“KANG HYEWON!! WHO IS THIS WOMAN HERE?” The tired manager managed to scream out those words from her lungs even after a long day. The shout caught both the women’s attention in a split second as they turned their heads towards the furious woman whose eyes were glowing with fire. 

“Oh.. I guess it’s this late already huh? Goodnight sweetheart!” The shorter girl blew one final kiss to the flushed lady who’s been caught by her wife cheating on her. 

“Right, bye.” A stone-like voice came out of the lady while she kept on staring on the floor, not wanting to meet the eyes of her wife. 

A click can be heard from the entrance door a few seconds later. Silence only filled the entire house for the next 1 hour as two women waited for each other to start talking. 

“Hyewon ah, what’s going on?” The manager placed her bag onto the dining table as she walked closer to the lady who’s facing away from her. 

“...” Nothing came out from the other’s mouth. 

“You can’t even tell me who’s that woman? I clearly saw what happened between the two of you just now. You can’t even lie to me anymore now, huh?” The woman sat on the chair with her legs crossed, still facing her wife for an answer aside from her unreadable face expression. 

“Listen, I-” Hyewon tried to come up with an excuse but Eunbi saw right through her. It was as though Eunbi was prepared for this.

“I don’t want to hear any excuses. Tell me who is that woman now and I’ll go to sleep. I have work tomorrow. Don’t waste my time.” 

That last line hit Hyewon hard. She knew she’s done something very serious when Eunbi says that line. She means business. Swallowing hard on her saliva, she quietly adhered to her wife’s request and answered every question asked by her. When it came to the last question, both knew they weren’t satisfied by the answer that the latter came up with. It was somehow lackluster. 

Not speaking much, the manager picked up her bag and headed to her room. Perhaps it was her job schedule or whatever that she’s feeling extra lethargic lately. As much as she heard it all that she needed from her ‘wife’s’ mouth, she wanted all of them to be fake. Or at least in a dream. 

Shaking her head when she looked at all the memories shared in the room, the woman plopped herself onto the bed without changing up. She was honestly too tired to deal with whatever’s going on with her life lately. Let alone the drama that happened 1 hour ago…

---

The accused woman stayed standing in the kitchen and tears flowed down her cheeks. It’s too late to change everything now. Especially when her wife’s birthday is in 2 week’s time… She lifelessly slouched onto the cabinet and cried her lungs out. As much as she enjoyed spending time with that woman, her wife is still the most important piece in her life and sadly she took it for granted. Where did it all down to the grave that she can’t dig herself out of now?

“Where did I go wrong? Why wasn’t I able to restrain myself this time..” The lawyer remained curled up in a ball, waiting for comfort. Except there’s none for her now. The other woman’s been caught and she’s probably looking for new prey to latch on to, while her other half is already planning on leaving her right now for a better life for her own sake. She’s left with nothing now. 

“I was too greedy, wasn’t I?” A finger started to draw circles on the floor. Circles with the same exact size as her wife’s ring finger. 

---

It was 3 am in the morning when a silent whisp can be heard from behind her back. The familiar scent that she so wanted to embrace all the time. But now, it became her worst favorite scent. The scene of the two women deep in their kisses made the scent next to her even more disgusting.

“When have I ever felt this strong dislike for this scent? Has it always been like this but I chose to ignore what I really feel since I was so blinded by the lie of this love?” A thought caught itself entangled in Eunbi’s never-resting mind. It doesn’t help that the woman beside her keeps shifting on her side. She was trying to get some sleep before her work tomorrow when she felt a slight tug of the bedsheets.

A wrong move.

Without even spending energy to complain like she usually does it, the manager stood up from her bed and headed to the guest room. A hand tugged her from behind. An act that lasted for an eternity before the very woman moved on forward forcefully, leaving the hand behind. An imagery printed in the minds’ of both women at that instant. An imagery that’s said to last. 

---

When Hyewon woke up after falling into depression the day before, her worst fears have all been answered. The room was eerily clean, not literally. But a sense of lingering nostalgia clung onto her as her feet touched the waxed floor of the bedroom. As she expected from the other woman, no items belonging to her stayed in this apartment. All her stuff were wiped clean off the shelves and baskets, just like her said memories. 

“...Empty table huh.” A pair of eyes swept to the dining table that seemed as equally lifeless as her. She really meant it this time. After years of meaningless bickering, what she said really came true this time around. Hyewon looked away dejectedly. 

---

3 months later..

A certain woman was carrying an umbrella under the drizzling rain. She was walking back with heavy footsteps and her attention was caught at the side of her right eye, whereby a familiar face stood waiting outside the entrance of a shopping mall. She was just about to walk up to the lady when another woman stepped out from the side. The woman stood there, unmoving. Her heart sank when she saw her ex-wife walking away with another woman, happily laughing under a shared umbrella with the stranger. It strongly reminds her of how they first met. Only this time she’s the passerby standing by the side, all due to the trivial yet significant mistake she committed previously.

“Of course…” A tear unknowingly made its way down her marble face as she silently continued with her journey back home alone.

“Will she even remember how we first met? I guess not, now that she’s happy with her..” The lawyer ate her own words as she kept on walking, not looking back once. 

The manager darted her eyes around her surroundings, but see no sight of her anywhere. One second ago, she was just standing at the center of the empty alley to her left, but no traces of her were seen under the rain when she turned her attention away from the woman in that short instant. The only thing that passed between both of them was a black car and when she tried to look back, the person was missing. Had she let go too early? Why is this sudden regret propping up from her chest now? But what’s done is done. She can never go back to how it used to be. Not when she walked out of the place first. 

A tug from her shirt pulled her back to reality and she instantly caught up to the present without hesitation. It’s too late to regret now..

The lawyer entered her apartment with an indescribable emotion that was built up in her core as she lets all of them out at once. This was enough, she had enough of all the guilt and wrongs she suffered through the months as they went past her silently. By this point, she needed answers, resolutions. Or anything that is able to pull her out of this insanity. She chucked everything out of her side and started screaming, in hopes of getting attention from a certain somebody. But she is never going to orbit around in her life anymore.

The letter near her feet wrote:

“Hyewon, 

I think I have enough of your ongoing lies. It’s time I faced the truth about you, our marriage and most importantly, me. I seem to have forgotten what I truly want for myself for the past few years we’ve been together, and I think now is the best opportunity to find out. Whether I like what’s ahead of me or not, I hope you’ll find the type of happiness that I was not able to give you. 

Best regards,

Kwon Eun-Bi.” 

The surname change… That’s when she knew everything went back to square one. An irreversible change. A change that changes everything..