—Jeon Residence, year 2026—

It had been five days.

I kept waking up having such low energy running through my body, with sore muscles and painful joints on every part of me that I had to struggle to move around. I woke up late again one morning, groaning at my own body weight and the soreness covering half of my body.

The sun was up, already high and burning hot in the sky. And with that, I knew it was almost noon. I cursed under my breath, pushing myself off of the bed and struggling to reach the bathroom and get ready to start my day.

I went downstairs right after, clutching my laptop and some paperworks under one of my arms while I rubbed my painful back with my free hand. The house was quiet. Jungkook had undoubtedly left the house early in the morning for work, so I didn't question the silence that welcomed me. Realising how much time I had lost earlier in the day, I decided to get settled right away on the dining table, spreading my work with a plate of meal which I made hastily for a quick lunch.

I spent the rest of the day working in the dining room, completely lost track of time. Not because I was too focused on the work I was doing, but because I had a hard time to concentrate on anything at all. I could not sit still due to the pain lingering on my back and the headache that would not go away even after I took some pills to cure it. Yet I tried my best to finish all I could as to not linger on the way my body was acting up.

It was finally the end of the day when I leaned back on my seat to rest. I already had the laptop shut off when the sound of my phone ringing disturbed the silence.

"Yes, hello?" I picked it up after the third ring, only realizing then the dryness of my throat the minute I heard my own voice speaking.

"What the fuck happened to you?" The voice on the other side of the line snapped at me. I couldn't tell who it was at first and I didn't bother to check on the phone screen to see the name it was showing.

"What? Who is this?"

"Who do you think? God, why don't you ever check on the caller ID before picking up? What if I'm some stranger trying to scam you, huh?"

"Oh—" was all I could say when I finally recognised his voice. "Sorry, Yoongi," I said to him, smiling to myself. He might be a bit blunt, but he sure knew how to call me out on my recklessness. "I, uh—had my mind on other things earlier, so—"

"Is something wrong? Are you okay?"

"Oh, uhm—I haven't been feeling well the last few days, and I'm feeling really down today." I gave a little massage on my temple to ease the throbbing headache that was starting to come back, wanting nothing more than to go back to my bed and lie down.

"Really? Right—you don't sound too well, either," he said to me in his monotonous tone of voice that I have gotten used to know, before I heard him letting out a sigh. "I guess that explains why."

"What do you mean?"

He was silent for a few seconds, but I could hear his breathing through the phone and I knew that he probably had his eyes closed to think—or calm himself, perhaps. "We were supposed to meet today at the usual place for lunch earlier, to discuss our upcoming project. I waited for two hours and you didn't show up so I went back to my office just now."

I stopped what I was doing, looking over to check on my watch and the calendar showing on the screen of my phone before cursing at myself. "Oh my God, Yoongi—" I groaned, and my headache returned even more viciously. "I am so sorry. I woke up extremely late this morning and I was—Okay, I have no other excuse, I completely forgot about it. Please forgive me—"

"It's okay. Where are you? Are you at home?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm at home right now," I told him, extremely apologetic. I started to think of any way that I could do to fix my mistake.

"Okay, I'll be there in 20 minutes," he said, shutting the phone right after with no warning and without waiting for my response.

I have been working with Min Yoongi for a year and had known him for much longer that I had gotten used to how he did certain things, but the sudden halt of the phone call only enhanced the guilt that I had. I prepared coffee for him and waited in the living room. The tiredness soon came back as I leaned back on the sofa that I was starting to doze off while waiting.

I was awakened by the sound of doorbell 20 minutes later.

"Yoongi, I'm so sorry," I immediately said to him the moment I opened the door. My eyes were still hazy from the short nap I just had and I was running out of breath for rushing off to get the door.

"Jesus—" he said under his breath while staring at me. "Are you sure you okay? You look like death."

"I—actually, I'm not completely sure," I sighed, moving aside so he could walk past the door. "I might be tired, I have so little energy when I woke up and I just lost my concentration so easily when I work. It could have been just fatigue," I told him while watching him entering the house, shutting the door behind us.

"Feeling lethargic, huh?" He asked me, raising his eyebrows when I looked at him. "Do you think those might be symptoms of pregnancy?" I stopped on my tracks and stared into his eyes, surprised at his question, while he looked back at me with a soft smile.

Don't you need to make love with your partner in order to get pregnant? The question never escaped my lips. I figured there was no need to share the dark side of my marriage to my business partner.

"How do you know about those things?" I asked him, knowing first hand that the man who I have been working with was indeed a single, unmarried man, and had been so for as long as I knew him.

He answered with a shrug as he turned around and confidently walked towards the sofa as if he owned the place. "I just know some things," he said while sitting down and added, "Not that I experienced any of it myself with anyone else. I just heard people talking about these things."

I poured him a cup of fresh coffee, placing it right in front of him before sitting across the table. "I see. So, are you here to talk about the new project?" I asked him, opening my laptop that was placed on the table.

He was taking a sip of the coffee when I spoke, and he lifted his eyes at me. "Will it be okay if we talk business now? I thought you're not feeling well—"

"I'll be alright," I cut him off. "I'm probably feeling tired from working too much, that's all. I'm also a housewife, after all. There's always so much for me to do."

"Have you seen the doctor? Or have you told your husband about this?"

I took my own cup of coffee from the table and took a sip of the warm drink slowly before answering, "No. Neither of both yet, my husband and I have been really busy."

He leaned back on the sofa, crossing his arms over his chest while he stared at me. "You look more stressed out than tired if you ask me," he said while smiling. "Hey, tell you what? Why don't we go out for drinks?"

I squinted my eyes at him. "And how is that suppose to help me? I thought you came here to discuss work since I bailed on you today."

He chuckled, taking his cup in his hand once again. "Trust me, it'll help you relax. We can talk about it over some booze so we can chill. Tell me, when was the last time you went out without your husband?"

"I—I don't know," I told him. It wasn't like I didn't have any friends at all, or girlfriends to hang out with. I just didn't enjoy spending time out with other people that much. Not when I went through so many things that had made it so hard for me to trust others. "I've been working a lot, that's all."

"See? You need to relax once in a while. Let's go out and have a drink with me. I'll help you release that stress and take you back home to your loving husband before midnight," he insisted, sipping on his coffee slowly as he waited for my response.

"Drink? With you?" I squinted my eyes at him, yet unknowingly thinking about it already. "I don't know if I should—"

"Are you worried that your husband won't like it if you go with me? Doesn't he know that I'm not a threat?"

I sighed. "It's not that. It's just- Yeah, I don't go out that much without him." Not that he actually takes me out with him that much either.

"Well it doesn't stop him from getting out for drinks with his mates and—" He stopped mid-sentence. His eyes flickered immediately to look at me before looking away while covering half of his face with his cup of coffee. "I'm sorry, forget I said anything. I won't force you if you don't want to."

I fell silent, suddenly finding the offer for the drink to be tempting. Perhaps I need a change. Just a little. Just this once.

"You know what? I'll go with you," I unexpectedly told him, surprising myself with my own answer. "Let's get that drink."

There was a part of me that was practically begging to leave that house. Perhaps going out for a few hours might help let me feel the freedom I wanted.

It certainly was not the first time that I went out to have drinks with Yoongi. But it was the first that we went out without our clients or his employers, or even with our dates. Jungkook had joined us on some of those occasions, since he knew some of the clients that Yoongi and I worked for. And of course, he also knew Yoongi.

It was a nice change. We went as regular friends instead of two co-workers. And even though we did sit at one of the booths with our paperworks spread out on the table, together with our drinks, the conversation regarding our work went so smoothly that it ended not long after we started the night.

Yoongi downed his drink after we decided that we had enough of business talk, gesturing at our empty glasses before getting on his feet to order more drinks. "I'm not trying to get you drunk, trust me. I just want to celebrate," he said with a smirk on his face, accompanied by the gentle look in his eyes that he always gave to me.

I answered him with a chuckle while gathering all the papers and notes on the table to put them away. Work time was over, and it would probably be better for both of us to have them set aside. It did not take long for Yoongi to come back with our drinks and a smile on his face.

"How are you feeling now?" He asked me once he settled down on his seat.

"I'm okay now. I can even say I feel much better somehow. This is actually a good idea, who would've thought that work and beer would be such a good pair?" I told him, raising my glass for a toast.

He laughed at me while raising his own glass. "Sometimes a change of scenery and a change of pace is necessary. When was the last time you go to places like this?"

I shrugged. "It's been a while. Last time was when we celebrated that project we did in Busan, I think. I don't go to bars with my girlfriends." I chuckled. "Places like this reminds me more of my life back in college, to be honest."

"Ah yes—those college parties. I remember seeing you at one of the clubs near our campus," he said, sipping his cold beer while frowning as he tried to picture a moment that happened a long time ago. "I think you were with Jungkook. The two of you were always together back then, grabbing all attention every time you showed up on parties."

I pursed my lips, picturing the past where everything seemed so simple and easy, before life unfolded itself to us. "Jungkook and I even met at one of those parties," I told him, laughing bitterly. "I remember seeing you too, always surrounded by the cool seniors and hot girls trying to grab your attention. Yet I don't remember any of them being stuck at your side for long."

He laughed at the memories, raising his glass as he answered, "Well, at least now you know the reason why."

His answer made both of us laugh, and I felt so pleased on how he was willing to let me keep his secret with me. Flashes of the past came into my mind, leaving bitter feelings inside me. "Too bad we can't go back to the past and experience them all again."

He moved forward, nudging his glass onto mine for a toast. "Here's to the past, for all of its excitements and our past mistakes."

I smiled at him, smiling bitterly while I nudged my glass back to his.

Yes, too bad we can't go back. No more chances to revisit those past mistakes.

We stayed longer than intended, talking mostly about life and relationships since our conversation about work was long done. I found out more about his current life, while he asked a lot about mine. I figured he was concerned about my marriage and my well being, but I stopped myself from sharing too many things that I was not comfortable enough to talk about. Thankfully enough, he respected my boundaries.

Even without releasing too much of my thoughts into the world and into my colleague's knowledge, by the end of the night, I was able to breathe better. And it was not only because of the alcohol in my system.

"We should do this more often," he said to me on our way back to my home. We sat at the backseat of a cab—neither of us had the confidence to drive home by ourselves—laughing and chatting during the drive, feeling more ease as we let ourselves go to the tipsiness that we had.

"Yes, we should," I answered him after I was able to catch my breath from laughing too much. "Being out of the house like this makes me feel good. Thanks for convincing me, Yoongi."

"My pleasure," he answered, kissing my temple as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

I fell asleep in the middle of the drive, awakened by a soft nudge Yoongi gave me once we arrived at the driveway to my house. He was also drowsing with sleep when I bid him goodbye, and I stepped out of the cab after giving him a quick peck on his cheek and a whisper of, "Thank you."

The enjoyable conversation and laughs that we had during the last few hours had completely hidden the fact of how drunk I actually was. The quick nap I had in the car did nothing to reduce the throbbing headache I was having. The silence inside the house had me realizing the tipsy footsteps I was making on the marbled floorings. But I felt as if my body and mind were so light that I still ignored any of it while I walked slowly into the house.

"Where have you been?"

I turned around clumsily in the dark and found Jungkook sitting across the room, glaring at me through the darkness. I nearly tripped on my own heels from moving so suddenly, but I kept myself together and stopped myself from falling, although my body was still swaying as I stood to face him.

"Jungkook, why are you here?" I asked him, my voice surprisingly sounded steady.

"Do you even know what time it is?" He asked me. If it was not for the lack of light in the room and my tipsy mind, I would have noticed him gritting his teeth as he sat there staring at me.

"What time is it?" I lifted my arm to look at my watch and noticed through my blurry sight that it was already way past midnight. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I must've lost track of time."

Jungkook left his seat and walked towards me. The frown on his face becoming clearer as he slowly came closer to where I was standing. "Are you drunk?"

"I'm, uh—" a giggle escaped my lips before I could stop it, and I cleared my throat to try and hide it. "Uh—I think I am? I'm sorry, I tried my best to not drink so much but Yoongi just wouldn't stop getting me more refills."

"You were with Yoongi?" His voice was tensed, sounding incredibly irritated, and I didn't have to be sober to notice. "So it was only the two of you, or—"

"Yes, just me and Yoongi," I answered firmly. Or at least, I tried to be, despite my drunken state, only for how agitated I had become to his tone of voice. I hated the feeling. I was feeling so good before he found me, and I hated losing that joy I was revelling into.

I returned his dark gaze once he stood in front of me, probably studying my reaction as he kept glaring at me with the anger that I could feel emitting from his whole body. I gave in to the alcohol in my blood to stop myself from caring. "We went out to discuss some project we were working on, and—"

"Over drinks?"

I gave him a smirk before I answered, "Yes, with beer and some whiskey on his side, a little vodka on mine. It was fun." I waited for his reaction, without even understanding why I would spill oil onto his burning anger. Perhaps I saw a hint of jealousy in him and it made me see him as a human once again, one with feelings. Perhaps I saw hope and pride from it. From having my dear husband being possessive over me against another man. Because that would only mean that he actually cared.

"Why are you up at this hour, Jungkook? Were you waiting for me?"

"I—" He seemed so flustered, and to see him having so much trouble into admitting that only ignited my own anger. "What were you thinking going out until so late with another man? You're my wife! I—yes, of course, I waited for you. Why didn't you at least tell me about it?"

I only laughed at him, and I didn't think he accepted it so well, shown by his next outburst, "Why are you laughing? God, are you really that drunk?"

I shook my head, taking a deep breath to stop my sudden burst of laughter. "No—I'm not that drunk. I'm only amused. Jeon Jungkook finally remembers who I am," I answered him, lifting my face to speak to him. "I did leave you a message on your phone, am I not such a good wife enough? I even invited you to join us if you wanted to. Perhaps you were too busy paying attention to something—or someone else? But that's okay, I'm used to being ignored by you. At least I get to see my husband waiting for me until so late at night, just like I always do for him—every single night he was away."

"Is this all a joke to you?" He was fuming, starting to move around at where he stood to keep himself together, yet he was failing so bad at it. "Is that was it's all about? So are you doing this as payback, then?"

"Oh, no—No, absolutely not. I'm not some petty little child, Jungkook," I confronted him, feeling myself having more confidence to do so just for one night. "I told you, I lost track of time. We were working, and then we had too much fun. Won't you forgive me?" I reached forward to touch him, my palms pressing his chest slowly. And he pushed my hands away.

"Stop this, you are drunk," he said, turning his body around to leave me.

"Is it really because I am drunk, or you just don't want to touch me anymore?"

That was not only the alcohol speaking. I was no longer aware of the control towards the words I was saying, but I also didn't want to stop myself. Not when I felt so tired of holding everything inside for so long.

"Why can't you just admit it? There is someone else who had caught your attention, isn't there, Jungkook? If not, am I not worth it to be touched by my own husband?"

"What nonsense are you saying? If you are accusing me of anything, just say it!" There it was, the anger that he had always shown me, once again revealing itself to intimidate me. "Go ahead, and say it! I guess that alcohol you've been drinking all night is making you so full of yourself. Or perhaps it was Yoongi who filled you up with lies?"

"Wha—Stop putting all the blame at Yoongi! He is my friend, and at least he listens to me, unlike my dear husband that won't even look at me no matter how often he claims me as his wife!" I was at my limit, pressing down the fear I had of him.

No more, I will not let him push me down into feeling as if I am the bad person.

"You know, it's been you that keeps accusing me of things I have never done, and for so many years you have so little faith in me when all I've been doing is try my best to put you first. When all I've been doing is fight for our marriage!"

"Fight? What kind of fight are you doing by going out with another man until past midnight and coming home drunk, huh?"

His outburst of anger and his accusations only lit up mine. I would always hide away or keep my words to myself whenever he expressed his anger. Afraid that I would only make things worse, since I never had a clue about what he was angry for in the first place. But that night, I was too tired to face him, too tired to constantly standing on the receiving end of his rage without a fight, too tired of getting blamed at everything. And I gave in once again to my drunken mind to lend me its power to face him.

"What fight, you say? I spent every night waiting for you to come home without giving you any questions. I stayed at home, every day, gave up what I wanted and did anything you asked me of—all for you! All for us! And you dare ask me what fight that I do?"

His eyes stared at me wide with anger. I finally got his attention. And I carried on, unable to stop myself. Not when he was degrading me once again, ignorant at my efforts throughout our marriage. "I did one mistake tonight, Jungkook. One! And you just throw everything I have done all this time down the drain so easily just for this?"

"What do you want, then, huh? Should I give you a fucking award for it?" He growled at me, flinging his hand up and I nearly flinched, in fear that he might swing that hand to hurt me. "What do you think you deserve after straying out in public without your husband?"

I shook my head, unable to believe his words. "What I want is for you to treat me as your goddamn wife! Not some trash or property you keep inside your house just to make it look nice! And for you to stop blaming me for everything! Every single bad thing that is happening to you!"

I threw the purse and paperworks I have been holding on as I was taken over by rage, regretting the fact that I had let them fall on the floor instead of hitting him on his face only seconds after.

"I just don't understand why you are always so angry at me—at everything I do? What have I done so wrong to deserve your hate, Jungkook?"

I bit my lips, my emotions got the best of me, it took control of me and I couldn't stop my own tears from falling. I was losing the fight, and losing my pride, but I no longer care. I was in pain. And I have been living in that pain for too long.

"Do you have any idea how afraid I always do at making you angry? Do you know how I always hold my breath every time I see you so tensed, afraid that I might have done something wrong to make you so mad at me even before you even look into my eyes? I am pretty sure that one of these days you will even blame me for breathing the same air as you do, won't you?"

He didn't say a thing, didn't even try to argue against my words as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. I was clenching on my own fist, trying my best to control my breath and stop myself from sobbing. "What mistake have I done so terribly that you hate me so much, Jungkook? It is because I can't bear a child? Is that why? Are you punishing me since you are blaming me for it?"

"Don't talk about that—don't you dare bring that up, this is about what you've done tonight," he said, lifting his hands in front of him and I knew he would do his best to avoid talking about it.

"No, this isn't about that. Whatever I do, you will only find other things, as little as they may be, and you will certainly use it against me to put me down. And you know what? I've had it I have enough! So don't you dare deny my question."

I walked up to him with flimsy footsteps, yet feeling more solid than I had ever been before. It was time for him to listen to me. "We could've had a child already, you know that. If only it didn't happen. If only—"

He turned to me all of a sudden. My words were finally getting through to him, but I hated the fact that I had to bring up something that was so painful in our fight.

Why should I be forced to use that part of our past to get him to listen to me?

"What? Are you going to put the blame on me now? Is that it?" His glare stabbing daggers deep into my eyes and I could see his pain hidden deep beneath his anger, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he could see mine.

"Then what, Jungkook? Was it also my fault that I lost our child? Was I the only one to blame for it to happen?" I yelled at him, my words were slurring more from my intense sobbing instead of the alcohol still running in me. "Fine, if that's what you want. Blame me, like you always do when everything falls apart, when things don't go your way. Just say it and get it over with!"

"I'm not gonna stay and take all of this," he said as he started to turn around and walk away from me, probably planning to hide away once again inside his office, hiding from me and from all of our problems.

"Then go, walk away! Just like you always do. Walk away and leave as if the problem will disappear and fix itself once you ignore it and act like it doesn't exist. Like I don't exist."

"Stop—" He said under his breath, stopping on his tracks and keeping his back facing me.

"No, you know what? Just go ahead and walk. Just go, and hide away from everything!" I shouted at him. "Just remember that one of these days I won't be here when you come back to hold you and tell you that everything is okay. Because things are not okay, and you just have to deal with it!"

He turned around, started to walk towards me with long strides until he reached for me, immediately holding tight on my arms as he threatened me under his breath, "Where will you go, huh? Who will you run to? You have nowhere else to go, you have no one but me. You are mine, and you are not going anywhere. Never! I will never let you!"