| CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN |

Disturber

“Yeah, no, she’s not like sick sick—but you know, she’s just not feeling it today. I heard—yeah, you guys have been pulling off all-nighters for the past week. That’s cool.”

Baekhyun nodded as he made his way to the kitchen while pressing the speaker option on the phone call. As soon as he woke up today, he had decided to call Hara to call in sick on behalf of Jiwon. “No no no, don’t worry. Everything’s okay between us. She’s still asleep but I’ll tell her you said hi. I’m sure she will call you later when she wakes up anyway.” He forced a laugh—if anything, he really didn’t want to do anything else today but to comfort and cheer Jiwon up. But it all starts here—him, taking the initiative to do simple things for her like this.

Before last night, he never thought he could feel so overprotective of her.

“Alright, say you to Kyungsoo for me.” He laughed when he received a groan from Hara on the other end. “Just kidding. Okay, bye.” He hangs up first and left the phone on the counter.

It was still early on through the day and so he took the chance to make himself coffee before waking the twins up. As he stirred his coffee, the doorbell rang. Before anyone else could wake up from the sound, he rushed to the door leaving his coffee. “Oh, Eun Jung noona, good morning.” He bowed politely before letting the old lady in.

Eun Jung smiled as she put her duffle bag on the floor. “Baekhyun, you spent the night here? That’s great. Go ahead and relax, I will start the day soon and wake up the twins, okay? Would you like me to make you some breakfast?” She asked as they walk to the kitchen. Baekhyun grabbed his mug of coffee before shaking his head. “No, it’s okay, noona. Coffee’s fine.” He took his first sip of the day before leaning on the counter, watching Eun Jung get into the laundry room. “Noona, Jiwon’s not going to work today, we might have some plan—”

“What do you mean not going to work?” A voice from behind spoke. They all turned knowing already who it was. “Babe, it’s so early, go back to sleep.” Baekhyun rushed to her and took the bath towel she was holding with one hand. Jiwon was about to take a shower to get ready for work. “Hi, Eun Jung unni.” She briefly greeted before dragging Baekhyun at the living room.

Baekhyun her messy hair and smiled. “I mean, you know, after last night I figured maybe you want to—I don’t know, go and figure this out with me?” He pulled her close, his hand placed on the small of her back. Jiwon chuckled before shaking her head right away. “No, Baekhyun, I … I might have overreacted and snapped last night but I don’t think I should do anything else further than that. Okay? Let’s stop talking about it, I’m feeling better now.” She smiled before pressing their lips together, giving him a chaste morning kiss.

With that, Baekhyun watched her walk away from him. Stronger concern grew in his body as he sighed. He should have seen this coming—it wasn’t going to take one talk. Stubbornness was an understatement at this point. “Jiwon, can you stop right there and talk to me?” He called out before the bathroom door closed.

Jiwon groaned softly before turning around with a smile. “What?” She asked. Baekhyun glanced at the kitchen before walking towards her. “You’re not going on me now. We talked all night last night and I know very well you also have this urge to meet him.” He mouthed softly to keep the conversation between them. It was silent between them for a second or two until Jiwon tapped him on the cheek. “And honey, that urge is gone. I realized I don’t need all that negativity around me. I am happy with what I have now which are my kids and you. I don’t want to deal with it, okay? I am going to work.” She winked at him before pushing him softly away from the door to close it.

Despite the cheeky response, Baekhyun failed to ignore the same look on her eyes. It never changed ever since the topic was brought up last night.

“Hell no, we are not doing this.” He grunted before knocking on the door. With a light hiss coming from inside, Jiwon opened the door slightly and peeked out. “Okay, Byun Baekhyun. I am asking you right now, get away from me or I will—” Not giving her any chance to speak more, Baekhyun pushed the door opened and helped himself inside, pushing her along. “Hey hey—yah, stop. What is your problem?” She whined when he trapped her against the bathroom counter.

Their eyes met and Baekhyun took this chance to give her a small peck on the lips. “You said yes last night. We will figure this out together. We will face him and we will get the closure.” He reminded her with a raised eyebrow.

Jiwon looked away, letting out a big sigh. “Well, that was last night. I was carried away and I—” Baekhyun grabbed her chin to turn her gaze back to him. “Do you trust me or do you not trust me? Can you depend on me just this once? I won’t ask for anymore because I know that you are a beautiful and independent woman. But I need you to depend on me just this once.” He pleaded. Finally, her shoulders loosened up as her head slumped down against his chest—defeat evident through her sigh.

Baekhyun rested his chin on the top of her head and pulled her into a tight comforting hug. “You’re not alone anymore to decide. You’re not letting anyone down by whatever decision you make, for you to overthink this too much. And most especially … you’re not going to let him continuously throw you aside and treat you like nothing in your head. Are we clear?” He asked, cupping her cheeks to make her look again. “Jiwon, trust me please.”

It felt beautiful. It felt surreal. Kim Jiwon never felt so secure in her life. When she looked at him in the eyes, she felt warmth. She felt protected—like nothing can ever hurt her again. It almost made her feel anxious, in a good type of way.

“Okay then.” Jiwon took in a deep breath. “But promise me one thing.”

Baekhyun pulled away from the hug before raised his right hand, his palm facing ahead. “I’m ready for any type of promises except making me promise to stop . It’s nature and I promise I mostly thinking of you and some occasional videos stuck in my head but usually your face is in there instead of the actual star because I love you and you’re the woman of my wet dreams.” Jiwon ended up laughing at his remark. “Oh—okay? Very unnecessary, Byun Baekhyun but sure. Uhm, I just want you to promise me that after all these, whatever might end up happening … we will start focusing on us. Planning the wedding and finding a house, deal?” She asked.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes in realization before lifting his other hand as well. “Triple promise. Like seriously, I was expecting more than that but oh well.” He nodded before shrugging his shoulders.

Jiwon placed her hands on either side of her hips and nodded. “Okay well then … what do we do today?” She grabbed her phone from behind on the counter. “Wait, I probably should ca