Dressed in the soft wool, Yiseo felt misplaced in the office where she was asked to wait. Maybe it was the clothes which made her feel weak and sick, not powerful enough to protest when five minutes turned into ten and ten into twenty. But eventually Krystal came, her heels clicking rhythmically against the marble floor.

She didn’t greet from where she sat, behind the oak desk. She just stared at Yiseo as if trying to see past her clothes, making the latter wonder if Jongin had left marks on her neck, her face. But Jongin marked only souls.

“I think it’s time to stop,” Krystal broke the silence . “This game you two play is no longer amusing to watch.”

“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.” But Yiseo knew oh, so well.

Krystal chuckled coldly. “Don’t you now?” She flicked her wrist and suddenly Yiseo saw her face mirrored in a rain of photographs, all of Jongin and her. All of them kissing. “I’ve been more than patient till now, waiting for you two to finish whatever you’re doing, but no more,” Krystal continued. “I’m not going to be one of those wives, waiting around for the husband to finish his fling. So I’m telling you to stop it. Before I step in and do it myself.”

It wasn’t Krystal’s tone that lit the fire inside Yiseo. Perhaps it was burning all along, just waiting for something to feed it so it would no longer be possible to contain it.

“So how does it feel? Having karma bite you back?” The words came out colder than she had intended, hiding old wounds. “Are you scared, Krystal?”

“Excuse me?”

“Scared that I might take him away now, two weeks before your wedding?” She wanted to be cruel, she wanted to stick her heel through Krystal heart and watch her suffer like she did once too. Like she still did.

But Krystal laughed. “You actually think he still loves you. Does it hurt? Knowing that he comes home to me every single night?”

It did. But Yiseo wasn’t a fool. “I don’t need someone to keep my bed warm at night,” Yiseo shrugged, crossing her legs.

“Do you love him?”

“Would you let him go if I did?”

“Never.” Krystal’s voice trembled. Then she stood up from her place, heading for the door as if accepting defeat this round. “Leave him, Yiseo, or I’ll break you both.” It wasn’t a threat. It was a promise, Yiseo realized as the door closed behind Krystal.

* * *

Thanks to Junmyeon, Yiseo had a car to drive home. It was always easier to concentrate behind the wheel, so Yiseo took the long way home. Krystal’s stalking was understandable, she knew she would’ve probably done the same thing, had the roles been reversed. However, she didn’t appreciate being bossed around. Not after being hurt by Jongin again and again, every time he went back to Krystal right after they slept together.

Suddenly, the same fire came flaring all around Yiseo and her fingers pulled on the wheel, abruptly turning the car around. Before she knew it, she was in the underground parking lot of the company, knowing that she would find Jongin up in her office.

For a second she wondered if she should stop, just drop everything and run away from everything. Start all over again. Find someone who wouldn’t hurt her. But that was the thing with whatever Jongin was doing to her: it was addicting.

“What are you doing here?” Jongin didn’t look surprised to see Yiseo in the frame of his office door. He didn’t do anything to stop her when she threw her clutch on the floor or when she stripped while looking him straight in the eyes. Because Yiseo wanted him to see her whole, take a good look before they crashed and burned again.

“Tell me,” Yiseo demanded, stopping a few inches from his lips. This time she kissed him first, pulling him into her as if she wanted to melt him into her bones, into her very own soul. Because Jongin was all she had left, Jongin was all she ever truly had. And he knew that. Perhaps that was the reason b