Anhedonia

Why Is He Calling Me Dad?

Rain drops started to kiss the windshield and into the roof of the car, each drop was so heavy that they could really hear it inside. Red traffic light turned green and the cars moved forward, heading to the direction of every driver's destinations, whether their homes, parties, or anywhere else.

Jerry moved forward too, turning on the swipers so he could see better as the rain started to pour heavily. People on the streets running and scattering, finding shelves to avoid getting wet as the weather reporter failed to announce the sudden rain fall.

Lights flickering through their eyes, two boys sleeping peacefully at the backseat, mellow music on the stereo makes the atmosphere more solemn and worth it to enjoy the view of the city lights as the rays reflect through their eyes.

The ticking sounds indication that Jerry turned on the signal lights added to the calmness of Rosie's heart beat. The car turned to the left at Rosie's instruction.

Jerry glanced at his watch and if he's not mistaken, they've been on the road for almost 1 hour now and yet it seems that they are still far from Rosie's house.

"I'm sorry, I should've driven you home instead." Rosie apologised when she saw Jerry glanced at his watch.

"It's okay." Jerry smiled at her and turned back his focus on the road as the heavy rain became more aggressive and it was almost zero visibility. "Is it okay if I pull on the side for a bit? It's dangerous to drive like this."

"S-sure." Rosie stuttered and she didn't know why she stuttered with just one word.

Jerry pulled on the curb, making sure that they were not in an illegal parking area. He turned up the heater so the kids wouldn't feel the cold due heavy rainfall.

They sat there in silence, no one dared to open their mouths, though the silence was much rather comforting and not awkward. They watched the rain from the windshield, and each second passed by, Jerry could feel his eyelids getting heavier.

He hasn't slept a wink all throughout their flight from New Zealand to South Korea. He didn't feel the jetlag all day but now that he could feel the comfort in his position, he's trying to fight to doze off.

"You can take a nap." Rosie suggested, seeing Jerry could barely open his eyes after yawning twice.

"Uh n-no. I'm fine." Jerry blinked away his sleepiness and he sat straight. "I'm just having a little jetlag."

"That's why I'm telling you to take a nap, after all, the rain seems going to stay for another hour."

"I'm fine." Jerry insisted which made Rosie giggled. "What's funny?" He asked, not irritated though but more curious.

"You still haven't changed, still stubborn ey?" Rosie teased and they both laughed and ended up in a sigh.

"How are you, Rosie?" Jerry said after a minute of silence.

"Honestly speaking? I'm not okay, living far away from my family is hard and now I have to live far from my second family."

"Why don't you just move closer to Liam's house?" Jerry asked curiously.

"I can't, Jayvee would find us easily if he finds out that I'm just living around."

"Then let him find you, it's not like he could do something to make you back, right?"

Rosie let out a lungful sigh, she wanted to cry upon remembering all of the things she put up with Jayvee but she doesn't want Jerry to know that.

"We're married." Rosie said, looking outside the window. "He also has the power to take us back whenever he wants to."

"What power?" Jerry scoffed, he gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned pale. He was so mad that Jayvee is using his name to get what he wants. He's a Kim, he belongs to the Kim group and that name alone could make anyone shudder and gives them fear to never mess with a Kim.

Jerry's family were so powerful, they almost owned all the big companies all over South Korea and some outside the country, just like how Liam's family owned Thailand's biggest companies. Both Manoban and Kim are powerful in the industry, but the thing is, Jerry chose to stay low-key as well as Liam so they could move freely around. Even Hayley never tells people who she really is.

And that explains why Rosie is afraid of Jayvee. They could manipulate the news and make Rosie the bad guy in their marriage. Everyone knows that it could happen and even Jayvee's manager warned her about it, that's why she just decided to live far away rather than do some action regarding Jayvee's bad treatment towards his wife and their son.

"I know, I'm not in the position to tell you what to do or not to do, but even if Jayvee is my relative and he's carrying my family's name, I'm not going to tolerate what he did to you and to Akiro. And I'm not saying this because you're my ex, I'm just going to reprimand him for dragging our name." Jerry said in one breath, and he knew Rosie would protest about it, he was certain to reprimand Jayvee's attitude.

After all, Jerry already took the highest position in the Kim Group as the newest chairman after Hannah died. His grandfather already passed him the position when he agreed to go back to Korea. He's not going to chide him personally, but he will go through Jayvee's parents and he will punish them for what their son did to his son and wife.

"You don't have to do that."

"Even if I don't take any action, Hayley will. She's still a Kim, remember?" Jerry chuckled, side glancing at the woman. "Look, we can't just shut up okay? You are one of our friends Akiro.." Jerry paused, his eyes shifted at the back where Akiro was sleeping and his head on Jeremy's lap. "He's too young to experience all of it."

Rosie couldn't find her voice as she was already sobbing silently and her tears welling up to her eyes.

"I promise you, everything will be fine." Jerry assured the woman, he reached for Rosie's face and wiped the tears on her face. "I'm sorry for coming back too late and you have to suffer from him."

"I'm f-fine." Rosie sobbed, sticking out her lower lip like a kid. Jerry chuckled softly and patted Rosie's head.

"You still don't know how to pretend to be fine, Rosie." He teased and they both laughed.

The rain miraculously stopped and Jerry continued to drive, another 30 minutes passed by before he stopped in front of a two storey apartment building, he looked up through the window car and furrowed his eyebrows.

"This is so small." He commented.

"It's enough for the two of us." Rosie defended her chosen apartment to live in. She really didn't need a huge apartment since there were only two of them and always out in the morning for her job. She looked for a babysitter for Akiro and found a teenage girl next door who offered herself to watch the kid since she needed some extra funds to support her own daughter after her partner left them with nothing.

Rosie got out of the car and as she was about to take Akiro, he woke up and looked at Jerry but he didn't see him.

"Wh-where's Dad?" He asked and was about to cry.

"Honey, your dad is not here—."

"Dad!" Akiro squealed when he saw Jerry behind Rosie. The latter felt a bit afraid of that, thinking that Jayvee was standing behind her, but when she looked over her shoulder, she saw Jerry instead, smiling at Akiro.

Rosie was about to say something but Jerry tapped her shoulder lightly. "It's fine, would you do me a favour?" Jerry said as he picked up Akiro. "Please take Jeremy with you upstairs."

"W-what?" Rosie blinked her eyes rapidly.

"I will just stay till Akiro falls asleep then we'll go home." He whispered, only audible to Rosie so the kid won't hear them.

"Oh o-okay." Rosie stuttered and she moved to the other side of the car and carried Jeremy between her arms and they both headed to the second floor of the apartment building.

When they got inside, the apartment was small as it looked outside. There's a small kitchen on the side of the door, the dining area and the bathroom, then on the right side, there was a small living room and the shelf that was used as a partition to have a mini bedroom.

Jerry couldn't believe that Rosie was staying inside that small house as he scanned the whole space.

"You can put him on the bed too." Rosie said after she lay down Jeremy stepped out behind the shelf. Jerry nodded as he made his way to the said bed and lay down Akiro carefully, making sure that the kid wouldn't notice that he was not in his arms anymore.

"I'll just make some coffee." Rosie said that Jerry didn't have the chance to decline the offer. He just walked back to the small living room and sat down on the wooden floor since there's no couch or anything, just a small table and a television.

Rosie put down the cup of milk coffee on the table and pushed it carefully to Jerry's side. "I'm really sorry about Akiro." She said as she sat down across from the guy.

"No worries, I understand the longing of the kid to his father."

"Actually.." Rosie paused for a moment, battling if she should say it or not, but since Jerry assumed that her son was looking for his dad, she needed to clear things up with him. "He never called Jayvee Dad and this is the first time that I heard the word daddy on him."

"What?"

"It's true and I don't know why. Or maybe because since he was a kid, Jayvee has never been a father to him."

"May I ask you a question?" Jerry started, Rosie nodded her head and let Jerryy proceed to his question. "Why is he calling me Dad if he never called Jayvee Dad?"

Rosie's eyes went wide for a moment and she looked down on her cup to hide her flushed cheeks. "I-I-I may have told him that you're his dad."

"What?" Jerry chuckled.

"Please don't get me wrong. There was a misunderstanding on that because Akiro was looking at the wedding pictures and he asked me if who's the guy next to me, I didn't give it much attention and just say that 'he's your dad.' because I thought he's asking Jayvee's picture that time."

"Seriously?" Jerry laughed but he immediately stopped when he heard shuffling sounds from the bedroom. "I mean, how did you know that it was me he was referring to?"

"When he kept the picture to himself and put it in his room. Just when I found out that it was you all along that's why he never called Jayvee his dad."

"Wow." Jerry snickered, covering his mouth so he wouldn't be so loud.

"I'm really sorry for that."

"It's okay, I'm just a little surprised." Jerry assured her and he glanced at his watch, it said 15 before 11 PM, too late to catch a ride home since they were in a place where public vehicles rarely pass by in the evening.

"It's too late, you can sleep here." Rosie suggested and Jerry knew that it was the only choice he had unless he would call his driver late at night just to fetch him. He doesn't want to disturb him and also no one knows that he's already back because they are expecting him next month.

"Are you sure?" Jerry asked.

"Of course, you can take the space on the bed—."

"Nah, I can fit here, you take the bed. I'll be fine here." Jerry said as he lay down on the wooden floor and used his arms as his pillow. Rosie chuckled and she stood up and walked to the drawers, taking out a spare blanket and a pillow."

"Here."

"Thank you. You should sleep too."

"I will, goodnight Jerry." Rosie bids as she makes her way to the bedroom but stays up for a little more and waits for something.

"Goodnight Rosie, it was nice to see you again." Jerry replied that made Rosie smile before she crawled on the bed carefully.

"It is indeed, a goodnight." Rosie mumbled.

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