Sunha sat next to Jia who was currently trying to calm her down. Fei was at the other side of the young girl, offering her comforting words as well. Her mother was having a surgery right now. It seemed like the injury on her head was worse than she thought. When Jia arrived at their house, the older woman was unconscious and had lost a lot of blood. Sunha was still traumatized, especially that she still couldn’t get in touch with her brother. Jia wasn't able to contact him either. She sent him a text message and told him about his mother and the hospital they were at right now.

It was three in the morning right now, and it had been two hours since they were at the hospital. Sunha's mother finally ended her surgery and quickly transferred to the emergency ward. The hospital said she would be transferred to a permanent ward once her condition stabilized.

It was close to four in the morning when Kyungha finally arrived. He saw his mother and comforted his sister. Jia left them alone after a while and waited at the lobby with Fei. She had been keeping everything inside, and she was about to go crazy from trying not to explode. Later on, Kyungha returned to the lobby to have a talk with Jia. He seemed tired, guilty, and sorry. His eyes were red, he probably had been crying as well. People would have easily felt sorry for him just from looking at him right now, but Jia had had enough of that.

"Jia, I…"

"What are you thinking?!" Jia snapped. She was just a breath away from breaking down. She was already halfway towards looking like a madwoman, it was only a matter of time before she started crying and became one.

"Jia, I was- I was in a really important meeting and then I had tons of stuffs to be done-"

"Stop with those excuses!"

"Jia…" Fei gently rubbed Jia's arm up and down. The staffs at the counter were already giving them warning looks.

Jia stood up from her chair and headed towards the exit, into the courtyard outside. Fei urged Kyungha to follow her and have a talk with Jia. Kyungha nodded and followed after his girlfriend.

"You can answer phone calls from your clients during our dates but you can't answer calls from your own sister during a meeting?!" Jia continued as soon as they reached outside.

"Jia, I swear, I was just… The phone was in a silent mode and…"

"Sunha told me that she couldn’t reach you eve rsince you got back from Japan! When was the last time since you last talked to your mother?! What. Exactly. Are you thinking, Kyungha?! "

"Jia, that was a mistake on my part. I was so busy, I didn’t have the chance…"

"No. It wasn’t because of your job. It was because you don’t care!"

"Of course I care, they are my family!" Kyungha's voice rose a notch, frustrated. Right at that moment, Jia burst into tears. Kyungha softened again, sorry that he made her cry. He tried to reach for her but Jia quickly shoved his hand away.

"Do you know how freaked out I was?!" Jia spat.

"Jia, I'm sorry…" His eyes started to gleam with tears.

"You know what? Your job isn’t going to get any easier or any less busy than it is right now. If you can't even make time for your own family, I can't imagine a future with you. I've put up with you too much I forgot I deserve priority too."

"Jia, don’t, please don’t."

"We're over." Jia sobbed. She turned around, ready to leave. Kyungha held onto her wrist, stopping her from going. He had nothing else to back his reasons, and thus choked with unsaid words; excuses he no longer believed in himself.

"Jia…"

"We're over!"

-

Jia was busy with a new project. She hadn’t slept the whole night in order to finish a painting that needed to be submitted this evening. After Fei returned from her job, Jia was still nailed on her previous spot, on the stool in front of the medium sized canvas stand. Fei walked to her to get more details. Not on the painting, but on her friend. Jia had a pair of prominent eye bags under her eyes, her lips chapped. Her hands had splatters of paint all over, which even went to her hair.

“Jia, have you eaten?”

“No, I have to finish this quick. What’s the time now?”

“It’s six.”

“. I have two hours left. I’m screwed.” Jia shook her head.

“Jia, maybe you can call your client and ask for a little extension. You need to rest a little. You’ve been working too hard.” Jia had been painting non-stop, taking in requests she could barely handle. It had been a week since she broke up with Kyungha. Fei understood that Jia was simply coping with the sorrow, but she had been too hard on herself.

“Ugh, maybe I should…” Jia finally got up from her stool and threw herself on the sofa, lying down and claimed the whole length of the sofa with her body. She looked very exhausted.

“Have some rest. Let me prepare dinner.” Fei suggested. She briefly returned to her room to put down her stuffs and then appeared again at the kitchen. As she was about to start, the house phone rang.

“Ugh, that’s probably my client, asking if my painting is completed.” Jia placed her arm across her face, smearing a part of the wet paint on her face instead.

“Let me get it for you.” Fei offered and reached the phone that was placed on her desk.

“Hello?” Fei spoke into the phone. She was walking towards Jia but paused, “Yes, speaking.”

“Who is it?” Jia asked. Fei raised her hand as if saying ‘later’. She retreated into her room with the phone with her. Jia got up into sitting position. That was weird. Nobody knew that Fei stayed here, except for a few friends. But nobody really called the house phone to ask Fei.

“I heard you’re living with your friend now.”

“Yes, I am, mother.”

“You shameless !”

Fei swallow back her words. She had been called that countless times by her ex-husband, and now even her mother-in-law had sorted to such name calling. Now that she was reminded, Fei felt a small tug of guilt and insecurity deep down inside. The same question that had been haunting her on every sleepless nights throughout the years of her marriage resurfaced on her mind:

Am I really a shameless ?

“How can you do that to your husband? Do you want him to rot in jail?”

Fei had no answer to such question. Does she? Of course she didn’t. She had never had such intention.

“It’s just… I…” Fei stuttered.

“What kind of woman sent her own husband to jail and then run away to live freely?!”

“But mother, I… I don’t think we should stay together anymore…”

“Easy to say! Now that my son is in jail, are you satisfied? Are you happy?! Why don’t you give him a visit and see what you got him into?!”

The phone was slammed hard, the noise hurt her ear.

It was one of her fears about leaving her marriage. Getting her husband in trouble, putting him in misery while she lived well. Abusive or not, he was still the man she loved, the one she chose to marry. If she had a choice, she’d never put him in such torturous condition, but Fei knew well that she had to accept such decision in order to gain her freedom.

She wiped away a single tear that escaped her eyes and turned around to see Jia standing at the doorframe. She looked dejected, as if she was at the edge of breaking down. Jia stared back at Fei, her hair was a mess, paint smeared all over her face and clothes. Jia had no idea what the phone call was about, but she could feel the pain the Fei was feeling. Maybe because inside, she was as broken as Fei was as well.

Jia dragged her steps into her room and threw her arms around Fei. She buried her face on Fei’s shoulder and began to sob quietly. Fei hugged her back and did the same.

No words were exchanged, just a mutual feeling of numbing pain.