Hyomin realized she had come home to a war the moment she stepped through the door that had been left ajar to see the cracked flat screen and something she recognized as Jiyeon’s iPad now broken on the floor.

She had come too late to watch Eunjung sobbing in her hands as she sat on the couch and hearing the cries from her other best friend Jiyeon from behind the bedroom door.

But the glaring evidence of what may have transpired while she was gone was the lone wedding ring on the living room table in front of the inconsolable looking Eunjung.

“What happened?” She managed to croak out despite her shaking fear but Eunjung merely shakes her head, not wanting to speak, nor could she speak as Eunjung looks at her with her teary eyes and trembling lips before breaking down into more sobs.

Hyomin quickly rushes to the bedroom, needing desperately for answers only to realize it had been locked. She pounds on the door but Jiyeon ignores her pleas.

She was just a few minutes late; a little too late.

The morning after was an eerie quiet with Eunjung sprawled down on the couch, hugging herself to sleep. There weren’t birds chirping, it was just the dull hum of cars outside that passed despite the suns bright rays of light waking everyone up in the apartment, making everything gloomier than it already was.

Hyomin had only slept for a few hours trying to get Eunjung to calm down and the most she could do was to let the silent tears flow from her best friend’s eyes as she stares at the wall. Eunjung was completely lifeless, her eyes blank as she cried succumbing to sleep eventually.

Jiyeon had quieted down while Eunjung fell asleep and Hyomin had slumped beside the door last night listening to Jiyeon’s sniffing until she couldn’t hear anything any longer. It was the only thing she could do last night to make sure Jiyeon was safe, and hearing her soft snores as she pressed her ear to the door made Hyomin at ease before she could let herself get some rest from a long day and she too had broken down, taking out the flask she had hidden for good measure to get herself drunk in tears ‘til she fell asleep.

To say it was a bad day was an understatement. It was the worst day.

From her finally agreeing to Sunny’s terms, agreeing to the divorce and preparing for the separation (as if she could prevent herself from not feeling any pain from the break up), this comes along. Eunjung finally snapping and Jiyeon finally ending their relationship like Lizzy had warned.

What took her so long to come home was the fact that she had asked everything from Lizzy. She wanted answers, straightforward answers, for which Lizzy had willingly given. Lizzy had started off answering questions about her side of the story and more than that. Lizzy had given her the heads up and telling her what Jiyeon had been through all along that all the guilt had rushed to her like a surprising bath of cold water.

All along she had been grieving for her relationship, Jiyeon too had been very much insecure about her role in Eunjung’s life. Why else would she feel unworthy for Eunjung giving up her dreams for her? Why else would she not fight for their relationship when Eunjung likes someone else and thinks her wife preferred someone else like Suzy? How could she ever even think that Eunjung wasn’t or hasn’t been happy with her?

Jiyeon had told Lizzy everything yesterday over lunch, and Lizzy told Hyomin about it hours after. It was a surprise itself that Lizzy had figured Jiyeon never got to tell Eunjung about her, something she told Hyomin about for which Hyomin only confirmed.

Why? She would never know exactly why Lizzy would even bother. She did figure some things out as to ‘why’ exactly Lizzy called her up to talk, formulating answers to this exact question as she had walked home last night at a leisurely pace. She could only think of one.

Maybe Lizzy had felt fault in herself, Hyomin thought. That maybe, Lizzy had not forgiven herself for what happened years ago…after all, how many times could a fragile, overprotected, girl like Jiyeon be cheated and left by one lover after the other.

It was just too unfortunate that she hadn’t bothered enough to know what Jiyeon had been going through. How could she not see that? That Jiyeon had been feeling so lowly about herself, even as much avoid dating for as long as she could to a point of marrying into the safest option just so she could avoid being hurt any more than she had been.

All along she had been clinging to Eunjung for support, while deep inside she was scared. And to fall in love with the only person she clung onto for support was more frightening than she could ever imagined. If Eunjung had left her, there would be nothing for her and Hyomin thought, that would have destroyed Jiyeon especially when her whole life she had depended on Eunjung so much to stay with her, to be with her.

Things wouldn’t have gone the right way with Eunjung feeling insecure about Lizzy and her achievements anyway. Lizzy is the living example of what Eunjung dreamed to be. What Lizzy has is the example of what Eunjung had wanted to have. How Lizzy works is what Eunjung had wanted to do for which she had given up a long time ago. But seeing Lizzy so close to Jiyeon, the one Eunjung gave up everything for, made Eunjung lose sight of everything.

What Lizzy told her about Jiyeon’s thoughts about Eunjung’s unhappiness, Hyomin knew was true. The unfulfilling feeling of doing something you’re not that passionate about is a long and painful internal suicide. But as long as Eunjung had Jiyeon, Eunjung fought through that until Lizzy came along and broke that reserve.

Both of her best friend had issues they both needed to face.

Hyomin was just caught in the middle of encouraging them to either fix the issues together…or fix their issues separately.

She didn’t know what to do because for Jiyeon, all she wants for Jiyeon is to stand by herself, to learn to live without depending on anyone in terms of decisions and as a whole being. That was what her best friend needed the most and not just continuously depend on Eunjung.

Eunjung just needed to do what she has to do, what she wanted to do with her life and not base her life to fit Jiyeon’s needs.

So what was she to do now?

-

She wanted to think about this as a nightmare...can this be just a nightmare?

But the moment she fluttered her eyes open with so much difficulty and to see Eunjung wasn’t beside her, Jiyeon knew she was currently living the nightmare.

Jiyeon wanted so much to not wake up and simply just drift away from the world for a second longer as she stares blankly at the ceiling, trying to hard not tear at the thought that she was waking up alone for the first time in their supposedly shared bed.

It must be quite ironic how they first found themselves in a completely strange and awkward situation a few months ago and now she was laying here barely surviving at the thought of waking up alone from now until the future.

Her heart felt dull. Her heart must be swelling, bruised and beaten just from the decision she had made last night, for the decision Eunjung had numbly and subtly agreed to with a slight nod of her head.

That small, almost unnoticeable gesture was enough for Jiyeon to feel a rush of insurmountable, torturous pain.

Everything had already been blur when she had taken off her wedding ring, Eunjung had looked at her as she gingerly places it on the coffee table, and what had made Jiyeon break and crumble was even when she slowly walked to the bedroom, Eunjung didn’t come after her.

Eunjung let her leave.

Eunjung had let her walk away.

And from that moment on, she willed herself to let Eunjung go.

It just felt like there was nothing left to wake up for, if it weren’t for her blaring phone constantly ringing on her bedside table.

“Boss? We’re opening in like two and a half hours’ time,” came Amber’s slightly panicky voice on the other line. “Where are you guys?”

“I’m on my way.”

Even that sentence alone made Jiyeon want to break down.

She’s never used ‘I’ that much, but it looks like she’s gonna have to force herself to accept that.

-

Hyomin stirs from, what she could even barely call, her sleep with a blurry image of Jiyeon’s back hurriedly walking towards the door.

“Jiyeon!” She calls out but she was only quick enough to have the door close the moment she stood and the sight of Eunjung blankly staring at the door.

“Eunjung, what the ! Get up!” Hyomin pulls on her best friend’s sullen figure. “Go after her!”

“No.”

“What?!”

“No. Let her.”

“Eunjung,” Hyomin groans in frustration, yanking Eunjung up on her feet. “You better get dressed and do something about this! I ain’t leaving the two of you like this!”

“Hyomin, leave me alone,” Eunjung shrugs off.

“God, Eunjung,” Hyomin lets out, throwing her arms up in the air. “Why did you just let her go?!”

“Will you just shut up?! Let her go! Leave me alone!”

“What happened last night?” Hyomin breathes out, startled by Eunjung’s wrath. She wanted details, and she wanted them now.

“We broke up.” Eunjung looks down, her shoulders shaking with every sob and tear that broke from her hold as Hyomin gives in and envelopes her in her embrace. “We broke up…she broke up with me and I didn’t do anything about it…Hyomin, what am I supposed to do without her? I love her Minnie. I didn’t mean it.”

-

“Jiyeon, I need to talk to you,” Hyomin says as soon as she spotted Jiyeon in the shop.

But it was quite the wrong timing as everyone were rushing past them, bringing pastries Hyomin had seen Eunjung and the team have been working on to be brought out for display.

It was a blast of colors and delicious aromas that had only made her stomach complain as time ticked by but if she wasted any more time she was afraid that there really wasn’t going to be anything to fix at all, she’s afraid it couldn’t be helped anymore.

Jiyeon’s eyes were blank and tired as she met Hyomin’s eyes. It was enough to tell that she probably didn’t have much sleep like she did.

The fact that she saw luggage by the bedside was enough for Hyomin to panic and rush to Piece-Of-Cake, after a little pep talk with Eunjung, like a true woman with a mission.

There was no talking some sense into Eunjung yet, especially when she’s still inconsolable. But she wasn’t giving up, not now, not yet. She had so much hope for Eunjung to finally get up from the couch and get her woman back. After all the small pep talk she had to do shouldn’t go to waste! No sir’ree!

“You love her, then do something about it,” She had said.

Eunjung had refused so many times until she had to scream, “God damn it Eunjung! There’s a ing luggage in the bedroom that I know doesn’t belong to me! So unless you want Jiyeon u-hauling her away from you and slapping divorce papers at your face, then you need to get ‘yo ing up and apologize and then work it out! If you’re not going to do something about it, for ’s sake, then I will!”

Hyomin’s throat had hurt after that speech. She didn’t even care if she didn’t take a shower, but she marched out the apartment and made her way to Piece-Of-Cake, now face to face with Jiyeon herself.

Jiyeon had prepared herself long enough for a separation, a separation she will not let happen.

Even if they were in the middle of a bustling pastry shop as people started lining up outside and their staff were running around, both in excitement and nerves as they all strived for perfection their boss demands, Hyomin could not wait.

“Later, please, just give me a few minutes,” Jiyeon promises her best friend as their staff gathered around her.

And it was then that Hyomin fully admires Jiyeon’s maturity. Her dependence on Eunjung…Jiyeon was willing to let go of that.

Hyomin wasn’t sure if bringing them together again would chase away that small courageous part of Jiyeon that’s braving for an independence she didn’t recognize. Because now that she looks at it, it would bring both of them a lot of good if they separated to become strong individuals. But in the end, that would have been their decision, not hers.

For now, she loves the strong brave front Jiyeon put on for others, giving other people a chance to depend on her, taking a chance of letting people depend on her. This is a different Jiyeon she is seeing that despite how much it must have ached inside knowing Eunjung wasn’t around.

It didn’t matter if it was only pretend.

Pretending was better than nothing at all. It was a glimpse of the real thing that Jiyeon had inside of her that she didn’t let out.

And that was what stopped Hyomin from pestering her as Jiyeon smiles as brightly as she can to hide the sadness in her eyes, and the fear she was probably wrapped around. She had smiled as if she was the happiest person in there.

Pretending to be the happiest person because at least from that, she could keep doing that until it came true. It might pull her through throughout the busy reopening.

Pretending to be perky made everyone believe she was the most excited.

Pretending to be cheery made her look like she was the most cheerful for the celebration.

Pretending to say enc