"The Heir"

 

I looked at my reflection on the mirror. Smoky eyes makeup paired with simple bun on my hair and a Saab’s turquoise long dress made me looked proper enough to put the diamond necklace along with the earrings, a gift from my mother in law. I rechecked on my Tiffany’s Embrace ring and played it several times as I took a second look on my nail that’s painted in a pale pink color. I looked at myself one more time. Perfect.

I took a deep breath before I opened the door of the large bathroom at the hotel, only to find Kris stood up in his dark suit as he leaned to the wall, checking on his phone. He looked totally handsome as he channeled the Armani suit with his perfect model body. He got the leg, the chest, the face, and the perfect hairstyle to pull this style. Any women would take second look when they saw my husband for sure. Uh, I mean, Kris. He belonged to no one, so to call him mine was kind of…. Uh, never mind. Kris looked awesome, handsome, and gorgeous –whatever you named it, I should admit.

When he noticed that I already walked out from the bathroom, he looked up and we had our eyes met. He quickly checked on me and simply nodded.

“You look good”

He walked closer to me, giving his hand. I looked at it and exchanged look with him.

“Are you ready to walk?” he asked simply.  

I nodded and rather than slipped my hand on his arm, we walked hand in hand. I noticed that for several occasions lately, we tended to lock hand whenever we have to walk publicly and I noticed that Mr. Wu here felt comfortable with it, so I didn’t think any protest needed. But I didn’t feel weird to intertwined our fingers together, I got used to him and his presence, plus I think it’s normal for a couple to hold hand like us, so it’d be totally perfect for our coverage in front of the public.

The usher that greeted us after we reached the second floor nodded politely to us and opened the large wooden door, revealing the main ballroom owned by his mother’s mansion. The room already designed to be simple yet classy, with round tables, flowers, and pretty food here and there. A lot of people already gathered, it’s my mother in law birthday, and everybody is celebrating it. Well, not really everybody since this party is only for her family side that came all the way from China. Previously she held a birthday party for business relatives and invited my parents also, but for now, it’s a private party or Chinese private party, to be exact.

I didn’t see anyone familiar aside from Luhan and Tao; I still need to learn more about the big family. Kris’ father is a family with 4 siblings; with his father as the oldest here. The second son, Uncle Steve, died young during his university period when he studied in America and found died from a car accident. The rest of the siblings are girls, so none of them will have any kids named under Wu, which made Kris the only Wu left in the family.

Luhan is the first son from the Lu; his mother is the fourth daughter of Wu family. He has a younger sister who’s currently studying in London. The third daughter, I didn’t recall if she has any daughter or son, I really should ask Kris again. And the youngest one, it is Tao’s mother. She’s more likely a spoiled princess, Kris said; since she was born all she has to do was living a good life by following her father’s words, Kris’ grandfather, married to the man he chose for her and of course, shopping; on which inherited to Tao. Unlike Luhan, Tao is the only son and he’s the maknae of this big family, making him the most spoiled baby boy, just like what happened to his mother.

And there’re still other aunts and uncles from other family which I should remember, but I failed. Last night before I sleep, I learned their name and pictures along with Kris, but he didn’t help much since all he said was “Relax, stay next to me, and you’ll be free from questions”. But thing is, it’s just five minutes since we entered this ballroom and he already socialized with his uncle Ray who happened to be living in Paris and he has not seeing his uncle for decade, so here I am now. Alone.

I tried to look for my mother in law, but she’s talking to grandmother and didn’t seem to be free enough to babysit me, the lost daughter in law. Luhan and Tao, they’re just the same, they’re talking with... I don’t know, maybe other cousins? I sighed and realized that Chen was not here, maybe because it’s a family event, so he didn’t have to attend and manage the party. If only he’s here, I’d be happy to have him talk with me since everyone here spoke…Chinese. Yes, I know, I married a Chinese man, of course I should at least understand but other than Nihao ma, I failed in other parts of Chinese. Can’t any of them speak Korean or at least, English?

“Jinah”

I turned around my body once I heard someone called my name. Two beautiful ladies on their 40 greeted me with a warm smile and I just realized that they looked so noble and classy, just like the rest of Wu family. Were they members of the Wu also? The next scene was totally unpredictable for me. The two ladies came closer to me and as they spoke in such a fast Chinese (or so I thought) they’re softly patted my shoulder and touched my baby bump. Judging from that situation, they might want to talk to me about my baby? God, why didn’t they use English? I couldn’t tell whether they’re just talking to each other or asking question to me.

I kept my smile yet confused face to the two ladies that I believed are Kris’ aunts, so while they’re talking to each other and appointment me and my baby bump, I could just smiled widely. But the talk ended when a woman around my age, or older, came across the room and politely nodded to them. The three of them talked, I have no idea about what of course, but I think it’s something related with me or not, I’m not really sure of it. The two aunts looked a bit annoyed to the woman earlier and after that, they’re leaving. I prepared myself to talk with body language to the woman, but once she turned her body, she greeted me with a fluent Korean.

“Hello, Jinah”

“Oh, you speak Korean?” I asked her in excitement. She smiled to me and nodded, making me feeling relieved. “Oh, God. Thank you, finally someone with my language” I said to her in a thankful expression.

“You better learn Chinese then for your survival” she said sneakily.

I quickly shook my head. “Uh, no. I don’t think so… Chinese is not my thing” and the fact that I wouldn’t be staying too long for this family, yeah, I need to only sacrifice my life here, no need to torture my soul by learning Chinese also, please.

“Oh, by the way, who are you? I’m sorry I don’t recall your name…” I said to the beautiful woman/

“Of course you won’t remember me. I arrived shortly on your wedding and after you vowed to be husband and wife, I left since I have another event to attend to, really sorry about that” she said apologetically.

“No, it’s fine. Our wedding was shortly announced, so if anyone already have schedule on that day, it’s understandable”

“I’m Fei, Kris’ cousin” she introduced herself as she smiled to me. Ok, is this family having a gorgeous chain in their DNA? How could all the family look great and perfect? I felt offended here.

“Technically I’m his younger cousin, but my mom married earlier than his father so I’m four years older than him in real life” she winked as she took my hand and walked to one of the round tables there. “Glad to see you, Jinah”

“Glad to see you too, Fei Jie” I said, trying to be polite. She let out a beautiful laugh as she heard me calling her Jie.

“Na’ah. You don’t have to call me Jie, just call me Fei” she waved her hand calmly. “And how’s the baby here? How old is your pregnancy now?”

“It’s the 20^th week…” I said as I softly rubbed my bumpy stomach. It’s getting bigger and clearly seen by other since my bump looked so big.

“That’s sweet… half way of the pregnancy, hmm?” she asked me, showing an excitement. Oh I’m glad already that my baby is going to have a beautiful and nice aunt like Fei.

“Yeah, it’s getting hard to sleep and I kept going to the toilet ever since it’s getting bigger”

“I’m planning to have one next year, so maybe I should ask you later about pregnancy tips”

I couldn’t hide my surprise over her words. “Oh, you’re married already?”

“Not yet, earlier next year. My fiancé is still busy settling his business in New York, so I have to wait until everything’s ready before the wedding. Enough about me, how about you and Kris?”

“Me and Kris? What about us?” I replied awkwardly. Oh God, what now? I need to have my answer ready regarding Kris-related questions.

“No, it’s just… Don’t get offended ok? I’m just saying an opinion… Kris’ ex-girlfriends, most of them are non-popular people, and even though they’re popular, it’s unlikely on your level. They usually occupied as lawyer, doctor, social worker, or whatever you name it… but never really an A list celebrity. And here you are…”

“Well… What can I say?” I laughed awkwardly. That guy, was he seriously dated those kinds of women?

“I know love works in a weird way” Fei said as she nodded. Ha. Love. Yeah, right. Love.

“Yeah, it’s so weird, isn’t it?” I tried my best to act like what she said was true. Oh come on.

“I still remembered when he got his heart broken and randomly made a tattoo… Man, that’s just… he’s so broken that time” Fei said as she softly shook her head, reminisced the bad event, I guess.

I blinked my eyes several times. A tattoo. Kris has a tattoo? Where is it located?

“What? He didn’t tell you the story behind the tattoo?” Fei looked at me in surprise. Oh, no.

“Uh… No” I answered helplessly. Better to be honest rather than making up a story, yes, I’m sure of it. You can do it, Jinah.

Fei looked at me sympathetically, she softly patted my shoulder. “It’s a hard period for him, so maybe you just have to wait until he’s being honest with you… I’m sorry if I ask something personal like this…”

“Oh no, it’s fine…” I replied calmly, like it’s really fine to not know about his historical tattoo. What tattoo would he have? A rose? A wing? What? Was a girl leaving him made him want to ink his body? Gee.

“Yeah, it’s fine since you two will spend the rest of your life together… Kris would likely share his tattoo history later on. I’m sure of it…”

“It’s not a big deal” I replied.

“And talking about the deal… When are we going to get to know the baby’s gender?” she suddenly asked.

I looked at Fei in surprise. Wait, why she suddenly talked about a deal? Did she know something?

“Mmm…why?”

She let out a chuckle like I asked something stupid. “Oh come on, Jinah. We all know about it, right? Your mother in law, Kris, the aunts earlier, our big family… Everyone is getting curious about your baby’s gender…”

“And the reason is…”

“The heir, of course” she shrugged calmly. Before she continued our talk, she asked the waitress to bring some food and drink for me and her, making me waiting anxiously. I recalled my mother in law wanted to talk about the baby’s gender also, but since she got too busy, she forgot about it, I guess.

“Ok, I think you’re still new in this area, but for sure, our family need successor. You know, I’m the daughter from the third Wu’s daughter, and I have no Wu on my name of course. Same goes to Luhan and Tao, and Luhan’s little sister, Hana. None of us named with Wu, only Kris has it. And it’s clearly his duty to have a successor for our Wu name”

Fei stopped talking to sip her wine while I looked at her blankly.

“A boy. This family needs a boy, right?” I concluded her sentences and she gave me a small nod.

“We need no girl here in the family line. So if all he got is a baby girl, I don’t think he could survive to stay as the future lead of Wu Global Company”

“He’s not going to be immediately removed from the heir list, isn’t he?”

Again, Fei softly chuckled upon my words. “No, of course not. Unless you plan to have another baby in such a short time, maybe?”

I couldn’t imagine myself having another baby from Kris. I mean… this one is unpredictable. The next one? We only had discussion regarding my baby and after that, the end of our marriage. No talk about other babies…

Before I could continue to talk with Fei, a voice heard from the middle of the room. The birthday party was about to start so all of the family members should be presented. Fei asked me to join her before she sent me to stand next to Kris who already got ready near his mother.

No matter how fun the party was, no matter how excited his mother towards my presence in the party and how happy she was regarding my pregnancy, I couldn’t forget what Fei said to me.

“We need no girl here in the family line”

Somehow, I got so scared when my eyes met with Kris’ and he smiled warmly as he looked at me. I’m scared that his smile would be vanished if the baby inside me is actually a girl. And for some unknown reason, I didn’t want it to happen. 

 

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“That’s ridiculous, Jinah. It’s 2014, it’s not ancient period where only baby boy were allowed to stay alive. Stop thinking that you’re gonna die because you have a baby girl” I said loudly from my kitchen when I found that Jinah came to my apartment with a panic expression allover her face. She’s now sitting on my couch while hugging the pillow.

“But it’s going to happen, Sora. My mother in law was so serious when she talked about the baby gender, and now that Fei mentioned it too, I couldn’t help but thinking about it. What if the baby is a girl?” she asked pathetically from the living room. I rolled my eyes in annoyance as I cooked our lunch.

It’s my day off from the office after I got married a month ago. Yoochun oppa, my husband, was out of town for his work and would be back tomorrow night, so to have a lunch time with Jinah would be perfect for us. But when she came here, all I saw was a worried face. She had been like this since she came back from her mother in law’s birthday when she heard that her baby must be a boy in order for her to save her baby’s life as well as Kris’; which I found ridiculous.

“Whatever the situation, Kris is going to take care of this baby. It was his promise, right? He said that he’s going to take care of the baby while you save his position as the heir of the family”

Jinah quickly shook her head. “If the baby is a boy, of course I could save his position. But if it’s a girl, there’s no use on it”

“You see, Fei is still alive even though she’s a girl, right?”

“She has no Wu on her name and she has no right on any Wu’s properties, if you want to know the details of it” Jinah added with annoyed face. “Ok, it’s not about the wealth or the money, but how is my baby going to survive? Do you think her father would be just throwing her life away?”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I walked to her and just sat across her, looked at her panic expression.

“Jinah, let’s take it this way. Even though it’s a baby girl, your baby will still be fine. I believe Kris will be responsible for his child and he wouldn’t just throw you two out of his life. Ok, maybe there will be separation between you and him, but the baby? There’s no ex-children, Jinah. No matter what, he’ll care about the baby. I’m sure of it…” I softly said as I rubbed her arms. She took a deep breath and released it slowly, just like she learned in yoga class.

“My baby will be okay, right?” she asked as she looked at me.

“Your baby will be okay. And if its father didn’t want to take care of it, I’ll be the first who helped you raise the baby, ok? Deal?”

For the first time since I saw her today, Jinah finally smiled and I felt quite happy with that. A pregnant woman should not have her heart shaken or got their mood changed too often and I’m trying my best to protect my friend from that. I love her too much to see her feeling a pain.

“Be calm, okay? Don’t you remember earlier when you knew that you want to keep the baby? You said to me, no matter what, you’re going to raise the baby on your own. Now, that you’re married to him, why is it so hard for you to let go? What is the thing that holding you? Are you afraid of losing your baby or losing Kris also?”

Jinah looked at me in a confused expression.

“Pardon me?”

“You find it hard to not getting attached to Kris, right?”

Jinah shook her head quickly. “You better stop thinking that there’s something between me and Kris other than the baby”

“No, it’s true, you know. You start to get clingy to him, remember you called me several weeks ago when he’s out to Japan? What you said? ‘Sora, it’s so silent without Kris here…’”

“Stop it” she threw a pillow to me, making me laugh at her shy expression.

“It’s fine, Jinah, it’s really fine if you want to admit that you harbor a feeling to him. He’s your husband anyway” I said to her seriously.

Years knowing Jinah, I knew when she’s interested or not towards a guy. Woobin oppa happened to be one of her biggest muse though and I knew when she finally showed the real sign of falling in love. With Kris, I knew she’s not yet felt anything but I just knew that deep down inside, she started to consider him. She knew she’s kind of shy and timid to him at first, but the way I saw it, she’s getting comfortable with Kris and I like how that guy treated her.

“In a matter of now, yes, he’s my husband. But after two or three years, he’ll be my ex-husband, the father of my baby, and that’s all what we’re going to have in the future” she calmly said.

“I dare to be different. You’ll last longer with him, more than you expected” I winked at her, making her rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Whatever you said, Sora”

“Hehehe… Just kidding. Ok, let’s get our lunch. We should be ready for the doctor appointment at four, okay?” I reminded her.

Jinah stopped whatever she did and slowly rubbed her bump that appear behind her soft pink dress.

“It’s today, isn’t it?”

“The gender revelation? Yeah…” I nodded as I patted her shoulder.

“I hope everything’s okay”

“Oh everything will be okay, I’m sure of it”

I stood up before her and left for the kitchen, but I didn’t miss her soft whisper.

“It better be okay…”

 

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I looked blankly at the presentation that’s being explained by one of my engineers. We’re talking about building a resort with each house made into a snail, so people could experience a different stay during their trip to our resort. It’s a nice idea though and developing it was kind of interesting also, but I couldn’t help myself to think elsewhere.

Jinah.

I randomly took my pen and made a scribble on my note, writing her name and then…the baby. Ever since we’re coming back from my mom’s birthday dinner, she couldn’t help but looked restless and that’s because she felt so stressful due to the baby gender. Fei told me.

I couldn’t blame her; the fact that we’re indeed need a baby boy in this family must have made her felt pressured. I knew that it wasn’t our call to decide whether it’s a boy or not, but if it’s not a boy, there’s 50% chance that we’re going to have a family meeting to discuss the next plan of breeding another Wu in this family. I’m the only one left with Wu name on it, there’s no one else in our family line. So if I don’t have a baby boy to continue our family, I don’t know what the elder would do… This is so stupid, I know, but it’s really drives me crazy.

I care about our family, of course. But I care also about Jinah and our baby. There’s no way I’m going to ignore the presence of the baby that’s clearly mine. So be it a baby boy or girl, the baby is still my child; and I’m going to protect it no matter what.

And that thing, I should be able to tell her. But I don’t know, I have no guts to tell her that. I knew she’s worried and I knew she’s kind of not want me to know that she’s indeed worried, but even though I knew, I did nothing. I just pretended, just like her, that there’s nothing happened; that her blank and absentminded look meant nothing. I wonder if she wanted to ask me but too scared that I’d ignore her. But the thing is… I’m not going to ignore her. But maybe, I’m such a coward to even tell her that.

“Mr. Wu?”

As my name got called, I immediately cleared my throat and acted like I paid attention to every single words being said in this room.

“Yes?”

“Any comment regarding the development of this building?” the engineer asked.

I cleared my throat again. Would there be any problem if I said no? I noticed that people kept looking at me, so I just tapped my pen and slowly shook my head.

“No, nothing. Continue, please”

The engineer nodded at me and continued to give his explanation and I just quickly had my mind back to Jinah. What’s she doing now? Would she be okay? She told me that she’s going to Sora’s before heading to the hospital for the check up and I couldn’t help but feeling a little nervous about it. It’s the week when she finally could see the baby’s gender; the thing that we’re worrying about.

I took my phone and typed a short message to her. In a blink of eye, the message replied already. It’s Sora, using Jinah’s phone, telling me that they’re already in the hospital and Jinah was having her routine check-up. I couldn’t hold myself to ask more about her condition but Sora said that she’d let me know once everything checked thoroughly so for now, all I have to do is wait.

Minutes by minutes passed and the presentation kept going on. I started to bite my nail, which showed my nervous level. The anxiety to know her result really made me crazy, so I tried to distract my mind from her by started to pay attention to the presentation and made quite a contribution by kept asking questions and giving suggestions on the resort developments. And by the time we’re finished, I didn’t realize that I forgot to check on my phone.

There appeared one missed call from Jinah. I decided to just leave the meeting since it’s already over and quickly make a call to her. Since when it was taking so long for her to just answer my call? Should I just call Sora? Should I-

“Hello?”

I heard her voice on the other side of the line. She sounded…calm.

“Jinah?”

“Yes, Kris?”

I didn’t know what to tell. I mean… Yes, I called her and I need to ask her why she called me earlier but then…

“You called. Earlier” I said.

“Oh, yes”

“So… what’s up?”

Yes, I’m so going to kill myself. I didn’t call my wife to ask her what’s up. But whatever…

“I’ve taken my routine check-up...”

“Uh huh”

“And Kris…” she hung her words, waiting to take another breath. I started to regret why I didn’t cancel this meeting and just accompany her to see our baby. .

“Yes?”

“It’s a boy….” She said in a relief. “Our baby… is a boy” she repeated.

And there’s something filled my heart like there’s something made me want to yell a loud YES! But I knew I can’t since I’m at the hotel alley so I just raised my fist to the empty air.

“Oh, ok. You’ve got everything checked? How’s your health? How’s the baby’s?” I got excited suddenly that I kept asking her.

“We’re fine. I gained more kilos, but it’s normal and the baby’s weight is normal also… We’re perfectly fine” she said again.

“It’s a good thing then, hmm?”

I could hear her chuckle from the phone. “Hmm, yes. It’s a good thing”

“So no more worry face?”

“How do you- Did you notice?” she asked in disbelief.

“It appeared allover your face. Yes, I noticed” I replied, letting out a small laugh, trying to make her feeling comfortable.

“Yeah, no more worried face then…”

“Good. Just focus on your pregnancy, nothing else. Okay?”

I could sense that she’s going to just nod and smile to herself, but I guess my guess was right. “Hmm, yes. Sure…”

“Ok. See you for dinner? At Kyungsoo’s?”

“Tonight?”

“Sure… Why? You’re not feeling well to go out?” I asked her, a little worry.

“No, no, I’m fine. It’s just… I’m just wearing a very informal dress and cardigan and sandals… and…”

“We’ll just book Kyungsoo’s place for us, no need to dress up”

“No, not you and your hobby to book every place we’re visiting, Kris…”

“It’s Kyungsoo… He’ll allow me, especially if I’m using your name. Deal?”

“God, seriously…”

“Yes, I’m that serious. So see you around seven, ok? I’ll call your driver. And ask Sora to join also, we’ll have quite a little celebration”

“Isn’t it too early for a celebration?”

“No, Jinah. No…”

“Ok, whatever you want”

“See you at seven. Bye”

“Bye…”

“And Jinah” I suddenly called her again.

“Yes?”

“Congratulation” I whispered softly, smiling to myself. I didn’t know why, I felt like it’s a good news and I wanted her to feel good about this. She let out a small laugh at the other side of the line.

“Congratulation, Kris”

We ended the phone call and I found myself still leaning to the wall. It felt good, like a huge burden on my shoulder being taken and I finally could take a normal breath. I smiled to myself, the waiting was worth every seconds.

“Hyung”

I looked to my right and found Chen walked to me with a confused face. “Is there anything wrong? Why you left so early?”

“It’s Jinah” I said as I waved my phone.

“Is she okay?”

I nodded. “She’s totally okay”

“So why are you so rush to go out?” he asked me again.

I smiled to him as I brought his shoulder closer to me.

“You’re going to have a nephew”

 

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I’m updating!

Yes, the heir that we’re waiting is finally here, a baby boy for Mr. & Mrs. Wu!