Jung Ji Eun woke up with and empty space beside her bed. So last night wasn’t a dream, it was real. Her husband left for Japan while she was waiting patiently for him to come home. She washed her face in front of the mirror, seeing her own reflection in it. She slept in the dress she wore last night and her eyes were red and puffy from crying too much.

“That’s ok Ji Eun-ah. Yunho oppa had to leave because of work. You can celebrate your birthday next year with him,” she tried to comfort herself.

She had been in a deep thought last night in the midst of crying her heart out. Maybe Yunho didn’t mean to leave her like that. Since she first knew that he holds the position as CEO, she pretty much guessed things like this would happen. Besides, Yunho doesn’t even know her birthday in the first place.

“You have to be understanding Ji Eun-ah,” she tried to smile while wiping her tears, being optimstic in the whole situation.

After cleaning herself up, Ji Eun head to the kitchen to clean up last night’s supposed-to-be dinner. She left the food in the open last night because she cried, now she had to throw half of them into the trash. It felt as if all her hardwork were going down the drain. Her eyes started to get watery all over again.

Kim Hyesun was checking her daily schedule on the calendar. She will go to the market once a week with her son Kim Jaejoong. Then she saw a star at the top corner of yesterday’s date. It took her a few minutes to recall what she had meant by the star. When she did, she widened her eyes and called out to her son.

“What is it mum?”

“Yesterday… was Ji Eun’s 19^th birthday,” Hyesun replied, looking up at her son.

“Huh? Really?” Jaejoong stated excitedly. “We should get her something, though it’s a little late,” he suggested.

“I want to see her. I want to see my little girl Jaejoong-ah,” his mother requested, holding onto his hands.

“But I thought you said it’s not the right time to tell her yet,” he reminded, raising an eyebrow.

“I just want to see her,” Hyesun asked hopefully.

After she had done cleaning up, Ji Eun decided to call her husband. She dialed his number and waited for quite a while for him to pick up the phone. When he did, she was very relieved to hear his voice.

“Yoboseyo, Ji Eun-ah? What is it?” Yunho answered.

“Oppa… uhm…” she bit her lip while thinking of what to say. She didn’t want to think of sad things to avoid getting all teary again. “H-have you eaten breakfast?” she asked.

Yunho was pretty glad to hear her voice, he had a small smile on his lips. “Just finished breakfast, I’m heading for my meeting right now,” he replied, touched at her concern towards him.

“Don’t skip meals okay oppa?” Ji Eun reminded, already ran out of things to say to her husband.

“I won’t,” he promised. “Baby…” he called out her nickname again and made his wife excited with that.

“Ne, oppa?” Ji Eun replied, unconsciously turning into her cute side.

Yunho was having a deep thought of his attitude towards her yesterday. It wasn’t her fault anyways. “I… uhm… nothing,” he was having second thoughts of what to say.

Both of them stayed silent over the phone for a few minutes. They were waiting for the other person to speak. Ji Eun was hoping Yunho would say something to her while the husband was tongue tied and waited for her to speak.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me?” Yunho asked, breaking the awkward silence.

“Huh? I… erm…” Ji Eun was pondering on what to say.

“Baby, I have to go now,” he stated, already ready to hang up the phone.

“Wait!” she stopped him. Yunho listened intently. “I’ll miss you Yunho oppa,” she confessed.

That sentence made his heart skipped a beat. “Me too,” he mumbled before hanging up on her.

Ji Eun was slicing some vegetable to cook as she was lost in her own thought. Though she just had a conversation with her husband, she was still feeling sad and a little hurt at him for leaving her like that. They didn’t have much to say on the phone anyways.

“Was he still mad at me?” Ji Eun wondered to herself.

“Then, what am I supposed to do? Apologise?” she kept questioning herself. “Was he mad because I rejected his needs?”

Ji Eun sighed heavily as tears started to form again in her eyes. “But I don’t want to disappoint him…”

Then she remembered a conversation she had along ago with Kang Miyoung. That woman looked high-class. The kind of women fit to stand on the same level with someone as mighty as Jung Yunho. Miyoung also mentioned that Yunho’s ex-girlfriend was the total opposite of Ji Eun.

She was graceful, tall and beautiful while Ji Eun’s looks was compared to that of a school girl. Who was his ex-girlfriend by the way? She did have thoughts about the woman long ago when Miyoung mentioned her. She must be a special girl to Jung Yunho.

“Aish, Ji Eun-ah! Yunho oppa is married to you, why do you have to think of his ex?” she scolded herself for thinking of such things. “He said he loves me and I love him to. That’s what matters right?” she tried to convince herself.

“But who is she?” Ji Eun couldn’t help but to ask herself.

As she was lost deep in her thoughts, she didn’t realize and accidentally cut her own finger. “Oww!” she yelped.

Blood were trickling from the cut in her finger as she scrambled to the sink. Ji Eun accidentally hit the kitchen island and knocked a mug on it. The mug shattered into pieces and she fell, palm first on the broken glasses.

The whole chaos made her stopped moving and sat on the floor. Tears unconsciously escaped her eyes. She cried not because of the pain, but mainly because of the misfortunes she has been experiencing for a few days. Her mind was too occupied of her problems with Yunho that she hurt herself.

“Babo! Babo Ji Eun-ah…” she sobbed, hitting her own head and blaming herself.

Kim Junsu, Kim Jaejoong and his mother was waiting patiently in front of the Jung couple’s apartment door. They rang the bell a few times and had to wait for quite a few minutes until the door opens. They were greeted by a puffy-eyed Ji Eun. She stared at her guests while tilting her head to the side in confusion. Her guest was shocked to see the sight of her, looking so… disheveled.

The first thing that caught Jaejoong’s eyes was her poorly bandaged hands. Both her hands were injured and she had trouble of bandaging herself. “Ji Eun-ah, what happened to you?” Jaejoong asked as he examined her hands.

Everyone else walked into the apartment with Junsu’s mouth wide open and Hyesun’s unbelievable expression on her face. Without a second thought, Ji Eun cried on Jaejoong’s chest and let all of her sadness out.

When Ji Eun finally calmed down, she pulled away from her brother’s tight hug and apologized. “I’m sorry oppa,”

“That’s ok. What happened to you? Where’s Yunho?” Jaejoong asked and wiped her tears away.

Ji Eun bit her lip to suppress more tears and replied. “Yunho oppa went to Japan last night. He said that he has some work to do there,”

“Maybe it’s a last minute emergency. I do hear some problems in Japan this morning at the office,” Junsu commented.

“Don’t be sad sweety, your husband has work to do. You have to understand that. He’ll be home soon,” Hyesun chimed in.

Ji Eun looked up at the owner of the voice with confusion. Hyesun gave her a warm smile and she immediately replied with a small smile and a nod. “I k-know. Thanks…”

“Kim Hyesun. She’s my mother,” Jaejoong answered before she could even ask.

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Kim. I’m sorry you had to see me like this,” Ji Eun bowed and apologized, respecting her guest despite her sorrow.

A sudden tear almost escaped Hyesun’s eyes at the sight of her long lost daughter. She had grown so much. Seeing how polite, respectful and gentle Ji Eun has grown up to be made her feel proud to have a daughter like her. Ji Eun was just like what she had imagined.

“What’s wrong with your hands Ji Eun-ah?” Junsu asked, pointing at the poorly bandaged hands. Blood was still visible on the bandage.

“Oh, I was cutting some veggies and hurt myself. Then I accidentally knocked over a mug and fell on it,” she answered, trying to hide how much pain she was experiencing at the moment.

“But this has to be treated more carefully,” her real mother sat beside her. “Jaejoong-ah, got get the first aid box. Junsu, go get me some water and a towel,” she ordered.

 **

“There, it’s done. Doesn’t hurt that much now right?” Hyesun just finished tending to Ji Eun’s wound.

The young girl stared at her perfectly bandaged wound and nodded. “Dae, thanks Mrs. Kim,”

“Aigoo~ she’s so cute,” her mother couldn’t help but to compliment and pinch her cheeks.

“Why does everyone like to pinch my cheeks?” Ji Eun asked innocently while pouting and rubbing her cheeks.

“Because you’re so cute baby kitty Ji Eun-ah!” Junsu jumped in front of her and pinched her cheeks harder.

“Ouch, Junsu oppa!” she squealed.

“Junsu, stop that,” Hyesun pushed him away and caressed Ji Eun’s cheeks. “That felt better right?” Ji Eun nodded in response.

Jaejoong watched the mother-daughter interaction from afar. He could tell how much his mother loves and misses Ji Eun after all this years. The young girl also looked very comfortable with Hyesun. If only he could tell her the real truth, then both people didn’t have to suffer that much.

“Anyway, Happy Belated Birthday Ji Eun-ah,” Jaejoong wished her with a warm brotherly smile. “You’re nineteen now right?”

“Yes, but… how do you know oppa?” she asked, puzzled.

“We’re your guardian angels Ji Eun-ah. We know everything,” Junsu replied, stopping her from asking much further.

“Happy birthday sweety,” Hyesun gave her a warm hug. “It’s yesterday right? Sorry we’re a little late,”

“Thank you so much,” Ji Eun couldn’t help but to bow at her.

“Wait, if Yunho hyung went to Japan last night. Then, who did you celebrate your birthday with? I remembered that hyung was in his office all day,” Junsu stated his observation.

“Huh? I uhm… we… ,” Ji Eun tried to find words to say. She didn’t want to make Yunho look bad.

“He didn’t come home at all yesterday right?” Jaejoong guessed. “He forgot your birthday?!” he yelped.

“No, it’s not like that. Yunho oppa doesn’t even know that it was my birthday. Don’t blame him. It’s my fault. I… I didn’t tell him,” Ji Eun pleaded as tears were pooling in her eyes.

“But he should know! You’re his wife!” Junsu commented.

Those multiple questions made Ji Eun remembered what happened last night and it made her cry all over again. Hyesun saw it and hugged her. “Jaejoong, Junsu, stop it!” she scolded them.

“That’s ok Ji Eun-ah. He’s just busy. I’m sure he didn’t mean to,” the mother tried to comfort her sad daughter.

Ji Eun just stayed silent as she sobbed in Hyesun’s hug. Somehow, she felt much better when she hugged her. Ji Eun was able to feel what a mother’s warm hug was like. Considering the fact that Yejin never hugged her and Misun was only her mother-in-law.

The guests left when it was almost time for dinner. They really made her feel a bit better with their visit. But then she suddenly remembered her father, how she missed him so much. It’s been months since the last time she saw him and she had a thought of paying him a visit.

Ji Eun called Hodong ajusshi the person who used to be her driver. She told him to pick her up tomorrow to Incheon because she missed her father so much. Hodong agreed to pick her up the next morning. After she ended the call, Ji Eun kept staring at her cellphone, waiting for something.

She was hoping Yunho would call to tell her how his day had been. Not receiving any calls from him made her think that he was still mad at her. She tried to call him many times throughout the day, but it all went straight to his voice mailbox. In the end, she decided to call him again.

“Yoboseyo?” Yunho answered after a few rings. He sounded tired over the phone.

“Oppa, kwenchana? You sound tired,” Ji Eun asked worriedly.

Yunho was lying on his bed, exhausted as he listened more intently when he knew that his wife was calling. “Oh, I just finished work. I had a long day today,” he replied.

Ji Eun knew she should be understanding. Yunho was really hardworking and he must have been so tired. “Take care of yourself oppa, I don’t want you to get sick,” she reminded.

“Thanks…” her husband replied.

A wave of guiltiness hit him at how much concern she was showing him. Ji Eun should be angry at him for leaving her so suddenly and breaking his promise. Instead, she was worried about him and he couldn’t even sense any anger in her voice. His wife was being very understanding and he knew that he shouldn’t be mad at her in the first place.

“You… take care too,” Yunho reminded.

Ji Eun took a look at her bandaged hands. “I’m f-fine oppa, you d-don’t have to worry,” she lied, hiding the fact that she was hurt emotionally and physically.

“Baby…”

“Yes?”

“Nothing. I’m just glad to hear your voice,” Yunho replied. He had a content smile on his face. He felt as if all his tiredness washed away by just hearing her voice.

“Me too,” Ji Eun nodded, although Yunho couldn’t see her.

She really wanted to ask him if he’s still mad at her, but she didn’t want to ruin the moment and just stayed silent.

“I tried calling you lots of times, but you didn’t pick up,” she told him.

Yunho smiled with his eyes closed. He was too sleepy to hear what she had to say. He just enjoyed hearing her cute voice. After hearing no answer for quite some time, Ji Eun was starting to wonder what happened.

“Yunho oppa, are you there?!” she asked, raising her voice a little bit.

“Ah, y-yes? What were you saying?” he slightly woke up from her voice.

Ji Eun sighed heavily, he must’ve fallen asleep while she was talking to him. “Why didn’t you pick up my calls? I called you many times already…” she repeated.

“I put my phone on silent while on meetings,” he replied, yawning. “Baby, I’m so sleepy right now. We’ll talk later ok? I’ll call you,”

“Arasso,” his wife agreed, Yunho hung up before she could even bid goodbye. “Sweet dreams oppa, I love you too…” she mumbled the last sentence as her husband was already offline.

Ji Eun lied down on the bed, placing her cellphone close to her in case Yunho calls. She stared at the empty space beside her and grabbed Yunho’s pillow. She inhaled it’s scent, it smelled exactly like her husband. She forgot how many times she had cried that day as tears were starting to pool in her eyes again. Her eyes could be swollen from crying too much.

Ji Eun hugged the pillow tight in her embrace while closing her eyes to sleep. “Saranghae Yunho oppa…” she mumbled before falling asleep.

thank you for all the comments from my loyal and new readers. i love you guys^^* really appreciate them cuz you guys are supporting me^^* here's the next update and longer!

enjoy this update! i hope you guys can understand what i'm trying to convey in this chapter. do ask if there's any question <3 enjoy!