Once again, unlike what she wanted, Sarang was back. She looked around the living room to see her suitcases and belongings in boxes, stacked neatly. “How did you do this?”

“Oh, your mom helped.” Hanbin states nonchalantly and walks over to the boxes. “Let’s put these away.”

This was unreal. How did Hanbin manage to do this? Everything was working against her and in his favor. “Hanbin, this is unfair.”

He looked up from what he was doing. “What is?”

She could only stare at him and try to figure out what was happening. Hanbin wanted to put away her stuff? All she wanted to do was throw a fit. Was this how she was going to let it continue? She made a decision dammit. She didn’t make it so she could go back on it.

“Hanbin, these things are going back to my mom’s house.”

Hanbin straightened up and looked over at Sarang, who was frozen in her spot. Her expression was empty and he tried to figure out what she was thinking. “These things are staying here.” He answers blankly.  

She did really feel like everything turned into a joke. She ran her hand through her hair, unable to fully grasp her thoughts. Without another word, she went into the bedroom to change out of her clothes. This time, not even bothering to close the door.

Hanbin stayed outside, trying to register what was happening. The way Sarang is acting felt strange and he felt like he missed something. He watched the bedroom’s doorway but didn’t see a glimpse of Sarang and walked in to check on her.

He found her already in bed and seeing her like that, bothered him. He walked over and sat down beside her body. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, Hanbin.” She answers softly.

Instinctively, his hands reached out to gently smooth out her hair. He played with the end of the short strands, like he always did silently. “I did tell you your hair was beautiful, right?”

She doesn’t turn to look at him but decides to still answer him. “You only said you liked it.”

He chuckled at her response and noticed her work clothes on the ground. “You didn’t close the door to change.”

“You’ve seen everything, right?” She retorts.

Hanbin sighs and gets up on his feet. He walks over to the closet and took out a change of clothes. When he was done changing, he walked back to the bed and slid into it. He lay on his side to face her. Her eyes were already closed but by her breathing, he knew she was still awake.

She seemed upset and seeing her now, she looked so fragile. He wanted nothing more than to protect her – to take away whatever that was weighing heavily on her mind. He wanted to see her smile and not once, in the past two days, had he have seen it once grace her lips.

He reached out and gently grabbed her waist to pull her towards him. To his surprise, she didn’t fight or reject his action. She only opened her eyes to look at him as his face was held inches from hers.

“You didn’t struggle.” He comments lightly.

“Would you have allowed me to move away?” She questions back.

He searched her face to figure out what was going through her mind but he didn’t have the slightest idea. “Are you giving up, Sarang?” He jokes gently.

“I’m not letting you win me back so easily.” She answers sassily. She wanted to see effort, to see how badly he needed her and wanted to be with her. What she didn’t see and what she wished to see and feel when they were married, she wanted to see him do it all now.

“How long are you going to make me wait?” Hanbin asked her genuinely, suddenly feeling the feeling of desperation creep up on him.

“Until I feel like my heart is safe again.” Sarang wasn’t ready to feel the hurt she went through. It was already bad once, how was she going to go through it for a second time?

“Do you really want to leave our marriage? To leave me?” Hanbin was sure he sounded hurt but could he really complain? He had put her through much more. “Because I love you so much Sarang, so much that if you leave, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

Sarang blinked away the forming tears. “It would be better for the both of us.”

“How?” Hanbin didn’t understand that logic. How did that even make sense? “How could you think being apart is good for me?” It was hard on him all those months being away from her. He couldn’t imagine being away from her again.

“Hanbin, maybe this is a normal phase. We have been together for years so maybe the thought of divorce is scary. You might not even love me anymore –“

“Sarang, do you know what I went through when you moved out?” He pulled her closer. “I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I was unhappy – I didn’t feel like myself.” He tried to gather his thoughts. “Today, when I saw you with the man, I felt so angry. The thought of you being with someone else is impossible for me because you belong to me.” He wanted his words to reach her. “There isn’t any other person out there for me and I wish you would understand that.”

He cupped her face.

“Can you really leave me behind? Will you be okay with moving on?” He asked her, hoping that she would say no and to tell him that she would return. “Tell me that you want to stay.” He softly begged her.

“I can’t.” It hurt Sarang to say it but she couldn’t tell him something that she was still confused about. Everything was telling her to stay, to trust Hanbin but there was something else holding her back.

There was nothing else Hanbin could say so instead, he pulled her flush against him and placed his chin on top of her head. “Just this once, this is okay, right?” He felt her nod against his chest and he sighed.

He’ll just have to try harder to get rid of her doubts.

“I know it’s hard now but when there is a slightest chance where you realize that it’s me you want to be with, I want you to run as fast as you can back to me.” He says softly.

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