Chapter 2

Yuri had cried nonstop since she left the park. She’s been hiding under the covers on her bed; the floor next to it was now loaded with tissue papers. In all honesty, she really couldn’t blame Jaejoong with the way he reacted. Who knows, maybe she would have done the same thing under the circumstance .

The loud ringing tone from her phone intruded her thoughts. She took several deep breaths before answering in a low voice.

“Yuri?” Jaejoong said, & then he growled in frustration when she hung up the phone. Jaejoong hit the redial button & this time, quickly said, “Don’t hang up. I’m sorry about what happened earlier.”

“Go on.” Yuri answered coldly. She had been too shocked to hear Jaejoong’s voice & had accidentally dropped the phone.

“Can we still talk? We can meet somewhere or I can come over to your place.” Seconds ticked by as Jaejoong tensely waited for her answer.

“We can talk at my place.”

“Yuri, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. I was surprised & reacted badly.” Jaejoong started, right away as soon as Yuri opened her door. He gave her a bouquet of blue & white roses as a sign of peace offering.

Yuri didn’t say anything nor did she make any move to accept the gift. She just stood there, staring at him, making him feel like the lowest form of animal. She silently stood aside, motioning for Jaejoong to enter her place.

“Er...I think we should begin by discussing our options. We both messed up but the important thing is figuring out what we should do from this point on.” A very nervous Jaejoong finally spoke up. It was obvious that Yuri had been crying a lot & he really felt like an eel for making her suffer more.

“& just what do you mean by options?” Yuri’s brown, almond-shaped eyes were flashing.

“Have you ever considered getting an abortion?” Jaejoong bravely suggested.

“If that’s what you came here to tell me then you had better leave now!” Yuri flared, “For your information, we are talking about a human life here! I’m not about to murder my own baby!”

“Whoa, wait a minute. I was just stating an option, that doesn’t mean that I want you to abort the baby.” Actually, he had been half hoping that Yuri would go for that, thus ending their problem. He had just started his own company & had no time for anything else right now.

“Do you want me to offer financial support?”

Yuri was half tempted to slap the arrogant twerp again. Suddenly, she was tired of all of this, “I don’t need your money.” Yuri’s shoulder sagged in defeat. Calling Jaejoong was a bad idea but she was so scared about how her family would react when they find out about the baby.

“Yuri, let’s quit beating around the bushes. What do you want from me?”

“I want our baby to have your name. I want the baby to grow up with a father.”

“What? Are you telling me that you want us to get married?” Jaejoong started to pace restlessly across the room, “Do you realize what you are saying? We don’t even feel anything for each other, we don’t even really know each other.”

"What do you mean we don’t really know each other?! We already know each other in the most biblical sense!” Yuri yelled.

Jaejoong knelt in front of Yuri, “This is the 21st century. People don’t have to get married just because they are having a baby.” Jaejoong tried to gently reason with her.

Yuri calmed down, “I know what you are saying is true but you don’t understand. My family is very traditional. They would go crazy when they find out I’m having a baby out of wedlock. My father has a weak heart & this shock could kill him.” She started sobbing uncontrollably.

Jaejoong stood up. This wasn’t going the way he hoped it would. He really didn’t know what to say anymore, “I’m sorry, Yuri. This is all too much for me to take in right now. I will get back with you later.”

Yuri wrapped her arms around her body as she watched Jaejoong quietly exit her apartment, not knowing if she will ever hear from him again.

A week went by without any word from Jaejoong. Yuri, by now, was a nervous wreck. She had quit going to work & hadn’t left her apartment for the last couple of days. All she wanted to do was hide in her dark bedroom & forget about the rest of the world. She could barely make herself eat anything & right now, just the thought of any form of sustenance would make her want to throw up.

She heard someone knocking on her door but didn’t have any energy to answer it.

“Yuri, are you home?!” Jaejoong called out.

“Oppa.” Yuri rushed to open the door. She had to stop & hold herself up when dizziness overcame her.

“Yuri?” Jaejoong called, one more time & started to leave, ‘She’s probably out. I should have called first.’ He thought to himself.

The door swung open & Jaejoong stopped in mid step then turned around in surprises. What he saw shocked him. The Yuri he saw a week ago could easily be termed as a healthy robust person compared to the person standing in front of him, “What have you done to yourself?!” He exclaimed, as he helped Yuri to the couch, “Just tell me what you decided on.” Yuri didn’t care about anything else. This was it. Its either Jaejoong will do as she asked or she’s out of luck.

“First, when was the last time you ate anything?” Jaejoong asked in concern. Yuri looked like she was going to pass out any minute. When she didn’t answer, he helped himself in her kitchen. He started muttering angrily when he discovered that she didn’t have any food. He ended up preparing her an instant cup of hot cocoa.

“Here, drink this first.” Jaejoong sat back down in satisfaction as some color returned to Yuri’s cheeks.

“Yuri, I’m sorry for taking so long in getting back with you. You have got to understand that this came as a shock for me, too.” Jaejoong smiled grimly, “It seemed like every time I see you, I have to apologize for something.” He waited for some kind of reaction from Yuri but all she did was stare at him with hope shining in her eyes.

Jaejoong continued, “You are right, we both should be responsible for our actions. I have made a decision & would like to discuss this with you. I hope that you will agree to this.”

Yuri held her breath, waiting for him to carry on.

“I agree in marrying you & having our baby grow up with a father.” Jaejoong held his hand up when Yuri started to interrupt, “I have to be honest with you. This is a very difficult time for me as I just started a business & it’s taking up all of my time & effort. Furthermore, I have to do a lot of traveling. I won’t be able to spend much time with you nor the baby when it’s born.”

“How long do you think it will take before you can spare time away from your business?” Yuri asked in a small voice.

“I honestly don’t know.”

“When the time comes, does it mean that we will be able to become a normal family?” Yuri persisted.

“That’s another thing we have to discuss. Yuri, I don’t know what it’s going to be like later on. We will be entering into this marriage knowing that we don’t feel anything for each other; we will only be doing this for the baby’s sake. Who knows? Someday, we might find someone that we truly care about & when that time comes, I think it would be wise to agree that we should let each other have their own freedom.”

Jaejoong truly felt that he was doing the right thing in laying everything out in the open, “For all intents & purposes, we will act like a normal happily married couple in front of everyone’s eyes.”

Yuri was stunned with what Jaejoong said, how can they pretend to be happily married in front of everyone else when it sounded like they were going to lead separate lives? “I’m not too sure about this.” She hedged, “Oppa, can’t we at least try? If we are going to raise a child together, can’t we a least try to make things work between us?”

Jaejoong looked at the frail woman sitting in front of him as he considered what she said, “We will see what happens. We can try but right now, you have to agree that there isn’t much to work with.”

‘Beggars can’t be choosers.’ Yuri thought, as she bleakly accepted Jaejoong’s proposal.