It’s time to be discharged from the hospital, and Mark isn’t here. I look around for my phone but I can’t find it. It must be at home. So I go out to the nurses desk and ask to borrow their phone. I dial Mark’s number but he doesn’t pick up. I try again. And again. The next time I decide to leave a message. 

“Yi En-ah, I can be discharged from the hospital now. Where are you?” 

I figure he might be upset about what happened earlier so I try to call JB instead.

“Hello?”

“Jae Bum-ah. Is Mark with you?”

“Mark hyung? No. Isn’t he with you?”

“No. I can be discharged from the hospital now but I can’t get hold of him. Could you try call him for me please? I don’t have my phone with me so call this number if you find him, okay?”

I sit by the nurses desk waiting for JB to call back. An hour later JB and Jr. appear in front of me.

“Come on. We’ll take you home.” I decide not to ask any questions. I go back into my room and change out of the hospital gown while JB takes care of the paperwork. The car ride home is a quiet one. The house is empty when we arrive, but it seems as if Mark’s cleaned up a bit. 

“Thanks for bringing me home. You can go back to practice now. If you want come back here after and I’ll have dinner ready for you.”

“No, no. It’s okay. You need to rest, remember? We’ll get out of your way.” says Jr. 

“Call us if you need anything okay?” JB pats my arm comfortingly and I nod. 

I thank them again and see them out. I go into the bedroom and sit on the bed. I look around the room before letting out a sigh. I’ve been alone in the house a lot but for some reason this time it feels different. I decide that what I need is nice hot shower so that’s exactly what I do. I release all the stress that I have and just let the water fall on my body. 

When I’m done and dressed I pick up my phone. I try to call Mark again but he still doesn’t pick up. I sit on the couch and watch TV for a bit and then make myself some dinner. I’m sitting in front of the TV having dinner when my phone vibrates. 

From: Jae Bum

Has Mark hyung come home yet?

To: Jae Bum

No. 

After dinner I decide I’m going to wait in the living room until he comes home. So I put on a movie and sit down on the floor, legs stretched out under the coffee table, leaning on the sofa. I don’t really watch the movie. Instead I sit and think about everything that’s happened. I admit that I was a bit harsh to Mark back at the hospital. It was my idea, so I shouldn’t have gone off at him like I did. He just doesn’t understand why I suggested that. It is a way for us all to get what we want, kind of. I keep my husband, Mark gets all his kids, and Suzy gets her career. I wonder if I should be mad about my current situation, but then I think I’m handling it quite well. I decide to accept everything as it is and like that, I slowly fall asleep. 

I wake up with a sore back and stiff legs. The house is still deafeningly quiet. He’s still not home. As I try to get up I hear the door being unlocked. I sit back down and wait. I stare at the doorway, waiting. 

I let out a sigh as I see my red-headed husband walk in. He looks around the room as he comes in and then his eyes land on me. I smile at him and his eyes widen. I try to get up again and he runs over to help me.

“What are you doing on the floor?” 

“I fell asleep waiting for you.” I hold his arms and make him face me. “Where did you go?” 

“Aren’t you mad at me?” he lifts his arms, making me let go of him. 

“A little. How could you just leave me at the hospital like that?” Mark’s phone vibrates in his pocket and he takes it out to answer it. 

“Yeah. I’m home now. Yeah. Thanks. Bye.” he hangs up, “JB.” he says, as he places it on the table. He turns around and goes into our bedroom. I follow behind him. 

“Are you feeling better now?” I ask him.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“I actually feel great.” He turns to look at me, pain in his eyes.

“How are you so okay with all of this?”

“Stress-free zone. Remember?” I say indicating the air around me. 

“But you’re probably bottling it all up, which is actually worse.” Mark sighs as he drops on to the bed. 

“I’m not actually. I’ve learnt to just accept the situation, nothing I do will change any of this so the best way to deal with it is acceptance.” I smile, which makes Mark frown. I move over to the bed and sit beside him. Taking his face in my hands I turn his head to face me. I lean in and kiss him on the lips, making his eyes dart up to meet mine. I smile again. “You know I’m doing this so we can be happy right?”

He takes my hands and places them between us, not letting go. “Are you sure you can be happy like this though? Every time you see that kid you’re going to think of -” I cut him off with another kiss. 

“You think I haven’t thought about all of that? I’m pretty confident I can treat all three kids the same. If I raise them, they’ll all be mine. The reason I’m raising them is because they’re yours.” Mark hangs his head, turning away from me. 

“I don’t know.” I stand up. 

“Well, you don’t really have a choice I’m afraid. If Unni agrees to it then that’s what we’ll be doing.” I ruffle his hair and he looks up at me, eyes watering. “Now, I don’t know about you but I’m starving. I have two extra mouths to feed, so you rest up or do whatever, I’m going to get started on breakfast.” I glance at the time. “Brunch.” I smile again before leaving the room, closing the door behind me. He probably needs a bit of time alone. I hear the sound of stifled sobs from the other side of the door. I let out a sigh before heading into the kitchen.

A/N: Only like two more chapters to go! I'm just about done writing them too so this story should be finished by tomorrow. Or if I'm in a good mood - tonight!