She was waiting for him when he got back. She had hung up after he had said, “Hello? Hello?” a few times. The pain was too much. It stung in the beginning but as Jinli slowly absorbed what he had done, it turned into anger. She had tried, even with no progress made, to try to at least remain civil to one another and keep up a pretense of a marriage. Even though she enjoyed Taewoon’s attention, she never once thought about cheating.

            It was obvious that Daehyun was cheating. It explained why he was so happy when he came back from London, explained the strange perfume and the late nights out. She wasn’t stupid, and he clearly wasn’t smart enough to hide. Unless, of course, he wanted to flaunt it. But Jinli had made up her mind.

            She had woken up at six in the morning and called Lili. Her best friend had been groggy from just waking up but the moment she heard Jinli cry, the older woman had been alert. “Hon, what’s wrong?”

            “Daehyun,” was all Jinli could get out as she fought back the tears. It was a mix of hurt, rejection, betrayal and anger that kept her from speaking for five minutes. “He’s cheating.”

            That had been the magic word and immediately Lili was cursing him. Briefly in the background, she heard Chanyeol asking what was wrong but Jinli was too exhausted to care. She held the phone to her ear, happy to hear her friend’s anger on her behalf.

            “The moment he gets home, you tell me so I can get down there and beat the living daylights out of his . I cannot believe him. Jung ing Daehyun, I had thought you had more of a heart. Jinli, you prepare those divorce papers. I don’t care how much you want to save your dad’s company. Your father is a smart man. He can get by without you. You’re going to leave that son of a right now. Start packing.”

            There was no doubt in Jinli’s mind that the marriage was officially over. She knew that a divorce was inevitable and that if she stayed with him, she would officially have no backbone. Nothing could waver her resolve, and Lili’s anger only egged her on. Finally, she could leave Daehyun and maybe bring him down to boot. It was a sweet relishing moment where she pictured his career crashing down on him.

            She couldn’t get the divorce papers prepared in time but she had her anger ready to be unleashed and so when she heard the lock in the front door turn, Jinli was ready. Daehyun didn’t see her until the end and he smiled a little tentatively. She decided that while it was more fun to torture him a little, she had no patience.

            “Hey,” he said a little hesitantly. Her insides twisted with malice as she caught the guilty conscience that radiated from him.

            “Where were you last night?”

            “Last night?” She stared at him, almost daring him to lie to her.

            Daehyun looked into her eyes and she saw something harden in him, and they both knew that she knew. He squared his shoulders and shrugged. “I stayed out. Sorry I didn’t let you know.”

            “Don’t avoid the question, Daehyun. Do you want to tell me exactly where you were or would you rather I guessed?”

            “I don’t quite see why this matters. I’m sorry I don’t feel the need to report to you twenty-four seven.” He was going on the defensive, and she could tell by his tone that any moment he was going to drop this conversation.

            “We’re over. You can threaten my dad or have him come yell at me, but we’re over.”

            Jinli could tell that this stunned him. Maybe Daehyun had expected her to just yell or to get angry and be passive aggressive about the whole thing, but she was genuinely sick of him. “What?”

            She walked up to him and crossed her arms. “Over, done, getting a divorce. You can tell your mother why.”

            As she turned to go, Daehyun grabbed her arm. “Wait, you can’t possibly expect me to have stayed celibate forever, right?”

            His response shocked her and she momentarily found herself at a loss for words. “Cel-celibate?” Jinli gave a derisive laugh. “What am I, a self-declared for life? Did I ever tell you not to sleep with me? Did I ever tell you that I don’t want you to touch me? Whatever gave you the idea that you cannot possibly have with your wife?” She laughed again and slapped him across the face.

            Daehyun dropped her arm and clenched his jaw. Jinli couldn’t stop her laughter. It was ridiculous. He was probably serious. “So this is how you justify cheating. You blame me for your not having a life. What, do I not have a ? Do I not have any place for you to put that two inch thing between your legs in?” She knew she was being childish almost in her petty insults but she just wanted to hit home, no matter how low her abuse was.

            She raised her arm to slap him again but this time he grabbed her. “Enough,” he growled. Daehyun’s eyes glittered dangerously but Jinli was not scared. There was nothing that could make her scared now. She was one hundred percent done with him.

            “Enough? You couldn’t even be honest with me? You can’t just tell me that you’re sleeping with your ex because you actually love her? Instead, you tell me that you’re sleeping around because I won’t give you any?”

            She wrenched her arm out of his grasp. “ you, Jung Daehyun, you.”

            “Can we talk about this?” Jinli felt a sick satisfaction in hearing the desperation in his voice. Oh so he wanted to beg now. This should be fun.

            “No!” she said as she walked upstairs. “This officially became beyond discussion the moment you thought about sleeping with her. I’m moving out. You will be hearing from my lawyer soon.”

            “How are you going to explain this to your father?”

            “I think, heartless as he can be, he would still find it a blow to his honor at least that his son-in-law would cheat on his daughter. I don’t have much to worry about.”

            “And my mother? How would I explain this to her?”          

            Jinli appeared downstairs with her suitcases. She gave him an almost demonic grin as she shrugged. “That, my dear, should have been something you thought about before you started cheating on me.”

***

            Even though Daehyun was not proud about it, he had to tell his friends. He knew they would be furious with him but he also knew they would offer him advice. He called them and asked to meet in Yongguk’s apartment. When Daehyun knocked, everyone was there, including Youngjae, who had been coming down for a meeting.

            “What’s up?” Yongguk looked worried. They rarely held meetings like this unless it was for emergencies.

            They were all looking at Daehyun expectantly and he found that he couldn’t talk. He stared at them and they looked back at him anxiously. “I, I messed up.”

            Youngjae snorted into his palm. “Let me guess, you and Jinli fought again.”

            “You can say that.”

            Himchan looked up sharply. “What happened between you and Hyosung?”

            This question took him aback. “Hyosung?”

            Himchan took in a deep breath. “I work in her department. She’s quite chipper these days and she’s also less inclined to go to your office. I doubt it’s a lack of interest, and more of other chances of seeing you that’s making her like this.”

            Daehyun his lips and immediately, they all knew something was wrong. “Hyung,” Jongup’s voice came out dangerously stern.

            “I can’t love Jinli, I can’t. You can’t force me. I can only provide for her but you can’t expect me to be with her. I can put up the pretense of a marriage, but not actually be in one.”

            Yongguk looked at Daehyun in disbelief. “You cheated on her?”

            “It’s not cheating if it’s following my heart, is it?”

            Youngjae laughed out loud and shook his head. “Wow, you have balls, Jung. I never thought. Wow, London, how convenient.”

            “It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

            “No, it wasn’t.”

            “It was a mix of the exhilaration of getting the case and she just looked so pitiful.”

            “So is the homeless person on the corner but I don’t see you ing him.” Youngjae’s face was getting white from anger and all the laughter from before was gone as his voice held a tighter strain.

            Daehyun knew better than to keep defending himself. He could sense the disappointment in the room, and if he was honest, he knew he deserved it to an extent.

            “And now what? Now you’re just cheating on her behind her back? Or did Jinli find out. God, I hope you told her.”

            “She… found out.”

            “How?”

            This was the worst part. “She called me, and Hyosung spoke in the background.”

            At this, there was a silence and Junhong stood up. The movement was startling and the slam of the door behind him as he left even more so. There was an uncomfortable pit in his stomach as Daehyun realized that maybe they were more disappointed in him than he had thought they would be.

            The silence prolonged until Yongguk broke it. “So now what?”

            “She wants a divorce.” Daehyun whispered the last word, lowering his voice because just the thought of it scared him. Why was he so afraid? Wasn’t this what he wanted? Wasn’t this what he’s promised Hyosung would happen? But he didn’t want it to be like this. Not with such ugly intentions. This almost made him seem like the villain.

            “Good for her.” Jongup, too, stood up and checked his watch. “My meeting starts in half an hour. I need to go. I’m glad Noona made up her mind. I guess you don’t really need us Hyung.” His words were oddly formal and he didn’t spare Daehyun another look as he passed.

            When it was just Daehyun left with the two elder men and Youngjae, he sighed. “It doesn’t feel right.”

            “What? The fact that Jinli is no longer taking your ?” Youngjae was giving him the annoying grin he did when he was absolutely furious and gloating. “Well, Daehyun, you did it to yourself.”

            “Look, I can’t choose. You can’t expect me to choose. If we divorce, it would be bad for her.”

            “Would it?”  “How?” Both Yongguk and Himchan looked incredulously at him.

            “Well, her father, and what would she do with the scandal?”

            “You mean, what would you do about the scandal? Daehyun, do you ever stop thinking about yourself?”

            “What?”

            Youngjae stood up. “Think about it. Is the scandal going to affect her more or you?”

***

            Daehyun didn’t see Hyosung that day. It was a good thing because if he had, he wasn’t sure what to tell her. If he followed his heart, he knows he would stay with her. But if he followed his conscience, he would have to once again lose the one love he has had.

            When he went home, it was with an air of caution that he stepped into the house. He hated the feeling of being cowardly and it made him feel small but it was the first time his guilt has been to the point of overwhelming.

            All the lights were on and his hopes of beating Jinli home was dashed when he saw her sitting in the living room. “Hey,” he called out tentatively.

            She looked up and the expression on her face made his chest grow cold. She looked calm enough but her eyes were burning. In front of her was a stack of piles. She placed her glasses on the top of her head and pointed at it.

            “Come here. My lawyer drew up conditions. I really don’t want much and I’m more than happy to discuss anything with you. I don’t think I’m going to ask for your money even though he says I should. All you have to do is look them over, fix anything and you can sign.”

            “You already have the papers ready?” Daehyun was shocked.

            Jinli gave him an incredulous smile. “Of course. Why would I wait even a day? The sooner I release you, the sooner you can marry Hyosung. It’s one less day living in sin. I’m doing us a favor.”

            He knew there was no point in arguing, and honestly, what was the point? She was right. She was doing them a favor by asking for this divorce. Daehyun sighed and placed his jacket over the arm of the couch and sat across from her. He took the papers, skimmed them and shrugged.

            “I don’t really care about these terms. I just want something that’s not messy.”

            She placed the pen in front of him and he signed it. Finally, he was getting out of this marriage. She took the papers and stood up. “I’ll have my lawyer contact yours tomorrow.”

            “Yeah, fine,” and he started walking away when the phone rang.

            Both of them looked at one another and she reached for it first. “Hello?”

            There was a change in her expression as Jinli’s hands shook. “Okay, I’ll tell him.”

            Daehyun waited, having a feeling the “him” was definitely referring to himself. Jinli swallowed and her voice cracked. “Your father is in the hospital.”