FORTY NINE

Yonghwa made up his mind when the rest of the week just passed him by. His schedule was packed with rehearsals and recordings for the day just like yesterday but he knew he won’t be able to concentrate. His thoughts would travel back to Seohyun and her obvious silence. He was once again stupidly and overly thinking of her reason this time.

It brought him back to that night at the garden where he basically proposed to her. They were technically engaged and be damned as good as married. Yonghwa made a promise and so did she. He rolled the silver ring on his thumb. He was never perceptive before but when it came to Seohyun, Yonghwa just became that— and to the point of paranoia. It was like he had this rope tied around her waist and he could feel whenever she was trying to pull away from him.

This time, he was so ready to start pulling her back even before knowing if she was really running away.

As soon as he got up, he told the boys that he will be late for the rehearsals and asked Jonghyun to cover for him. When asked what was wrong, he only shrugged and told them he was going to find out exactly what was wrong. The ominous feeling heightened when he arrived at her house and saw Taeyeon there early in the morning and in her sleeping clothes. The latter excused herself in a haste and the look the two girls gave to each other made him feel even more uncomfortable.

Only when Taeyeon disappeared from the hallway that Seohyun walked up to him with that very obvious nervous smile. He took a deep breath when she wrapped her arms around him in a lazy embrace. It was as if a small part of his doubt just disappeared by that little gesture so he kissed her forehead lightly, “Hey…”

“I missed you.”

“Why I didn’t feel that?” His suspicious self quipped bluntly and Seohyun’s brow rose as she extracted herself from him.

“Hmmm? What?”

The confusion in her eyes was evident but something else caught his attention. Seohyun looked terribly pale so he cupped her cheeks and laid his palm on her forehead checking for fever, “You look pale. Are you sick?” Seohyun only nodded and he figured it could be the reason why she had been avoiding him since she didn’t want him to worry. “Did you go to the doctor?”

“Yeah…” Seohyun replied but unexpectedly took his hand and dragged him to the kitchen.

“So?” Yonghwa asked from behind as he watched her pace around and ended up taking two mugs.

“So… it’s nothing serious,” she shrugged then turned to him, “You want anything?”

“No…” he shook his head. Something was definitely up, it was just too obvious especially by the way she moved. He took back his answer with a grimace, “Actually yes. I want you to tell me why you’re ignoring me.”

Seohyun was frozen still. Then there was this same fake smile she pasted there again. He frowned some more especially when she muttered, “I-I am not ignoring you, I was just—“

“Busy?” He hissed walking over to where she was standing and crossed his arms on his chest. Yonghwa continued pointedly since he could not stop himself any longer, “I am busy too but I called you a lot and texted you a lot, but I get nothing. Hyun, the last time you did this, you wanted to break up with me. I didn’t allow it— I will never allow it. Remember the promise? Need a revisit? You and I will fight for us, in case you’ve forgotten. You don’t have any choice but to tell me why you are putting up this wall again.”

Seohyun fidgeted. At one point, his voice raised higher than he expected or aimed to so she looked even more flustered. Her hands rose to her stomach and rubbed it gently. Guilt rushed through him as he watched her pull a chair. Yonghwa continued gently, “Baby, tell me please… we will work this out, we always do, right?”

Seohyun just nodded taking her lower lip between her teeth like she did something wrong herself then tapped the chair, “Sit….”

Confusion and hesitation clouded his senses but he sat on the chair and Seohyun took the one next to him. Her bright eyes that could tell a story on their own stared back at him for a few seconds. There was this drumming in his chest like something inevitable was about to happen, more so when Seohyun took a deep breath.

 “I’m pregnant.”

Then there was nothing. Yonghwa stared back at her like she spoke in alien language. The words made it to his brain cells barely as sounds. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. She is pregnant. Seohyun is pregnant. She is going to have a baby. Yonghwa closed his mouth again and blinked.

The feeling was the same as anticipating the big drop from a rollercoaster. His stomach twisted. His mind did a little worthless calculation.

So, okay.

“What? Are you going to ask who the father is?”

Yonghwa gaped dumbly when Seohyun spoke and he finally realized the silence that came to him. Then he registered that irritation written all over her face. “It’s mine,” he finally said under his breath and with that little stupid smile. But then his brows furrowed as he ran his fingers through his hair, “You’re pregnant…”

Seohyun looked at him blankly as she sat up straight and crossed her arms. She looked terribly annoyed.

Suddenly, the small smile spread wider. He leaned forwards and cupped her cheeks then looked instinctively on her small stomach, “Oh god… baby…”

Seohyun pushed his hands away and grimaced, “Do you not get it?”

“What?”

“Which part of I’m-pregnant you don’t understand?