Part 1 - Beginning

After the last child was claimed by her parents, Seungri beckoned his children to come out of the play room since he needed to lock up the place. They whined and bargained for another hour so that they can finish the 1000 piece puzzle that they have been working on.

But today, Ri Appa was ‘evil’ according to the younger twin because he insisted that they leave the place at once or they would be locked up in there for the whole weekend. As he threatened, he closed the main gate for added effect and this made the twins run out of the play room afraid to be left behind even though Seungri was just joking.

The two of them came out of the gate sulking, upset that their playtime was interrupted.

“Yah, don’t look so sour sweetie, you can always finish it on Monday,” Seungri stated as he helped the Min Ki, younger one put on her shiny pink shoes and fasten the velcro on them. 

”But Monday is so far away Appa,” the older male one, Min Kyung, muttered in exasperation as he donned his dark blue sneakers.

Seungri sighed as he stood up and ruffled their hair. “Appa is very sorry okay? It’s a special day today. Appa is going out with Ji Daddy, I can’t be late,” he tried to reason with the kids as they crossed their arms and pouted their lips.

Despite their childish tantrum, their antics were superbly adorable. Seungri gave a peck to each pouting lip and promised to cook a scrumptious dinner for them. As a reward for being obedient, chocolate ice cream would be served for dessert. When the twins heard ‘chocolate ice cream’, their doe eyes instantly lit up and they squealed for joy as Seungri locked the door to the child care centre. Both of them hugged his calves, one leg for each twin, and they professed their love for their adopted father.

He giggled, “Appa loves you too,” picking both of them up in his arms and kissing their cheeks before he carried them to their car. He packed the two bouncing toddlers in the back seat and settled himself in the driver’s seat to drive them back home safely.

--

45 minutes later, Seungri was pulling up in front of their residence. It was a home left by Jiyong’s older sister since she moved out of Korea to pursue her designing career in America. Following his sister’s footsteps, Jiyong had sent out his portfolio in hopes that his hard work would be recognized by prestigious international galleries. His dream was to showcase his creations alongside magnificent ones crafted by famous artists in Europe.

When none responded as he was sadly lacking of talent, he relented to his husband’s suggestion of studying art first so that he can set up his own gallery in future. His education was put on hold, Seungri did not have enough funds to support Jiyong’s education for it was far too expensive to study abroad. Conscientiously, Seungri made an effort to put aside a little of his salary each month in a bank account specially dedicated to Jiyong’s education. He did this in secrecy, wanting to surprise Jiyong when the target amount was met. For now, Jiyong had to make do with practising his artistic techniques in a studio downtown which many hopeful amateurs like Jiyong would frequent.

To Seungri’s delight, Jiyong was home early today as he spotted the familiar colourful but worn out sneakers by the doormat. He made a mental note to save for a new pair of sneakers. The door was slightly ajar, Jiyong can be a little careless when he was exhausted. The twins took off their shoes and proceeded to enter the house while screaming for their Ji Daddy.

“SSHH,” Seungri hushed them as soon as they hollered on top of their lungs, “Daddy might be sleeping.”

He urged them to go upstairs and change while he started to prepare the ingredients for the pasta that he was going to cook for the twins.

Just as soon as they reach the bottom of the staircase, something sparkly red caught their eyes. Min Ki held it up and asked innocently, “Appa, is this your shoes?”

Seungri turned his attention to the footwear she was holding, bright red stilettos which looked so exquisite, it had to be a designer pair.

He furrowed his brows, confused by the origin of the shoes, “Where did you find these?” taking away the fiery red heels from his daughter’s hands. She pointed to the bottom of the flight of stairs, answering his question.

It did not take long for Seungri to figure out what was happening, he heard a female voice from upstairs.

“Who is that?” Min Ki started to make her way up the steps with Min Kyung behind her, only to be told by Seungri to go to their bedroom straight.

Seungri followed her closely, finding clothes that belonged to Jiyong and also to someone of the opposite gender as he moved further up the stairs. He stood in front of the master bedroom, the door was closed. Placing his hand on the knob, he turned it but the door did not give way. It was locked from the inside and Seungri knew exactly why.

He stuck his ear on the locked door, and the sounds from inside confirmed his suspicions.

It certainly was an unexpected surprise.

--

His heart was pounding hard, not wanting to believe what his mind was telling him - denial. Denial, a defense mechanism that one does not want to accept an uncomfortable situation. The evidence was clear. Jiyong had brought a woman home, in the heat of passion, articles of clothing were recklessly tossed all over the place.

Now, they were in the master bedroom which used to be a love nest for Jiyong and Seungri only. It was a sacred place for them, a room filled with many sweet memories. That room is no longer theirs, it now holds a third party who managed to steal Jiyong from his rightful owner – Seungri.

Who was his mistress? Seungri was clueless. All he knew was that his husband was having an affair with a mistress and he did not know how to react to that.

Adrenaline along with many negative emotions were running through his veins for sure. The whirlwind of emotions within him, however, could not make him react logically. As he clenched his fist, many thoughts overwhelmed his head, making it ache. What should he do?

He could bang on the door, make them stop this act of ion and force them out of his home. Or kick the door open, slap Jiyong on the face, give him a piece of his mind and pack Jiyong’s stuff, ask him to leave immediately. Unlock the door from outside and catch them red-handed, pack his things and leave with the twins. Or grab a knife from the kitchen and stab the both of them for such immoral behaviour.

There were so many things that he could or should do, but Seungri did not do it.

Seungri was lost, too bewildered to function properly.

So, he headed downstairs to make the twins dinner.

--

It was 7.00 pm, Seungri was sitting at the dinner table, watching Min Ki and Min Kyung tucking into the delectable pasta that he made. That’s when he heard the master bedroom door open and shuffling of feet from upstairs.

It was Jiyong, frantically collecting the clothes that they have absentmindedly left behind due to the haze of lust. He did not realize that his family was home until he came down with the intention to fetch the remaining of what they left. As he quickly scrambled down the staircase, he halted instantaneously when he found Seungri and his kids on the dining table.

A look of disappointment was etched on Seungri’s face and Jiyong felt a pang of guilt in his stomach.

“Oppa, hurry it’s 7 already, they would be home soon,” the mistress called out from upstairs in a loud and clear voice.

That made Jiyong wince but as he continued to monitor Seungri’s expression, his blank expression showed that he knew what Jiyong had done and also the unexpressed emotions hiding in his relaxed state. Jiyong knew Seungri well, that kind of calm demeanor was just a façade. A storm was surely brewing in Seungri, it just needed time to break loose.

The voice evoked Min Kyung’s curiosity, “Who is that?”

“His friend,” Seungri answered blankly. “Her shoes are over there by the way,” he informed as he pointed to the red shoes sitting on the kitchen counter, sparkling due to the kitchen lights.

“Thanks,” Jiyong muttered in a soft voice, avoiding eye contact with Seungri as he lifted the shoes off from the counter and made his way up to the master bed room again. His mistress awaiting his return, so she could dress up and leave before they got caught. Too late, she was oblivious to the fact that their secret tryst had been discovered.

In a matter of minutes, the mistress emerged, fully dressed and was about to leave. To Seungri’s surprise, she was not accompanied by Jiyong. The mistress was not taken aback when she saw Seungri sitting there with the twins at the table, glaring at her. Jiyong must have told her about what had happened earlier. She hastily took her leave, not even acknowledging the twins’ presence, she looked utterly ashamed. Well, she should be after being caught for getting involved with a married man.

Her loud ruby red heels made clicking sounds on the wooden floor as she sashayed to the door alone, her scandalous lover not seeing her off after their rendezvous. She opened the wide wooden door and made her exit, slamming the door close.

That was just the beginning of a dramatic evening.

She looked very familiar and after she left, Seungri could finally put a name to her face.

--

To be continued~