“What’s on that bag?”

Yeri is hiding the plastic bag she get from the hospital, contained her vitamin from Jungkook’s eyes when he seems curious about it. She could just left it at her office, but the testpack, the picture..it’s a nightmare if someone else sees this.

“Nothing.”

She decide to link her arms to him when they passed by some executives who’s also walking to the hall with them. Thanks to these men, Jungkook is busy having a conversation with them instead of pestering her about the bag.

“We’re being really insecure these days, and some of our clients are happier when you were in charge, Mr. Jeon.”

She can hear a little part of their talk, and she knows Jungkook has been doing a lot of maneuver for taking his position back. Mrs. Jeon and Jooyoung are getting more anxious and forced her to do some ridiculous work. They even told her to bad mouthing Jungkook in a subtle way to a few people she met, because words from a wife will be so much more believable than anyone else, but she never did it. 

***

Yeri entering the hall, with Jungkook holding her hands, and a few pair of eyes focusing on them. Jooyoung is on the stage with few people, she didn’t see her mother-in-law. Which is totally good, she doesn’t want to deal with her today.

“They provide you a seat on stage.”

She lifted her face when Jungkook whispering to her and his eyes are pointing to the stage, where a long table and few chairs with a mic was placed there. Her placard name is in there, on the corner left..next to Jooyoung.

“They want me as an accessories.”

“Then, they should put you at the center.” 

Jungkook is joking, and he even laughing at her lightly, but Yeri is so sensitive, she takes it seriously and throw his hands from her right away. She is not smiling or laughing.

“It’s a joke.”

“I don’t find it funny.”

He stops responding when few people came to them and offering their hands. Yeri is good at doing this, her sour expression turns bright immediately when people greets her.

In a matter of minutes, the event started, with all the executives provide report about what they’re doing this quarter to all invited employees. Except for Yeri, who will just act as a model so people won’t get bored looking at the stage.

“I’ll walk you to the stage.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. Your hands are freezing.”

Yeri is doing nothing when Jungkook hold her hands and making her touch her own cheeks. He is right about that. No more arguing because she is too tired, she barely managed to bring herself to the stage and sit next to Jooyoung who is totally not pleased with the way she behaves.

She spent another 30 minutes acting and pretending with a fake smile and heavy head, after Jooyoung talked, unexpectedly, the moderator told her to present her report. This is ridiculous, she wasn’t prepare anything.  Everyone is clapping their hands forcing her to stand from her seat, and receive the microphone.

“Good afternoon.”

She manages to say a greeting at last.

“Did you take her for hospital visit? She looked tired.”

Jungkook can not stop looking at Yeri when someone from the crowd is telling him that. It’s one of his colleagues from HR dept. He used to be their boss, but not anymore for the past 5 weeks.

“She made a visit this morning.”

He answer the question while being uncomfortable because so many people noticed how tired Yeri is.

“And what about it?”

He stares at Yeri and shakes his head slowly, because he doesn’t know. 

“My wife looked like that when she was pregnant with our first child.”

Jungkook is smiling while putting his hand to his pockets right away. That kind of thoughts are understandable. The talk about him having a child is already going around this building for some time, because of his status..

He never took it seriously because he is aware what kind of marriage he has with Yeri, it was impossible for the past two years, and it’s even more impossible today given how their situation is, the divorce, the hatred, his family..

“...I’m really sorry for not preparing well..”

“It’s ok!!”

Yeri is totally dumbfounded when someone from the crowd to talk to her, not loud, but since the situation is quiet everyone can hear it clearly. She’s trying to hide her face with her hair when everyone finds out that it was Jungkook who said that. Now almost everyone is smiling, some even laugh because of him.

“What are you doing?”

A few people are asking Jungkook while smiling.. he thought no one can hear but seeing Yeri on that stage being nervous, forced, and burdened making him want to support her. Just like how she did, everytime he has troubles with his family, it was probably fake, but it was such a great help and he thankful for that. Not to mention Jooyoung’s expression which completely turn into dark after what he did. He didn’t regret it at all.

“Right..as you can see, that is my husband. And he is the reason why I'm standing here right now. Making a report is always his job not mine..so..i’ll just explain to you what have i done quickly.”

Hearing what Yeri said is making him relaxed, because she can still act though and pretending to be fine despite everything. He is proud.

“Your smile is too wide, Son.”

He stopped smiling and change his focus to someone who suddenly standing next to him. It’s Mrs. Jeon. He hates the way she called him son, but nothing he can’t do in a public event like this. He responds nothing to her.

“You know that it was fake, right? All of it, what she said, what she felt about you. It was me who controlled her. She is my weapon since the beginning until today..”

Jungkook can not bear to hear anything so he move away, Picking an empty spot at the other side of the hall, watching Yeri who’s smiling at the stage. Finished talking about what she was doing and how the clients reception of her.

“...My husband did such a great job, he told me what to do, supporting me, teaching me until  i’m getting used with this..”

Yeri is taking a pause when she realized that Jungkook is no longer on his spot from earlier, she’s trying to find him, but she failed.

“If you’re all thinking that i did all of this alone, then you’re all wrong. You should give credit to him when it’s due, and a forced retirement is totally not it, right?”

Stupid. That’s the only thing Jungkook can judge from Yeri who’s saying that while giving a glare to all the board director, including Jooyoung who totally looked pissed off and angry, shaking his head and telling her to get down from the stage while pulling the cord of Yeri’s microphone.

“Is that true? Mr. Jeon was forced?”

None of the employees aware about this truth. He was basically dismissed in an unfair way by Mrs. Jeon and all her supporters while announced it as a voluntary retirement.

“I already suspecting it, when i heard rumor about a fight between Mr. Jeon and his brother..”

He can hear people start gossiping and making assumptions about him. He’s still focusing his eyes to the stage where he watch Yeri being dragged by Jooyoung behind the stage. He starts running to get to her immediately.

****

“You are crazy. Are you taking a revenge because i told you that your husband are in love with Lee Chaerin last night?”

“I’m not you, being petty over something like that..”

Yeri is too tired to actually deal with Jooyoung right now. But she doesn’t have the energy to run away or avoiding him.

"You are trying to ruin me, you and your damned husband. after what you did to Chaerin.."

"Stop using her to justify your trashy behaviour!!"

"You killed my child. You killed the woman I love, they're the only way for me to run away from this cursed family but you ruined my chance!!! She has my kid when she died!."

Yeri is totally dumbfounded when she heard that. She's already forget about the fact that Chaerin died carrying a life. And she even more surprised when she learns that Jooyoung is not only mad about losing Chaerin but also his kid.

"My brother wanted the throne, you wanted his money. I don't care. I already tired with that bull. I just want a family, a normal one. And you ruined it."

"I'm sorry."

Maybe because of her condition that is pregnant right now. She became scared and guilty about what was going on in the past.. that's why she's saying sorry. Jooyoung is leaving her while purposefully bumping his shoulder to hers, maybe because she is too tired, the slight bump making her fall..and she cried because of that.

"What did he do?"

Seconds later Jungkook is coming to her, looking furious. She is glad that Jooyoung is no longer here so she doesn't need to deal with their fight again. He is quick to help her stand, but she ignores his help. More or less what Jooyoung said about Jungkook earlier is bothering her.

'I've done my part and now we're even."

Yeri is left right away and Jungkook is totally confused, disappointed and a little bit annoyed with the way she treat him.

***

“We’re all don’t know that you were forced Mr. Jeon.”

Jungkook is back to his office and now having a conversation with a few people who were close to him when he was part of the board director. They’re basically confronting him about hiding this from everyone. 

“The condition wasn’t good back then so I have no choice.”

“What condition? Your brother can not run this company. You’re probably has a bad temper but at least you’re smart.”

Everyone is stopped talking when Jungkook is glaring at them, he doesn’t like what he heard about Jooyoung. 

“I’m sorry.”
 

“Mr. Jeon, your family is waiting for you.”

Jieun is suddenly showed up on the door. She’s no longer working for him but under Jooyoung and for her to come here to relay the news of this sudden dinner is a little bit nerve wracking for Jungkook.

“What is it?”

Jungkook is walking together with Jieun following him from behind. She doesn’t look happy so he knows nothing good will come out from this.

“Do you think there’s others reason except..your wife?”

“Is she there?”

“No, i tried to reach her but..”

“She is sick. I told her to stay at home.”

A lie. Jungkook doesn’t even know where Yeri is after she’s gone from him this afternoon. He does send her a text to makes sure she is fine but just like how Jieun said, she ignores him too. He was going to find her after work but then this sudden dinner happens.

Jieun is opening the usual private meeting room, a place where Jungkook, his step mom, Jooyoung and his dad are having a dinner or get together at this building. Acting as a perfect family, pretend to be good to each other. He’s so getting used with this and now he’s tired.

“Yeri…”

“She is sick, stop bothering her for awhile, ok?”

He’s coming out as totally rude to Mrs. Jeon when she is the first one who bring the talk of Yeri on this forum. Of course, Yeri used to join them as well after they got married, so questioning her absence today is not wrong.

“It’s only an excuse after what she did.”

“Shut up!”

Jungkook is almost trying to pick another fight with Jooyoung when one of his father's secretary come in and serve their dinner.

“It doesn’t matter what she did. Yeri is doing a great job helping the company.”

Mrs. Jeon is the one who talks with a smile while pouring something to his plate. Acting and pretending like she really is a mother.

“I don’t have much time, just tell me what you want.”

Jungkook is not touching the food at all, he’s just sitting there, staring at everyone while sometimes looking at his watch.

“We will reinstate you to your position, you will have full control of this office again, but we need Yeri to do something out there. She is good.”

His father is the one who talk first and hearing the word of reinstate is a little bit making him happy, because there are so many things he can do with that title. Including making Jooyoung and his mom stop.

“We’re thinking about sending Yeri to work at our branch office as the head regional CEO in Japan..”

He’s still not saying anything when Mrs, Jeon is the one who talks right now. She talks with a smile. Like what came out from is not a bull.

This is ridiculous. What mistake that Yeri committed for her to be treated like this. Jungkook is doing nothing but mockingly laugh what he heard.

“She is my wife.”

“Of course, no one is saying she is not.”

Jooyoung is talking to him with so much sarcasm, it makes him boiled in anger once again.

"It's temporary, until the situation is better."

"Your son and your wife is ruining your company, why would my wife fix that for them?"

Jungkook is staring at his father and talking to him with higher tone, so he will knows that he againsts this idea so much.

"We're all family."

He is getting up from his seat right away because he already lost his patience to deal with this. A family? He can't be serious.

"I'll talk to him."

He could hear Mrs. Jeon is saying that when he walks out the door. Her step is getting closer so he turned to her.

“You never treat us as a family, and suddenly you act like we’re one, have some conscience.”

He thought that she will shut up hearing his attack, but she is not. She gave him a smile and a pat on his shoulder instead.

“Us? There’s no us. Yeri is the one who ask me a favor for this. She asked me to send her away until your divorce finalized. I’m helping her right now, because I treat her as my own daughter.”

“You are lying.”

“I’m not, you can ask her yourself.”

Defeated. That’s what Jungkook felt when Mrs. Jeon told him that and left him. She said Yeri asked for this

Yeri is sitting on her living room, alone, staring at the test result she received earlier and the conversation she had with Mrs. Jeon. She never really good at making life's choices, but she really needs to do one right now.

Not just for her sake but for everyone around her.

***

“Are you trying to betray me right now?”

Yeri doesn’t know Mrs. Jeon is here, she was going to come home and sleep but she was dragged to her office, she looked totally pissed off after what Yeri did on stage earlier. 

"Everything I did has nothing to do with you."

" You're trying to save your husband while ruining me out there. This is not our deal, Yerimmie.."

"What deal? I promised you to help you gain positive rep for your job and i did. You're the one who still owe me something."

She is trying really hard to not sound tired or sick because she needs to eliminate unnecessary attention from her.

"I'm getting a divorce, you promise me to help."

"What do you want?"

"I want to live away from Jungkook until our divorce finalized, you should makes it less obvious that I was avoiding him because i don't want to deal with more drama."

She is waiting for Mrs. Jeon to respond to her because she is actually not sure about the choice she made. It is unfair that she ran away from Jungkook when she’s pregnant with his kid. But she knows that having a child in a situation where the only thing he chase right now is his old life before the existence of Jooyoung and  his mother is not good, she thinks that this is the best for both of them.

God knows what will this family do if they ever find out about her kid, Chaerin was kept in captivity as long as she was pregnant and they even had a plan to separate her with her baby. And she’s not even a gold digger like her. What will they do to her? To her kid? 

“I want to live away from you too, I don't want anyone from Jeon’s family knows where I am.”

“Why?”

Yeri is stunned with Mrs. Jeon’s short response. She takes a deep breath before answering her question.

“I devoted my youth to your family, and I want to start a new one. You said it yourself, that I'm still young and i deserved my own life. I can’t do that if you still chasing me.”

“Do you have a plan to come back one day and..?”

“No, I don't have any plans to do that. I’ll leave as quiet as possible. You can find someone else to be your daughter in law.”

Mrs. Jeon is smiling at her and slowly nodding her head.

“I’ll send you abroad for work, you need to stay a few weeks and do whatever you wanted right after that. I won’t bother you but you need to promise me that you won’t come back here. Whatever I'm doing to Jungkook, you can’t be near him or helping him, you’re out of my family’s life.”

That sounds scary to be honest. Jungkook suffered his whole life after this woman came to his family. No matterhow much he's trying to ignore her, Yeri knows that Mrs. Jeon can do something to Jungkook, whether is making him angry or unhappy. She’s been living with him since he was one year old. Bad or worse, she’s practically a mother to him, and she knows a lot about him more than he realized. But Yeri has to choose, it’s either a baby she’s going to have or Jungkook.

2AM, Yeri is still not sleeping when she heard the doorbell is ringing. She already has bad thoughts about who is the guest..but it was all gone when she find Jungkook standing there. Still with his attire from this morning. Doesn’t looks drunk or angry, he’s just...pitiful.

“Not sleeping?”

He asks her slowly and Yeri is telling him to come in. He refused by shaking his head.

“I’ll just stay here.”

“No, come in. I’ll make you a drink, beside i feel tired if we need to talk while standing like this.”

He seems hesitant at first but he does follows her order and now sitting in the living room, like a guest, like this is not his home. She walks to the kitchen and offers him a cup of tea which she made earlier.

“I had a dinner with my family..”

“I know, Jieun told me to come but..”

Jungkook is noticing Yeri’s weird behaviour, it seems like she purposefully avoiding the talk about this. Maybe she really want to be free from everything, including the talk of his problem.

“It is not your responsibility to come.”

Yeri lost her smile and he knows that by now she is already realized about what Mrs. Jeon told him.

“Your mother told you?”

“About your plan to run away?”

“It wasn’t running away, after the divorce, we’re back as stranger. It’s makes sense.”

She talks calmly with a smile, and she is right. Totally. But why does he feel so upset and trying to coming here at dawn, demanding her to stay? 

“I guess I'm a coward then.”  So he ended up saying that while staring at Yeri.
 

“No, you’re not.”

“I thought, I will still be able to see you after…”

“I can’t do that. You divorced me, Jungkook-ssi. It’s only fair for us to live our own way.”
 

“I know. I was just scared.”

Jungkook is giving her an empty laugh after he said that. And that is not good for her, who’s in the middle of making up her mind to leave. He looked so lonely, helpless, and pitiful.

“You live your life for years before I came to you, it’s not different with what you’re going to have right now.”

“And I suffered.”

He talks to her while staring at the floor and she can see his teary eyes. It makes her weak, but she can not act like this in this situation.

“Aren’t you being too greedy? You don’t want to be my husband again, but you demand me to stay near you as a wife? We’re getting a divorce because you’re losing your trust for me and i’m tired of you and your family.”

She’s crying first, again. She hates that she’s becoming so sensitive and keep showing Jungkook this side of her. It’s embarrassing.

“I’m sorry.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Jungkook is totally doesn’t want to makes Yeri cry or hurting her even more. He came here as a desperate attempt to actually having someone who will help him through everything.

“Nothing. You can go..i just..I’m sorry.”

He gets up from his seat and give a squeeze on Yeri’s shoulder that was shaking so much from crying. He patted her head lightly as he’s trying to leave but when he finally reach the front door, Yeri is coming for him and hold his arms while wiping her tears..she walks closer to him, and with her little arms, taking him to her embrace, patting his back as he’s hugging her back, bury his head on her neck.

“Don’t worry about it too much. You will be fine.”

That’s what she said and he feels a thousand times better than before, he doesn’t care if Yeri is being genuine or not but he really need this, someone to pat him back and telling him that everything is going to be fine. 

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

He pulled himself from her and staring at her crying face, wiping her tears with his finger, watching her laugh after hearing what he said. She nods her head, and seems like her tears keep flowing, so he gave her another hug. Yeri is crying even more because of it, she even holding him closer until she finally let him go, her eyes are red and puffy, she looks like a kid on her state like this.

“I’m really sorry.” She said that words slowly.

“No, i understand. If I were you, I would probably leave faster than you are for how tired I am.”

Jungkook is laughing while tucking her hair to her ear and caressing her cheeks, his hand is cold. She doesn’t respond to what he said because she is not sorry for leaving but for lying, about the situation, the baby, her choice of life. It was so unfair for Jungkook in so many ways, but there’s no other option. It’s either the three of them trapped forever or someone gained a freedom with this lie.

“I’m letting you go, you don’t need to feel bad.”

That was the last thing he said before they said goodbye to each other, leaving Yeri in a deep thoughts until the next morning. She’s not sure if the choice she made is good for everyone.