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"Oh, you're still up.." Jimin looks at Minjeong, eyes wide in shock, surprise, or guilt, Minjeong wasn't sure, instead she offers the brunette a soft smile, "Yeah, I couldn't sleep." She shuts her book, placing it on the bedside table, "The shoot ran late again?"
"Huh? I mean...yeah..just a bit." Jimin bit the inside of her cheek, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"You okay?" Minjeong asks with a worried furrow in her brows, "I just.." Jimin's shoulders soften, eyes meeting Minjeong and realizing just how long it's been since she last made eye contact with the woman she promised forever to, “Just tired."
"Hm," Minjeong hums, getting up and approaching her wife, hesitantly, she reaches for Jirnin's hand, leading her towards her vanity, "Just sit here, let me draw a bath for you."
“You don..." Jimin begins, feeling a cold sweat on her back, but is interrupted by Minjeong, "Let me, please." Minjeong pats Jimin's head lightly, “Just stay put." She smiles, ignoring the tightening in her chest at the realization that there's a second scent mixed with Jimin's usual perfume.
"Okay." Jimin nods, avoiding Minjeong's gaze.
Inside the bathroom, as the tub filled with water, Minjeong couldn't help but wonder where things had gone wrong between them. From childhood friends to multiple chances missed, to finally getting the timing right that led them to marriage. Their love story felt like the ones people read about; the ones movies were made of. They went through so much apart and together that when the day came for them to seal their vows, it felt like the universe was finally on their side.
"Minjeong?" Jimin's voice pulls Minjeong out of her own thoughts, "You were staring off into space, are you okay?" It was Jimin's turn to ask, walking towards her wife, placing a comforting hand on her shoulders, "I'm fine love, just got tranced by the water."
"Oh? Should I be worried that the bath water might steal my wife away?" Jimin jokes and Minjeong chuckles softly, shaking her head, "Dork."
"There you go, a real smile."
"All my smiles are true as long as I'm with you."
"Flirt."
"Only with you." She winks at Jimin who playfully rolls her eyes, but smiles, "Wanna take this bath together?" Jimin asks, eyebrows raising up and down suggestively, and Minjeong wanted to say yes; the word at the tip of her tongue, but Minjeong knew better. “You've already done enough today, are you sure you're up for more?"
"What?" Jimin stiffened and Minjeong pretended not to notice, "At work, you said you were tired." She played innocent and Jimin swallows, "I am but..."
"Raincheck?" Minjeong offers Jimin an out, her heart hoping that Jimin doesn't take it, but of course she knew better. She knows Jimin better, "Yeah. But you owe me Kim Minjeong."
“Yes ma'am." Minjeong playfully salutes, leaning towards Jimin who anticipated the kiss, but then the faint vanilla mixed with Jimin's signature scent pulls Minjeong back to reality,
"Goodnight." She rests her forehead against Jimin's instead, savoring the moment before pulling away.
"Minjeong." Jimin holds her wrist, lips pouting, "No kiss goodnight?"
"Such a baby." Minjeong rolls her eyes, steeling her heart before leaning again, trying her best to ignore the extra scent, "I'm waiting." Jimin announces eyes closed. With one last sigh, Minjeong closes the distance, her lips meeting Jimin's for a quick kiss, pulling away before Jimin could deepen it, "Now take your bath, you stink." Minjeong says and to Jimin it sounded like a tease and Minjeong wonders when Jimin stopped being the person who knew her the best.
~ ~ ~ ~
"I saw her."
"Who?"
“Who else?"
"Ning, I don't know who you're talking about." Minjeong deadpans, eyes avoiding Yizuho like the plague.
"Cut the bullshit Kim Minjeong. How long has this been going?" Yizuho's eyes had a raging fire in them, but Minjeong ignored it. Opting to smile at her best friend, "I'm seriously confused right now Ning."
"Jimin. Restaurant. Cozied up with someone that very much isn't your blonde ass." Yizuho plops on the chair in front of Minjeong's office, arms crossed, waiting as Minjeong goes mute.
"Maybe I should go darker then?" Minjeong ignores the gigantic bomb Yizuho dropped,
"Hanni, please schedule a hair appointment for me. I'd like to dye my hair." Minjeong tells her assistant through the intercom, while Yizuho watches Minjeong carefully. She almost cries when she sees the slight tremble in Minjeong's body. When she finally sees all the cracks and how much Minjeong was struggling to keep herself together.
"Minjeong, what happened? Are you getting a div…"
"No." Minjeong was quick to interrupt, "We're not. Whoever she was with, it'll pass."
"It'll...pass?" Yizuho's brows furrow even deeper, "Why are you making it sound like this isn't the first time?" She asks carefully and Minjeong goes silent again.
"God." Yizuho runs a hand through her hair, "She doesn't deserve you and you don't deserve what she's doing to you."
"It's okay."
"It's not okay, you dumbass." Yizuho was on her feet, pacing around to get some of the frustration she felt towards her best friend and her so-called wife, "She's literally cheating on you..multiple times it seems, and you let her. You. Let. Her." Yizuho emphasizes her blood boiling.
“Ning, calm down."
"Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down when she's literally out there with someone else?!”
"It's like you're the one that's being cheated on." Minjeong jokes, laughing lightly.
“Oh, she has jokes."
"How else would I cope then?"
"Minjeong." Yizuho goes to sit again, "Seriously, why?" Her eyes were glossy now and Minjeong had to look away, her eyes catching the photo of her and Jimin that she kept on her desk, "Would it be too much of a cliché to say it's because I love her?"
"Yes." Yizuho deadpans.
"Then let me be that cliché. I love her Ning...and I know, I know that I should let go, but I can't." Minjeong blinks away her tears.
"Minjeong, please..this is breaking you."
"How can it? When she still comes home to me?"
"Minjeong."
"If the day comes that she no longer comes home to me..then I'll let her go, but until then, can't I be a little selfish? Can't I hold onto her for just a bit longer? Can't I just pour everything I can into what's left of what was once us? This is breaking me, yes, but it would shatter me to lose her."
"You're playing a losing game."
~ ~ ~ ~
Jimin was sure something was wrong with Minjeong. There was something different in the way she moved, close yet distant. Like she was there but also not. It was concerning, to say the least.
"Minjeong." Jimin calls out, catching Minjeong's attention from the book in her hand.
"Yes?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yes." Minjeong nods without hesitation, "Are you sure?"
"Huh? What kind of question is that Jimin? I just said yes, didn't I?" She chuckles, setting her book down onto her bedside.
"Jimin...?" Jimin whispers to herself, brows furrowing before looking at Minjeong again, “No something's wrong with you…you..." Jimin trails off, her mind piecing things together, "Love, I'm fine. What made you think I wasn't?" Minjeong pulls Jimin into her arms, holding her, pulling her away from thoughts like 'she knows, Minjeong knows.’
"It just seems like you've been distant." Jimin admits softly, her grip tightening around Minjeong's waist.
It was Wednesday and for once Jimin came home early. Minjeong was surprised to see her wife pad into their bedroom before midnight if at all. In fact, it was about 8PM when Jimin came home and Minjeong had just finished preparing dinner. The two ate together and talked. It felt like the way things were before, but Minjeong knew better. Things have changed in the past few months. Jimin had been coming home less with excuses of overnight shoots or overseas schedules. The day that Minjeong had told Yizuho about was coming and she knew it was coming fast.
"Have I?" Minjeong ran her hand through Jimin's hair, the slightly taller woman cuddling into Minjeong, laying her head on Minjeong's chest, listening to her heartbeat.
"You just feel distant, I don't know, it's just weird."
"Oh." Minjeong falters, before catching herself, “You've been busy with all these extra events, especially ones overseas, I didn't want to bother your rest just because I missed you."
"Still...and I miss you too, you know."
"Right..sure." Minjeong says under her breath.
"What?" Jimin lifts her head.
"I said, we've just both been busy. You don't reach out to me either." Minjeong's tone was neutral, no bite, just fact. But that jostled Jimin, her brows furrowing, while trying to find something in Minjeong's eyes.
"You don't know or realize it yet huh." Minjeong reaches out, tucking Jimin's hair behind her ear.
"Know what?"
"That I love you to the point that I'd do anything for you." Minjeong says matter-of-factly, without missing a beat.
Even if it breaks me. Minjeong thinks.
"You don't need to do anything else, you're already perfect." Jimin chuckles, laying back down to cuddle into Minjeong, not noticing that she didn't say it back. But Minjeong did and it made her think ‘when was the last time Jimin had told her she loved her?’ be it through words or actions.
“Jimin." Minjeong calls out to her wife. Jimin hums, her eyes feeling heavy, "What if I leave?"
"For how long?" Jimin asks, voice sleepy.
"I don't know." At those words she shoots up, "Minjeong?" She sits up properly, cupping her wife's face in her hands, eyes staring into Minjeong's, trying to read her but there was nothing. She saw nothing and that realization was terrifying.
~ ~ ~ ~
"So, it’s time huh." Yizuho holds the manila envelope with the signed papers in her hands, voice firm. It’s been a month since that night where Minjeong let a bit of her heart out. Where she had voiced a part of her truth to Jimin, where she had thought Jimin would finally come back to her. But instead, Jimin kept pulling away and Minjeong understood that it was time for her to let go. So she called Yizuho, full time best friend and part time lawyer, to draft the papers.
“I told you, didn't I? That l'd only hold on for as long as she comes home to me."
"Such a masochist. I would have left the second I found out.”
“Yeah but you know,” Minjeong fiddles with her wedding band, “that’s easier said than done. Because leaving would have meant turning my back on her…and I promised.” Minjeong slides the ring off, her heart squeezing painfully in her chest, “That I’d stay. That I’d never be someone that would turn away from her.” She slides the ring towards Yizuho, “Give this to her.” She gestures towards the ring, “And tell her that I’m sorry.”
“I’m not telling her you're sorry, she should be the one to..”
“Yizuho.” Minjeong’s voice was stern, the same tone she uses in board meetings, “I’m not asking as your best friend. I’m telling you as your employer.”
“Tsk.”
“And please, don’t say anything else other than that. Just give her the papers and that’s it.” Minjeong stands, “Now, I have to go meet my cousin.”
“Your cousin?”
“Mhm..I asked Seulgi unnie to keep an eye on the company.”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know yet, but I think I’ve been living life too fast paced. I just want to slow down. Maybe open up that cafe I’ve always wanted.”
“Well, I’m coming with you.”
“No. You stay here. You still run our legal department.”
“Minjeong.”
“Ning, I just need a break. From everything…I’m just…” Minjeong feels a tear run down her cheek, “tired. I’m so tired, Ning. I just want to rest.”
“Oh Minjeong.” Yizuho was quick to round Minjeong’s desk, pulling her best friend into her arms, “Alright..take all the time you need…you know I’m always going to be one call away right?”
“I know…thank you.” Minjeong hugs her best friend back tightly, wiping her tears away before pulling back.
~ ~ ~ ~
“Oh Ningning is here! It’s been a while.” Jimin happily skips over to Yizuho, her eyes finding the brunette leaning on her car, folder in hand, “Why are you out here? Is Minjeong not home yet?” Jimin checks the time on her watch and frowns, it was almost 2am.
“Jimin.” Yizuho’s voice was clipped, eyes tired.
“Ning?” Jimin was thrown off by the sudden coldness from the younger girl. Used to seeing a bubbly girl and not whoever is in front of her right now.
“Can we talk inside?”
“Ning it’s late, Minjeong is most likely..”
“This is important Jimin.”
“Alright.”
The two step inside with Ningning trailing behind Jimin.
“Is everything alright?” Jimin asks, settling in front of Yizuho on the dining table, “I need you to sign these.” She slides the envelope towards Jimin, “What’s this?” Jimin takes the envelope, her gut telling her not to open it, but she does and Jimin feels something inside her crack, “Minjeong is letting you keep everything. House, cars, everything liquid, it’s practically yours.” Yizuho explains, tone professional.
“Where is she?” Jimin puts the papers back, “Jimin, just sign them please. It’s late and Minjeong wants these processed ASAP.”
“Where. Is. She?” Jimin’s voice trembled, hand shaking.
“Jimin.”
“Yizuho.”
“Jimin.”
“Did she tell you why?” Jimin asks, heart racing, setting the papers down.
“No.” Yizuho lies, “But she wanted me to tell you that she’s sorry.” She pulls the ring out of her pocket and hands it to Jimin.
“Minjeong loves you Jimin, I hope you know that.” Yizuho tries to subtly make Jimin understand.
“Then why?” Jimin whispers, hand taking Minjeong’s ring and clutching it tightly.
“Just let her go Jimin…that’s what’s best.”
“Is it?”
“I don’t know…you tell me?” Yizuho folds her hands across her chest, eyes sharp. Jimin’s breath catches, the realization dawning on her – Minjeong knows..she knew..that’s why she left.
“You owe it to her.” Yizuho says, realizing Jimin finally understood, “You’ve done enough.”
“I’m…I…di…”
“Just sign them and you’ll be free…you both will.”
“Can’t I talk to her?”
“It wouldn’t change anything. So please sign the papers.”
“What if I don’t want to?” Jimin asks in a small voice.
“For fucks sake.” Yizuho loses her cool, “Just sign the damn papers Jimin. I’m tired and I’ve been coming here every day for the past week trying to catch you since you don’t seem to bother answering your phone.”
“Ning..”
“You...” Yizuho takes a breath, remembering Minjeong’s words to not be harsh, “Just sign..please.” She says through gritted teeth and so Jimin, with a heavy hand grabs the pen and signs her name.
“Thanks.” Yizuho grabs the papers and places them back neatly in the envelope, “I’ll make sure this is processed as soon as possible.” She moves to leave, but Jimin doesn’t bother to look up. Doesn’t move. She stays there, staring at the ring in her palm. Staring at the symbol of Minjeong’s love…of all the promises…of everything they were.
“Minjeong told me not to be harsh with you.” Yizuho settles back down, “That I’m here as her legal representative and not her best friend.” Jimin continues to stare at the ring.
“But since the papers are signed, my job is done.” Yizuho nods, “So that means, I could be here as her best friend..and I want to know why? Why did you have to break her?”
“Ning I…” Jimin finally looks up, tears forming in her eyes, “I don’t know. God…I don’t know.” Jimin’s body begins to shake, “Minjeong she’s perfect, she’s everything and more..and I don’t know…I just…got lost. And those nights, those people meant nothing…”
“Until one did.” Yizuho interrupts, “The others may have not meant anything, but someone did..does..” She let the words linger, let them sink into Jimin. To make her know that Minjeong realized it, that she knew even before Jimin did. That she was no longer Jimin’s home.
“You always came home,” Yizuho’s tone was soft, “and she held onto that for as long as she could.” With that, Yizuho finally left.
Jimin stayed there, her emotions all over the place – sadness, anguish, grief, shock, remorse, but guilt…guilt hit her the hardest . Sitting until the sun was up, ignoring the world. She sat with Minjeong’s ring in her hand muttering apologies into the air, because how could she have broken the woman who she promised the world to? How could she? But Jimin knows there is no answer. Their relationship was stable, there were no cracks, no problems. They relied on one another. Held each other through tough times. She herself doesn’t know why she veered off course, but she did. And now she has to live with those consequences and the realisation that came along with it.
“I’m sorry.” Jimin cries, “I’m sorry that I failed you. I’m sorry for it all…but most of all, I’m sorry for not being able to come back home to you…to us..”