Yonghwa frowns upon noticing Joohyun sleeping soundly on the marbled floor instead of the mattress laid in the center of their apartment. He places his bag down, creeping towards her while trying not to make a sound. He caresses her hair before sliding his hand down Joohyun’s back, carrying her in his arms. He chuckles when Joohyun makes an annoyed sound as he places her on her side of the mattress, pulling the blanket to cover her.

“Stubborn, aren’t you?” He whispers, running his nimble fingers through her recently bleached hair, two shades lighter than the last.

He glances up to the clock, sighing when he realises it is already past three a.m. which meant Joohyun had been waiting for him since past midnight. He does not like her waiting up for him but she continues waiting no matter what he says. He tried getting her to resign her job, telling her they could survive solely on his wage; unfortunately he was proven wrong when their landlord banged their door three minutes later.

However, life is enjoyable as long as they are together.

Joohyun stacks up the cereal boxes neatly in the top cabinet, screaming when she sees a spider crawling on her hand. Yonghwa bursts into the kitchen with a toothbrush in his mouth with dripping toothpaste at the sides of his mouth. “Really?” He questioned which came out as a mumble instead as his wife continued jumping on the spot. He picked it off her hand carefully, releasing it outside the tiny window above their sink as Joohyun ran to the toilet to sanitize her hand.

Yonghwa yawned and then he realised at the last minute he had his toothbrush in his mouth. He choked on the toothpaste, pushing Joohyun away which made her retaliate by turning the showerhead on him. Yonghwa flung his toothbrush in her direction to make her stop which missed her by an inch. Joohyun continued to laugh at her husband who was trying to block the water flow.

“I hate you so much.” Yonghwa told her as he helped her to dry her hair while she sat in front of him, trying to stuff a marshmallow up his nose. 

Joohyun stuck her tongue out knowing he did not meant any of that even if he tries to get angry with her, he always fails in the most embarrassing way. “Open your mouth.” She told him, assuring him she was not going to play with the marshmallows anymore.

She used her free hand to cover Yonghwa’s face in chocolate.

Yonghwa allowed Joohyun to drag him around the house, pretending it was some sort of a fairy-tale ball. She shyly curtsied, waiting for Yonghwa to do the same, which he did. Placing his arm on Joohyun’s waist, he held her close, swaying to the soft music playing from their worn-out stereo.

“Do you love me?” He heard Joohyun asked him with her head against his chest. He chuckled. “Of course, I do. You’re my princess.”

He spun her around, catching her as she lost balance. She waved her hand in front of her, letting Yonghwa know she was okay. “I’m just giddy, that’s all.” Yonghwa glanced up into her dark orbs, wondering if she was telling the truth.

“I’m really okay, Yonghwa.” She answered, as if she just read his mind.

Yonghwa kept quiet, not wanting to end a good day by arguing with her. He guided her carefully to their mattress, playing with her hair as he soothed her to sleep by singing her a lullaby she loved as a kid.

“Do you have a penny?” Joohyun poked Yonghwa’s tummy to get his attention.

He tore his stare from the glossy guitar to look at his wife. “Here.” He passed her his wallet. “What do you need it for?” His question went unanswered as Joohyun ran across the road, not caring about the incoming cars.

Yonghwa swore he had the wildest wife ever. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” He muttered when he found his wife in front of a toy vending machine. She placed the penny in, after fiddling with it, the toy fell out. She instantly retrieved it, running once again to a girl with ponytails sitting alone on a bench.

“Here. This is for you.” Joohyun told her, giving her a small smile before turning towards Yonghwa.

One of Joohyun’s attributes which Yonghwa fell in love with was her selflessness. Once she refused to move an inch until the cat hiding in the garbage chute despite the stench. Not to mention she had Yonghwa on a wild-goose chase around their neighbourhood when she refused to tell him where she was lest he would drag her away. He spent the entire night beside her, in the freezing weather.

Joohyun coughed loudly, knees wobbling as she fell to the ground. “Joohyun? I’m calling the ambulance, wait, alright?”

“No.” She placed her pale hand above his. “It’s nothing to worry about. I’ll just take some medicine when we reach home.”

Yonghwa stayed still, not knowing what to say or do.

“Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!” Yonghwa hushed his wife by covering with his hand but she bit him and continued jumping yelling “Pizza! Pizza for dinner!”

Yonghwa sighed in resignation, reaching for the pizza flyer.

“Hell yeah! Jung Yonghwa for president!”

He could not help but to laugh at Joohyun. “Fried chicken as well?”

Joohyun ran around their apartment chanting his name like a mad woman. “I’ll take that as a yes!” He screamed over her voice.

Seconds later, he found her on the floor, gasping for air. Yonghwa rushed forward, putting her head on top of his knees. He kept reminding her to breathe. He could feel her fingers shake despite his efforts to hold them in place. After which seemed like an eternity, she finally calmed down, breathing through with her eyes closed. “Let’s go to th-“

“No.” She rejected his idea again. “I’m okay.”

They ate in silence that night.

Yonghwa wakes up at the sound of his alarm clock blaring, breaking the silence. He sits upright, turning to his side to realise Joohyun is still asleep. Not wanting to disturb her, he sneaks off the mattress to wash up and cook for them instead of her today.

He swears they should make quieter juice makers but it seems it did not disturb Joohyun one bit. Perhaps she is too tired last night. She did mention she had a tough day at work.

However, it does not make sense how she did not moved an inch from her sleeping position the night before up to at this moment. Joohyun was always moving around, often waking Yonghwa up in the process. Yonghwa shuts the juice maker off, inching closer to his wife. Crouching down, he reached out for her. He flinches when he feels her stone cold body.

“Joohyun?” He screams, throwing the blanket off of her, revealing her pale body. Her lips were a light shade of purple. With shaking hands, he reached for her neck to check for a pulse.

There was none.

“Dinner’s ready, Joohyun!” Yonghwa smiles at her as he places the bowls in front of them. “Are you cold?” He asks, concerned, touching Joohyun’s bare shoulders. He promptly grabs a sweater, pulling it over her head.

“Alright, lift up your arms!” He tells her, but there is no response. He shakes her body, realising her arms were bounded behind the chair. “Oops, sorry, I forgot about that. Just wear it like this, okay? You would be wobbly again if I removed it.”

Yonghwa laughs, staring at the television, occasionally touching Joohyun as they watch the blank screen all night long.