"Blur"

 

Coldplay - Magic

 

“MISSING?!” Kris ge loud voice were heard all over the phone and I knew he must have been really angry.

“Ge…” I was trying to talk but even before that I heard him snapped at me again.

“Just…JUST HOW IT IS POSSIBLE FOR JINAH TO BE MISSING FROM YOUR SIDE, TAO?! I LEFT HER LESS THAN TWO HOURS AND SHE’S ALREADY MISSING UNDER YOUR WATCH?!!!”

I really have to put the phone away from my ears. First, I didn’t know my sister in law’s whereabouts and second, my cousin kept yelling at me I really couldn’t think of anything at this moment. My eyes frantically looking around the road while I kept talking with him on the phone – get scolded by Kris ge, to be exact.

“I didn’t know, Ge. I thought she’s still beside me when we entered the mall, turned out, Jiejie was missing and I-“

“If there’s anything happen to her and the baby” Kris ge cut my words, “I swear you’ll be sorry for the rest of your life, Tao”

And just like that, he ended the call, leaving me hanging.

I really have to find her, or else, I’d be found dead by my own cousin.

 

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24 hours earlier….

 

When we arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, I didn’t expect this kind of court to welcome us. Probably I still haven’t understand how powerful the Wu family, but upon seeing how many body guards came to fetch the three of us: me, Kris, and my mother in law, I couldn’t say anything. There’re more than twenty people dressed in black just to make a human barricade in order to make sure that we’re safely arrived inside the car. And as one limo was not enough for us, we’re put in two different vehicles. Kris was alone in one car while I sat along with my mother in law in another car. It’s the procedure, she said.

“It’s always like this when we’re in China. It’s our homeland, we need to be more careful” my mother in law said as she looked around the way we exited from the airport.

“There’re a lot of people who’s after Kris and you should know, Jinah” she added, catching my attention.

“The cousins?” I guessed. Kris always told me that his family were after each other, that even Luhan’s parents actually didn’t even like Kris, for they have a son with Wu blood but because he didn’t have Wu as his last name, Luhan didn’t listed as one of the owner of whatever Kris has now. I couldn’t understand that kind of family; it must have been tiring to have a family who fought a lot.

“And other parties also. A lot of people looking forward to see Kris failed on handling everything that’s given to him. They wished him a failure, so one day; he could be dismissed with that reason, if it’s not for his death”

“They could kill him for that?” I asked with surprise. I never knew this kind of story before. “I thought when he’s living in Korea or when we travelled outside the country, we didn’t have to use this kind of protection. Aren’t people trying to kill him outside China also?”

“Of course you’re under the watch of our body guards. There’s no way you two left unprotected, plus they have new target to protect” she eyed my bump and softly rubbed it. “He’s going to be Kris savior as well”

And I finally understand what our deal means. That when he said he need guarantee of his life, that I was saving his life, it’s with this baby inside me, he will have another successor and protected whatever he has. It’s like saving a person’s life as well as continued a family line in one time, and Kris was trying to do that. But I realized something after that.

“But my baby…” I suddenly said, making my mother in law looked at me. “Will he face the same thing Kris facing now?”

“As long as there’s only one Wu in this family line, it will always be like this” she resumed.

And I suddenly feeling so worry, I don’t want my baby to live this kind of life. I want him to grow normally, without this kind of guard or this kind of family conflict what so ever. But again, I couldn’t choose of course. I’m a part of the Wu now, and whatever happen to my son, seemed like it’d be decided by the whole clan.

“Anyway, Jinah. Have you thought about the future plan of you and your baby?”

“Future plan?”

“Remind me again, how long you said you agreed to stay after the baby born before you divorced with Kris?” she asked as she looked at me.

Was it weird to say that I didn’t even remember that part of agreement anymore? I mean… all I care for now is my baby to be born healthily and after that, we could talk about everything else. But seriously, I didn’t think of it until my mother in law asked me. I knew I would leave him one day; we’re not bonded by love, we’re bonded by this baby inside me and an agreement that it would be the only thing that made me stay with him until the baby born. I save his life by having this baby, and we’re saving a baby’s life by him marrying me and letting this little thing grew accordingly like how a baby supposed to be raised. But to be divorced from Kris…

“I see you’re not ready to talk about the divorce” my mother in law commented, half smiling. “I have another offering for you”

My instinct told me not to say yes to whatever she suggested, because she might wanted to separate me from my baby. And to that, I would never say yes, not even with Kris begging me to exchange with whatever he has.

“How about you stay true as Kris’ wife, forever?”

I gulped and blinked my eyes several times upon hearing what my mother in law had just said. She asked me to be… to stay as Kris’ wife? Forever? Forever?

“I thought you two might work” she stated before I could say anything as reply. “Even though I believe there’s nothing more than partnership in between you two, I do realize that it’s impossible for me to look for another daughter in law to replace you. You see, you and Kris works as power couple in the business. You two made a good deal by being married to each other; our company got more recognition, thanks to you, and you maintain your career as well. We have a very good mutual relationship, Jinah. And from what I saw on the dining room several days ago…”

I recalled the kiss. That morning when Kris kissed my forehead, I think she referred to that scene. We’re not having a “usual” but lately we started a new habit that unknowingly grew as something usual. And his kiss on my forehead is one of it, aside from the fact that he always rubbed my stomach before he fell asleep or me half hugging him whenever I smelled him.

“… I think you and Kris are starting to discuss about where your relationship is growing?” she asked and I couldn’t say anything.

We really never talked about our relationship. Really. From the very start, when we’re just two complete strangers agreed to have a marriage life together and now a good partner, I didn’t think we have other relationship to develop. We’re partner, and might stay as partner, just like we dealt at start. I knew sometimes I felt swayed, that I thought there’s something in the way he stared at me or when we held hand together, but if I recalled that we’re not doing this for ourselves, those feeling disappeared; vanished by the reality that screaming we’re not anything but a partner. No love involved. And even though I wanted it…. I’m not sure he is.

My mother in law suddenly caressing my palm, like she never done before and softly smiled at me.

“I would like to welcome you to our family, Jinah. If you want to…”

A warm feeling as well as a small kick felt inside me. I knew my baby already like his little family. Let Mommy think for a while, Baby…

 

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Once we arrived at where Kris’ family lived, on which I called as a little castle, we refreshed ourselves with the drinks and meals before starting the ceremony. I didn’t join since it involved so many activities of squatting and walking, aside from praying for the death. I met with all of the uncles and aunts of his family along with the cousins as well. I saw Fei, Luhan, and Tao, all dressed in black before joined Kris to pay a visit for his father. I took the seat at the side of the house, along with Kris’ grandmother as I watched the ceremony. I couldn’t communicate with her though, since she didn’t speak Korean or English and only spoke Chinese. But I knew that Grandma was nice and care for me.

She’s already 80 but she still looked healthy and fine, it’s just the misplaced of her knee joint that made her couldn’t walk well. She didn’t stop offering me to drink or eat the fruit she had and she kept caressing my belly while talking in Chinese. I thought she’s praying for my baby, so I just held her hand and smiled to her. My baby seemed to love Grandma also, since he kept kicking whenever Grandma caressed my stomach. I love how active he was, despite the fatigue I felt at night before I sleep when he couldn’t stop moving inside me.

When the ceremony ended, it’s almost evening and Kris along with other families chatted with other guests who paid a visit for his father’s death commemoration, I just wandered around the house on my own. It’s so huge, with a lot of maids and stairs. They even built an escalator inside, since Grandma couldn’t walk anymore. I love how they decorated the house; it’s like a mini castle but with oriental touch. I found a lot of pictures hanging on the wall or being displayed at the foyer of the house. It’s really pretty, but somehow, I couldn’t notice little Kris.

“Jie!” I turned around and found Tao came up to me with a warm hug. He grew taller than the last time I saw him.

“Hey, Tao!” I greeted him, smiling at him. “You look handsome today” I said as I patted his shoulder. Really, he looked perfect on his Armani dark suit; tall and fit. Plus, he dyed his hair with a little blonde highlight for his short clean cut, perfectly showing his manly side. Tao really matured a lot these past months.

“It’s good to see you again… Finally, I could run away from being introduced to those girls…”

“Girls?”

“My mother met with other families who paid respect to uncle… They brought their daughters and wanted to introduce me. But since there’re lots, I don’t even remember now those girls names and faces!” he complained in such a cute way, while sometimes mixed his Koreans to Chinese words and got me all confused.

“You’re handsome, it’s normal for those girls to be interested with you and your mother is just feeling proud to have you as son, she just wanted to get the right wife for you” I told him, caressing his shoulder.

“Can I have a wife like you? I would want a wife who’s beautiful and understand about my addiction towards Gucci and stuff” he pouted cutely and I let out a giggle upon hearing it.

“Let me introduce you to my junior, then?” I suggested him, but then he shrugged.

“Na’ah. I want to meet my future wife out of the blue, so later on I could tell the story of how we meet to our future children. That me and my future wife, meet accidentally without us planned. Just like you and Kris ge. You two are definitely my favorite couple”

I couldn’t say anything but letting an awkward laugh. Me and Kris… Yeah, we met accidentally. And really, whatever happened after that could be said as impulsive and incidental. I never thought that I would be a part of his family member, let out carrying his child. But what people saw about us, they thought an accidentally meeting couple was formed; but we’re never a couple from the very start. Oh God, why everything is about me and Kris being a couple?

“What are you doing here anyway?” Tao asked, awakened me from my own thought.

“Oh… I was just looking around. There’re a lot of pictures hanging here…” I said, appointing to the frames on the wall. The big one was placed beautifully in the middle of the living room, where all of the family members captured, minus Kris’ father and his first brother who’s died from car accident. Kris was younger back then, with his stoic facial expression he always had whenever he’s not smiling. It’s cute anyway, his lips made a natural thick pout.

“Grandma loves to hang all of our pictures. She misses us a lot when we’re not in her house, so she always wanted to see us growing. She also has a lot of pictorial albums for each of her sons and daughters, as well as grandchildren. And Jie, your wedding picture also placed here…” Tao took my hand to walk a little closer to a long wooden table with a lot of picture in it.

Pictures being placed on the table were only for couple. I noticed that Grandma put her pictures with Grandpa in her wedding day, holidays, and their small little family. I also saw Kris’ parents wedding picture and his uncle and aunts’ wedding also. And I found our wedding picture there. If I looked at it again, it’s kind of weird. I knew that I didn’t have the chemistry with Kris, it took the photographers several times to make us looked like a ‘real’ couple; so I pretended to be in a photo-shoot and voila! The pictures were taken. Even though it’s not real, I loved it when we took the picture with Grandma. That was the first time I met her and I suddenly became her family member, but she’s so kind and caring for me. I couldn’t forget her, and personally, our picture with her looked the prettiest one.

“Where’s Kris’ childhood pictures? I didn’t see one…” I asked Tao as I once again tried to look for his pictures. I noticed Luhan, Fei, and Tao’s childhood pictures, but not Kris’.

Tao giggled and took a photo that’s displayed in one of Grandma’s table. When he showed me a picture, I just looked at him in confused and plainly asked, “Who is this?” and Tao laughed really hard.

“See? You didn’t notice that it’s him also, right? Hahahaha” Tao laughed like it’s the funniest thing in this world.

I looked closely to the picture in his hand and the more I look at it, the more I see Kris there. It’s the gaze that little boy in the picture had… It’s so Kris. I laughed, following Tao. “Is it really him?”

“Yes, Jie. I didn’t know how he went from that to-“

“Having fun, I see?”

Tao and I stopped laughing once we heard Kris’ voice and once we looked at each other, we laughed again, leaving Kris raised his thick eyebrows and took the picture he found in Tao’s hand.

“Oh, not this picture again…” he groaned but I think that’s cute so I laughed along with Tao.

The thing about the picture was that… the boy there was dark skinned, short cut haired, and has a very deep gaze; and that gaze was the only thing that possibly made me noticed that it’s indeed little Kris. But the skin tone… Kris was indeed white, he has a very fair skin and it’s far from dark, not even tan. I laughed at that picture, and more of his young childhood photos that’s shown by Tao. He’s so dark back then…

“Yes, I was dark and now I’m white. So what?” he commented in annoyed, but I knew he’s not angry.

“What did you do to get your skin now?” I asked him playfully.

“I didn’t pay attention to my appearance back when I was child and I think that’s normal. When I started to move to Canada, I learned more to take care of my skin and finally I could get back my fair skin. I used to play under the sun every day. It’s really hot here in Guangzhou and I just loved doing outdoor activities, that’s why I got my skin darkened” he explained while looking around the room. It’s really filled with a lot of pictures; it felt like you’re doing a time travel there.

He stopped at one picture and kept looking at it. I stood next to him and found him longing at the man in the picture.

“Is that your father?” I asked him, more like whispering to him.

He noticed that I was peeking from the back of his hand and he slung his hand around my shoulder, pulling me closer to his body. “This is my father” he said.

“He looked handsome” I commented to the picture where Kris was standing next to his father. He followed his father to a golf course, it seemed. He smiled brightly while his father had his arm around him.

“I missed him” he said, just longingly looking at the picture. I could sense a pain in his words. He’s so young when his father died and left him with his mother only, having him prepared in such a young age to be responsible for a very huge company.

“I hope the baby will take you father’s look…” I commented, to make the ambience lighter. He looked at me and just chuckled.

“I looked like my father, of course the baby will inherit part of my handsome face” he said.

“Oh come on, Ge!” this time, Tao groaned upon hearing Kris’ words, making Kris walked to him and head locking him. “Aaaaa…. Ge, Kris Ge… Aaaaa… Ok, ok. I won’t deny any of your words anymoreeee…aaaa!”

I giggled as I saw those two playfully joking while I noticed my mother in law looked at me and smiled as she nodded. Before I could even came to her, she already moved to meet other guests. I have no idea what she’s intended with that nod and smile, I decided to ignore it. I have two boys to attend.

“Do you want to go to the bedroom?” Kris suddenly asked me when he noticed that I’m rubbing my stomach. The baby decided to be active again, he kept kicking me.

“Why you two suddenly go to the bedroom?” Tao asked with a sly face. “Do you want to do it?” he gasped with his eyes grew big; I just shook my head and laughed at his expression. “You can do it while Jiejie pregnant that big?”

This time he got his cheeks pulled by Kris. I never knew he could do anything violent towards the little brother he loves the most. Kris then helped me to get inside the elevator, leaving Tao who went directly to the dining room. The little Panda needs his dinner, he said.

When we reached the second level, again, I’m in awe with the decoration of this little castle. It’s really unique and exquisitely screaming ‘elegance’ as well as ‘expensive’.

“You grew up here?” I asked him when we walked on the carpeted alley, heading to his room.

“I was born here and living here until my father passed away and I have to move to Canada at the age of 10. I rarely came back here; I kind of miss it…”

“The house is beautiful…” I commented and he nodded in agreement.

“It is. I spent years playing hide and seek here with my cousins, or invited friends to play around. There’re lots of places to hide and the maid would never find you” he grinned. He suddenly turned into a little boy when he talked about his childhood. Indeed, there’s a boy inside every man.

Kris looked at a room across where we stayed. “That’s my parents’ room, and here” he opened a large wooden door next to me, “This is my bedroom”. As he held on the door knob, I stepped inside and once again, gasped with the view in front of me.

Kris’ bedroom was extraordinarily bigger than our bedroom (even that room was already big for me), and it was neatly organized. Once we entered the room, I noticed that the left part was designated for him to dress up. There stood a very large wooden cupboard with door glass where he put all of his clothes, shoes, and other accessories he might need along with a huge standing mirror. The right part of the room consisted of an extra-large king size bed with classic carving of three letters I never saw before. WYF.

“What is WYF?” I asked him, appointing to the carving at the top of his bed.

“That’s my acronym. Wu Yifan, my Chinese name” he explained as he pushed himself to the comfortable sofa in the middle of the room, placed in front of his bed. Paired with the set of the sofa was another wooden rack for the flat TV and his DVD set. At the corner of the room, I noticed a set of displays of his old toys and a table filled with basketball with a sign on it.

“I love basketball and I collected the signature of my favorite players” he said once he noticed that I was looking at those balls. Of course I knew he loves basketball; there’s no Saturday and Sunday evening left without him watching his favorite game ever and even yelled happily once it scored while I would be munching the snacks he ordered to accompany him watching or just plainly sleeping on the couch, because I dislike to watch the TV alone in the bedroom. And he kept playing basketball along with my dad whenever he got the time to visit my parent’s house. I smiled when I saw his basketball uniform in senior high school was displayed inside a glass-framed wall, being lighted. I love his room’s ambience, it’s cozy and it made me wanted to sleep already.

I joined him on the sofa where he randomly picked an old X-Men comic from the rack under the table. He smiled randomly at the pages he flipped open, maybe reminisced the old memories. Unknowingly, I smiled as I saw him. I imagined how younger version of Kris grew up in this room. I could see how he would spent his day, playing around the school, doing his homework, and spent more time playing on his toys collection. It must have been cute. And that moment, when I watched him being engrossed to the comic book in this relatively close distant, I felt it. That somehow, I’m so grateful to accidentally meet this man, that he’s the one beside me, that he’s the father of my baby, and that I….

Kris suddenly turned his face to me and we met nose by nose. I felt the shiver quickly ran in between my skin and I suddenly felt like my heart beating like crazy, I didn’t know what to do I just… Our eyes met and had I mentioned his beautiful eyes? He has such a pair of nice eyes, not warm but he has this kind of gaze that assuring me that he’ll protect me and that I’d be fine as long as I’m with him. And his nose… it’s impossible not to love his nose. Secretly, I loved to touch it every night when he fell asleep earlier than me. It’s soft yet hard, I loved the feeling of it when my fingertip running on it. And my eyes went to his lips. It’s a pair of naturally pink lips that always in a pout mode, but even so, he still looked adorable with that look. He didn’t have to smile to show the world that he’s handsome and that he owns all the attention to the room; he’s the kind of guy who walked and immediately everyone looked at him. And he’s legally registered as mine.

I could feel his breathing around my face it’s just…. I didn’t know whether it’s only me, but I’m sure, he felt the same way too. That he’s examining my face, that he’s having thought about me, and that-

“Ge? Dinner ti- OH MY GOD! I’M SORRY!” Tao was just half opened the door of our room before quickly slammed it upon seeing me and Kris.

Kris just automatically placed his face on my shoulder while me…. I just… sighed, relieved that Tao just saw that we’re looking at each other and not doing anything. We’re almost experiencing ‘that night’ event again; but somehow there’s a slightly disappointment in me that Tao had to interrupt us. I mean, Kris was looked holly hot on his dark pants and dark shirt and he just had his hair cut, side part shaved while the top part of his hair remain neat with him pulling it to the back, giving it a clean look. And his broad lean chest… Oh my God, Jinah! What are you thinking?!

“Sorry about that” Kris muttered as he awkwardly stood up and helped me to stand up.

“I think this is time for dinner before the baby take rest?” he said as he pulled me closer to him, intertwined our fingers together as we walked out from his room.

I couldn’t say anything. It’s the nth time we held hand together, but this is the first time he held it for no reason and I really love the feel of his skin collided with mine.

I’m screwed.

 

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“Where are we going today?” Jiejie asked when the three of us got inside Kris ge car. It’s been awhile since he’s driving us around the city and surely, I missed this moment.

“We’re going to the city, Jie” I explained her while smiling widely. On their second day in Guangzhou, Kris ge planned to take his wife to see more of the city where he born.  

“Aren’t we living in the city of Guangzhou?” she asked, a little bit confused.

“This area is kind of a bit far from the center of the city actually” Kris ge explained to her. “We’re going to visit the thing Tao really likes in here, Taikoo Hui”

“Taikoo Hui? What is that?”

I smiled to myself when I saw my sister in law expression. Darn, she’s so beautiful and adorable at the same time. No wonder Kris ge really fell for her. Never once I saw him paying such attention to a woman, the way he did to my sister in law.

“It’s one of my favorite malls here in China, Jie” I answered for her. “You can shop whatever you want there…”

“Are you going to buy it for me?” she cutely asked me.

“Sure, with Kris ge’s card, of course!”

And the three of us laughed after that. It’s been fun to spend the time with the couple; they’re just fine to hang out with, even though I almost interrupted their lovey dovey time last night. But it’s good when Jiejie was around, Kris ge wouldn’t dare to hurt me because Jiejie would be there to protect me. I love her ever since our first meeting.

It took less than 30 minutes for us to reach the Tianhe Road, where all the malls located in this city. There’re other malls aside from Taikoo Hui, it was Grandview Mall as well as TeeMall and Onelink International Plaza. But my favorite is Taikoo Hui. Didn’t mean to belittle the other malls, but Taikoo Hui was really made for people with money and taste. I love the ambience and I’m sure, my sister in law would love to shop there as well.

We reached there just before lunch, and since my sister in law really loves Chinese food ever since she’s getting pregnant, we took her to one of the finest Chinese dining. I’d love to take her to experience Chinese fine dining and Kris ge seemed to agree. Luhan ge couldn’t join the lunch date since he’s having a problem with his Ferrari, that’s why he’s at the repairing garage. And that’s also the reason why Kris ge should fetch him up.

“You know Luhan… He’s kind of sensitive over his car, he just need me for a while, just to decide on what car he should buy before selling out his lovely Ferrari” Kris ge said when he explained that he should be going to pick Luhan ge at the garage.

“It’s ok… I think Tao would love to accompany me to shop around the mall” she happily chirped as Jiejie linked her arm to mine. I flashed a big grin towards my cousin.

“Yes, Ge! I will take care of Jiejie…” I said to him in confidence.

“Should I call any of the bodyguard to accompany you?” Kris ge asked as he took his phone, texting on it.

I looked at my sister in law. Even though she’s pregnant, I still could take care of her and what she’s going to do anyway with that heavy bump?

“I don’t think so… We’ll be just playing around the mall and when we’re tired, let’s just meet at the Starbuck’s at the Lower Ground. Agree?”

“Ok. See you in a while, okay?”

And Kris ge left us at Taikoo Hui. Now it’s only me and Jiejie.

 

While walking arm to arm, I showed her the entire best feature in this mall. Since she craved for something sweet, I took her to the chocolate store as well as the cake shop. She couldn’t stop munching even though she just had three portions of meals earlier. The baby indeed a heavy eater, just like Kris ge said. It’s funny how sometimes he didn’t realize that he kept talking about his wife to me and Luhan ge. He always looked serious like ‘Tao, how do you do?’ and when I’ve done answered and asked him about his day; he would suddenly go ‘I didn’t know what to do… Jinah couldn’t sleep again last night’ and he would start to tell about his lovely wife all over again.   

“Jie, do you feel like shopping?” I asked her while we’re on the elevator.

“Depends… I think it’d be good to look for some baby-“

I quickly shook my head. “Come on! Kris ge told me that you two basically just bought the half stock of Nine Month for your baby. Time to shop for yourself!”

“I still feel that there’s something lacking for my baby…” she replied, rubbing on her bumpy stomach.

“Let’s just look for some handbag”

“To take my baby belonging? Hmm. Sound interesting”

I rolled my eyes hearing her answer and she just giggled happily. “Let’s just shop you a dress then…”

“Only one dress?”

“Of course not, you can do anything wild with your husband’s card, Jie” I said to her and somehow, she just laughed.

We walked again through the stores and at some point I saw something interesting at Gucci. The store itself was really close to the entrance gate of the mall, giving people easy access to get in to the mall once they walked out from the subway. I noticed that Jiejie walked next to me and even though we didn’t plan to visit Gucci, but my heart always been with Gucci so I wanted to try to see if there’s anything interesting to be seen. And I was right… I found a very nice scarf; it would fit my new suit.

Once I walked in, the staff quickly gathered to me and asked me whether I need something. As usual, they brought me the finest sample of the scarves and I walked around the store again. I found a nice necktie pin that I thought would fit Luhan ge and I saw a beautiful-

“Jie?” I suddenly turned around and didn’t found anyone but the staff. They looked at me in confused.

“Sir, do you need anything?”

“A pregnant woman. Where is the pregnant woman that’s earlier walked inside the store with me?” I asked to them. They exchanged look to each other and shook their head.

“Is there anyone coming with you, Sir?” asked one of the staff and really couldn’t help but furrowed my eyebrows.

“Of course there’s someone. Do you think the pregnant woman was ghost? She’s walking next to me… Don’t you see her?”

“But there’s no one with you, Sir. The moment you walked here, I just saw you alone” the staff explained.

I sighed and closed my eyes before I quickly walked out from the store. , where did I leave Jiejie? She’s always been next to me… Didn’t I pay attention to her? It’s impossible for her to go missing… I think I should call her, but… Darn! I forgot that her phone was left with Kris ge… Oh . Kris ge could kill me if he knew that I lost her wife. Ok… Calm down, Tao. Calm.

I quickly did a lap of run around the floor. I checked every store, every woman with long hair and wearing blue top and grey loose pants, but it wasn’t much and I really couldn’t see her here. I went back to the chocolate store, but I didn’t see her. So I ran back to the Gucci store and tried to see where she’s when I noticed the entrance door next to the store. Would it be possible for her to walk out from there? She probably wanted to get a fresh air, right?

I walked through the door, but still, I couldn’t find her. Where was Jiejie? Why I couldn’t see her anywhere? Panic grew inside me, I started by running around the mall. Taikoo Hui was big and it would take me few minutes to run around it, but I couldn’t risk the safety of my in law, I could do whatever to make sure that she’s safe so I ran. I checked around the mall while checking on the surrounding, still no sight of her. I didn’t dare to think the worse scenario, like if she’s being kidnapped. That wouldn’t be pretty, especially while she’s pregnant like that. I breathed heavily and kicked on the nearest wall. I really have to call Kris ge, no matter what.

I’m so ready for my punishment.

 

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I parked the car a little carelessly at the side of the road once I spotted Tao and before I could touch him, Luhan already pinned my hands to my back.

“Calm down, Kris!” he warned me while he asked Tao to move away.

I noticed that Tao looked panic and already feeling guilty and I knew he usually cried at the moment like this but now… Jinah was seen nowhere and I really couldn’t think of anything but blaming him. She’s less active with her current condition, how could she walk away from him and not being seen by Tao who’s practically much higher and faster than her?

“Where would she be going?” I asked him coldly.

“I’ve been searching around the mall Ge, I didn’t see her. The only thing that possible was that she’s going out from the mall….” He replied with a low tone.

“And why would she do that? Why would she be going out from the mall when outside the mall, she didn’t know anyone and more importantly, she couldn’t speak Chinese? Why would she do that?!” I half screamed at him, trying to untie myself from Luhan but his grip was tighter than I thought. Tao looked down like a little puppy upon hearing my words.

“Let’s just… Hhh” Luhan sighed before continued to talk. “Tao you better contact your guard to help us look for Jinah. I’ll be going to the police station, asking for all CCTV record in this road and Kris, I think it’d be better for you to look for her around the road along with Tao and the guards. Just try the road around here and across the mall, ok?”

I nodded, understanding Luhan’s plan. It’d be better if we search separately, minimalizing the possibility of not finding Jinah. Really, I have no idea at all why she would be outside the mall and wandering the road all by herself. I didn’t want to think of the possibility of her being kidnapped, no, that’d be just a horror for me. I just need to see her now; I wouldn’t even get angry to her. I just want to know that she’s okay and that she’s in a safe condition.

So I got back to the car and started the search of her. I kept in mind the clothes she’s wearing, her coat, her pants, and the way she did her hair today. Since it’s kind of cold, she decided to just have her hair loosened. She wore a bright blue coat, with a baby blue top inside and grey pants. She’s not bringing anything and that should be enough to look for her. But I couldn’t see her, anywhere. I’ve parked my car once I turned around the street and looked for her, in case she’s passing the road. There are rarely pregnant women in the road; mostly it’s a young mother and the baby. I really have no idea where to look for her… I couldn’t lose her, not in my own hometown.

I closed my eyes and I really prayed to God to let me see her again. I couldn’t imagine how could she survive alone in the road where no one speaks English and Korean? People here only speak Chinese, unless she met a Korean people. I sighed and palmed my face, the sky was getting darker and there’s no way I’d go back home without her. Jinah… where are you?

It’s almost impossible to see her in between so many people walking the busy road. It’s Friday night and the road would be busier once it reached the night. And that time, it’d be harder to search for her. Tao called me and informed me that the guards were all on the road now, looking for her. At least I had more eyes to help me seeing her. But still, I have no clue where she’s heading. She couldn’t be heading home, she didn’t even know our address and she didn’t speak Chinese, taxi drivers here rarely wanted to pick a passenger who didn’t have the clear address.

In the middle of my frantic action of looking her, I heard a familiar music being played. It’s the local musician who played around the road, showing their skills while asking the viewers to participate, either to sing or play the instruments. It’s like a media for stress reliever; people could request for any song and sang it publicly, be it to release the depression over work or life problems or even to propose their lovers. And that’s when I saw her, standing while clapping towards the musicians not too far for me. Jinah had opened, being awed by the performances and I really couldn’t hold myself not to run into her.

Quickly I took big steps and I just immediately pulled her to my arms, not intended to release her any soon.

“Kris?” she asked while patting on my shoulder. I haven’t done feeling so relieved for finally finding her, so I ignored her and continued to just hug her side and buried her head on my chest. “Hey, what happened?” she asked again.

“How could you leave Tao and went here alone?” I asked her once I took a step back. Her cheeks went red from the cold wind; I quickly cupped it, trying to warm her.

“I’m sorry…Before we getting inside the Gucci store, I saw a little girl running for her mother. I thought I should be helping her, that’s why I followed her while she took me to meet her mother around here. But once I got here, when I’m about to cross the road again, I saw the performance by the musician and got interested to them… That’s why…” she explained while sometimes looking at me.

“I almost kill Tao for leaving you alone in the road” I told her.

“What? Kris, that’s ridiculous. It’s not even his fault! I tried to call him but my voice was not loud enough, I’m afraid the little girl got lost, so I followed her, thinking that I’d just cross back to the mall once she met with her mother…” she said again.

I still couldn’t believe that I almost losing her so I pulled her again and just placed my chin above her head. I felt her hands circling my waist also. I really felt glad that I could finally found her…

“Were you looking for me?” she asked while trying to look at my face.

“More than you could think of” I muttered.

“Are you crying?” she furrowed her eyebrows and wiped the tears that appeared at the corner of my eyes.

“It’s just…” I sighed, looking away from her before I could look directly to her. “Don’t ever leave me again, okay?”

I was surprised with myself. I didn’t know that I could say it. I thought of it, but I didn’t know that I’m capable to say it right to her. She’s not leaving me, I know. She’s just away for a while and I couldn’t stand it. And that’s the problem.

“I never leave you, Kris…” she said, wiping the tears again and adding a small smile towards me.

“I know… It’s just… I thought I’m going to lose you few minutes ago and I really can’t stand the idea of it”

This time, this was her who looked surprised at me. She tried to search my eyes, trying to look for the meaning of my words on which I couldn’t understand as well. It’s so fast that all I could think of was that I didn’t want to lose her. I didn’t want to not see her any single day in my life anymore. Even to have her so close to me, if it’s possible, I wanted to have a day like this every day in my life.

“Kris?” she called me.

We knew that we’re on the edge of it. I completely fell for her and maybe now, I’m totally addicted to her presence. I couldn’t and wouldn’t let her be away from me. I need her in my life.

“Jinah, listen… This is maybe the most unamusing words you ever heard. But I just want to let you know. Without you, I can’t function well. And I really don’t wish to spend my day without your presence and I-“

The next thing I knew aside from people around us gasped and started to clap was that Jinah had her lips covered mine with her hands circled my neck. It wasn’t a very long kiss; it’s just a warm kiss from her to me. And since she had to stand up a little higher to reach my lips, she quickly ended it with a pinkish blush on her cheeks, which made her look more gorgeous in my eyes. I cupped the left side of her face and smiled at her.

“So the feeling is mutual?” I asked her while she could only looked down, feeling embarrassed by her own action earlier.

“You know the answer” she muttered, too shy to look at me. And I just could let out a laugh before I cupped her face again and leaned closer to her. We exchanged glance before I smiled, closed my eyes and kissed her pink lips.

The feeling of her soft lips on mine was so beautiful, delicious. One of the reasons that I love to kiss her was the fact that with Jinah, I didn’t have to think. It’s like our lips molded into one and moved on its own whenever we have to kiss. But now, it’s not that we have to kiss, but it’s because I want to kiss her. I want every part of her knew that for the rest of my life, I would never want her to be away from me, that I’d try my best to have her by my side. I loved it when I pressed my lips closer to her, she would responded softly by biting my lower lips, which was totally y for me and I’m so happy to have her in my life. I angled her face a little to the right, deepening my kiss there, successfully made her moaned in my lips. And I loved it.

I didn’t care with the people around us; it’s a normal view in the road of Guangzhou though. It’s not a weird thing to see a couple kiss while walking in the street. All I care about was the woman in my arm. I just wanted to make her feeling comfortable and could receive my feeling for her. Because from now on, the only thing that mattered was all about her.

I felt a little kick from her stomach, it must have been the baby and it must have been really hard on Jinah to have the baby kicked until I could feel it. I rubbed it slowly, trying to calm the baby down while I still kissed his mother.

Yes, Baby Bear, you too mattered for me and your mother.

 

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Thanks to my continuous 12 hours sleep per day during my bed rest period, I have enough energy and free time to write! Lol. Ok, I’m gonna miss this free moment starting next week though… so let’s enjoy it until it last…

Kris and Jinah now officially a couple! Anyone had a problem with that? Any objection? Hehehe… Finally, after the long 25 chapters ahead, they’re becoming a couple and I just… urgh feeling happy also, because I could finally find the time to make them as one.

Aren’t you all curious what’s going to happen in the next chapter? I previously wanted to tell you, but since you dislike teaser so… yeah, just see you on the next update.. Thanks for those who left hearty comment and gave their thought about the story line. Appreciate it.. I’ll try to reply it one by one, ok?

Take care!

xoxo,

yuriyaa

 

disclaimer: images are not mine