Forgiveness is the final form of love.

-Reinhold Niebuhr-

Joohyun exhaled deeply as she grimaced in pain. She held her sobs because she didn’t want to wake up Yonghwa. He came very late that night and looked so tired. She didn’t want to disturb him who slept peacefully beside her.

Joohyun then moved carefully until she slept sideway. She thought that it would make her backpain lessen.

She was in second trimester of pregnancy. She gained the extra weight in the last few months. And it made her backpain became worse.

But in between her pain, she suddenly felt warmness in her back.

Yonghwa was awake and rubbed her back gently. “Why don’t you wake me up?” he asked in his raspy voice as he kept rubbing her back.

But Joohyun’s sobs became harder because of that.

Yonghwa then giggled as he turned her gently until she slept facing him. He brought her to sleep in his embrace so he could hug her and rubbed her back in the same time.

“Do you feel better?” Yonghwa asked again after a few minutes. And Joohyun just nodded lightly.

“Do you want me hum you a lullaby?” Yonghwa asked further.

“Ne~,” Joohyun replied him this time and it succeed making him chuckled again, before he started humming Joohyun’s favorite lullaby, For First Time Lovers. Joohyun liked that song so much because it was calming her everytime she heard Yonghwa hummed it.

After what had happened between them, Yonghwa acted carefully towards Joohyun. He still felt guilty and didn’t want to force her to fully accept him like before. But he learned a main thing because of that too. Joohyun’s introvert personality was not easy to be changed. And it wouldn’t be good if he kept it that way too. So, Yonghwa always tried to ask her since then. He asked everything, every detail things, to her. He knew even if Joohyun said that she would try her best to tell him everything, she would still keep it in her mind. He thought that if he kept asking her, at least, she would tell him what she thought in the end. And it succeed making their relationship more stable these past months. There were no more misunderstandings between them too.

“Oppa…” Joohyun suddenly said.

“Hmm…?”

Yonghwa’s eyes were closed as he kept humming, but Joohyun looked up then peck his lips.

Yonghwa opened his eyes right away because of that and found his wife who grinned cheekily towards him.

“Gomawoyo~” she whispered before hugged him tighter.

Actually, Yonghwa’s carefull act towards Joohyun was worrying her so much. She felt so sad to see him like that. That was why, Joohyun tried to show her feeling bolder these days. She didn’t know it was because of Yonghwa’s carefull act or it was because of pregnancy hormonal or it was actually her true personality, but Joohyun really wanted to tell him that she was okay. She wanted to make their marriage works after what had happened between them.

Yonghwa tensed by Joohyun’s sudden attack. And Joohyun sometimes found it cute to see him like that and made her wanted to more in the end.

Magically, her back was getting better after that. Might be what her mother had said was true, that the best medicine for pain is happiness. She felt so happy by Yonghwa’s care.

She then pulled herself away from Yonghwa’s embrace.

“Wae?” Yonghwa asked in the end.

But Joohyun just smiled, before she leaned closer towards him then kissed him again.

She wanted to show him how grateful she was.

Yonghwa was surprised again, but he smiled in between their kisses and kissed her back in the end.

He might not get used to her bolder side, but he didn’t hate it. He always worried she wouldn’t accept him like before, but she always tried to tell him that nothing changed between them. And Yonghwa felt so grateful towards her too because of that.

And their kisses became hotter in a few minutes. Yonghwa always held himself if it was him who kissed her first, because he really didn’t want to force her. But it was different if Joohyun took an initiative to kiss him first. Yonghwa would give up in his lust in the end.

“Oppa…” Joohyun moaned as he turned herself around until her back face him, implicitly told him to take her in that position.

Actually, since she was in her second trimester pregnancy, Joohyun found out that the best position of their love making was when she was on top, but she felt unconfident with her weight, and always chose lay sideways with Yonghwa laid behind him position in the end.

Yonghwa chuckled again by her indirect demand. But he didn’t mind at all. She always tried to understand his needs, eventhough it was getting hard for her to fulfill her duty in bed. He really felt so blessed to have her as his wife.

He just hoped that their happiness would last forever…

***

Shinhye looked around her room. She exhaled deeply before she closed the last box in front of her. She finally finished packing all her stuff.

Yes, she decided to move to LA with her mother, as she was being promoted as a chief editor there too.

She thought it was a good choice for her because she needed to completely move on for a better life. She regretted all had happened. But what was done was done. And she finally…could let Yonghwa go…

It hurt so much when Yonghwa really cut off their friendship that day. And it took three months for her to finally accept it. Jonghyun never left her too since that day, even if he told her that he was so disappointed by her act. Jonghyun really helped her to go through all of her sadness. And she felt so grateful towards him because of that.

“Do you really have to go?” Jonghyun asked her right away when she told him about her decision.

“Ne~ I need to get over all of this. I need a new life. A better life. I want to be happy too…” Shinhye said as she choked by her own words.

Jonghyun took a deep breath, before brought her into his embrace. “Then I’ll support you too this time.” he said simply. “And trust me, you’ll be happy from now on, Shinhye-yahh…”

“Thank you so much, Jonghyun-ahh. Jeongmal gomawo~” Shinhye said as she hugged him tighter. And she felt more grateful towards him because of that. He was really her true best friend.

But she felt like she needed to do something first before she left. She needed to make some things right before she go to LA. And that night, she decided to tell Yonghwa for the last time how she regret what had happened. But she knew that he didn’t want meet her or answered her call. So, she decided to write all her feeling to Yonghwa…and Joohyun…

Shinhye blinked as she tried to hold her tears. It didn’t mean that it was her last time to be in Seoul but her heart felt so heavy to leave the place where she was born and grew up.

Jonghyun wanted to send her actually, but Shinhye refused it. She felt like it could be heavier for her to leave if she saw him. Jonghyun and Yonghwa always became the biggest part of her life.

But the moment she sat on the plane, her tears fell down in the end. She recalled what she had written to Yonghwa and Joohyun…

Dear Yonghwa and Joohyun…

I hope both of you will still read what I want to say in this letter…

And I don’t know how to start it all, but mianhae~ jeongmal mianhae~ for all I’ve done…

I’m so sorry for hurting you, Joohyun, and…your baby…

I know that I’m wrong, but I really didn’t mean to hurt your baby…jeongmal mianhae~

I want to show you how much I regret it all, but I don’t have a courage to tell you directly, I’m sorry for my cowardness…but jinjja I’m really sorry…

I hope I don’t look like making an excuse here…but I hope both of you and your baby will be happy from now on…

Thank you so much for making me realized that I need to be a better person if I want to be happy. Because when you truly love someone, you just need to let them go to be happy. And I’m so sorry for my selfish love, but jeongmal…I want you and Joohyun to be happy from now on…I’ll always pray for both of you…

Yonghwa-yahh…thank you so much for being a true best friend all this time. I know that I ruin it all in the end. But you give me the most beautiful friendship in my life. There are so many things that you and Jonghyun have done for my happiness, when I can’t get it from my own family. You and Jonghyun are my true family. You and Jonghyun will always be my biggest part of my life too. Jeongmal kamsahamnida, chingu-yahh~

And Joohyun-ahh, I hope you’ll forgive me too. I’m sorry for having a bad intention in ruining your marriage. I learn so many things because of that. And I regret it so much. Jeongmal mianhae~ I hope you and your baby will stay healthy. And I hope, when we meet again, someday, we’ll be a really good friend. So please, forgive me…

I don’t know what I should say again, and I’m sorry if I keep saying this, but jeongmal…mianhae…

And please be happy, it will be the best wish in my life…

-Shinhye-

Shinhye’s tears kept flowing until she needed to wipe it from her cheeks because of that. But suddenly someone sat beside her. He was panting heavily.

Shinhye turned away to make sure her tears was fully dried, before she looked at her seat mate.

“Annyeonghaseyo~ Mianhaeyo if I’m disturbing you~” he said politely with a wide smile. “I’m almost late before, I’m sorry if I make a ruckus. I hope you’ll understand it.” He explained it to her, still with a very wide smile on his face.

His smile is so bright…Shinhye comment inwardly, before she smiled back to him warmly.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry.” She replied shortly and then looked out the window again.

She smiled again lightly afterwards. His appearance simply made her forget about her sadness for awhile. And she liked to see his smile too.

“Pardon me,” he said again abruptly until Shinhye turned to him again. “But we’ll together during this flight, I hope we’ll get along. Lee Jongsuk imnida~” he introduced himself out of sudden.

Shinhye blinked to his sudden introduction at first, but she smiled again in the end. “Park Shinhye imnida~”

At least, she got a friend to talk to during her flight. She just hope it’ll help her forget about her sadness too until they arrived.

***

Joohyun decided to take a rest and sat down on the sands after she walked around the Haeundae beach as she waited Yonghwa finished his work. He said that he would join her after he wrapped up the conference call with Jungshin in Seoul.

Her pregnancy was entering 38th weeks old. She decided to give birth in Busan, the city where she and Yonghwa were born too. Yonghwa agreed with that idea, so they decided to buy an apartment in front of the Haeundae beach. It would help Joohyun to feel more relax before her due date.

Joohyun took a deep breath as she saw a beautiful afternoon scenery in front of her.

Actually, that morning, she got a letter from Shinhye. It was addressed to her and Yonghwa. In the end, they read it together as Joohyun laid herself in Yonghwa’s embrace in their apartment’s veranda.

They might be never talk about her anymore but deep inside Joohyun’s heart, she still felt so sorry towards Shinhye. After reading her letter, and how she desperately told them her regrets, it hurt Joohyun’s heart even more. She knew exactly that Shinhye was not a bad person. She just loved her husband too much.

“It’s really beautiful, isn’t it?” but suddenly she heard someone talked behind her. Joohyun needed to turn around to find her husband already stood there.

“Is the concall finished, Oppa?” Joonghyun asked back as she smiled warmly to him.

“Yep,” Yonghwa replied shortly and sat beside her.

Joohyun then laid her head in Yonghwa’s shoulder as she rubbed her swollen belly and Yonghwa wrapped his left arm on her back.

They silenced afterwards.

But after their silence took too long, Yonghwa finally asked, “Wae? Do you still think about that letter?”

Joohyun exhaled deeply then nodded. “I feel so guilty towards Shinhye Eonnie…” she admitted it in the end. She used to hate her, but she couldn’t lie to herself that she still felt so sorry towards Shinhye.

“Ne~ I know. But what done is done. We learned so many things because of that. Shinhye too. It’s part of our life. Let’s just try our best to be happy and pray for Shinhye’s happiness too…” Yonghwa added wisely.

And Joohyun smiled happily to hear that. “Ne~ Oppa…”

Actually, it was Yonghwa who always avoided bringing Shinhye’s name in their conversation all this time. But it seemed like he finally could get over their problem in the end.

Then they silenced again.

“Joohyun-ahh…” but Yonghwa broke their silence again.

“Hmm…?”

“Saranghae…”

“…”

It took several seconds until Joohyun realized what Yonghwa had said, before she sat up straightly and looked at her husband.

Yonghwa smiled warmly as he tucked Joohyun’s hair strand to behind her ears.

“Mian~ if it takes too long for me to say this. I thought that I just needed to show you how I feel. But then I realized that it’s not enough. Mian Joohyun-