Chapter 21

“Do you think I did the right thing?” Yuri bit her bottom lips. It was late & the children were asleep already but Yoona & Tiffany had been waiting for her for the details on her date with Jaejoong.

“I think you should have tell him about Dohyun.” Yoona said, while cutting up some fruits for their late night snacks.

“No, you can’t. Jaejoong Oppa wouldn’t be able to move on if he knew he had a son with you.” Tiffany said, with a thoughtful expression.

“But for Dohyun, it would be a good thing. He will be loved by two men & it was the fact that Oppa is his father & nothing can change it.” Yoona looked expectantly at Tiffany. Knowing Tiffany, she would argue back with her.

“Although it’s the fact, it would do no good at all. So what if he knew? Jessica still wouldn’t let him go. It would only make things worse. The fact is, Oppa isn’t part of Dohyun’s life anymore. Leeteuk Oppa is.”

“But still.” Yoona glared at Tiffany.

“No.” Tiffany glared back at Yoona.

Yuri sighed & kneaded her pounding head. She should know better than to ask her friends for opinions, “Stop it, you two.” Seeing that her words made no impact on the two glaring women, she stood up in between them & glared back at them. They gave each other a last look & turned away.

“I will have to think about it some more. You two have a point there.” Yuri resignedly said. Her two friends instantly came over & gave her a group hug. Comforted already by her friends’ concern & friendship, Yuri grinned & asked Tiffany, “Are you ready to forgive Hyukjae Oppa? I heard something about our answering machine got overheated because of too many messages & we could probably open a florist with all the flowers he sent.”

Tiffany snorted & threw herself on the couch, “That jerk! Does he think I could be swayed with countless of apologies & truckloads of flowers? I have told him as plain as I could that I’m over him. I have given him the freedom that he wanted so much. What more does he want from me?” Tiffany pouted & punched the pillow. Yoona smiled & sat down beside Tiffany, “Are you sure you are over him? I heard someone talking in her sleep & calling Hyukjae Oppa.” She grinned & rolled her eyes.

Tiffany’s face reddened & she threw the pillow into Yoona’s face, “Shut up! You must be dreaming. I’m over him. Truly over him.” But a seed of doubt still clogged in her heart.

Yuri laughed & sat down on the couch too, “Jaejoong Oppa told me today that Hyukjae Oppa’s been waiting for you these eight years. Sure he had a date now & then but they had never lasted more than a week & he seems to regret hurting you eight years ago. At least give him a chance to say his piece. Then you can give him the boot on his backside if you want to.”

Tiffany pursed her lips & shrugged, ‘He still loves me? Yeah, right. Like I’m so gullible.’ She thought, but a slight ray of happiness seeped into her deepest soul.

During the next few weeks, they got together a couple of times. Just Jaejoong, Yuri & Dohyun. Leeteuk seldom came with them, knowing Yuri wanted to give Dohyun a chance to know his father. Jaejoong felt a little uncomfortable though. It was as if he’s having a secret affair with her behind Leeteuk’s back but Yuri assured him that Leeteuk knew where she was & with whom.

Jessica, on the other hand, was getting more & more demanding. She wanted to be with him every minute of the day & she was suffocating him to death. Her incessant questions about his activity & her suspicion that he was two-timing her slowly drove him crazy but as long as she’s getting better, he tuned out her whining & ignored her demand as much as he could. Besides, he had done his penance for the last eight years which is a life without Yuri but sometimes, the guilt still snuck in.

It’s not that with his conscience screaming at him, he could stop himself from seeing Yuri & Dohyun. His life had become brighter because of them. Longing for Yuri was becoming his habit but surprisingly, he would miss Dohyun, too. Since their first outing, the bond between Jaejoong & Dohyun had been instantaneous. They had become inseparable.

One day, Yuri, who had to go out of town to finalize her project, called Jaejoong in panic, “Oppa, could you stay with Dohyun for a night? My project is in critical condition & something just went wrong. I have got to go there as soon as possible & his babysitter got an exam tomorrow. Leeteuk got nightshift today & he can’t leave with such a short notice. I couldn’t reach my parents either. Yoona & Minseo spent the night with her parents & Fany has a date tonight. So, you are my only hope. Please?”

Jaejoong nodded happily in reply, “Oppa, could you?” Yuri asked again, confused by the silence. Jaejoong grinned, realizing his stupidity & said, “Sure, I will be there after work.” Yuri released her pent-up breath in relief & thanked him, ‘No problem.’ Jaejoong thought, whistling happily. Jessica was out of town & hanging out with Hyukjae lately was so depressing since his face was always so dejected. So, he had nothing to do & what’s better than having Yuri’s son with him? At least he could see Yuri’s eyes in his face.

He didn’t know why but he felt an instant tug at his heart every time he saw Dohyun. Every time he called him uncle Jaejoong. Ever since the first time, when he almost stepped on his toy, he had felt this weird feeling. Something wasn’t quite right. He shook his head mockingly. Dohyun was Yuri’s son; of course he would feel an instant tug. He loved his mother, for god sake.

Whistling in anticipation, he packed his clothes for an overnight stay & drove over to the address Yuri gave him.

Hyukjae was in a bind. He was in a dinner meeting with Sehun. The Sehun who had flirted shamelessly with Tiffany eight years ago but business was still business & he’s here to tie the loose end of their business relationship. He sighed & picked up his glass to hide his yawn while Sehun was talking nonstop about why he hadn’t paid the money he owed Jaejoong & Hyukjae’s company.

Sehun used to be a very wealthy guy but the last eight years of gambling & debauchery had drained almost all of his resources but to give the man credit, he still worked hard to maintain his image of a wealthy guy when he didn’t have money to even settle the restaurant bill.

Suddenly, Sehun let out a loud gasps & waved enthusiastically to someone behind Hyukjae. He turned around to see who could put such a big smile on Sehun’s tired oval-shaped face. His eyes got as big as golf balls seeing Tiffany with a guy entering the restaurant. A different guy; a guy he had never seen before.

Hyukjae scowled at Tiffany with displeasure while Sehun had rushed to greet her. He lifted her hand up & brought it to his heart-shaped lips, “It’s been so long, my sweet Fany. How have you been?”

Tiffany smiled to hide her instinctive reaction to pull her hand away & cleaned it with a bottle of antibacterial hand gel. To distract herself, she looked around the restaurant & saw the guy she knew so well looking at her with so much emotion swirling in his eyes. Eyes that could still make her heart pound erratically in her chest. She steadied herself & looked at him with cold eyes.

“Join us. We could catch up.” Sehun pulled her hand & half dragged her to his table. Reluctantly, Tiffany pulled her dates hand & sat down for the most uncomfortable dinner in her life.