BACK IN REALITY

Siwoo: Can we go on that place too Jin Guk-ah?

Jin Guk: Of course! My place is open for all of you guys.

Ailee: Wait then, so if that vacation happened 3 months after Jason & Pil Suk wedding does it mean you’ve done your eldest their too?

Pil Suk: Aniya, we didn’t even know that time that I’m already 3 months pregnant with Sue Ri.

Jason: Our daughter is a honeymoon baby in short.

Baek Hee: Babies are the best gift for us. I never knew it not until I found out I’m pregnant.

JB: You two seem 100% ready and excited for the baby now? (He looks Jin Guk & Baek Hee)

Jin Guk: Of course we do.

Nana: But there’s one of us here that cried a lot to the point that her world turned all down when she finds out she’s pregnant.

Haesung: Mwoh? Who? (Nana then look to Rian, everybody does it too)

Flashback

Nothing shocked her more than the first time she saw the result of that cheap pregnancy test. She would be lying if she said she did not cry when it showed two plus sign.  Her hand trembled so much that she spent the entire day avoiding him. Afraid that she would break down into more crying;possibly cursing him as well. And she did not want to do that.

As she wiped the gag residue off with the back of her hand, she slumped onto the toilet floor. Her perfect beautiful appearance abandoned, all there was just a sick Lee Ji Kyung. She heard someone knocking on the door, turned her head towards the door. His voice echoed through the toilet, “Yah! Princess, are you okay? You don’t sound that too well.” She put on her best fake “I’m fine” voice and replied, “I am fine. It’s just something I ate yesterday.”

There was nothing in the world Rian hated than looking like a mess. Right now, she was the epitome of catastrophic muddle. This was all because of her upset stomach. She’s been in this state for a couple of weeks and it was getting on her nerves.

Yoo Jin seemed unconvinced but relented to her subtle wish to be left along. “Oh, I see. Anyway, come out from the toilet. You’ve been in there longer than you should,” he chimed. With that, he headed for the kitchen. One by one, he searched the cabinet for the pots Rian hardly used. He eventually found it at the bottom drawer. Altering his attention to the gigantic gray refrigerator, he began producing ingredients to make a health soup.

While he was brewing the ingredients, he heard the door creaked open and saw Rian, casting a weak smile on her face. He waved at her, gesturing at the pot and called out, “Yah, woman. Here, I made you some soup. Eat it. You’ll feel a little better after this.” Rian just obeyed him, not in the mood for their usual banter. He went to fetch a bowl of soup, placed it right in front of her and took a seat across the table. His hawk-like eyes tapered on her, lips puckered as if he was concentrating on something, making Rian slightly anxious.

He finally opened his mouth, after staring at her for a couple of minutes with his chin resting on one hand, “You’ve been eating a lot these days,” he said as matter-of-factly. She raised an eyebrow, scoffed, “Are you saying I’m fat? Is that it?” Her eyes dangerously narrowing at him, He shook his head, argued, “No, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that your food choices have been awful lately you keep getting sick after dinner. I hear you vomiting away in the middle of the night.”

“Am not. Just a slight upset stomach flu. That’s all.”

“Whatever. I’m going out. Need anything?” he asked, getting up to his feet. She shook her head. He just shrugged, “If that’s the case, then fine. Just give me a ring on my cell. You know the drill.” Rian nodded, sipping his soup, amazed with his hidden cooking talent. When he left, she immediately rushed to call Nana, asking her to fetch something important from a convenience store and bring it to her apartment before Yoo Jin returns.

Something inside her made her restless. She wasn’t like this before. But the woman’s magazine she had been reading, a couple of minutes ago before her sudden trip to the toilet, had articles written that describe her symptoms eerily accurate and the title of such article happened to be the word she thought of never having to associate herself with. Not until she was ready and happily married. The word highlighted in bold“PREGNANCY”.

Nana did as she was told, keeping shut when Siwoo asked her where she was going in a sudden. She only told him that she had matters to settle with Hong Joo, music related. With that, Siwoo stopped asking. He let her be. She arrived moments later, pressing the bell button twice and greeted Rian with an equally worried expression on her face. They did not talk as Rian went straight for the toilet. Ten minutes was all it took and soon she had the result in her hands but told Nana to take it away. Nana gave her a sympathetic look as she did so. The look on her former group member was all it took for her to figure out the result. She slumped onto the floor, tears flowing across her face, and crossed her arms around her own body.

She had no recollection of having any control over her emotions in that brief moment. Her tears could not stop flowing, her sobbing grew louder and her hands began to tremble. She remembered Nana engulfing her whole with her arms, rubbing circles on her back, softly whispering words of comfort in which did not help her from crying her eyes out. It took her a while to regain control her emotions and the tears finally stopped.

Nana instructed her to take a seat on her vanity chair, she obeyed quietly and the girls began their quick retouch makeup. She wiped away the residue of tears from Rian’s face with a tissue, cleared and spoke, “There! Much better.” Rian, who had been unresponsive since the beginning of their makeup session, placed her hand on Nana’s free right arm, giving the other girl a slight surprise. “I appreciate it if you keep this to yourself.” Nana nodded.

She trusted Nana more than she trusted anyone else when it comes to her girly affairs. Ailee, not so since both were frenemies while they were still in HershE and the habit stuck until now. She felt much better now. Nana’s actions helped her in ways she can’t explain.

She closed the door after sending Nana off. At the same moment, her phone rang, an incoming text message. She pressed the message icon to read the contents. She sighed of relief. It was just Yoo Jin informing her that he will be late, having a football date with his football buddies. She unhooked her coat from coat hanger and headed for the door. Briefly glancing at the picture frame that held a photograph of a grinning Yoo Jin making a V with his fingers and her, smiling widely at the camera.

That night was a little blurry for her to recall, actually. She was definitely not herself that night, like a possessed mad woman. She wandered around town, with a thin coat and her appearance was a little choppy, until she reached in front of a massive glass building. That she remembered.

She had been sitting dangerously close to the edge. Her long legs dangling freely and her hands were not holding on to anything. One mistake and she could end up in the morgue, with a few broken bones and maybe half a brain. She had spent several hours in the cold because one could see that her lips were slowly losing its rosy color. Beneath her was a magnificent view of the city and above was a black sky bursting with stars that sunk underneath the streets lights.

“Yah! You’re too close to the edge!” shouted a familiar voice, clearly concerned more than annoyed. She turned her body slightly to meet his soft gaze. He had his hands inside his pocket and stood near her, though he looked like he tried to avoid seeing the city below. She bit her lower lip and shivered under the cool wind breeze. “Leave me alone, please,” she said, almost close to a whisper.

“I will leave you when you are not sitting to close to that,” he said, tenderly but pointing at the edge. He cocked his head to a side; concern was carved on his handsome, worried face. She turned her gaze away when she felt the tears threatened to fall. She cleared but wavered a little, “H-how did you find me?”

He scratched his head, casting his sight on his foot and replied, “Nana told me.”

Nana! No, she would probably tell him about her whereabouts only. The other matter was still her secret for this moment. Her heart could not decide whether to tell him the truth or just avoid talking. The truth. He deserved it. What he does with that knowledge was up to him, she thought. It was either now or never. To tell him about that test, still, she could not bring herself to ask him directly instead she tried implying it.

“Do you know?” she finally found the courage to speak after they stood in silence. She got to her feet, he stopped himself from going closer, afraid that she would involuntarily take a step back and fall to her death. He just nodded in response. “Nana?” she asked. He shook his head. “T-then how?”

“I came home and found the result on the toilet floor. It was a mess in there,” he tried making his voice light, slightly pretending to frown.

“Are you mad with me?”

“No. Are you with me?” he replied.

“A little. Mad at myself. It’s not your fault,” she paused, looking a little troubled. “Do you hate me?” she continued.

“No. I don’t hate you. Frankly, I don’t think I can ever hate you,” he answered. He offered a hand out to her, instead of moving closer. She only gave his hand a brief look, resumed talking. “Why? I’ve ruined your life, your chances of being with another woman who might your soul mate, your career has not been plagued by any scandals or even rumors, withthis, and you will suffer. You, your life and your career.”

He seemed to be giving her words some thought. He turned his back facing her, getting into a ridiculous position. He arched his back and patted his right shoulders, “Because you’re my best friend. Friends’ stick together no matter how tough the going gets. And,” he carved his signature loop-side grin. “I take friends over soul mates, any day.”

This made her smiled a little. “Come on, princess. My offer to piggy-back is going to expire in five minutes. And the elevator is broken. So, your mode of transport now is me.” She eventually hoped on his back, putting her arms around his shoulders. He began to walk down the stairs.

“What am I going to do?” she muttered to none in particular.

“What else? We are going to raise it, him … her. Whichever its gender is.”

She became speechless, only tears flowing again. Soaking the back of his hoodie with her salty unneeded tears. Damn hormones! She tightened her grip around his shoulders and he just let her be. They walked in silence for what it seemed to be an eternity when suddenly he chimed, “but if it’s a beautiful baby, then of course it’s mine. I mean honestly good genes run in my family. You were just lucky you turned out well,” earning a tug on his ears.

Having a “friends with benefits” arrangement between her and Yoo Jin was the best idea she had ever had at first, then became the worst ever during the nine horrible months and went back to being a fantastic idea. Point of this memory was … no matter how tough or bad the situation gets, she can always count on him.

Sometimes, when their argument spirals out of control and the feelings of regret began to form, she twists the ring on her wedding finger nervously. Reminding herself of that feeling she thought she had lost. The feeling of truly had fallen for someone, just like she used to have with JB, the feeling that is hard to achieve after they broke up.

The café they frequently visited was always empty from six to eight. It was always so that the two of them decided to only visit the café, hidden in small alleys in the famous streets of Hongdae. The employees of the café knew of them and helped them to earn their privacy, closing to other customers before eight in the morning. Some other famous artists joined them sometimes, including the national couple, Jokwon and Son Gain, veteran singers H.O.T Kangta and others, just to name a few.

Yoo Jin held the newspaper opened wide, his whole body was hidden behind the newspaper while Rian preferred to enjoy her meal by giving her book an occasional glance after putting a mouthful of porridge (gracefully). The two normally enjoyed their mornings with idle chatter before leaving the café, careful not to speak of really private matters.

“Yah, I’ve been thinking,” he paused, taking a quick sip of his black coffee. Rian, barely bother to tear away her eyes from the book, questioned, “About what?”

“Since we are already living with each other and with the recent developments in our relationship, I thought that we should seal the deal,” he replied, blatantly. This time, Rian snuck a quick glimpse at him but only saw the newspaper, covering him whole. “What deal?”

“Oh, you know. Marriage. Want to marry me?” he returned, casually with a loop-side smile. She narrowed her eyes at him, before firmly bawled, “No.” This prompted Yoo Jin to slam the newspaper on the table, eyes widened in astonishment. “Why?” moaned the rock star. He shot her a bewilderment look on his face.

She ignored him and went back to her novel, snorted. “If this is your idea of a proposal, I rather say no. I want it to be romantic.”

“What? You want it to be romantic? As if you have any other choice. With that mini-me inside your womb and your impossible attitude, not even Lee Joon would want to propose to you,” he retorted, folding the newspaper violently on the verge on ripping it apart. “No wonder, the guy didn’t cry a river when you two broke up. For all you know, he must have been happy with the news.” He glimpsed at her face. And froze, awkwardly.

She tried to wipe her tears away with the tissue, muffling some cuss words as she did so, even glaring at him when their eyes met briefly. He scratched his head; panic began to set in as he fiddled with a nearby spoon. He shoved his hands into his trousers’ pocket, upturning each pocket to find more tissues and with his free left hand; he grabbed her hand and prods her to take the tissues he found. She hastily snatched it and dabbed on her eyes, before her tears ruined her make-up.

Stupid hormones! She cursed both him and her hormones for the tears accumulating in her eyes. She would never cry over some useless matters, like a proposal. Okay, maybe a proposal is not as useless as she thought it would be … but she shouldn’t shed tears just because he a little. She’s stronger than this.

“Alright, alright. You win, princess. I’ll make sure you will have the most romantic proposal that will make other people envy you for ages and they will never be able to beat it even if they sell their souls to the devil,” he sighed in defeat.

“Y-you … promise?” she asked, almost close to a whisper. He nodded frantically, his head bopping up and down with great speed. “You have my word,” he said, beaming with a huge grin. “Now, please stop crying,” he begged, leaning closer to her, cooing her with a hand held out a tissue.

She always claimed that his proposal was the worst proposal that one could ask for. Nana and Ailee disagreed on her statement, stating that she was too embarrassed to admit that she was smitten by the cheesiness of his proposal. It was not that she was too embarrassed by it, but the fact it was his proposal evoke the long-lost feeling of a certain fondness.

On the long-waited day (it was just a week after he did the proposal over breakfast), she received a text from Yoo Jin to head for the Ritz Hotel and searched for an item in a suite. It was a game, something like a treasure hunt. She asked the receptionist at the reception counter for the key to suite 303 and took off to the room. Without realising Ui Bong trailing behind her like an amateur Private Investigator.

She eventually reached the karaoke room after spending a total of three hours and a half on the hunt. She pushed the door to the karaoke room open. The coast was dark and silent. And it remained that way for as long she spent the time waiting for something to happen (a total of ten minutes). She spurned around, after hearing unfamiliar footsteps. It was none other than Ui Bong, panting hard and the expression on his face was equivalent to a cartoon deer before being hit by an oncoming truck.

She tilted her head to one side, glaring at him, “This is Yoo Jin’s idea of a romantic proposal? Is this some kind of a joke? I’m done playing this hunt. Telling Yoo Jin that we are not going to get married after his little “stunt”. I’m going home,” she spat furiously at Ui Bong, whose anxiety was getting the best of him.

She took several steps ahead when he yelled, “Rian, wait! There was a misunderstanding. The venue is not here. Just go to the actual venue. He’s there, I swear” Rian was determined to leave ignoring his words, she continued to walk, Ui Bong threw his hands up in frustration and immediately tried to catch up with her fast striding. Spotting Hong Joo in a corner, Ui Bong motioned him to come closer and the frantic wave caused the singer to quicken his pace.

“Err, Rian, where are you going?” he questioned, timidly. Rian stopped on her tracks, shooting daggers at the two helpless men and snapped, “Home.”

Out of the blue, the idea of a single mother doesn’t seem too ridiculous to her. She could just move to the United States, focus on conquering the global market and live there with her child, devoid of the netizens’ criticisms. Yes, that was plan B if and when plan A (marriage with that jerk) failed to commence, absolutely a good idea. She will definitely have to purchase a ticket to US later when she reached home.

“No, Rian. Please give him a chance,” pleaded Hong Joo. Ui Bong nodded in agreement, “Yes, this is all our fault. He’s not playing a joke on you. He really went out from his normal cheapskate ways to prepare this event for you,” he added. Both men cut off her path and got to their knees on the floor and held their hands up, “If you wish, hit us but please, we beg you to give him a chance,” they said in unison. They breathed out of relief when Rian returned, “Hurry up, tell me where it is.”

They stood up and ushered to the Ritz Hotel’s ballroom hall. Ui Bong told her that from there onwards, she will have to go on alone until she spotted something familiar. She went in, her heels tapping the floorboards and there was nothing but her and the dimly lit halls. She did as she was told until she spotted a table, fitted with candles, cutlery and a vase of roses like the one you normally see in movies.

Just then, she heard sounds of a guitar echoing in the big hall and the familiarity of his voice. She turned to face him, singing Lee Seung Gi’s famous romantic song, ‘Will You Marry Me?’

Then, her perfect vision become blurred by the tears swelling in her eyes. There were no words that could describe her feelings at the moment. All she knew was that she was being very emotional. Even though she had wiped her tears away, carved an embarrassed smile on her face and whispered, “It’s beautiful.”, her tears refused to stop flowing.

He closed the distance between their bodies, wiping a single tear that managed to escape from her eyes gently with his long, slim finger.

She had filmed many proposal scenes before. Each scene had been dubbed by the media and critics-alike as one of the best romantic scenes in movies. Some were tender, others were hilarious, and a handful was sad but sweet and most was dreamy. But to one Lee Ji Kyung, this was the best proposal she ever had experienced and received. Yes, Nana and Ailee were right. He definitely had her smitten with his cheesy proposal.  It was also because … she realized she was in love with the man called Jin Yoo Jin.

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My special Thanks to Gehrel this chapter 13, 14 & 15 are from his ideas "Romeo N juliet" fanfiction...

I just edited it and some details to fit in a whole...thanks again Gehrel...