I rolled over, expecting Taehyung to be there but he wasn't. I sighed and got up, heading to the washroom. A little piece of paper was folded up and placed on the counter.
"I went into work to resign. I'll be home soon! Saranghe jagi" - Tae
I smiled and set it down. I brushed my teeth and dressed in some casual clothes. He should be home soon, resigning doesn't take that long. I decided to cook him a nice meal for when he comes home. I walked downstairs and looked in the fridge. He loves japchae so I pulled out some vegetables and chicken. I turned on some music as I prepared the dish. It took me half an hour to prepare the whole thing. I set the dish in the middle of our small dining table and put out chopsticks. I sat down and watched the clock slowly turn. The japchae was getting colder and colder. It was already 3 in the afternoon and I was getting hungry. I put some noodles in my bowl and put in the microwave, heating it up.
By the time I finished eating and cleaning up, it was time for me to get Taeguk from the hospital. I got into my car and drove to the hospital, alone.
I went up to the floor where Taeguk was.
"Hi, I'm here to pick up my baby, Kim Taeguk." I told the nurse.
"Oh, yes. Please follow me." she smiled.
I followed the nurse to a room where a bunch of babies were held in containers. She went inside and carried Taeguk out. She was kicking her little arms and feet around. I smiled and took her into my arms.
"Taeguk, let's go home." I smiled, wrapping her tightly in her blanket.
Taehyung should be home by now. I put Taeguk in her car seat and drove home. When I pulled up to the driveway, the lights were still off. I carried her in and turned on the lights, expecting Taehyung's shoes to be on the shoe rack but it wasn't there. The noodles sat there, cold in the same place. I sighed and placed Taeguk in her crib.
I sat on the chair beside her crib.
"Taeguk-ah, did your dad get held up in a meeting again?" I sighed, stroking her soft head.
She kicked around a little bit and squirmed. I smiled and heard the door open.
I walked out and walked down the stairs. I took out the note from my back pocket and held it up in front of his face.
"Resigning today? What time is it right now?" I shouted.
"I tried resigning but my dad made me finish the project. I still have to go in for a few more days." he sighed, hanging up his jacket.
"Trust, love, responsibility, where is it? I trusted you, Taehyung! I thought you were responsible enough to make sure you resigned and left!" I yelled, throwing the note on the floor.
"It's not my fault that my dad made me stay behind!" he shouted back.
I shook my head and opened my mouth to speak but a high pitched cry interrupted me. I sighed and headed up the stairs with Taehyung behind me. I walked into Taeguk's room and saw her crying. I picked her up and lightly patted her back, whispering soothing words in her ear.
"Let me hold her." Taehyung spoke up.
I gave him Taeguk and she immediately stopped crying.
"That's right. It's appa. I'm sorry I wasn't there when you came out, Taeguk." he whispered, playing with her fingers.
I walked out the room and walked down to the kitchen. I grabbed the bowl of noodles and was about to throw it into the garbage when a hand grabbed mine. I looked up and saw Taehyung standing there.
"I made these five hours ago, expecting you to come home." I sighed, tears brimming the edge of my eyes.
He grabbed the bowl from my hands and put it down on the table. He pulled me into a hug and stroked my hair. Tears started flowing down my cheeks as he continued to stroke my hair.
"It's your fault. If you did what you said, we wouldn't be like this right now." I cried.
"I know, I know. It's my fault but we all have things we can work on, right?" he whispered in my ear.
I pulled away and wiped my tears.
"Don't cry. Let's eat." he said, putting the noodles in the microwave. I nodded and sat down on my chair. He joined me a few minutes afterwards with hot noodles in his hands. We started eating and started talking about some adjustments we could make as a couple and individually.
"Once you're done with the project, I expect you to be home all the time, with Taeguk and I. I can't handle her on my own." I said.
"But you can't always be complaining about me coming home late too." he mumbled, his mouth full of food. I giggled and nodded.
By the time we finished eating, Taeguk was fast asleep. We washed up and crawled into bed. We fell asleep really quickly but I was woken up by Taeguk's screaming. I got up and ran to her room. She was crying and kicking. She was probably hungry. I sat on the rocking chair at the corner of her room and fed her some milk. Soon, she was fast asleep again. I watched her as she slept peacefully. She needed both of her parents there for her, unlike my family.
"Is she okay?" I heard.
I looked up and saw Taehyng on the doorframe. I nodded and stood up, turning off the room light and turned on the nightlight in the corner of her room. I walked back into our room and got back into bed. I sighed and looked at the time. It was already 5 in the morning.
"What time do you need to go to work?" I asked Taehyung.
"Seven." he mumbled in his pillow.
"I'll make you breakfast." I said, getting up.
I walked down the stairs and started making eggs and bacon. I was tired, but a wife's responsibility is to make sure her husband is ready to go to work and is happy. After making the eggs and bacon, I made some toast and spread some butter on it. I set it on the table as Taehyung came down in his suit and tie. I looked at his tie and he had tied it terribly.
"At least I tried!" he smiled.
I smiled and walked over to him, untying it. As I retied his tie, it reminded of how I needed to tie his tie every single day before he learned himself. Sometimes he would tie it perfectly but some days, like today, he just couldn't do it. Before I finished tying his tie he pecked my lips and smiled sheepishly.
"Let's eat." I said, sitting down.
We started to eat and talk about his project he needed to finish at work. It seemed fun and interesting, but I couldn't wait for him to finish the project and spend time with Taeguk and I. We finished breakfast and I washed the dishes.
"We should do this more often." he smiled, back hugging me.
"We can if you hurry up and finish your project." I replied, stepping on his toes.
He yelped in pain and hopped around on one foot, rubbing his injured toes. I laughed and he walked to the front door.
"I'm leaving now Hyejin!" he shouted.
"Annyeong!" I shouted back.
After washing the dishes I decided to check up on Taeguk. I walked into her room and watched her as she peacefully slept. I touched her tiny hand as she grabbed hold of my finger and held it tightly.
"You've got a good grip." I whispered, smiling.
I carefully lifted her up and held her fragile body in my arms. Tears started to slide down my face as I remembered how hard Taehyung and I worked to get to the position we are in now. When I was in high school, I never imagined myself being married to Kim Taehyung or even have his daughter. I didn't expect any of this, at all. But at the end of the day, it's love that pulls us together.
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I expected Taehyung to come home late every night so I always prepared him a meal before I went to bed. I would write him a little note and put it on the kitchen table and set the food in the fridge so he could just microwave it or heat it up when he came home.
Every night it was getting harder and harder for me. Waking up at different times during the night to feed Taeguk or to stop her crying so Taehyung could sleep was a disaster. I didn't get enough sleep everyday so I would sleep when she slept and I was up when she was up. Taehyung and I barely saw each other because our schedules were different. Sometimes I would be up when he was up but I didn't have enough energy to spend time with him. It felt as if we were growing more distant.
Days passed, weeks passed and he was still going to work. I didn't notice it at first but when I really thought about it, I realized he was barely home anymore. I stayed awake one night until he came home.
"You're still going to work?" I asked.
"The project was delayed so I have to stay for it." he replied, grabbing some leftovers from the fridge.
"I thought you told me you finished the project a few weeks ago." I said.
"I did, but my dad told me to stay until the whole project was finished." he sighed.
"Look, I've put up with your excuses and I've given you more leniency than I should've. We have a daughter, Tae. I'm the only one that is actually taking care of her right now. I'm tired, I'm exhausted, I have no energy to do anything. The least you could do is come home early and help out." I sighed, sitting on the table.
"I'm sorry Hyejin, but this project needs to be finished. Until then, I can't help you." he said, drinking some soup.
Did he just say he couldn't help me? What kind of father or husband says that? A father would be willing to do anything for their kids.
"Excuse me? Are you putting work in front of your family?" I said, raising my voice.
"I'm not! I just need to get this project over with and then I'll be here 24/7!" he shouted back.
"What about right now? Taeguk seems to only have a mom and not a dad. She probably won't even recognize you when she gets older." I scoffed.
"How dare you say that. Taeguk is my daughter as well. As a mom, it is your responsibility to take care of her. My responsibility is to bring home money so I can support this family." he said.
"As parents, it is both of our responsibility to take care of her and love her. You're just at work all the time, you never come home to play with her, you never even go into her room anymore." I shouted.
"I'm tired! Why don't you try working all day and come home to a nagging wife?" he yelled, putting his bowl of soup down on the counter.
"I'm tired too! Why don't you try taking care of our daughter all day? Feed her, change her diapers, buy groceries, play with her, wake up when you hear her cry in the middle of the night! Tell me what's more exhausting!" I yelled, tears falling down my cheeks.
"Why did we even have her then? If you're complaining about it, why did we have her?" he shouted.
My eyes widened as he said those words. I shook my head and let out a breath.
"There is a certain line you can't cross. But you, Taehyung, you just crossed that line. You don't have a right to say any of this when you're barely at home and when you barely spend time with your family. That's it. I can't stand it anymore." I said, pointing at him.
"Wait, Hyejin, I didn't mean to say that. I didn't mean any of that!" he shouted as I walked up the stairs to Taeguk's room. I heard his footsteps behind me but I closed the door and locked it so he couldn't come in. Taeguk was playing with the toys above her crib.
"Hyejin, I didn't mean any of it! Please, open the door!" he said, pounding on the door.
I picked Taeguk up and started to play with her. I read some books to her but nothing stopped the tears from falling down. I held her against my body and whimpered.
"Taeguk-ah, what did I do to deserve this?" I whispered, letting the tears fall.
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A/N
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! A lot has happened... What's going to happen next? Thanks for reading!
--A