The Fault in Our Sunrise (A JenSoo Fanfic)

xiii.

I get awakened by the sound of the doorbell.

Still half-asleep, I roll onto the other side of the bed and slightly open my eyes to look at the digital clock resting on the bedside table. 3:56 am, it reads in green light.

Who the heck could be coming at my house at 3:56 in the morning?!

Dalgom gets startled by the unexpected guest; he climbs up in bed and lays next to me, his ears down and his tail tucked between his legs.

I hug him close to me and caress the top of his head. "Shush, Dalgomie," I coo. "Whoever it is will go away. Probably just a drunkard who's playing ding dong ditch."

But whoever it is does not go away, and they don't seem to be playing ding dong ditch; just as I'm about to drift back to sleep, the bell rings again, and it does so consecutively.

My anxious dog starts growling though his tail is still tucked. I realize that whoever it is will not stop ringing the doorbell until I respond, so I push my weight off the bed and hastily put on my robe.

I stomp my way out of the room and towards outside the house, all the while cursing at whomever it is that's rudely ringing my doorbell at 4 am.

I open the gate and scream, "WHAT THE HELL?!"

But no matter how pissed off I was three seconds ago, it all vanishes as I find myself eye-to-eye with Jennie, who's just about to press the button for the doorbell, for what seems to be the millionth time.

Her eyes widen and I can tell that she's startled by my scream. She quickly recomposes herself, though, as she pulls me towards her and locks me in a tight embrace.

"I was so worried about you!" she exclaims, voice cracking at the last word.

"Jennie, what are you...? What are you on about?" I want to pull away from the hug, but she's holding me tightly, and I refuse to forcefully entangle myself out of my wife's arms.

She sighs in response, unable to say anything.

That's when I notice the Challenger behind her.

The driver's door opens and my brother steps out of the muscle car. And while he shakes his head at me in disapproval, he looks at me with worried eyes. He walks towards us but stops when he's a few feet away from Jennie, who's still embracing me.

Looking at Hae-in's tousled hair, I can tell that he, too, was awoken by Jennie.

"She was informed that you got drunk, so she asked me to take her here," he explains hoarsely. He balls his hands in fists and hides them in the pockets of his hoodie.

"Who told her that?" I ask, looking at my brother over Jennie's shoulder. He shrugs his shoulders in response.

"Jinni did," Jennie whispers. She finally releases me from her hold to have a look at my face.

"My secretary?"

She nods, pouting at me. "Why did you go out to drink? What's the matter?"

"I - nothing," I lie.

I shift my gaze back to Hae-in; the look on his face tells me that he already knows about our father's situation.

"I was so worried, Chu! You wouldn't drink that much unless something was wrong! Are you sure that everything's fine?"

Avoiding to lock eyes with the woman in front of me lest she sees through my lie, I drop my gaze to my hand instead; I reach for hers and hold it as I respond, "Everything's fine."

I would've added I promise but I no longer want to lie further, so I bite the insides of my cheeks to prevent myself from saying anything else.

And at this moment, I notice Hae-in unloading some bags from the backseat of his Challenger.