(34 months)

It was the night before Jihyo officially started work.

Before they put their children to sleep, the brought them into the master bedroom. Jiyoung and Ji-ohn sat facing their parents, looking confused. They were usually only given this treatment when they did something wrong.

Looking at their worried faces, Jihyo broke into a smile.

Caressing their cheeks, she clarified, “Aniya, you didn’t do anything wrong… we just want to talk to you, is that ok?”

The children nodded slowly, not fully comprehending what happening. Jihyo looked at Gary, asking him to start.

Gary started to explain, “Jiyoung-ah, Ji-ohn ah, do you remember last time appa always went out early and came home late?”

Ji-ohn didn’t respond, but Jiyoung nodded.

“Do you remember why?”

“Eomma said you had work,” he answered, looking at his mother for confirmation. Jihyo smiled again, nodding.

“Now, appa’s finished my work, but eomma will start her work tomorrow,” Gary continued, looking at his kids’ expression carefully. They don’t seem to get the drift, so they didn’t start crying.

“So, from tomorrow onwards, appa will stay at home to look after you, okay?” Jihyo asked.

“Eomma neun?” Ji-ohn asked, reaching out for her mother.

Jihyo reached out her hand for Ji-ohn to hold on to. Using her arm as a guide, she went into her mother’s embrace. She snuggled against Jihyo’s chest, still holding onto her hand.

“Eomma has to go out to work,” she replied, petting Ji-ohn’s cheeks. “So I’ll not be with you.”

Finally understanding, tears started to form in Ji-ohn’s eyes.

“Andwae… andwae…” she whined, holding to her mother even tigher. Jiyoung, still clueless, looked at his sister blankly.

Jihyo’s heart started to ache. How could she bear to leave her two babies behind? She reached out her hand, asking for Jiyoung to come closer. He stood up on the bed and stepped over to her, snuggling beside her. Jihyo put her arm around him.

“Listen to appa well, arrasseo?”

Jiyoung just nodded, still confused. Ji-ohn was still sobbing. It wasn’t the wailing kind of crying; it was soft and choked, like she knew that her cries wouldn’t be changing anything. Jihyo carried her up and hugged her close, patting her back to soothe her cries.

That night, the children slept with their parents in the master bedroom.

Early next morning, Jihyo woke up to prepare for work. She got out of bed as quietly as possible to avoid waking the children or Gary. She slept on one side of the bed, beside her was Ji-ohn, then Jiyoung, and Gary was on the other side of the bed.

She gently removed Ji-ohn’s legs which were sprawled across hers. She flinched a little at the touch, but didn’t wake up.

Jihyo went to the toilet to wash up and get dressed. She didn’t take long, since her coordi will help her make do her make up later.

Before she left the room, she kissed her children goodbye. Because it was rather early, her children did not stir. She then went over to the other side of the bed to kiss Gary’s forehead.

“Take care of yourself and the children well,” she whispered, before turning away.

Gary reached out to grab her hand, pulling her back. She was shocked at first, but then she started to smile. “Have you been awake all these while?” she asked.

He smiled back playfully as he got up from the bed, leading her to their dressing table. He pulled out the first drawer and took out a small, black box.

“For you,” he said, pushing the box into her hand.

“Eung?” she said, as she opened the box. In the box, there was a necklace with a heart-shaped pendant.

“What’s this for?” she asked. She was pleasantly surprised, but she can’t remember the occasion. Was it the day they first met, or the day Monday couple started, or the day they officially started dating?

Reading her thoughts, he shrugged. “Must there be a reason to give my wife a present?” he said, taking the necklace from her hands. “Let me help you.”

"How did you know I was going to kiss you goodbye?" she asked. "If I didn't, then you wont be able to give this to me!" Jihyo asked as her fingers played with the pendant while Gary help her put in on. 

Gary smiled smugly. "Just because," he answered.

She rolled her eyes playfully as she put down the pendant. To her surprise, the pendant opened up, the catch loose from her playing just now.

“Oh?” she said, bringing up the pendant for a closer look. There were two sides to it now. On one side, it was a photograph of Gary and herself. It was small, but she still could tell when they took it. It was during their wedding photo-shoot, when they were watching the sunset by the beach. Only their side profile could be seen from the photograph, but their blissful smiles were captured by the camera, and beautifully illuminated by the setting sun. The other one was a photograph of Ji-ohn and Jiyoung. It was a candid shot of them playing in the water playground in their estate, and both of them were laughing happily as they got drenched by the water sprays.

“Omo,” she let out a small whisper in awe. “It’s pretty,” she said, playing with the necklace.

“This way, we’ll always be close to your heart,” he said, smiling cheekily. “Do you remember what I said to you, when this photo was taken?” he asked, pointing to their photo.

Gary has told her so many romantic things before, that she couldn’t even remember everything. But this, she could.

The sea breeze messed up her long hair and he helped her brush away her hair. Just when their eyes met, he looked at her intensely and told her, “Jagiya, even the sun rises and sets every day, the tides rise and fall, and the moon wax and wanes. Nothing is ever constant, and even the Sun will burn out in a few million years, but even till then, I’ll still love you.”

And with the glistening sea and crimson sky as a background, they completed the picture with a kiss.

(awfully short chapter hahahah but lol that song keeps repeating in my head i dont even know why!!!! so i had to write a chapter about sunsets HAHAHAH)