Love Never Existed - Hyunsung

[43]

"Tuti~ Tuti~,"

"Tu- I-I mean, Hyunjin...? Are you here?"

A babyish tone and a concerned voice pierced through my door. Those voices belonged to Han Jisung and Su-jin.

It took me ten seconds or so to process their voices as well as to come to know what Jisung was asking.

My mind was blank, and my eyes were unfazed looking at the phone that rested on the cold floor, the one that had the screen smashed to pieces.

"Hyunjin? Are you...here?"

The second time he spoke, that's when I finally reacted a bit.

I looked up and then to my right, where the painting was as if something was telling me to look at it.

My eyes finally gave some reaction. "Shit..." And the curses immediately came out of my mouth.

I completely forgot about my baby and Jisung being on the other side of the apartment.

Of course, the hard impact of my phone blasting the floor would alert them. So, why am I even surprised?

I panic. I didn't know what to do. I was facing a painting that not long ago was unfamiliar to me, and the very person portrayed there was knocking just right at the door.

What should I do? How could I explain to Jisung that I have painted him along with a fragment of his story? A story that I barely got to know today? And that somehow his wife might or might not be my cousin?

Exactly. There's no way of addressing a topic of this magnitude without first revising it.

"Hyunjin?"

I became rigid. I sent signals to my body, but it did not obey me. It didn't move. It didn't move even when Jisung kept calling my name in a worried tone.

"Tuti..."

Tiny bangs on the door were heard next. It was Su-jin and his attempt to clumsy knock.

"Ji-dada~ Tuti~" I heard him mumble as if telling Jisung a big secret.

"Mmh...I know...." Jisung hummed soothingly and comprehensively. Apparently, he understood Su-jin so well, which took me aback. "I'll open and see if your daddy is here, okay...?"

D-daddy? Me?

Only when I heard the word 'daddy' did my body react. It was like an instinct or a parental thing that activated itself. Perhaps Su-jin's voice had so much influence over me after all.

Without thinking, I rapidly took my phone, wiped the screen, and dove it into my pocket.

"S-Su-jin-ah...?" the lump in my throat made me stammer with my words. I could not entirely lie to myself. I was still perplexed. "Jisung?"

"Oh...so you are really here?" Jisung's tone of voice changed. He got surprised for getting an answer. "We heard something coming from this room...? Su-jin and I got startled, so we came to check. Are you okay?"

"I- yeah-"

The painting!!

Hyunjin, the painting!!!

I found a random piece of fabric resting on a chair and tossed it over the painting of Jinsu and Jisung. I didn't want to show that painting to anybody. Especially to the guy that was holding my baby. There was no way he could see that.

"Yes, I'm good... I just-"

The doorknob opened without further notice, revealing Jisung holding Su-jin in his arms with a confused and blinking expression.