VI

Avarice

six.

Joohyun thought she had made the right decision back then in letting Seulgi take the job at J Corporation.

She was wrong.

While Seulgi was now earning almost double of her previous measly pay, meaning that she was able to afford more extravagant gifts to spoil her girlfriend with, Joohyun soon realised that she would much rather have Seulgi by her side when she went to sleep and when she woke up in the morning, than to have expensive bouquets and diamond necklaces. She would rather eat cheap takeaway with Seulgi in their home, than to eat at a high-class restaurant where Seulgi would spend half the time on her phone to deal with business matters.

Joohyun hated feeling neglected, but more than that, she hated how she could see Seulgi changing.

Is this what they mean by ‘money changes people’? Joohyun would think to herself, because it really did. At first, she tried to stay positive and only looked at the nice changes. Like how Seulgi became much more hard working and passionate about her job, and Joohyun had always loved that side of Seulgi, how she always strove to do her very best and to improve herself in any ways possible. She also became more confident, more charismatic and mature, which was attractive to Joohyun at first but quickly made her realise she liked her cute and shy Seulgi more.

Still, she continued being accepting and supportive despite all the changes occurring. She still loved Seulgi and Seulgi, regardless of how busy she was, would never forget to remind Joohyun daily that she loved her too. Joohyun never doubted Seulgi’s loyalty or faithfulness to her, but she began to doubt her importance in Seulgi’s life.

Working hard to get a pay raise and a promotion seemed to be all that was on Seulgi’s mind, that she failed to notice the distance between her and Joohyun beginning to grow larger. They began to have more arguments over the smallest things, both of them losing their patience quicker than usual especially due to pent up frustrations they’ve been holding in. Some fights lasted a few days where Joohyun would spend the night at Seungwan’s house to avoid seeing Seulgi. But even the longest fight didn’t reach three days because they would be running back to each other already with open arms and teary eyes, apologies spilling out faster than they could speak.

Then came the day that everything fell apart.

Joohyun almost dropped the plate in her hand when she heard the news from the television. She couldn’t believe her eyes or ears and she hurriedly put down the plate on the table before walking over to the screen that was showing picture after picture of Jung Sangmin and some documents as evidence of the fraud that had been committed. There was a video of him walking out of his building, surrounded by bodyguards who held back desperate reporters and he refused to say anything while his lawyer said they would find out the truth and justice would be served.

That comment made Joohyun scoff because since when did justice exist when it came to the rich and powerful? But the evidence was right there and even she knew, with her limited knowledge about law, this was a mess that would be difficult for Sangmin to get out of. Her lips quirked into a smile and she felt a tiny bit of guilt for smiling at someone else’s misfortune but then she reminded herself of how many people he had harmed and how much he deserved to finally get punished.

She could feel her mood lifting due to the news and she finally had a bit more faith in humanity. Seulgi got home at that moment and Joohyun skipped over with a grin on her face, clearly happy. 

“How was your day?” Joohyun asked, latching onto Seulgi’s waist immediately.

“It was…fine.” Seulgi replied, dropping a kiss onto her forehead. She sounded tired and Joohyun decided not to bring up the topic of Sangmin being under investigation yet. Having the CEO in such a mess must be tough on all the employees of the company and Seulgi had probably heard enough about it at work.

“Have you eaten yet?” Joohyun queried instead and Seulgi nodded, spacing out for a bit and it was obvious that there was a lot on her mind. “Go and shower.” She suggested and she nodded again before walking away, leaving Joohyun to wonder why she was acting so strangely. There have been plenty of days where Seulgi would come home tired, almost collapsing even. And days where she’s been bothered by something difficult at work, and would be trying to figure out a solution in her head which led to her spacing out a lot. It wasn’t anything new, but Joohyun could sense something was off. There was something different, but she couldn’t quite place her finger on it.

If it was a complication with work, Seulgi would no doubt be on her laptop and working nonstop until she solved her problems. But later, Joohyun found Seulgi sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands and she looked like she had been there for a long time. Now it was getting worrying.

Joohyun knelt down in front of her, reaching out to lift Seulgi’s head up. She was relieved when she saw that she wasn’t crying, but she still looked troubled and there was a frown marring her features. Joohyun leaned up and kissed the space between her eyebrows, making the frown disappear as she smiled down at her.

“Joohyun...” Seulgi started but then trailed off, her head lowering again as if she was too afraid to say anything.

“What is it?” Joohyun prompted gently, taking a seat beside her on the bed and placing a hand on her thigh. “You have something to tell me?”

Seulgi nodded wordlessly, still unable to look at her. “I…Um…” She struggled to get her words out and Joohyun continued to wait patiently. She shook her head, sighing after unsuccessfully getting a sentence out and looked up. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry.” Seulgi brought her closer and kissed her forehead, but Joohyun didn’t really know what she was apologizing for. She felt Seulgi’s soft lips upon hers and all her thoughts disappeared as her eyes fluttered shut automatically and her hand reached up to hold onto her nape. Lips moved slowly and gently against each other’s until Seulgi broke the kiss to press her lips onto the soft skin on her neck. “I don’t feel like talking tonight.” She murmured.

Joohyun bit her lip, understanding her implication and her breath caught in as Seulgi left a trail of lingering kisses down the side of her neck. She tilted her head back when Seulgi on a sensitive spot and a quiet moan escaped her lips. A series of kisses were trailed along her jaw until Seulgi sealed their lips again, this time with a more intense passion and Seulgi leant forward until she had Joohyun laid on her back on their bed.

“I love you.” She mumbled in between deep kisses, her fingers starting to ing Joohyun’s pyjama top. Joohyun hummed in content, holding her lover close and kissing her harder.

But if Joohyun had known that this would be the last time, she would’ve held her even closer and never let go.

Confused would be an understatement to how Joohyun felt the next morning.

She woke up, went outside, was greeted with a kiss from a surprisingly-early Seulgi and handed a small stack of papers without an explanation.

“What’s this?” She asked, still smiling and in a giddy mood.

“Just look at it.” Seulgi replied nervously, biting her lip. Joohyun walked over to the dining table so that she could lay the sheets out and read them properly. Her brows creased when she saw the official and complicated looking documentations, making her lean closer to see the details. It took a few moments for her to make sense of what she was seeing and the perplexed expression never left her face as she looked at the other document which was issued by a bank.

“What is this?” Her voice sounded strained as she looked up at Seulgi, expecting some sort of explanation. “What does this mean?” She asked more urgently, putting the papers down.

“I’ve taken care of everything.” Seulgi replied quietly. “I’ve paid the rent for the next 12 months in advance and transferred my fortnightly income to your account so you don’t have to worry about-”

“No, I’m asking what this means.” Joohyun felt panic rising. “Why are you doing this? A-Are you leaving somewhere?” She tried to keep calm, but the truth was she was just too scared.

“Joohyun…” Seulgi walked closer, taking her hands in hers and pulling her down to sit down on the chair. “I need you to stay calm and just listen to me, alright?”

She swallowed the uneasiness and anxiousness, nodding timidly and kept her eyes trained on Seulgi who was composing herself as she sat across from her.

“I’ve been thinking for a long time about this and… I realised that the only way for me to rise to the top is if I can get close to the most powerful people, which in my case is Jung Sangmin.” Seulgi could see Joohyun visibly tense up at that mention and she closed her eyes briefly, bracing herself for what would come next. “And to do that… To earn his trust, I need to help him out of the situation he’s currently in.” Joohyun didn’t look like she fully understood and Seulgi bit her lip, taking a deep breath. “Someone needs to take the blame for the accusations against Jung, and that someone is going to be me.”

“What?” It barely came out as a whisper. Joohyun blinked in disbelief and she shook her head, “What are you saying?” She asked with a short laugh, hoping that this was just a joke. When Seulgi didn’t laugh or even smile, her expression fell and the news sunk in that she was serious. “No, no, no.” She said, shaking her head slowly and her hands slipped out of Seulgi’s. “What are you thinking? Why would you do this?”

“It’s the easiest way to get close with the chairman.”

“No! Seulgi, what’s gotten into you?” Joohyun stood up from the chair with such abruptness that the chair was almost knocked backwards. “Do you even know what you’re saying? Can you hear yourself? This is absurd! You’re willing to go to jail for something you didn’t do, for someone who deserves to rot in jail for the rest of their lives. And what for? For the sake of getting a promotion? For money? What about me? Did you even think about me-”

“I did!” Seulgi cut her off as she stood up. “You are all I thought about Joohyun! What do you think I’m trying so hard to earn money for? I’m doing this for us, for our future!”

“If you thought about me, then you wouldn’t leave me to go to jail for that bastard!” Joohyun shouted back, not even aware of how much she was crying. “You know that I would rather have you than anything else.” She added weakly.

Seulgi couldn’t bear the sight of her girlfriend crying and she embraced her tightly, desperately trying to comfort her although she knew it was no use unless she agreed to give up her idea.

“Don’t leave me, please Seulgi.” Joohyun whimpered into her shoulder. “Don’t do this, don’t go.”

Her heart clenched at Joohyun’s pleas and she tightened her jaw, shaking her head firmly before her mind changed. “I have to.” She said. 

She felt Joohyun push her away and she felt her heart break at the next words that came from her. “Then don’t come back.”

“Don’t be like this.”

“I’m serious.” Joohyun said with tears still glimmering in her eyes but her expression was hard and her gaze was stern. “If you insist on taking this step, then we’re over. If you choose to save that tyrant for a life of luxury, then I’m not going to stop you but neither am I going to be part of that.”

“No, Joohyun please..” Seulgi pleaded, taking a step closer but Joohyun stopped her, keeping the distance between them.

“I can’t accept this; I can’t accept you. If you walk out of that door still set on going to jail for that man then don’t think about coming back because I will not be welcoming you.” She gave her an ultimatum, keeping her firm stance and gaze. Internally, she was trembling and wanted nothing more than to break down and cry her heart out. She wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare, she wanted to wake up in the arms of Seulgi who would reassure her that she wasn’t going anywhere.

“I’m sorry.” Seulgi said, looking at her with a pained expression. “I’m so sorry.”

Joohyun said nothing, folding her arms to keep herself from shaking visibly and she looked down at her feet. She closed her eyes and prayed that Seulgi would hug her and tell her she changed her mind. But all she got was the sound of Seulgi leaving her and the front door closing behind her.

She opened her eyes, looking up as tears blurred her vision and she saw the empty house. She heard the silence hanging over her, the loneliness already creeping in and she felt her heart break. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor in utter disbelief and shock from how everything was suddenly turned upside down. Within minutes, her entire life came crashing down and she knew that nothing would ever be the same again. 

Seulgi left. Seulgi left. Seulgi left.

Her head kept chanting it like a mantra, giving her a painful reminder to make sure she didn’t forget.

The tears didn’t seem to cease and she hugged her knees tightly. “If you really are sorry, then you wouldn’t have left.” She whispered to the empty space in front of her where Seulgi once stood.

But she was gone and Joohyun was left to wonder what she did so wrong for Seulgi to give her up.

a/n: this entire chapter was a flashback woah
so now you know what ultimately broke our couple apart and why seulgi went to jail
but there's still some things we don't know yet

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angrywater
got featured :O thank you so much to everyone for reading and for supporting this fic <3 love you

Comments

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howdoyouknowmee
501 streak #1
🌷🤍
Apcxjsv
#2
Chapter 23: Simply spectacular🤍🤍
munsolar #3
Chapter 10: u r genius. i love this trope
dancingseulo
#4
Reading this again.
seulrene_daze #5
Chapter 23: ah.. rereading this again for the nth time coz i cant never get enough about this story hahaha
Oct_13_wen_03 36 streak #6
🤍🤍🤍
Luvylynn #7
Chapter 23: The angst really gets me. You really good at playing with my feelings author-nim. But I’m really glad to stumble into your masterpiece though you make me feel sick in my stomach with all the emotional turmoil. Nevertheless, It’s really a good read where you can literally feel the character’s emotions.
gomtokkim
2113 streak #8
Chapter 1: rereading<3
xantheaverielle
#9
Chapter 23: This was so soooo good! Finished it in a day 😭 This was so beautifully written. Every word portrayed each character's emotions well. I appreciate that the story didn't only revolve around Irene and Seulgi and their relationship but it also gave us a glimpse of the lives and thoughts of the people around them. This easily goes into my Top 10. I love this so much. Thank you for writing and giving us Seulrene endgame despite all the angst. This is really my type of fic. Thank you!
Jensoo4everlove #10
Chapter 23: That was beautiful ❤ The angst got on my nerves though 😂