Now, just a warning, I cut down the ______ scene because I didn't feel like writing a ______ scene when I wrote this chapter and just left it as it is because it felt good enough for me : Btw. Another warning: EXTREMELY LONG CHAPTER AHEAD!

 

Don't say I didn't warn you when this chapter bores you :P

 

 

 

 

"Baby, stop burying your head in those books and come out for dinner!" Jiyeon called out, preparing the dishes she bought at a nearby restaurant on the table. Jiyeon walked around their small kitchen of their one-bedroom basement unit in a small 4 storey apartment building to the small bathroom and washed her face. Jiyeon smiled at her reflection as she thought of how her life turned out. The size of their small home will never be an issue, even the food they ate every day. She didn't even mind needing to sleep on a bed they used for a long time, ever since she left home. Their unit may have been small, but with Eunjung's mother completely supporting their sudden decision of staying together and decorated their home lavishly, it looked absolutely bright and beautiful, as if it wasn't even located in the basement.

 

It had been years since she walked out of their family home, never having heard anything or seen her parents. She did try to reach out to them, several time in fact because of Eunjung's insistence though her efforts were never acknowledged. It was then that she figured that being with Eunjung more than made up for her need of a family. 

 

Jiyeon patted make-up free face with a towel, heading out the bedroom door with a skip in her step to see the table still void of Eunjung's presence. 

 

"Eunjung! I swear if you don't come out, I'll personally drag you out!" Jiyeon screams. Of course, it wasn't always that peaceful...

 

It wasn't always easy. It still isn't.

 

Jiyeon stomps over to the fridge, mentally counting the seconds while waiting, to grab a glass of water and maybe drink away her rising temper. But before she could even take a sip, a pair of arms made way around her waist, hands sneaking past her stomach, passing through her chest and to the first button of her blouse. And with an experienced flick of the slender fingers, the button was undone. 

 

Smirking at the naughty hands unraveling her from her office clothes, Jiyeon suddenly turned and attacked the other with her lips.

 

"What are you doing?" Jiyeon teases, wrapping her arms around Eunjung's neck.

 

Eunjung smiles innocently, her hands still ing Jiyeon's blouse. "You need to change first."

 

"I'm gonna take a shower after dinner anyway," Jiyeon stops the hands from further opening the rest. There were more pressing matters to do than opening buttons...

 

Eunjung shrugs her shoulders, and proceeded to take her seat with Jiyeon following and taking the opposite seat."How was work?"

 

"Good! I swear I'm gonna get hired after this internship! I'm so good at it," Jiyeon said, diving into the food unaware the fact that Eunjung was staring at her...or more like what's behind the half-way ed blouse Jiyeon ignored.

 

"You're still gonna get hired anyway. My dad would hire you regardless," Eunjung mumbled, albeit distracted. "Baby, please do your buttons for me."

 

Jiyeon shrugs with a smirk and quickly buttons down her blouse. If it were any other day, she would have opened everything but tonight, she had a mission to accomplish...

 

Yes, it's a mission.

 

She needed to know something and she's desperate.

 

And miserable.  

 

 

"But even so, I'd like to prove everyone I deserve a position in the firm. If your dad wants me to handle his firm when he grows old and we got married, I'd be more than prepared for the job," Jiyeon says firmly, going back to the previous issue while placing more food on Eunjung's plate like a wife should.

 

"But same gender marriage isn't legal here."

 

"But it is in other countries," Jiyeon grins.

 

"We should talk about it first," Eunjung insists, taking a bite of the large pile of food Jiyeon managed to gather on her plate.

 

"I've tried talking to you about it before and we're talking right now as it is," Jiyeon suddenly puts down the spoon in her hand, frowning; a telltale sign she wasn't happy with her answer, making Eunjung gulp. "How many times do I have to try to slip this into our dinner conversations?"

 

After years of relationship, Jiyeon did manage to control her temper but still Eunjung knew there were signs she shouldn't push and lines she shouldn't cross to awaken the beast inside her girlfriend. It's safer to just agree.

 

"We'll get there soon, baby," Eunjung manages to force out a cute voice, a very good defense against the rising temper and tension in the room and adding the pet name would guarantee her life. "Let's not hurry. The scholarship...I still need to maintain it. I'm still in Med school and get through it. By the time I graduate, I would need to pass the licensure exams. Then proceed to be an intern and then get my specialization in Neurosurgery as I promised to the school. While you need to focus on the internship my dad gave you, like you said. Since you also want to prove to everyone how good you are."

 

Jiyeon sighs, knowing her better half was indeed right once again, being the better one as it is. She had finished her degree after being an intern at one of the top Marketing Firms in the country. Right after graduation though, she earned herself another internship offer at Eunjung's father's large Marketing Firm, a very popular and in-demand firm in all of Asia, and was nearly finished with a promise of a job there. Eunjung on the other hand had finished her pre-med two semesters earlier than the rest, being top-notch and all. She was granted several and very rare full scholarships in three major Medical Schools in the country and had made the decision to pursue one of them, somewhere very near her father's and Jiyeon's workplace and their apartment.

 

Though they had very different and difficult schedules, sometimes with Eunjung leaving first before Jiyeon wakes or Jiyeon having to leave first, they made sure at least that they'd be able to have dinner together and sleep at the same time as much as possible.

 

Still, it bothered Jiyeon to no end. They were pursuing very different dreams and while she would try making a name for herself, Eunjung would have then be graduating medical school or preparing for the licensure examinations or maybe even start being an intern and work on a 36 hour shift. That would mean lesser time for them as it is. Even if she was assured Eunjung had no plans of ever leaving her, she felt the same, she just needed something more than just the girlfriend title. She wanted and needed to be more.

 

This hadn't been the first time they talked about this and she didn't want to put a strain on the relationship with her insecurities and demands.

 

Before, they argued on petty things (more like she screamed while Eunjung appeased her), now it was different. They both had wider outlooks, careers to pursue and have matured. They would fight on bigger problems like finding time for each other, renewing the passion and trying to keep the flame alive, and their future plans as a couple for which they hadn't agreed upon yet.

 

"I'm sorry, baby. It's just not a good time to talk about a serious commitment like marriage," Eunjung said, trying to find the right words to say as she held on Jiyeon's clenched fists.

 

"Then when is the right time, Eunjung? We barely have time for each other. Mind you, your dad has a three-year contract prepared for me now. And then I'll be busy and you're always busy. What happens to us then? I'm not even sure if you want to marry me. You never tell me anything except for your future career plans. What about our future then?" 

 

The way Jiyeon asked made Eunjung think as thoroughly as possible. Not only did it made her think, it made her scared for what would happen next. 

 

What if Jiyeon gets tired? 

 

Specifically, if she gets tired of her?

 

What if she just couldn't wait anymore?

 

What if she found someone better? 

 

What if...?

 

"I'm not even saying we need to get married now. I just want to know if I'm even in your future!"

 

There, she finally said it. The mission to know what happens to her was now out in the open.

 

Eunjung was taken aback. Never had she expected for Jiyeon to feel that way. She always thought they were simply happy and content. She thought Jiyeon's insistence of marriage was simply to take the next step. She didn't see through the obvious pain Jiyeon felt and wanted her to know all this time about how unsure she was and how she was the one who made her feel that way.

 

She never intended her other half to feel so insecure about the relationship they've built for years and slowly but surely it seems it might have been crumbling before her eyes without her knowing. How was that even possible?

 

She always wanted to make her happy, always make it to a point Jiyeon was the priority, but why did it seem like Jiyeon didn't see that?

 

Where did she go wrong?

 

 

Jiyeon's phone rang all of a sudden, interrupting the serious staring game and thick tension they had managed to create over the past few minutes of poking their food. Jiyeon withdraws her clenched fist from Eunjung's grip to rummage her bag and answer the call.

 

"Hello?"

 

Eunjung sighs as she turned back to her food, losing her appetite all of a sudden. She poked around as she stole glances at her girlfriend.

 

"Yes, I placed them on the desk..."

 

Eunjung watched as Jiyeon rummages her bag again and takes out her tab, tapping away while on the call. She poked her food again, taking small bites at a time. She wondered if dinner time would soon be filled with sudden phone calls, emails and books. She knew it could happen. She grew up with her father like that. She might have lived with a seemingly perfect family, but it wasn't the case all the time. She saw how her mother prepared food for her father every night, only for his share to turn cold and still untouched the next day. Sometimes she saw her mother cry and saw them fight. What more if she too would have no time? She wasn't all that naive anymore and she too noticed how they both seemed to have these tensed conversations and end up sleeping away from each other instead of their usual cuddling.

 

Was that how Jiyeon became like this?

 

Was Jiyeon bothered by the distance they (mostly she) managed to create when they were busy?

 

"Right now?" 

 

Eunjung quickly looks up, with a frown, listening intently.

 

"I'm sorry but..."

 

"Alright..." Jiyeon murmurs reluctantly, looking away from her. She knew Jiyeon knew she was listening. 

 

How could she not? She's right in front of her.

 

"Yes. I'll leave right now."

 

"I'll take a cab."

 

"What?! Outside?!" Jiyeon suddenly stands up, gathering her stuff. Eunjung looks on her frown deepening at the sight.

 

"Okay, okay. Be there in five."

 

"What?! No! You don't have to."

 

"I'll be right out..." The call finally ends and Eunjung's face couldn't be painted, and even if it could be, the canvas would have burned.

 

 Jiyeon hurriedly puts on a light makeup at the dinner table, ignoring how Eunjung daintily places her spoon on the table. Jiyeon continues to ignore her for a few more minutes before she finishes, shoving all the makeup back in her bag. It was ridiculous in Eunjung's opinion for Jiyeon to still try to look presentable suddenly, without even trying to give her a proper explanation why.

 

"I'm sorry. There's trouble. It's just they need me in the office all of a sudden...and my supervisor's, like, right outside." Jiyeon's short 'explanation' to her silent question didn't make Eunjung any happier.

 

"Why is he outside?" Eunjung asks incredulously, standing up to follow Jiyeon who starts putting on her shoes.

 

"I don't know. He sent me home once, that's why he knows where we live. It was raining. Anyway, he was only on his way back there so he stopped by to pick me up to save the trouble," Jiyeon explains hurriedly, running towards their shared bedroom and coming back out with a folder in hand. She certainly didn't want any more misunderstandings to happen.

 

"Let me come with you. I might be able to help."

 

"No. They don't know you're my girlfriend, they'd wonder why you're there to help me and might think I'm getting a job there because I have connections!" Jiyeon immediately stops her from putting her coat on.

 

Eunjung frowns even more at the revelation.

 

"What do you mean? You mean every single one of those people there don't know you have a girlfriend then?"

 

"They know, just not to our boss's daughter."

 

"What's the problem of letting them know who I am? They already know how good you are."

 

"I just don't want people to talk, okay?!" Jiyeon snapped, taking her bag from the chair and turns to the door. "People are judgmental like it's their second skin. If you're concerned about your goal to be a doctor, I'm concerned about them talking behind my back!"

 

"I'm coming," Eunjung stubbornly says only to find herself being yanked back.

 

"No. You're staying. Your studies and career are much more important to you anyway," Jiyeon spitefully says, before disappearing through the door with a loud bang.

 

Eunjung stands there, motionless, gulping the lump forming in , biting her quivering lip. That definitely didn't end well, she knew. Jiyeon had walked out on her several times before, screaming and pushing her away, but this time, Jiyeon didn't even scream. She even left in a car...in another man's car so to speak. The fact her girlfriend seemed to have a guy taking her home and picking her up didn't settle well and their argument made her fret the worst. 

 

She trusts Jiyeon. She believes in their relationship but after all, no matter how much they loved, they were still humans. We are all capable of loving and hurting. And humans like that man with the car still had the chance of trying to get cozy with her girlfriend. 

 

Well, maybe she is indeed jealous, for the rarest of times. She wasn't sure. But she knew that guy had more than just innocent and pure intentions on her girlfriend. 

 

She knew that they also need to talk about the marriage and their future as a couple issue.

 

She also knew that it would be the start of a shaky relationship if she doesn't do anything about it. Or maybe they've been shaky for a while and she just didn't notice!

 

But...she won't let that happen. A woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do.

 

"Hello umma? Is dad there?" Eunjung spoke to her phone grimly.

 

"Oh honey, you just missed him. He's going to the office as we speak. Seems like there was an emergency at work."

 

"Oh. Okay."

 

"Why don't you just call him?"

 

"I will..." Eunjung palms herself at the sudden idiocy. But heck, no one can blame her if she was starting to panic.

 

"Is there a problem? Or more like...relationship problems? You barely call at this time unless it was really serious and if there's trouble. I'm sensing this is about Jiyeon?"

 

"Yeah...something like that," Eunjung murmured. "Umma, do they really need to call interns at times like this for an emergency situation at the office?"

 

"Uh, no, not really. They call on the most important people. Your father doesn't want to bother the new kids. Why? Did Jiyeon get a call too?"

 

"Yes."

 

Mrs. Ham gasped. "Really? But she's just an intern. Your father would have mentioned if he wanted her there but he did say Jiyeon is an asset to the firm. Knowing you, he wouldn't dare call her like this though. I told him about you and Jiyeon and how dinner is always important to the both of you. Maybe he forgot to tell his employees not to bother her."

 

"Maybe."

 

"Don't worry, I'll tell dad to hold off on calling Jiyeon like this while she's still an intern, okay?"

 

"Thanks umma." Eunjung sighs.

 

"Come on, talk to umma. I know you're still troubled."

 

"Her supervisor called her in the middle of our argument and picked her up. I didn't know supervisors bring their interns home and pick them up at night," Eunjung sarcastically says.

 

Mrs. Ham turns quiet over the phone, surprised how Eunjung's words filled with venom. Her daughter was never spiteful, she was never capable of such tone either. She either spoke in monotone, whispers or simply a normal tone...but never sarcastic. NEVER.

 

"Okay, tell umma what you two were arguing about and I'll take care of that flirting supervisor for you. I'm sure dad will not be happy seeing her there at the office later."

 

"Thanks mom," Eunjung smiles, grateful indeed. She didn't want to abuse power but if she could use it for the greater good, then she would gladly bend the rules a little. Somewhere at the back of her mind thought that if her father was indeed powerful, it was her mother that held him in a grip. 

 

"Now, tell me."

 

"Still the same topic. I did try dodge the bullets but Jiyeon's too good at words and had managed to slip it in. I didn't know what else to say," Eunjung sighs again, plumping down on the bed.

 

"Eunjung, if you're not ready then tell her directly and work it out."

 

"I do...I do want to marry her."

 

"Then, what's the problem?"

 

"She thinks I don't want to."

 

"Tell her."

 

"I will."

 

"Did she say anything else?"

 

Eunjung sighs for the nth time that night. Her mother knew her too well. And so she simply told her the truth. "I think Jiyeon feels insecure about us."

 

"Why would she think that? Didn't you try to spare some time for her?"

 

"These days...not so much. We do try to talk. I've just been so busy..."

 

"Eunjung..."

 

"Umma, I know. It's my fault she feels that way. I just wish I saw it sooner. I didn't know that was behind her insistence of marriage." Eunjung closes her eyes in thought.

 

"Then do something about it."

 

"I will...it's just that, I'm not sure if the next thing I'll do is the right thing to do as of the moment..."

 

Mrs. Ham turns silent over the phone again. Eunjung sighs, trying to think. She always love how her mother gives her room to breathe, some time to think, a few seconds to recollect; even if they were simply in phone conversations. Sometimes she needed those the most at troubling times. And because of it, a question popped up in her mind.

 

"Umma...I have a question."

 

"Hmm?" Mrs. Ham simply hums, waiting for the question.

 

 "I'm not sure when the right time is. How should I know if it's the right time? If you know what I mean...You know, getting married and all..."

 

"I'm not sure, sweetie. Your father and I got married at a very inconvenient time; when I was still in college and he was beginning his career at a big corporation. I did want to marry him so much until he caved in and asked for my hand," Mrs. ham giggled, bring another smile to Eunjung's face. "As long as I knew he was the right one, I just had to marry him right away. I didn't see the point of delaying it further. I wanted to have all of him. And all of him, I got."

 

"Do you think Jiyeon feels the same as you did?"

 

"Oh definitely! She might have already even planned to marry you even before you figured out you loved her," Mrs. Ham giggles again at the recollection of a cert