel my blood boiling because he looks a lot like her. Luka's wide awake and I can feel Ae Soo's fox bead inside him while she lies on her bed unconscious. I clench my fist to contain my anger. It's the least I can do for Ae Soo. I have been containing myself to say hurtful words to him because I don't want him to feel the exact feelings that Ae Soo experienced with her father back when she was still a kid.

"Can I go to Mama now? I have to give her the flowers." I stop on my tracks. He can talk now.

"Oh, uhm.." I can feel Hyung waiting for my approval so I gave him a nod. "Yes sure, show her what you did." I hear Luka jog behind me and Hyung approaching me.

"Thank you. For taking care of him." I say and was about to leave when Hyung talked.

"Sehun, he needs his father too. He knows his parents. His mother is lying unconscious but his father, you're-"

"Stop." I stop him from talking and sighs. "Please don't say anything more than that. I know what you're saying but I can't. Seeing him I just... I'm sorry. I can't hurt him any more than what I've been doing right now." I continue on my tracks after glancing at Luka who's sitting beside Ae Soo's bedside as he shows him the flower crown he made for her.

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My usual routine of doing my daily work as the head of a clan and visiting Ae Soo every now and then is starting to take a toll on me. Time is becoming slower and slower and I feel like I'm being back in that time when I thought I lost Ae Soo. I technically haven't but it felt like that. Is this how it feels like to take a fox as a wife in exchange for the power I got? 

"Oh." I felt something bump behind me. I turn seeing Luka on the ground with berries scattered all over. Is he alone? I don't see Hyung's presence anywhere. He looks at me then to the berries on the ground then started picking them one by one. This kid is a little bit different from all the kids I have encountered. Luka doesn't talk much or maybe it's just because I don't give too much attention to him. I only see him when we cross paths. He stands on his feet again and started running. I don't know what has gotten into me but I followed him and he was headed to Ae Soo's room again. He made sure to knock before entering the room and quietly approached her. "Mama, I brought you berries."

He knows she can't eat that right? Or do four-year-olds know it?

"Mama does it hurt?" I stood straight from where I am leaning. What did he say? "Uncle Lay gave berries to me when I had my boo-boo. It disappeared. Mama needs to eat this so it won't hurt anymore." I slam the door open and approached Luka. He turns at me with a start and his eyes widen.

"What did you just say? Is she hurting? How is she hurting?!" He's starting to look at me with fear in his eyes and started to shake. "LUKA! ANSWER ME!!" I grabbed his arm waiting for an answer but he just started shaking and crying.

"Sehun! You're scaring him!" Chanyeol Hyung grabbed Luka away from me while Baekhyun hyung held me away from him.

"Let go of me! He said Ae Soo's hurting! Why did he say she was hurting?!" I wait for an answer but it seems like they're not surprised by it. "Why are your faces like that? Do you know about this?" Chanyeol Hyung averted his eyes from me. They definitely know something. "Don't with me! What's going on here?!"

"I think it's time we tell him Chan." 

"Tell me what?" Chanyeol hyung nodded and carried Luka away from the room to calm him down. Baekhyun hyung asked me to sit with him afterwards and I don't like where this is going.

"I 'm sorry we didn't told you this before Sehun but we are still not certain which is why we kept it from you."

"Kept what?"

He sighs and gripped his thigh as if what he's going to say is a hard thing to do. "We think that Luka can communicate with Ae Soo even though she's unconscious. We're not sure when it started though. Luka just started insisting he visit Ae Soo every once in a while and he started calling her 'Mama' even though we haven't told him about her yet. He even knew where Ae Soo is."

My blood ran cold after hearing what Hyung have said. So Ae Soo is alive. She can talk to Luka. I look at her and my heart is full of hope again. i hold her hand and kissed it. "Tell me Ae Soo... How can I make you better again? Please just... wake up." Tears blocked my eyes and choked my words even though I have a lot in my head addressed to her right now. I can feel Hyung's hand brush to my back as I do but I just stayed at Ae Soo's side hoping she'll wake up again.

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I was on my way to my office when I saw Luka heading over to Ae Soo's again. I excused myself from the elders and followed him. This time he is holding a book with him. I kept myself hidden because I know the last moment he saw me didn't ended well. He climbed on Ae Soo's bed and he opens the book.

"I don't know how to read this yet Mama so how would you know what happens? Uncle Chan reads this to me every night though. Should I call for him?" he paused like he is communicating with Ae Soo. Is he? "Then how will you know? Mama's eyes are closed." I stiffle my gasp not wanting for him to hear me. Can they both really talk?

"Do you hear her voice?" Luka gasp in surprise and suddenly stood up getting farther away from me. I did scare him last time huh? He looks at Ae Soo for a while then back to me then he shook his head. "Did she say something?" Luka looked at me and nodded faintly. "What did she say?"

"Mama says you're not a bad person." I can feel my hand shake hearing what he just said right now. Does this mean Ae Soo knows what's happening right now? I have a lot going on in my head and heart right now and I don't know what to do first. I take a deep breath to calm myself down and look back at Luka.

"Can you ask her? If she's fine? How does she feel? Where is she?"

"That's a lot of questions." Luka peeks from his book and mumbled.

"Oh, okay. Can you ask her if she's fine?"

"Mama's fine but she's hurting sometimes."

"Hurting? Where?" Luka points at his chest with his little finger. "Her chest? Does it hurt there?"

"Yes, she says she can't talk long with me because she needs to sleep because her chest will hurt."

"I see. Can you ask where she is now?"

Luka looks at me like it's a dumb question I asked right now. "Mama's right here." Well of course. Who am I kidding? I am talking to a four-year-old who seemed to know a lot more than I do. 

"But how can she know what is happening?"

"Mama sees it. She says everyone is sad every since she fell asleep." I think I am being swallowed whole right now. Ae Soo knew everything ever since she became unconscious and she's always with us. "Like that. She cries whenever she sees Papa crying." My eyes widen and I don't know how to react to the phrase he just said just now. Luka just told me Ae Soo cries whenever I do and he just called me 'Papa'. My sobs became even harder because everything just keeps on sinking in and I don't have her here with me to lessen the weight. "Mama's crying now. She's telling you to stop. You should stop. I want Mama to hear this story and if she cries she won't be able to know what happens."

For the record, this kid's presence never once meant something good to me ever since Ae Soo got in a coma but now, this kid made me laugh. I chuckle and wipe my tears away. "I'm sorry. I'll stop crying now so in exchange, I can read that book so your Mama knows what happens next then."

He now looks at me and I can tell he feels relaxed. "Are you not going to shout at me and be mad anymore?"

I smiled and shook my head. "No I won't. Come here Luka." I stretch my arms wide for him and he slowly climb down the bed then towards me. I hugged him tight and I never felt warmed like this before Ae Soo's presence. "I'm sorry Luka, but can you let your Papa cry a bit more today?"

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Ever since I discovered that Luka can communicate with Ae Soo, we go and visit her every once in a while. I tried asking Ae Soo if she knows something on how we can fix things but she said she doesn't know how to get make her body wake up either. "I think this one will fit-" I turn to the side to hand Luka the last piece on the puzzle when I saw him snoozing off as he lies on Ae Soo's chest. I smile and pulled the covers up on them. 

"This is a nice sight." Chanyeol hyung enter the room with lunch on his hands. 

"Oh is it that time already? He fell asleep though."

Hyung nodded. "I was looking for him but I guess he wanted to spend time with his parents huh?" I look at Ae Soo and carressed the hair the fell on his face. "Thank you Sehun."

"For what?"

"For being a father to Luka. For trying. I'm sure Ae Soo's happy right now." I didn't reply because it's not enough. I need her to wake up. "Oh, you're awake?"

"I'm hungry..." I chuckle as I grab Luka in my arms. He scratches his eyes, still looking sleepy. "Is it chicken?" I place him on my lap and pulled the tray closer to us.

"I guess so. Do you like chicken?"

"Yes." 

"Well here you go, let me help you with it." I grab the spoon and fork and sliced the chicken for him.

"Can I give mommy that? She's hungry."

Chanyeol hyung and I laughed. "Yes, when mommy wakes up you can give her a lot of chicken." Hyung replied as he pours water on Luka's glass.

"Then we can give her that now." I turn to Luka and see him pointing at Ae Soo's direction. "Look, Mommy's awake."