Unhappy Marriage AU

You didn't know when everything started going wrong. When you started treating each other like strangers in your own house.

“Could you pass me the salt, please?” Your voice rings hollow as you speak. Your children awkwardly chew on their vegetables as Daniel hands you the salt silently.

They must have noticed, too, must have noticed how you and your husband had further and further distanced yourself from each other.

At first, it was 'I'm busy with work'. Now, you don't even bother with giving excuses to explain your long absences from your shared home. Not like Daniel asks for any reasons why you're staying out late again, anyways.

“Thank you”, you say monotonously. You put a generous amount of salt on your asparagus. Everything has started becoming bland. Daniel used to have cherry-blossom hair and white bunny teeth. You used to think that his smile was the most beautiful thing in the world.

These days, you never see him smiling.

After you're finished with eating, having gulped down the last pieces, you stand in the kitchen. Daniel is clearing the table, carrying the dirty plates from the dining room to the kitchen sink.

“I want to file for divorce.” You whisper the words, when he enters. You are so quiet, but he must have heard them, because he stops and stares at you for the first time that evening. His dark hair covers his forehead and his brown eyes peer at you from behind his fringe.

When did the longing in them turn into indifference, you wonder for a second. When did love turn into mutual dislike?

You grip onto the kitchen counter. The next words are even more difficult for you. “I've found someone else.”

Daniel's gaze hardens and you quickly look away. Coincidentally, you find yourself staring at the clock on the windowsill. It was a present from his mother. You had laughed when she gave it to you, but her expression was earnest.

'Always make time for one another', she had said with sincerity.

You didn't understand her words back then.

“It's Jisung”, you force out. “He has no problems dating a divorcee.”

Letting go of the counter, you turn to Daniel again, crossing your arms against your chest. “Do you understand me?”