+++

Honestly, Hayoung was more hurt than stupefied with Sehun’s outburst. Though what he said to his mom shocked her, she was droning over the fact that she didn’t matter at all to him. Before all this he’d been super kind to her. It felt like it’d been more of an act than a display of who he really was.

Leaving her parents she followed him down the hall to see a dim light shining through the window of one of the doors.

At least, she thought, they should talk.

When she listened to the cup shatter into uselessness on the ground she wondered if she had underestimated his feelings. Sehun didn’t budge an inch, so after regaining confidence she forced herself forward.

“I only found out about the engagement on the way here,” Hayoung started, “I couldn’t tell you beforehand.”

Sehun turned away from her and plopped down onto the stool in front of the counter. A long, deep sigh fell through his lips as he dug his face into his hand then ruffled his hair.

“Just leave.”

Couldn’t he let her help him? She wasn’t that bad of a person.

Hayoung continued to look at him, but Sehun never turned. What had she been hoping for? She didn’t know.

Disappointed and with no choice but to leave him she turned to walk away, leaving the door open behind her. She wanted to share his sadness, his frustration, and his anger even when she knew well he’d created a barrier.

“Oh Hayoung,” Sehun’s mother grabbed her hands to hold them when they were at the door minutes later after dinner, “I’m so sorry about Sehun. He’s still so immature. Please don’t be upset with him. I’ll have a talk with him and set things straight.”

“I’m not upset,” Hayoung smiled and shook her head, “it’s ok. You don’t have to talk to him for me.”

“Your daughter’s so kind,” his mother turned to share the comment with her mother.

While the two women laughed and boast, Hayoung peered back into the house. Sehun would probably never want to talk to her at this rate; not when their mothers were trying to gain control of everything.

Hayoung knew well how her mother worked and Sehun’s mother couldn’t be any different since they were friends. They lived in a vicious world.

“You heard that, didn’t you?” Her mother asked in the car from the seat across her. “The engagement ceremony will be held at the end of the month, so take leave from the Day Care. I won’t have others talking about how my daughter works with normal people.”

They lived under constraints and controls as if every part of their life had been functioned to perform that way. Hayoung wanted freedom in very much in the same ways Sehun longed for, but she also liked him and that held her back from freedom. She would have to give up one thing for another. Nothing came without a price.

What she chose now would affect the rest of her life.

+++

“Mom,” Luhan walked up to his mother in the kitchen and leaned against the counter to watch her cook, “it looks like you might have a daughter-in-law soon.”

His mother turned to him and smiled brightly. “You’re moving fast.”

Luhan uncontrollably smiled, “Mom, to what extent are you and dad willing to go to help Namjoo and Ki Hoon?”

“Why?” His mother questioned underneath her breath suspicious and worried. “Did something happen?”

“Oh no,” he immediately shook his head, “just…if worse comes to worse, are you two willing to help?”

“Of course,” his mother stated with a nod of her head then said louder, “of course! But what’s going on?”

Luhan glanced at the tiled floor before looking into her face, “Namjoo told me about Ki Hoon’s father.”

His mother’s jaw dropped and she reached over to turn the stove off.

Shifting to face him she asked shocked, “What?!”

“Actually,” he started, “he’s been seeing Ki Hoon at the Day Care…and he’s gone to see Namjoo on several occasions too.”  

“Oh no…does he want money?”

Luhan shook his head, “He has money, mom. He comes from a rich background.”

He saw her eyes widen in utter surprise and became baffled by speechlessness. She couldn’t think of anything to say in the next few seconds that came by.

“Namjoo accepted their money in hopes of saving her father, but he didn’t make it,” Luhan explained, “mom, if they find out about Ki Hoon; they might want to take him from Namjoo. And if his father keeps coming back for Namjoo, it’ll create trouble for her. She’s…afraid of his mom.”

“How much?” His mother asked seemingly even more shocked, but still restrained. “How much does she owe them?”

“Maybe over ten thousand,” Luhan said quietly as if the number was too large for his mouth. “I…want to protect them. I want Namjoo to be happy, mom.”

“Of course, of course,” his mother pressed her lips together and touched his arm while nodding in determination. “We will protect them, all of us together.”

+++

“No go to Grammy’s?” Ki Hoon watched her set a bowl of soup in front of him.

Joining him a second later Namjoo smiled and leaned forward, “We’ll go tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Because Han Han is busy and we shouldn’t bother him too much,” Namjoo told. “Sometimes, we have to be on our own too. Ok?”

“Why? Why can’t we eat with Han Han?”

Namjoo pressed her lips together to remain patient, “Tomorrow. You can spend tomorrow morning with Han Han, I promise.”

Reaching over for his tiny spoon she handed it to him and smiled when he took it.

“Do you want to stay with Grammy and Grampa for a while?” Namjoo asked. “No Day Care, but with Grammy and Grampa. Would you like that?”

Ki Hoon excitedly nodded, “I like Grampa! We watch TV. Mommy, we live with Han Han, Grammy, and Grampa?”

“We’ll see,” Namjoo reached over to touch his head.

The question was how soon she’d be able to find another Day Care for Ki Hoon that wouldn’t be too far. She hated imposing on Luhan’s parents. They’d already done so much for her that she didn’t want them to do anymore. Besides, they weren’t related in any way and she couldn’t have them doing more for her than she could for them.

While Ki Hoon slept that night Namjoo sat at the edge of the bed; her eyes meeting with the hairclip Luhan had given her a few days ago. If they eventually got married, leaving Ki Hoon with Luhan’s parents wouldn’t make her feel so guilty. Plus, she’d already lived with them once so living with them again wouldn’t be too hard for her.

Luhan was a good man and she had no one else to believe in, but him. From the beginning he’d always protected her. It was different than when she was with Sehun.

Sehun…hadn’t been able to protect her. It was she who’d protected Sehun from her father’s backlashes. Though it hurt to think about it, she couldn’t remember Sehun stepping up to protect her. She only remembered how he wanted a life away from home and she was the first person to let him have that.

She’d lost her footing for him and he overrode her mind with his voice at all times. It was hard to recall a moment when she hadn’t thought about him. Namjoo only came to see that it probably wasn’t love, but a level of infatuation. When a person is in love, they shouldn’t leave family or friends behind for that special someone; it’s not right. She shouldn’t have loved Sehun the way she did.

Love?

Namjoo was still searching for it.

+++

“You don’t want me to come with you?” Luhan asked in the morning.

“You have to go to work,” Namjoo told while bundling Ki Hoon up into a sweater all too thick for the warmth of spring.

“It’s ok,” he told, “I don’t mind…”

“Of course you never mind,” Namjoo stated standing up.

“Why are you making him wear that thick thing?”

Namjoo narrowed her eyes at him, “I think Ki Hoon’s sick. He had a slight fever this morning.”

“What!?” He gasped shocked. “Then you shouldn’t be going anywhere.”

“I have to stop by work after going to take a look at the new Day Care,” Namjoo explained.

Luhan stared at her wondering why she hadn’t taken the suggestion to leave Ki Hoon with his parents into consideration.

“My parents can watch him, why are you wasting money to go elsewhere?”

“Just…for now. For now, ok?”

He trained his eyes on her warily before heaving a long sigh. “Fine, be stubborn.”

“Han Han,” Ki Hoon called out during the drive to the Day Care.

“Hmm?”

“Is mommy mad at me?”

Luhan glanced into the rearview mirror to look at Ki Hoon’s worried gaze. A smile at why he was wondering such things hit him.

“Why would she be angry with you?”

“No daddy, so mommy sad.” Ki Hoon slurred his words slightly then added, “Right?”

The smile wore off on Luhan’s face and he felt ultimately apologetic for not being able to do anything better for them.

Ki Hoon fidgeted with his fingers and said with a stuffy nose, “Mommy no sleep at night. My fault no daddy.”

Luhan slowly brought the car to a halt outside of the Day Care and remained glued in his seat. A few seconds passed by before he stepped out of the car and unbuckled Ki Hoon’s seatbelt before leading him out. Crouching down so that they were at eye level Luhan took his chubby hands and gently gripped them to assure Ki Hoon that he was there for him.

“Hoon-ah,” Luhan began, “your mommy loves you. It’s not your fault; nothing’s your fault, you hear me? And mommy isn’t mad at you. Trust me, I know. You know you can believe me, right?”

He made sure to smile into the little boy who was just like his son’s face.

“Don’t be sad,” Luhan urged gently, “if you’re sad, mommy’s going to be sad too. We don’t want that, do we?”

Ki Hoon shook his tiny head and grasped onto Luhan’s thumbs, “Han Han loves mommy, right?”

Luhan’s brows slightly rose up by themselves in surprise. A little Ki Hoon would know that?

“Han Han be daddy?”

A delighted laugh filtered out of Luhan’s mouth at the unexpected words from him.

“Your mother needs to say yes first,” Luhan told before ruffling his hair affectionately then carried him up. “Lets go inside now, shall we?”

After dropping Ki Hoon off with the other kids Luhan walked around for a bit before spotting one of the Day Care assistants, who was just putting away her purse.

“Excuse me,” Luhan said slightly knocking on the door.

The slender woman turned to look at him, “Oh yes, how can I help you?”

“I dropped Ki Hoon off this morning for his mother,” Luhan explained. “He had a slight fever this morning. Here’s my card; call me if his condition gets worse.”

+++

Hayoung watched the man walk off after waving to Ki Hoon and glanced down at his business card. What was his relationship with Ki Hoon and his mother if they weren’t married?

For a while she played with the kids that day, giving them snacks, and letting them have their nap time. All through this her mind skimmed over last night’s unhappy events. Maybe she should stop being cowardly and talk to Sehun directly about what was wrong. What was he brooding after? And was Ki Hoon his son?

Hayoung was dazed for a while before she woke up to the panic beside her. Ki Hoon was suddenly vomiting and burning up.

Five minutes after he was transported to the hospital Hayoung stared at the phone for the longest time. Inside her head was a mad rush of right and wrong. If she did this, Sehun would leave…might leave. If she didn’t…she’d still feel guilty for some reason that couldn’t be explained. Because why…why did this matter to her that Sehun find out what had happened to his son?

+++

Sehun was adamant on not picking up his phone, but he was it was annoying him because it’d been ringing for the past minute. Short on patience he swiped his phone off the desk and held it to his ear without answering.

“Sehun, I…” Hayoung started then paused for a long time.

Annoyed, he asked hastily, “What do you want?”

The few seconds that came were eaten by silence before she told, “Ki Hoon…he’s been taken to the hospital. I just thought…I should tell you.”

His heart was beating in his ears after he hung up and he stared at the empty doorway for a few minutes with nothing transgressing through his mind.

To go…or not to go?

Without wasting another precious second he grabbed his keys and ran out of the door.

Of course, of course it mattered. Ki Hoon was his son; his flesh, his blood, and someone…he’d lost time with.

He sped down the street, his mind taking over his body before he realized where he was headed. The Cellular Store appeared on his left and he hurriedly stepped on the brakes listening to them squeal beneath him. With a turn of his head he turned to look at Namjoo, who was busy at work inside.

Stepping out of the car he hurried across the street and into the store. Upon his entrance Namjoo and her co-worker turned to look at him surprised. Without warning he reached for her hand and pulled her along.

“Wh…”

“I need you to come with me,” Sehun said and when the door closed behind them outside she flung her hand out.

“What do you want!?”

Sehun stared into her face, his mind running over all the time she’d spent with Ki Hoon without him…and how unfair it was. Though the fact bit him, he couldn’t forget the situation at hand. Staring into her face brought more nostalgia to him along with a despairing ache he couldn’t fight.

“Our son…is in the hospital.”

***/screams/ "Our son" ;__; /but cries for Ki Hoon though. The kid knows more than he should

***Well I thought I'd update for the last time before turning this week over to finals. Good luck to me, good luck to you guys, and happy holidays!