You're like lightning in a bottle, I can't let you go now that I've got it

All I need is to be struck by your electric love

electric love

3 months later

“Seoyeon, you have to believe me! It wasn’t me!”

“Shut up! I hate you!”

The cringe growing on Soon-ok’s lips was one that could be physically heard, felt miles away. She averted her gaze away from the TV and clicked her tongue annoyedly at the happenings on the screen. Somehow they felt extremely familiar. The colors flashed on her skin in the dark living room as she silently waited for something better. Eventually, she lost all interest in the program and let it run in the background as she lowered her gaze down to her chest.

Woah, she would never stop being amazed by the new size of her s. Her chest had always been a normal size, but damn, she thought. Usually, she wouldn't even realize that she had s, but now? It was like she could physically feel them there all the time, they were being slightly numb and extremely sensitive to the touch, the slightest bump would send her hissing. The feeling swirling within them was hard to describe. All Soon-Ok knew was that her body was once more preparing itself to take care of her baby.

It would have been a lie if she said that she wasn’t scared. On one hand, she couldn't wait to give birth and finally meet her child, and in all honesty, God was she tired of all these symptoms holding her from each arm, pulling her from one side to the other. On the other side, there would always be a little butterfly tickling her gut nervously, her fearful self. Something she often found herself doing was imagining all the possible worst scenarios, the immense pain, the amount of time she would be in labor- what if anything didn’t go like it was supposed to? What if something happened to her? To her baby? it was all a scary reality that somehow felt still so distant from her but truly was just around the corner.

The doorbell’s ring echoed in the lonely apartment, breaking the woman's train of thought. Not even a second had passed by before she was already by the door, grinning excitedly. Well, speaking of waiting for something better, there he was.

Behind the door was no one other than a dramatically unamused Oh Sehun, holding a bag of take-out in his left hand while the other one was coolly nestled in his pocket. The scent of fried food immediately swirled its way into Soon-ok’s nose and her eyes lit up like fireworks on new year’s eve, prompting the man to raise his eyebrows.

"Really now, Soon-ok?" Sehun deadpanned, "fries and Mcflurry at midnight?!"

The excited hum and vigorous nod of her head were all she replied to before snatching the food from his hand and dancing her way back to the couch, a silent invitation for him to join her. Sehun shook his head fondly as a little sigh left his lips. The man tried his best to keep his usual mysterious and cool best friend persona, but the sight had spread such warmth in his chest, to hide the teased smile threatening to paint on his face was simply an impossible task. He was happy to see her, she was looking a lot better than she had done the past few weeks when she called him while crying desperately on the phone. Sehun at that time felt a surge of worry and anxiety so strong for his friend that he hadn’t been able to work properly for consecutive days, wondering whether she’d be okay. But now there she was, right there for him to protect and help with anything she needed. 

If there was something the male had learned from hanging out with Soon-ok during this period of her life, it was the way that pregnancy cravings weren't just like any. They were truly craved, cravings. Hence they were most of all, odd- just straight off strange and made absolutely no sense. Sehun knew that It wasn't uncommon for a woman to crave something during sensitive moments like that, after all, he had experiences from his past relationships. Despite that, while being with Soon-ok he would always find himself wondering; Really? Pickles with mustard and fries with ice cream? Sometimes he wondered if the woman in front of him truly was the real Soon-ok or if she had been possessed by some hungry alien curious about weird human food.

And that was not even half of it, but it wasn’t like Sehun felt burdened by it. In fact, he found it pretty amusing to see his friend so full of life whenever she would talk about her baby- which was very often. The longing in her eyes, the wish to hold her baby was almost palpable to Sehun, and it made him feel just as excited for her. Not to mention the mood swings she would get in those situations- from having spurging urges to decorate her house and buy cute clothes for babies, to shrouding anxiety about the health of her child or the possibility to lose it and other incidents. The contrast was like the sweetness of her flurry and the stingy salt on her fries. Sehun had found it hard to handle her when she was in her most unstable moments, he could only imagine how exhausting it was for Soon-ok to switch emotions uncontrollably.

Soon-ok looked like she had just entered the gates of heaven once she had opened the take-out bag and begun placing her food on the coffee table. Sehun was sure that she had already forgotten about him sitting right next to her. Because dipping the French fries, topped with sea salt and black pepper into the cool desert was a way more interesting task than socializing with her friend who had gotten up from under the covers, changed from his pajama just to get her food at midnight.

He wasn't angry or bothered despite how he would act, though. It was always in playful sprite to his friend. Sehun was content with watching her eat happily, sighing in delight once the food combo hit her palate. Watching her carefree expression, he couldn’t help but wonder whether she still dwelled on that Byun guy from her job? If she was still hurting because of him and what he had done to her. That day,  Soon-ok had called him once again, barely being able to speak as she hiccupped on her words. He wasn't sure whether he had understood the situation correctly since she had been sobbing so profoundly, but he had never gotten the courage to ask her about it ever again. Afraid that it would trigger such despair again, and he really couldn't take seeing her cry like that again, much less because of a man that had treated her wrongly.

To her luck, nothing bad had happened to her work spot. Hence, Soon-ok had expressed how stupid she had been to be so secretive about it, perhaps she could have gotten the sustain she had needed. Her boss had been angry when she had visited his office, not because she was pregnant but because she hadn't said anything at all which for an instance is a must in terms and policy of her workplace. Chief Kim had wanted her to leave for maternity right away, and that had been exactly what she had done. Sehun sometimes wondered if the reaction towards her rival could have been avoided, then perhaps their blooming relationship would have by now, been something more, perhaps she wouldn't have been so miserable for weeks? 

In the end, Soon-ok’s boss hadn't fired her and nothing bad happened in her regards, so that could have been enough, no? Or maybe he was a simple-minded guy, forgetting that his friend had been extremely upset that he had told someone what she had begged him not to.

Sehun’s lips twisted in deep thought, by now his gaze on her had zoned out on nothing specific, not realizing that the girl was eyeing him weirdly from her seat on the couch. A French fry hung hesitantly from her lips and a confused brow was cocked up.

"Why are you staring?" Soon-ok asked with mock defensiveness, looking him up and down. "You best believe I ain't sharing this food with you." She let him know, watching how his clouded eyes suddenly lit up again as he woke up from the trance. Sehun shook his head and flicked her forehead lightly.

"I wonder whose money it is," he scoffed and imitated her judging expression. The statement had made the woman waver the slightest, he could tell by the shifting emotions in her eyes and how her brows couldn't settle for an expression, that she was giving in to him.

Soon-ok let out a dramatic groan and fished out three fries to offer him. "FINE," she whined, only to glower at him angrily when he opened his mouth wide for her to feed him. Cursing under her breath, she pushed food grumpily in his mouth, almost making him choke. "Happy?" She snickered, "Now come on, my back has been killing me for days." Soon-ok turned to face him with her back, clapping herself on the shoulder and signalizing him to start massaging her.

"I didn't know that best friend equals to slave," Sehun grumbled and pushed up the sleeves of his shirt to get to work. His slender Fingers found the knots that had formed under her skin Immediately, so he gently started pressing on them. A hiss left her lips at the pain but she bit her lip and endured it. Sehun clicked his tongue and started nagging right away. "You are in maternity to rest and take it easy and yet you are still overworking your body." He reprimanded like an exasperated mom.

‘and yet you are still overworking your body.’ The words echoed in her head, shrouded in familiarity.

"I-" Soon-ok had barely had the chance to gasp before her best friend had interrupted her once again, unconsciously pressing harder on her knots as he spoke animatedly, making her contort her body in pain. "Don't even think about saying any excuses because these knots speak for themselves." He cut her off sternly. The woman simply closed , falling into deep thought because his words were something she had heard before. A deja-vu kind of feeling washed over her as the position she and Sehun were in, his words and the tone in his voice sounded ever so familiar. As if she was reliving a memory but with a different person.

Then it hit her.

The woman had no idea what to do or say when all of a sudden she felt dazed, but this time she was afraid that it wasn’t because of her pregnancy. A trembling sigh left her lips when the man seated behind her let his thumbs wander towards the center of her back, pressing down onto the big knot that had formed there during her working hours. Soon-ok hissed in pain and pleasure, to which Baekhyun hummed knowingly.

“This is what happens when you overwork yourself,” He scolded sternly while massaging her shoulders, finally using his beautiful hands to their full potential. “You can’t be so stubborn because you don’t only have yourself to take care of! You can’t forget about that.” His nagging continued, but there was never even a crumb of hostility and the motions of his hands never became harsh. “Most importantly, you should have woken me up for God’s sake, you can’t do all the work by yourself-”

The memory replayed in her head like a movie, a nostalgic film, coated in sheer yet warm colors, frames that she had seen a long time ago. Baekhyun’s voice in her head sounded so vacant...Almost as if it was slipping through the cracks of her finger. As if she was slowly forgetting the way it truly sounded like, and the fact tugged the strings of her heart. Tucking her chin over her knees, the woman hugged herself as her best friend massaged her back, without realizing it she had gone extremely quiet, basking in the warmth of that memory.

She shook her head frantically, she shouldn’t, Soon-ok warned herself. She forbid herself to relive these moments, to think about Baekhyun because he was another man that had hurt her. A man that had gently swayed her off her feet, and then pushed her back to the ground, only to act like he hadn’t done anything wrong. Seojun had at least admitted his actions while he- he just kept playing dumb and there was nothing that irked the woman more than such behavior.

“Hey,” only when Sehun’s voice had resounded from next to her ear had she been brought back to reality. Realization dawned on her and she noticed how the man had circled his arms around her shoulders from behind, hugging her back close to his chest, Soon-ok inhaled his calming scent and let herself lean completely into her friend that was offering his rhythmic heartbeat to soothe her. Sehun’s sheer cologne smelled like home, indeed there would never be an instance where she wouldn’t feel safe when with him.

“Are you alright?” He murmured, a hint of worry detectable in his voice, but Soon-ok was quick to assure him with a bob of her head.

“I’m alright,” She said, deep within, not especially sure whether she believed herself or not. But she had to be. For her baby. Sehun nodded into the crook of her neck, happy with the answer he had gotten. His hair kept tickling her skin and she couldn’t help but arch her arm, accidentally squeezing his head between her neck and shoulder. The man let out a groan, detaching himself immediately while still keeping her tucked in his chest. “Woman, what the hell,” Sehun whined through his grumpily pouting lips. Soon-ok giggled, turning around slightly to show him her teasing smile as it was her turn to flick his forehead. “Your hair was tickling me!” She defended herself, “It’s not my fault.” The friend simply shook his head, knowing that any kind of retort would not help him win the argument. Silently, he took her back into his arms but this time tucked her head underneath his chin to avoid any accident.

The friends were after a few minutes completely absorbed by the cooking competition going on the screen before them. It was only when the commercials loudly cut off the program that Sehun remembered something.

“Oy,” He asked for the woman’s attention, poking her lightly. “The hospital called yesterday and said that they need me, I’m so sorry I can’t go grocery shopping with you as I promised.” Sehun sounded extremely apologetic, it wasn’t the first time that his job had made him give up on their plans together. But Soon-ok understood him, being a nurse was a busy job and she would never blame him for his duty. Hence, she was proud of him as a newly mastered nurse. They needed so much help in the health department.

Soon-ok simply shook her head dismissively, “It’s fine, Sehun.” She let him know, turning around to face him so that he could see the sincere smile on her lips. “Don’t worry.” her voice was gentle, but the pout on the male’s lips only deepened. She knew how much he hated canceling plans.

“But-”

“It’s really okay!” Soon-ok insisted hurriedly and eventually explained, “Hence, it’s better that way, the doctor said that exercise will help a lot with all the pains and especially for the labor.” Sehun finally gave up, resting his back against the couch as he gave a silent nod,  Soon-ok had succeeded to set her friend at ease.

***

Song Jinah,

why had it been that once his gaze had locked with hers from across the room, her expression had seemed like the one of a deer caught in headlights? The look of one who had felt every single hair on their body stand up straight. The look of someone guilty. 

Jinah had felt extremely intimidated when Baekhyun’s relatively neutral gaze had within instants darkened greatly when settled upon her, emanating an icy glare that made her freeze into her spot as he pinned her down with his scrutiny. He swallowed, his adam’s apple cutting sharply against the skin of his neck, and with a clenched jaw, he had approached the woman. All she found herself capable of doing was to stare widely at the male as he stopped right in front of her, fearing his every move.

“We need to talk.” Baekhyun had spoken lowly, his words held a hint of threatening to the young woman although he hadn’t said much at all. Still, the sharpness in his tone left no space for interjections, not even a hum of agreement. Jinah soundlessly nodded, almost as if letting out any noise could be what would snap apart the little control that Baekhyun was holding of his emotions. She couldn’t explain why, but at that moment, as she followed Baekhyun into a more private space, she couldn’t help but pinpoint that in all that anger reflecting in his eyes, was hidden a weakness. His fingers were constantly closed into a fist, his eyebrows scrunched into an uncomfortable frown. Baekhyun’s emotions, his whole being was currently like an overloaded cord, consumed and close to ripping apart. Jinah was afraid that this conversation was indeed to become what would take his last sane bits away from him. Her heart ached as she wondered why she had gotten herself into that situation.

The door clicked into its lock softly as the two finally settled for an unoccupied room. Baekhyun hadn’t bothered to turn any lights on. Although the sun was close to fully set behind the horizon, there was still a fair bit of light to gently illuminate them.

"You did it," Baekhyun affirmed, "didn't you?" his eyes raked her up and down, making Jinah feel nothing less than a mouse in a trap. Her lips trembled nervously and she oh so wanted to play dumb and avoid that conversation, but her tied tongue said much more than she could have ever confessed with words. Jinah tried to speak but all that left were just incoherent noises that only seemed to increase the man's anger. Teeth drilled deep into her lip when Baekhyun closed his eyes and sighed through his nose. He wanted to snap at her with every cell in his body but he fought against the anger-driven urge. Jinah flinched when he suddenly opened his eyes again, not any less fiery was his gaze.

"Well? Don't you know how to speak?" he demanded, finally managing to get something out of the young woman. He didn't miss the way that tears had gathered in her eyes, her voice constricted by the lump in . 

"I'm-" She started shakily, "I'm so sorry-" once the first tear had escaped, there had been no way out for the girl as she felt herself succumb completely to crying, her body and mind were slowly being consumed by deep regret. Baekhyun only exhaled, "It's not me you should apologize to," he murmured lowly, however, this time he resolved to speak less harshly. Jinah only nodded at his statement, not even attempting to defend herself. Baekhyun couldn’t tell if it was because of her heavy crying or because she truly wished she had never done what she had. The woman kept weeping before him until he asked one last question he deep down already knew the answer to but felt the need to confirm.

"And you were sent by my parents, right?" the unexpected statement had Jinah gasping as she directed her shocked orbs to his.

"H- how..." She stuttered but Baekhyun could only scoff to himself. 

"Did you- did you really think that I wouldn’t notice anything when you appear in the office out of nowhere and on top of that, I find you at one of Jinhee’s parties?" Baekhyun remarked incredulously with another question which only left Jinah to in her sobs and quiet down, pressing her lips into a thin line.

"I think I know my father enough to tell that he is behind this." venom drenched his tongue as soon as his parent had entered the conversation, his expression darkening into pure anger. 

Baekhyun internally scoffed at himself after letting the memory from three months prior play in his head. Did he really know his father well enough? 

The truth was that he didn’t believe his own words one bit. Baekhyun didn't know his father anymore. The person he was now was a complete stranger to him. Thus, he didn’t even know when the last time he had a normal conversation with his father had been. After finding out that he had sent Jinah to keep track of him, and that because of him, everything was ruined, Baekhyun hadn’t wasted a second to storm into his house. The memories of that day would often replay in his head, sticking by him like a rainy cloud above his head. He could still recall the pain of his sore throat after having yelled at his father, pouring out every single drop of anger stored within while his father had done nothing but silently stare at him while veins bulged his red neck. 

That day, he had sworn to cut all ties with his father and stepmother. There was no point in being hung up on a stranger anyways. 

All Baekhyun had known since then was the project that he and Soon-ok had been supposed to do together. But she was gone, and before he had known it, in that rented office had been only him. Drown, Baekhyun wished that his work could’ve been the ocean that he could drown within and never go back to the surface ever again. But even then, it didn’t matter how many hours he worked without a single minute of rest because at one point or another he had to leave. And Baekhyun hated leaving his office. For the simple reason of driving, especially late at night. It was something that he had developed not long ago.

He just couldn’t stand the fact that whenever he started his car, his eyes would pull to the seat next to his while the organ in his chest wished and not any less longed tremendously for it to be occupied by someone.

By her.

But you see, it was a constant war in his head. He hated her. He wanted to forget her, to delete every print that her fingertips had left on his skin. The prints that in his sleepless nights would spark alive, as the memory of their lips touching danced on his mouth, as the vision of his arms around her waist tickled his chest, making him feel that for just a second, the surface of her body underneath his digits was still lingering. 

She had refused to believe him, to even listen to a single word he had to say. To this day, Baekhyun wouldn’t stop finding new ways of how he could have expressed himself back then. 

Park Soon-ok had left him with a void uncurable, and he hated her for that.

***

Soon-ok’s brows furrowed in slight pain as she extended her arm upwards, getting reminded of her backache that came with her now fully grown belly. One hand always rested underneath her stomach to lessen the weight, but despite her attempts, it would never help against her quickly shortening breath. She huffed, annoyed at the unnecessary placement of certain products in the grocery store. It wasn’t only one particular store, but every single one that she had ever visited. Soon-ok didn’t understand how they had thought things out, hence, if they had thought at all before placing a woman’s products up on the highest shelf. Did they expect every lady to be tall, or to be accompanied by someone taller than them? Well, they were so wrong about that! 

Puffs of air left her lips at the minimal effort feeling a lot more straining than it should have been. It wasn’t helping that her child had decided it was a good moment to start kicking her from the inside. Soon-ok bit her lip, despite herself, feeling relief. “I know, I know,” She murmured although a hint of exasperation had found her voice as she her belly. “You-you’re tired of being inside there, you’re probably screaming let me out! Aren’t you?” Soon-ok murmured, not caring about the fact that talking out loud to no one might make her look crazy to the public because she knew that her baby could hear her. Already at the sixth month, her doctor had told her to be very attentive to her baby’s moves, that every two hours she was supposed to feel a minimum of ten movements. It was an important detail to be able to tell whether the child was okay or not, and as of so far, Soon-ok’s baby hadn’t had any problems in moving inside there, which could only give her reassurance. 

Being at the ninth month of her pregnancy was somehow a relief as much as a hardship. She could feel the changes that her body was once again going through, but this time she was more than happy to say that there were at least a few things that made her feel physically lightened. At one of her frequent checkups, she had been told how her baby had shifted in position, its head settling deep down her pelvis. Meaning that her baby as well, was getting ready for birth, and the fact tickled her stomach with nervous butterflies. It would always cast a smile on her lips, because she could truly physically feel it, the way a good amount of pressure had lifted from her abdomen, only to settle on her bladder. It was such a magical thing to Soon-ok, even though pregnancy had been a thing since forever, the fact that she could carry life within her like that, and experience it, was to her a blessing in itself. So far, the most outstanding thing of the ninth month was without a doubt the Braxton Hicks contractions. Soon-ok never thought it was possible, but what her mother had told her had always been true. They truly felt like electric bolts streaming down her lower body.

A gentle gush of wind caressed the back of Soon-ok’s neck ever so suddenly, the kind of breeze that would follow after a movement, hence the very subtle scent dancing within it. A scent to Soon-ok not at all new.

“Is this what you wanted…?” There it was again, the electric pulse thundering in her body, but this time the woman hadn’t been able to tell whether it was a contraction from her belly or if the shock was caused by the voice that had just spoken to her. Slowly turning around, her averted eyes had only viewed the extended hand with the product she had tried to reach for God knows for how long. The hand holding the package was all too familiar, but Soon-ok refused to even think that she would recognize him for such a trivial feature. Her stubborn thoughts however had done nothing to stop the mortal jump her heart had done up once she had hesitantly reached her hand to the extended product, only to notice the small mole on his thumb when their hands had subtly brushed against one another.

It was unbelievable how much of a coward she had become during these months of maternity, had she been too comfortable within the walls of her home? Soon-ok had to mentally force herself to look up at the man who had helped her. Deep down, she knew exactly who it was, and yet a part of her was still surprised to see no one else than a slightly disheveled Byun Baekhyun dressed in gray loungewear and a pair of thin round glasses resting crookedly on the bridge of his nose. The bags underneath his eyes screamed that he hadn’t been getting enough sleep, scratch that, none of it even. But still, he looked beautiful, and it was so damn unfair.

“Byun Baekhyun,” She stated, not meaning the disbelief manifesting in her voice that had prompted his expression to shift from neutral to sour within seconds. Soon-ok inwardly cringed. Before she could grab the product, Baekhyun had snatched it away from her reach, placing it back on the high shelf, scoffing incredulously. The woman could only blink in shock while her jaw slowly fell t