The sun is high in the blue sky, and Baekhyun finally decides to wake up after minutes of lolling on the bed. He reaches out for his smartphone perched beside his alarm clock and scans the notifications that came throughout the night. It is the usual stuff—shopping advertisements, YouTube notifications, and social media followings. Everything is still in the state of equilibrium until he leaves the bed. His mood slowly falters and he feels anger rising in the pit of his stomach. 

He freezes, unable to fathom the unsightly mess in front of him: dirty stockings and lingerie strewn across the floor, leaving a trail to the bathroom. With heavy footsteps, he follows the path and his nose begins to pick up hints of a foul stench after each step. He carefully opens the half ajar door and a curse leaves his lips at once. There is a woman—smeared eyeshadow and dried red lip tint around her lips—sleeping in the bathtub. It is the ‘ugly’ type of sleep which makes Baekhyun look away after two seconds. He takes a step farther and peers into the sink and scoots off before he feels like puking. The pungent smell earlier on is vomit mixed with alcohol. 

If not for his parents’ debt, Baekhyun will never take her hand in this arranged marriage. It wasn’t a choice between yes or no, but yes or yes. They had been engaged for close to six months. To him, she was a woman he harboured no feelings toward, but for the sake of making ends meet. Perhaps the only good thing from this marriage is the assets he gained. For he now shared a room with his fiance instead of a bed the size of a fridge. It was now a more comfortable life but the sacrifice he was forced to make wasn’t worth it—breaking up with his first love.

The day is May 27, a special date he has always remembered. It is their anniversary—Byun Baekhyun and Park Seyeon; not Byun Baekhyun and Jung Jiyeon, his current fiance. Come to think of it, this is the first time he is spending this day in May without his special someone. In the past, the once happy couple had many activities planned on this occasion. Every year was different too—from ice skating to trekking hills and visits to the sea aquarium. But this year, he feels the pain of missing someone. It is like knives speared into his heart to remind him that he is no longer with his first love.

For May 27, 2019, Baekhyun has planned to commemorate this day unlike the other years. He thought of revisiting any of the locations that he went with Seyeon before but shrugged as most of the activities were for couples which would make him awkward going alone. Sending a postcard anonymously also crossed his mind; however, this too, wasn’t to fruition as he wasn’t a crafty and creative type of person. 

It is only that previous night did something else popped into his mind: leaving flowers on her doorstep. Baekhyun had done the calculations in his head. If he leaves Seoul by the late afternoon, he w