Biting back a scowl, you nudged the man beside you. “Stop it.”

“Stop what?” he asked with feigned innocence, Jaebum’s smile brightening his face before he waggled his eyebrows. “I’m just helping my pregnant wife do some shopping.”

“I cannot believe she actually used it this time!” you exclaimed, uncaring that your voice had risen to the octave it had, and nearby shoppers turned to look at you. Giving your husband a measured glance, you then huffed indignantly. “I am not pregnant! What will she do at the next event when I’m there and not showing even the slightest of a baby bump?”

Jaebum’s grin was uncontained. “We could change that.”

“Don’t mock me. I couldn’t make it this time because of that crazy court case extending well into the evening. It’s not a bad thing to have a lawyer as a daughter. My parents proudly tell everyone. Why not tell the truth?”

“That you’re a badass lawyer who’s married more to her job than her husband? I doubt my mother would ever care to admit that out loud. She would see it as a stain on her reputation. You know what she’s like, Y/N.”

You stopped pushing the trolley, staring at Jaebum’s side profile. He noticed your halt a second later, turning back to watch you curiously. You frowned. “Am I that bad to be shackled to?”

“What?”

“You just said I’m more involved with my career than you. Is that how you see us?”

“No,” he said as he backtracked to your side. “I knew you were career-driven when we agreed to all this. It’s why you married me, after all.”

That didn’t ease you at all. Blinking several times, you looked at the trolley and shoved it along with a little more force than needed. You felt wrong, and you didn’t like it. The past ten months hadn’t felt like this. Sure, you bickered a lot in the first few months, but you were accustomed to Jaebum’s ways now. He was more than just your living companion. You spent more time with him than anyone else in your life. You had believed that mattered.

To him. To you.

And it did. You stopped again in the aisle, blinking more slowly. Somewhere, you had become attached to Jaebum. That was why the growing unease in the pit of your stomach hurt as much as it did. You were disappointed, though you couldn’t tell with who more. Yourself, for losing sight of what this scheme was, or with him, for thinking so little of you.

“Y/N,” Jaebum called, a warm hand cupping your jaw suddenly. You flinched out of your thoughts, spotting the hurt within his eyes at your physical reaction. You didn’t like that either. You were both entangled with the other, and now, after all these months and so close to the finish line of the year together, it had gotten messy. You hated how ugly this all was feeling.

“I just think she shouldn’t have used that. I’m not pregnant. And although a baby has never existed inside me, I don’t think it’s something to lie about. Do you know what some of the most heartbreaking moments of my job have been? Over infertility. I’ve had clients sob in my office about their significant partner wanting a divorce over the taxing nature of not having children. Some are crueller. Some of these men leave their partners because of no birthed offspring within a couple of years of marriage. Love is such a fickle creature, huh?”

You sniffled, closing your eyes when you realised how worked up you were over this. You didn’t want to admit you were in similar shoes to your clients. You didn’t need love in this relationship. Especially so close to the expiration date. You needed to get your head clear and back in the game.

But when you opened your eyes again, Jaebum was staring at you sadly. It confused you, and you merely stared back at him, unsure if you wanted to know what was turning over in his thoughts right now.

“I’ve enabled her to upset you. I’ll fix this.”

You shook your head. “We’ll just lose the imaginary baby. I’m sure the sympathy she’ll reap will make it better.”

Jaebum’s eyes grew hard. “No. You’re right. The truth is better.”

“The truth,” you agreed weakly, forcing a smile before returning to your shopping.

You didn’t know what the truth was anymore.

“Your eyes are indecent.” Looking sharply at Tessa, you then turned to see who she was talking to. Jaebum merely smirked. “If my husband looked at me that hungrily after a year of marriage, I’d be thrilled. I think Mark only gets that excited when I bake him cookies.”

“I do not. I look at you lovingly all the time.”

“My eyes are indecent?” Jaebum wondered, stepping to your side and shooting you a questioning look. “Baby, what’s wrong with my eyes?”

“Ignore Tessa. She’s just stirring where it’s not needed,” you remarked, chastising your friend with a warning look. “Besides, it’s not been a year quite yet.”

“Counting down the days to your first anniversary?” Mark wondered, and Jaebum picked up his drink off the bar table, taking a sip before gazing back at you.

“Every second, more like.”

Tessa laughed. “How you haven’t combusted over this past year with him, I’m equal parts amazed and impressed, Y/N.”

“You are very smooth, Jaebum, but I highly doubt I’m on your mind every second of the day. And can we please get back to the real reason we’re out celebrating tonight? It’s about you two! Securing your first home together is seriously a big deal. I’m so happy for you both.”

“Thanks, Y/N,” Mark said as he clinked his beer bottle against the side of your wine glass. “It’s been a long time coming, but after five years of marriage, we can finally say city living will no longer bother us. Suburban life, here we come.”

“Next will be two kids and a dog?” Jaebum offered, and Mark grinned.

“We’ve got the dog already,” Tessa reminded, slipping a hand over Mark’s waist, and cinching it in her grip, staring up at her husband adoringly.

You felt a sharp pull in your chest at that look. Whilst Jaebum was the master of bedroom eyes, this was how you wanted to stare at someone and be on the reciprocating end of too. Clutching the glass in your hand at the realisation, you downed what remained in one go, signalling to a bartender for a refill.

You only had mere weeks left until this intoxicating confusion would reach its culmination.