0330 (1/1)

Kiseop watched as Minji help Bae get dressed. She’ll soon be able to do things like this for her own child. Kiseop couldn’t help feeling weird about Minji becoming a mother. He remembered Minji used to convince him to play as the baby or the father of her doll when they were kids. Minji was as rough as a boy growing up, but she was gentle and patient whenever she pretended to be a mother. Kiseop missed the times where Minji wound stroke his cheek tenderly and compliment him sweetly. He never received that type of treatment after play time though. Minji smiled at Kiseop when she noticed his gaze.“So,” he leaned back on his chair, “any mood swings yet?”“I’m only two months pregnant.” she rolled her eyes. Bae ran off to his mother after Minji was done dressing him. “You okay? You seem a little down.” Minji sat across Kiseop. “You know you can trust me with anything.”AJ ruined their moment of intense staring when he threw himself on a chair and let out a sigh. “Why do we have to go again?” he complained.Minji answered, “My sister would appreciate if you all went to her art exhibit. She’s nervous that there might not be many people or that she won’t sell anything. You always seem to get along with my sister, so maybe you could cheer her up if you see her moping around or something.”“That would have been perfect if she was still single.” AJ twisted his lips. “She used to lead me on, always saying how funny and charming I was.”“She told you she was dating someone when you started flirting with her. Anyways, that was like a year ago.”AJ slammed his hand against the table. “Imagine, I could’ve been your brother-in-law if I would have made my move sooner.”“Isn’t she much older than you?” Kiseop laughed. “There’s a five year gap between you two. I doubt you would have ever stood a chance. She sees you as a cute little brother.”“Age doesn’t matter.” AJ winked. “Plus, she sees you as a little brother since she’s known you since before you knew how to speak. As for me, I was already a handsome teen when we met.”Minji’s sister was wrong; her art gallery was a success. Amelie even kept complaining about the amount of people that were there.“Great, I found you.” Minji’s sister told her. “Some reporters want a picture of me with my little brother since he helped me with a few paintings. Can you help me find that idiot?” Minji nodded and searched for him in the crowded area.Minji got tired of searching after a while. She looked over to her sister, hoping she had already found him, but she was being interviewed with no brother beside her. “Have you seen my brother?” Minji asked her friends once she spotted them.Hoon furrowed his brows, “That’s a hard questions when you have more than one. There’s the one that’s married, the one you don’t talk to, the one you’re always fighting with and the one that’s younger than you. Which one are you looking for?”“The one I’m always fighting with.”“Nope~” Kevin pressed her lips together. “I don’t think he’s even here yet. You know he takes longer than a woman to get ready.”“Maybe it’s because he waits like an hour before the activity starts before actually getting ready.” Kiseop laughed. “Why do you need him anyways?”“Someone wants to take a picture of my sister with him.” Minji sighed.“Then why don’t you take Dongho?” Eli suggested. “They probably have no idea what your brother looks like anyways.” Minji hugged Eli for being a genius and dragged Dongho to her sister.She smiled at Dongho before asking, “Why did you bring him?”“The idiot you asked for isn’t here.” Minji whispered. “They don’t know the difference. Just pretend to be close with Dongho. Eli came up with the idea. Is it bad?” Minji’s sister shook her head. She pulled Dongho into a tight squeeze.“This is my adorable brother who helped me.” she told the press.Soohyun noticed his wife serve herself juice with a frown on her face. She’s been getting very sick lately. A baby is supposed to bring happiness, but ever since Minji got pregnant she’s always nauseous or has a high fever. The first few months are supposed to be easy…Minji smiled when she saw Soohyun. She took her cup of juice and walked over to him. “Enjoying the party?” she grinned.“I guess.” Soohyun scratched the back of his head. “I’ve already seen your sister’s paintings and the guys and Amelie left a while ago.”“I understand.” she laughed. “Let’s go say bye to my sister before leaving, okay?” Soohyun was surprised to receive a phone call from Amelie during work. “What’s so important that it can’t wait until later? Is something wrong with Eli’s phone?” he joked.Amelie’s tone made Soohyun’s smile disappear, “Minji never appeared for our first class at the university.” A million worries went through Soohyun’s mind. Where could his wife be? “And at work I heard that they had to send someone to the hospital. I haven’t seen her since our lunch break, that was five hours ago.”“How long ago was that person sent to the hospital?”“Like three hours ago. Minji was feeling really nauseous during lunch. Do you think something might’ve happened to her?”“I’ll get back to you.” Soohyun hung up and asked his boss if he could leave for the day.Soohyun called the hospital to check if Minji was there. It was confirmed that she had been there and the doctor had already sent her home a while ago. He rushed to his apartment as much as possible.He heard sobbing from the room when he got to the apartment. He opened the door slowly. He saw Minji sitting on the bed, her face buried in her knees. He figured it had to do with the baby when he noticed the sonogram in her hand. He sat in front of her and rubbed her shoulder. “I’m sorry.” she cried.“Why should you be sorry?” he asked softly.She lift her head up, revealing swollen eyes and her pink face drenched in tears. She trembled as she said, “I’m not able to provide you the family you deserve.”Soohyun brushed her wet cheek. “It’s not your fault.” She slapped his hand away and stood up.“It is! I killed our baby!” she cried. “My uterus is a poisonous trap! The doctor said it was a miracle it lasted so long. You know what was the first thing I thought of when the doctor told me I had lost the baby? I kept thinking what a failure I was for letting Soohyun down, for letting myself down. This was something I always wanted… Why is life so unfair! Amelie didn’t want Bae when she first found out she was pregnant. Why is that it’s so hard for the people that want to get pregnant to have a baby?” Soohyun watched as his wife sobbed. She yelled in frustration and wrapped her arms around herself. Soohyun jumped up and pulled her arms away when he noticed she was digging her nails so deep into her arms that she was bleeding. He looked at the scratch marks she left on herself and sighed. He embraced her caringly as she continued to cry.“I never got to the good parts.” she said in a low tone. “I never felt it kicking. I didn’t get to the part where I glowed. I wasn’t able to read to it. You weren’t able to sing to it. It never even had a name. This was supposed to be an important part of our lives, and it’s gone.”“We are happy, even without a baby.” Soohyun pulled away a little to look at Minji’s face. “This could be a sign that we should wait a while longer before trying again.” Her face began to tremble again.“Didn’t you hear when I said my uterus is a poisonous trap? I can’t have babies. And even if I do manage to have a child, there’s a ninety six percent chance it’ll be born with many health problems. I don’t want my baby to have to always go to the hospital. I don’t want to risk the chance of seeing my baby suffer.” Soohyun was running out of ways to comfort his wife.“Let’s leave things to cool off for now and we’ll talk about our options another time. I’ll make some tea to calm you down.” Soohyun’s mother stared at him sitting on her couch with his hands on the side of his head, looking down with a pitiful face. “I told you it would be too stressful to get married at such a young age.” She rolled her eyes, “You’ve only been married for two years, why does she already want a child? I don’t even think she’d be a good mother. Apparently neither does the universe since she lost the only chance she had.”“MOM!” Soohyun lift his head up. “You’re not helping. I don’t know what to do, it’s been almost a week.” Soohyum rubbed his face and grunted in frustration. It was too much for him to handle. How was he supposed to cheer Minji up when he was feeling depressed too? He was also waiting for this baby with much enthusiasm. He can’t just pretend that everything was okay.“So, how has she been?” she asked reluctantly.“She doesn’t want to talk to anyone. She hasn’t been sleeping, she cries all night. She doesn’t even want to eat anything. She works and studies in silence. She just stares into space in her free time. This has really hurt her.”“I’ll talk to her.” she offered confidently. “And tell her to stop being so selfish. She’s obviously not considering your feelings in this.”“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Soohyun scratched his neck. “Maybe I should ask Amelie to talk to her.” Soohyun sighed.“I’ve already tried.” Amelie told Soohyun when he passed by her apartment. “She’s not listening to any of us. Bae even tried to start a conversation with her.”“That just got her more depressed.” Eli added. “You should have seen her. Bae was so confused when she got emotional and cried.” Eli took a sip from his soda. “She has to talk eventually. Is there someone she always listens to? Other than her sister, who already tried. Does a person that stands on higher grounds than her sister even exist for Minji?”“Shut up.” Amelie narrowed her eyes on her husband. “Don’t make things worse.” Eli stuck his tongue out at her.“Maybe it’s not the people who try to talk to her. Maybe it’s what they say.” Soohyun raised a brow at Eli. Eli laughed, “I mean, if you find the correct way to approach her she might respond. I know it’s hard for you, but try mentioning the baby again. It’ll hurt her at first but she’ll be able to let her emotions out and feel better later on.”When Soohyun got home, he saw Minji asleep on the couch with her head resting on Kiseop’s lap. “What did you say?”“Nothing, she just asked if she could use me as a pillow.”Soohyun laughed. He picked up Minji and placed her on their bed. He went back to the living room and got soda for Kiseop and himself.“She’s been dreaming about this her whole life.” Kiseop sighed as he opened the can. “Sucks to know you can’t have one of the things you want the most.”“Sure does…”“She told me that she feels horrible for what happened. She kept repeating how much she let you down.” Minji watched Soohyun walk in the room and lay next to her. She kissed him and rested her head on his chest. Soohyun smiled when she said, “I love you.” They fell asleep with their fingers intertwined. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ATp_PNORAE