Twist Of Fate

Chapter 36

Portrait

The curtains were pulled aside, letting the strong rays of sun enter your room. You cursed at yourself for forgetting to pull the curtains before going to bed.

It was only seven am. But you figured it was a good thing that you were up early. You could make breakfast, and wake Ki Joon up. He usually wakes up earlier than you.

You ruffled your long hair messy hair and walked out of your room. You stepped into the hall, and carefully opened Ki Joon’s door to peak into his room.

The boy was still sleeping, and you smiled and shut the door back. A soft sigh escaped through your lips.

Usually, in the mornings, you would make breakfast, and Yongguk would dress Ki Joon, or it would be the opposite, when he was home.

You shook your head, when you realized that he crossed your mind. You stepped back from Ki Joon’s door and went to wash your face and brush your teeth.

You stared at your reflection in the mirror whilst brushing your teeth, and you furrowed your brows.

The last time you had spoken with Yongguk, you had argued, cried, and then he had called you in the middle of the night to apologize.

You weren’t sure if you had cleared things now after your last call. You fell asleep during the call, and he hadn’t called you since. You shrugged.

“Can’t believe I actually shed tears.” You mumbled and washed your mouth with water afterwards.

It didn’t take long to fix a breakfast for the two of you, because you only had to make breakfast for two, and not three after all.

You knew exactly what to make. You usually had to ask Yongguk what he wanted to have. But you knew what Ki Joon liked to eat for breakfast.

You ushered to Ki Joon’s room to wake him up. You gently opened the door and strode up to his bed.

The corner of your lip tugged up to a smile as you leaned over him, and you his cheek gently.

A soft sigh escaped through your lips as you gazed at his angelic sleeping face. It was the most peaceful look you had ever seen.

The little boy scrunched his nose and moved his lips slightly at the light touch, and your smile grew wider.

You seated next to him, and slowly pulled his duvet down a bit. He scrunched his face, slowly waking up.

“Ki Joon-ie, wake up?” You called softly.

“Is Yongguk home?” He mumbled with closed eyes.

You stiffened and stared at him. You gulped hard and looked the other way. He made small sounds as he was yawning and stretching his little arms.

“He is not back yet, honey.” You said in a small voice as you turned to look at him.

Instantly, you saw his face drop. He stared at you, and then his eyes fell to his lap. He sighed deeply and frowned suddenly.

“When is Yongguk coming home?” He asked as he folded his arms over his chest, and you couldn’t help but to smile now as he was getting mad.

You copied his gesture and scrunched your face as well. The both of you had an equally sour look on your faces.

“How dare he not come home. It’s been a week now.” You stated and scoffed.

Ki Joon stared at you with a blank look, looking bewildered for a moment, when he saw you get furious.

Seconds after, he burst out laughing, but you kept frowning, pretending to look mad. It seemed to be working. The kid was smiling.

However, the little boy stopped laughing, crawled to your side and placed his hand on your shoulder, making you turn and look him in the eyes.

“Don’t worry. Yongguk will be back soon. You miss him too.” He said with a small smile, and he blinked a couple of times, looking extremely adorable.

This kid.

You stopped frowning and gazed into his eyes, surprised. This smart little kid was actually comforting you. You gasped, and wrapped your arms around him, and hugged him tightly.

“I know honey, he will be back soon.” You said, and he nodded as he hugged you.

“He’s just on a short business trip.” You told.

“Yes, he will be back soon.” Ki Joon stated in a hopeful voice, and you nodded with vigor.

“Indeed.”

The both of you were quiet as you hugged each other for a long moment. It felt nice and comforting. You smiled as Ki Joon snuggled into you, and he giggled.

“Guess what? me and you are going out today.” You said, and the little boy pulled back with wide eyes full of excitement.

“After kindergarten, okay?” You quickly added, and he nodded.

Ki Joon was quick that morning with getting ready to go to kindergarten this morning. He looked forward to later, when you would be going out.

After last night, you decided to take Ki Joon out for a little fun to get his mind on other things, because he had been quite sad. You couldn’t bear to see him upset.

Working hours seemed to have passed fast as you were excited for the evening with Ki Joon. You left your work place and headed to the parking lot.

You waited outside and glanced up. The skies were clear, bright and the sun was strong. You reached your hand out and blocked the sun from blinding you.

“You finished fast.” The familiar voice broke out, and you laughed, turning to look at your best friend.

Taecyeon had stopped his car in front of you, and he strode up to you. You hadn’t even noticed his presence.

You quickly noticed that he wasn’t wearing a suit today, like he often does. He was dressed quite simple, jeans and a dark green t-shirt.

Taecyeon grinned at you as he opened the door for you and you walked up to him. You shook your head, smiling.

“I finished fast, couldn’t wait.” You admitted, and he chuckled, nodding.

You lowered your head and got inside his car. Taecyeon walked around the car and got back to the driver’s seat.

“Let’s go pick up Ki Joon.” He said with a wide smile, and you nodded.

“Have you heard from Soo Min?” You asked, and he nodded. He the ignition, the car roared, and bit onto his bottom lip as he drove out of the place.

“Soo Min will meet up with us at the place. She’s still at work. Otherwise, I would have picked her up.” He told, and you nodded.

You rolled the window down, letting the light breeze enter the car, and you sighed softly, when you felt the wind on your face.

“How is Ki Joon. You said he had been sad last night.” Taecyeon asked, breaking off the silence.

“He is fine now. He broke down, because he misses Yongguk, but I made a call, and the two got to speak. It lightened his mood. Also, he looks forward to today. I kept it a surprise, so he doesn’t know that you and Soo Min will be there.” You said as you turned to look at your friend, and he smiled with bright eyes.

“You know, you are doing a really good job.” He said, and you scrunched your eyes slightly.

“What do you mean?” You asked.

“You are being a good mom. You really try your hardest to make Ki Joon happy. I can tell.” He said.

You grinned from ear to ear, look the other way, and he chuckled at your expression. Then he reached his hand out and ruffled your hair.

You finally groaned at his silly antics, and tried to brush his hands away, but he just laughed it off.

“Tssk.” You scoffed, but the corner of your lip tugged upwards. “Thanks for telling me that. I kind of needed to hear that.” You admitted and became quiet.

Taecyeon furrowed his brows quickly, but his facial muscles relaxed after, and a huge grin formed on his face.

“It’s nothing pumpkin. I knew you needed to hear something positive.” He chuckled.

“Don’t call me that.” You huffed as you fixed your hair, sliding your long and slender fingers through your locks, but he flashed you one of his coy smirks.

“I won’t, mushroom.” He laughed.

You reached your hand out and smacked his arm hard. He flinched, and hissed aloud of pain, but you ignored him and aimed for his head next.

“I am driving!” He exclaimed, and he gripped the steering wheel with both hands, looking almost panicked, you could have laughed at his expression.

“Don’t call me those names.” You said.

“Alright, alright, Kwon.” He said.

You froze, your hand mid-air, about to smack him again, but you pulled your hand back, staring at him with a blank look at the way he called you.

Kwon.

Only Yongguk called you that. All you could hear now was Yongguk’s deep cave voice, calling you Kwon, and shouting your name.  

You furrowed your brows and frowned. It felt weird having someone else call you by your surname. It didn’t seem right to you.

“It’s Sera. Sera. Sera, okay?” You raised your tone, and he turned to look at you with a baffled look.

“Stop acting crazy.” He groaned, and you made a face, but he just shook his head, and smiled like a fool.

You sighed aloud, and scrunched your face, sulking by yourself. He shouldn’t have called you by your surname.

Taecyeon stole a glance at you before his eyes averted to the road. He stopped the car at the red signal.

“What’s the matter, are you on your period, or something?” He asked with a grimace.

“Taec?” You warned, when you met his gaze.

“Yes?” He gazed into your eyes with a cocky grin, and you stared back into his eyes with a deadpanned look.

“Shut your face.” You warned, coolly, and he smiled bashfully.

“Alright.” He grinned, and you rolled your eyes, but smiled, nonetheless.  

He could be so foolish at times, but he did know just how to make you smile and distracted. He knew how to take your mind off some certain things. You knew Ki Joon could use that too.

~❋~

Taecyeon rolled the car up to the parking lot and turned off the ignition. He sighed aloud. You took off the seatbelt and turned to look at him as he was still seated.

“Come with me.” You said, and he stared at you for a second too long.

“Come on.” You said as you stepped out of the car and closed the door.

Taecyeon locked the car and followed suit. You entered the kindergarten. The place was filled with sounds of loud kids.

It was snack time, so you knew that Ki Joon was in his classroom, eating fruits with his friends and teachers.

Taecyeon was right behind you, and suddenly your steps came to a halt, when something poked the back of your head. You could hear his typical giggle and you rolled your eyes backwards.

You slowly turned around and faced Taecyeon, who had the biggest boyish smile on his face. He had poked you with a toy, which he had picked up from the ground.

He laughed at your face, and you gave him a silent but hard glare. That laugh he had soon faded, when he noticed your deadpanned look, and he cleared his throat. He tossed the toy away.

“Ki Joon, where are you, come out, kiddo?” His voice turned higher, and you rolled your eyes at him.

Taecyeon passed by you quickly, turning to the wrong direction. You reached your hand out, grabbed his arm, and hauled him towards you.

He bumped into your side, and you stared at him, when he grinned.

“Where are you going, you don’t know the place.” You said, and he chuckled with a clueless look.

“Miss Kwon.” Someone interrupted.

You stared out, and quickly gathered yourself. Ki Joon’s teacher Soo Jin eyed the both of you. Her eyes seemed to linger for too long on Taecyeon.

“Umm, who are you?” She asked as she stared at Taecyeon.

“I’m Ok Taecyeon, a friend of Ki Joon.” He said with a smile as he grasped her petite hand.

You narrowed your eyes infinitesimally with a judging look as you eyed your flirty friend. The teacher smiled at him, and she fluttered her lashes a couple of times.

You waited for one of his flirty comments to come, but he said nothing after he shook Ki Joon’s teachers hand.

Usually, he would hold a girl’s hand for a second too long and give them one of his handsome smirks and stared that would make a woman swoon. Had your friend finally matured? You gathered yourself, feeling confused.  

“How has Ki Joon’s day been?” You finally asked the teacher, making her turn her eyes from your friend.

Soo Jin explained that Ki Joon had a good day, he had eaten well, he had played with his friends, but he had also mentioned a couple of times that he misses Yongguk. Your heart dropped at the latter message.

“When will Yongguk be back?” Teacher Soo Jin asked.

“We don’t know how long this business trip will take. Yongguk’s been gone for a week now.” You stated, and the teacher nodded.

“I hope he comes back soon, Ki Joon obviously misses his dad.” She said with a smile.

“So, do-” You stiffened, and closed your mouth instantly, when it dawned on you what you were about to say aloud.

Did I just nearly say that I miss Yongguk, that arrogant, rich, cold, controlling toad? What is wrong with me?

You could feel Taecyeon’s eyes on you from the corner of your eye. You gulped hard and forced a calm smile to brush it off.

Ki Joon’s teacher placed her hand on your shoulder and gave you a warm smile suddenly, and you stiffened.

She nodded in an understanding way, as though she knew what was on your mind, and you laughed, panicked. You just shook your head, but she didn’t utter a word, and you scrunched your face.

“I’m going to go get Ki Joon now.” You excused yourself, and the teacher nodded before she left.

Taecyeon was right behind you, and you hurriedly searched for Ki Joon. You hoped that your dear best friend hadn’t caught notice of it. Luckily, he didn’t utter a word about it either, for now.

“Uncle Taecyeon.” Ki Joon burst out as he ran out of the play room and towards your best friend.

The kid found you before you found him. The little boy ran past you, ignoring you completely, as though you were the thin air, and you stared out with a blank look.

Well, at least, he is comfortable around others than me.

“Kid.” Taecyeon chuckled as he kneeled and opened his arms for the boy.

Taecyeon let out a low groan, when he unexpectedly staggered backwards at the force of the little champions forceful hug. You shook your head but smiled at the two.

“Have you grown more over the night? You seem a lot stronger” Taecyeon asked, sounding bewildered, and almost serious, making the boy laugh.

“Yes, I’ve been eating a lot of vegetables. Yongguk says it makes you strong.” Ki Joon said proudly.

Taecyeon’s eyes wandered to you, and you shook your shoulders nonchalantly. You pursed your lips to a thin line, grinning secretly. Yongguk might be a toad but he did say some smart things to Ki Joon.

“Do you li