Mystery Lover Ch. 13

13 ~ A promise to keep

Taemin stepped away from Erika and headed back to the living room. She followed behind and sat down across from him with her hands in her lap. 

She rubbed her hands nervously together as she thought about what to say to him. 

"Tell me this, Erika, are you pregnant?" he asked. 

Erika looked at him shocked that he knew, "I am, Taemin." She calmly answered to him. 

Taemin scoffs as he got up from the couch and walked over to the table to sat down. "Before you left you told that you didn't want a relationship with me and now you come back pregnant."

Erika got up from the chair and walked over to Taemin. "I didn't get pregnant to get back at you, the pregnancy happened as a mistake...well not a mistake but unexpected. But right now there's something more important that I need to discuss with you. My grandmother is in the hospital and they are saying that she will not make it through the night."

"Your grandmother?!" Taemin asked. It had just dawn on Taemin that he didn't see Erika's grandmother around. He was visiting her after Erika had left but because of his job, he couldn't visit her like he used to before.

"Her request is for you to see her before she goes," Erika softly mumbled.

"See me but why?" 

Erika shrugged her shoulders as she held herself. "She wouldn't tell me, just find you and bring you to her right away." She turned around and stared at Taemin. "Do you know what it is?" She asked. 

Taemin didn't know himself. What could she want to talk to him about? He turned on his heels of his shoes and grabbed his jacket that he put down on the couch when he walked in. "Let's go, then." 

Erika quickly grabbed her coat and headed out with Taemin back to his car. He unlocked the door and got inside and so did Erika. He started up the engine and turned to Erika, "which hospital is she at?" 

Erika pulled out a piece of paper that she had in her coat pocket and looked down at the address. "Here." She gives him the address and Taemin punched the address into his GPS. 

The location was not that far. It would only take them about 10 minutes by car to get there. He put the car in drive and headed in the direction to the hospital. During the entire ride, they were both very quiet not saying a word to each other. It was like that both wanted to say something to the other person but they didn't know what to say. Or how to start. Pulling up into the hospital's parking lot, it was a small hospital, probably used for the community. They both got out and headed inside. Just then Taemin stopped and turned to look at himself in the reflection of the glass of the sliding door. 

He was still wearing the outfit that he performed in earlier. If this doesn't catch people eyes, what will, he thought? Erika noticed that he wasn't behind her and turned back around. She saw that he was looking at himself through the reflection. She pulled off her jacket and handed it over to him. "You can give it back once we leave, okay?"

Taemin takes the jacket and covers himself up before following behind Erika. They walked inside and was greeted by an old woman at the front. Erika and Taemin bowed down to her. "Ah Erika, you're back, go ahead inside, she's waiting for you."

Erika placed a hand on the old woman's shoulder before heading to the direction she has become familiar with. They walked a long hallway before arriving at the room. Erika slowly lifted her hand to the door before turning the knob. They walked inside and laying in the bed was her grandmother. She had wires and tubes coming from her body. Her eyes were closed but as soon as she heard the door her eyes open back up. 

"Erika? Is that you?" she asked in a weak voice. 

Erika walked over to her grandmother placing her hands on her's. "Yes, halmeoni, it is, and I brought someone along with me."

Erika waved him over as he took small baby steps to stand in front of the woman. "Taeminie, is that you?"

Hearing her call out his name, Taemin had to hold back tears from crying. "Yes, it's me, I'm sorry I wasn't able to come and see you more often." He answered. 

The old woman laughed before starting to cough. "It's alright, you have a very important job and I understand that."

She then was trying to lift her body up from the bed. Taemin quickly rushed over and help her up so she could be supported by the pillows. "Thank you, now I was told that I don't have long left but I don't feel like I do." She laughed. 

"But I wanted to talk to you before I move on. Do you remember the promise that you made five years ago?" She asked him. 

Erika turned her eyes to look at Taemin. "What promise are you both talking about?"

Taemin lifted his shoulders up and down. He was just as clueless as Erika was. He remembers talking to her grandmother about so many stuff that he doesn't remember which topic that she was talking about. 

Erika's grandmother stared at the two young people and pat them both on top of the head. "I may be dying but I'm not deaf." She put her hands together. "Taemin, when you first came to my home and was introduce to me, I knew right then and there that you were special for my granddaughter. You will be her protector when no one else will be. Right now she is going to need someone to lean on when I'm gone."

"Halmeoni, I can take care of myself," Erika mumbles. 

Halmeoni shoots a glance over to Erika, "nonsense, child, you wouldn't be in this situation if you could," she scolded. 

Erika placed her head down on her stomach, she knew exactly what her halmeoni meant and couldn't deny it.

"Now back to what I was saying. The promise that you made Taemin is that you protect her no matter what, is that true."

"It was..." Taemin says under his breath. 

"What's does that mean?" Halmeoni questioned. 

"I don't know, maybe I'm not capable of being there for her," Taemin explained. He then lifted his head up when he felt a hand on top of it. 

"You're more capable of taking care of her." 

Just then a knock came at the door and in walked a man that Erika has never seen before. "Um, can I help you?" Erika asked. 

"Hello, Mrs. Lee, you called for me," he stated. 

Erika's halmeoni nodded smiling at the man that walked in. She reached inside the draw that was next to her bed and pulled a small box out from it. "Halmeoni, what's that?"

The man stepped forward and retrieved the box from Erika's grandmother and open it up for everyone to see what was inside. Inside the box was a ring set. "That was your grandfather's and my wedding rings, it will now be yours," she said, smiling.

Both Taemin and Erika stared at each other and then at the old woman. "Erika, you can't take care of that baby alone, you need someone to help you and he can."

"But halmeoni...."

"No buts...I called him here to complete the promise that was made five years ago and the both of you will follow that promise." She grabs both of Taemin's and Erika's hands and folds them on top of her's. 

"Do this before I die, my child," she pleaded. 

Erika looked down at the hands that were joined together. Too many emotions were whirling inside of her head. She wasn't sure if it was from the pregnancy or knowing that her grandmother who was the only person that cared so much for her. Her parents wiped her out from their lives once they had started their own family leaving her to take care of herself. She thought that she had found someone that cared for her but he ended up leaving her for someone else. But when she found out that she was pregnant, she contacted him to tell him the news and he laughed at her telling her to never to call him ever again. 

She was alone once again and the person she cared so much for was thousands of miles away. But when a friend of her grandmother called her to tell her that she needed to come, she picked up the only belongings that she had. Taking out all of her savings and selling anything that she could and flew back to Seoul. 

Now kneeling beside her grandmother, she was being told that she had to go through a promise that her high school friend and her grandmother had made behind her back. 

What was she supposed to say? 

Was she supposed to accept this request? 

This was her grandmother final request before she dies. 

"I'll do it," Taemin blurts out to everyone in the room. 

~~~~~

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