The act was all too easy to fall back into, like a comfortable pair of shoes.

The smiles, the laughs, the light touches meant to ease everyone’s mind. Look at us, we’re happy, we’re perfect, we’re in love. They made their round, stopping by to chit chat with everyone important enough to need it and passing polite smiles to the unimportant ones. No one was brave enough to bring up the articles, their collective presence enough to silence the whispers. Surely, no man powerful enough to run a company would put up with a cheating wife.

She was glad no one asked though, unsure what she would actually say. Baekhyun’s father had managed to bring him up in conversation and Hyemi had quickly made an offhand comment about her “friend” and had moved on, unwilling to continue it.

It was in this type of atmosphere that both were most familiar with, a call to their lives before everything had finally imploded.

She laughed at all his jokes, though she had heard them so many times in conversation that for the most part they had ceased to be funny. Despite that, she couldn’t be sure if she imagined the glint of pleasure in his eyes when she did laugh.

“You two will have to joins for dinner then, although I realize since your anniversary is coming up you two are probably going to be very busy!” The man Sehun had been talking to chimed.

Both Mina and Sehun faltered, neither realizing just how close it was to that day. Mina recovered first.

“Well if you can get this guy to just give me a hint at what he’s planning that’d be great!” She joked, placing her palm on his chest and laughing, “Although I’ve got to say he’s never let me down”

The man laughed heartily, “Keeping an element of surprise Sehun? I like the way you think”

All three laughed, although Mina’s mind kept going back to the term anniversary. The first one had been silence, one that shut her out completely. The second one was anger, a fight complete with broken objects and screams. The third had been the worst, the third had been absence. He had disappeared the whole day, not returning until the following morning. His actions refusing to acknowledge their marriage.

Sehun was busy in a conversation as Mina aimlessly wandered away from the crowd, steadily sipping on the glass of wine in her hand. The event area of the hotel ended quite abruptly, two grand doorways leading out onto a rather plain looking hall. She stepped out, appreciating how empty it was. She leaned against the wall and finished her glass only slightly surprised when he appeared from the  same doorway she had come from.

“Done cracking all those jokes?” She asked, a lazy smile on her face, brought forth by the light buzz she had from her drinks.

“You don’t think they’re funny?” Sehun asked and she shook her head.

“You need new material” She countered.

Both fell into a deep silence, the faint music coming from the room they had left behind cautiously surrounding their carefully constructed moment of peace.

She arched a brow when he suddenly straightened out and somewhat dramatically bowed in front of her. Coming up, he extended a hand.

“We haven’t danced yet” He said quietly.

It occurred to her that he was also definitely a little buzzed, but the similarity of his actions brought forth those memories that always made it especially hard to say no.

“Please” He added, his voice strained, begging her to give in. Begging her to preserve this one thing and maybe because they had such few good memories left, she took his hand and allowed him to pull her into his arms.

“Recycling old moves huh” She commented jokingly.

He laughed, “Don’t knock what works”

She held her wine of glass loosely in the hand resting on his shoulder, taking a deep breath and smelling that hint of amber that followed him everywhere. She recalled on a day where she was particularly bored, after everything had gone bad, sneaking into his bathroom and foolishly smelling the body wash, shampoo, everything in order to find the source of the delightful scent. Her semi-scientific method had come out inconclusive, he must have some hidden cologne or it must be a mixture of something he used.

Soft laughter spilled from her, followed by a sudden dizzy spell that made her rest her head on his shoulder.

“What’s so funny?” He asked.

“You smell good. You always smell good” She confessed, the wine loosening her restraint slightly.

He laughed, his laughter sending vibrations from his chest into hers. It was enthralling. She wanted him to laugh more, she wished she could know what he was thinking, what he was feeling. She wanted to know everything.

“If we had waited, you wouldn’t have done it” She whispered in his ear.

“Done what?”

“You wouldn’t have married me”

Sehun stopped, their oh so perfect swaying coming to a sudden halt. She refused to move though and told herself that as long as he didn't release her, she wouldn’t. She just wanted to take something for herself.

“That’s not true”