I went home to find Hani sleeping on our bed. She called me in the afternoon, telling me that she got the rest of the day off because she was not feeling well. She was in deep slumber, but she didn’t look rested. Hani had been stressing out about work for the past few months. She was often exhausted when she got home, and her sleep wasn’t as peaceful as before.

She even had to cancel our lunch date a few times because she was stuck with her pile. I sometimes offered to pack her lunch and bring it to her at her office, but she would refuse as she said she would never have the chance to eat it, and it would go wasted. She was getting thinner every day, and I felt so helpless by just looking at her from the sideline without being able to give her any help.

I pulled the covers over her, gave her a light smooch on her forehead and I went outside to the kitchen. I might as well get the dinner ready, so Hani and I could eat it after she woke up. I was supposed to meet Seunghyun for some catching up that evening, but I had it cancelled because I had an unwell girlfriend to take care for. Seunghyun however will stop by our house after his work, just to say hi, he said.

I was setting the table when I heard the door bell rang. It was Seunghyun. I opened the door, greeted him and I noticed he had a bandage on his neck.

“If you’re trying to cover up your love bite, you’re doing a terrible job, Seunghyun.”

He touched his neck.

“Oh, this? This is not a love bite, it’s more like a love cut. And you don’t wanna know how I got this.”

Seunghyun, to my surprise, was still single. But he told me not to worry about him, as he would get into ‘actions’ sometimes, when he needed it. I guessed his actions were getting rough lately as I often saw him with marks all over his body. We went to the kitchen and he helped himself with some beer.

“Where is Hani? I thought you said she’s sick.” We settled on the stools.

“In the bedroom, still sleeping. I don’t know what to do with her. Her job is too demanding, it’s ruining her health. She can’t even quit, it’s impossible to switch jobs nowadays.” The job market wasn’t as big as before. Having a job, as hell as it could be, was a blessing.

“You better take a better care of her, Jiyong.”

“I know, I’m trying my hardest. Glad to know that you care about her.”

After Seunghyun’s birthday celebration, I could tell that Hani and Seunghyun were more at ease with each other. For the past six months Hani had stopped stressing out about “Will Seunghyun like this?” when we invited him for dinner or “Will Seunghyun be okay?” when I cancelled with him to be with her. They still rarely talked with each other when they met, but at least Seunghyun was smiling more with us now. I guessed being unconscious the whole night after glasses and glasses of wine poured nonstop in my glass during that awful dinner was a blessing after all. But damn those old people!

“I should go. I didn’t want to interrupt your dinner.” He said after he finished his beer.

“Interrupt? You know I love you man, you are never an interruption.”

“Yah! Don’t go gay on me!” We were at the door.

“Haha! I’ll see you later? Now give me a goodbye kiss!” I puckered my lips towards him.

He slapped my mouth and went out the door with a loud “ you!”, but both of us cracked into laughter.

I closed the front door, and I saw Hani was already standing against the door of our bedroom.