$ t h i r t y s i x $

Minha tried so hard, but it was impossible to contain her tears. She was absolutely heart broken and there was nothing anyone could do to make it better. She had brought her hands up to her face to cover herself as the tears streamed down her face. She was afraid of speaking now, since she felt like her voice would break and she didn't want Baekhyun to see her crying like that.

It was then that Minho hoped Baekhyun would have agreed to pretend for a little while. But he also understood his reasons for refusing. They couldn't let Minha believe something that wasn't true. Things had changed, and everyone in her life had moved on without her.

Baekhyun knelt next to the side of her bed and for a moment there was a flash in his mind of a memory from years back. He had been only twenty one when he watched her die and mourned her loss. Though he had only been married to her for three months when the incident happened, he had known her for three years before that. Since a bit before he turned eighteen. She had turned eighteen three months prior and he had met her when he ran away from home and had nowhere to live. Minha had been the one to put him in contact with Junmyeon and helped him join the pack.

She had been there through everything, and when he finally had something to offer her was when he finally had the guts to ask her to be his. Now that felt like a completely different life to Baekhyun.

He didn't know what to say to her because the words she wanted to hear were ones he wasn't willing to say. Instead, he pulled her into his arms and let her cry her emotions out. Both Sunjoo and Minho left the room to give them some privacy, taking the child with them. For a moment, Baekhyun thought that Sunjoo would try to prevent him from taking the baby again. But he would talk to Minha and convince her that the child was better off with him for the time being.

Minha cried until she had no more tears left to cry. She cried until his shirt was soaked with her sadness and it was a while before she was able to stabilize her breathing. "There has to be something we can do. I'll do anything to get you to stay." She said desperately, her eyes searching for a glint of hope that they might get back together. But he was absolutely convinced that what he wanted most was to be with Miran. "I still love you, Light. Lets try this for a few weeks and maybe you can love me again--"

Her husband quickly gave a shake of his head. "I loved you so much, Minha. Before anything you were my best friend. You helped me when I was homeless, just like you had been. I'll always be grateful for that. And...I can offer you my friendship. But the way I loved you once...that will never return. You can't force feelings to just happen." He felt terrible about hurting her feelings that way because he understood that none of this was her fault. But it wasn't his fault either and it was something he felt he needed to do. Though he was breaking her heart, he knew that if he were in her place, he'd like for her to tell him the truth as well.

As his words sunk in, tears continued to stream down her face. But she fought her feelings and forced herself to be brave. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she gave a nod of her head, finally accepting her fate after crying over what she had lost because of the unfairness of life. There was a deep hurt in her words as she spoke. "Even though this breaks my heart...I respect your decision to end our relationship. I will ask my brother to put us in contact with a lawyer who can help us get a divorce." The last word stung as she said it and it was almost difficult to get the word out.

Baekhyun heaved a sigh of relief and a smile broke out onto his lips, though he tried hard to contain it so as not to hurt her feelings further. He had always known that Minha was a good person, and she had always been a fair person. He was truly grateful that she was going to make things easy for him and Miran to be together.

-

Baekhyun returned to the house past noon, dropping his jacket on the sofa tiredly. Minho had decided to stay at his wife's house and she would drop him off at the mansion later in the afternoon. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to climb those stairs and go to his bedroom, getting into his bed with Miran by his side. He wanted to hold her in his arms and forget all his troubles. He wanted to be able to tell her the good news and hope that she would no longer be upset with him.

Minha had taken things quite well and both had talked about how they'd take care of the baby with the two of them living in different homes. Minho had suggested for his sister to move in with him and the rest of the Jackals, but Sunjoo didn't think it was such a good idea for the time being. She was the one taking care of Minha at night, and she would be unable to if her sister in law moved away. They finally agree that Baekhyun would take care of the child half the week, while Minha would watch him the other half. 

On the last day of the week, they'd both watch him together. They wanted their child to grow up seeing that despite the fact that they were no longer together, they didn't hate each other and still got along. For that first few days, Minha had convinced him to leave the child with her, and he allowed it since he didn't want to tell her he didn't love her and take her child from her, all in the same day. 

He had been rather happy about most events of the day when Jagi and Kyungsoo approached him. He knew it was bad news when Jagi practically ran towards him and said to him with worry. "Miran is gone, Baekhyun oppa!" She grabbed his arms and shook him desperately while giving him the news. Kyungsoo stood behind her. Baekhyun felt his stomach drop instantly and his brief happiness was dissipated. 

He heaved an aggravated sigh, adding the question. "Where the fuck were you? Why didn't you answer the phone?"

He did recall feeling his cellphone vibrate in his pocket. But he ignored the calls, figuring that it was nothing important. At the time he had been too caught up in his own little bubble of happiness--knowing that Minha accepted the fact that he didn't love her, and the fact that he had a son. He mentally scolded himself that he should have known better when he got multiple calls from Jagi, Kyungsoo, and a few of the other members in the Pack. They were trying to get him to come home so that he could stop Miran from leaving.

"I was running an errand with Minho hyung." Baekhyun replied, he was becoming exasperated at the thought of going up to his bedroom and seeing that Miran wasn't there. He looked to Jagi, who was one of Mirna's closest friends in the pack. They had joined around the same time and were very good friends. "Where did she go?" He asked her.

Jagi gave a shake of her head. "I don't know. She wouldn't say."

The beta thought about it carefully, and soon he thought of a place where she might have thought to go.

Turning on his heel, he quickly grabbed the jacket off the sofa and reached into the pocket for his car keys. Kyungsoo's voice stopped him as he was headed for the door. "Where are you going, Light?" He asked his brother.

"I'm going to bring Miran back." Baekhyun replied.

-

im starting to feel like 100 chapters in this sequel is not going to be enough to write out what i want to have happen in this story. there may be a part three. but that's only if i dont get to write out everything i planned in my mind. so stay tuned for that. also, i may update the q&a either tonight, or tomorrow morning.

thank you all so much for reading and supporting this story. i know i keep promising a new update for my exoplanet 1 series. but i swear this time its real.

as soon as i have my next weekly three day break, i'll start working on an update.

question(s) of the day: where do you all think miran went? also, do you think minha should find someone else? someone sexy, free, and single (i DID just quote the name of a kpop song). 

-clary