Haneul wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear. She loved Tao like the little brother he had always been to her but his love and admiration of her could be embarrassing. He was stopping every person they passed in the hallway to introduce them to his “amazing Jie Jie.”

    They finally reached the women’s room and Haneul scurried in. She rushed to a stall and closed the door, grateful to be hidden from all the curious eyes.

    “Did you see that creature Tao sunbae has been showing around?” came a snotty voice from the sinks. “How can he be so proud of her?!”

    “She seemed nice,” a quiet voice replied.

    “Who cares about nice?” the other voice scoffed. “She’s hideous! Fat AND ugly! I’d be ashamed to be seen with her in public, let alone claim her as a relation.”

    Haneul closed her eyes and leaned her head against the stall wall. Now she felt as if she had put the final piece into the puzzle of her marriage. The reason that Siwon had chosen to hide her and their marriage was also out of embarrassment. Not only did he wish to avoid thinking of it, but he was ashamed of the fat wife he had been forced to accept.

    As she washed her hands, Haneul inspected her reflection. Yes, she was clearly overweight and that was a huge negative in the idol world her husband lived in. The positive side of things however, made her smile. She can lose weight. She nodded her head with determination, tomorrow, she would join a gym.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Thank you so much for helping me carry all of this in,” Haneul said to a box laden Siwon. “Those silly boys didn’t need to bring my birthday presents to the practice room. They’re already two months late, waiting another week until they visit us here wouldn’t have made much difference.”

    Siwon grunted and set the boxes on the kitchen table. “I won’t be home for supper tomorrow,” he said. “So don’t bother preparing anything.” He turned to head upstairs to their bathroom.

    “Oh that’s right,” Haneul’s voice stopped him at the foot of the stairs. “Starting tomorrow, I’ll be doing some volunteer work and a few other things. I’ll always have supper and lunch ready for you but I just wanted you to know I won’t be at home all day, every day anymore.”

    “It’s good for you to get out,” Siwon said vaguely and continued up the stairs.

    Haneul sighed and turned to look at the things the boys had gotten for her. She shook her head and began cleaning up and putting them away. It was close to seven o’clock and she still needed to fix Siwon’s dinner.

    In the shower, Siwon could feel all of his confusion and tension draining out of him as he relaxed. The things Kris had said to him really gave him a pause. Millions of girls and women around the world dream of being married to him but look how he’s been treating the woman he really married. He needs to start treating her better. The question is… how?