She came back the next day.

"How long are you here for?" I asked, grabbing her coat for her as she came in. 

"About a month." 

Ok great. I can work with a month. It's just 31 days right? I can handle that. 

"I see." 

"Look," Joohyun turned around and looked me in the eye. "About yesterday, I'm really soory I pushed you past your comfort zone. About your wife...I'm sorry I had no idea. Can we start over?" 

There it was. Her ability to understand, her readiness to apologise whenever she did anything wrong...all the qualities that captivated me when we were in school together were manifesting in this very moment. 

"Yea, sure," I stuttered, running my hand through my hair. "Why are you back?" 

"To take care of you," Joohyun called out from the kitchen before popping her head round the door. "What's the point of having a fridge if you have nothing in it?" 

"I don't need anyone to take care of me I can take care of myself fine," I replied. "You should use this month to enjoy your time in this city." 

"And I can enjoy it, by spending some time with you. If that's how I choose to spend my time, surely you can't object to that?" 

"I guess not..." I trailed off, leaning against the kitchen door and looking at Joohyun going through the pathetic morsels of food left in my fridge. 

"You should head to work, I think I need to do some grocery shopping for your fridge. Look at you," Joohyun came over and her middle finger and thumb easily encircled my wrists. "You obviously need some fattening up." 

As soon as I felt her skin on mine, Joohyun let go. But her touch had scorched my wrist and had left indelible, invisible fingerprints. 

That evening I returned to an empty house. 

And the warm dinner left on the table was the only proof that Joohyun had been here just merely hours before. 

______________

It was a routine we repeated for about three weeks. Joohyun would come in the morning, prepare some breakfast, do some household chores, prepare dinner, and leave. It was a baffling sequence of events but I hadn't had a warm meal in a while so I wasn't going to complain. 

But Joohyun's stay here was almost up and I was still looking for answers. What exactly had my wife told Sooyoung? Why was Joohyun here exactly? And what was she trying to do coming and going as she pleased? 

It was a quiet Saturday and the sound of my footsteps in the grass was the only noise that could be heard across the forest. 

"I'm here," I announced to no one in particular as I stopped in front of a tree. Her tree. Fingers tracing the stone engraving at the foot of the tree, I took in a deep breath and smiled. 

"I missed you." 

Silence.  

"Babe," I let my fingers rest on the bark of the tree, hoping to form some kind of connection, any connection, with my wife's spirit. "What did you tell Sooyoung? Why is Joohyun here?" 

Silence. 

"When you told me to give her a second chance, I thought you meant if we were to meet coincidentally. But you've sent her to me. How am I supposed to give her a second chance when I haven't gotten over you?

"Do you have any idea how I feel now that Joohyun is suddenly in my life? Do you know how unfair that she can walk in and out of my life as she pleases, as if nothing had ever happened between us?" 

Silence. 

"How could you do this to me?"

__________

"Morning Seulgi! How was your-"

"Stay." 

"What?"

"Stay for dinner. Don't leave." 

I grabbed Joohyun's hands and pulled her into an embrace. 

"Please. I need answers Joohyun. Please." 

"...ok." 

____________

It was an understatement to say that I rushed back home once work was done. 

I held my breath as I opened the door, wondering if Joohyun had decided to bail on me at the last minute. 

Just like how I walked out of her life years ago. 

But there she was, eyes closed, head resting on the d