CHAPTER 7

 

 

Yuri hurriedly punched in the elevator button still carrying Ara in her adrenaline-strong arms. Luckily Ara hasn’t woken up yet or else she would be hearing her mother’s sobs as she impatiently waits for the elevator and kept pushing the button as if that would hurry it.

 

“Dammit! Hurry up!” Yuri mumbled as if instructing the elevator to hurry its way up to their floor almost forgetting that they’re living 17 floors up of the tall building.

 

Yunho was still glued on his feet slowly summing up all that had happened just now. He just lost his girlfriend and daughter in a matter of minutes.

 

Everything happened so fast that he himself couldn’t keep up. Unwelcome tears began to flow through his raging cheeks yet again. The love of his life had accused him of a crime that’s both a lie and hard to explain.

 

“Yuri….” that was all he could say as he looked through the closed door of the place he could only call home when Yuri and Ara are in it.

 

He bent his head down and with heavy steps he leaned closer to the door and leaned his forehead on the hard wood with tears still piercing his eyes. 

 

“How can you leave me without letting me explain?”, he sounded clear even in between those sobs.

 

Suddenly he heard a *ting* sound coming from the elevator. That was all it takes for him to finally get a grip and follow Yuri and Ara before it’s too late. 

 

Yunho grabbed the knob and barefooted out of the place to rush to the elevator. After a few moments, he was now steps away the elevator and although he could only see the travelling bag making its ride on the elevator he was certain that it was Yuri.

 

He rushed over hoping that the elevator would cooperate and would open for him but since he was still a few more steps from the elevator, it closed before he could retaliate. 

 

“Argh!”, Yunho grumbled as he harshly pushed the button of the next elevator. He kept on banging the hard metal until finally another *ting* sound came signaling the arrival of another elevator. He quickly went in and pushed the button to the ground floor.

 

If his calculation serves him right, Yuri should still be at the lobby by now. 

 

Yuri had just went out of the lift and hurriedly paced out of the tall building. All she wanted was to get away from this place---away from Yunho. She strongly pulled the huge bag behind her while carefully carrying her still sleeping Ara.

 

Once outside the building she waited impatiently for a cab and not for long she caught sight of one and waved her hand for the taxi to pull over. 

 

Yunho was having the race of his life that he felt the elevator took ages before it finally came to a stop and by the moment it opened he saw the back figure of the woman he wanted to see standing beside a cab pulling the car door.

 

“Yuri!”, Yunho shouted at the top of his lungs causing every person to look at him including the person he wanted to catch attention. 

 

Yuri heard someone blurted her name and just as she was still on the verge of guessing that it was Yunho, she saw him running towards her, barefoot. Without second thoughts, Yuri pulled the car door and went in.

 

“Let’s go! Hurry!”, she instructs the driver in which he curiously complied. 

 

Yunho was running even faster at the sight of Yuri’s cab driving off.

 

“Yuri! Yuri please!”, he shouted as if begging for her to step out of the cab and face him. But he was too late; the taxi is now slowly drifting off.

 

He didn’t stop from running and until he finally got a hold of the taxi’s hood hoping it would stop but to his dismay, it continued increasing acceleration. 

 

“Ahjussi please keep driving.”, Yuri begged the driver but the driver seems to know what kind of situation they are at so even without his passenger begging, he never thought of stopping the vehicle even with the loud banging by the hood.

 

“Stop! Yuri! Stop this!” Yuri could see from the mirror that Yunho was trying hard to keep up with the vehicle’s acceleration. It breaks her heart to see Yunho at this state.

 

She could clearly see the sweat all over his face and the thought of him hurting his bare feet at the contact of the hard pavement makes her want to go out of the vehicle to hug him but the image of his stained shirt, the sign of his betrayal, is all takes for her to continue what she---or maybe he---started. Tears went down her cheeks at the sight of Yunho running his heart out behind them until he was nowhere in sight.

 

Yunho felt his knees are starting to weaken and his bare feet are starting to feel numb. Slowly he began to decelerate and he finally stopped chasing the car, he let himself drop on the hard pavement as he watched his daughter and the love of his life drift off.

 

Aside from Yuri’s soft sobs, there was an awkward silence inside the vehicle. Yuri was the still sleeping Ara’s hair while she is drawn in her sobbing.

 

“Ma’am. Where will I drop you off?”, the driver finally broke the silence in his curiosity. 

 

“State home towers, 2nd Avenue.”,Yuri forced a reply without looking at the driver. All she wanted was to go back to her old place and lay in bed to rip off all the exhaustion and stress early this morning.

 

Then she slowly shifted her attention to the little figure that is her daughter who’s still sleeping in her arms and leaned closer to smell her baby fragrance. Somehow Ara’s presence slightly eased her pains.

 

“We’re going to be alright baby.”, she whispered to her small ears. Suddenly the small figure started moving its little arms and slowly opened its eyes.

 

A warm smile formed in Ara’s face at the sight of her mother. Ara raised her hands to reach for her mother’s face. Yuri kissed her fingers when it reached her lips.

 

Without her realizing, the tears which she thought she had already got rid of are starting to form again wetting her cheeks. 

Ara reached for her mother’s tears as if helping her to wipe them off. Her warm smile never escaped her lips which made Yuri form her own smile. 

 

“I love you Ara.” Yuri bent her head down and kissed Ara’s forehead. Ara is the only reason that she is still alive at the moment. If it weren’t for Ara, she maybe locking herself up in a secluded room by now or worse, she could have ended her life because of Yunho’s betrayal.

 

Her place is a 15 minutes ride from Yunho’s but the heavy feeling made it look like she’s been travelling for days. Her mind is drifting off somewhere—somewhere where Yunho is.  The tears were gone by now but the pain never ceases.

 

“Uh Ma’am. Where here.” Yuri was still zoning out when the driver called her attention to tell her that they have arrived. Yuri looked at the tall building in front of her and sighed. It has been a long time since she last went here.

 

She turned to face the driver while fishing her wallet in her bag and handed some cash to the driver.

 

“Here. Thank you so much.” 

 

Ara is acting much behaved right now with her pacifier on . Yuri was thankful she was able to pack some stuff for Ara. 

After handing over the money to the kind driver Yuri readied to go out of the vehicle with Ara inside her embrace.

 

The driver helped her to unload her travelling bag before nodding to Yuri which she returned with a big bow.

Yuri carefully pulled her bag while making sure Ara is carried comfortably in her arms.

 

Her steps were heavy and careful. Stress is very much evident in her puffy eyes and her hair is slightly tangled. He moved closer to the elevator and pushed the button. Good thing that she and Ara were the only passengers of the lift, she’s spared of the gossiping. She hates it when people start minding other people’s business. 

 

After reaching her floor, she stood behind the door of her condo and sighed.

 

‘This will be home from now on’, she thought to herself while looking at the wooden door separating them and ‘home’.

 

She shifted her gaze to Ara who’s still busy on her pacifier.

 

“This will be home now baby.” She kissed Ara yet again and proceeded to enter the house. 

 

 

 

Minho had just been home from working out and was about to enter her condo unit when he saw an unfamiliar figure of a woman with a cute baby in her hands in front of the room beside his.

 

He had always thought that the room had been abandoned by its owner so he stopped and looked closely at the woman and the baby whom he curiously assumed is her child even though she looks young to be a mother. 

 

“This will be home now baby.”

 

He heard the woman speak. He could hear sorrow, pain, and distress in her voice. He could clearly see that the girl is in pain judging at how she forced her smile for the baby to see. 

 

She disappeared in his sight without her noticing his presence.

 

‘Maybe she’s thinking a lot of things that she didn’t notice my presence.’ Minho thought as he keyed in the password of his door lock.

 

He entered his own room after making sure his new neighbors had already entered their own room.He lay in bed and gazed at the ceiling. The thought of his new neighbors hadn’t escaped his mind. 

 

‘The girl has beautiful eyes but it was a pity that they were full of sadness.’ He thought to himself.

 

It’s the first time he had ever been interested in his neighbors. He has been living there for almost a year now but he never felt like being close with his neighbors. Although he had quite a few acquaintances, he never initiated any conversation on them but these new neighbors of his were bugging him.

 

“If that was her baby, where is her husband then?” he finally talked to himself still gazing at the white ceiling above him.