Chapter 9

Hope and Chances

When Yongguk came home that same evening, you noticed how quickly Jaewoo had gone to him. Being extra clingy and asking your husband to play with him. It was a huge difference compared to the way he was with you.
You also noticed how much Yongguk's face lit up and the huge grin that formed on his face. He was really enjoying this.
"Hey." he greeted you and gave you a quick kiss. Then he was dragged away from Jaewoo tugging on his arm.
"Come on." Jaewoo begged, pulling him down the hallway.
Yongguk chuckled and smiled at you once last time before letting himself be lead into Jaewoo's room.
With a tiny sigh, you turned and entered the kitchen to check on dinner. You were making Yongguk's favorite tonight, ramen. After you tried to get Jaewoo to tell you what he wanted for dinner but he refused to answer. Yongguk had said the boy was shy but the more you spent time with him, the more you wondered about that.
Once the dinner was done cooking, you scooped it in to three bowls and set the table. Then you went to Jaewoo's room and saw them sitting on the floor with the toy cars. "Dinner's done." you announced.
Yongguk glanced up at you and smiled. "Alright." he replied before looking at Jaewoo. "Let's go eat."
"Alright." the boy said, echoing your husband.
You went back to the kitchen and sat at your usual place just as the two males joined you. You took a bite of your food and glanced over at Jaewoo. He had a small pout on his face as he stirred his ramen. You were just about to ask him if he didn't like ramen when Yongguk spoke up.
"Yum ramen." Yongguk commented out loud. He turned to Jaewoo and added, "It's my favorite."
"I like ramen too." the boy instantly piped in. Then he eagerly began to eat his food.
You raised your eyebrow at the sudden change but shook your head and dismissed it. At least there wasn't repeat of what happened at lunch.
"Is it good?" your husband asked with a tiny smile
Jaewoo nodded his head as he continued eating. Yongguk chuckled at that and then resumed eating as well. His gaze stayed on the little boy the entire time though with a small twinkle in his eyes.

Yongguk put Jaewoo to bed once more while you stood in the doorway. Instead of waiting for the story time to finish though, you turned and went in to your own bedroom. You grabbed the basket of clean clothes that you had done and dumped them on the bed. Grabbing the closest shirt, you began to fold the clothes.
A few minutes later, Yongguk walked into the room. "Hey." he said as he approached you. He wrapped his arms around your waist and kissed your cheek.
You gently pushed in to him, leaning slightly, before going about your task. He let you go and stood next to you as he began to help.
"How was work?" you inquired.
"Good. The tracks for the album are picked out and I started on some new songs for the group that will promote next." he answered.
You nodded your head. "That's good."
"How was your day?" he asked.
Your hands froze as your mind went blank. Then you felt him take the piece of clothing out of your hands. You watched as he pushed the clothes aside and sat on the bed before grabbing your hand with both of his.
"How did everything go?" he questioned with a pleading look in his eyes. "Did you guys do something together? Play with his toys?" A tiny smile graced his face. "Did he ask about me?"
You stared at him for a moment as you thought about the day. "He was..." Your voice trailed off. Your thoughts shifted to the smile on Yongguk's face when Jaewoo greeted him. How excited he was to have Jaewoo move in yesterday. All the visits he did at the orphanage. Clinging to Jaewoo's folder when they were going through the list of children. Even now; "Did he ask about me?"
"He was...?" Yongguk asked, attempting to pry the rest of your statement from you.
At your silence, you saw the expression on his face change from happiness to worry. "Quiet." you uttered. "He was... quiet."
He blinked at you in surprise. "Oh." he said.
"It's like you said before, he's shy. I'm sure living in a new place with new people will take him some time getting use to." you hurriedly declared.
He bit his bottom lip for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. Of course." Then he smiled up at you. "What games did you play?"
'He wouldn't let me play with him.' you thought in your head. "I didn't get a chance to play with him today." you stated instead. "The company has all those new clients remember? I have dozens of business proposals to go through."
The smile faded from his face as he looked at you in disbelief. At the same time, he let of your hand and his hands fell in to his lap. "You didn't play with him? At all?"
"I had a lot of work to do." you offered, even as a guilty feeling crept through your body. "I told him if he needed anything or wanted to play, he could ask."
That small bit of assurance didn't seem to help as he frowned.
"I made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch." you added, changing the subject slightly.
Yongguk furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why didn't you make him a turkey sandwich? Didn't I say that he loves those?"
"Yeah but he said he wanted peanut butter and jelly instead." you replied. At least that part wasn't stretching the truth much.
"Huh." he uttered as he looked away. Then he turned back to you with the faintest trace of a smile. "Well there's always tomorrow for you guys to bond while I'm at work."
Your heart skipped a beat but you kept your face neutral. Yongguk stood up and gave you a quick kiss on the lips. Then with another smile, he started helping you fold the laundry once more.
You didn't move for a few seconds before resuming the task as well. The dread you were feeling refused to a smile form on your face though.


Yongguk left for work Sunday morning the same as before. He woke you up with a soft kiss and informed you that Jaewoo was already up. You climbed out of bed and got ready for the day, hoping it would go better than yesterday.
You quickly found out that you were hoping for nothing. When you joined him to watch cartoons, he went to play in his room. When you entered his room to play with him, he left and went back to the living room. No matter what you said to him, he refused to acknowledge you. Even when you offered to take him to the park, he didn't even look at you.
You sulked to the workroom, feeling very frustrated. You didn't want to tell Yongguk that another day went by and you didn't do anything with Jaewoo. Yet you knew you couldn't bring yourself to tell him about Jaewoo's behavior. You didn't want to risk upsetting him when he's been so happy lately. It was a huge change from when you told him that you didn't want to take any of the fertility tests and you didn't want to take that away from him.
So you focused on your work with the new hope that Jaewoo would eventually get bored of his 'game' and approach you someday. Glancing at the pile of binders on your desk, you let out a heavy sigh. You weren't lying about all the business proposals you had to go through.
Glancing at the clock, you decided that it was lunch time and took a deep breath. Then you stood up and went to find Jaewoo. He was laying on the floor in his room and kicking his toys with his legs.
"Are you hungry?" you asked him.
He glanced at you and was silent for a moment before replying, "I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."
You let out the breath you hadn't realized you were holding. "Okay." you said with a nod of your head. Then you turned and headed to the kitchen.
You set about making his sandwich and adding some cheese crackers since he did eat those before. When you were done, you put his lunch on the table and called him to come eat.
He came into the kitchen and went over to the table. He climbed on to the chair and immediately began to eat the crackers without saying anything.
Leaving him be, you set about making yourself a lunch as well. You took your time doing it, thinking he wouldn't want you to sit at the table with him. He didn't want to be in the same room as you earlier after all.
"I want a turkey sandwich."
You turned and gave him a curious look before stepping closer to him. "You want another..." You stopped walking and let your question die on your lips. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich was still on his plate. "Why aren't you eating that sandwich?"
"I don't want it." he simply said.
You pressed your lips together and breathed slowly through your nose. "You told me you wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so you're going to have to eat it. I'm not making you a different one just because you changed your mind."
He eyed you for a moment before glancing away. With one hand, he grabbed the rest of the cheese crackers off the plate. Then his other hand grabbed the plate as he looked back at you.
The hair on the back of your neck stood up as a chill went down your spine. The glare he gave you was so cold and harsh that it took your breath away.
Suddenly the plate went flying through the air and crashed against the cupboards directly behind you before falling to the floor. You quickly looked at it and then turned back to Jaewoo. Your mouth dropped open as you stared at him in shock. "Jaewoo!" you exclaimed.
He continued glaring at you for a moment before scrambling off his chair. He ran out of the kitchen and a few seconds later, you heard the door to his room slam shut.
You stood frozen, in complete disbelief. Then slowly, you turned and surveyed the mess on the floor. You took a step toward it but stopped as something clicked in your mind. "Is it my imagination or was he trying to throw it at me?"
A noise from your phone broke you out of your daze and you shook your head. You moved to the counter and grabbed it to see a text message from Yongguk, "How is everything?"
Swallowing, you started typing out your reply, "I don't know what to do. He won't have anything to do with me and he just threw his lunch at me."
Your finger hovered over the 'send' button but you hesitated. Part of you wanted to push it, to have your husband with you. Yet part of you still thought how much you would upset him with the truth.
Feeling your heart break a little, you erased your message. Then you typed out a new one and sent it to him. "Fine."

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
Chiiyochii #1
Chapter 23: Aaaaah this was soo cute!!! I couldn't help myself to read it in one go ? thanks for the amazing story!!! ???
Chiiyochii #2
Chapter 1: Waaaaa I just readed the first chapter and I already can tell this gone be one of my fav stories!! I like your writing style it's easy and fun to read. And I love the concept !!!! Let's see how this story develop!! Keep the good work up!!! You have a new fan here ???
VocalPrincess
#3
Reread this and I still love it!
peppermintani #4
Chapter 23: I've never read a fanfic like this before. I loved the drama and mature story, it was so realistic but perfectly paced. It never dragged on and was the perfect length. Thank you!
myuniqueface
#5
Chapter 23: I just read it again, I lost count how many time I've read this beautiful story already :")
Shawn111 #6
Chapter 23: Awww this is a really good story I cried a lot. (:
chuppoppo #7
solarflare authornim! i just thought that youshould know...once in a while i come here and read this all over again. i think i'll never get bored reading this. <3 <3 <3
junghafie #8
soooo lovely and heartwarming /wipe tears/ ;)
Sya_EXOTIC #9
Chapter 23: where can i find a husband like yongguk ╥﹏╥
hes like so perfect in here
ShinSeoRae #10
I can't believe ive only read this masterpiece just 2 years after >_< this was written beautifully and really deserves an upvote..just this made me miss Yongguk more <////3