| Fan Fiction |
by Pseudonym
there will be many errors by the way i apologize lol i'll fix them later.
Chapter 29
Jaejoong
The conversation that we’d just had made me feel dejected. I knew that all the smiles and politeness were just the guys being courteous, but I was surprised by some of the things they said. I guess it’s like that saying ‘Once bitten, twice shy’. When they recited the timing of Mariam’s pregnancy and the flop of her career, it all sounded malicious, but it wasn’t like that. Mariam just wasn’t that type of a person. But it was hard to convince them that when they didn’t know her.
The only things I agreed with them were that either way, if the public found out the result would be ugly. And also that we needed to talk to Soon about this collectively so that we could figure out what to do. Soon and I weren’t on good terms but at the end of the day this was business. This was my job. And I planned on keeping it.
This vacation wouldn’t last forever and one day I would eventually have to face the music. Groaning in emotional exhaustion, I slid off my stool and went to prepare for the day just like everyone else. Since we were out all night the kids were still asleep, so after checking up on them I went to tell Mariam the news. My steps slowed as I neared the bedroom where she was staying when I heard her speaking angrily. From the small crack in the door I could see that she was on the phone.
“I’m really getting tired of making these trips!” she said fretfully. “And I have children. I can’t do this anymore. I’m tired of doing this!...How can I stay calm?!...I know it’s not your fault, and that its’ mine. Yes it’s mine. But I don’t know what else to do anymore...Yes, I understand. I’m sorry,” she sighed shakily and sat down heavily on the edge of her bed. Bowing her head, she rubbed the portion above her brows like she suffered from a massive headache. This time when she spoke, her voice wavered like she was on the verge of bawling. “I’m just scared. That’s all...”
Before thinking of what I was doing I stepped into the room. Mariam stiffened, her eyes went wide, and she quickly hang up after telling the person on the phone that she had to go.
The next thing that grabbed my attention was her open suitcase on the bed. Mariam followed my gaze and without another word continued packing. The rage and hurt that coursed through me as I silently watched her was unbearable. After what had happened last night, how could she up and leave so easily?
“Who was that on the phone?” I finally spoke.
Mariam sighed, walking up to the drawer without saying another word. Just like that I knew that our last few magical days all evaporated into thin air.
“Was it Seung?” I asked when she didn’t say anything. Her reaction of freezing up and cutting her eyes at me was suspicious.
When she finally moved again, she was zipping her suitcase. The scenery was way too familiar. Only the roles were reversed. I used to be the one leaving out of the blue.
Now I was getting a taste of my own medicine from her.
“So it’s like that huh?” I asked bitterly. “This is payback right? You’re still trying to get back at me for what I did in the past?”
“Not everything is about you Jaejoong.”
“Then why don’t you tell me what the hell this is about?” my strong language stemmed from the mounting distress that I was already coping with.
Mariam’s hasty actions slowed. She seemed to be waging with herself whether to snap back at me or not.
“The taxicab will be here in a little bit,” she murmured instead. “The kids and I are leaving—“
“You are not taking the kids,” I said automatically. Mariam let out a shaky sigh, squared her shoulders, and looked in my direction.
“The kids are coming with me.”
“No they’re not,” I said firmly. Surprise ran rampant within Mariam. I too was surprised by my staunch attitude but I couldn’t help it. Who knew where she was running off to now? It was easy to find her at her mother’s but lately she’d been disappearing to an unknown place that I feared she would take the kids to.
“I’ll be damned if I let my kids be around that monster.”
“What? What are you talking about?” Even though I knew she was talking about Soon, I felt some sort of obligatory defense. The type I always had when people badmouthed Soon because of the rumors they heard. It became a habit to do that even when I knew Soon was wrong about something. I hated to admit it but in me and the group’s minds Soon could do no wrong. Since we defended him constantly in interviews it transported into our everyday living and we did it out of the spotlight too.
“I heard everything that they said Jaejoong. As long as he’s coming here, I’m not staying,” her voice cracked and her eyes glistened but she fought the tears. Standing up close to me, I noted that she put on an excess of make up that just wasn’t her. Mariam was a normal girl. She knew when to be flashy and flamboyant but for the most part she resented make up and its attributes.
Was she getting dolled up for Seung?
I was already frustrated and the frustration made me speak recklessly.
“Are you nervous because you’re hiding something?” I asked grimly and she paused before glaring at me.
“Excuse me?”
I bored into Mariam long and hard before facing the window because looking at her and knowing that she was leaving hurt and angered me too much.
“Why are you in such a hurry?” I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked to the window to keep me from holding her and begging her to stay. I didn’t want her to see the hurt on my face. “What are you running from?”
Mariam was quiet for a long while. Flicking my eyes to the left portion of the window I saw her enraged reflection. She took a few steps forward until she was standing right behind me. “I’m running away from liars and people without morals. I’ll be damned if I let my children near that…devil.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you talk about Soon hyung like that.”
The phrase made both Mariam and I turn to find Yunho in the doorway with his hands in his pockets. Even though his features were neutral I could tell that he wasn’t pleased.
“I couldn’t help but say something. It’s one thing to disrespect us by leaving when we’re trying to solve this but it’s another thing to disrespect our manager. I’m sorry but I refuse to let you talk about him that way when you don’t even know him,” Yunho said with a heavy frown. I could tell he was uncomfortable with talking to Mariam like this.
“Isn’t that what you guys were doing to me not too long ago?” Mariam asked rhetorically and when Yunho guiltily looked away with a twist of his mouth, she resumed her packing. Even though her luggage was heavy, she carried it with great finesse and swept out of the room.
I turned around to follow her when Yunho stopped me.
“I can’t just let her take the kids! They don’t deserve to be pushed around—“
“Jaejoong, you have to. Soon said that your suspension has been cut short. The fans are all too wound up and want an answer,” Yunho lowered his head. “You come back with us when we leave tomorrow.”