53A/N: Thanks to Charity for reviewing!
Ji Hoo stood at the platform outside the fire exit, his and Jan Di's special place, leaning on the railing as he enjoyed the view. This morning he'd woken up to find that someone left a note for him telling him to meet them here. It didn't take a genius to work out who sent the note but Ji Hoo couldn't help but be nervous. What if it wasn't her? After all, the last time they spoke to one another, things didn't go down so well.
When he heard the fire door open and close, he turned around and gave Jan Di a nervous smile. Jan Di stood there for a few seconds, looking rather shy, before she walked towards him and came to a halt right next to him.
"Hi," she offered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Hey," he responded, putting his hands in his pockets. They shared a bashful smile, not saying anything for a while, before Ji Hoo decided to break the ice. "So guess who's going to prom together?"
"Who?" Jan Di asked curiously.
"Jae Kyung and Woo Bin." She just grinned, indicating that she already knew or had suspected something at the very least. She then looked down for a seconds, contemplating something, before meeting his gaze again.
"You know, I've been thinking. I'm really sorry I was such a huge bitch to you. You didn't deserve that. You never deserve any of the crap I unload on you," Jan Di apologised sincerely.
"You know it's okay," Ji Hoo replied modestly.
"Also, I think I'm in love with you," she confessed shyly. He felt the corners of his lips quirk slightly, registering his words.
"What, you mean as friends?"
"No, for real," she clarified, blushing a little. "I think you are the coolest person I've ever met. And you don't even have to try."
"I try really hard, actually..." Ji Hoo admitted sheepishly.
"No," Jan Di protested. "You're naturally smart. You're incredibly kind; no matter what I do, you're always concerned for me. Like when I was yelling at you and being really brutal, you still offered to carry my bag for me."
"You're pregnant, what else was I going to do?" he said, trying to downplay the praise. She shook her head.
"Plus, you're the only person who doesn't stare at my stomach all the damn time. You actually look at my face. And every time I look at you, the baby starts kicking super hard."
"It does?" Ji Hoo asked in surprise. Jan Di nodded and took his hand, pressing it against her belly. Sure enough, he felt a light thud against his hand.
"Wow," he breathed, his eyes flickering to hers and then back to her belly again. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of the life that they had created together.
"I think it's because my heart starts pounding every time I see you," Jan Di divulged softly, looking deep into his eyes.
"Mine too."
"Basically, I'm completely smitten with you and I don't care if I'm making a fool out of myself right now because you've seen me do that a million times and yet you still want to be my friend."
"Well, yeah. You're one of my best friends, even when you're being kind of... mean."
"That's all I need from you," she said, grinning. "That's more than I could ever ask for. You're golden."
Nothing more needed to be said. Jan Di stood on her tip toes and Ji Hoo leaned down, their lips meeting halfway. He placed his hands on her waist while she tentatively snaked her arms around his neck. Their kiss grew deeper and their baby kicked from in between them, as if he knew what was happening.
Around a month later, Jan Di lay on her back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She was as pregnant as ever, drawing closer to her due date. She revved one of her brother's toy cars against the slope of her belly and let it roll. All of a sudden, she felt some sort of liquid soak her pants. She blinked in surprise.
"Appa!" she called shakily.
"What?!" she heard her father call back.
"Either I just peed on my pants or..." she trailer off.
"Or..." he implored, his voice suddenly serious.
"My water broke!"
Seconds later, Il Bong, Gong Ju and Kang San all rushed out of the house. Gong Ju helped her waddling daughter to the car, pulling her reluctant son along with her. Jan Di's parents started discussing the hospital procedures frantically, making sure that they had everything they needed, before they piled into the car and left for the hospital.
Everything blurred together as Jan Di was pushed down the hospital corridor in a wheelchair, giggling despite the pain. Her brother was aggressively manoeuvring the wheelchair around, jokingly steering it into a wall. Jan Di pretended to be hurt and Gong Ju appeared behind them, exasperatedly barking at her son to stop. Kang San started complaining, telling her that it was just a bit of fun, as nurses and other healthcare staff gave the family withering glares. Gong Ju took control of the wheelchair and pushed it all the way to their designated birthing suite.
Jan Di waddled around the birthing suite, bent over in obvious discomfort. Kang San, their mother and her friends, who'd just arrived, watched nearby.
"Ow, ow, ow. Eomma, when do I get that spinal tap thing?" she whined, her hands resting on her sides.
"It's called a spinal block," her mother corrected in a distressed tone. "And you can't have it yet, Jan Di-ah. The doctor said you're not dilated enough."
"You mean I have to wait for it to get even worse? Why can't they just give it to me now?" She proceeded to let out a genuine shriek of pain. Her mother panicked and went to the doorway.
"Hey, can we give my daughter the spinal block already?" she demanded.
A while later, Jan Di found herself giving birth. Painful was an understatement. All she could see were her mother, Ga Eul and Jae Kyung standing around her, holding onto her, while all she could hear was 'push, push, push.' And then, out of nowhere, there it was... There he was.
The doctor held the baby up and Jan Di looked at her son in awe before her eyes begin to flutter... and she passed out. She'd decided to not call Ji Hoo to tell him that she was having the baby. He'd had a big recital that day and she didn't want him to get all worried about her and flop. But he figured it out anyway.
When Jan Di woke up, her father was on a chair next to the bed, gently stroking her sweaty hair. After having given birth, there was an air of stillness and accomplishment in the birthing suite. She gave her father a tired smile, neither of them knowing what to say. Their eyes met and Il Bong had expression of helplessness on his face while Jan Di looked utterly drained.
"Someday, you'll be back here, Jan Di-ah," Il Bong said softly. "On your terms."
Jan Di nodded and swallowed. Over Il Bong's shoulder, a silhouette appeared in the doorway. It was Ji Hoo in his smart recital clothes. Jan Di saw him and burst into sudden, ragged sobs. Her father glanced at her, alarmed. Ji Hoo moved towards the bed and Il Bong cleared his throat, getting up and kissing his young daughter on the forehead. He then stared Ji Hoo down and, for one terrifying second, the father of Jan Di's child thought that Il Bong recognised him as a plutocrat. After a while, Jan Di's father shook his head, most likely in disappointment, and finally left the room, hoping that this Su Pyo kid wouldn't try anything stupid.
Ji Hoo watched him go and then, when the coast was clear, he climbed onto the hospital bed and carefully placed his arm around Jan Di, spooning her. She responded by leaning back into him, letting herself cry freely in his arms.
After crying for a while, Jan Di lay curled up on the bed. She looked rested and relaxed compared to her earlier crying jag but her face was still pink and swollen. Ji Hoo was still spooning her, still dressed in his expensive clothes.
He had decided that he didn't want to see the baby. Neither did Jan Di, really. The boy didn't feel like theirs. Thinking about Jun Hui, Jan Di guessed that he was always hers. Jae Kyung told her that she'd already visited Jun Hui's house; she was allowed to take her baby home within hours of his birth. Jun Hui was very happy being a single adoptive mother, despite looking 'scared shitless', in Jae Kyung's words.
SUMMER
Jan Di blushed under the gaze of her fellow students when she walked into the hall, arm in arm with none other than Yoon Ji Hoo. The many girls there gave her looks on barely concealed jealousy but she just kept her head held high. At this point it was pretty much confirmed that the father of her baby had in fact been Ji Hoo but no one confronted either of them about it. She didn't care that everyone knew. This was her night, with her boyfriend, and she wasn't going to let anyone ruin it. Especially not a bunch of jealous harpies.
One of those jealous harpies, Gu Jun Pyo, watched on in envy as Ji Hoo asked his girlfriend for a dance. Jan Di blushed and accepted. Jun Pyo wanted to throw up at her shy and innocent demeanour. She was anything but. Why did she act so bashful when he asked her to dance when she came to prom on his arm, for everyone to see? From what Jun Pyo knew, Ji Hoo and Jan Di got together about a month before she had their baby. The very same baby who was now his new nephew. He rolled his eyes. That was meant to be Geum Kang San's nephew, not Gu Jun Pyo's. He sighed. Oh well, he'd lost his chance with Jan Di. Even Jae Kyung had ditched him, albeit as a friend, in favour of yet another one of his best friends, Song Woo Bin. He was the only member of the F4 who was single now, and as a result, he had a medley of girls waiting for him. Shaking his head, he made his way over to one of his many admirers and asked her for a dance. He told himself that it was only a coincidence that she happened to be petite and had mushroom-like hair. Yep, just a coincidence.
Jae Kyung rested her head against Woo Bin's shoulder as they gently swayed to the slow dance music. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jun Pyo dancing with a Jan Di look alike while, a few feet away, the real Jan Di danced with Ji Hoo. She smiled. She'd known about both Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo's feelings for Jan Di from the moment the girl started at Shinhwa High but she always knew that Ji Hoo would be the one that Jan Di would fall for. Jun Pyo and Jan Di were far too alike for a relationship between them to ever work whereas Ji Hoo was her polar opposite and therefore complemented her perfectly. That was why the young heiress gave Jan Di a little push by mentioning the whole prom fiasco. As usual, her plan worked and now Jan Di was at the very prom she said she wouldn't attend with the very guy she said she didn't love. Jae Kyung sighed as her eyes fell on Jun Pyo. She felt a little guilty for ditching him for Woo Bin but what could she do? She was now in the arms of the boy - or rather man - she loved.
"I love you, Jae," he had said. "You're my life. I was afraid that you would become stuck with me because you were the mother of my child so I chickened out and told you those horrible lies. I didn't want to make you a target for my mafia rivals. But now they know about you anyway because even if we're not in a relationship, I'm still in love with you. Only you."
After those words, all her anger had faded away to nothing. The loss of her child still hurt but the fact that its father hadn't rejected them out of pure spite or indifference was a long overdue comfort. Thinking about all the time they'd wasted the last two years, Jae Kyung snuggled closer to him as
"Hey, what's wrong, Monkey?" Woo Bin whispered into her ear, having noticed her movement.
"Nothing," she answered. "Just hold me."
Watching from nearby, Ga Eul and Yi Jeong shook their heads. They were the only ones from their group of friends who hadn't had some sort of relationship problems this school year. Most of said issues had been completely unnecessary; they would've easily been avoided if there was a little more communication between them and their significant others. They were all happy now though, minus Jun Pyo, so that counted for something. One day, even Jun Pyo would meet the right girl.
"Our friends are ridiculous," Ga Eul commented.
"Yeah, but we love them anyway," Yi Jeong answered. She laughed, resuming their dance.
Jan Di pulled away from Ji Hoo, just enough to look up into his eyes, silently wondering what she ever did to deserve him. He looked back down at her and flashed her a brilliant smile.
"I love you," he finally told her. She nodded, relishing the precious words. Never again would she take him or his love for granted. She sealed this private promise with a kiss.
A/N: There you go. It might be a little rushed but I really wanted to finish this in twelve chapters.
