Daehyun walked into the conference room, flanked by Yongguk and Himchan. The three of them had their briefcases out and Junhong followed, with a notepad for taking notes. “Good morning, Mr. Im,” Daehyun greeted the opposing manager and received a chilly smile in return.

            “Mr. Jung.”

            The moment Yongguk pulled out the contracts, the man gave a hasty smile. “I’m afraid, I made other arrangements with another manager. I didn’t mean to keep you hanging, but we decided ultimately that it would be better for our staff to join yours. The contract is just too constricting. Mr. Cho has offered that if we do this, he may eventually take over the company.”

            There was a beat of silence around the table. Daehyun leaned back and Yongguk started to speak. “And why would it be necessary for your staff to join ours?”

            “Training of course. We have to make sure that our two companies run together. Here is the contract with Mr. Cho if you would like to take a look.”

            Daehyun perused the five page document and clenched his jaw. The old man was sly. He knew how to get things his way. He had no choice but to accept. “Alright. Send me profiles of the people you are sending in.”

            “Of course, Mr. Jung. You will receive them when Mr. Cho is done looking at them. Please expect our people tomorrow.”

            The moment Daehyun was back in his office, he threw a box of paper clips across the room. The lid fell off and the tiny pieces of metal clattered on the floor. Yongguk was pacing and Junhong was watching his hyungs. “What is he doing?”

            “That old man is completely taking the liberty to do whatever the hell he wants with my company. How are we benefiting by this in any way?”

            Yongguk was still looking through the contract. “Looks like once the company is absorbed by him, we would have a large chunk of the shares. I think that’s it.”

            “Then he better make sure their business runs well. I’m not taking a loss on this,” Daehyun seethed. He needed a drink. “Bar tonight?”

            Junhong looked uncomfortable. “Ah, I’m busy tonight. And shouldn’t you be going home?” Daehyun looked up to see Yongguk staring at him with a slightly reproachful look. He let out a low curse and spun his chair away so that he was looking out.

            “Never mind then.”

***

            “You may have to do something to appease your husband tonight.” Jinli stared at the phone in disbelief. This was a weird comment to come from her father.

            “What? What happened to Daehyun?”

            “Uh,” her father was silent and she waited. “Let’s just say I heard through the grapevines that his meeting didn’t go so well tonight.”

            “Ah, alright then. I suppose I’ll get dinner ready. Thank you for letting me know.” But suspicion nagged at her. “Why are you the one telling me this? Did you do something to make it not work? I know you were supposed to help him with the deal.”

            Her father chuckled a little. “Let’s say that I put my own interests first.”

            Jinli snarled. “Isn’t the whole point why you married me off to him so that you can help each other? Why are you antagonizing him?”

            “Jinli, daddy only gave you to him because he was a stable person for you. He wouldn’t have given you any cause to be upset and you know daddy always wants the best for his little girl. What I do with my business has nothing to do with your marriage. Good night.” There was a click and the dial tone.

            She let out a million curses at her father and slammed her fist on the table. It had everything to do with her marriage if he knew to call her to placate him. How could her father be so selfish, be so inconsiderate of the fact that if he decided to screw around with Daehyun and his company, she would be the one suffering the consequences? She had a sinking feeling that whatever progress they had made in the last few days would crumble immediately.

            She decided she was going to treat him no differently. If he was going to make things work, he shouldn’t let what her father did come between the two of them. Jinli had dinner ready but he didn’t come home. So she called Yongguk.

            “Oppa, ah, sorry to bother you. Do you know where Daehyun is?” She asked the question tentatively, praying that he would say Daehyun was with him.

            “Daehyun?” His confused tone had her heart plummeting to the ground.

            “Yeah. He isn’t home.”

            She heard Yongguk mutter a low curse. “That , what is he doing?” Then his voice became clearer. “I’ll ask Himchan. Maybe he’s with him.”

            “It’s okay. I can call him. Thank you and sorry for bothering you.”

            “Jinli,” Yongguk’s voice was suddenly gentle. “Don’t ever hesitate to call any of us. Really. I know Daehyun is probably giving you a hard time but we’ll be your support.”

            “Thanks Oppa.”

            She hesitated to call Himchan. She knew she was running away from reality by not simply calling Daehyun. But she didn’t want to feel his wrath. So she dialed Himchan’s number. He didn’t pick up. Neither did Jongup or Junhong.

            “Hello? Youngjae?”

            “Ah, Jinli. What’s wrong?”

            “Daehyun’s not home.”

            There was a silence on the phone and then another, louder, much more colorful vulgarity this time. “Are you serious? I swear if he went to the bar himself, I will kill him. I’m sorry. Let me call him. Have you tried calling him?”

            “Ah,” she was torn between a lie.

            But Youngjae understood. “I’ll call him and make sure he gets home. If anything, go sleep. Don’t stay awake for this idiot. If you made him dinner, throw it out. He doesn’t deserve someone so kind to him.”

            Jinli pressed the end to the call and stared woodenly out the window. She felt her heart sink heavily. She could hardly breathe. How could someone switch from one mood to another so quickly? How could someone be so insensitive to how his actions can affect other people? She placed a lid over the food and decided to wait for him in bed. There was no point waiting for him downstairs. He’d probably ignore her.

            She smelled the smoke before she knew it was him. Her heart lurched as she remembered the brief night of tenderness they had last night and dared to hope that the lasting lingering would stay. Her heart was telling her no, but she wanted to try. Jinli stepped onto the balcony. “Daehyun, you’re going to ruin your health this way.”

            There was a beat of silence. Then he spoke to her with only his profile facing her. “I do this because I am stressed.” The adjective was emphasized and he snarled. “Everything is so tiring and you’re not very helpful. If anything, you only add to this. Stop telling me what to do and if I want to smoke my way to lung cancer, there isn’t anything you can do to stop me.”

            His words were harsh and she shied away. Old resentment rose and she cursed herself bitterly for even wishing he had changed. Last night had meant nothing. He was just vulnerable for a day and now the steel wall was back. She slammed the door closed, not caring if it would incur Daehyun’s wrath. She bit back tears and went to bed hating him.

            Daehyun threw away the cigarette and exhaled the remaining smoke from his mouth. He knew Jinli meant well but he was still angry. Angry at himself for showing weakness, angry at her for not giving up on him. He had received two angry tirades over the phone as he tried to calm himself, walking by the river, one from Yongguk, the other Youngjae. He walked into the room and saw her on her side, her back turned to him.  When he went to look at her face, he saw tear marks etched on her cheeks. Daehyun’s heart lurched for a second before he his heel and left.

            Jinli woke up, her head still dizzy from last night’s encounter. Her first observation, however, was that his side of the bed was empty, uncreased, as if he had never been there in the first place. She pulled a shawl on over her thin nightgown and stepped into the hallway.

            The guest room’s door was slightly ajar and she peered in. Her heart sank when she recognized the familiar, tousled hair. No matter how angry he got with her, they had always at least slept in the same bed. But this new move surprised and hurt her. If he was already separating them one month into the marriage, what was going to happen in the years to come?

sorry I haven't updated in forever guys! I'll try my best to update more often but school is really catching up to me.

I'm also torn as to how I want to continue this because the route I originally planned seemed too cliched and I'm not sure how much I like it...