Chapter 28: The Choice

 

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The neighborhood had changed but the feeling was still the same even after all these years that passed by. Heechul continued to stroll along the paved walk not caring if anyone recognizes him; he needed to feel like Kim Heechul not Big Space Superstar Heechul. He needed to be at peace right now otherwise... he might end up making stupid decisions.

'What to do?'

He asked himself. The wind blew, the sky was clear and stray leaves fell onto the ground, dancing in the wind. He pulled out his phone and pressed a button, pressing it onto his ear afterwards and he listened to the ring.

“Hey Geng”

“Oh? You called Chullie ~”

“Yeah... I, uh, actually know how you feel Geng”

he bit his lower lip as he then sat down on a bench he had found.

“What do you mean?”

“Argh... Can you believe SM? They're making me pick between my fiancee and Super Junior”

Heechul pinched the bridge of his nose; his bestfriend let out a sigh on the other line.

“Why am I not surprised?”

Heechul forces out a laugh and so does Hangeng; there was a long line of silence after that. The silence brought tears to Heechul's eyes but he quickly wiped them away, he wasn't the kind of guy to cry easily over matters. In fact, Kim Heechul was someone that people would deem be caught dead crying but... like everyone else, he was human.

“You know...”

Hangeng began

“I think Soo Man just threatened you; I mean... Super Junior is one of the company's pioneering stars”

Heechul smirked in sarcasm

“Geng, they let you go, remember?”

“Chul, SM let me go because I wanted to part away from them for reasons that you already know... letting go of stars isn't as easy as you think; if they let go of Super Junior, do you know how much money they could lose?”

Heechul swallowed the lump building up in his throat and sighed.

“Have you told Youngmi about this matter?”

he nodded his head sideways

“Aniyo... she doesn't know anything at all”

“Well you better let her know because as far as I'm concerned, she may be one of those people who can actually help you”

“I'll call you soon, Geng”

Heechul ended the call, bringing both of his hands to his head and puffed out a sigh. He got up from where he sat and continued taking a stroll. He turned back to his phone once again and typed a text then after some long and hard thoughts, he pressed send.

-

I'm in Gangwon.

- Heechul

the doctor stared at the message for a few minutes before locking her phone and put it in her lab coat's pocket. She went back to the list of her patients on her board and went over their statuses as she strolled down the hospital halls for her usual rounds.

As she was about to enter a room, her phone rang causing her to take a step back from the door and answer the phone from a familiar yet unsaved number.

“Yeoboseyo”

“Ah, Dr. Nam Youngmi... called off your wedding yet?”

She pursed her lips together and her brows narrowed

“Well, perhaps not yet but I'm sure SM Entertainment is fixing everything for you and Heechul”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn't he tell you? They're not allowed to be under any commitments as long as they are under legal contract of the company... clueless little girl, aren't you?”

the girl on the other line chuckled

“Anyway, that's one of the reasons why it never worked out between me and Chullie but now that I've come to understand things, everything between us both will be alright... so you can kiss your fantasy wedding goodbye Youngmi”

Youngmi''s grip on the board in her hand had tightened.

“He needs someone who's willing to wait not someone who pulls him in with their fantasies of happily ever after, he needs someone who would love his career, treasure it just as he does and you, Youngmi, don't qualify for that... you will only bring him to ruins”

And that was the last straw. No more Dr. Nice

“Yah...”

her grip loosened

“Tell me the truth; Heechul... is he with you at the moment?”

a sigh escaped the caller's lips

“Yes, infact he's taking a bath as of the moment, we just got done with business... if you know what I mean”

“In Hoengseong, Gangwon... am I right?”

she asked in a blunt tone and the girl on the other line laughed

“Smart girl indeed”

“Then... by all means, how impolite and ty of you... Hye Rin-ssi”

Silence.

“From what I know, Heechul's family lives there and the only possible place he could be staying there is with his family... so unless he brought you over there just to you then how much of a desperate, lying and obsessed ex-girlfriend can you get?”

“How dare -”

“If you think you can go, walk back in the picture just to destroy everything then I guarantee you that you won't be going through any other doctor soon...”

Youngmi pocketed her phone and with a deep breath, she walked into her patient's room.

-

“Eunhyuk, get the door!”

Donghae yelled from his room; everyone was trying to muster up the remainders of their free time before they resume with their schedule in 3 hours which would probably end at 3 in the morning too. With a heavy sigh, Eunhyuk walked to the small intercom stuck just beside the door and pressed the button.

“Who is it?”

“It's Youngmi”

“Oh noona ~ just a second”

Quickly he unlocked the door and opened it, greeting the doctor with a smile. She forced a small smile on her face and bowed her head then walked inside.

“Is something wrong?”

Eunhyuk asked, his expression going from being happy to worried.

“Aniyo! Is Leeteuk around?”

“Deh”

they both walk in, Youngmi leaving her heels. Ryeowook appeared from the kitchen, his eyes lit up the moment he saw the doctor and like a kid, he came running to her with arms wide open screaming

“Noona ~ !”

Youngmi chuckled and received his warm hug; he broke the hug and Kyuhyun appeared in the living room, drying off his hair with a towel. Shindong appeared from the kitchen aswell, holding a bowl of ramen in his hands.

“Heechul-hyung is not here”

Kyuhyun stated, Youngmi rolled his eyes as him.

“I came to see Leeteuk, Kyuhyun”

the maknae chuckled

“Have you eaten already, noona?”

Shindong asked; she nodded. Leeteuk appeared in the living room, finally, and was surprised to see Youngmi.

“Hey Teukie”

She smiled brightly, Leeteuk was a bit confused. Something felt strange about that smile of hers, slowly and one by one everyone went back to their business. Leeteuk and Youngmi were the only ones in the living room and the moment they both had been left alone, her smile disappeared.

They both took a seat.

“Heechul... he's in Gangwon, right?”

Leeteuk was quiet; Youngmi looked him in the eyes

“You don't have to lie... he told me”

Leeteuk puffed out a sigh

“He went to visit his parents”

Leeteuk said, she smiled and also breathed out a sigh of great relief. She was right.

“Actually, I came here to ask you something different...”

She said; Leeteuk's nervousness rose, what would she ask him? What if it's something forbidden? What if it's something he shouldn't answer?

“It's about his ex-girlfriend; Hye Rin... do you know anything about her?”

Leeteuk couldn't lie. Youngmi mentioned her name and not to mention who she was in Heechul's life so she knows something about her and for her to ask him questions about him could only mean two things, one is impossible, the other one isn't:

Heechul's cheating on her -which is impossible.

Hye Rin is up to something -which is possible.

Leeteuk nodded his head.

“Yeah... a lot but, why?”

Youngmi took out her phone and showed him the number that has been calling her. She told him about the things that the ex had been telling her and all the while, Leeteuk just sat and listened. Ofcourse, he believed her.

If one word could describe Hye Rin, it was insane.

“She's mentioned something about SM preparing to stop my wedding too and something about your contract”

Leeteuk gulped. This was it.

“Does such a thing exists?”

What should he say? Youngmi was unknowingly biting her lip, she was afraid of what Leeteuk would tell her. She wished, she prayed that he would say 'no' but the way he kept quiet for a span of time and looked at her with questioning eyes meant otherwise.

“Yeah, it does exist Youngmi... we're not subject to any marital commitments unless the contract ends or the board approves of it”

“Is that why Heechul went home to think?”

Leeteuk bit his lower lip, this was getting hard. Who was he to hurt her with truths?

“Maybe you should ask him Youngmi”

It was painful, even for him, to see how tears gathered in her eyes. To see how her lips quivered yet she nodded her head in complete understanding.

“I-I'll be leaving for Belgium next week oppa, there's something I have to do there, doctors thing...”

she got up from where she sat, taking her bag with her

“Youngmi, are you gonna be fine?”

Leeteuk asked,, worried. Ryeowook appeared from the kitchen with a plate serving of ddeokbokki, his smile was replaced by a confused look when he saw Youngmi getting ready to leave.

“Mwo? You're not staying for snacks, noona?”

She nodded her head sideways, the scent of Ryeowook's ddeokbokki was filling the room and Leeteuk's stomach had growled. Youngmi and Ryeowook turned to him, he put his hands to his stomach and looked away with a flustered face.

“Mianhe”

-

Dinner at the Kim household was lively yet Heechul was so quiet; the whole family came over, his mom had hoped that a family gathering would lift his spirits up a little since it was so rare that they all get together. He's always busy and barely has time to go home so whenever he does, the family always comes together.

He loved family.

But unfortunately, he was still unusually quiet and would only talk when questioned or called upon.

“Yah, Heechul, what's the matter with you? You look like you just came from a funeral and I'm not even dead yet”

His grandmother called his attention, he forced on a smile

“I'm fine grandma”

“Maybe it's because he's not with his fiancee, the pretty girl! Her name, I forgot, was it Youngee?”

a cousin of his chimed, he smirked and poked the rice cakes on his bowl.

“It's Youngmi ~”

his mother sang, it sounded like she loved the name.

“Aigo ~ she really was a pretty girl you know, you and her would give me such beautiful and handsome great grandchildren!”

His grandmother laughed; Heechul took a bite ad caught his mom staring at him, he raised a brow at her but the lady only smiled. Dinner breezed by and his relatives had made their ways home; Heechul was drying off his hair with a towel, on his way to his room when he passed by the kitchen and saw his umma cleaning up the remaining dishes.

“Umma”

the lady was startled, she jumped and breathed out a sigh of relief when she only saw her son

“Aish! Heechul, don't scare me like that!”

Heechul chuckled and walked in the kitchen, sitting down on the chair as he continued to dry off his hair.

“Aren't you going to sleep yet?”

she asked him

“Ani; uhm... umma”

he set his towel on the backrest of the chair.

“Deh?”

“Remember how you and appa wanted me to sign a 30-year contract with SM?”

he chuckled, his mom smiled and continued to clean the dirty plates.

“and the time I said that I prioritize friendship over love?”

His umma washed her hands and dried them on the hanging kitchen towel then walked to the fridge, taking out two bottle of soju and sat down with her son, opening both bottle with the bottle opener and gave one to Heechul.

“Heechul, you're already grown up and I can no longer dictate you on what to do because even if I tell you not to do it, you'll do it anyway...”

they both laughed, Heechul took a sip of the drink.

“But answer me honestly, do you love her?”

Heechul smirked

“Ofcourse... she's the only girl I've loved this long but I don't want Super Junior to be fired because of this, because of us, because of her... umma, she'll spend her whole life blaming herself”

“Then what do you think she would tell you if you were talking to her right now?”

He let out a heavy sigh

“She'd tell me to choose the boys but she'd silently hope that I choose her”

He leaned back on the chair, his umma let out a sigh and took a gulp of the drink

“There are still a lot of girls out there...”

he looked at her in disbelief

“M-mwo? Are you discouraging me?! Umma!”

“Aigo! This kid! Let me finish!”

Heechul pouted

“anyway... true love comes once in a lifetime but it also waits; whatever your choice may be, I pray that it will work out for you Heechul”

He forced a smile on his face before raising his bottle and making a toast with his mom.

-

the other line continued to ring, a couple more or so later, the person picked up the phone call and came Leeteuk's voice.

“Hyung”

“Heechul! Thank God you called!”

“Yeah... I -”

“Youngmi came over earlier and talked to me about Hye Rin; your ex-girlfriend's been harassing her... she also asked me about our contracts at SM entertainment, the part where we're not allowed to have relationship commitments”

Heechul began to get suspicious upon hearing what Leeteuk had to say

“What?”

“She looks very stressed Chul and I think she was even about to cry; she must be feeling really bad... she also said that she was going to leave for Belgium for some doctors something, I don't know, has she told you?”

He closed his eyes, trying to process everything that Leeteuk has told him. He heard Hye Rin's name then the company's and then Youngmi going to Belgium; he fell quiet for a moment.

“Heechul? Heechul? Yeoboseyo? Are you there?”

“Hyung”

“Are you listening?”

“I'm coming back first thing tomorrow”

 

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(A/N: Hello everyone. Sorry for the long wait but I have been having a really really bad cold lately and up until now and my body has been feeling heavy the past few days which is why I didn't have the time to open my laptop and type, my mind also wasn't properly functioning and I was advised to rest. Anyway, here's an update! Keep the comments coming and don't forget to subscribe :3)