Nam Ji Hyun had a list of scenarios in her mind on how this specific moment would’ve gone in her way. 

She would see him somewhere in a hotel ballroom, her for a convention and him for a banquet. She would be wearing a nice dress that flowed past her knees, and he would don a nice suit. They’d have casual talk, have closure, part ways, and he’ll never have to hear about their children. 

They would meet in a secluded park, both coming there to clear their minds. Again, closure, part ways, no mention of their children.

In general, almost all of her scenarios involved closure and keeping her children a secret, but somehow, her expectations weren’t just let down in this case. Her expectations crashed and burned six feet under, with nothing to recover. 

The moment she heard Ae Ra say that Hee Young was in the Gangnam Fairmount Hospital’s emergency room for wounds and a possible concussion, she wasted no time to sprint to the emergency room, still in her scrub uniform and unkempt hair tied into a ponytail, fresh from handling fifteen patients under one shift. Her heart was pounding, thinking of what her child would look like. She didn’t know what to feel: Worry? Anger? Pain? She felt like her emotions were all over the place, but who could blame her? Her child just had an accident, and she would never forgive herself if anything beyond severe happened to her. Her neck basically snapped from looking for her in the emergency room, and the tears were starting to blur her vision, until she saw a small girl’s back facing her, and the familiar bowl cut popping out of the crowd, and she wasted no time as she sprinted towards her. 

“Eomma!” Chung Ae shouted, and she was basically gasping for air, but the adrenaline rush was still there as she reached for the bed, nearly tumbling down on the floor from her rushed reaction.

“Hee Young! What happened?! Who did this to you?! Oh my goodness!” 

She examined the wounds first before she places her little girl's hands in her own as she covered her face in them, sending her thanksgiving prayers to the gods and angels above for her daughter being alive. But another feeling replaces her worry, and it was burning her chest as she was ready to confront the person who did this to him. She was ready for a lawsuit to be slapped in their faces for their reckless behavior, and she would spare them no mercy for it. But the moment she raised her head, she immediately regretted it.

The dark irises that met her own could give her a whiplash— no, it was harder than a whiplash. It was a reckoning, a whole tsunami of emotions and thoughts crashing into her that only focused on one thing: him. The very man that she was avoiding to cross once more, the man that she would never expect to see again, standing right in front of her as she held her children in her arms. 

No, their children. His and hers. They were their own, and it was just about time that their paths would cross like this.

It seems like all the color and words drained from her body, and nothing but silence left her open mouth as she stared at him. Her heartbeat stilled like the world around her, and she was stuck. For the first time in her life, her mind and her heart went completely blank at the same time. 

She watched as his gaze travelled to the two children in her hold, both staring at him with wide eyes. She saw the light in his eyes as everything slowly started to click in him: the children, the small features matching their own, the weird feeling inside him as he held the twins in his arms. 

"Oh my God."

She didn't even notice how the words fell out of , but somehow, she was hoping that this was a dream, and that when she blinked once more, he'll be a different person. 

But no, she blinked more than once, and then, he had to speak.

“I... This... It’s...” He spoke with his tongue tied, not knowing where to start. “It’s... you.” 

She feels like her heart could burst and crash at the same time, the tears that were threatening to spill before were emerging for a different reason now. She nodded slowly in response, and she watched as he tried to piece it all together. 

“You... The kids...” He trailed off. “You’re their mother.” 

She was scared that he was getting close to the answers. She nodded again. 

“Ji Hyun...” He breathed out. “Are... You’re... It’s been a while and...” 

She was silent, watching him with cautious eyes and a steel heart as she braced herself for what’s next. 

“You... You’re...” He didn’t know what to speak about first, but when the kids held on tighter to her as they stared at him, the thought suddenly struck him like lightning. 

“I..I...” He stuttered, and she finally raised her hand at him, not willing to let this unfold in this setting, not when they’re in front of their children. 

She leaned down to whisper to her two children, and they nodded in response, before she gave them each a kiss on their heads, before she slowly removed them from her hold. She approached him, stepping towards him like it was treacherous territory, until they were a few inches apart from each other, the spectrum of emotions of the two shifting the atmosphere.

“Let’s talk about this later, and somewhere else.” 

__

The doctors asked Ji Hyun to have Hee Young stay for the night after running some tests to make sure that she wasn’t suffering from a concussion, and after a few hours later, when the twins were asleep with Halmeoni on standby (who didn't take the news lightly, either way, since she beat herself up for not looking after the kids properly), and with Manager Bang out to get some food for all of them, the two excused themselves to go to her clinic. Ji Hyun made sure to put a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on her door, and she was thankful enough that the walls were soundproof, knowing very well that this night won’t go well even if she tried. 

And here they were, sitting across from each other by her desk. She watched as he fiddled with the latch of his watch, a nervous habit that retained with him after all these years. After a moment of silence, she shoots the first sentence of the night. 

“Ji Chang Wook-ssi, I expect you to cover the expenses of the damages you caused on my children, or you will face the consequences. Understood?”

”Ji Hyun—“

“I also expect you to listen to my requests so we won’t have another problem in our hands regarding the case.”

“Ji Hyun—”

“I do not like being interrupted while I’m speaking, especially when my child’s life was at stake—”

“It’s been eight years since I last saw you.” 

She was stunned in silence, but she knew very well where this was going, and she tried to divert the conversation. “It is. But, this is not about that right now.” 

“It’s also been eight years since...” 

She almost lost her tough facade, but she kept herself in check, since she knew he was slowly putting the pieces together. “It has, but I do not see why we should discuss this in this situation right now.”

Silence. 

"You have kids." 

"I just explained it to you, remember?"

And then, he throws in a question.

"Have you..." He started. "Have you been married?" 

The dread she had morphed into slight confusion, her initial thought of him finally figuring it out being disproved like that made her feel frustrated and relieve for some reason. Has he not realized the entire scheme of things, or is he in denial for some reason? Nonetheless, he must be getting close. 

"No." She shook her head, pressing her lips together before she looked away from him. 

"Then..." He trailed off, before he slowly pieced everything together. 

"Then... Your twins are... and... that night... You..."

It was there on the tip of his tongue, and she was just waiting for the blow that came along with it.

“Ji Chang Wook-ssi, if you have nothing relevant to say about our children—“

And there it was, the very slip of her tongue was the one that betrayed her.

“Our children?” 

She was frozen.

"They're my children?"

She couldn't hold in the dam in her eyes anymore, and then, she stood up from her seat, her head spinning from her abrupt movements and from his epiphany. "If we are not going to discuss the agreements we had for this accident, then please excuse me for a while."

She made a dash to the door, not willing to anticipate the moment he realizes the truth, but before she could even reach the handle, his hand grappled onto her own, and for some strange phenomenon, her knees turned to jelly and her skin seemed to sear from the sensation. He gripped onto her hand tighter as he pulled her back slowly. She hears him standing up, his heavy breaths prickling the hairs on her arms and her head, and his warmth radiates by her back. She was scared to look back, not ready to face him and the entire truth: He's the father. The twins are his. She kept it from him for eight years. 

And now, everything she did to keep the secret is coming back to haunt her. 

"Ji Hyun," his voice shook. "Ji Hyun, please, please look at me." 

She screwed her eyes shut, before she let him turn her towards him.

"Please."

The way his voice cracked made her eyes open, and all she could see was hurt, confusion, and anger as well.

"Ji Hyun," he held onto her shoulders. "Are Chung Ae and Hee Young our children?" 

All her life, she taught herself how to face her fears and troubles with her head up high, telling herself that there was no need to be ashamed of if you knew the truth. She trained herself to stay calm under pressure and think logically in every situation. All her life, she calculated and controlled every movement and every emotion she had, and proved herself to be strong, just to be a good example for her children. 

For the first time since that fateful day of her pregnancy, she broke down in front of someone, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably from her sobs, and all he could do was pull her back to him. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Her words were muffled as she hid by his shoulder, her tears soaking his shirt. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Minutes passed by and her apologies play like a broken record, and even though she couldn't see him at this angle, she knew that the disappointment was too hard to wipe away from his features. And when she finally calmed down, she felt his arms fall to his sides, and she knew by the fast pace of his heart, that this was going to start in the worst way possible.

"Explain." 

Her heart drops at the word. 

"Explain why you kept this from me all this time."

She stepped away from him, clasping her hands together as she watched him. It was as if the anger in his eyes started to take over, but the sadness and the confusion were still there. Nonetheless, it was enough to make her cringe from the sharpness of his words. 

"You're not going to tell me, then?" His voice started to roughen, his intonations getting louder. "You're not going to tell me why did you keep our children from me for eight years?!"

"I was going to tell you." Even when her voice shook, she tried to hide behind her wall of emotions again, a stern look on her face.

"When?" He almost yelled. "On my deathbed? When they're already married? When they have grandchildren?" 

She winced internally from his words, because most of it was true. 

"You kept our children from me for eight years. EIGHT!" He raised his voice, but she still stood her ground. "What were you thinking?! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why did you keep it from me for such a long time?!"

The tears were threatening to fall once more, but she was done with crying. She had to face the music and she had to tell it to him without breaking down again. She was silent as he continued his rage. 

"You didn't even think of calling me at all? An e-mail? Anything?" 

"Did you think it would be easy for me?" She started, her pain turning into a rage that was burning inside her chest. "Did you think I could just call you up or your agency about you having children this easily?"

She stepped closer to him as he rebutted. "You had eight years to do so, and yet you never even tried to communicate with me." 

"We're dealing with children. CHILDREN." She shouted at this point. "Do you think it's so easy for me to communicate with you when you have a career and the public's reception on the line for you? And for our children?"

He was silent as she continued, his fists shaking from the rage. But, she never faltered. "I have tried a thousand times to communicate. I called your phone, yet you couldn't be reached. I tried to call your agency, but every time I do, I've been dismissed over and over again. I've been doing everything to run to your events just to get close to you but I was always stopped. I have done everything in my willpower to come back to you, but what about you? Have you ever thought about contacting me all this time?"

"I was busy—"

"I was busy as well!" She yelled at him. "I had to finish my masters! I had to raise our children despite our income! I had been studying and fighting off every derogatory comment about me being a single mother until I graduated! I did all of that, and I still tried to communicate with you! What's your excuse?!" 

"You didn't think that I did everything to find you as well?" He argued. "You have no idea how many times I had to ask your neighbors and relatives back in Busan where were you, and they couldn't even tell me what happened to you and where were you! You have no idea how many times I begged and pleaded to come back to that place to at least find a trace of you! Nobody knew where you were, and even until now, I still tried to find you everywhere I looked. I even tried to call you, but your number was already obsolete. I did everything I could too, Ji Hyun! I wanted you back in my life again!"

"Did you?!" She raised his voice at him. "Your life looked better off without me ever since! Even when I tried my best to contact you, whenever I see you on the news or on my phone, you looked so happy, as if nothing was holding you back anymore."

"How would you even assume that?!" 

She was about to argue about the rumours that he had with his co-workers, especially the moments they shared in front of the press. She was about to argue how painful it was for her to see him smile brightly in front of the camera, as if he has forgotten her in the rubble. She remembered that night, the breaking point, and the fatal end. But instead, she went for a different approach. 

"Do you realize how hard this will hit your own career?"

The sudden change of tone shocked him, not expecting how she suddenly calmed her voice down as she spoke. 

"Do you realize how hard your career will plummet if they found out you had children out of wedlock?" Her voice shook as she explained. "Do you realize how hard the public will treat my children once they found out about us? You know that one small mishap will have everyone watch you, imagine how ruthless they'll be once they found out about them." 

He was stunned, suddenly thinking about how the public will handle them, especially his own children. One small gesture, one little mishap, and everything will be blown out of proportion. If he was already having a hard time having all of his micromovements being judged by the public, imagine the frenzy they'll have scrutinizing his own children. The image of his children crying over being judged by the world around them gives a hard slap to his heart. 

"So," he spoke. "Are you planning that I shouldn't see my children at all? Is that it?"

"That's not my point!" She groaned. "This is the reason why I didn't want you to know about our children! You have an entire future ahead of you! You're a top star that has millions of adoring fans around the world! I..."

She caught her breath, trying to calm herself down from her outburst, before she stood up straight, her chin up, looking him straight in the eye. 

"I don't want the world to hate you just because of our children. I don't want the world to hate our children just because of a mistake."

The words registered heavily onto him as he stared at her. Mistake was quite a painful word for the time they shared together, but even if it crushed her heart saying those words, she had to be honest with him, for she felt so tired of hiding everything from everyone around her. 

"I don't want you to lose the one thing that you worked so hard for. I don't want you to have your dreams crushed just because of one woman."

He was silent. 

"You'll find someone that will complete you no matter what, someone more fitting for you, someone better than me."

He stared at her as she continued. "But..." 

She kept her lips pressed, contemplating whether she should do it or not, but given the circumstances at this point in time, she had no other choice.

"I can assure you that I'm not going to deprive you of the right to be our children's father anymore, given that you finally know the truth."

He opened his mouth, but not before she raised her hand at him. "If we could, we could stay out of each other's ways when we meet our children. I know that you're mad at me, and I know we will not end at the best of terms tonight, but please, please promise me that once I finally agree to you seeing our children..."

Her breath shook, still feeling surreal that she was standing right in front of him, degrees of separation in between them, but knowing very well there was one thing that they couldn't take away from each other.

"Please be a great father. Please give them love, even if you have to act like it."

"Are you saying I don't love my children?"

"I'm saying that even if you had the notion of not wanting kids, at least be decent towards them."

She had to mention it to his face, and it hurt her when she remembered an interview of him that he watched the other day, when he was asked of the thought of having children soon. His words still resonated with her, and all she could do was repeat it in her head until she felt numb.

"I don't think I'll be ready to have kids. It seems so difficult, especially when you're busy with your career."

He had an unreadable expression on his face, watching her as she pleaded towards him, and all he could do was nod. 

"So," he started. "Are you saying this is our closure? Are you saying that we should never see each other ever again? You’re going to shut me out of your life again?”

”Not in that sense.” She sighed at him. “It’s just that we can finally part ways and live separate lives, but we can still be parents to our children. I hope you understand.”  

He didn’t speak. 

“This is what’s best for the both of us.” 

Silence. 

“We should be thinking about our children first.” 

He was frozen for a moment, feeling every emotion possible as she spoke each and every word, thinking about the “whys” and “hows” and “whats”, and wondering how they turned into complete strangers after everything they’ve been through. 

As he stepped out of the clinic, she held the door ajar, looking at him with droopy, puffed eyes, and a small smile. 

“Let’s just settle the other details some other time.” She muttered. “It’s getting late, and we’ll probably be very busy tomorrow.”

It was if they both ran out of words and feelings to express, and as they stared at each other, it feels as if every color and detail in their faces were drained, until they could only stare at each other hollowly. Ji Hyun still couldn’t read what was going on inside his mind, and even if she did try to deny it, there was still that small, minuscule space in her heart that knew that still cared for him, even after all this time, which is why she wasted no time to give him a few parting words, before she shut him out of her clinic, and maybe out of her life. 

“I almost forgot," she sighed. "Happy birthday, Ji Chang Wook-ssi. Please live a good and diligent life.”