"Unnie, you're still not asleep?"

I hesitated since I had been trying to pretend to sleep while trying to fall asleep for real, but who was I kidding, she knew me more than I knew her. And she might have changed a lot over the years, with the changes in her life, but mine is still the same more or less, she would be able to tell what I try to hide, but would I be able to do the same about her?

"Yes, it's just...a little stuffy tonight."

Contrary to my prediction, she only answered with a silence, which made me uneasy instead.

"Is JJ asleep?"

"Yes, she must have been tired brooding all day." She laughed a little uncomfortably. Even in the dark, that awkwardnesss in her laugh could be detected. Because she's never been anything but genuine and generous with laughter that when it's not, you just could tell.

"JJ's a good girl. I haven't seen Omma being so happy like this past week." Even though I knew I wouldn't be able to see her, I bent towards the direction where lay her makeshift bed, since there's no spare bed in my room. It had been many years since she left this country. Many things had change too. One thing that hasn't is that, she's still as beautiful as back then and she still carried that vibrant energy with her that made me feel proud and embarrassed at the same time, to call myself related to this woman. She's even blessed with such a pretty daughter.

"Unnie, don't take Omma's harsh words to heart. You know she doesn't mean it. You'll eventually get married to someone too. And since it's a long wait...you know it'll be someone really worthy."

I could only scoff.

"Jinyoungie, your corny words...I just can't okay...no need to be overly positive with me. You know me, right? How's JJ's Appa doing anyway? Is he really that busy? It's not like we ever met him again after the wedding and you moved away and you haven't mention much about him."

Again, strangely there was no answer. Jinyoung was never not proud to blabber about things she love or is proud of. In fact, with Jinyoung, the house would never be silent or gloomy or even calm. But somehow, over the past week, I noticed that she has quieted down a lot even when she laugh. I don't like that change.

It's as if so many things have changed and I was kept in the dark, where nothing changed, when everything else out of this darkness have turned upside down.

"Youngie...is everything...okay?...or..."

"Unnie...it's all over..." I felt the shiver in her voice and how her hands grappled to reach for me in the dark as I immediately took her arms and pulled her into my embrace. 

"How could you be holding everything in and pretending to be alright and chirpy for the one whole week?" I patted her back as she cried harder mumbling in between her sobs, of things I couldn't understand, and I knew that she's aware of that fact as well.

"Does JJ knew about this?"

She nodded. By now, she had calmed down but remained in my arms, and had told what happened, vague, but for an outsider like me, that should be enough. Even though I'm her sister, she ought to have secrets of her own. She's married and had her own family afterall. There would be details she could no longer share with anyone else outside of her own little family.

"No wonder she's been so quiet. Aish...Jinyoung-ah..." I tightened the hug, rubbing my palm up and down against her back, not knowing how else to approach the disturbing moment. What could I say to a woman facing a broken marriage, when I myself had never been in one to really understand how it could be that bad. Maybe I'm too naive and simple minded for my age. Love, for me, has always been simple. Should be. If you love someone, nothing trivial could break a relationship as solid as marriage. After all, don't you get married because you love each other? And if you really love each other, how can you give up on each other simply because things didn't work out? Isn't love enough to make you work everything else out? If you love, isn't that the onl