I opened my eyes and looked at my clock. 12.25pm. I sighed and began stretching my whole body before looking over to my right side. It was empty but the bed sheets and pillow indicated that someone had been there. No, don’t get me wrong. My Hyukjae oppa and I are not married. Yes, eight years after that fateful day, we were still together and I had moved into his apartment after I graduated from university. We’ve been living together for about half a year and I had my own room initially but I got a little lonely and decided to just bunk in with him.

After washing up, I walked out of the bedroom and the ahjumma who is our housekeeper was sweeping the floor. She lets herself in every morning at 7am to prepare breakfast for Hyukjae oppa and is the person that I see every day without fail and probably the only person I would see the whole day if I stay home. Hyukjae oppa is always at work, returning home late and going to work early.

“Oh, Haemin ah, you’re awake. Would you like some lunch or are you going out?”the ahjumma asked.

“Let me just call Hyukjae oppa to see if he’s free for lunch,”I said.

I grabbed the phone and sat down on the black leather couch as I dialed his office number. When he’s at work, his mobile phone can be rather redundant since he keeps it in the drawer.

“Good afternoon, thank you for calling Jewel House. I am Min Shinae. How may I assist you?”his secretary answered the phone.

“Shinae sshi, I’m Haemin,”I answered.

“Oh, looking for Mr Lee? I’ll connect your call,”she chirped.

The phone rang for about three rings before he answered the phone.

“Hyukjae oppa, it’s me!”I exclaimed.

“Oh, you just woke up?”he asked.

“Er, yes,”I replied sheepishly.

“Are you calling to ask if I can have lunch with you? Because I can’t. I’ve some things to handle right here,”he said over the phone.

“Ohhhh…,”I answered simply.

He was always busy and I have had only had the chance to eat with him during his lunch break about four times. So it didn’t come as a surprise to me that he wouldn’t be able to have lunch with me. I was already used to the rejection.

“Get ahjumma to cook for you or go out with your friends to eat, understand? I need to go now. See you tonight,”he said before hanging up.

“If I ever see you, that is…,”I added on as I started dialing in another number.

“Hyukjae can’t eat with you again?”the ahjumma asked.

“What’s new?”I answered as I placed the phone on my ear.

“Hello, Mrs Lee-Hyukjae-to-be!”my friend, Soobin greeted softly.

She was at work and I felt bad disturbing her everyday like that.

“Stop it. You know the wedding won’t happen for probably another 5 years,”I rolled my eyes.

“How long are you going to wait? You two have been together for eight years already, my dear,”she said.

“Can we talk about this later during lunch or something? I’m starving,”I asked.

“And again, I’m your substitute for Lee Hyukjae. Seriously, that guy needs to make some time out for you,”I could see her frowning.

“You know how busy he is,”I sighed.

“Too busy to even eat? Who is he kidding?”she scoffed.

“Yah, Soobin, get back on track. I’m dying of hunger,”I complaint.

I get rather defensive when my friends ‘scolds’ him. I didn’t want anybody to think of Hyukjae oppa in a bad way.

“As much as I want to, I’m tied down by a corporate lunch today. I’m sorry, my dear,”she said apologetically.

“It’s okay. I’ll just get ahjumma here to cook for me,”I reassured her.

“Kim Haemin, you seriously need to get a life,”she said sternly.

“What do you mean?”I asked.

“For the past six months, you’ve done nothing but eat and sleep,”Soobin said.

“And watch television shows. You don’t know how good the drama is on tv,”I replied.

“I’m being serious here, Haemin. Why don’t you get a job? I know you don’t need the money but at least you’ll be occupied with something,”Soobin said in a soothing voice.

“I did tell him I wanted to work but he wouldn’t let me. He said something about how his clients would think he’s incompetent in earning a keep,”I explained.

“Men and their inflated egos,”Soobin hissed.

“Tell me about it. Alright, run along for your corporate lunch. I’ll just…see you when I see you,”I said.

“I don’t know whether you are lucky or what. Not needing to work and having nothing to do. Your life is a bliss, Kim Haemin. Enjoy your day watching your dramas while I try to get convince those indecisive clients of mine to sign the contract. See you,”and she hung up.

A lot of my friends are jealous about the way Hyukjae oppa was treating me. Asking me not to work and just enjoy my life, doing whatever I want. But the thing is, none of my friends are free to do the things I want to do with me. They need to go out and earn some money to live off on whereas I have nothing to look forward to. There was no satisfaction and I was drowned in lonliness with nobody to talk to apart from the ahjumma who has started to prepare lunch. I bet she could tell that I was staying home for the day since I hadn’t rushed off to shower after the phone call.

That day, I really spent my time just watching dramas after dramas and also online shopping. I couldn’t call any of my friends since they were working. During the evening, I tried to get the ahjumma to teach me how to cook for the 13923^rd time but she refused. She was under strict orders from Hyukjae oppa to never let me do any forms of housework.

“Don’t make things difficult for me. I need this job, Haemin ah. If Hyukjae comes home and sees that you’ve burnt yourself, I’ll probably be fired!”she said as she cooked while I watched from the bar counter.

“You’re just exaggerating, ahjumma,”I laughed.

“Hyukjae cares a lot about you,”she smiled at me.

“I know,”I smiled back.

“But he hasn’t been showing much concern lately, has he? It’s been long since you two had some quiet time together, right?”she asked.

“How did you know?”I asked since she usually leaves my house after cooking dinner.

“I see the cold food lying on the table every morning. He comes home late at night, right?”she laid down the dishes.

“You mean, Hyukjae oppa doesn’t eat his dinner?”I asked, horrified.

“No. That’s why I asked about it this morning and he says not to cook his share anymore,”she explained while taking my bowl of rice over to the table.

I was deep in thought and shocked over the fact that he has been skipping his dinner as well. Lunch was bad enough.

“But don’t worry, he says he gets his secretary to buy back his meals and he eats it while doing his work,”she patted me on the back and I heaved a sigh of relief.

She led me towards the dining table and I sat down to eat.

“But Haemin ah, this can’t go on. He has been busy for far too long and your friends are right. He needs to spend more time with you. Why don’t you try talking to him tonight if you see him?”she smiled.

“I will. Thank you,”I smiled back.

“I’ll be going now. Goodnight,”she waved.

“Goodnight! You’ve worked hard!”I called out as she closed the door.

And I was again enveloped in silence and loneliness which I drowned out with the dramas on television once again. But lucky for me, the front door opened just as I was putting the dishes into the dishwasher. I turned to look to see a man in his formal suit taking off his shoes.

“You’re home early today!”I rushed over.

It was a rare sight to see him come home before the clock struck ten. And it was only eight at night.

“Yeah, that’s cause I need to pack,”he said as he walked towards our bedroom.

“What do you mean?”I asked.

“I’m flying off to Japan at 8 in the morning. It’s a last minute decision,”he explained.

“When are you coming back?”I asked.

“I’ll be back by midnight. Don’t worry,”he said.

“So, will you be able to rest the next day? I know it’s a Saturday but you usually go in to do some leftover work,”I went over to massage his shoulders.

“I guess so. I really need a break,”he said as he grabbed his passport.

“Shall we go out? We can just go watch a movie…”but he cut me off.

“Haemin, you know I have no time to even breathe. Let alone to watch a movie,”he took my hands and turned to face me.

“But you promised…,”and he cut me off again.

“I know I know. I’ll take you out soon, alright. I need to shower and sleep now,”he walked away just like that.

The rest of the night, I stayed out of his way and preferred to watch variety shows on the large plasma tv in the living room and did more online shopping. I hated shopping alone and Hyukjae oppa didn’t mind me spending his money rather than having me going out to work. And that night, as he switched off the light, I felt even lonelier than I had ever been. 

End of Chapter

DarkAngel