It didn't seem fair.

Jongdae had done everything he could to keep Soon Ri happy. He called her every day, always returned her texts, told her he loved her(even in public) , went shopping with her, helped her with her homework-everything. He made it a point to be as attentive as possible whenever she was around. Soon Ri hadn't been his first girlfriend, but he had been sure that this relationship would last a long while, maybe even to college. He stared into her eyes for a few seconds, digesting the cliché lines she'd been feeding him for the last few minutes.

"Baby, this doesn't make any sense. How can you say we weren't working out when we haven't been fighting?"

His almost-ex-girlfriend rolled her eyes. " That, Jongdae, is why we have to break up. Don't you think arguing every once in a while is better than fake smiles and bland conversations? Doesn't it make sense for you to get mad at me sometimes? Throw a fit? Tell me off when I do something out of line?"

Well, he supposed it made sense. He juggled through his recent memories of their relationship to see if he ever remembered her smile being anything less than genuine, her touches ghosting anything other than love upon his skin. His beautiful, sweet, Soon Ri. What else could he give her when she already had his heart?

As the reality of the situation started to morph into something very real, he could hear a distant dirge-like tune symbolizing the end of what he thought might have been his forever. He clutched his chest as he began to feel tiny cracks make their way through his heart. 
" Soon-Ah."

"I can't do this anymore, Jongdae. It's just not right for me to go on pretending."

 She chewed on her bottom lip, tears glistening in her eyes. At least he could tell that she was being truthful. She looked everywhere but at him.

"Are you sure that this is the reason you're leaving me, and not because you're scared that we won't work long distance?"

"I'm positive, Jonggie. I'm actually ashamed to say that I wish I could have come clean sooner. Maybe this could have been fixed, or- or maybe you would have moved on by now." 

She slid off the silver promise ring Jongdae had given her on their 9 month anniversary, kissed him on his left cheek, and walked away, leaving him there to continue breaking while he watched her walk away for the last time.
 

Laughter. Kisses. Warmth. Home
These were the words that ran through Jongdae's mind every morning while he watched his wife sleep.

Her silver-gray hair was tied together in long braids, secure to her scalp at the roots and braided all the way down to the ends. The color of her hair told her age much more than the youthfulness of her face. She didn't look a day over 45, though her birth certificate told a different story. That, and her crackcling bones.

He had found the other half to his whole.

She had come into his life like a whirlwind, destroying any ideas he thought he'd had of his ideal type of girl and how one was supposed to fall in love. She had single-handedly turned his world into something so completely opposite of what he thought it would be, what he thought it should have been.

While he watched her chest rise and fall in her deep slumber, Jongdae found that reminiscing upon their younger years quickly became one of his favorite pastimes.

"Oppa! Andweayoooo," a 17-year-old Taryn said with her accented Korean, crossing her arms over her chest in opposition. He grinned at her childish display for a few seconds before pinching her cheeks. His favorite thing to do was embarrass her-it was incredibly easy. She was ridiculously embarrassed by her husband's(then boyfriend) displays of aegyo. He would scrunch up his face and talk in third person. 

'Jongggie loves Baby soooo much!' he'd say, squeezing her hand tight and kissing her below the ear, only to find her cheeks turn a rippend-tomato red and her eyes turn into slits. She would fiercely whisper the word 'troll' before speed walking away. His heartiest laughs were usually due to her embarrassment.

"Wow, I didn't know black people could blush," he said one day after proclaiming his love for her at a theme park filled to capacity with people. Taryn whipped her head in his direction, shooting daggers into his eyes.

"Oh, hilarious. I bet you also didn't know that black people could speak Korean, but here I am! Speaking it!"

"Your grammar could use some work, love."

"Yeah? So could your calculus grades," she retorted, raising her eyebrows and daring Jongdae to refute this fact. He hung his head in shame.

"I didn't think you'd have a comeback for that one."
 

"Jongdae, man, you've gotta let that chick go," said Baekhyun, slapping him on the back for good measure. He scowled in pain before turning away from his annoying friend. How could he just get over the love of his life?

"Don't even say any crap about her being your one true love again. I might just puke," Baekhyun said, leanning over the cafeteria table and making an obnoxious retching motion above Kyungsoo's lunchtray. Kyungsoo scooted his tray away from the boy, wrinkling his nose.

"One, you're seriously gross. And two, it's only been a week since they broke up. Give him some time to heal."

"Healing is for flesh wounds!" Baekhyun shrieked, motioning to Jongdae. "Does he look like a flesh wound to you?"

"He is looking a little dry these days.Have you been drinking enough water-"

"Stuff it, Chanyeol," Baekhyun said, slapping a hand over the tall boys mouth and giving him an exasperated look.

"Look, guys, he's a man. He's in love. He can't just make himself fall out of love with her."

Kris, a man of few words was speaking up on Jongdae's behalf. He looked up at Kris and softly smiled in thanks. The quiet man slightly nodded his head. It seemed he understood Jongdae's heart.

"The best thing we can do for him right now is keep him occupied," said Xiumin, patting Jongdae on the hand. "There are 11 of us. There's no reason why we can't keep him busy enough to distract from what's going on."

"Hyung, you're a freaking genius!" yells Baekhyun, snapping in his direction. Jongdae could picture the wheels in the thin boy's bleach blonde head turning, evil plans to keep Jongdae "occupied" formulating. He knew this kid was up to no good.

"Eat something, Chen Chen. There's no hope for you to feel better on an empty stomach," said Yixing, closing the distance between Jongdae's chopsticks and bowl of rice.

Jongdae shuffled his rice around in his bowl. There's no way his friends could understand a broken heart if they'd never had one. He thought about Soon Ri's bright smile and delicate hands, smiling to himself in the midst of his despair. What could possibly heal his heart if someone else already owned it?
 
 

"Jongdae!"

He heard the alarm in her voice and woke from his nap in his favorite arm chair, tripping on his own feet to see what was wrong. He found Taryn standing in the bathroom, holding three pregnancy tests up to her face, expression shocked beyond all belief.

"When I said I wanted to have your babies last week, I didn't literally mean it had to be done now!"

"What?" Jongdae said, joining Taryn in the bathroom, looking over her shoulder at the tests. Each one sported at dark pink plus sign. There was no denying that his wife was-
"Pregnant? Pr-pregnant?! My baby's in there?!"

"Apparently so! Geez, I was trying to seduce you, not get pregnant. I should've known this would happen! You were way too eager," Taryn whined. She looked down at her flat stomach. "This is all Daddy's fault, nugget."

Jongdae stared at his wife's stomach, too stunned to even move. Pregnant? That easily? His mind drifted back to that night the week before, of his wife in his orange pajama pants and a long T-shirt, looking more beautiful in his eyes than she'd ever know. He remembered touching her face, whispering words of love and of forever, and her whispering about the family they'd have one day-

Oh.

Huh. Maybe he had gotten a little riled up thinking of kids with his high cheekbones and her impossibly tight curls adorning their heads, running around their front yard and yelling for him. "Daddy! Come play!"

"Daddy. I'm gonna be a Daddy," he whispered, gently laying his hands on Taryn's now flat stomach. She looked at the disbelief in his eyes and chuckled.

"Yeah, you're going to be a Daddy. And you're going to have to explain why Mommy and Daddy are younger than everyone else's mommy and daddy."

He hadn't thought of that. He was 23, and Taryn was only 22. Most people his age weren't even married, much less having kids. Luhan hyung and his fiancé were getting married next year, when Luhan would be 26, and Jongdae would bet his last dollar that it would be at least another five years before they would have a kid. People his age weren't so into having kids. His friends were gonna kill him. He scratched his 5-o'clock shadow.

"Well, we'll just have to explain how much Mommy and Daddy love each other and couldn't wait for their babbies to get here. Besides, the heart wants what it wants."

"Yeah, and apparently so do your little soldiers."
 
 

"Woah. Helloooo, foreigner," said Joonmyeon, looking down the hallway at the obvious non-Korean girl. All of the boys looked to see her.

She was tall for a girl, at least 173 centimeters, with long limbs and big-bushy curls on her head. She wore red lipstick and colorful nailpolish, showing off her spunky personality. 

She held a few sheets of paper and gazed at the locker numbers, oblivious to the stares she was getting. "Ahh-haa!" she shouted, finding her locker. Right next to Jongdae's. She looked up at Jongin.
"Excuse me, this is my locker," she said in accented Korean. Jongin smirked as he moved off of her locker, surprised by her Korean.
"You speak Korean?" Sehun asked with his lisp, eyes large from shock. She turned to him and squealed.

"Oh, you're so cute! Your lisp is adorable!"

The guys chuckled while Sehun turned his head, failing to hide his blush from the cute girl. How many times must he be reminded of his speech impediment?

"Well, to answer your question, I've been learning Korean for 3 years now. I've studied well, so I can pretty much communicate without complication. I still have a lot to learn, though."

"Where are you from?" asked Tao, joining into the conversation, also curious about the new girl. She smiled brightly at him.

"The United States. I'm on an exchange program for a year, but I might stay here for college if I decide that I like it in Korea."

Jongdae took a closer look at her while she talked to the other boys about life in the States. She was black, skin a medium brown color with dark brown eyes. Her lips were very full, probably the fullest he'd ever seen on a girl, and she had a few piercings in her ear. She wore a lot of bangles around her wrists, and rings on her fingers. Spunky, eclectic, and bright. Before he knew it, she was staring back at him, amusement in her eyes.

"What? Never seen a black person before?" she teased. Jongdae raised an eyebrow, refusing to be out trolled.

"Actually, I haven't," he said, watching her eyebrows shoot up into her hairline with shock. What an expressive face she had.

"Oh! Well then, stare all you want! You have my permission to continue being creepy."

The boys erupted in laughter while Jongdae allowed his eyes to narrow. This girl was fiesty. He'd have to get her back for that.

Before he could think of a retort, she was walking away, saying something about heading to her homeroom class early to meet her teacher. Baekhyun yelled out.

"Wait! What's your name, new girl?"

She whipped her head around and grinned.

 "It's Taryn."
 
 
A/N: It's 5 a.m. Why am I up writing fan fiction? Ugh, I can barely keep my eyes open. I hope this story doesn't put me to shame. Please let me known what you think!