Sehun sat behind his desk. His computer was on, the screen displaying some silly spreadsheet about something that he was supposed to be putting his full attention into, but he found that he couldn’t focus. He stared at the clock on the corner of his desk instead. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair and shook his head. It was just about to be 4 pm. He had always used this office as his hiding place. A refuge so that he could stay away from Mina as much as possible. It was part of the reason why everyone thought he was such a hard worker, willing to put in so much extra time into the business. That was all a lie, his work had been the only thing keeping him from gong insane, the only thing that distracted him from the reality at home.

He shouldn’t go home until late, he decided. After that fight a couple of days ago, he had barely seen Mina. She walked around barely acknowledging his existence. It was a terribly lonely feeling and it hit him that it was the same thing he had done to her for so long. That thought alone had kept him from seeking her out again.

You should’ve tried harder.

Her words echoed in his mind. She wasn’t wrong. With a sigh he stood up and shut the computer off. He grabbed his things and decided to go home. The elevator ride down was crowded, but no one talked to him and it let him think. What was he trying to do? Was he trying to fix things with her? Isn’t that essentially what it all came down to? He sighed, three years was too long, and too much had happened. He thought about the desperate look in her eyes and it sent a shudder through him, he had been so hell bent on not listening to her back then that nothing had mattered.

If he had loved her back then as much as he thought, why had he so easily believed Min Ji and cast Mina as the liar? There was proof though and the betrayal hurt so much he wanted to hurt her just as much he realized. He wanted to hurt her and punish her, to drag her down to the emotional pain that he had been feeling and he did it. There was no doubt about that. He closed his eyes and grimaced. It was a gut reaction, something that should have faded away to reason, but she hadn’t taken it lying down and it had made him angrier back then. The fact that she refused to admit her fault had enraged him more and somehow they ended up deadlocked in a war neither would ever win.

Staring at the metal doors, he itched to get home. He should say something. He didn’t know what it would be and maybe he would make everything worse, but she was right and he was tired too. Tired of being the bad guy, of hurting her. The goal had been to get a divorce originally. He saw it as his way out, to push her to file the damn divorce petition. Min Ji had told him so, but slowly he had found himself dreading that moment more and more. He didn’t want to see the moment in which she would wake up and leave him. He really didn’t think he could take much longer of seeing her misery either. Sehun had become so skilled at ignoring it, at letting it roll off his back, that he had stopped seeing it.

He had stopped seeing her.

The elevator finally reached down and he stepped out quickly.

“Ah, Sehun!” A woman called out and Sehun briefly considered ignoring it before he stopped and turned to the person calling out for him.                               

“Hey Jonghyun!” He greeted, the factory manager who reported to him daily, “and Yura! How are you doing?” He asked, appearing carefree.

“We’re doing good” Jonghyun said with a tight smile, he was glancing uncertainly at his wife who had come to get him.

“How about you guys? How’s Mina doing?” Yura asked. Sehun raised a brow, he wasn’t blind, and he had seen how Mina interacted with Yura at gatherings. She avoided the woman like the plague so it seemed a little strange that she would ask after her.

He glanced at Jonghyun, who looked increasingly uncomfortable and simply smiled.

“She’s doing great. I was just heading home early so we could have dinner” He said casually, making a show of looking at his watch.

“Oh that’s great! Remind her that she told me we should do lunch a few days ago, but she hasn’t called me!” Yura said with a big smile.

Sehun found it hard to believe that Mina would ever say that.

“I’ll be sure to tell her” He said.

“I mean, I just felt so bad interrupting her dinner. For a second I thought she was with family or something since she seemed so close to that handsome guy she was eating with!”

“Yura” Jonghyun whispered, but she ignored him.

“What guy?” Sehun asked.

“Hm, she didn’t tell me his name. They must’ve been late for something, they practically ran out when I went to say hi, but you know what? I’m pretty sure he looked like Baekhyun! You know, Mr. Byun’s son? I saw him briefly once at a gathering, but I just can’t be sure” She said, her innocence much too fake to be believable, “Anyways, the main reason I’m even blabbing on about this is lunch plans! You’ll be sure to remind her right?”

Sehun had to swallow back his questions, instead he smiled, “Sure thing. I have to get going, have a good night you two” He said as he turned from them and headed out.

That handsome guy she was eating with?

Suddenly he knew exactly when Yura was talking about. The night of their most recent fight. She had said she had already eaten. Was the reason that she was so on edge because of Baekhyun? When the hell had the two gotten close enough to have dinner together? He could feel the familiar anger bubble up inside. The anger that had kept the pain away all those years ago. It was comforting and had become his shield. It spread, this time mixed with something bitter not unlike jealousy. He closed his eyes, why, why would she go to him? Reason told him that he had no right to feel anything, especially after everything he had done, but reason wasn’t loud enough to keep him from racing home.

The way Baekhyun had looked at Mina that night at dinner at his parent’s house burned a hole in Sehun’s memory. He had no doubt as to his intentions, regardless of what Mina thought. Of all men, he absolutely wouldn’t allow this. A s