Happy woman’s day :)

I’m sitting on my large, leather couch, right across the TV because I’m half blind and I can’t watch TV when I’m twenty centimeters away, when Sehun enters through the door of our shared apartment (because we’re married and that’s what married people are supposed to do).

I can clearly hear the click of the door opening, and the swing of it slowly being closed back, the juggle of the keys tinkling around in, probably, his hands, even if I’m a bit far from him and I’m not wearing my glasses - I go blind and deaf when I don’t wear my glasses - I quickly pretend like I haven’t been keeping my ears on his movements, concentrating on what he’s to do next, and turn back to the highly raised volume of the TV.

“Jangmi,” I hear Sehun’s somewhat low call from the door, still there to probably take off his shoes. I turn to look at the empty opening of the living room and the front door with focus. “Come here for a bit.”

I bite my tongue so I won’t yell at him to move his and come to me instead. I learned to quench that side of me quickly when I got married to him a year ago. I stand from the couch with an irritated huff, take my glasses — which were on my lap. Sometimes I don’t wear them a lot because they give me an eye-ache, and I like to prance around without them — and move toward my husband, who meets me in the opening of our living room while untying his tie. 

“What?” I try to say in the smallest voice of mine, placing my palms over the end of my stomach politely, just like how I was taught. Sehun sighs, gives me his tie which I accept silently, watching him taking his gold, expensive watch next.

“We have a three day party going on for our new branch,” Sehun shares softly, placing his golden watch over my opened, awaiting palms, peeking at me for a second with his gentle eyes, and then proceeding to take his dark blue blazer. “I’m taking you with me.”

“Why?” I murmur just as softly, my tone this time less hostile and more genuine. “You don’t usually take me with you to your parties.”

“Yeah, but everyone is going to bring a date with them.” Sehun says, placing his blazer over his arm like he used to do, not because he takes pity on me - which is what I thought he did, in the beginning - but because there’s no place in my palms for his blazer. He could have placed it over my arm, not his, but since my hands are preoccupied, I’ll be more prone to accidents with dropping it on the ground, which prince Sehun doesn’t like to happen, since his blazers are expensive.

He ends our conversation at that and leaves for his room, sighing under his breath and murmuring how tired he is and how draining running a business is. I stand there, watching after his back and his broad shoulders, seeing him taking off his inner white shirt and disappearing in an intersection that went over to his room.

I sigh myself, walking after him, only to take a different detour to the small closet right beside his room, putting back his golden watch in its rightful box in a careful move so it won’t fall from between my delicate fingers and break into tiny bits of glass. It happened before, once, and he became super mad. He didn’t yell, or say anything, but he looked absolutely angry, his face going all red to the point I was terrified of his silence.

I arrange his tie next, in a drawer filled with colorful ties all with the same design, for whatever reason businessmen thought owning so many ties is enough for. I finish my work and go back to my couch, taking my golden glasses off to watch my TV show, all in silence.

Like that, simply, my day is done.

-

“Do I wear something fancy?”

I murmur through our breakfast the next day; looking down at my bowl of cereal while trying to catch in only three cornflakes in my spoon without scooping the rest. It’s a fun game I partake in when I’m bored of myself, my life, and the male standing before me.

Sehun hums, only, and doesn’t bother raising his head from the plate of lavish breakfast I awoke so early today to cook for him, occasionally taking glimpses of his black watch - another one - to check for the time so he won’t be late. It’s almost routine for me now, to play with my breakfast and try to disallow silence from taking residence over my breakfast table.

“Wear the blue dress,” Sehun says, looking up from his plate to give me a part of his attention. He isn’t smiling; I don’t think he’s capable of that, but his eyes are tender, or as tender as he tries to make them be. “You look nice in it.”

I smile at him, a small smile but one nevertheless. It’s not great to put two introverts together in a house, where they’re married to each other and are forced to coexist with always socializing and smiling. He isn’t good at it, and neither am I, but I guess I have time to think and contemplate about it since I don’t work, while that's the only thing he’s good at.

Still, he’s trying, and that’s nice of him, especially when we don’t have any emotional bonds that bind us together. We’re strangers put into an arranged marriage. I don’t know half of his likes and dislikes aside from those I caught through his habits while living together, and I don’t think he knows of mine too. 

“The short one?” I inquire, only so he’d speak because I already know what kind of dress he’s talking about.

His face contorts sourly, and I snicker. “No, good God. That’s too short. I meant the silk one.”

“Oh, I like that one too.” I hum, taking another spoonful of my now stale cornflakes. Sehun doesn’t say anything, as expected, and I don’t try to caress something out of him again. He, however, surprises me when he speaks by himself without any of my tries only a few minutes later, pushing his plate away.

“There’s going to be a bunch of our new business partners there,” He stares at me with that look of his that’s more studying than anything. I stare back, allowing him to feed his curiosity through my gaze. “Some of them are.. strange.”

“How strange?” I raise my eyebrows in wonder. It’s rare for Sehun to show such clear emotions, even when he’s not looking at my eyes. But now, while he’s giving me his attention, and he’s showing clear discomfort, I become absolutely curious.

“Uh, they’re vampires.”

“Oh.” 

To say I’m shocked is an understatement to what I’m actually feeling, but I remain impassive, eyes solid. Sehun tries to peer at my true feelings under his pretty lashes, and I don’t look away. I don’t hate vampires or anything, they’re just a rarity in the world and they usually don’t like to show their real selves among our people, despite owning their right to do that, even having businesses, apparently. 

I’ve just never met one close by before. I heard they’re frightening, that they’re colder than us, paler, and they held the presence of predators around them. There was this one time where my parents took me to a zoo, and since we’re VVIP people, we were allowed a close look inside the cages of the deadliest of animals. I was given access to the large cage of a tigress, and I can still remember her sharp golden eyes, how frightening she had been. Will vampires feel the same? I wonder.

“You can stay if you want,” Since Sehun and I aren’t very close, it’s normal for him to misread my signals of nerves as fear. “Dates are not mandatory.”

And pass up the opportunity to meet with a real, up-close bloodsucker? No way. Sure, it’s a thrilling feeling, mixed with a little bit of fear, but my excitement is growing bigger, and I’m quite positive I’ll not be disappointed with meeting the vampires. I look up to smile at him, making the curl of my lips small and restrained, nothing more than a polite smile.

“Don’t worry, Sehun, I’m not as fragile as you think.”

Of course, he wouldn’t know the real amount of my fragility and how long it can extend, which is understandable because I don’t know about his abilities as well. I smile though, I continue to show politeness to hide the small swell of excitement quickly bubbling through my stomach, my knuckles turning white as I grip the spoon of my cornflakes bowl tightly. 

“Tell me if you feel uncomfortable,” he says, not dropping his attention away from me until he catches my sincerity through my eyes. He sighs in relief and pulls his plate back in front of him to eat again. 

Sehun’s an alright guy.

-

I hear the knock on the door of my room just as I finish putting on my necklace, and I swivel around to meet with Sehun’s dark brown eyes as he opens the door, inviting himself in.

I don’t mind or say anything, as I pull my attention back to my reflection on the mirror to check if the small bead around my necklace fits with my aqua blue dress. It’s a tiny gray bead with a square shape, enwrapped around four thorn-like diamonds which are connected to the necklace. It’s quite pretty, and elegant, fitting the parties sophisticated style. But I’d prefer it altogether if I didn’t have to wear any accessories. I’m a free spirit, and any kind of restraint puts me in agony.

I turn around to face Sehun, who has been watching me ever since he stepped inside my room. I will myself not to raise my eyebrows in question, and square my exposed shoulders so the crystal necklace would blink and show clearly around my neck.

“What do you think?” I ask, suppressing the annoyance in my tone because I really just want to rip it off altogether. “Shall I leave it on? Or take it off? Does it fit with my dress?”

Sehun takes a long, deliberate look over the necklace, his eyes slowly falling over the dress I’m putting on. It’s a flowy, silk gown that has a long slit from the ankle, to the beginning of the thigh, which means it goes over my knees. It also has a small tail, long enough to be elegant but not cause a drag. I wouldn’t have put it on otherwise. I catch his lips curl a little, but he quickly suppresses that smile, much like how I do.

“It looks good,” he says, raising his eyes back to settle them on the necklace. “It’s pretty.”

I forget, all the time, how small Sehun’s words and responses are. He doesn’t speak in lengthy conversation unless he’s absolutely in need of saying something important. He doesn’t smile, whine, shout or say anything without necessity. He has always been restrained and self-aware, much like myself, and everyone from our two families.

We’re just taught to be this way, and our new generation is going to continue being taught this way as well.

“Are you ready to go?” I ask him, uncapping a tube of red lipstick and painting my lips with it, not even bothering to turn around for the mirror. I simply watch Sehun.

“Yeah,” he answers, gesturing at his dark blue suit and his aqua tie, matching my dress. His usually soft hair is gelled and pulled up stylishly up his head. He looks great. “I’m waiting for you.”

“I’m done,” I reply, taking my clutch from my bed and walking to him in my black heels. “You don’t always have to stand there until I’m done, you know.”

“I know,” he murmurs as I pass by him out of my door, hearing the door close behind him as he exits as well. “That’s the least I can do for you.”

His murmurs are so soft that I almost don’t hear them, but thankfully, I do, and I feel something small flutter in my chest.

-

The introductory part and the part where Sehun and I have to shake hands with so many people are starting to get on my nerves, but I purse my lips, frequently shoot a pleasant smile, or simply wave. I don’t think I’ll ever like these business parties, whether they’re my husband’s business parties or not. These parties are always so crowded despite the formality that decreases the number of the people invited, or the pleasant smiles and grins that seem like shark teeth, or the gazes of jealously from wide or aloof eyes, as they glance up and down my husband and I.

I also don’t fail to notice the quiet murmurs from clusters of females, all wondering who I am or if I’m really his wife - or girlfriend, for those who aren’t familiar with him. The gossip is merely curious and not malicious, so I don’t pay them any attention, wandering my bored eyes over around me and questioning my reason for existence to the world. 

My eyes are suddenly entangled with a sea of brown, and my feelings of boredom quickly begin to swim around me in a swirl of incoherent intensity. I begin to hyperventilate, my knees feeling so incredibly weak as if I’m being knocked from above my tall tower. I don’t know what’s happening to me, or even be able to see it. My contacts-improved vision is seeing brown, simple yet complex at the same time. The brown swirl of high mountains and large pools of mud starts to change into a fair honey, color so pale, so impudent, so cunning.. The fair honey fades into deep, dark crimson, for a tender, breakable secon