3 years. 1,095 days, 26,280 hours. 1,576,800 seconds.

Days fly by, seconds tick past and suddenly you wake up, it's three years later and you're wondering how on earth you got to where you are.

Mina opened her eyes and stared at the bland white ceiling of her bedroom. She stepped into the shower and let the water drops fall in a standard and steady stream. It was controlled and predictable. Even as she dried herself everything was the same, face, arms, legs, then torso and so on.

She got into some underwear and grabbed the shimmery black dress off the velvet hanger. In one fell swoop she pulled it over her head as it rested a few inches above her knees. She heard some shuffling on the hallway and ignored it as she sat at her dresser and began to do her hair and makeup. She reached for the lightest shade of pink in eye shadow she had. She wondered how for someone who used to be so lively and stubborn she had let life hammer her into such a boring mold.

No bright make up, don't want to be called a . No insensitive jokes, don't want to be called a . No frowns, don't want to make people think we're anything, but happy. Sell an image of perfection. A perfection so shiny and boring that it slowly eats away at you until you feel like you're going insane.

 "Are you ready?" He asked from the other side of the door

"Almost, get the car started?" She replied calmly.

"See you outside then. Don't forget to set the security system" He said as his fading footsteps indicated his departure.

She stepped into her shoes and grabbed a coat before stealing a quick glance in the mirror. Everything in place, everything looking meticulous and tidy. As she turned in the mirror the light reflected off the hefty sized diamond encrusted wedding band on her hand. She looked at the king sized bed she climbed into every single night by herself and gave herself a bitter smile.

~~~~~~

"Oh my god, how do you look so perfect every single day?" A woman gushed at Mina, the tiniest hint of envy changing the look in her eyes.

Mina knew that look well, she had grown up with it staring back every time she had looked in the mirror. She had wanted this life, she had thought she would be happy if only...

"You flatter me!" She said, mirroring the woman's voice, "And this dress is so old. Actually, Sehun picked it up for me when he travelled to Paris last week!" She said, smiling so hard she felt like her teeth were going to grind into dust.

"He did? He should have just taken you along with him!" The woman commented, "My husband always takes me along on his business trips" She said, her chin a fraction higher at finding something in which she could beat Mina in.

Mina stumbled for a moment, the slightest bit of hesitation in her response only there because the idea of travelling anywhere with Sehun was so frightening to her. They would have killed each other. The fragile state of civility they lived in was only held together because they barely interacted.

"Aw, that's so sweet. I think it'd be easier if Sehun only had to go to places like Busan and whatnot" She began, taking sweet pleasure in the way the woman's face shifted, "But he goes abroad so often it's for my own health that I choose to stay behind" Mina said brightly.

"That's so sweet" She replied dryly and both women took a long drink from their glasses.

"Mina" He said from behind her. His voice made her spine straighten with tension though the smile of her face stayed as brilliant as it had begun.

"Darling" She said with that false sweetness she had learned to practice through tears and anger.

He came over and placed his hand on her hip. The touch would have looked romantic,  but