CHAPTER 13 Black Sun (part 3): Warmth  

      “Mom?” TaeYeon could not move a muscle. How choked up was he hearing Eunji address Tiffany with the word he least expected!

      Eunji immediately shut her eyes when her own words echoed back to her as if she could escape the situation. “Things are not going well for me today,” Eunji sighed heavily with much regret. She knew the truth had to be revealed someday, but blurting it out like this didn’t seem right. If only she wasn’t so used to responding to her mother so quickly.

      TaeYeon gazed intently at Tiffany then back to Eunji. It was evident to see the family resemblance. It always crossed his mind how they were very alike in a lot of areas, but he didn’t expect they were so much closer than he thought. Right from the very start, he deemed Eunji a special girl to him since she was able to trigger his memories of Tiffany, but he did not for one second suspect that they could be related.

      Eunji was just SeoHyun’s student among many other kids. He was always told that he had to meet her because of her skills in music and SeoHyun added no other reasons but that. After all this time, did SeoHyun inform him so well because this girl right in front of him was his own daughter? Connecting the dots seemed easy with all of the facts suddenly popping up in his head, but it just choked him up even more.

      Although his memory was still shaky, he was sure that his family had not mentioned this to him at least once. There were never hints, never a slip of a tongue, nor a suspicious gaze being exchanged around him to say that he ever had a child in his life, at least not until earlier today. Only Jessica managed to blurt it out. He tried not to lean on her words since earlier because they didn’t make any sense, but just by looking at everyone’s eyes in that room at that time, they were all determined to hide something from him. His heart boiled at the thought of their fit for he could not understand their intentions at all.

      But out of everyone who kept this from him, he felt Tiffany had deceived him the most. He talked about Eunji with Tiffany just last night, but she asked questions as if she was not fond of her. She could have revealed it then when they were both so relaxed, but she spoke as if Eunji’s mother was some other woman. Was it all because of his memory loss that she was so hesitant to admit it? Was it all because he treated her harshly after waking up from his coma fifteen years ago? She should’ve known that hiding the truth from him would anger him more than shocking him with the truth.

      “TaeYeon, Eunji…” Tiffany trembled. There was definitely a lot of explaining needed to be done.

      Jessica barged in the coffee shop and panted. “Hey! Why are you getting coffee now?? SeoHyun is…” she trailed off when she lifted her head seeing TaeYeon and Eunji sitting across each other with Tiffany standing stiffly in front of them. She gasped and was amazed to see them all together. “Woah! What a surprise.”

      Too many questions fired in TaeYeon’s his head. The weight of it all got worse every second he was there. Unable to calm himself from the confusion, TaeYeon abruptly stood up from his seat, glared at all of them bitterly, and headed for the door.

      “TaeYeon…” Tiffany she managed to grab the TaeYeon’s fingers but he immediately jolted it away from her.

      “Don’t…” TaeYeon turned his head furiously. He did not look back at her fearing his hatred towards her would fuel more. “Give me a few minutes.”

      Eunji hung his head low. Most of Tiffany’s previous dates have a hard time taking in the fact that she has daughter so this reaction was nothing new. Understandably, it was worse for TaeYeon since she was really her father and he didn’t even know it almost all his life. In her head she prayed her bad timing would not negatively affect the way things would go.

      Jessica was right in front of the entrance and did not move away. She kept leering TaeYeon down so that he would not leave so harshly but it did not affect him. He glared back at her fiercely warning her that she should not get involved and shouldered his way out of the shop. Rather than being irritated by the way he was acting, Jessica softened and understood his stance. She has never seen him as upset as today and he really needed some space.

      Tiffany took a stiff step debating whether she should chase him down but Jessica gently held her back. TaeYeon looked like he could erupt in a messy argument if Tiffany chased him down and it surely would not end well.

      “Gosh, why do I have to keep doing this,” Jessica thought and sighed. She seemed to always get caught between both of them like it was instinctively her responsibility to hold them back together. She did somewhat feel bad for doing it but at the same time proud because she was doing this to protect them. Tiffany and TaeYeon were too emotionally driven that sometimes they need someone in their life who would think carefully of the outcome.

      So instead of chasing after him, Tiffany tried to calm her heart and prepare herself to tell her daughter what was going on assuming she didn’t know anything. She took a deep breath and said,

      “Eunji… I’m dating Mr. Kim.”

      Tiffany’s complexion had turned pale from the building stress and Eunji could not bear to watch it get worse. She went to her mother and hugged her tightly. “I know.”

      Tears gathered in Tiffany’s eyes, overwhelmed by how Eunji’s warmth somehow took a bit of the burden off of her. She squeezed her daughter back and tried her hardest not to cry.

      “And… Eunji, I-I have to tell you something more about him. He’s not just someone or your music teacher. He’s much more to you and me. He’s… agh…”

      Eunji already knew what she was about to say and caressed her mother’s head to calm her down even more. “You don’t have to say it. I already know that, too—that he’s my father.”

      “Huh? How…? When did you…?” she looked at her daughter.

      “I’ve known for a while,” Eunji softly replied and simply smiled.

      “Guys, I don’t mean to interrupt this very wonderful moment, but we have to go,” Jessica said as she tapped Tiffany’s back. “SeoHyun’s baby is about to be born and I don’t wanna miss that wonderful moment.”

      “Right!” Tiffany gathered her senses and held Eunji’s hand. “Let’s go.”

***

      On the way to finding a quiet place to clear his mind, a nurse asked TaeYeon if he knew Key since she noticed him a while ago with Eunji. He just simply nodded and without even realizing what was going on he was left in a room with Key who was lying unconscious with all kinds of wires and bandages wrapped around him. He thought keeping this boy company for a while would clear his mind, but everything before him only reminded him of himself. He could almost feel the pain and annoyance creeping under his veins seeing every detail that often kept him company. The pulse wire, the needles attached on him, the constant beeping of the heartbeat monitor, the immobility, the stiff bed, the nurses who barely cared about privacy—the list could go on.

      Scenes of him on hospital beds resurfaced in his memory but this time, it saddened him rather than frustrate him. It was truly a strange feeling to hear the heartbeat monitor when he’s not lying on the bed himself. It was the first time he felt his heart breaking at the thought of how helpless he was to a person battling life in his sleep.

      At that moment, he could not escape the wave of shame suddenly drowning him. If he is greatly grieved thinking about the life of a boy he barely knew, how heartbroken must Tiffany have been fifteen years ago? They were both in such an intimate relationship for a year. They made countless promises and goals that they thought they could achieve together. He sincerely devoted himself to always love her and take care of their coming child, yet what happened? At a time when he needed to carry out all these kinds of promises, he got into an accident, lost his memories, and broke everything. He felt like he had no right to be upset now. Even if he was lied to or was kept in the dark for a long period of time, he thought nothing, absolutely nothing that he has gone through will equal to the pain behind every tear Tiffany has shed for the past fifteen years solely because of him.

      “She must be a fool to still fall for a fool like me,” he laughed trying to lighten up his mood but it depressed him even more. Was he supposed to feel great that Tiffany never stopped loving him? He’s the type of person who hates being the main reason of anyone’s problems, so to hear that his very existence greatly affected Tiffany’s life made him feel really miserable.

      “It’s all my fault,” TaeYeon ruffled his hair in frustration. He was the one who suggested their little action for that Halloween night in 1997. If he hadn’t lusted for her, he could’ve saved all the trouble of bringing so much pain and hardships on the table. Tiffany could have had a chance to have a new start, a new relationship, a new life after his coma. She could have had the chance to love someone else who could take care of her and love her more than he ever will. But because her love for him stayed within their child, she probably went through unbearable struggles trying to live through without him.

      Because of that thought, he felt like he doesn’t deserve a woman like Tiffany.  Tiffany let him go because she didn’t want him to give up his dreams. Tiffany could not commit to other men completely because her body has been committed to him. Tiffany kept the truth about Eunji from him because she knew he was sensitive to heavy news. Although she was not the wisest or smartest in her decisions, she did nothing but try to love him. Even after all the pain she went through just because of him, she was still able to smile brightly for him. She was like a diamond that never loses its dazzling beauty, prone to scratches and the strongest of all gems. But she was much more precious than a diamond for she is only one out of a billion—his one and only Tiffany. Other than sweet sayings and a lustful kiss, what act of real love has he done to pay all of this debt? Nickles of love just won’t do.

      TaeYeon’s eyes dropped to Key’s face. “This poor boy,” he thought. “I hope he doesn’t meet a cruel fate.”

      He stood up and walked out of the room. He felt like he had been gone far too long, not just for this moment, but for most of his life. He had to come back to them, to what should have been 15 years ago.

***

      “Okay, good job, SeoHyun-ssi. You’re doing well,” Constant encouragement from the doctor could be heard inside the birthing room. As YongHwa accompanied his wife to help give her strength, Jessica, Yuri, HyoYeon, Tiffany, and Eunji anxiously waited outside. SeoHyun’s mother, who came all the way from Incheon, was also present. HyoYeon seemed the most nervous out of all of them since she paced back and forth endlessly. Jessica was not nervous but she often peeked in the room impatiently with SeoHyun’s mother every time the doctors said something. So far, Yuri and Eunji were the only ones that were relaxed. Tiffany, on the other hand, was still a little out of it since she could not think of anything else but forming imaginary conversations with TaeYeon when he comes back.

      “Good, good, good!” The doctor exclaimed. “Yes, keep it up!”

      “Wow, SeoHyun’s good,” Jessica said as she was peeking inside again. “I screamed my lungs out when I gave birth to my babies, but SeoHyun is totally sedated. She just breaths in and breathes out like it’s some yoga exercise.”

      “Yeah, you did almost kind of break my eardrums off with Yoona’s birth. I thought I would never hear my first child’s cry,” Yuri commented.

      “Oh, I remember that,” Eunji laughed. “I thought the glasses were going to break. It was so high pitched even with the doors closed. It’s like she was calling dolphins or something, hahahaha!”

      “Are you guys not nervous at all?” HyoYeon asked. “I feel like I’m gonna die here.”

      “You’re not even the father,” Eunji chuckled. “And Aunt SeoHyun is so healthy I bet there won’t be problems at all.”

      “Well, I’ve been with SeoHyun longer than her husband so I have a right to feel like this kid,” she snarled.

      “So far this has been the most laid-back birth that I’ve experienced. So I’m not worried at all,” Yuri said. “I remember the most hectic one was your birth,” he pointed to Eunji, “And uaghhhh, that was a traumatizing day.”

      “Wait, what? My birth?” Eunji wondered. “You witnessed even that?”

      “Of course! And it was craazyy! That’s why when I say you’re like my daughter I really mean it because I witnessed even that!”

      “Really?” Eunji turned to her mother. “I think you never told me anything about this. Was he really there?”

      “Oh, yeah he was.” Tiffany chuckled as she remembered the events that happened. “It really was crazy, wasn’t it? Wow… I can’t believe I survived that. It’s amazing.”

      “You guys are talking as if it was the end of the world,” Eunji scoffed. “What exactly happened?”

      “You were born on a farm… at some abandoned little shack to be exact,” Tiffany said. “No clear warning, no medical equipment, no sanitized bed, just Sunny, Yuri, me, and a friend panicking and trying to do our best to get you out.”

      “Um… what?” Eunji’s mouth dropped finding it hard to imagine.

      “I think some event was happening then, that’s why we ended up roaming around the empty part of the country side. I didn’t know—or I guess I did know but I wasn’t sure—that I was on my labor so when the water broke we all panicked. We didn’t have time to go anywhere since it was all too sudden. And there weren’t exactly adults around to help. And I think it was also raining at that time so we pretty much had no choice but to deliver you in the middle of nowhere…”

      “So… Aunt Sunny helped you give birth? Just her? In a barn?”

      “Hey, don’t forget I was there. I helped around, too!” Yuri exclaimed.

      “Wait… so you saw…” Eunji trailed off with a deceitful smirk in her face.

      “No! I didn’t! I saw nothing! Nothing, okay? Nothing!” Yuri’s hand gestures shot on the air to clear things off. He had to make sure this fifteen-year-old daughter-of-the-byuntae-TaeYeon understands him and takes him seriously. “I cleaned the place, gave your mother some kind of comfort, and brought you to life when they thought you weren’t breathing. Don’t get the wrong ideas kid!”

      Tiffany chuckled and then continued, “Yeah, I just held Yuri’s hand the whole time. I thought I was going to break it off that day because I gripped it so tightly. But Sunny did pretty much do all the gross parts like-”

      “Don’t say it. I get it,” Eunji interrupted. She didn’t need to know the details any further. Reading about her parents’ in her mother’s diary was weird enough. She didn’t want another weird scene to be scarred in her brain.

      “Oh! I can see it!” YongHwa exclaimed. Tiffany, HyoYeon, Yuri, and Eunji exchanged excited glances.

      A minute later, a cry of a baby erupted in the air. Everyone lost their heads at the sound and could not wait to see the baby. After waiting for a few more minutes, they doctors only allowed SeoHyun’s mother to come in and see the baby. Somehow, Jessica was able to talk her way into the room, too.

      “Was it a boy or a girl again? I don’t remember Aunt SeoHyun telling me the gender of the baby,” Eunji said.

      “That’s because she and YongHwa kept it all a secret from us,” Yuri said.

      “Well I know,” HyoYeon proudly held her chin up.

      Jessica tiptoed out the room with a big grin and jumped in excitement in front of everyone. She whispered, “It’s a boy! It’s a boy!” she held up her phone to them and showed them a picture of the new born child. Everyone hovered around Jessica’s phone and their faces lit up at the sight of the pink, little human being.

      “I guess I can’t keep calling SeoHyun ‘Seobaby’ now,” Tiffany chuckled.

      “Wow, he looks exactly like SeoHyun,” HyoYeon said.

      “Oh~ I remember when we had Yoona, we had no idea,” Yuri said, not taking his eyes off the photo of SeoHyun and YongHwa’s child.

      “Yeah, we were such dummies back then,” Jessica chuckled as she lightly hit Yuri’s arms.

      “Was Mom like that too?” Eunji asked.

      “Oh, hahaha,” Yuri laughed. “She was even worse. She had no idea what she was doing on the first few months when you were born. She needed Sunny’s help most of the time.”

      “Well, Aunt Sunny does know how to do almost everything so that doesn’t surprise me,” Eunji chuckled. “And my mom being a dummy doesn’t surprise me too ‘cause she still is a dummy today.”

      Tiffany’s jaw dropped at her daughter’s remark and Eunji just snickered, mouthing “I’m just kidding” to her mother in-between her laughs.

      “Oh yeah, I remember when I came to visit you once when you were just months old. Your mother and I did nothing but babysit you all day and we were total idiots,” Jessica laughed. “We were never the type to get close to kids so it was such a life changing experience.”

      “Look at this kid’s eyes though,” HyoYeon noted. “It’s so big and round just like SeoHyun’s!”

      While everyone was immersed in the photo, Eunji felt someone’s breath near her neck. Before she could turn her head, TaeYeon rested his head on Eunji’s shoulders trying to take a peek at the photo.

      “Aw, Mr. Kim!” Eunji turned around and hugged him warmly without a notice. Flustered by this greeting, TaeYeon blankly stood there for a moment until it started to sink in. “She’s my daughter. Eunji is my daughter.” From the very beginning, he had been so grateful for meeting Eunji. She took care of him more than he has taken care of her. She made him comfortable around town, helped him out through many problems, and learned so much from her. To know that she was actually his daughter overwhelmed him with so much happiness. He embraced Eunji back as tightly as he could and closed his eyes trying to hold back his tears. The child that he loved before she was even born was finally before him, and she became the greatest friend that he could never replace.

      Everyone’s heads bobbed up at the name and was astonished at the sight they were seeing. They didn’t expect TaeYeon to come back so soon, but at least their hearts were eased seeing how red and vulnerable he had become all because of Eunji.

      Tiffany’s eyes quickly watered seeing both of her loved ones together. How did TaeYeon accept the facts so quickly? Just what did she deserve to have reconciliation as easy as this?

      When TaeYeon finally withdrew from the embrace, he saw Tiffany just standing there and went closer to her. For a few seconds, they only stared at each other in silence, both trying to communicate with their trembling eyes. Neither knew how they would reply to each other’s thoughts, but they did think of the same thing.

      TaeYeon could not resist himself and gently cupped her cheeks. Gently, he kissed Tiffany and hugged her in agony. “I’m sorry,” he managed to breath out before heavily breaking down on her shoulders. Tiffany also could not hold her emotions in and sobbed, “I’m sorry, too.”

***

      When it was finally getting late, Jessica and Yuri said their last congrats and bid goodbye after a long day. SeoHyun was then moved back to her room and there YongHwa, HyoYeon, TaeYeon, Tiffany, and Eunji stayed for a few more minutes to talk. While SeoHyun’s mother and the doctors tended to the newborn baby, TaeYeon finally brought up his own family’s reconciliation.

      “So I suppose you have a big part to play here, SeoHyun,” TaeYeon said. “I’ve known Eunji for a long time, and I guess I get now why you always told me about her, but why didn’t you just tell it to me? You could’ve told me and I would’ve understood.”

      “Wait, you knew about Eunji for a long time?” Tiffany’s eyes widened.

      “Yeah,” TaeYeon nodded. “She’s been telling me stories of how her student Eunji was so great. She mentions her quite a lot… and I mean a lot! Eunji was her favorite student, that’s why I took the job of being her substitute teacher.”

      “Even if you didn’t know anything,” Eunji snickered.

      “What?” TaeYeon was taken aback that his skills were being degraded and raised his voice. “Hey! I know a lot, kid!”

      “But I was the one teaching you the whole time,” Eunji said.

      “I just didn’t have a proper chance to teach you what I really know… and besides, I taught you about studios, didn’t I? That’s something.”

      “Okay, whatever you say,” Eunji laughed.

      “Anyway, I was just thinking… I could’ve handled it. If I knew I had a daughter, I would’ve gladly wanted to meet her. You guys know I have a lot of memories missing, but not all is harmful.”

      “Are you sure?” HyoYeon said. “Because I assumed you wouldn’t be happy with it since you hate responsibility.”

      “But he doesn’t have to wipe my so isn’t that free of responsibility?” Eunji said.

      TaeYeon laughed, greatly amused that they really do have the same kind of humor. He nodded and pointed to her, “See? She’s right.”

      “There’s so much more than just cleaning after her when it comes to parenting, Oppa,” HyoYeon sighed. “And I was just about to add that you don’t even remember Tiffany when she clearly remembers you.”

      “Who knows, I could’ve fallen in-love with her all over again regardless of who she was to me in the past,” TaeYeon shrugged.

      “To be honest, TaeYeon,” Tiffany softly said. “I think I would’ve avoided you.”

      “Really?” he wondered. “Why?”

      “Because you said that the TaeYeon I knew was dead and so I-”

      “You saw me as dead from that point on and let me go?” TaeYeon interrupted. “Right… I guess I figured out that much for myself. I remember that moment very much.”

      “TaeYeon, you know why I did that, right?” Tiffany sighed hearing how slightly upset he sounded.

      TaeYeon glanced at her weary eyes and then hung his head low. He slowly nodded his head and said, “I was dangerous to you.”

      “Hey, that’s not it! I gave you all the possible reasons a while ago. Don’t just simplify it like that!” Eunji scolded TaeYeon. Everyone was