"Isn't that—"
"Shh!" Kira shushed Haerin immediately, finding herself stuck in position as she listened to the message
"I saw that you and your new girlfriend are public. Congratulations. I'm happy for you both."
"Wait Kira maybe we shouldn't listen to this" Kai intervened quickly
"Yeah dude this is eavesdropping—"
"She's his girlfriend though" Kelsey shrugged, defending Kira who seemed to be stuck in her place, completely taken back by the mention of the girl's name
"I'm not sure if you're planning to reveal Jihye's identity either...I know I walked out but...I still care about her you know..."
"Wait fuck—I can't do this. How do I turn it off?" She asked
"Press the red button maybe?" Kelsey said, getting up from her seat and walking over to her
"I'm sure you'll understand right...I mean she's my daughter too. I'll still worry about her safety. We both agreed to not reveal her identity."
"Kira!" Kai hissed at the sound of the woman almost in tears over the phone
"I'm trying!" She whined, desperately pushing down on the red button, but the old phone was in its last few moments
"I booked a flight to Korea—Message erased."
A silence filled the air. A very thick and intense one.
Kira's jaw practically hung open, and so did everyone else's. They all climbed to their feet, rushing over to her, pressing buttons to try and revive the message as quick as they could, but nothing seemed to work
"You have no new messages."
"Well fuck." Kai breathed out
"Wait guys don't touch it or make it worse!" Kira said, tears almost welling up in her eyes as a horrible and inexplicable feeling settled into her stomach
"We should find out when she called! Whats if she's—"
"No please I just—I can't" she shook her head and Kelsey nodded, placing the landline phone—which may as well be an atomic bomb—down carefully, heading over the couch to comfort her cousin.
"Hey it's okay just calm down—"
"How am I meant to calm down?! We completely erased the message!" She panicked
"Maybe we can try trace her number back?" Kai asked and Kira immediately shook her head
"I just don't want to make it worse, like what if we delete something else or—i don't know" she sighed, hands slightly shaking.
Kai could immediately tell her reaction was stemming from all their childhood memories of her landing herself in trouble for 'getting in the way' and 'being a nuisance'.
"Maybe you should call him and tell him what happened" Haerin suggested
"N-no he'll just b-be mad at me" She shook, hugging her knees up to her chest
"And he's really busy on tour...it would only make him freak out and—he'll be mad at me I know it" she mumbled
"But it was honest mistake, I'm sure he'll understand" Haerin reasoned
"Yeah Kira...he's not like dad you know? I'm sure if you just talk it out it'll be fine" Kai suggested and she nodded slowly, biting the inside of her lip.
The rest of a evening was far more quiet than usual, the group settled for a movie instead but Kira couldn't seem to take her mind off of what had just happened. So many thoughts had raced through her mind. Why is she coming back to Korea? Is she already here? Does Jaehyun already know? Did he not tell her? Her thoughts were far more betraying than usual.
"You've been really quiet all day, something on your mind?" Jaehyun's mother asked as she cleaned the dining table up with Kira's help after dinner.
"Hmm?" Kira hummed, turning her head to look up at the older woman with a smile on her face and she chuckled
"Do you miss him?" She asked and Kira parted her lips, blushing slightly at the insinuation. But she didn't actually miss him, she was honestly avoiding him. Not knowing how to bring up the fact that his ex girlfriend called when he was probably exhausted from hours of touring and meeting with his fans already. He had a concert tomorrow which she knew he would completely forget about the second he heard for the information.
"I'm just thinking" she said simply with a shrug
"About? It's not good to keep it all in your head" his mother replied, heading to put all the dishes in the sink and Kira followed behind
"Jihye's mother" She said with a sigh, trying to get some backstory from someone other than Jaehyun who seemed to only want to forget about Hyesun's entire existence
"Why? What about her?" The woman asked, smiling somewhat fondly yet annoyed at the mention of her name.
"Nothing...I was just wondering..." she said with a sigh, deciding it's probably best to move on from the situation instead of investigating it on her own. It didn't exactly have anything to do with her either.
"Wondering how someone could be so cruel and leave a child behind?" His mother asked and Kira nodded, packing up the remaining food into the fridge that was starting to become empty.
"Hyesun was...a quiet and shy girl. She didn't really do many things at that time apart from study...her family lived quite close to us as well so she would always be with Jaehyun" the woman started, a subtle grin on her face as she recited the old memories of her son's youth
"It was hard for them both when he left for America, it was even harder the second time when he got confirmed for SM...I think they started dating around then" She said and Kira listened intently
"When Jaehyun was a trainee they didn't talk much. Her family also started to distance themselves from us...and then one day she showed up at our house while Jaehyun was practicing and...told me she was pregnant with his child. She didn't even know how to tell him—she wasn't even going to" his mother said with a sigh and Kira grew more nervous at the statement
"She was planning on running away and—I made her stay, even if a child was burdensome to Jae I couldn't just leave a pregnant girl on the streets. You know it's horrible to raise a child on your own in this country..." she said, a tinge of sadness in her voice.
"And Jaehyun...he was angry—so, so angry that she didn't tell him. He kept saying if it was his child then he deserved to know...he just absolutely hates secrets" She asked and Kira nodded with a sigh, realising she had to somehow build up the courage to tell him.
"But I understand why she couldn't tell him either...we're women, the motherly instinct is practically built into us. We think and worry about the way they'd feel, the way they would react, what they would do and say...we always think about other people and the forget about the burden on our shoulders. And men, they will never understand that" his mother spoke wisely and Kira breathed out, gripping the counter, nodding her head in agreement with her words.
She never thought she would even be associated to anything motherly by another woman, and hearing the words 'motherly instincts' just seemed so foreign to her.
The sound of feet pattering along the wooden floorboards made the two turn their heads to
Jihye so seemed too awake even though it was past her bedtime.
"You okay baby?" Kira asked, bending down to the girl that seemed more distant these days than usual. Jaehyun had told her this is how things usually go with Jihye and that Kira should just give her all the time and space she needed to fully calm down, but it hurt to be pushed away by the child who called made her feel like a mother in the first place.
"I miss my dad" Jihye pouted and Kira nodded
"I miss him too" she smiled, patting her back comfortingly
"Should we go call him?" Kira asked, hoping he would pick up even though he seemed to be offline for the whole day. Jihye nodded and ran back down to the room and Kira followed, trying to think of ways to bring up what had happened today to him.
YOU ARE READING
Spitting Image | Jeong Jaehyun
Fanfiction"Babygirl?" "Yeah?" "...I was talking to my daughter." Everyone has secrets, some come in the form of a 5 year old who spills hot chocolate all over the carpet. Who knew a mere part time job could lead Kira to meet her idol, and eventually find love...
