Spring 2029 | Joohyun | 87 days left 

I had been here for about 3 days.

It had given me time to settle in, explore my neighbourhood a little. The jetlag was severe though, and I hadn’t been sleeping well the past couple of days.

I kept trying to find reasons to delay knocking on Seulgi’s door.

What if she doesn’t recognise me anymore? What if she gets angry? What if she asks me to leave?

All the ‘what ifs’ were running through my mind as I followed my GPS to Seulgi’s house. I could hear my heart thudding in my ears and my hands were trembling. I gripped my phone a little tighter.

No backing out of this now Joohyun.

I hoped she was at home. Partly because I couldn’t wait to see her again and partly because if I had to gather up courage to walk down this road again, I probably wouldn’t be able to find it.

There it was. Number 32.

The lights in the house were on. That was a good sign.

The front yard looked rather unkempt as I stepped through the gate. The flowers were dying and weeds were beginning to overrun the yard.

Seems like Seulgi was really in a bad place at the moment.

Gritting my teeth, I steeled my resolve before reaching up to press the doorbell.

Here goes nothing.

Seulgi’s POV

Ever since Wendy passed, I felt lifeless.

Every day was just the same routine - wake up, work, come home, alcohol, sleep.

I know Wendy wouldn’t want to see me in this state but I haven’t felt as empty as I had in a while.

Forgive me. I thought as I took another swig. It was better this way. The more drunk I got, the better I was able to overcome the pain.

I was about to finish up the bottle when the doorbell rang.

Funny. I wasn’t expecting any visitors.

Sighing, I hauled myself up to my feet. Maybe Sooyoung was making an unannounced visit? Or someone from work was checking in on me? I shook my head. I didn’t want to think too much into anything at the moment.

I grabbed the doorknob and flung the door open.

What the hell…?

Bae Joohyun? Standing in front of me? I rubbed the exhaustion out of my eyes. Perhaps it was the alcohol making me see things. There was no way in the world Joohyun could have possibly found me here. All the way across the world with no contact number, no address, nothing.

But even as my head started to clear, I realised this wasn’t an illusion.

It was real.

She was here. At my doorstep.

“Joohyun…?”

Joohyun’s POV

“Hi,” I breathed.

Finally. It was Seulgi in the flesh. She looked so thin and tired, the dark eyebags underneath her eyes making her look so much older than she actually was. I wanted to reach out, to hold her but I couldn’t. It was too soon. The last thing I wanted to do was to scare her away.

The silence between the two of us wore on before I realised that she was spacing out, looking at me as though she could not believe her eyes.

I felt a pang in my heart.

Did she not want to see me at all? Was she not happy I was here at all?

No. I had to stay strong. For myself. For Seulgi. For Wendy.

"You must be wondering why I'm here," I started, looking at the ground as I shuffled my feet nervously. "Long story short, Sooyoung gave me your address and told me to come and find you."

"Oh."

I felt my heart drop. Seulgi didn’t look too happy at the piece of information but she didn’t make a move to slam the door on me or push me away.

That was a good sign.

"Can I come in?" I asked, wanting to be able to spend some time with her. Plus, the air outside was cold and honestly, I was freezing.

She hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Yea sure, welcome in.”

Seulgi’s POV

"Can you give me 5 minutes? I'll get the tea ready and I need to handle some stuff. Just make yourself at home," I gestured towards the fireplace as I headed to the kitchen. I wouldn't deny that my hands were shaking as I got the pot of tea ready. My heart was beating and my world suddenly felt alive.

I thought I had put all these feelings down but how could they come back so soon so fast?

As I left the water to boil, I rushed upstairs and punched in a very familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Park Sooyoung you !"

"What the heck-"

"What is Joohyun doing here?" I whispered harshly into the phone.

"Looking for you. Wendy told her to.”

"Wendy? What does she have to do with this? Do you have any idea how I feel seeing Joohyun now? You gave her my address without telling me anything? You betrayed my trust and allowed her to invade my privacy just like that?” I growled, asking question after question.

"I’m not gonna answer all of that," Sooyoung replied curtly. “What matters is that Joohyun is there, and Wendy sent her.”

"..."

"Look. I talked to Joohyun. Trust me when I say she feels the same. Try talking to her instead of asking me for answers ok?"

"What the- Hey! Park Sooyoung! What the hell!" I threw my phone onto the bed as the tone went dead.

What the hell do I do now?

+

"So, how have you been? You've been here a long time what has it been like, 6 years?"

"7," I corrected as I took a sip of my tea, choosing to strategically place myself as far away from Joohyun as possible without coming off as rude.

"Wow, you must have been pretty brave, coming here all on your own."

"It was a rather easy transition."

My reply sent the room into silence. Joohyun mindlessly stirred her tea as I looked at anywhere but her.

"I missed you." A small voice escaped Joohyun's frame.

I my lips and looked down. What could I say? How could I just tell her I missed her too? My wife just passed and this woman, this woman who caused me so much pain in the past, who never cared about me the way I cared about her, just decides to come into my life with no apology whatsoever? How can I just give into her just like that?

I could feel anger rising but kept it down.

"Why are you here?" I steered the conversation towards the many unanswered questions I had.

"We haven't talked in years...I-I realised that I missed your presence so much when you were gone. I tried looking for you. I wanted to talk to you again, ask you what happened between us in university. I asked so many people who might know where you were but no one knew. And Sooyoung, who was the only person who knew, refused to tell me. Why are you pushing me away? Why are you trying so hard to keep me out of your life?"

I could tell from her voice that she was crying and I looked away, hands gripping the teacup so hard that my knuckles turned white.

"I'm not ready to tell you that."

"Why? I'm prepared for any response you might have. Just tell me the truth-"

"Leave."

"What?"

"You picked the wrong time to talk to me about this Joohyun. I'm not sure if Sooyoung told you but my wife just passed and I don't want to have to deal with this right now so please leave."

I looked up to see her tear-stained face and oh, how much I wanted to step forward and wrap my arms around her and wipe those tears away.

But I could not. How could I betray my wife like that?

Wordlessly, she took her purse and left.

And I was stuck wondering if I even managed to honour my wife’s last wish for me.

The Next Day | Joohyun’s POV | 86 days left

It had been 18 hours since Seulgi had kicked me out of her house.

I guess we both pushed too hard to get answers we were not ready to share.

For some reason, after the first trip, finding courage to go down to Seulgi’s place again seemed easier.

I had to make amends. I couldn’t give up now. If I failed, I probably would never see her again. And Sooyoung may lose her best friend.

So many things on the line. So little time.

I rang the doorbell again, praying hard that she wouldn’t push me away after that disastrous start yesterday.

She opened the door, looking much more sober than she did yesterday. Eyebrows raised in confusion as she saw me at her doorstep again.

She really wasn’t expecting me to come back huh.

"How long are you here for?" she asked, grabbing my coat as I entered. I hid a small smile at her chivalry. This was the Seulgi that I knew. I guess it was just hidden under all the anger and pain she was feeling at the moment.

"About three months."

"I