Chapter 23

Tiffany was glaring at Hyukjae all the way to his car & at the same time, tried to hide her face from the stare people was giving them but the unrepentant man just grinned & walked leisurely, ‘He seemed to enjoy my humiliation!’ Tiffany fumed silently. As if he could hear her, Hyukjae patted Tiffany’s & chuckled when he was given a deadly stare & a warning growl.

As they reached his car, he reluctantly released Tiffany from his arms. Tiffany gave him a disgusted look & started to walk away which made Hyukjae panicked & chased after her. Pulling her hand, he gave her an imploring look, “Please, Fany? I only want to talk to you. I will never bother you again, after this if you say so but please, listen to me first?”

Tiffany sighed, knowing that sooner or later she would have to face this situation & folded her arms, “Then talk. I have better things to do.”

Not expecting Tiffany to give in so easily, Hyukjae gaped at her. Tiffany raised her eyebrow & seeing that Hyukjae’s idiotic expression was going to last for a while, she shrugged her shoulders & turned to go find a cab! Realizing his chance almost flew out of the window, he jerked himself awake & cleared his throat.

“Fany, I’m very sorry that I have hurtled you eight years ago. It was unintentional. All I wanted to do was to make you happy & I thought getting married would make you happy so I forced myself to propose to you even though I wasn’t ready. I’m sorry that I hurtled you. I’m sorry for not being honest with you.” He tried to control his panic seeing Tiffany’s bored expression & continued, “I know you have moved on with your life. You have probably gotten over me.” Hearing no denial from Tiffany, he swallowed the bitterness rising in his throat, “But I have never been able to forget you for these last eight years that we have been apart. I thought what I have wanted all along was freedom but I have found out the hardest way possible that I was wrong. All I have ever wanted was you. You are my freedom. You are my happiness but I was too thick-headed to realize it.”

Tiffany stood still, staring at Hyukjae without saying anything. Defeated, he asked Tiffany softly, “I know what I did was unforgivable. Could we be friends at least?”

Tiffany shook her head, not able to utter a word. Closing her eyes & taking in deep breaths didn’t help the tears to go down. They kept rising & finally spilled from her tightly shut eyes. How could she be friends with him after all that had happened to them? How could she go back to something as simple as friendship? Because being friends meant she would have to support him when he had a new girlfriend. She would have to be happy seeing him with someone else & he was wrong. She had never really gotten over him. All the dates were just dates. No one else could touch her like he did but she couldn’t trust him not to hurt her again.

“I understand.” Hyukjae said softly, “Goodbye, Fany.” He looked at Tiffany with longing for a minute & then walked to his car, all the while maintaining rigid control over his body because all he wanted to do was to take her into his arms & beg her to accept him again.

Just as he was about to open his car door, soft words drifted into his ears, “Just give me some more time? Until I could trust you again.”

Three days later, Jessica was hopping mad when she found out Jaejoong had taken his favorite blanket with him. That only meant one thing, he’s spending the night somewhere else. She got back home earlier than she had planned to surprises Jaejoong. She was going to confess to Jaejoong about her feelings & asked him about their future. Never in her wildest dream did she imagined Jaejoong wouldn’t be there when she got home.

She paced around the living room, trying to subdue her anger so that she could think of what to do, ‘Where would he be spending the night? At Hyukjae Oppa?’ She thought. She picked up the phone & dialed Hyukjae’s number but his answering machine told her he was on a date & to congratulate him later if the date went well. She slammed the phone back to its cradle & threw it to the wall. Resuming her pace, she thought again, ‘Not Hyukjae Oppa’s place. His parents? Or maybe Yuri?’ Her face went pale as she remembered Jaejoong’s jubilant face these last few weeks, ‘Are they getting back together? No, I have got to do something if I don’t want to lose him.’ She fished out her iphone 5 & placed a call to find out where Yuri lived. Then she went to her bedroom to get her newest possession.

Sehun was furious. The creditor had just come & took all of his possession away. His apartment was being confiscated too to pay for his debt & the bank had just called him for a bounced check. He had contacted his dad for more money but his dad rebuked him, ‘His trophy wife must have turned him against me!’ He thought in anger & panic. His mind whirled, trying to find a solution to his problem. Suddenly, a piece of paper on the carpet caught his attention. He frowned & picked it up. It was from the creditor. Upon reading it, his face turned red & he roared. It was a paper stating that all of his possession was confiscated to pay for his debt to imagination. That Mr. Kim & Mr. Lee had filed a complaint against him because he hadn't paid his debt. Eyes wild, he ran to his bedroom & opened his secret stash. In it was his most treasured prize, an antique gun & dozens of bullets.

Yuri’s laughter drifted into the house before her shadow could even be seen. Hearing the familiar sound, Jaejoong squared his shoulder & prepared himself for the confrontation. He turned around & waited for Yuri to enter Dohyun’s room for he knew the first thing Yuri would look for must be her son.

Yuri knocked on the door softly & entered the room with a big smile on her face & a pint of strawberry ice cream in her hand. Not seeing her son anywhere, her smile turned into a frown & she looked at the impassive Jaejoong with questions in her eyes.

“Dohyun went with Yoona & Minseo to the beach.”

Yuri smiled & skipped into the room, “Thank you so much for babysitting Dohyun, Jaejoong Oppa. I’m sorry I have to stay longer than planned. I hope he didn’t give you too much trouble. He could be a handful. Here, have some ice cream.”

“Of course not. It’s been an illuminating experience.” Jaejoong said sarcastically, & putting the ice cream back into Yuri’s hand.

Yuri frowned a little. She was just opening to ask Jaejoong what’s wrong with him when someone knocked on the door. Leeteuk opened the door with a wide grin as he said, “Dohyun. Look what daddy got for you.” Seeing Jaejoong’s livid expression, he raised his thick eyebrow & looked at Yuri. She shrugged & muttered, “When you are ready to tell us what’s bothering you, we will be downstairs.” She took Leeteuk’s arm & led him out of the room, leaving the fuming Jaejoong alone.

‘Knowing exactly what one should do feels really good.’ Jaejoong thought, as he quickly ran downstairs & went into the living room where Leeteuk & Yuri were chatting & eating ice cream. He stood in front of them, facing the front door & said firmly, “I need to talk to the both of you.”

A sense of doom settled in Yuri’s stomach although she couldn’t think about what was the causes. She searched Jaejoong’s face for any clues but for once, the usually expressive face was blank. Leeteuk gestured with his spoon for him to start talking.

“Who is Dohyun’s father?” Jaejoong kept his attention on Yuri’s face, not willing to miss even a flicker of expression.

Caught unprepared, Yuri’s eyes widened a fraction & her face whitened as blood rushed down from her head to her heart, making it thud almost unbearably. She couldn’t utter a single word, only looking at Jaejoong like a deer caught by headlights. Leeteuk reached out & engulfed her hand, as if transferring some of his strength, telling her the time had arrived to reveal all.

Jaejoong sneered in satisfaction, “It’s me, isn’t it? Dohyun is my son, isn’t he?” Seeing the answer in Leeteuk & Yuri’s eyes, he closed his eyes & said heatedly, “Why didn’t you tell me?! How could you hide it from me?! He calls another man daddy! I’m his father & he called me uncle Jaejoong!”

Yuri closed her eyes, not wanting to see the anguish in Jaejoong’s face. Leeteuk sighed & explained in a calm voice, “Yuri found out that she was pregnant two months after breaking up with you. What do you suggest she do? Run to you & tell you about her pregnancy & let Jessica dropped dead in front of you? Do you even realize what a difficult life she had led because of the pregnancy & single parenthood?” Leeteuk huffed in disgusts, “Frankly speaking, I offered her a perfect way out by marrying me. I loved her. I still love her but she chose to raise Dohyun by herself when I would gladly take Dohyun as my own.”

In his rage, Jaejoong hauled Leeteuk by his collar & shouted, “You have the nerve to proposes to Yuri?! To take my woman & child as yours?! Over my dead body!” Leeteuk pushed Jaejoong back & shouted back, “You don’t deserve them! You left them both, you spineless excuses of a man!” Both guys were on the verge of beating each other to pulps when Yuri jumped from her seat & pushed the two men apart.

“Stop it. I mean it, both of you. Listen to me.” Yuri looked at the two guys in disbelief. She stomped to Leeteuk & glowered at him. Leeteuk bent his head down & grimaced as Yuri erupted, “It’s not your place to say that to Jaejoong. It’s me who broke up with him. It was my choice so it’s my consequences. Don’t make matters worse, Leeteuk Oppa. Stay out of this.” Leeteuk sighed & nodded, “Sorry.” He mumbled, & sat back down.

Jaejoong looked at him smugly. Yuri turned her head & glared at him. She stomped to Jaejoong & drilled her long finger into his chest, “& you. Who is your woman? You are in no condition to demand anything. Dohyun is my son. I will do what I think is best for him. So what if I tell you about him? What could you do? What would you do?” Yuri took in a deep breath & said more softly, “This is for the best, Oppa. This way, he will have Leeteuk & your love so let it be.”

Jaejoong was opening his mouth to protests when Hyukjae & Tiffany walked in. Seeing the people in the living room, Tiffany grinned & walked towards them, “Jaejoong Oppa, you are here. What a surprises.”

“Not as much as ours. You got back with Hyukjae now? Congratulation, pal.” Jaejoong grinned & winked at them, forgetting about his frustration for a moment as he faced the unexpected sight.

Tiffany blushed & shook her head, “We are friends.” She said, glancing at Hyukjae for confirmation. He grinned at Tiffany & put his arm around her, “We are friends.” He said firmly, & under his breath, he added, “For now.” Then he grinned at Jaejoong & winked back.

Feeling unsatisfied with his answer but too proud to say so, she looked at Yuri in question. Yuri only rolled her eyes, sighed in resignation & nodded, “You have really told him?” Tiffany asked.

Jaejoong suddenly realized his predicament before Hyukjae & Tiffany walked in. He gritted his teeth, “She didn’t tell me. I walked in here three days ago & seeing this house, I knew Teuk & her didn’t get married & Teuk isn’t Dohyun’s biological father.” He turned to Yuri & opened his mouth to protests again, when suddenly, the he felt another presence in the living room. He turned back towards the door only to find Jessica standing there with fire & ice in her eyes & an automatic gun in her hand. It was pointed towards Yuri’s heart.