You Look Good - Verbal Jint

Narrator's POV

"So..." There was a long vowel sound as Min Jae let her sentence hang loosely in the air. Min Yu knew what words would come next. Her mother had been repeating the same question for the whole year since she had been gone. "When are you planning to come back?" she continued. The girl had a stirring child on her lap, making it more difficult for her to balance the phone and the book she was reading.

Turning the page, Min Yu had held the girl still and was now staring intently at the rich text on the paper. "I don't know." And truth was, she didn't really know for sure. It wasn't that the idea of forgiving and forgetting never crossed her mind. Of course it did. And she had pondered about it countless times during the sleepless nights of the then undergraduate her.

And now she only has a month more and her name would be freshly printed on a graduate certificate of law. "Aren't you tired of isolating yourself from us, from Siwon and Eunhyuk and the rest? And Dongh--" "No." The woman had cut her own mother off in midsentence. "You're making your own world much much smaller," Min Jae heaved a sigh. "It's going to be fine."

They have had the same conversation before, as if every sentence Min Jae would say will soon lead to Donghae being sad and depressed, to Donghae being in the hospital again, to Donghae being honest and sorry for what he has done, to Donghae being all this and all that. "Of course it will be. It's not happening to you," countered Min Yu offensively.

There was a sudden tap on her shoulder, earning her to jostle out of her relaxed composition. The book closed, leaving the baby to start to shriek and eventually cry. "Aish," Min Yu cursed under her breath as she tried balancing everything at once. "Fine. I'll be back before next week," she mumbled to Min Jae on the other line before hanging up without saying goodbye.

"HYUNG, HAVE YOU SEEN MY BOXERS SOMEWH--" Siwon shouted, his voice echoing throughout the whole house. He trudged out of the bathroom wearing only a towel to cover the lower half of his body. It was a dorm full of men, after all, and even the ahjumma who comes to do their laundry for them is used to him being half . But he stopped in his tracks as he caught sight of the newcomers.

"Is that the right way to talk to your mother?" interrupted Chunji from the seat beside hers. His voice was barely heard over the loud whining of the baby in her arms. "I hate you," Min Yu muttered bitterly as she tried patting the child's back to muffle her crying. Chunji shifted comfortably in his seat and patted his free lap with his both hands. "Give her to me."

Chunji had his heart beating unevenly as it always does because he was staring right into her pretty face that gave no clue as to what she had gone through her short lifetime so far. His gaze fell to the crying infant in her arms, and the memory of her crying to him that night over the phone gained the upper hand in his mind. But his consciousness shoved all the flashbacks to the farthest corner of his brain where they're supposed to be.

The woman threw him an amused yet surprised look. Chunji shrugged her off and held his arms out. Min Yu gave him the five-month-old infant, christened Hee Jin, who immediately stopped in her tantrums as soon as she was passed on. "See?" The man leveled his face in front of the child's and planted a sweet kiss on her soft cheek. "She likes me and hates you."

Min Yu arched an eyebrow before turning away, shifting her focus on the open book on her side of the table. Chunji stuck his tongue out, crossed his eyes, and made an effort to exhaust all possible funny faces to entertain the child. Obviously happy, Hee Jin had a big smile plastered on her face before her head fell forward to lean against the man's chest.

"Don't make omma suffer too hard, okay?" Chunji let the child hold his forefinger with her whole hand. Her palm was hot against his. "Appa is always busy at work, so don't cry so loud at night, okay?" he added in reminder. Hee Jin, still stuck in her own bubble of imaginary friends and clouds and rainbows, brightly smiled and turned her head sideways to stare at Min Yu.

And the girl looked irritated, at the least. If that wasn't enough to annoy her, there came two other members running around the living room and fighting over a carton of strawberry milk. "Eunhyuk, Donghae, stop that!" ordered Leeteuk furiously, seeing how Min Yu's hands balled up into fists at the ruckus. "Why does Leeteuk seem to be the only normal person here..." she thought to herself.

The woman let her head fall against Chunji's shoulder, surprising the lad, as she let her fingers wander the infant's soft features. "See?" The man slyly lifted his free arm to encircle around her. "She looks exactly like you." "Enough with that," Min Yu stood up, cringed away from his touch, and tugged at the hems of her shirt before advancing to fall in line by the counter. Sighing to herself, she stood impatiently at the last.

As she battled on with her inner devils, trying to figure out what word in the overhead menu best appeals to her appetite, her handphone vibrated inside her jeans pocket. 'Get me anything but water' - Chunji. When Min Yu turned to his direction, he was already busy looking after the infant. The chimes by the door behind her sounded, and she stepped sideward to let the customers enter.

And what's meant to be will always find a way. There was a north, south, east, and west. Add northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest to that, but the world doesn't have four corners. It's a small world indeed. And it's pretty wide too, especially if one is looking for something -- or rather someone -- who prefers not to be found. But there's no arguing with time.

And it was time for her to realize the reality that she could really never be without...what was his name again? Even if Min Yu tried pacifying herself with names like Lee Bong Hae, Kim Donghae, Lee Dong Jae -- she would soon realize she was just kidding herself. But the group of men made so much noise that it was difficult not to notice -- or recognize, that is.

Before Min Yu could turn around to glare at the source of the loud commotion, Chunji came up to her hurriedly, in his arms a child with a scrunched up face. "What did you do to her?" she cooed without looking at him and pertaining to the baby who was about to burst out crying...again. Taking Hee Jin away from him, "Ya," Min Yu nudged when he didn't respond.

"You're alive. Thank God you're alive. We begged the doctors and nurses to do everything they can to save you, but they said the chance was too minimal. But we didn't stop believing. We knew you would come back. And you're alive. I told the nurses to take a lot of my blood, because I knew you needed it. I would do anything to save you. And you're alive," Donghae said shakily as he carried her back to the hospital.

"Min Yu?" was Chunji's only response. When the woman followed his blank gaze, the first thing she noticed was his crooked collar. Her other arm clutched the infant tightly while the other patted Eunhyuk's shirt in place. "Tsk, Hyukjae," she disapproved with a sly smile. The men stood there, frozen. It took about nearly five seconds before the silence was broken by Ryeowook's muffled sobbing.

Everyone turned to look at him, but he motioned for them to look away. "Don't mind me. I'm just so happy here," he stated, earning laughs from everybody. "Ah hyung," Chunji politely acknowledged the men's presence, to which they returned warmly. Before Eunhyuk could open his mouth to say something, the glass doors of the diner opened once again.

He had his hands shoved inside his pockets as he entered. "We've been looking for you everywhere," stated Donghae almost accusingly. Min Yu had her teeth gnashing together as she slowly spun on her heels to turn back. "Oppa, why did you all just ducked out on us, huh?" a girl's voice continued. It was Yoona's, undoubtedly, giving Min Yu the more reason to disconnect from her sense of hearing at the moment.

"We got hungry," defended Sungmin and, as if remembering something, glanced to where Min Yu was. "Yoona-ssi, you already met Min Yu, right?" he asked, grabbing the girl by the forearm before she could even walk away. Donghae's ears perked up at the familiarity of the name. All the other members cringed at Sungmin's obvious mistake, and Yoona, knowing the situation quite well, only nodded awkwardly.

Min Yu, feeling the gazes burn intensely through her, cringed away from Sungmin's touch. "I'll...I'll-- It was nice seeing all of you again," she put up a careful smile. "I'll go now." Donghae was focused intently on how she had gripped the child tighter protectively, his eyes narrowing until it shifted to Chunji, who didn't know what to do next. But he followed Min Yu as she trudged back to their previous spot by the booth.

Donghae looked away. "Yeah, yeah, I know. And I understand. But I just don't get it why you just trash Min Yu all of a sudden. I thought you promised t--" "You don't know anything about those promises, Eunhyuk," Donghae said in a firm tone. Eunhyuk sighed."I know. But honestly, she can feel you drifting away. Can't you just make it a bit...secret? I mean, she tries calling you, but what does she get as a response from you? 'The subscriber cannot be reached.' She tries texting you, but she can't even get an answer back. It's like you're making her expect out of nothing," Eunhyuk plopped back down on the hospital couch.

His mouth hanging open, Donghae was about to say something but he never started his sentence. It took a sledgehammer of an energy for him to focus on the menu hanging overhead and not at the three happily-seated people on one corner of the diner. In the end, he still wasn't the first choice. And he wanted to ask a question so badly, but the man was more afraid of the answer.

Siwon wrung his arm loosely over Kyuhyun's shoulder. "She looks much much prettier." He motioned to where Min Yu and Chunji sitting. Kyuhyun whined at the added weight and pushed his hyung's arm away. "And healthier," he added. "Min Yu looks like she's getting more sleep, unlike when..." And Ryeowook's voice grew fainter with Donghae's each step away from the members. They were shoving all the proofs down his throat that she was much better off without him.

It didn't bother them the least that he walked away, and that Yoona followed after him, but Min Yu felt another sharp pang in her chest and she didn't know what it was, but it was surely not happiness. Chunji, envious that the child switched sides against him just after mere minutes, complained bitterly. "Let me hold her again."

"No, you'll make her cry once more," Min Yu moved her chair away stubbornly. "Hee Jin-ah, you want to play with me, right? Right?" he clapped his hands in front of the child's face, which brightened up at the sounds he was making. Min Yu cradled the infant carefully, still hiding her from Chunji's view. He smiled at her motherly affections, but kept his expression indignant.

"Rock paper scissors then," Chunji held his fist out. Min Yu just stared his knuckles down. "What about...no?" she stuck her tongue out playfully, earning a heavenly giggle from the baby with the rosy cheeks. The man whined in complaint with waning determination as he tried grasping even just the child's delicate hand. But as he could not even after many attempts, Chunji stood up and got ready to leave.

"You should've been with her, and I could go back to the hospital myself, you know," she replied without turning back. "I left her, see? I'm with you," Donghae tried to explain. "And to think, when you saw her, you came rushing towards her, and forgot all about me. You didn't realize that I couldn't even walk straight," she started crying, pitying herself and her situation.

Min Yu heard the chair skidding and screeching against the tiled floor and she cocked her head to the side. "Where are you going?" she asked. "I'm leaving," Chunji fumbled for his phone and began tapping briskly over the screen. With a frown, Min Yu adjusted her seat more comfortably. "If you want to hold her, then here," she stated, sounding somewhat defeated.

Seeing the woman was serious, Chunji stifled an amused chuckle that somehow escaped from his slightly parted lips. But he took the infant in his arms anyway, rocking Hee Jin back and forth while repeatedly planting soft kisses on her face. "CAP hyung has been trying to reach me~" he explained childishly. With one last peck, Chunji handed the infant back to Min Yu carefully.

The woman stared up at him confusedly, his explanation still not registering in her mind, and they just stared back at each other for a minute or so. It wasn't until Hee Jin started stirring on her lap that she remembered to snap back to reality. "Shh, don't cry." The woman used her thumb to dry the child's damp cheeks. "Say goodbye to Chunji ahjussi."

"YA, what ahjussi are you talking about?" The man defended with an amused grin. But he knelt down anyway, leveling with the child's face as pretty as the woman whose lap she was sitting on. Hee Jin's white dress added a tint of innocence to her angelic smiles. "Annyeong~" he waved his hand in front of her face. "Annyeong," Min Yu held the infant's small hand and waved it to and fro to bid farewell.

The man stood upright and turned to leave, leaving only Min Yu with the baby. From afar, Ryeowook tried yanking and tugging at Sungmin's arm. "Let's go approach her! I want to hold the baby too," he whined. Instead of giving a direct response, Sungmin turned to Kyuhyun with the same dilemma. "Come with us," he requested. "She'll be happy to talk to you again."

"Min Yu?" This time, it was his turn to call out. "What?" she responded. He gulped the imaginary lump in his throat before asking her the question downright straight. "Will you marry me?"

All the badgering and ranting and grappling was driving him out of his mind, and so Eunhyuk stood up and volunteered himself to be the first one to approach her and Donghae wondered when he will ever have the same courage to do so. Even just being in the same place as her was clamping the air down in his throat. Everyone else followed Eunhyuk's brave suit, leaving Yoona and Donghae on the now half empty booth.

Startled at the loud shrieks of the chair's legs as they scrape against the cold ground, Min Yu looked up with wide, alert eyes. Seeing who the newcomers were, her features softened as her guard went down. "Hi baby~" cooed Ryeowook at the similarly wide-eyed infant. "Hee Jin-ah, they're bad people. Very bad people," Min Yu pointed out the members' distinct faces. "Unnie is sitting beside all these bad people."

Sungmin who, at that moment, was gulping down a tall cup of orange juice, choked through his own fault. "YOU MEAN SHE ISN'T YOURS?!" he exclaimed a little too loudly. Donghae's eyes shifted to their table because of the noise, and it was his chance to steal even just a quick glance at where Min Yu was. And he now breathed the same air as her after a year of going through self-induced penance.

"Why don't you go see her too?" Yoona rested her chin on her propped up hands as she gazed up curiously at him. "She might not want to see me," Donghae admitted dejectedly, his self-esteem gone down the drain. When the woman didn't budge in her unyielding stares, "What?" Donghae tried laughing it off. "Go talk to her," she stated more of an order.

Having had this conversation a hundred times before with various people, Donghae just gave out his practiced shrug. "Oh come on," Yoona tilted her head from side to side disapprovingly. "You cried for her for a year and now that she's just in front of you, you don't talk to her." Donghae let out a snort. "Who told you I cried?" he defended aggressively. "So, you're denying that you cried when she left?" Yoona challenged. "It was worse than just crying," mumbled the man to himself.

Donghae's POV

"YA LEE HYUKJAE. WHERE DID YOU BRING MY SISTER, HUH? Bring her to me this instant or else I'll report you for kidnapping! We've been waiting in the same spot for two hours already!" she yelled angrily against her phone's receiver. Min Yu hung up after her threatening statement. She exhaled sharply through her nose in built-up fury.

We were standing in the middle of the park, standing near a long bench where only either one of us would sit -- never both. Each time I'll try sitting at the same time as her, Min Yu would stand up, and it was obvious she was trying to get rid of me as soon as possible. I didn't wonder why, though. And this time, it was her turn to take a seat.

Her hair, which turned brown each time the light from the setting sun would be lucky enough to shine over it, fell over her shoulders in such a beautiful way. "What's her name?" I tried, with my back against the car door and my forearms slung lazily over the bench's armrest. Min Yu turned towards my direction with a questioning look.

"What's the baby's name?" I repeated more clearly. "Hee Jin," she replied with a small smile. "She's really something." She nodded in agreement to herself. "How old is she?" I prodded more to satisfy the butterflies fluttering aimlessly inside my stomach at the sound of her voice. And I kept my hands tightly clasped together from my longing to feel and hold her.

Min Yu tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Four...five months old? I'm not really sure," she gave out a light shrug. Her guard was infinitely up and I don't know if I can climb up this one. It was agonizing to know exactly why. I'm running out of words to say and I don't want her to stop talking. Before I could rack my brain for any conversation-starter, she had her phone pressed against her ear again.

"Siwon, get back here. Bring Hee Jin back. We have to go back home," she muttered a little less angrily before hanging up. She drummed her fingers on the wooden seat impatiently, glancing at her wrist watch from time to time and letting out sighs of irritation. I rose up from where I was seated on the ground. "If you really want to go home, I can just drop you off or something," I offered softly.

"No thanks." Her hand gestured for me to stay away as she busily tapped on her phone's screen. "I can go home by myself. You'll just get tired from driving. You get tired easily, anyway," she muttered, obviously with pun intended. And I just let that slide off. "Don't you have anything else more important to do? I wouldn't mind if you leave," added Min Yu coldly.

Not knowing what to say next, we continued the noiseless alternate sitting for the next few hours until it grew quite dark. Fed up with her hopeless sighs, "Just let me drop you off," I offered once more and this time, she only nodded, advancing to my parked car. My heart being overly ecstatic, I opened the passenger door for her, but she went for the backseat anyway.

Sighing to myself, I knew things will never be the way they were before. Min Yu looked distant, a thousand lightyears away. "So..." I cleared my throat to fill the dead air. "When did you and Chunji get married?" I continued, feeling victorious that I didn't choke up on my own words and burst out crying in front of her. Watching her intently from the rearview mirror, Min Yu stared back with an are-you-going-crazy look.

"D-did I say something wrong?" I gripped the steering wheel tighter in embarrassment. But she let out an amused laugh. "Who said Chunji and I were married?" Min Yu leaned forward in her seat. "Well, it's because of the baby a while ag--" "She's my sister, Donghae." The woman stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "How did--" "Chun Hae has another family, remember? His first child was a boy, and now it's Hee Jin."

I stepped on the breaks too hard at the sudden realization pouring down on me like a bucket of ice water. "Oh." My eyes focused on the road lit up by the blinding headlights as the vehicle started accelerating again. "Where should I take you?" I asked, half anticipating to see where she had been during the past year. "I don't know," she replied blankly, staring out the tinted windows.

Aimlessly enough, we ended up in the streets leading to where I now lived. Maneuvering the car to park, we both went out and I waited eagerly for what she might say next. "How did you open it?" Min Yu asked, ascending her old apartment's porch steps slowly. There was a mixture of wonder and an unknown emotion evident in her eyes.

Rummaging for my house keys, my hands shook as they tried to remain ironically calm and steady. "Why did you decide to move in here?" she asked faintly, taking a look around the place I now called home. "It felt cozy and warm when you used to live here so..." I rubbed the back of my neck as I followed her trip around the whole apartment.

There was the map of the world, the only remnant of her belongings, plastered on the surface of the wall. She inched nearer to take a closer look, her fingers travelling from one continent to another with the consistent x marks she had scribbled way back when. From behind, I kept a safe distance from her, afraid to make any initiative.

Her thumb probed over the geographical location of Thailand, and she had a small smile painted across her lips. Does she miss me? Does she even think about me anymore? My eyes traveled from her smooth face to the length of her arm. It was only a look that became a story that would end badly. But instead of remaining silent, my lips had a mind of its own. "Can I hold you?"

~I have to study for exams :( hope you enjoyed the update! Leave comments :)