Naeun was inconsolable. It didn't help ease the guilt that had plaguing her ever since Eunji found out how much trouble and worry she had caused everybody.

It wasn't my fault, she had claimed to Sunggyu, but she knew better. If she had paid more attention... if she had heed her (ex) husband's constant warnings to be more careful, maybe everything wouldn't have happened.

“I'm fine, Naeun. I don't need to go to the hospital.” She said gently. No, there was no need to blow things out of proportion. While it was terrifying that someone had essentially poisoned her, she felt fine and only wished to put the whole horrible incident behind her.

“I thought something bad had happened to you.” Naeun fretted.

“You weren't wrong,” Eunji mumbled morosely, “Something bad did happen.”

“But not as bad as I imagined it in my head! I thought... I thought you had been attacked, or something...”

Eunji swallowed the huge stone suddenly stuck in . “I know. But luckily that didn't happen right?”

“Eonnie,” Naeun clasped her hand in both of hers, “Are you really okay? You know you can tell me anything.”

Eunji shook her head, unabled to meet her friend's eyes. “I'm fine, really. I made a mistake... I will definitely be more careful next time.”

Naeun frowned, unconvinced. “It's not that. Something's bothering you. What is it?”

Eunji faked a reassuring smile, “I'm just a little shaken up, that's all. And um... Sunggyu didn't give me an easy time about it.”

“Oh!” Naeun released her hand and leaned back in her chair. “Sunggyu-oppa was really worried about you. I mean, he was furious, but also really scared. I've never seen him act that way in my entire life!”

“Mmhmm,” Eunji mumbled, unconvinced. Furious maybe, because he had to go and clean up her messes again. Scared? Unlikely.

Naeun furrowed her brows as a thought suddenly occurred in her mind, “He doesn't blame you for all this, does he?”

“No,” she sighed. “At least that's what he said, but I don't believe it.”

“Why not?” Naeun demanded, wringing her hands together as if she was trying to stop herself from grabbing Eunji's shoulders and shaking it.

“I don't know! That's just how it is! That's just how we are!” Eunji cried. “That's just how we WERE.”

Naeun's mouth fell open so wide, that it momentarily made her look unattractive. And Eunji hadn't thought that was possible.

“You—he... w-were?” Her neighbour fumbled for the right words. “W-what do you mean?”

“We decided things weren't working out. I just couldn't take it anymore.”

“But!” Naeun wanted to argue but couldn't find a good enough reason. Instead, she remembered their last conversation and realized that something wasn't adding up.

“Last time I asked why you didn't divorce him sooner, you said you had your reasons for staying with him. Why now? What had changed?”

Eunji smiled humorlessly. “I guess... I changed. I'm not as strong as I thought I was. Not as smart, or as cunning...” She inhaled deeply before continuing, “I wanted to make him pay for the things that he did but I couldn't even do that. I wanted revenge for her but I couldn't even give her that.”

Her voice shook slightly as she revealed, “I failed her.”

Naeun had a hand clasped to her chest. When she spoke, she spoke softly but inquisitively, “Who... who is her?”

Eunji sighed, scrubbing her eyes with the heel of her palm.

“My little sister.”

.

Despite his protests, Hoya stayed with him while he browsed the web for a—god, he couldn't believe he was doing this—relationship therapist. For all the shame this was bringing him, he might as well be searching for the best strip club in Seoul.

Hoya's snarky little remarks and unwanted comments weren't helping, either.

“You don't want a professional. Not because they're expensive—I'm sure you just money lying around that you don't know what to do with—but if you're seen heading to a counseling office, you can just say bye-bye to your reputation right now.”

“And what are the chances that someone I know see us going there? This isn't like your small Busan city.”

“You obviously have not been to Busan.” Hoya rolled his eyes.

“I was married there.” Sunggyu returned the eye roll.

“I'm just saying,” Hoya started exasperatedly, “That you might want to keep this low profile. You don't want office gossip about your personal life, do you?”

“So what do you suggest then? An at-home therapist? That wouldn't be suspicious at all! They're going to think one of us is having an affair!”

Sunggyu's face suddenly turned white with horror. “Oh god, is she having an affair?!”

“WHAT?!”

“Is that why she's been distant? Picking fights? Sleeping in different rooms? (“You sleep in different rooms?!” Hoya cried) She started to change since last year... has this been going on for a year?! How could I not see it? Oh my god!”

The only word that could describe what Sunggyu was experiencing then, was hyperventilation.

It was obvious that he was having an all out panic attack. His head spun and he felt nauseous. The idea of Eunji seeing another man was soul-crushing. The image of Eunji in bed with another man made him want to throw something. Hoya's lips were moving and he was speaking something but Sunggyu couldn't hear the words because his ears were filled with a sharp ringing.

Finally, Hoya reached over the table, and slapped him in the face.

“Hyung!” He exclaimed, after Sunggyu's eyes blinked back into focus.

“Did you just slap me?” He rasped, feeling the sting in his cheek.

“Be glad it wasn't a punch. What was that, hyung?”

Hoya only called him hyung when he was being serious, or concerned.

“I don't know.” He replied, numbly. Now that the shock had ebbed, all he felt was a terrible grief and a sense of loss.

Eunji... he caressed the name in his mind; it used to bring him so much joy, and later so much anger, and longing whenever he thought of it. Now thinking of her name just made him feel empty. A hole in his heart where it once used to be.

“You're coming to conclusions without having any proof. You're supposed to be a lawyer. Where is your evidence, hyung? Where's your clue that Eunji had ever cheated on you? When had she betrayed you in any way?”

Sunggyu's mouth was dry. Where was the proof? He went back to every significant moment he had with his wife in the past year—and there were many. Most of them were bad moments, and he cringe when he revisited them.

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