Inhye felt like .

She laid in bed, just staring at the ceiling and hoping that her death was going to approach her soon because this was too much suffering. She couldn’t remember much of what happened last night aside from the fact that she somehow miraculously got home to a very angry mother and ingesting 4 ibuprofen pills before passing out. She was surprised that she didn’t throw up because it had been a very long time since she had last drank that much liquor. Last night was supposed to be a night out with her cousin, Seoah, but things took a different turn when the guys at the club started to harass her. She was there to have a good time, not to hook up, and they didn’t seem to understand that.

Inhye can only recall bits of memories of what happened at the club: downing a bunch of vodka and tequila shots, shouting at some guys over the booming music in the club, and leaving it. Aside from that, she couldn’t remember anything else during her heavily intoxicated state. She laid there, suffering and wondering if she had done anything that was particularly dangerous or stupid on her way home from Itaewon. Nothing. Absolutely nothing came to mind as she tried to remember.

She eventually gave up and crawled out of bed, over to where her phone was charging at her desk. Her mom must had charged it for her because her phone died last night after dinner because she completely forgot to bring a portable charger with her. She her phone. It was off despite being fully charged. She stood there for a few minutes as all the missed calls and text messages flooded her phone. She let out a wince as she scrolled through them. Most of them were from Seoah and Mrs. Shin – probably to ask where she was – and a few from Yoongi. It was a good thing that her phone was off because her mom would’ve found out about her being in contact with Yoongi the moment she saw his name flash across her phone screen.

10 MISSED CALLS FROM SEOAH

12 MISSED CALLS FROM MOM

Seoah:

OMFG

Inhye! Where are you?

YAH!!!!

IN

HYE

Did you leave the club???????

PICK UP

YOUR PHONE!!!!!!!!

SHIN INHYE!!!

WHERE ARE YOU????

Did you seriously leave the club?

Are you stuck somewhere?

Inhye, please call me asap. I’m worried abt you.

DID YOU LEAVE WITH A GUY?????

You didn’t, right?

. Your mom called me.

Good to know you’re home safely.

Mom:

WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO?

SEOAH COULDN’T GET A HOLD OF YOU.

I TOLD YOU NOT TO DRINK A LOT.

You better get your home right now. I don’t care if you’re an adult.

I care more about you getting home safely.

Please call me when you get a chance.

If you’re wondering where Yoonsung is, he’s with me at the pharmacy.

It’s probably for the best that he stays with me all day.

You need to rest.

Yoongi:

I hope you got home safely.

It’s OK if we don’t meet up today.

I’m sure you’re not feeling well.

Btw

Hoseok will be here if you’re still planning on coming by

Inhye let out a groan. It was Saturday, which meant that she had to go cook Yoongi a meal because Yoonsung wanted him to eat her “her good cooking.” She wanted to bang her head against the wall, not wanting to do anything today. If she called everything off today, then Yoonsung would be so upset and she couldn’t bear with the thought of that. So, she dragged herself to the bathroom where she desperately needed a quick shower before starting the day. While she was letting her bones soak under the warm water coming down from the shower head, she let out a loud gasp as she thought of one of Yoongi’s texts.

I hope you got home safely.

I hope you got home safely.

“WHAT THE ?!” screamed Inhye, as she suddenly remembered that she bumped into Yoongi and someone who seemed to be Jung Hoseok last night. She couldn’t remember exactly what happened, but she knew that she had seen them and talked to them about something. She quickly washed her hair, conditioned it, and then scrubbed off the grime on her body. She was in and out of the shower in approximately 10 minutes because she didn’t want to stand there for the next 2 hours wondering what the hell happened last night.

In the fogged up bathroom, Inhye would admit that she definitely looked as bad as she felt. She debated on whether or not if she should put on makeup as she slapped on some skincare and sunblock. In the end, she quickly put on a bit of foundation and used a really good under eye concealer to cover up her dark circles. She needed to look alive so she decided to add a bit of blush to her cheeks, but she happened to have dusted too much off of the pan. Inhye let out a long sigh, trying to wipe away her blush. If Yoongi was alone at home, she probably wouldn’t care about putting on anything because he had already seen it all while they were married and he honestly wouldn’t even care. But, Hoseok was going to be there and she haven’t seen him since years ago (excluding last night because she was drunk) and would feel even more embarrassed showing up with a bare face.

Inhye stood there, waiting for Yoongi to open his front door, in much stress. After getting ready, she went down the street to the pharmacy to grab Yoonsung and lied to her mom about the two of them going to the public library to grab a few books for him. Mrs. Shin was furious as to “why the hell would you go to the library when you don’t even remember how you crawled your home last night.” It was only after Yoonsung started to act fussy and demanded that his mother take him to the “library,” that the mother and child were able to leave the vicinity of the grandmother’s pharmacy.

It was a little unusual for the child to act that way because he was never like that whenever things didn’t go his way. He was always understanding even though he would be upset or frustrated over the turn of events, but never had he ever yelled or screamed. She was glad to know that he was very excited about visiting his father’s home, but a part of her was extremely worried about how he reacted when his grandmother suggested that the both of them just stay home. He was just so upset and neither Inhye nor Mrs. Shin had ever seen him with such a temper. There was no doubt the older woman was going to start questioning about this whole library ordeal because it didn’t make any sense as to why would Yoonsung be so angry about not being able to go there today when they could go on Monday since the library was always closed on Sundays.

The door opened to a particular red head that Inhye vaguely remembered from the night before. He beamed his 2,000-watt smile at her. “Hi, Noona!” laughed Hoseok, at the door. He turned to glance down at Yoonsung and his cheerful expression immediately changed into a look of amazement and shock. “Wow, you look exactly like your dad.”

“M-Me?” responded Yoonsung, shyly.

“Yeah.” replied Hoseok, with a nod.

“You know my daddy?” continued Yoonsung, confused.

“Well,” the older man began. “I’m-”

“Oh, hey!” greeted Yoongi, suddenly popping up behind Hoseok. His freshly dyed black hair immediately made Inhye’s stomach flip. No, no, no. He looked exactly like the Min Yoongi she met years ago when they were still young and insanely stupid. He stood in the doorway with his gummy smile, only to continue to tug on the strings of her dumb heart.

“Uncle Yoongi!!” giggled Yoonsung, excitedly. Without hesitation, he went into the condominium and hugged his father’s legs. “I missed you so much!”

“I missed you a lot too.” chuckled Yoongi, as he patted his son’s head. He looked up at Inhye, who was still just standing there in front of his door. “What are you still doing out there? Come inside.”

To be very honest, the last thing Inhye would ever expect in her life was to step into Yoongi’s residency ever again. The last time she had been in an apartment that was leased by him was when they needed to discuss about her pregnancy and what are the chances they could find a clinic that would perform a late term abortion. She could still remember the last words Yoongi whispered to her before she left his place and it was, ‘Don’t let your mom find out.’ And, Mrs. Shin found out somehow that following week and drove all the way down to Daegu out of fury to demand the Mins to force their son into a marriage with her. Everything escalated really quickly and before she knew it, she and Yoongi were registered as a married couple and were living in Daegu. Being back in Yoongi’s household was a little strange for Inhye and it made her feel very uneasy as she stepped into the cool of the condo.

“So, what are you making for lunch then?” asked Yoongi, after he showed her the vast kitchen.

“Samgyetang.” she replied as she placed the plastic bags of groceries on the countertop. She found it a little funny how this was going to be the first meal that she was going to cook for Yoongi upon the request of their own son when this was the last thing she had ever made him and his family before the divorce was finalized. She only chose this specific dish since she was hung over and this soup was nourishing. That was it. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had drunk copious amounts of alcohol the night before, then she would have cooked something else. This wasn’t to mention the fact that, for whatever reason, Yoonsung was very adamant on having Yoongi eat her cooking and she couldn’t really understand why her son was being like this.

“Samgyetang.” repeated the man in front of her. He was by the fridge with two small ice cold bottles of water. He wordlessly offered her one and she took it, feeling parched due to the blazing summer heat. “You always make good samgyetang so I’m looking forward to it.”

Inhye scoffed as she pulled out the side dishes she brought from home from her leather tote bag. She had snuck a few things from home earlier by putting them in her bag so her mother wouldn’t be suspicious. The last thing she wanted was for Yoongi not to have side dishes like kimchi or radish kimchi or seasoned so they could have a balanced Korean meal.

She was a decent cook and the Min family took advantage of that while she was married to him. She worked 10-hour long shifts at their restaurant, either cooking or serving almost nonstop with only a 30-minute lunch break. They paid her little to nothing for the work she put into the restaurant since they paid for the roof over h