Chapter 14

Meanwhile at Tiffany’s apartment, there were only Tiffany & Hyukjae left. Yoona had taken Minseo home a while ago. Tiffany was washing the glasses when she heard Hyukjae ranting about marriage, “I knew it. Marriage is only for a fool. Look at Jaejoong. From a proud & fantastic playboy, he is reduced into a pitiful & heartbroken guy by merely a woman. Just because his wedding got ruined. Sure, it was humiliating but he didn’t have to look like the best part of his life had ended. I told him that marriage isn’t that great anyhow. What’s to lose if he’s not getting married? He has lots more to gain. He wouldn’t be tied down. He could still date any girl he wants. He could still have his freedom & his own place & no woman would scold him for not doing his chore or leave his clothes scattered. What’s so good about marriage anyway? What a mess.”

Tiffany’s hands froze when she finally realized what Hyukjae was saying. She looked at her long ring finger where a round diamond 14k white gold ring was at. All of a sudden, she understood why Hyukjae always changed the topic every time she started talking about wedding preparation. Why he had this expression she thought was puzzlement but actually was covered-over panic. In this newfound light, it was clear that Hyukjae felt terrified by the thought of marrying her. Or revolted. She in a painful breath & headed out to the living room for a showdown.

She watched him while he went on & on about the nuisance of marriage. Bits of her heart hardened & when it became unbearable, she shouted, “Enough! What are you trying to say?!”

Hyukjae, startled by her outburst, immediately realized what he had spoken out without thinking, “Fany, it’s not what I meant. I…”

Tiffany interrupted, “You know exactly what you mean. You know exactly what you want. If you didn’t want to get married, why did you proposes to me?”

Knowing that he couldn’t deny it any longer, Hyukjae decided to step out & admit everything. He only hoped his honesty wouldn’t bring another disaster. One disaster a day was enough, “Because I love you & it’s what you want. You envied Yuri when Jaejoong proposed to her.”

Tiffany laughed mockingly & tugged the ring from her finger, “Here.” She threw the ring to Hyukjae, “Take it back. I don’t need your pity & I don’t need you to give me what you think I want. You know what I want? Not a wedding proposal from a guy whose blood drained from his face every time he thought about sharing his life with me. I want someone who would be there with me every step of the way. A guy who wants the same things I want. You know what? I did envy Yuri because she had this bond with Jaejoong that I couldn’t find with you. You know your way out.”

Before Hyukjae could say anything else, the phone rang. When hearing Sehun’s voice in the answering machine, Tiffany quickly picked up the phone, “Hi, Sehun Oppa. How are you?”

Hyukjae threw a disgusted look at her, “Fine. You have made your choice. Go marry that Sehun bastard for all I care!” He stormed out of her apartment & slammed the door. Tiffany made an excuses to Sehun as soon as Hyukjae walked out & ran crying to her bedroom.

Jaejoong sighed & threw his body down on the mattress. He closed his eyes & sighed again. His mind wandered back to the past, to the moment that had changed his life forever.

The sound of a door opening brought him back & he turned his head reluctantly. Jessica was standing beside his bed with a suitcases near her feet. He leaped from his bed & frowned. Indicating towards her luggage, he demanded, “What are those?! What are you doing here?! How did you get in?!”

Jessica smiled sweetly & said, “You look so tense. Here, let me give you a massage.” She still remembered the way Jaejoong reacted to her massage & smiled seductively but Jaejoong shrugged her hands, ignored her seduction & his eyes got sharper, “How did you get in? What are you doing here?”

Jessica swallowed her defeat bitterly & forced herself to speak lightly, “The door was unlocked so I came in. I thought it would be easier if I live with you. It would make me feel comforted to know you are near at hand. To know that you had be here with me whenever I need you.”

Jaejoong made a disgusted sound & fell back on his bed, “You want to live here, it’s up to you. The spare bedroom is down the hall. You may wander around the house; do whatever you want to do but my bedroom is out of bound. No entry unless by my permission. Is that clear? Now, get out. I want to be by myself for a while.”

Jessica gritted her teeth & cursed him silently, “Okay.” She said lightly, pretending that she bore no hard feelings & walked out of his bedroom, “I will make you fall crazily in love with me & then I will crush you for ever rejecting me!” She fumed, & trudged to the spare bedroom.

“What am I going to do? How could I tell mom & dad about this? What will Fany, Leeteuk Oppa & Yoon’s reaction going to be? & Jaejoong Oppa, should I tell him?” Yuri pulled her hair in agitation & scowled at her belly, “I only did it once & you, egg, just had to be oh-so-fertile. Can’t you wait for another time like until I’m married to him?”

Tiffany & Yoona’s voices brought Yuri back & she composed herself before she turned around & greeted them, “What took you so long? I’m starving.”

“You eat like a pig lately. Don’t eat too much or else don’t blame me when you can’t fit into your clothes anymore.” Tiffany elbowed the door shut & frowned. Yuri had looked so pale after the big breakup two months ago but Leeteuk was right. Yuri was still Yuri. Her cheerfulness & optimism didn’t flicker out, only a little bit subdued. Although she sometimes look sad she could always talk herself out of her grief & look at the world with more joy than a broken-hearted woman usually could. Well, at least more than Tiffany could. Yuri had never blamed Jaejoong for her disastrous wedding but Tiffany fully held Hyukjae responsible for her heartache.

At the moment, the optimistic girl was humming & checking the bags Yoona had placed on the kitchen counter. Suddenly, her nose twitched & then her face turned green. She ran to the bathroom & a horrible retching sound drifted to the living room.

“Yuri, are you okay? What did you eat this morning?” Tiffany asked, from the living room, not keen to enter the bathroom unless she had to. Yoona rushed to Yuri’s closet, took out a towel & gingerly gave it to Yuri.

A sound of water running was heard & a moment later, Yuri walked into the living room with a towel covering . She gave Yoona a grateful smile & glared at Tiffany, “Why did you have to buy tofu today? The smell made me queasy.”

“The smell of tofu? What do you mean? Since when did you not like tofu?” Tiffany frowned & touched Yuri’s forehead, afraid that her friend is delirious from a high fever. Yuri brushed her hand aside & continued to glare at her. Yoona’s eyes suddenly went round as she remembered her own experience & she sputtered, “Yu...Yul, you?”

Closing her eyes, Yuri knew she could no longer hide it. So, she squared her shoulders & nodded. Yoona groaned & sat wearily on the arm of the couch. Tiffany had a puzzled look on her face, not knowing what had transpired between her two friends. Since her breakup with Hyukjae two months before, she seemed to have lost her insight. Everything had to be right in front of her eyes; otherwise, she couldn’t see or sense it. She felt frustrated & asked, “Could you two speak in plainer form than nods & groans?”

Yuri cleared & tried to speak as plainly as she could, “I’m pregnant. Two months. Its Jaejoong Oppa’s.”

Tiffany gasped & sat down on the carpet before her slim, long legs totally gave out. She asked stupidly! “Does he know?” Yuri looked at her impatiently, “Of course not. You have not seen him since two months ago.” Tiffany muttered. Then she asked again, “Are you going to tell Oppa about this? He has the right to know.” Yuri looked at Tiffany sadly, “Then what? If he leaves Jessica for me, both of us would feel bad all our lives & Jessica would probably die from a heartbreak, literally. If he stays with her then I would feel abandoned. It’s best that he doesn’t know. If it’s cowardly to do that then let me be a coward just this one time.”

Tiffany nodded thoughtfully. Then she looked at Yoona in question. Yoona explained, “When I was pregnant, I couldn’t stand the smell of ketchup. Although people said it doesn’t have any smell, I could still sense it. So I got suspicious when Yuri couldn’t stand tofu.”

Both looked at Yuri & asked simultaneously, “Are you keeping the baby?”

“Of course. If I want to get rid of it, I had do that before it goes this far. This is Oppa’s. There’s no way I wouldn’t want anything of Jaejoong Oppa’s. Wouldn’t it be cute if he has Oppa’s face? Or if it were a she, she could have Oppa’s smile.” Yuri smiled dreamily.

“Are you sure? The baby would remind you of him all your life. You would have a hard time getting over him completely & moving on with your life & you know that by keeping the baby, your life would be far more difficult, financially, physically & emotionally.” Tiffany looked at Yoona, asking for support. Yuri, who hadn’t thought further than a cute baby, nodded her head, half agreeing with Tiffany’s point.

“It’s true that a child would make your life harder but the rewards are far higher than the sacrifice you made. Trust me on this. I wouldn’t exchange Minseo for a smoother or easier life but it’s totally your decision, Yul.” Yuri nodded again, feeling what Yoona had said made sense, too.

“Argh, I don’t know. You two have a point here. I will think about it more later on.” Yuri sat back on the couch & continued to rummage in the plastic bags, searching for edible food.

‘Diary,

That fool, Jaejoong. He really believes me when I say I lost his baby. For a playboy, he sure is very gullible. I knew he would feel guilty if he thinks I got a miscarriage because I couldn’t find him but never thought it would be so easy to convince him. The letter is the crowning touch since he doesn’t have any idea how far I could go. I only had to seduce my gynecologist & he would write anything that I wanted him to write. Men are so easy. Although I want to see his face when I tell him I have never had a miscarriage & it was Sehun Oppa’s baby that I aborted, the timing isn’t right now but part one of my plan was carried out very flawlessly. I only had to put on an act, crying with big fat tears on my face & gasping for breath & he ran right back to me. How could he claim he never loved me? He broke up with Yuri whom he claimed to love because of me, didn’t he? That means he loves me more than Yuri, right? But no matter what, I would make him pay for denying his feelings for me. Part two of my plan is going to start soon. He made an appointment for us to see a shrink tomorrow. He might have chosen the shrink but he had chosen the best one the city has to offer. As long as he have a male shrink, I will still have the upper hand. You will see, Oppa. You will see what you are up against.’

“So, what are you going to do with Jessica?” Hyukjae, who always sported a kicked-puppy look these days, asked Jaejoong to fill the silence during their lunch break. It had been two months since he had broken up with Tiffany & his life had went downhill. In the first couple of weeks, he had fumed in righteousness. It had been Tiffany’s fault to force him before he was ready & he had been a very nice guy, trying to accommodate her but weeks turned into months & now, he missed Tiffany like crazy. He missed her smile, glare, laugh & frown. He missed everything about her. He had been thinking of, maybe, bumping into Tiffany. Accidentally, of course. Then Tiffany would be so overwhelmed when she sees him & leaped into his arms. He would graciously forgive her & they would share the sweetest kiss.

“I don’t know. I have made an appointment to see a therapist tomorrow. Hopefully this overcharged shrink could help her some. I can’t stand having her in my apartment for long. She bothers me & she doesn’t seem like a grieving woman in pain because she lost her chance to become a mother & she seldom has trouble breathing now. I hope it’s a good sign. If only she’s just pretending but she couldn’t be that good of an actress. Besides, that doctor statement was real with the hospital seal & stuff. No matter what, the sooner she is out of my life, the sooner I could win Yuri back.”

Jaejoong played with his beef kimbap & then confessed to Hyukjae sheepishly, “You know, I tried sending Yuri flowers, cards, candies, food, you name it. Just to remind Yuri of me. All the flowers & presents were returned back to me unopened. I know what she meant by that. She doesn’t want me to remember her. She doesn’t want to remember me & she’s trying to tell me to keep my promise to Jessica. I only hope that by keeping my promise to Jessica, I wouldn’t lose Yuri in the end.” Jaejoong smiled bitterly & looked up. Seeing that Hyukjae paid no attention to what he said & was in his own world with a silly grin on his face, he asked Hyukjae, “Pal, you are getting crazier. You frown at one moment & in the next moment, you grin like an idiot! Why did you have to be so bull-headed? Admit it, you are miserable without Fany. Why can’t you just admit your mistake & started making amends? My situation with Yuri couldn’t be helped but yours could.”

“She wanted commitment, the one thing that I can’t give her. I don’t want to be tied down. Is that so hard to understand? I still want to be as carefree as a bird. Why can’t she be satisfied with our relationship? It was going very great. Anyway, she had chosen Sehun when she had answered his call during our argument. She had even answered his call using a gentle tone, her rarely used gentle tone. That must have meant that something was going on between them. I’m not going to beg her to come back to me. She is the one at fault so she should be the one begging me & she will when she comes to her senses. I still have my pride.” Hyukjae sulkily folded his arms on his chest.

Jaejoong shook his head hopelessly & said under his breath, “Jealous fool.”

Hyukjae glared at him, “I heard that. Mark my word. She will come to me in eight months time, asking me to forgive her. Nobody could resist my charm for long. Then I would be, of course, a gentleman & take her back.” Jaejoong laughed uproariously, his first one in two months. Hyukjae glared at him mutinously & grumbled about someone not appreciating his appeal. After his laughter subsided, Jaejoong sent Hyukjae a grateful look for taking him out of his dire mood & Hyukjae grinned in reply, “You laugh all you want now but you will see, my friends. You will see.” They went back to their hardly touched food with lighter hearts & turned their thought back to their own problems.

“What?! You are pregnant?!” Leeteuk shouted in shock. They were having lunch in Yuri’s office. Since the office was deserted at this time of the day, Yuri decided to tell Leeteuk about her condition & asked him for advice & she was glad that for once, her timing was perfect.

Yuri glared at him & shushed him, “You think the people across the street need to know, right? The more the merrier. That’s why you shouted so loud so they would congratulate me.”

Leeteuk ignored the sarcastic tone & went back to the shocking news, “Are you okay? What are you going to do? You know I don’t approve on abortion. You are not telling me this to ask me to…”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I want to keep this baby but my life would turn on its axis if I do so & there are also my parents & by the way, if I want to have an abortion, I definitely wouldn’t go to you. You are not an obstetrician, for god sake.”

Leeteuk nodded in agreement. It seemed like his mind went traveling & leaving his body behind when Yuri had dropped the bomb on him. His mind had never felt this clouded, “Are you taking any vitamins? I could prescribe one for you.” Leeteuk said, all the while looking at Yuri’s still-flat stomach.

Yuri put her hand on his eyes & sighed, “It’s there, Oppa. Believe me, it’s there & I’m fine. Don’t worry. Now, tell me how should I tell my parents about this? My dad would go through the roof if I weren’t tactful enough & my mom would freak out that I got pregnant without a wedding ring on my finger.”

Leeteuk thought for a while. The best solution came to him & he cursed himself for not acting on it sooner. He suddenly dropped on his knees, “Yuri, I have loved you ever since high school. I tried to get over you but you are always on my mind after all these times & I can’t bear to see you unhappy. So, I’m asking you out of love & care, will you marry me? It would be the perfect solution. I will always protect you & love you & I would do my best to keep you from any harm & your child. I would love it like my own.”

Yuri was flabbergasted. Not in a million years had she ever imagined such a thing would happen & the sincerity in Leeteuk’s eyes touched her so deeply. She dropped on her knees & hugged him.