- Chapter Thirty Five - Moving forward.

Jaejoong put his mug filled with hot tea on the surface table next to his laptop, more Yunho's laptop than his, but the man had said that everything belonging to him was also his. So, the pretty young father did not ask more as he used it every time he was skypping his brother-in-law, keeping in touch with the man who had helped him a lot after Hana's death.

And there, he was talking to his brother-in-law in the morning while the other was at the other side of the planet where night was already set up. And Nicolas Duchauvel looked tired after a long day at work. The man was the owner of a good restaurant in Paris. At this hour of the night, the man had long gone with his duty and surely wanted to have a good rest before returning to his routine behind the stove of his restaurant's kitchen the day after.

But he was there, taking his time to talk with the husband of his late younger sister.

"As-tu tout ce qu'il te faut à tes côtés? (Do you have everything at your arms' reach?)" The man on the laptop's screen asked with a soft laugh as he was settled in a soft sofa in his living room while the rest of his family was sleeping soundly. "Si je le pouvais, je t'aurais envoyé un bol de ramen. Ma specialité! Tu es un peu trop maigre. (If I can I would send you a bowl of ramen. My specialty! You're too skinny.)"

The beautiful idol laughed softly as he nodded. His brother-in-law was not the only one to tell him to eat more. Yunho always put more meat into his plate in the hope to make him gain a few pounds. Those two had the same characters. Taking care of others was what made them very kind and caring. Someone unique.

And Jaejoong missed those time with the other man.

Nicolas was the older brother he never had. And it was relaxing to talk about everything with the man. Even his past love with Yunho. There was no discrimination. Nicolas understood the kind of situation he was as love knew no boundaries.

The man liked to say this, if tolerant people were more the world would be better. And after that, he always added, human beings are the kind of creatures who haves every flaws in this world no wonder we're reduced to this kind of situation.

He was not different than Hana. They were not brother and sister for nothing.

"En tout cas, Tu as l'air plus heureux. (Anyway, you seem more happier.)" Nicolas nodded with a smile as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Tu trouves? (Is that so?)"

"Oui! Tu as l'air plus serein. Apaisé même. (Yes! You seem relaxed. Even calm.)" He added with a smile.

"Je ne sais pas... (I don't know...) Mais... on peut dire que certaines choses sont rentrés dans l'ordre. (But... we can say that things have found their places) Enfin, je crois... (Well, I think...)" Jaejoong said quietly with a smile.

"Avec lui? (With him?)"

Jaejoong nodded. "Est-ce que... Penses-tu que je fais là une erreur? (Do you... Do you think I am making a mistake?) Est-ce que je fais bien les choses... tu sais... donner une autre chance... à cette relation entre lui et moi... une relation qui est vouée à l'échec... (Do you think I do things right... you know... giving another chance to this kind of relationship between him and me... a relationship which is doomed to failure...)"

"Je ne sais pas. (I don't know.)" Nicolas heaved a sight. "Mais si tu te sens mieux... je ne vais pas te dire ce que tu dois faire. Je ne suis pas le mieux placé pour te donner des conseils. (However, if you feel better... I won't tell you what to do. I am not the best man to give you advices.) Il a été important dans ta vie. (He was someone important in your life.) Que puis-je dire? Je n'ai jamais été amoureux d'un homme. Homme ou femme, le sentiment est le même. Non? Tu réagis avec ton cœur pas avec ta tête. (What can I say? I never fall in love with a man. Man or woman, the feeling is the same. Right? You act with your heart not with your mind.)"

"Et otou-san? (And Otou-san?) Que pense-t-il de tout ça? (What does he think of all of this?)"

"Il fait avec. (He copes very well.)"

"Je suis désolé. (I'm sorry.)"

"Ne le sois pas! (Don't be!) Mon père n'est pas commode à priori. Mais c'est un homme bien. Il ne t'a pas rejeté. Au contraire, il se plaint même que tu ne l'appelles pas souvent. Tu es ce qui lui reste de sa petite fille chérie. A travers toi, il revoit Hana et les moments passés avec elle jusqu'à sa mort. (My father is not very easy-going at first side. He did not deny you. On the contrary, he even complains that you don't call him often. You are what left of his baby daughter. Through you, he sees Hana and the last moments he spent with her until her death.)" His brother-in-law said quietly with a soft smile painting on his face. "Tu devrais l'appeler. (You should call him.)"

"Je devrais. (I should.)" Jaejoong nodded with a smile. "Okaa-san m'a dit qu'ils seront à Seoul la semaine prochaine. (Okaa-san said that they are going to be in Seoul next week.)" He added.

"Allez-vous vous voir? (Are you going to meet?)" Hana's older brother laughed softly at this kind of relationship between father-in-law and son-in-law. It was not everyday a father-in-law had to approve his son-in-law's love life after the death of his daughter. Mostly this kind of love between two men.

Jaejoong nodded and said in Japanese, "Yes. I feel like a bad son-in-law for not even contacting them more than I should."

"Don't worry. They know that you need time with what's waiting for you. They're going to be happy to see you and Capucine. You were very good for Hana-chan. And they are grateful for the sacrifice you did for her. You gave your time to their daughter until the end. For that, they will always think of you as a good man. They won't judge you. What matters for them is that you're happy. You need to be happy for the best of everyone. Them, you and that little princess of yours." The other man said with a smile in his mother's native language.

The young father nodded as he was grateful for his brother-in-law to reassure him about this complex relationship he had with his father-in-law, his Ha-chan's father. Jaejoong knew the older man meant no harms. And he could feel the affection the man had for him as the latter always looked at him with what he could say love. However, now that he had decided to give another chance between Yunho and him, what his father-in-law was going to think about his decision.

There was only one way to know the older man's feelings. Asking the latter without beating around the bunch.

Would he be angry?

Would he be happy?

"Jaejoong! Ne te prend pas la tête pour ça! (Jaejoong! Don't think too much!)"

"Tu as raison... (You're right...)" He smiled softly at Nicolas with a nod, but the small smile painting on his lips gave way of his worry.

"Oh! Clem m'a fait voir sur youtube ta première performance en tant que chanteur... non, dans ton pays vous appelez ça idole. (Oh! Clem has shown me your first performance as a singer... no in your country you call that idol.)" His brother-in-law laughed softly, changing the topic of their discussion, hoping to give the man a way to escape some futile worries. "Tu as été bon. (You were good.)" He nodded.

"Merci. (Thank you.) J'ai fait de mon mieux. (I did my best.)" The young father smiled. "Les gens ont leur propre opinion. Et tout le monde ne pense pas comme toi. (People have their own opinion. And they don't think like you.)"

"Hana serait fière de toi. (Hana would be proud of you.)" Nicolas said quietly with a smile. "Elle serait fière de l'homme que tu es devenu. (She would be proud of the man you have become.) Un bon père qui fait tout pour aller de l'avant. (A good father who does everything in order to move on.)"

Jaejoong hummed as he took his mug of tea in his hands before bringing it to his lips. He felt happy that there was someone other than his family and entourage who saw his efforts to stand in his ground for the best not only him but for the best of his daughter. Then, he sipped some of the hot tea before turning his attention to his baby daughter who was blabbering not far from him. Capucine was standing on her feet with the help of the couch as her little was resting against the seat while frowning as she was playing with a soft red cube. The baby girl was looking at the toy from its every side as if she was searching for something in particular. At that, the young father just turned the screen's laptop towards his baby daughter, showing her uncle how much she had grown since their departure.

"Elle se tient debout toute seule. (She stands on her feet without any help.)" Nicolas gasped at the sight of his niece growing so well for real not in pictures, but the man was smiling proudly while watching the baby girl who did not even acknowledge his presence. And not long after, Jaejoong could see another figure appearing on the screen as the woman was smiling at him with a sleeping face.

"Hey! Beau gosse! Comment vas-tu? (Hey! Handsome! How are you?)" His brother-in-law's wife asked as she was waving at him. She was smiling through her sleepy face.

"Je vais bien. (I'm fine.)" The man chuckled at how his sister-in-law had called him.

"Oh Mon dieu! (Oh my God!) Capucine se tient debout. (Capucine can stand on her feet.)" The woman pressed her hand on her chest as she was crying not of sadness but of happiness at the sight of her niece standing on her feet in front of her eyes. That little girl she had seen a few months ago was so small and frail. She could not even crawl or rolling on her stomach. But now, she could stand on her feet showing them that she was doing so well. "Hana serait heureuse de voir ça! (Hana would be happy to see that.)"

"Elle le serait. (She would.)" Jaejoong said with a soft smile. "Capucine va bien. (Capucine is fine.) Son pédiatre pense qu'elle grandira en bonne santé et sans complications. (Her pediatrician thinks she's going to grow healthily and without complications.)"

"C'est ma nièce après tout. (She's my niece after all.)" Hana's brother let out with a voice filled of pride and a grin on his face. "C'est une battante. (She's a fighter.)"

"Il n'est pas du genre expressif. Mais là, il fait peur à voir. (He isn't the kind of man to express his feelings. But he is scary.)" Sophie, Nicolas's wife said with a soft laugh as she was looking at her husband. "Il a simplement hoché de la tête lorsque nos deux fils ont commencé à marcher. (He only nodded when our two sons have started walking.)"

"Ce sont des garçons! (They're boys!)" He said as if being boy was nothing in the world. "Mais Capucine, c'est ma nièce. La fille de ma sœur! (But Capucine, she's my niece. The daughter of my sister.)"

"Evidemment! (Of course!)" She rolled her eyes with an amused smile painting on her lips. "Ce que j'aimerais la porter dans mes bras. (How I want to hold her in my arms.) Elle a grandi... (She's getting bigger...)"

"Oui. (Yes.) Maintenant elle mange de tout. Son alimentation est variée. Et, il semble qu'elle aime beaucoup les choses sucrées. (Now, she eats everything. Her alimentation is varied. And she seems to like sweets.)"Jaejoong let them know even if he already said it several time.

"C'est une fille. (She's a girl)" Nicolas said in a matter-of-factly tone as if it was a fact that girls could only loves sweets delicacies, and not long after he got a hit from his wife for being mean to the opposite gender.

And in front of him, Jaejoong was watching those two bickering for who was better than other when it came to sweets. He laughed softly at them as he took his baby daughter in his arms and made her look at the laptop's screen, hoping to have the couple's attention.

"Tonton! Tata! (Uncle! Aunty!)" The young father called them out while waving his daughter's hand to the couple. "C'est tonton Nicolas et tata Sophie. (It's uncle Nicolas and aunty Sophie.)" He added as he pointed his finger to the screen of the laptop.

The baby girl said nothing but frowned at the two people on the screen who were waving to her with smile and also calling her name eagerly. She nodded and hummed as she was pressing her palms on the surface table of the coffee table, helping herself to stand on her feet between her father's legs before pointing her finger toward the screen.

"...sa-cho..." She let out while jutting her lips out making her father laugh at the way she was spelling uncle in Korean.

His baby girl babbled a lot in her own baby language, but she started to repeat every word they used while talking to her. And of course with her own little way she related word to people and to the objects around her. Now, she called samchon Yoochun, Junsu and Changmin. She could put a name for a hand phone or even kimchi, cream, egg and a lot of things with the right name. But what the baby girl loved the most was to giggle and pout making the people around them melt a her cuteness. And her uncle from her mother's side was also not immune against her moue.

"Qu'a-t-elle dit? (What did she say?)" Her uncle asked with a smile as he was waving to the smiling baby girl who was twisting her nose at this moment.

"Elle t'a appelé tonton en coréen. (She called you uncle in Korean.) Samchon." Jaejoong said softly.

"Je le savais! (I knew it!)" His wife said with a smile painting on her lips. "Tu as un beau-frère Korean et tu ne connais même pas un mot ou deux?! (You have a Korean brother-in-law and you do not even know a word or two?!)" Sophie rolled up her eyes as she hit her husband's thigh amusedly.

"Je ne suis pas très bon en langue. (I'm not very good in language.) De tout façon on arrive à se comprendre en japonais. (Anyway, we can understand each other as we talk Japanese.)"

"Paresseux! (Lazy !)" His wife snorted with an amused smile painting on her face as she was looking at her front, meaning at the screen of the laptop and mostly at the pair of father and daughter who were far from them.

Nicolas grunted at his wife's comment. Then, he chuckled as he was looking at his niece who seemed to be stronger than they thought of her at the first place. She was a premature baby who was now learning to stand on her own and talk with her own words. The man could only be proud of her. She was indeed the daughter of his strong baby sister. She could only be as strong as her mother.

"Ooh!" His wife cooed as she saw the man wiping the few tears streaming down on his cheeks. "Il est devenu vraiment sensible après la naissance de Capucine. (He is sensitive since the birth of Capucine.)" She added as she took her husband's face between her hands, then kissed softly his lips. "Tu es un gros bébé! (You're a big baby!)" She laughed softly at her husband's expense.

"Vraiment! Arrêtes de te moquer de moi! (Really! Stop teasing me!)" The man said as he pushed his wife away softly while she was still laughing at him.

Jaejoong said nothing as the man was smiling at the couple who was very close. If Hana was still alive, maybe, they could be this kind of couple. Then, he laughed softly at the sight of his brother-in-law standing up from his seat saying that he had enough of his insensitive wife while wiping the remnant tears in his eyes discreetly, letting Jaejoong alone his wife having whatever discussion they were going to have.

Men don't cry after all.

And it was something Jaejoong always said in the past. More than men only cried three times in their all life. But since his marriage with Hana and the birth of Capucine, Jaejoong had become a crying mess. He always hid himself to cry not wanting his late wife and others to see him in that state. And at the end he felt like having no more tears to shed as he just stood still when he had said her his last goodbye. However, when he came back to his homeland and was facing the only person he never wanted to see so soon, he could not help but let out all his pain and grief in Yunho's arms.

"Alors? Tout va bien pour toi là-bas? (So, everything good for you there?)" Sophie asked quietly with a soft smile painting on her lips.

"Je vais bien. (I'm fine.)" He nodded as he was still holding his daughter who was now trying to return to her previous occupation. But soon he released her when she whined a bit. He laughed at Capucine walking slowly with the help of everything around her. His baby girl did never crawl. She just pushed herself up and tried to walk by holding onto what she had at her arms' reach.

"Elle est devenue independante. (She's becoming independent.)" The woman said as she was looking at the baby girl who was babbling and trying to walk to the soft couch behind her father's back.

"Elle n'est encore qu'un baby. (She's still a baby.)" Jaejoong heaved a sigh.

"Ne t'inquiète pas. Elle sera toujours ta petite fille chérie. (Don't worry. She will always be your darling.)"

Jaejoong nodded with a soft smile while he was still watching his baby daughter. Then, he her small back delicately, making her turn her attention to him before giggle while showing all her gums and the few teeth she had.

The young father let out a soft laugh and sent his pretty baby girl a few flying kisses. And baby Cap gave a flying kiss back.

"I love you." He said with his most beautiful smile.

"...vov... yuuu..." Capucine repeated with a smile while tilting her head on her right a bit as she was sprawling her upper body on the seat of the couch.

Sophie, Jaejoong's sister-in-law laughed at the lovely scene in front of her eyes, remaining silent as she let the father and daughter having their moment. She nodded and asked with a soft expression, "Es-tu heureux? (Are you happy?)"

"Je le suis. (I am)" Jaejoong answered quietly as he turned his attention to her

"Tu le mérites. (You deserve it.)"

And at this same moment, a untidy Yunho with tousled hair had appeared from nowhere behind Jaejoong, ruffling the man's hair before pressing a kiss on the mop of his head, then he walked towards Capucine and took her in his arms. He threw her a bit in the air making the baby girl squeal and giggle. Then, he kissed her on the tip of her nose.

"You seem very in a good mood baby girl." Yunho said as he held her tight in his arms. And Capucine giggled before pressing her full and pouty lips against the man's cheek.

"...appaaaa..." She whined as she leaned on his shoulder while Yunho was laughing softly at her while rubbing her back.

"Yes? My baby?"

"...ibsul..." The baby girl pointed her small chubby finger against the man's lips.

"Oh! You want a kiss here. Let me give you a popo." He smiled and kissed her on her lips.

"Je vois! (I see!)" Sophie let out with a smile as the older woman was witnessing the soft and gentle interaction between the man and the baby girl. "Il l'adore. (He adores her.)"

At her voice, Yunho turned his attention to the laptop and could only smile awkwardly at the woman with whom his Jaejoong was talking with, guessing that she was the wife of Hana's older brother, making her Jaejoong's sister-in-law. The man was feeling a bit uneasy as he knew what was his appearance. But what he could do? Nothing only showing his polite side and he gritted her with a tilt of his head and a friendly wave.

"Hi!" He said in English.

"Hi!" Jaejoong's sister-in-law said back with a wave of her hand. "C'est le fameux Jung Yunho, n'est-ce pas? (It's the famous Jung Yunho, right?)"

"...hmm..." Jaejoong nodded with a smile, while Yunho was trying to understand his partner's conversation with the French woman.

"Je vois. (I see.) Je n'ai pas à demander pourquoi tu es tombé amoureux de lui. (I won't ask why you did fall in love with him.)" She added with a smile and a nod. "Tu dis pas non à ce genre d'homme. (You don't say no to that kind of man.) Je l'avalerais tout cru si j'étais à ta place. (I would eat him up if I were you.)" Sophie continued while she was ogling Jaejoong's friend.

Jaejoong could not help but laugh softly at her remark, making Yunho frown at not knowing what those two