Maggie's POV

"Um, yeah about that," Ryeowook says.

     I hear footsteps behing me.

Dangit. Hankyung is coming. I can't let him see Ryeowook.

     I put my hand on Ryeowokk's chest and shove him out the door.

"What the-"

     "Just a second," I bark in a whisper.

"Good morning," Hankyung says.

     "Um, hi. Good morning."

He looks confused. "What are you doing by the door?"

     "Talking to...the cleaning lady. Yeah."

"At this time in the morning?"

     "Well, it would be weird to wait an hour when she's here right now," I grin.

"They usually don't clean until later-"

     "They're punctual here, I suppose."

"...People are going to recognize you."

     "Then, how about you get the face masks? Please?"

He shrugs. "Uh, sure."

     "Thanks, Hannie. You're a doll."

"I'm a what?"

     "Face masks. Gotta get those face masks," I say, showing him toward the back of the room. 

I turn to Ryeowook, who's still in the hall. I duck out there next to him.

     "Let's make this quick," I tell him. "What's going on?"

"In a nutshell-"

     "I have the masks, Miso-ah. Miso?" Hankyung calls.

I pop up. "Ah, thank you." I put on the mask. 

    "Why were you in the hall?"

"I was teaching the cleaning lady how to do pilates."

     "Pilates?"

"Weird American exercises. I can show you sometime."

     He shakes his head, still looking confused. "That's okay."

"Oh, I think Mr.Chang should be up soon. Why don't you make sure we have enough coffee for him?"

     "Alright then..."

I duck back out into the hallway. "Sorry. What were you saying?"

     "Well, Heechul and Hyun-Ae planned a small reunion for everyone, including you and Hankyung. They want to make some kind of special announcement."

     "Okay. When is it?"

Hankyung approaches again.

     "I'll text you the details," Ryeowook says.

"Alright. Thanks for telling me."

     He gets up to leave, but turns around. 

"Melinda?"

     I spin around. "Yes?"

"I know an apology won't cut it, but I'm sorry for everything. I really am."

     "Thank you. I forgive you. Can we talk about this later?" I ask.

He nods. "Bye, Miso," Ryeowook says, running off down the hallway.

     I go back into the room.

"How much coffee should I use?" Hankyung asks.

     "Here, let me help you," I tell him.

We finish making the coffee. 

     "So, some exercise session that was," he says.

I nod. "Had to get the burn on."

     Mr.Chang wakes up.

"Good morning."

     We both bow. "Good morning, Mr.Chang," Hankyung and I greet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later

     Ryeowook finally texted me the following information for the reunion. Hankyung and I got the day off to go, and we were on our way.

The van ride was silent. Finally, Hankyung spoke up.

     "So, what do you think the announcement is?" he asks.

I shrug. "Hyun-Ae and Heechul have a very good relationship. Maybe they're engaged?"

     "Maybe."

The van falls silent again.

     "Miso?"

"Yes, Hankyung?"

     Hankyung's POV

I swallow hard before asking my next question.

     "Do you remember what happened between us over the last few months?"

She sighs. "How could I forget?"

     I nod.  "Do...you think it meant anything?"

"I...I'm not sure. I really like you and all, but I'm not sure I'm ready to jump into a new relationship just yet."

     "And I understand that-"

"I'm sorry if I led you on. I really am. I couldn't help myself."

     "If you're still trying to figure everything out between you and Ryeowook, I understand."

"I'm over him. I was- no, am, I don't care about him, but. Oh, dangit!" her head falls into her hands.

    "You have every right to figure this out. I just wanted to ask you a question."

She hugs me. "Thank you, Hankyung. And I'm sorry."

     "And, pilates? Really?" I laugh.

She looks stunned. "You knew it was him?"

     "I'm not that stupid. I was groggy, but not enough to fall for the 'cleaning lady doing pilates'. "

She pushes me. "Oh, shut up!"

      We pull up to the event site, and are escorted into a private room where we meet everyone else.

"Hey, can your wife get a hug?" Heechul asks, hugging me.

     "Hyung, what's up?" I ask.

He rubs his hands together. "I'm nervous, but excited," he grins.

     I nod my head. "Well, I can't wait to hear your exciting news."

Melinda's POV

     All the people in attendence, being Super Junior, the Jump Girls, and Hankyung and I had mingled for awhile.

"Well, I guess you're all waiting to hear our news," Heechul calls, pulling Hyun-Ae toward him.

     "Ne (yes)," everyone calls.

"So," he smiles to her. "Do you want to tell them, or should I?" he asks.

     "You can do it," she says.

"We were waiting for the right time to share this with you all, and we decided that the time was now. We gathered you all here today to tell you that we are expecting a baby!"

     Excited shocks ring out from all over the room. I don't think anyone expected this, but everyone is excited. 

Ryeowook is making his way to where they are, I figure, to congradulate them. But as Heechul and Hyun-Ae move away from the center of the room, Ryeowook nods to Heechul, and begins speaking.

  Ryeowook's POV

     I look over at the person who is going to receive my words. Melinda looks confused as I go to the center of the room.

"Melinda, I'm thankful that you came today, despite receiving the invitation from a pabo (idiot) like me."

     People chuckle slightly.

"A week ago, you gave me your forgiveness, the one thing that I wanted most. You have no idea how grateful I am for that."

     She just stands there, shocked.

"But forgiveness did not mean that you took me back. And after what I did, I didn't expect you to. Through a series of unfortunate events that we all remember, I learned about another man that had treated you badly. After my mistake, I saw, as you said it, his re-incarnated ghost in me. I never wanted to be the man that hurt you. No kind of man hurts a woman, and you do not deserve to be treated the way I treated you."

     Am I saying this right? Am I just making things worse? Oh God, please let her hear me.

"In my life, out of the few girls I dated, I know I only ever loved you. I guess I have a strange way of showing it. All I know is, that love never died, but was dulled by the foolish actions of a man that lacked self-control. So, today, I'm here to tell you of what I am giving up for you. From this day forward, not a drop of any sort of alcohol will pass my lips. Even a little bit would be too tempting. This will be one of the hardest  things I've ever done, but I know that if I have your love, I can do it. I can do anything."

     I walk over to her, her eyes glistening a bit. Her big, hazel eyes stare back at me, almost analyzing my soul.

"Melinda Callsworth, I love you. And today, I am determined to change, if it means that I can receive your love once again. What do you say?"

     She stares at me, mouth hanging open. Shaking, she runs out into the hall, dissapearing.

"Melinda? Melinda!" I call, chasing her into the hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's note:

     Thanks for sticking with me this far. The next chapter will most likely be the last. I hope you've enjoyed "Tug-of-War" this far, and I hope that you're excited for the conclusion. I may write a sequel, if people want one, or even if people don't want one. I go by the beat of my own drum.

     What is Melinda going to do? Stick around a little longer to see.

Thanks for reading!

~Rachael

p.s. It's never too late to comment and/or subscribe if you like the story. Thank you! :)