Chapter 15: The Doomaekpaem

Yonghwa knew he had chickened out of kissing Seohyun on the lips that first night in the house. His plan was to do so, but when he saw her eyes close as she waited for him to do it, he had felt slightly guilty.

He had meant what he said. He was going to try harder being a husband while he was stuck in the future, not only in front of others but behind the scenes. Still, he didn’t want to force the kiss on her like he had at the photoshoot some weeks ago. He wanted it to be the right moment for both his and her sake.

The next couple of days were both exhilarating and exhausting. Yonghwa had kept his word on being a real husband, and Seohyun did as he had asked. She worked harder too, despite how twisted her feelings were starting to become. They brushed their teeth together in their pajamas, held hands around the house, and whenever they sat together, Yonghwa rested his arm protectively around her. She didn’t freeze up but leaned into him comfortably. They called each other things like “baby” and “yeobo” lovingly and jokingly and took walks with Yunji early in the morning before his mother’s busy day for the family began. It wasn’t natural at first, and neither Seohyun nor Yonghwa knew if it was now.

The first day was the most difficult for Seohyun. Not the trying harder, but the being left alone with Yonghwa’s mother and Soo-Ye. They had gone to a spa and received manicures, pedicures, and massages. Seohyun thought Yunji would tag along, but Yonghwa’s father was taking everyone golfing and that sounded more interesting to the young girl. Seohyun knew it was because that’s where Yonghwa would be.

Seohyun could tell that Yunji loved her, but she also knew that the little girl loved Yonghwa slightly more. Rather than feeling jealousy, Seohyun thought it was adorable.

At the girl’s day at the spa, Seohyun noticed that Soo-Ye paid close attention to her every move and started off the day asking nosey questions.

Was this girl serious? Seohyun had spent half of her life being an idol, not counting however old she was now, and knew how to uphold an image. Eventually, Soo-Ye lost interest and focused less on Seohhyun’s strange behavior and more on her massage.  

But the next few days, Seohyun felt true exhaustion.

Yonghwa’s family turned out to be extremely active, and Seohyun spent her vacation days hiking up mountains and walking trails, shopping vigoriously with her mother-in-law, and biking along the beach. Whatever they could do in Busan, the Jung family did in those short days.

Towards the middle of the week, Yonghwa got a phone call from his friend, Jinsuk, inviting him out for a meal with the other guys, Oochuk, Donghyun, and of course, Dongyoung, the one Seohyun had never met.

“Are you sure it’s ok to bring me?” Seohyun was asking as Yonghwa drove to the neighborhood of his old high school.

“It’ll be fine. I’m sure Yejie will be there too,” Yonghwa replied, smiling. He couldn’t wait to see how his friends had changed.

Seohyun noticed that the more Yonghwa was home, the more he became relaxed. Less of the leader of CN Blue who had to be stern and quick on his toes and more of a laid back man who didn’t have to work so hard to adapt.

“Last time I saw them, we had cameras pointed in our faces,” she mumbled. “Do you think we get along well, Unnie and I?”

“If I know Yejie, she’ll be a close unnie of yours by this point.”

Seohyun remembered Yonghwa’s close female friend, Yee Jin, known as Yejie as a soft spoken, star struck unnie who seemed like she had the patience of a saint to put up with a handful of boys.

“Oppa, how did Yejie unnie join your group, the Doomaekpaem? Out of all the girls at school, you chose Unnie. I was really curious that time.”

Yonghwa thought for a moment then laughed slightly. “It’s embarrassing to admit, but when we were younger, we taunted her a lot. Dongyoung was the worst though, calling her names, making fun of her weight and looks, things like that. One day, we all went to hang out at MacDonalds, and Yejie was there with a friend. We started up, and Dongyoung said something really mean. Next thing we knew, Yejie was at our table, cursing at us. She swung her backpack and hit Dongyoung square in the head.”

Seohyun cringed in her seat as she pictured the altercation. Was this unnie really capable of something like that in her past?

“We never made fun of her after that,” Yonghwa continued, “but some weeks later, a couple of guys from our rival school were picking on her in front of the McDonalds. So we stood up for her and told them that anyone who messed with one of the Doomaekpaem had to mess with all of us.”

“You fought to protect Unnie?” asked Seohyun shocked.

“Annio,” he laughed. “It was two against five of us guys, plus Yejie and her backpack. They left, and we treated her to a meal. After that, she was one of us.”

“Wow,” Seohyun mused. “I don’t have any cool stories like that from school.”

Seohyun could tell they were getting closer to the place because Yonghwa began to slow down and scan the shops on the street.

“Should we have brought Yunji baby?”

“Jinsuk said specifically ‘no kids’,” replied Yonghwa. “I actually felt a little insulted that he didn’t want my precious daughter to come.”

“It probably meant he didn’t want to bring his own kids either, Oppa. Besides, I’m sure everyone knows how precious Yunji is.”

“Right!”

They found the shop where the group was meeting and Yonghwa parked. Seohyun anxiously flattened her hair as Yonghwa confidently took her hand and guided her along.

…………

Seohyun didn’t know what to expect when she saw his friends, but she hadn’t expected to be ambushed at the restaurant door. Greetings were thrown out so much and so fast that it sent her head spinning, and Yejie had grabbed her hand, pulling her to the table, talking incredibly fast. Satoori flew around the table, and Seohyun started to laugh. What she had thought was going to be a reunion turned out to be a pick up where they had left off. It was much different than when the cameras had been present that time.

“Seohyun-ah, still the body of a super model. Everytime I see you, I keep hoping you’ll look fat,” said Yejie casually. “Once an idol—“

Seohyun felt slight offended, but she figured if Yejie was trying to be malicious, she wouldn’t have said such a thing out loud.

“Yejie Unnie diets well these days though,” replied Seohyun, jokingly. “We can be thin together. Stop being jealous.”

Yejie laughed out loud. “Let’s eat a lot together then.”

Seohyun looked at Yonghwa to see how he was fairing. He and the guys were all laughing and talking over each other. Both of them saw Jinsuk put his arm around Yejie and whisper something into her ear. She and Yonghwa both searched for the wedding rings on their fingers, and sure enough, they appeared married to each other. Yonghwa laughed extra hard.

“So, Jinsuk, why no kids?” asked Yonghwa.

“Nae, why?” asked Seohyun.

“Not all of us are raising angel Yunji,” Donghyun spoke up, waving over a waitress. “The older my kids get, the more headaches I get.”

“Where are all of your wives?” Seohyun asked next, suddenly feeling like a lot more people were missing from the picture.

The men at the table except Yonghwa and Jinsuk chuckled.

“Not all of us have Yejie and Seo Juhyun as wives,” Donghyun replied. “I’d say angels, but Yejie is nothing of the sort.”

Yejie swatted at him while the others chuckled.

“Come on, Seohyun,” chimed in Dongyoung. Seohyun had never officially met him, but she recongnized his voice from all those years ago. “You said you would put in a good word to Tiffany. Everytime you come, you say you’re working on it.”

“I think it’s time to confess. I’ve been lying,” said Seohyun bluntly, sending everyone at the table to explode in laughter.

The rest of the meeting went smoothly. The guys gave them updates on things happening in Busan, their families, and their jobs. Seohyun and Yonghwa, to the best of their ability, updated them on idol life in Seoul and Yunji. After a very long meal, they found themselves taking an impromptu walk to the beach.

The men walked ahead, wrapped up in whatever they were talking about while Yejie and Seohyun slowly walked behind, carrying their shoes and kicking the sand. In the quiet of the sunset, she watched Yonghwa closely. She decided that she loved his laugh. She loved seeing him with his friends where he could relax and be without worry. She loved that she was here with his friends, she and Yejie, and not the other wives. It said something about who she was in the future. She had too become apart of the Doomaekpaem. Suddenly, she wanted to run up to him and claim his hand. She wanted to laugh with him and enjoy what she could. In this moment, Seohyun realized how lonely she had been, not just trapped in the future but before all of this happened.

“You look deep in thought,” came Yejie’s voice beside her.  

“Ah, I guess I am. I’m thinking about my yeobo,” she confessed.

“So deep in thought to think about Yonghwa?”

“Nae,” Seohyun smiled. “Unnie, can I tell you something?”

Yejie urged her to sit in the sand and tell what was on her mind.

Seohyun chose her words very carefully. “Lately, I’ve been wondering why I married him. Sometimes I feel like I just woke up next to him and can’t remember how I got here. Sometimes I feel like we’re going through the motions, but every once in awhile, like right now, I miss him.”

Yejie listened quietly, staring out at the water.

“I miss his hand, his kiss, and I want it again. I want… to feel close to him. Even though we’re married, and we see each other everyday, I miss him. Is that normal?”

Yejie smiled at her. “Of course. That’s what marriage is like, right? Sometimes you look at each other like total strangers, asking yourself ‘why this person’? You do that when you’re annoyed or miss your youth, right? But when Jinsuk comes home from work or when we’re lying down for bed, I miss him. Only he can cure it.”

“So, what should I do?” asked Seohyun.

“Chances are, Yonghwa feels the same. I know Jinsuk does. So let Yonghwa cure it. Allow yourself to cure it for him too. We’re married. There’s no wrong here.”

As if on cue, Yonghwa stepped in front of her, blocking the setting of the sun.

“What are you two talking about?” he asked suspiciously, a grin at the corner of his mouth.

“How you and Seohyun are not having enough ,” said Yejie quite seriously, standing up and wiping sand off her bottom.

“Unnie!” Seohyun shouted in shock as Yejie walked away and caught up with Jinsuk. She looked up at Yonghwa who was wearing a shy expression.

“I… she’s… ah!” she laughed awkwardly. Yonghwa helped her up, and the two of them came face to face. The two of them stood there quietly for a moment, their hands lingering in each others.

“Let’s play here for awhile, then head home,” he said.

She nodded and the two of them held hands as the walked the shore.

A/N: I’ve been gone quite a while, huh? I sincerely apologize for that. My life has changed in so many ways that it’s hard to even write these days. If you’ve read my personal blog on here, it kind of explains why it’s been forever. I can’t promise anything, but what I can promise is that I will not EVER abandon this story forever. Even if people call me a lazy donkey (which I find to be hysterical). I’ll be posting when I can actually make the time to complete/finish the chapters. 

We’ll start to see Seohyun and Yonghwa’s relationship evolve quickly from here. It has to happen, right? In other news, I did have time to go see CNBlue in concert in New York!! It was incredible, and I saw some people representing Gogumas!

Thank you for your continued support of this story and to all the fans I kept waiting for far too long, I’m so sincerely sorry. I’ll try to work harder.