‘Do you want to stay here tonight?’ Yixing asked, looking at the clock while her hand continued to rub Kyungsoo’s back, comforting her friend.

Kyungsoo had appeared in front of her door around noon with Jongin, both looking utterly distressed and especially Kyungsoo, whose red eyes gave away the fact that she had been crying before she came. Although slightly shocked from the sight of Kyungsoo and Jongin together, Yixing had welcomed them both into her apartment. Ten minutes later, Jongin had left the apartment to go to Sehun’s place, not without Kyungsoo’s insistent reassurance I-will-be-fine. Once the boy was gone, it didn’t take long before Kyungsoo began sobbing miserably again as she told Yixing about her mother.

Yixing had correctly guessed Kyungsoo’s mother reaction, and felt that it was fortunate that she had found out about it before Mrs.Do because at least now Kyungsoo had her to run to.

'Do you want to stay here, tonight?' Yixing asked, her hand carding through Kyungsoo's hair, trying to sooth her friend.

Kyungsoo sniffed, scrunched her nose and shook her head.

‘Kris won’t be here until for the next few days, if that is what you’re worried about,’ Yixing said. ‘I don’t think you would want to face your mum so soon.’

Kyungsoo shook her head again. ‘It’s not Kris. I don’t want to go home either, but if I stayed out then it would make my mum lose her trust for me even more, and I don’t want that.’

‘I see. Then do you want me to take you home?’ Yixing stood up and went into the kitchen, refilling her and Kyungsoo’s cups with hot cocoa.

‘Maybe later, I don’t to go back yet.’

‘Whenever you’re ready.’ Yixing sat down. There was a thoughtful pause of silence.

‘Kyungsoo, why Jongin? And don’t take offense please, I’m merely curious.’

‘I don’t want to answer that question now, Xing. Maybe another time, but not now. I’m exhausted.’

‘Alright. It’s dinner time now. Do you want something to eat? I’m going to heat up the leftover from yesterday. Mind you, the leftover is still quite delicious.’

‘No, thanks. I’m not hungry.’

‘Then come to the kitchen with me, if you sit for too long then your mind will just keep thinking about it.’

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow. ‘And I suppose that standing would keep me from thinking about it?’

‘Well, yes. I bet you my constant blabbering will do a very good job at distracting you. So up you go.’ She pulled Kyungsoo from the couch and into the kitchen.

True to her words, Kyungsoo was feeling better while staying in the kitchen, stealing pieces of beef from her friend’s plate, eliciting a shriek from her friend every time. By the time Jongin unexpectedly came to pick her up, there was a smile on her face to greet him.

‘I see that Yixing had successfully cheered you up,’ he said, amused. ‘Thank you, Yixing.’

‘She’s evil, do you know how she paid me back? By stealing all the beef in my dinner,’ Yixing said in a fake indignant tone, making Kyungsoo giggled.

‘I know, she’s very evil. She physically abuses me all the time.’ Jongin decided to join Yixing.

‘You deserved it,’ Kyungsoo retorted.

‘I’m pretty sure I don’t. Anyway, congratulation on your engagement, Yixing.’

‘Thank you,’ Yixing said, a bright smile on her face.

‘Let’s go before she decides to make me jealous with her romantic recount again,’ Kyungsoo said, tugging Jongin away.

Jealous? Jongin mused, bidding a quick farewell to Yixing, who simply laughed at her friend.

They walked down the street in a comfortable silence to where Jongin parked his motorbike. The sun was setting down and the coldness of winter night could be felt quickly.

‘Where are you going to stay now?’ Kyungsoo asked, taking the helmet held out to her.

‘I’ve decided that I’m going to Sehun. I will talk to my father tomorrow,’ Jongin replied. Then he looked at her, pursing his lips as though he was having some internal debate. ‘Soo, I’m sorry about today. If I hadn’t come...’

A slight smile appeared on Kyungsoo’s face, her eyes softened as she leaned forward and took both of his hands into hers. ‘It’s okay, Jongin. Part of me is glad that my mum knows about us.’

‘But – ’

‘Although I didn’t want her to find out like this, I’m glad that she knows now. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed of our relationship, but I’m a hesitant coward, Jongin-ah. I think it would take me a long time to work up my courage to tell her about us.’

Then she leaned in closer, hugging him. ‘I know it’s going to be hard but we’re going to show her that we’re serious about this relationship and what a wonderful man you are, alright?’

Jongin chuckled as he kissed her on the head.

----

Kyungsoo could feel her heart thumping when she pulled the door open. Her eyes automatically diverted to the couch, where she had expected her mother to be. Indeed, Mrs. Do was sitting there with her back facing Kyungsoo. The living room was occupied by silence instead of the voices from her mother's usual Korean soap drama. Sweats began to broke around her temples. Kyungsoo was undecided on her next move; her semi-vacant mind was not helping her situation.

'How long are you intend to stand out there?'

Mrs. Do's voice cut through the silence like a sharp knife, causing Kyungsoo to flinch back. Pursing her lower lips, she slowly took off her shoes and put them away. Everything was deliberately done at a slower pace. Then, Kyungsoo walked over to the couch and sat down cautiously opposite to her mother, her eyes determinedly stayed away from her mother.

'Explain yourself,' her mother demanded.

Kyungsoo looked at her mother and asked in a tiny voice. 'Explain what?'

'What do you think? About your choice for such a boyfriend.'

Kyungsoo took a deep breath before she began. 'Firstly, he's my ex-student. He'd graduated a few months ago.'

Her mother rolled her eyes. 'That's beyond the point. Continue.'

'I'm not going to break up with him, mum.'

The silence that followed her statement left Kyungsoo felt suffocated. She would much rather her mother think aloud. Decided that she could not stand the silence, Kyungsoo spoke up first.

'You're being stupid and dangerous - risking your career for a boy merely out of high school and has no future ahead of him.'

The last bit stirred up anger in Kyungsoo. 'Mum, don't say that. He's an excellent dancer. He will get  a good career with his skill.'

'Excellent dancer? Dancers do not a stable career and income. And think about it, if you decided to start a family with him, do you really think he can support you financially all the time?You're just going to end up working three jobs to keep a roof on top of your head and food on your table.'

'Not all dancers are like that, mum. And don't think too far ahead, I never said anything about marriage - for God's sake, we're just dating!'

Her mother shook her head repeatedly,' Even more a fool you are. If not for marriage, why are you wasting time with a boy like that?'

'There is nothing wrong with him. Stop talking about him as if he is a loser like that.'

'He is,' her mother sneered,  You're just too blind to see it for yourself.'

Kyungsoo was fuming with anger. This conversation was not going anywhere.

'I'm not going to continue arguing with you anymore.' And then she left for her room quickly, trying to ignore her mother's hurtful comments.

Kyungsoo sat down on the floor and sobbed. While she could understand her mother's worries, she could not stand her mother being so disrespectful to Jongin like that. If her mother continues to be unreasonable like this, how is she ever going to be able to have a proper conversation with her on this matter?

Turning off the light, Kyungsoo decided to sit outside to calm down. Slowly, the chill breeze of the night cast away her anger, leaving behind merely a sense of sadness. Worn out by the day's events Kyungsoo unknowingly dozed off, but before she fell deep asleep, she was woken by sound of her ringtone. A glance at the screen brought a small smile to her face.

'How did it go?' Guilt was clear and loud in his voice.

'Wish it never happened,' she said. 'And stop feeling guilty. It's not your fault.'

'I'm sorry, Soo.'

Kyungsoo sighed heavily into the phone. 'No need for an apology. Quit arguing with me on this.'

An equally heavy sigh could be heard from the other line.

'I'm sorry, Jongin. I'm just taking my anger out on you. But seriously, you have nothing to feel guilty about.'

'Sorry, Soo.' His apology annoyed her because they kept reminding her of her mother's words earlier and how guilty it made her feel. If anything, it was actually him who deserved all the apology. She half wanted to hang up and half continue the conversation with him. In the end, she decided to change the subject of their conversation.

'So, what are you doing right now?'

Taking the hint, Jongin replied, 'Nothing much, just helping Sehun to clean up his pigsty of an apartment.'

A thumping sound that Kyungsoo guessed to be his pillow and Sehun's loud " It's not a pigsty. Go and stay somewhere else, you ungrateful " could be heard after Jongin's statement. Kyungsoo laughed at them. The two friends bickered for some more before Jongin returned to his conversation with Kyungsoo.

'Sorry, Sehun was just being an idiot,' he said. 'Soo, I've decided that I'll have a talk with my dad tomorrow.'

'Yeah?' That was unexpected.

'Yeah,' Jongin replied softly. 'I thought about it. It seemed pointless to keep avoiding the confrontation. Time is running out for me too.'

'What do you mean by "time is running out" for you?'

'My deferment time is ending soon, and I want to sign on with one of the agencies. I don't want to hide from my dad anymore,' Jongin explained. 'It's not that I need his permission or anything. I just want him to know that I'm going to pursue my dream no matter what he says or does.'

His words stunned Kyungsoo into silence. His passion and courage, attributes that she lacked, were conveyed clearly through his words and actions, reminding her of why she chose to persist with his difficult relationship. With him by her side, she would be able to overcome all of the obstacles.

'Do you want me to come with you tomorrow?' she asked softly.

'I would love to have you next to me tomorrow, but I don't want to cause more troubles to our relationship from my dad's knowledge of our relationship,' he said. 'Don't mistake it as me wanting to hide our relationship. I'm really not.'

Kyungsoo gave a light laugh at his nervousness. 'Calm down. I wasn't going to say anything.'

'Just in case,' he said, a hint of nervous remained in his voice.

'Just call me when you're done tomorrow.'

'Sure,' he agreed. 'On a different note, Kris and Yixing are organising a camp next Friday. Do you want to come?'

'Yixing texted me about it half an hour ago. I told her that I'll think about it.' Feeling cold, Kyungsoo went inside. 'Who did they invited?'

'The dance crew and this couple from Korea, I think they're Kris' friends.'

Kyungsoo gave it a thought before she spoke. 'I'd have said yes now, but I don't like going to the camp with the problem remained unsolved between my mum and I. She'd take it as an act of defiance, which will, more than likely, worsen our situation.'

Jongin hummed in agreement before moving onto another subject. They talked for some more then hung up.

---

The alarm went off boisterously, making Kyungsoo jolted up with her eyelids flew open then quickly closed again. With one eye squinted closed and the other half-opened, she reached over to the table to turned off the offensive alarm and promptly fell back onto her back.

She had fallen asleep while pondering about the various potential scenarios of talking to her mother. Kyungsoo did not want to have another confrontation soon but for some reasons, there were this strange sense of urgency telling her not to delay it. She'd tried to shrug that invisible voice off as she deliberately slowly brushed her teeth, took her time to choose her clothes for the day (even though there wasn't really a need for it). Once she was done, she took a deep breath and cautiously walked to the living room. With her mother no where in sight, she let out a heavy sigh of relief and went into the kitchen, where she found the breakfast her mother had left for her. No matter how angry her mother was with her, she'd never once not cooked for her.

After breakfast, Kyungsoo decided to call Hakyeon. It had been quite a while since she last saw her and she was interested to see the progress of her pregnancy. Hakyeon sounded genuinely excited by her call and decided to meet up at a cafe close to her house. While standing on the old bus, Kyungsoo contemplated of giving her driving test another go. Perhaps the third time would be the charm. Taking the public transport could be quite time-consuming and troublesome sometimes.

The cafe was conveniently located a few blocks from the bus stop. Kyungsoo could see Hakyeon even before she entered the cafe for the pregnant woman was sitting by the window with her head down while she looked through her phone. Feeling someone approaching, Hakyeon looked up.

'Hey there,' she beamed. 'Long time no see. How are you?'

Kyungsoo grinned as she sat down. 'I'm all good.' She took the menu from Hakyeon.

'I recommend the Melon Shake. It's quite nice.'

'I'll have a Melon Shake and a chocolate donut,' Kyungsoo gave the order to the waitress then she turned to Hakyeon and gave her a good look. Hakyeon looked happy and content despite the small eye bags. More noticeable, her stomach had grown much rounder since last time. 'How long until you're due?'

'Two and a half months,' she replied. 'I can't wait until this little boy is out. He's too much of a kicker, just like his dad.'

'A boy?' Hakyeon nodded. 'I'd wanted to keep the gender a mystery but Taekwoon convinced me that we need to know in order to buy things for our baby. I think it's just an excuse. He really wanted to know about the gender of our baby.'

'What was his reaction when he knew?' Kyungsoo asked before taking a bite of her donut.

The smile on Hakyeon's face grew as she recalled. 'He kept saying thank you to me while he cried. I don't think I ever saw him that emotional before. It was very startling.'

Unknowingly, the image of Jongin looking ecstatic as he kissed her stomach flashed through her mind, shocking her once she realised what she'd just done. She shook her head repeatedly to stop herself. There was a knowing, mischievous grin on Hakyeon's face when she looked at Kyungsoo. 'Already imagining having kids with him.'

The teasing tone turned Kyungsoo's face beet root red. 'No, I wasn't,' she denied, causing Hakyeon to laugh loudly.

'Stop laughing, I said I wasn't imagining anything.'  She glared.

'Honey, no need to get embarrassed, it's normal to think of things like that when you're in love,' she said. 'If anything, it's a good sign because it means that you're really in love with him.'

'It is?' Kyungsoo asked shyly, to which Hakyeon gave a firm nod. 'By the way, how are things going between you and Jongin?'

Kyungsoo's shoulders deflated at the question, a frown appeared on her face.

'Having a fight?' Hakyeon prompted. Kyungsoo shook her head. 'My mum found out about us.'

'Oh, that must be bad.' Kyungsoo nodded. 'She was livid. The fact that my mum saw him in a pyjamas and in my house made everything worse.'

'I can imagine. Discovering about your daughter sleeping with someone under your roof with out your consent.'

Kyungsoo scowled. 'We were not having . Why does everyone keep jumping to that conclusion? He was in his pyjamas, for God's sake.'

'Hey, hey, it's normal to assume that you guys did it okay? Not all couples are like you and Jongin, alright? Especially in your circle of friends.'

'Urgh.' Groaning in frustration, Kyungsoo decided not to retort. 'The point is, my mum found out and she wants us to break up.'

'I expected that much. Your mum is conservative as hell. There is no way she would want or allow you to be with a younger man, and to top things, a dancer who is barely out of high school.'

Kyungsoo flopped onto the table surface dejectedly. Hakyeon patted her head for consolation. ' Don't feel so bad. You're going to do a fine job convincing your mum how awesome Jongin is like how you convinced me.'

'Except I don't know how I'm going to convince her. She's stubborn as a mule.' 

'Don't worry, you'll find a way in no time.' Her hand was still patting Kyungsoo's head.

'Thanks,' Kyungsoo muttered. They fell into a contemplative silence after that.

'Taekwoon and I are moving back to America soon.' Immediately, Kyungsoo's head perked up from the table. 'What? When? You think this is a good time to drop a bomb like this on me now?'

'Oh, already feeling attached me to me?' Hakyeon teased, but upon seeing the sad look on her friend's face, she stopped her teasing. 'We'll keep in contact and I'll fly over to visit you from time to time.'

'But still, I like it better when you're here.'

'Aw. You're so cute,' the pregnant woman cooed. Kyungsoo immediately snapped, 'Stop calling me cute.'

'I'm leaving around July. It's five months away. We've got a long time so cheer up.'

They continued to hang out in the cafe for a little more before Hakyeon left for her appointment. Kyungsoo walked to the bus stop with her shoulders slouching down even more than before she met up with Hakyeon. Knowing that it would be a while before her friend was leaving, Kyungsoo couldn't help but feel despondent.

Her phone vibrated in her bag as she got onto the bus. It was Jongin.

'Hey.' She tried to suppress the gloominess in her tone.

'Are you at home at the moment?' he asked. He sounded equally casual so Kyungsoo could not try to guess how the talk with his dad went. She replied, 'I'm not home. I just came back from meeting up with Hakyeon.'

'Can I pick you up?' His voice remained neutral. 'Sure, pick me up in ten at the station,' she said.

Even before the bus had stopped Kyungsoo could see Jongin through the bus window. He was on his bike in the station's car park, looking thoughtful as he waited for her. Thoughtful was almost a neutral expression, so once again, she couldn't decipher his feelings. Kyungsoo got off the bus as quickly made her way toward his direction.

'Jongin?' She called out his name, which caused him to snap out of his reverie. Upon seeing her, he gave her a small yet forced smile. Forced. It could not be a good thing. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight hug. He hugged her back with equal intensity. Looking into his eyes, she could see sadness and pain there. Not knowing what to say or start the conversation, she hugged him even tighter, trying her best to console him.

After a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke, sounding utterly heartbroken.

'He disowned me, Soo.' 

__________________________________

Sorry for the very late update. Writer's block is what happened. Uni and other stuffs too. 

I hope all of you enjoy this chapter. I'm very sorry if this chapter disappoints you. 

Thank you for your continuing support and comments.

Just a question, have anyone read S.U.Pacat's Captive Prince? If you have, would you recommend it and rate it of out five.