Sehun stood there with his wide eyes staring into hers, completely stunned. And she realized in that moment, that she had never seen her husband so unguarded before. Everything about him from his posture, to the look in his eyes as if he wanted to understand what she had said but physically unable to absorb her words.

“What?” He breathed out after a full minute of shocked silence.

“I can’t stay here and pretend that nothing happened. I need to be true to myself. I need to leave at least for a while.” Jinri whispered as her entire body melted under his gaze.

“I’m trying. I really am. I made a mistake and I’m sorry but we knew this wasn’t going to be easy. We talked about this. We knew it would take time.” He started, rather abruptly.

“I’m not blaming you for anything, Sehun. And I know we talked about this. I can’t get to know you when you don’t let me when you insist on hiding behind that mask of yours and you can’t get to know me. I need some time. Please, that’s all I ask.” She said, feeling the prickling sensation of tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

“You’re asking me to let you go. You’re asking me to watch you leave.” His eyes burned unfamiliarly as he took a step back and collapsed on the couch.

“It’s not like I’m leaving you.” She answered.

“Then what are you doing?” He spared her a glace over his shoulder.

“I need this time, Sehun. This is not only about you and me. It’s about me alone. I was broken long before I got to you.” She took a seat on the couch beside him. She was attempting to control her tears.

“Tell me what happened.” He begged, shifting so that he was facing her, one of his hands automatically reaching for hers.

“No. Can’t you see? The time for that has passed. These are things we should have discussed from the very beginning.” Jinri sobbed, yanking her hand away.

“Then let’s start over now.” His solution was simple and the hope in his voice as he stated it nearly made her burst into tears.

“I can’t. I don’t know how to act, what to do. I don’t know what I feel and what I think. We can’t start over like this. It would just result in another mistake.”

“Was this what it all was to you? A mistake?” He demanded, suddenly angry.

“Then what was it, Oh Sehun? How do you call it?” She could barely speak as her tears choked her. The painful realization hit him like a ton of bricks. She was right. There were happy times when he felt that he was the luckiest man on earth for having her in his arms but nothing they had done had been right and there was no denying it anymore.

“I will call Kris hyung. He will find you an apartment and arrange everything for you.” He looked down as he spoke, gaze settled firmly on the floor, knowing that if he risked one glace at her, he would be done with.

“Sehun, you don’t need to do that.” She whispered, her voice trembling.

“Yes, I do. I’m going to take care of everything, okay? You just go get some sleep, alright? Go rest.” He insisted.

“Sehun.” She attempted again. The couch shifted underneath him as she inched closer, her small hand coming to rest on the nape of his neck.

“Just go, Jinri.” It took everything of him not to start crying right there.

Her breath caught in as she heard his choked demand. Her hand jerked away from him. Her eyes filled with hot tears and she opened to speak. A moment passed in silence and she gave up. Shaking her head, she stood up and practically ran out of the room. She refused to look back.

~•~

The week passed in a blur. The words exchanged between them were few. Sehun asked her when she wanted to leave. She answered with small, soft-spoken words. He found it hard to believe that he was now the one trying to strike up conversations and she the one avoiding him. Towards the middle of the week, he began to avoid her too.

One year, he’d had everything right in front of him. All he had to do was open his eyes and see it. And he hadn’t known how to appreciate. Now she was gone. She was going to leave to New York and although she had promised him this was not the end, he knew better than to believe that. He wouldn’t move on, he knew.

Finding a better man would be so easy; he didn’t even want to think about it. She was young. She was beautiful. She was smart, talented, kind-hearted and just about everything a man could possibly want in a woman. If she wanted, she could have any man crawling at her feet in less than a day.

“I am not your possession, Sehun! One day, I’m going to get fed up with all this and when that happens, I won’t give a damn about appearances. I will leave and I will never look back! I swear to you!”

She had said it once but he had been too stupid to pay attention. Now, all he could do was stand back and watch as she was carried away from him, forever.

~•~

Jinri stood leaning against the front of her husband’s SUV as she watched him discuss something with the pilot with sad, tired eyes. Behind them, a large jet was parked. The words Oh Enterprises were written across it in bold letters but she knew it was more for his personal use than anything else. The sound of his approaching footsteps made her look up. An emotionless façade had