$ t h i r t y t h r e e $
"So where exactly are we going, Miss?" He asked from the driver's seat, glancing at her through the rear view mirror. His hand tugged uncomfortably on the tie around his neck which felt like a noose. As a low ranking member of the coven's inner circle, he rarely had to wear a suit and he felt uncomfortable in them. Now posing as a driver, it was required in the dress code.
They had left the expensive hotel just moments earlier at her request. It was early in the morning and she had explained to him that they had a long day ahead of them. More dress shopping, making a payment for the banquet hall where the wedding reception would take place, a final review of the invitations before sending them out, and a tasting of the food that would be served at the wedding party.
Yifan had instructed Tao that as her driver for the next to weeks, he was to grant her every request. He had to stay on her good side if he wanted to be able to keep an eye on her. Tao still hadn't been given more details, other than the fact that he was to wait on her hand and foot, and report on everything that she did.
Iva Petrova was sitting in the back passenger seat looking every bit as beautiful with a tight little black dress, high heels, red lipstick tinting her lips, and dark sunglasses shielding her ice colored blue eyes from the glare of bright daylight. She had been clicking away on her cellphone when she tore her eyes away from the screen. Thinking about it for a moment, she instructed him, "Lets go to the banquet hall first, then to the print shop for my invitations, and then to a bridal so I can try on a million more dresses that I won't like."
He nodded and typed the address of the banquet hall into his phone's gps.
They arrived within a half hour and Tao offered to accompany her inside. They were met with the manager of the venue, who was a woman with a friendly face. When she saw them, she smiled wide. "There's the lovely couple!" She said to them.
She had never seen Fu Jian before and when she saw Iva Petrova enter the building with a man, she assumed that he was the man she was going to marry. Iva looked to Tao before laughing shyly. "Oh, no no. You're mistaken. This isn't the groom. This is just my driver. My Jian is far too busy to accompany to these errands." Tao only stood by her side quietly. He was only there to do his job.
The woman quickly apologized. "I'm so sorry, miss Petrova."
Iva quickly got a check out of her purse and handed the reservation deposit. They had the same luck at their second destination. They had gone to two expensive restaurants which she had hired to cater for the wedding. One of them was Russian food, and the other cooked Chinese. At the Russian restaurant, they were served okroshka--a traditional soup with vegetables and beef. Iva grabbed a spoonful of stew and beef, blowing on the steaming food. She offered it to him. "Try it and tell me what you think. I want a foreign opinion on the Russian food to see if the guests would like it."
Tao opened his mouth and had a sip of the soup.
Their server smiled at them delightedly. "Its so nice to see a young couple like this. Most people who ask for our food services will come alone."
Iva had corrected people who assumed Tao was her boyfriend all day. But Tao couldn't say that he minded at all.
-
He raced to her side as soon as he got the call from Hani and he arrived within minutes. With Junmyeon trailing behind him, they entered the house and made their way to the bedroom. Their trusted doctor and Hani were by her side and when they opened the door, Baekhyun found her there, pale and with half lidded eyes. She was slowly fading away and he immediately saw the crimson red on her blouse from the bullet wound.
Through tear stinging eyes he ran to her and dropped to her kneed beside the bed. She had been holding Hani's hand and the alpha's wife stepped aside to allow him some room to be with Minha.
"What the fuck happened?" He asked Hani through his broken voice. He was trying to remain strong for Minha, since he didn't want to scare her. But it was difficult and he failed to accomplish it. He took his wife's hand in his and held it tightly, knowing there wasn't much time left, and it was growing cold.
Hani explained through her tears. "We were having lunch together on the terrace, and there was a drive by. I'm so sorry, Light."
He shook his head. "This wasn't your fault, alpha."
"Light..." Minha called his name weakly.
He turned his attention back to her immediately. Bringing her hand to his lips, he gave it a desperate kiss. "Yes, jagi. I'm here."
"Light, I had a surprise for you. I was going to tell you this afternoon." She got the words out with a struggle. It was beginning to get more difficult for her to breathe and her eyes were getting the urge to close. "I don't want you to find out through someone else..."
"What is it?" He wondered, rubbing her cold hand between both of his to give her some warmth.
"We..." She coughed, and her lips were stained with crimson red blood. "We were going to have a baby..."
"Minha no..." He cried, shaking his head frantically. "You're gonna make it. We're going to have four kids like we wanted, and we're going to be happy with them and our family. Everything is going to be fine."
"Light...I love you." She told him with her final breath.
-
He awoke with a start, hot tears stinging his eyes. His sudden jolting in the bed they shared had managed to startle Miran awake as well.
She had her back to him while they slept, but turned towards him to see him wiping his tears away in the dark. "What happened, Light?" She wondered with concern, her own hand reaching up to wipe his tears away from his face. "Bad dream?" Miran guessed as a frown appeared on her sleep filled face.
Baekhyun nodded slowly. "Talking about Minha brought back painful memories."
Miran shifted closer to him and pulled him in for a comforting hug. He immediately accepted her comfort, burying his face in her neck and inhaling her scent with a sigh. Even the warmth of her skin was comforting to him. It had been enough to help him calm down.
She rubbed her hands down his bare back, consoling him. "Try to get some sleep, okay? You guarded my dreams when I was afraid, and I'll do the same for you."
"I'm the one who should protect you. When no one is around to defend you, I will be your strength." He told her, his arms found their way around her waist where he held her securely. "I should have been there to protect Minha. I'm not going to make the same mistake again. I promise."
"I trust you." She said, closing her eyes as sleep began to envelop her once more.
As she drifted off to sleep, she thought she heard the words I love you, make their way out of his mouth. But she was tired and she figured there was a chance she could have been dreaming.
-
the italics are a flashback. next chapter for sure i will feature luhan, and some of sehun. maybe even some of hani and junmyeon since its also been a while from the last time i wrote about them.
so tomorrow is the only day i've had school. but im not going because i went to marcos' funeral today, and i dont have the energy to do school stuff this week. i hope you all like the update. i was really sleepy while writing it so it might seem rather rushed. but i wanted to update.
tomorrow i'll probably update this again, and most likely write an update for sasaeng as well. so please stay tuned for that.
-clary xx
