Romeo And Juliet - Clazziquai

Narrator's POV

"Stop! Stop fussing over me!" Min Yu used her arm as shield from Donghae. "Just a few more brushes, promise." He yanked her arm away from her head and began combing through her hair with the brush in his hand. "But it hurts!" the girl complained. "It's because you don't comb after you wake up." He stuck his tongue out and added accusingly.

"And besides," he patted her head -- like what people do when petting dogs -- before kissing her forehead. "Soldiers in there won't let you in because they don't let girls with messy hair enter the camp." Donghae stepped back and admired his work before tossing the brush atop the center table. "I'm not 5 anymore. I won't believe you," Min Yu stuck her tongue out before Donghae walked away.

She sat properly in the middle of the living room, her dress fanned out across her seat. Min Yu stretched her legs out in front of her and breathed in sharply. She stared at the pair of black flats her mother had given her. Although she wanted to kick and throw a fit after Donghae suggested she wear it, she couldn't even see her feet, so she went along with it.

Planting her hands deeply into the armrest of the sofa, Min Yu stood up, walking forward before bending her knees and reaching for a book at the bottom shelf. She bit her lip as the action strained her muscles. As soon as she stood up, she could clearly feel the blood rushing back to her limbs and the pain lingering.

With the book in her hand and the pain shoved in the back of her mind, Min Yu advanced to the window, where the sun always seemed to shine its brightest. She sat carefully on the floor, letting the book plop down to the ground with a thud before she got on her knee and finally sat.

Clearing , Min Yu flipped through the first few pages and skipped to where the story actually started. She laid a hand on her stomach and caressed it gently. "Dear Donghae," she read aloud, taking a break from all the constitutional and language textbooks she had been reading for her son in the past few days.

"I love how your face contorts into silent analogy, as if you were trying to solve complex Math problems mentally. Your face is loved, seen, and adored by everyone. Is there possible a part of you left only for me?" she continued, smiling to herself in disbelief and doubt that she had written this and everything else in the diary she was holding.

She felt a light kick on her stomach, which caused her to smile even wider. "I know, I know. But it gets more dramatic as it goes on," she told her child, although she hasn't given him any name yet. "I weave intricate lies to get what I want, and now all I wish is for you to stay, even just for tonight. I make up stupid excuses, can't you synthesize it all to clear out my point?"

"Tonight, I'm scared to be alone. I always want you near." Another kick followed. "Just so you know, I'm not clingy to appa, okay?" She caressed her own stomach gently, throwing her head back against the glass window to fight the urge to spit out  blood. And to herself, she whispered, "We have to endure well."

The girl closed her eyes and took slow, deep breaths. She closed the diary and placed it on her lap. "Why don't you continue reading to him your love letters for me?" Donghae appeared out of the blue, kneeling by her side. Weakly, she pushed him away as she sat upright.

"Are you done?" she turned to see him with water dripping from his hair and a towel wrapped around the lower half of his body. "Obviously not," she muttered and looked past the man and at the shelf of books. "Can you get me something in there? Any book will do," she requested, and he stood up to oblige.

Donghae took two in each of his hands and examined them closely, debating which one to give to her. "I don't know what I want our son to be: a scientist..." He lifted a book in biology. "...or a mathematician." He shifted his gaze to the Calculus textbook. Undecided, Donghae handed her both.

When he ducked down to hand her the books, Min Yu wrung her arm around his neck before kissing him. "Hurry up," she muttered once before he walked away, ascending the stairs to get dressed. "Look here," she called out to the growing creature inside her. "This is something new."

"I've read you some algebra before, right? Now it's Calculus," she started, before scanning the pages and finding the page where she had last left off. "See here, the midpoint is equal to the rise over run, so you just have to substitute y as the value of the vertical change and x to the value of the horizontal change..."

She her chin thoughtfully at the mathematical equations. "Then if we use y minus y1 equals m quantity x minus x1 and the coordinates are 3 and 4 with a slope of negative two-thirds..." Min Yu pondered for a while. "Do you have an answer now, baby?" she turned to her stomach.

"If your answer is 2x plus 3y is equal to 18, then you'll be a great soccer player like appa." Min Yu smiled to herself and turned to a different page. "He's going to be a genius if you keep up with that," Donghae spoke as his feet trudged down the stairs. "Should we go?" he gestured to the door.

He helped her up, almost carrying her just to stand. Donghae didn't blame her for it, though. She had been complaining of weak knees for the past few days, and he was beginning to worry as to why she forbade him to dress her up. Ah, there were so many things Donghae just didn't know...

--

"Why is it so dim in here, Donghae?" Min Yu's voice sounded even from afar, and it made the Teen Top members as fidgety and excited as ever. Donghae held onto her forearm and was glad she couldn't see his doubtful reaction well. "It's, um, they're lights here in the training camp isn't so good." He was relieved at how comforting his voice sounded.

She nodded, even though she knows he was just lying to her. Her eyes weren't getting any better, even after the medications her eye doctor gave her. "Are we there yet? Are they here?" Min Yu asked again. They walked a few more steps before reaching the visiting room, where the Teen Top members were huddled around a table.

"MIN YU~!" Ricky exclaimed first and loudly, before running off to where they were. The girl muttered her thanks to the bright enough room, as she could see everyone without having to strain her eyesight. He clasped his arms around her tightly, surprised to feel a bulge separating them.

Ricky looked down, confused. "I'm pregnant," Min Yu started off as a greeting. They had finally reached the table, where Donghae pulled back a chair for her to sit on. "Yeah, we can see that clearly," L.Joe replied with a scratch on his head. "How old is..." Niel started. "It's a boy," Min Yu informed him.

"How old is he, then?" Chunji asked instead. "Seven months," she answered. Her forehead creased. "Let's stop talking about me. How have you been in here?" she told everyone, trying to see past their military uniforms and going back to when they went to the same school as hers.

Ricky threw his wrist on his forehead dramatically. "Oh, Min Yu, don't ask!" he exclaimed.

"It's so fun in here," CAP said in contrary.

"We climb ropes and jog everyday," Changjo added, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows and flexing his muscles.

"I'm so tired everyday~" Niel sighed with a frown.

"Can I show you around?" Chunji offered, turning to Donghae for approval. "We'll be right here," he supported his wife up and watched as the two walked away. When they were far enough out of earshot, Byunghun was the first to ask, "Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"I don't want you guys to worry about her," Donghae shrugged, unsure of what to tell them. Everyone shifted forward in their seats, ready to listen attentively. "We're her friends, hyung, so we have to know what's happening," CAP stated as-a-matter-of-factly, followed by nods of agreement from the other members.

Donghae fumbled with his own fingers, unable to look at them straight in the eye without wanting to tear up. "She's going blind," he started, earning breathless gasps of shock from the men across the table. "Well, I mean, she's already blind -- night blind. But she's...unfortunately...getting there."

Min Yu wound her arm around Chunji's as they went out of the building for a tour. "Chanhee, I'm afraid," she started, keeping her gaze wandering around the unfamiliar surroundings, taking in as much sight as her vision was capable of. "Of what?" He kept up and endured her slow pace.

When she kept silent, Chunji smiled. "Of giving birth?" he tried, knowing quite well how she cringes and tenses every time they watch documentaries and films about pregnancy. But that was back then. "I'm so weak for everything," Min Yu responded instead. Whether physically weak or emotionally, not one of them knew for sure.

"I mean," Donghae cleared his throat. "The first few months weren't any problem at all. She eats well, does things by herself, and etcetera." He sighed, wondering where those times have gone. "And then all of a sudden, she said she couldn't see anything. I was so scared." The man forced a reassuring smile, but to no avail.

"I mean, it's not like I'm not going to take care of her because I would," Donghae continued. "But for how long? I'm not going to live forever. I'm not going to be by her side forever. And maybe," he sniffled. "Maybe she realized that, too. Maybe that's the reason she stays away from me, perhaps trying to undo the damage she thought she caused."

"I'm going to die," she whispered to him almost inaudibly. Chunji snorted. "Yes, you were. Your death is like a suspense movie. Near the end of the movie, you're always threatened to die. But you end up alive for your sequel, anyway." He turned to look at her. "You've had, what, like two..three lives, as of now?"

Min Yu punched him weakly on the arm. "The first was your normal one. Second was after the car accident. Third was after you came back from North Korea," he recounted out loud. "The fourth one was after my wrists got slashed," Min Yu added. "That one, too. So this is your fourth life? What are you, a cat with nine lives?" Chunji teased.