Four months later…

Jinhwan stared at his reflection in the floor-length mirror and adjusted his tie before smoothing out this blazer. He had to look good. Tonight he was going to be the center of attention, the honoree at the party, and he needed to be on his game. Baek Kyoung and his agency had planned a huge party to celebrate his second album going platinum and needless to say he was nervous. He rather much preferred staying low, hanging out at home or chill in the recording studio – but fame didn’t work that way. He became a slave to it. Constantly having to make appearances, constantly being out in public that he was starting to regret ever wanting to “make it big” in the first place. Stepping out of his large walk-in closet he glanced over at the clock on the wall and grimaced. He was late. Who’s late to their own party? Me.

Letting out a sigh of defeat he shuffled quickly out of the master bedroom and walked toward the stairs. Why did I buy such a large house? That particular question having been brought up countless of times before by the rapper despite already knowing the answer; just in case she moved back in. Jinhwan’s popularity soared and in no time it was him that people were lining up for to have collaborations with, and it was him whom had to turn people down and not the other way around. Asking personal questions quickly became off limits during interviews but instead of hindering his popularity it added a degree of mysteriousness that intrigued his fans.

The flashing lights were now normal, momentarily blinding him as he walked past the crowd of paparazzi giving them a small wave for good measure. He was smart to know how dependent he was on them to maintain his presence in the industry and how dependent they were on him to get paid; a crucial yet sickeningly dependent relationship.

“Where’s your wife?” One of the photographers yelled out and Jinhwan tried hard to not show his disappointment and sadness of the constant reminder that his wife wasn’t by his side.

“Come on guys, you know better than that.” Baek Kyoung chimed in, pushing Jinhwan toward the front door. “Mrs. Oh stays out of the limelight.” The rapper sent him a small smile of thanks as they walked through the front door and entered the large club. Leaning closer to him Baek Kyoung hissed. “You know you could have at least walked in with like three women on your arm and no one would ask questions - just saying.”

“That’s not me, just saying.” Jinhwan said looking over his shoulder, before diverting his attention to the group of people that rushed up to him congratulating him on his ever-growing success.

After the usual barrage of people crowding around him undoubtedly trying to leech off his fame to gain their own fifteen minutes, Jinhwan managed to sneak away to the private area of the club restricted to his closest friends. Collapsing onto a black couch in the furthest corner of the VIP area, he shut his eyes trying to push out the loud music and the chatter of people around him. His desire to be anywhere but there only grew when he opened his eyes and saw Teddy cuddling up to his own wife. Their eyes met briefly and his best friend flashed him a cheesy grin. Jinhwan only returned the acknowledgement with a tight-lipped smile that Teddy was all too familiar with.

I wish Yumi was here, he sighed. She just needs time.

Time was his savior and his curse. He was being patient, giving her the time she needed all the while holding onto the tiny string of hope for dear life thinking that if he waited long enough she would come back. He knew she would come back. There was just too much between them – too much to simply try and forget, or to make the effort to move on. She will come back.

The edges of his mouth twitched up into a solemn smile when he recalled getting her phone call almost four months ago. She was crying, yet unlike before they were happy tears. She had called to congratulate him on winning Artist of the Year but that seemed to be like an excuse to the rapper and he saw right through it.

“Tell me why you really called, Yumi.” Jinhwan said, trying hard to sound indifferent when he was really dying inside. He had missed the sound of her voice, the way she said his name – he missed her. The other end was silent with the exception of her sniffling every few seconds, and his heart beat uncontrollably while he held his breath.

Finally, after what seemed like a hellish thirty seconds or so she spoke up. “I want to try - I want us to try again.”

Not exactly what Jinhwan had in mind when he saw her name pop up on the caller ID on his phone, but he was willing to take anything. “Yumi-”

“But let’s take it slow, okay? I mean, like start dating again, but not moving back in or anything.” Her voice was shaky and unsure. Jinhwan had waited this long, would he be willing to wait longer?

Jinhwan’s hand tightened around the tiny phone in his hands and didn’t know if he should jump up and down excited that she wanted to start dating or yell out in frustration that she wasn’t willing to move back in with him. “The divorce papers?”

“In the trash.” She instantly replied.

In. The. Trash. There it was again, that feeling that warmed every corner of his soul – hope.

So they went back to dating, seeing each other every time he had a gap in his hectic schedule and he had to admit – she was trying. If they couldn’t see each other they would at least speak to each other on the phone every night. They were small steps but at least it was something. And like she requested, Jinhwan took things slow. He never once tried to force himself on her or pressure her to kiss him and instead at the end of their dates he would hug her and walk away. He even refrained from pestering her with questions of if and when she would ever move back in with him. If she wanted time he would give her time. Although they did have their small set backs, tiny arguments here and there but unlike yelling at each other or bursting into tears they worked it out – they talked.

They fell into a comfortable routine and instead of being scared about heartbreak or disappointment; Yumi was plagued with a different fear. The fear of him getting tired. After all, how long could she test his patience? She appreciated his patience with her thus far and found that she wanted more. It didn’t take long for her to realize that he was simply waiting for her to make the first move. The entire journey of their relationship starting from when he first approached her at the underground club, he was always the one to approach her. Now it was her turn.

The party seemed like it would never end and Jinhwan felt horrible and he didn't even take a sip of anything. He was tired and hungry. Why can’t they serve good food at these kinds of parties? It was close to 4am when Jinhwan jumped out of the limo and walked up to his large house, a gift to himself when the album went platinum. If only someone was waiting for me when I came home.

Sliding his house key into the hole, he twisted his wrist and turned the knob, leaning his weight against the door while opening it. His entire body was drained and all he wanted to do, despite how hungry he was, was to go upstairs to his room and sleep. To come to think of it, making the effort to walk up the stairs seemed like too much for the man and he even contemplated on just crashing on the couch in the living room. He was met with the usual darkness but the silence caused him to frown. Didn’t I turn the alarm on before I left?

He barely took five steps into the foyer of the grand house before being pummeled to the ground. “What the ?” He hissed, reflexes kicking in and his arm reached out to grab whatever it was that tackled him to the ground. His hands gripped onto long strands of soft hair and suddenly he felt a warm and wet tongue on his face. “Roman?” Lightly tossing the dog aside, he scrambled up to his feet to flick the hallway lights on and was attacked yet again by his canine, his back colliding into the wall hard. His dog. His dog was here? Jinhwan didn’t know whether he should be happy or hate himself for being so dead tired that he actually was hallucinating that his dog, of all things he could imagine, were in his house with him.

His hands moved on their own, out of habit, scratching the dog behind his ears while his eyes merely marveled at him. He was real – he wasn’t dreaming – Roman was really in his house. His eyes drifted toward the front door, catching a pair of black flats neatly lined up next to his house slippers on the granite floor, the pair of guest house slippers gone.

Yumi.

Jinhwan’s heart fluttered and he tossed the canine aside for the second time that night before half jogging deeper into the house.

“Jin?” A tiny voice called out and Jinhwan skidded to a halt, his eyes frozen on the image of Yumi slowly sitting up on the couch. “You home?” She asked groggily, rubbing her eyes furiously in efforts to rid herself of her fatigue.

Home? Jinhwan’s mind was running at the speed of light in two different directions. Did he hear her correctly? Did she just call this place home? Yet at the same time he couldn’t ignore how adorable she looked, her hair tousled haphazardly, reminding him of how much he missed the way she looked in the morning back when they used to share a bed.  “Uh, yea.” He replied, unsure of what to say or do for that matter while taking a few more steps toward her, the coffee table now being the only thing separating them. “What a-”

“Mmm.” She responded, clearly still tired as she struggled to stand up on her feet. “Did you eat anything? Are you hungry? Want me to make you something?” She picked up the blanket that slipped off her body and attempted to fold it before placing it back on the arm of the couch where she had found it.

And that was it. All his questions answered with one small phrase. ‘Want me to make you something?’ In less than a second, the rapper dove toward her, stepping over the overpriced coffee table that separated them and wrapped his arms around her waist, the blunt force of their collision causing Yumi to fall back onto the couch. Burying his face into the crook of her neck he inhaled deeply ignoring Roman who was now going berserk thinking Jinhwan was attacking the woman. The dog finally settled down when Yumi laughed wholeheartedly, her arms wrapping around Jinhwan’s shoulders pressing his body impossibly closer to hers. The rapper shut his eyes, memorizing the way her body moved underneath him when she laughed and recalled how scared he was thinking he would never get to hear that sound again. Moving his head slightly, he kissed the expanse of skin before him, his tongue peeking out sneakily as he the sensitive spot under her ear. Yumi hummed in contentment, her skin rippling into tiny goose bumps underneath his warm breath while her fingers danced along his back, lovingly caressing his broad frame.

After a few minutes Jinhwan pulled away, lifting his upper body off of her. He didn’t know what to ask first. Should he ask how she got in, or what it meant when she called the house home? Instead he chose to ask the first question that popped in his mind. “Why aren’t you sleeping in the room upstairs?”

Yumi looked back at him, a shade of pink tinting her cheeks as she formed her answer in her mind before letting the words pass her lips. “I’m tired of sleeping alone.”

Jinhwan released a shaky breath, shutting his eyes momentarily trying to compose himself and somehow grab at every ounce of self-restraint he had left before mumbling, “ing , Yumi.” Every part of her body tingled with anticipation when she saw the smile that spread across his face as he opened his eyes and ever so slowly leaned in toward her. “You and be both, love. You and me both.” As gently as possible he pressed his lips against hers and Yumi could have sworn the butterflies in her stomach were on something by the way they collided into each other. She melted into the kiss, easily giving him the reigns to dictate whatever it would progress into - but Jinhwan didn’t rush it.

Time was on their side, finally.

Instead, the man enveloped himself into the feeling of her soft lips against his and the way her legs slightly parted allowing his hips to settle comfortably between hers. A low growl erupted deep within his throat when he felt her hands grip onto his shoulders forcing his upper body to fall flat against hers before digging into his hair and a shiver ran down her spine at the sheer sound of it. It wasn’t one of those overpowering heated kisses driven by lust that left them both panting for air but rather slow and sensual giving themselves time to rediscover their old rhythm.

Time to find their connection that at one point was muddled so badly they almost lost each other. Time to find their old selves, the un-established rapper and the aspiring therapist, that fearlessly risked it all just to be together.

Only then would they ever realize that getting their happily ever after wasn’t impossible.

It wasn’t some construed view on what love really was, fabricated by the creators of those commonly read fairytales. It wasn’t some sense of superficial happiness created just for s and giggles to instill false hope in every child’s mind. It was, simply put, to instill hope. An optimistic outlook on life that stated that no matter what harsh realities you face to never give up. That eventually things would get better.

And no knew that better than Yumi herself - consider the woman converted - call her a believer.

Happily ever after’s do exist. It just took her a little longer than most to get it.

word count: 2489

honestly, thank you so much for reading this story.

final word count: 30,739

a/n: The idea for this story spawned from something that hit very close to home. I had been on the other end of many late night conversations with a friend over the phone as she cried about her seemingly failing relationship for years. Granted I had grown accustomed to getting these types of phone calls from her, seeing how we've been long time friends, but the topic was getting old fast. She was with someone for ten years before deciding to take the next step and get married, a decision they reached five months ago. However, everything sort of exploded in a series of arguments and fights shortly after and escalated to the point where he told her he didn't even know if they should be together. Things had gotten so bad that at one point I even told her to "just move back home."

Although she wasn't quite married as was the case with Yumi/Jinhwan, being together with someone for ten years was like a marriage. Everything about them was intertwined. Same friends, joint bank accounts, both their names on the deed of the house they bought, they even raised two beautiful dogs together. Telling her to break it off after ten years was, to her at least, essentially the same as telling someone to get a divorce - something easier said than done. However, relationships and marriages are a lot like gardens. You can't just plant a few seeds and hope and pray it will turn into a flower. You have to tend to it, care for it, and nurture it constantly. And like with growing roses in your garden, you have to be patient.

The day I began writing the final chapter my friend called me. She was crying again. Yet the beauty in how it parallels with this story was they were happy tears. She called to tell me the good news. They are set to get married in two weeks, and they are both ecstatic. They worked out the issues they had and although their relationship isn't perfect they know enough to work at it. I marveled at how real life and the little world of fiction I created overlapped so harmoniously. What started as the source of a plotline riddled with conflict and angst resulted in something as beautiful as this.

Happily ever after's may be a cheesy concept but let me sail the ocean of cheese floating on a raft of hope I've created myself.

I am a believer.

thank you for reading

-sights-

This story is dedicated to my two closest friends that are to be married on May 23, 2011. I wish you both nothing but happiness.