“Guess you’re a father now, oppa.”

Haejin froze. Color was draining from her beautiful face as it went pale. Her dried lips were slightly parted. Her body was absolutely still that her breathing could hardly be noticed. The thumping in her chest had stopped. Everything was like soundless moving pictures to her eyes as her sanity drifted away, detaching her from the very ground she stood on.

A cracked voice broke the grieve silence. It came from the man standing next to her with shock, if not horror, taking over his being.

“What… did you just say?” he could barely make it audible as his voice trembled.

“I said, you’re a father now. Daddy. Papa,” Jessica replied lightly, not showing any hints of being shocked.

His eyes squinted for he couldn’t bring himself to comprehend her words. As if she wasn’t speaking earth language in the first place. Jessica’s eyes slowly widened along with her brows raising, as she saw his expression.

“Oppa, don’t tell me… you don’t remember? You do, don’t you?” it was her eyes that narrowed now. Jaejoong furrowed in frustration as he couldn’t feel any more lost than this.

“Remember… what? I mean, how is it… mine?” he still couldn’t manage to utter his words without stammering. Things were seriously a chaos inside his head.

Haejin had been very quiet for the while.

“How could you forget…” Jessica clasped her parted mouth. “It was only two weeks ago, oppa! Your friend was celebrating his birthday at the club. You don’t remember that?” she faintly pressed in disbelief.

And the night she was talking about just shot back to his head in a flash, ever most vividly. He remembered drinking to his heart content as he hadn’t gotten the chance to do it with his friends for a while. He remembered getting drunk when he spotted her sitting on the bar across the room. He remembered provocative howls from his friends as he approached her, without bothering to sober up. He even remembered pinning her to the bar before smashing his lips against hers. His fists were clenched when he remembered…

“We were the last ones to leave the party, and you took me to—” Jessica’s attempt to refresh his memories was abruptly cut off.

“I remember!” he almost shouted. His sudden raise of voice dragged Haejin back to her senses, forcing her to hit the reality. Piercing pain right on her left chest and spread like a wild fire.

“You do? Thank goodness,” a relieved smile had crept back up Jessica’s face.

Haejin cleared , hoping not to sound hoarse. “Congratulations, Jessica-ssi,” she tried not to wince. “Do you want to do a blood test?”

“Ugh, actually I do… But I don’t want to go to the hospital, it’ll leak to the media in no time,” Jessica slumped down on the bed.

“You don’t have to. We can take your blood here, and deliver it to the hospital. They have agreed to this since we formed the alliance,” Haejin assured her whom quickly got up with sparkling eyes.

“Really? Then I would love to!” she squealed. Haejin only nodded breathlessly as she mouthed ‘okay’.

Walking past Jaejoong for the second time, she made a call to the hospital to inform the blood test. It had taken every single cell in her brain to stay focused, but her hands were still trembling helplessly. She clenched her fists very hard that her knuckles turned white and released them after a few seconds. It helped although very little.

She got back to her now-blooming patient as she took out her arm. She was aware of a pair of eyes belonged to the man behind her that searched for a pair of hers. But if she wanted to draw blood from Jessica without having her arm bruised, his eyes were everything she had to avoid.

The next 30 seconds were another struggle for her as she waited for the blood tube to fill. When it finally did, she quickly placed a piece of gauze over the puncture site and removed the needle. She noticed Jessica winced.

“I’ve cleaned it. Keep the gauze on for at least 15 minutes. I’m going to the hospital,” Haejin instructed while labeling the tube.

She was about to flee from the suffocating room but immediately stopped as the man she’d been avoiding the gaze was going to leave his spot also, intending to follow her.

“Stay. She needs you,” Haejin spoke with imperative punctuating every word. He was taken aback by her tone but obeyed nonetheless. He sighed in defeat as he took a step back. Still not looking at him, Haejin vaguely nodded as she left the room in haste.

Her long strides headed to the Equipment Room to take her car key. But to her dismay, her legs trembled to the extent she had to lean on the wall for support. She cursed under her shuddering breaths, hating her weakening form. She could only close her eyes when the door was opened abruptly and revealed a frowning girl with jet-black locks.

Without words, she supported Haejin’s weight and helped her to sit on the nearest chair. Jaeyeon dreaded her frail being, knowing how lively and composed Haejin had always been. The shocking news she got from the nurse had her bolting to the main house to look for her youngest sister. The state where she found Haejin was in brought the sudden urge in her to land a fist or two on that man’s face.

“Where are you going? I’ll drive you there,” Jaeyeon broke the silence as she noticed the car key Haejin had been holding.

The latter shook her head. “Hospital. I can drive,” she muttered almost inaudibly.

Jaeyeon squinted and searched Haejin’s hands. The moment she laid her eyes on the blood tube Haejin was holding, she sighed and bent her head down to suppress the arousing temper. Just by Haejin’s eyes, Jaeyeon knew she was intending on going alone, and she’d make sure she did.

“Are you sure? You don’t want me to go with you? I won’t make any sound, you’ll hardly notice my presence,” still, Jaeyeon tried. And her reply was exactly as she’d expected, another shook of her head.

“I’ll be fine,” Haejin said, looking all the opposite. “Thanks, Jaeyeon.” With that, she left the house and the worried Jaeyeon.

Since all Haejin had to do was to deliver the blood tube, she was already back in 30 minutes. The hospital would call as soon as the result was out—the agreed procedure had always been like that. She didn’t expect anyone but the receptionists to wait for her at the lobby, and even if she did, it wouldn’t be Kim Jaejoong. That was why she gasped when that familiar husky voice called her name.

She stopped as she abruptly looked up only to meet a pained, agonized gaze in a familiar pair of eyes. Not a single syllable was heard after the contact, for thoughts were jumbling in their minds. The torturing silence lasted for a good minute, as his stuttered words broke it.

“Can we… talk? Please?” he never sounded so guilty. Haejin couldn’t hold her gaze on his any longer that she looked down. Her eyes caught sight of his injured arm the other day, still neatly covered by the stripe.

“Your arm… There’s one more strip left, isn’t it? I’ll do it for you,” she said before turning around, exiting the main house to the Medical Unit. He was prepared for cold shoulder, silent treatment, even the most violent tantrum, but not this. He didn't know whether to feel relieved or prepare for the worst yet to come. Still, he followed her despite the hurricane inside him.

Silently, Haejin tended his healed wound. She soaked the strip to remove it. His recovering skin brought a vague twitch to her lips. Focusing her eyes on the wound only, she placed a new strip and gently pressed it on the sides. Her fingers moved in slow motion, as if she wanted that moment to last a bit longer. Or maybe she did.

“How is she?” Haejin asked. Her broken voice ripped his heart apart.

“She’s sleeping,” he barely made it out, though his eyes never left her figure. He felt the gentle touch on his arm was stopping, until her fingers left completely. When she lifted her face, the sad smile carved on it tore down every last bit of strength he kept to survive the day.

“Be good to her. She might become annoying, just let her be. Carrying an extra weight with constant nausea for nine months isn’t going to be easy. Help her to eat something, though she’ll probably throw them all. Bear with her for a while,” she tried not to stumble on her words.

“Haejin-ah,” he sounded no louder than a whisper. “I’m sorry.”

She let out half-hearted chuckle as she got up. “Don’t be. At least this doesn’t happen any later. We were still figuring things out anyway, weren’t we?”

Another dead silence was about to happen, but the sound of her cell phone ringing saved it. “Okay, I’ll get it. Thanks,” he heard her spoke on the phone.

“I’m getting the test result. You should wait with her,” Haejin said before heading to the door. “Oh, and congratulations, Jaejoong-ssi. You’ll be a great father,” she smiled and exited the room, leaving him shattered to pieces.

Jessica shed tears as she looked at the test result. Standing next to her, Jaejoong tried his utmost to smile. She looked up to him and pulled him in to an embrace, sharing her joy. Rather reluctant, he put his arms around her and patted her back instinctively. His face turned emotionless, as the chaos in his mind suddenly died down.

I'm very very VERY sorry for the late update, I had to finish my thesis >_< Since it's done now, I should be able to update regularly just like before :D

BIG THANK YOU for the comments, I really love them! Thank you cri_mson and blinaa for subscribing. And for all readers, too :)

I hope you enjoy this chapter, I know  it's sad but bear with me for a while, okay? And I'd love to know what you think ^^