May 2018

Even as you sat in the car with Johnny by your side, you were thinking of an escape.

A final route out of this reality you knew.

“Bye honey.”

“Wait.”

Pulling him back his shoulders, you gave him one final kiss filled with desperation. Johnny reciprocated your action and brought a single hand up to cup your jaw to bring you closer to him. You wouldn’t let go of him for a long while, trying your best to imprint the feeling of his lips on yours into your mind forever.

But you knew that eventually, you’ll have to let him go.

“I would love to stay with you like this baby, but I really have to go now or I’ll be late for my flight. I’m only going to be gone for 2 weeks, then I’ll be back. You don’t have to miss me this much.”

“Good bye.”

“Bye.”

Stepping out of the car, you watched his figure slowly fading, like how he would be soon in your memory.

Your phone in hand, you dialled the number of your family’s legal lawyer.

“Mr Kim? It’s Lydia. I have some things to discuss with you, would you be able to see me now?”

“Sure, I’ll tell my secretary to let you straight up.”

“Thank you.”

Refocusing on the road ahead, you sped away, leaving Johnny further and further away.

-

The next 2 weeks were perhaps the busiest time of your life. Between juggling work, you were constantly visiting your lawyer’s office, having hours upon hours of conversation with him regarding your legal issues. Back home, you were busy stripping your house clean of all your belongings. When you were gone, you wanted to leave no trace of you behind.

You were due to have 1 last meeting with your lawyer today and you had asked Taeyong to help you call his office to remind him of your arrival. After making the call, Taeyong marched up to your office. It was deeply unsettling to know that you’ve been seeing your lawyer so much these past few days; something was most definitely very wrong.

“What’s wrong Lydia?”

“What do you mean?” You merely spared him a cursory glance before fixing your eyes on your papers once again.

“All those trips to your lawyer, what exactly are you planning to do?”

The scratching of your pen on paper stopped abruptly as silence filled the room, heavy tension hanging in the air.

“Please call for an entire head of departments meeting today at 5pm. Please include all the old timers, especially the ones that have been with the company working with my parents before.”

“Fine, I’ll do it later. But you still haven’t answered my question: what is going on?”

“You’ll know tonight.”

“Lydia…” There was a dangerous edge to his voice; he clearly wasn’t going to let the matter rest.

“Taeyong please, no more questions now. I promise I’ll explain everything later at the meeting. Whatever questions you have for me, I’ll answer all of them honestly.”

“Fine. You better.”

Taeyong left your office space, slamming the door in the process.

He’s going to hate me for the rest of his life.

As much as you care for Taeyong’s feelings, you didn’t have the time to deal with his anger now and you went back to signing cheques meant for your employees.

-

Clasping his hands together, Mr Kim Doyoung peered at you from behind his round spectacles before starting the session proper.

“Mrs Seo – ”

“Please, call me Ms Kim.”

Pushing his spectacles back up the bridge of his nose, he restarted the conversation.

“So Ms Kim, what can I help you with today?”

“I need you to draft up my divorce papers.”

While your eyes remained unblinking, his widened to the size of saucers.

Your question threw him off slightly but nonetheless, he quickly regained his composure.

“This is – this is – shocking. I always thought you were having a happy marriage. Alright, should we discuss the terms of your divorce first?”

“We should.”

With his silver notebook poised in front of him and his fingers at the ready, you started listing the terms of your divorce as he diligently noted every word you said as the sun sunk further down. Finally, when the sun was at his back, you were finally done.

“When will the divorce papers be ready?”

“I should be able to have them done within the next 2 days; I will inform you to come down to view it and if there’s any problem, we can work them out again. If not, you’ll be free to bring it home. Once Mr Seo has signed it, you can bring it back to me for me to process it.”

“My apologies for troubling you, but I will require you to collect it from him. I… won’t be around to do so.”

“I see, you’re leaving the country aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“When will he be back in the country?”

“May 22nd”

“I shall contact him thereafter. Have a good evening Ms Kim.”

“As do you Mr Kim.”

You stepped out of his office, feeling much lighter than before.

-

You raced back to your office and quickly gathered up the cheques and documents lying on your desk in a pile to be brought over to the meeting room. Opening your drawer, you smoothed your fingers over the folder, and a wave of memories re-entered your memory. The first time you passed it Taeyong, you wanted to leave this world and Johnny behind entirely to enter another dimension entirely. The second time you saw it, it was the first time Johnny decided to enter your life. Now, the final time you would be seeing it, you were going to leave this life behind. Placing the simple brown folder on top of all