Hey guys, how are you? I decided that all my chapters should be shorter since it takes so much time to write. I hope that's okay. This chapter is more of a background of what is going on with both of them with a tinge of the reality of what I'm going through. I swear if I write a story about what I go through at a start-up, it'd make a Netflix show. 

Enjoy and don't forget to leave a comment!

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Sehun had his legs crossed, his arms crossed, and because he was staring hard enough – his eyes were also becoming crossed. He blinked once. Twice. The third time he blinked, he hoped the picture would disappear or rip itself apart.

“Mr. Oh?” the private detective asked, his ugly graying hair flopping over his forehead. “The payment?”

Sehun drew a breath before stretching out his hand to look at the picture from a farther angle. “Are you sure this is not photoshopped?”

The detective drew a breath, shaking his head over and over again. It was the third time he had come to the almighty Mr. Oh, stock-trader by day and crypto-trader by night. He had made himself a fortune by gambling with his money, loving the risk of the possibility of losing his assets.

“No,” the detective said, clicking his tongue before opening his rough and ragged hands. “My money?”

Sehun sighed, patting his chest to feel the bulk of money. He swallowed and gave it to the detective, his fingers instinctively tightening at the edge of the envelope. The detective gave him a look, tugging it towards him but Sehun did not let go.

He squinted.

“Mr. Oh—”

“Fine, fine,” Sehun grumbled, releasing the paper before falling backwards. “Do you want to go for a drink?”

“No?” The detective gave him a look. Sehun rolled his eyes. Oh, how he wished you were around. “I’m off.”

Sehun waved a hand, gulping slightly before running a hand through his hair. The picture was enough proof, he told himself. He looked down on the piece of paper on the ground like it was his greatest enemy.

He was transported back to two weeks ago, Sehun sipping that expensive wine in front of Therese as she had her lips pressed against each other like she had tasted something sour. She was pissed. Sehun had forgotten about how it was like when she wasn’t pissed.

“You didn’t do the dishes last night,” the woman in front of him said.

Well, she was his wife but at moments like these, Sehun found his mind detaching from what she was to him. You had once told him that it was unhealthy and it came to the point where he began to not tell you any more about his marriage problems.

“It happens, Sehun,” you’d say to him over and over again as you scrubbed your skin with exfoliating salt. “My parents yelled each other’s ears off. They’ve been married for more than 25 years now.”

“I woke up to find out I lost 40k in USD. I think dishes were the last thing on my mind,” Sehun answered Therese as he cut the meat in front of him. He saw how there was still red oozing out and froze. “I thought I told you that I liked mine well-done.”

Her long and well-kept hair was pushed to the side. Sehun knew full well she was struggling to keep her annoyance under control. Therese was never one to explode. She kept it, and kept it, and kept it in.

“The last time you came here, you had it rare.”

“I did, and I told you I hated it.” Sehun raised an eyebrow when his hand fell onto her finger that still had her wedding ring on. He felt a bubble of heat travel through his chest, the male trying to shake it away when Therese sighed. “I don’t expect you to remember.”

He said this so softly and for a moment, Therese’s face softened. Her lips relaxed and her fingers went to the wine glass to pick it up. She was always this way. He was the one who cared about the dates, the anniversaries, the birthdays.

All she cared about was that clinic of hers.

“I’m…” She began and Sehun looked up hopefully, his eyes going to see that her finger was tapping against the table over and over again. She only did that when she was faced with a tough decision. “I’m thinking of going for vacation.”

Just like that, the tapping stopped and she went back to cutting up the steak like they weren’t just fighting. She continued to speak.

“I think I need some girl time.”

Sehun blinked. The hope that maybe she’d want to go vacation with him to “fix things” was shattered.

“Girl time?” he asked. “So, you’re not going alone?”

“You remember Patty?” she asked and Sehun tried to keep back a scoff. Patty was cute nurse that Therese had hired a few months ago.

“How could I not when you bring her up every conversation about your job?”

“Well, she is a nurse in my clinic, Sehun,” Therese answered.

“What about Patty?” Sehun asked.

“I’m going to ask her to come with me. I’m thinking of going to Miami for a few days. There are a few dog shelters we want to visit.”

“We?” Sehun echoed. With the way she said it, he presumed she made the decision a long while ago without him. He didn’t want to fight. Maybe she really did need time off from the clinic and him. “I see.”

“I’m thinking of leaving next week, Monday.”

She did leave next week Monday, leaving Sehun alone in their suite. He walked down the stairs, a towl on his bare shoulders when he landed on the last step. His intuition was ringing, Sehun reaching for his phone to check the time.

No, you’d still be sleeping. He had to remind himself of what you’d say. He decided to send you a funny meme instead and was surprised when you read his message. He frowned.

Sehun: Why are you awake?
You: The crypto market is never down.
Sehun: what r u talking about
Sehun: you’re HR
Sehun: last time I checked, people sleep

He knew what you were doing. You had found every possibility to complain about working at a start-up of a “decentralized exchange and investment company”. Your company did what he did—investing in crypto and tech-startups. Sehun would find himself listening to your work shenanigans.

“You know, I came in as an Assistant HR,” you told him one day. “And the next day, the HR Manager quit. Now, I’m the only HR and Admin.”

“How hard is that?” Sehun had asked and you had let out a very high-pitched screech.

“The only HR and the only admin? I don’t even know what I do on a daily basis, Sehun!” You then began to chatter on and on about how you were in a home office with a neurotic CEO who also demanded you take care of his personal while balancing the happiness of the employees.

So when he saw that you were awake, he rejoiced slightly.

You: People sleep but they enjoy giving me things to do while they are asleep.
Sehun: im here for ya, call?
You: Nah, I’ve got a report to do
You: Where’s your wife?

At the mention of Therese, Sehun found his foul mood coming back and he decided not to answer the question. He pocketed his phone, his eyes going to Therese’s study. Oh man, he really hated to be that guy.

He decided to do it, anyway. Pushing himself into Therese’s study, he saw how spotless clean it was. He moved towards the table, his hands beginning to sift through bills of papers when he stopped.

Her credit card bill. It was like something moved him to rip off the envelope. He hated how he was doing it but he couldn’t stop. It took him two minutes to finally run his eyes through the purchases just to see it—a hotel.

It was on the day that she told him that she’d work late at the clinic. Something about a dog having chocolate poisoning and Sehun blinked, trying to make sense of it. Was she someone who’d cheat?

They did fight that day, so he’d not be surprised if she decided to book a hotel to not see him. He did go to the golf course on some days when marriage life became too much.

He ran his tongue over his teeth when he reached for his phone. He needed answers. This was how the detective ended up sitting in front of him. The detective was given instructions to go to Miami. To see if the person she went with was actually Patty, the nurse she so adored.

Sehun did not know that he’d not be able to stomach what the reality was.

Therese with her lips against Patty’s, both their sun-tanned bikini bodies laying out in the sun. How Therese had her wedding ring glistening under the sun and the sunglasses he gave her for their wedding anniversary propped up on her head.

Girl time, she said.

This was definitely girl time.

Sehun’s hand reached up to massage his shoulders. Therese would be back in a few hours and Sehun had to make sure he knew what to do. It was a long time coming.

But first, he had to call you.

And when he did, your voice sounded sleepy.

“I’m here for you, always,” you said to him and Sehun hummed.

“I’m getting a divorce,” he answered.

Silence.

“Funny,” you said and Sehun cleared his throat. “Wait, seriously? No, seriously? Is it April 1st?”

“No, it’s October.”

“What are you saying?”

“I need to process it as smooth as possible,” Sehun told you and he could hear you stutter.

“Maybe you can work things out,” you told him. “What happened?”

Sehun didn’t want to tell you through the phone. He didn’t want to be alone when he said the words “My wife likes women”. He supported everyone’s ual orientation. But when you’re married and in love with someone who is drifting away because of that particular reason, it was quite hard to hold onto the person. He knew deep down that he would have to let go.

Bi, lesbian, straight or not… Therese cheated on him. That was a fact that Sehun struggled to accept.

“Just differences,” Sehun murmured. “Just letting you know that I’m booking a ticket back. See you in two days.”

“Wait—Wait!” your voice yelled out. Sehun could imagine you sitting up, your hair disheveled as you sat there with your red pajamas with white polka dots. “Sehun—”

He hung up, Sehun closing his eyes.

It took him fifteen minutes to call a friend. The lawyer giving him a few pointers, Sehun printing out pages and forms just to fill them out in silence. Once that was done, he placed them on the table of her study so he was sure she’d see them.

On top of the stack of papers, he took one post-it and scribbled a simple message.

“I wish you were honest.”

He then booked a ticket, packed his bags, and left.

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Sehun had left you speechless and you couldn’t help but worry. You sat up, texting Sehun just to see the one checkmark that was an indication that he did not read the message yet. What was he doing? The moon was still up in the sky and you shuddered at how the change of weather was beginning to become prominent as time passed.

It was becoming cold. You texted him.

You: It’s almost Halloween
You: Is this a Halloween joke?

You couldn’t imagine anything that would make these two part. Sehun was in love with Therese. She was a power lady, a woman with class and elegance. Unless… Was Sehun in love with someone else? Did he cheat on her?

Oh, you’d give him hell if he did. You sighed, falling back onto the bed.

It was a few hours until work and you closed your eyes, trying to fall back to sleep despite the heaviness that settled on your chest. You prayed that Sehun was doing alright, your mind already going through possible plans that you could make with him despite your busy job.

It wasn’t long before the time for work had arrived and you put on a sweater and pants, running your hands over your hair before glancing at the phone one more time.

You: Are you okay?

You carried your backpack, heading over to your workplace. It was a fifteen-minute walk from your apartment and once you went up the elevator, you could already feel the tension in the air. You shook your head.

You knew that it would be a tough day ahead, one hand pushing open the door when you came face to face with Joy. Joy was the in-house office manager and since the business ran in an apartment, the CEO was constantly giving her pressure.

You could see her eye bags. You were recruited by Joy, the female working for the company one month before you came. She told the CEO that you had “potential” and was a hard-worker. After two months, you found yourself blaming her every day for what you both went through.

But you didn’t leave despite the hardships, both of you making a pact. If Joy left, you’d leave too.

“What happened?” you whispered, knowing full well that something happened last night. She grabbed you by the arm and pulled you to the side. “What?”

“You’ve got to be careful. Boss got drunk last night and fought with his girlfriend.” Her eyes darted back and forth. “I heard everything; it was horrible.”

Your eyes widened when you heard the sound of the bedroom upstairs open and then slam shut, both of you jumping and scampering away from the fro