Joohyun, Seoul

Her schedule was taking longer than usual and Joohyun had been a tad impatient. It was a print ad for some lipstick and while they’ve already done the photoshoot itself, the CEO, some woman in her early 40s, wanted to meet with her. While she was all for making connections, she was already feeling a little lightheaded and every inch of her body felt sore.

But work was work and being the professional that she was, she waited and smiled through the whole ordeal. When it was finally over and when she thanked everybody, she took a long sigh of relief and robotically followed her manager out. 

She was barely awake as they reached the basement parking. She was ready to go home and rest but when she picked up her head, her eyes widened because standing there in the middle of the almost empty parking lot was Junmyeon. in a green hoodie and gray pants, his favorite cap on his head and with flowers in his hand. Her heart skipped a beat as their gaze met.

In an effort to try and escape it all, she looked back and was about to call her manager, but the older man just gave her a knowing look before he got into the van.

As she saw him walking towards her, she froze. At that moment, all she wanted to do was abandon all defenses and jump in his arms. It had been weeks since she last saw him and she couldn’t deny the fact that she missed him dearly. 

“Joohyun,” he whispered her name, the crack in his voice obvious. 

Finally being able to look at him closely, she could see the exhaustion on his face. There were dark circles under his eyes, his jaw was stubbly, and he had obviously lost weight, his face thinner than she remembered. She had to look away to stop herself from giving in and wrapping her arms around him.

Stay strong, Joohyun.

When she didn’t respond to him, he pushed the bouquet of flowers he was carrying into her direction. 

Reluctantly and trying hard to stop her hands from shaking, she took the flowers from him.

“Can we talk?” 

She bit her lip and debated in her head. She wasn’t ready. This wasn’t supposed to happen yet and she was supposed to have more days to prepare herself. “No,” she mustered up the courage to reply just as she took a peek at him.

His jaw tightened and his lips pressed together in a thin line. "Why?" he asked, his voice desperate and pleading. 

"I…" 

"Please." It was barely a whisper.

"Junmyeon, I…" she started and looked at him. His eyes were glassy with unshed tears. It broke her heart into a million pieces. "I'm just… Right now, I'm really really exhausted and I’m sorry but I just can't,” she hiccuped, realizing that her tears were already on her cheeks. Instinctively, she wiped her face and took a deep breath. “I just can’t talk right now.”

“Joohyun…” he tried to reach for her hand but she moved it away, taking a step back.

“I’ll talk to you… Just… just not now, okay? Can you give me some time?”

He remained quiet, eventually pulling back the hand that reached for her.

“Can you please give me some time?” she repeated. “I’ll talk to you, Junmyeon. Just… please?” 

Junmyeon closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair before taking a deep, shaky breath. “Okay.”

It didn’t surprise her that he agreed because of all the years they have known each other and the years that they had been together, he never forced her to do something she didn’t want. He always gave in when it came to her, may it be her whims or even bad decisions. That was how much he loved and cared for her.

Then why are you breaking his heart?

“Thank you.”

“You know how to contact me.” 

She nodded slowly and looked at him one last time as if to memorize his face before turning around to walk the short distance to the van.

“Saranghae, Joohyun,” she heard him say out loud but she didn’t turn around and instead got inside the vehicle.

“You could’ve talked to him, even just for a few minutes, Joohyun-ah,” his manager spoke softly but she could hear the disappointment in his voice. They were finally driving home after the long day. “He came straight from the airport, did you know that? The last few days were supposed to be a vacation with s but he asked to get his flight rebooked…”

Joohyun closed her eyes and leaned back on her seat, trying to drown out her manager’s voice, effectively ending his lecture. She didn’t even know she actually fell asleep until she was being woken up, and being told that they were already in her apartment’s car park.

“You have the next 5 days off, Irene. Then the meeting you set with the director, it’s going to be next Monday,” he reminded her and she nodded as she got out of the van, the flowers still weighing heavy in her hands.

His manager walked her towards the elevator and pushed the button before slinging her bag on her shoulder. “Rest well, okay? I know you haven’t been feeling good lately so just forget about the rest of the world for a few days and take good care of yourself, okay?”

She nodded and got into the lift. “Thank you, Oppa,” she said just as the doors closed.

Junmyeon, Seoul

Ever since he had arrived in Seoul, he hasn’t had a wink of sleep. His mind had Joohyun and Joohyun only. 

“You know, the problem with you is that you love her too much,” one of his friends had told him before. 

What was wrong with that?

He wanted to ask then but didn’t and instead just laughed it off because he didn’t want to get teased for being whipped again. It was like a common knowledge and it was established to everyone how head over heels in love he was with his girlfrie