The flashing lights blinded her vision and she felt like suffocating in her body clinging red dress. Her smile was pasted on her face as she practiced what she had perfected over the years. Jinli twisted her body a slight few degrees in towards Daehyun and kept her face at ease.

            The palm of his hand rested on her hip almost possessively as he turned her towards another camera. She waved and occasionally looked at him in what she hoped was an adoring manner. Once in a while, she would catch him looking down at her and his face was calm, peacefully set in what was supposed to be a loving gaze. It was only when their eyes met that she saw the liquid brown harden and felt her own insides freeze as well.

            The moment Daehyun left, her phone rang. He must have told her father because he had yelled at her, demanding that she stopped being childish and did as was expected.

            “I gave you away to him for a reason! You know it’s part of your duties as Daehyun’s wife to show up, and you better be there, stupid meeting or not.”

            Jinli didn’t talk back. She didn’t want to cry, and she knew every time arguing with her father made her cry. He would bring up her mother and then bring up that she owed him to do this. “When you get there, you better have a smile on your face because I swear if a hint of anything goes around, I will personally discipline you myself!”

            “Yes, Father,” she intoned and hung up dully.

            Her face ached from having to fake a smile for so long. The dreadfully long red carpet, where, since it was the couple’s first time out together in public, had been filled with the media who felt the need to be extra attentive to the two of them. She had had questions asking about their marriage, a potential child thrown at her. Some ruder photographers had even brought up what had happened that morning with Youngjae. To that, Daehyun’s answer was always, “That is a rumor and a misunderstanding. My wife being friends with my friends is only a blessing.”

            Even though Daehyun had kept a pleasant smile, the arm which she had been gripping tightened with every mention of the fiasco.

            As they were doing their obligatory rounds around the table, important clients had stopped them to chat. Some stars, who were meeting her for the first time, were simply adamant on talking to them.

            “You are absolutely gorgeous!” One of the actresses gushed. She had endured the older woman’s tight grip ever since she had accosted the two. “Daehyun, you better treat her well. Isn’t Daehyun the most dashing husband? You’re extremely lucky. I’ll tell you a secret. Even all the married women would do it all over again if he were available.” Jinli had smiled uncomfortably, not sharing their sentiments at all.

            Daehyun had laughed. “You’re going overboard. I know quite a many eligible bachelors who wouldn’t mind having another go with you.”

            It was a relief when a particularly enthusiastic investor had pulled him away and she found the chance to take a break. She had to give Daehyun some credit. He was excellent at pretending in front of the public.

            Jongup was sitting at a table with his girlfriend, a pleasant girl who worked in the media department. “Noona!” He greeted her when she slid into a chair. “Where did Hyung go?” Jinli shrugged and then felt a hand on her shoulders.

            Himchan leaned down. “I suggest you stayed around Daehyun so nobody will assume that there is anything going on.”

            She scowled and threw back a shot of tequila. The burn felt good sliding down . “I’m too tired to deal with this. My feet hurt and I want to go home.”

            The older man smiled briefly before it vanished. “What is she doing here?” He took Jinli by the hand, forcing her up and hurried to usher her away.

            “What’s wrong, Channie? I just wanted to introduce myself.” It was a sultry female voice and Jinli instinctively knew it was Hyosung. She turned around to look and saw a gorgeous woman approach. Like her, Hyosung was also dressed in red, but the aura around the latter was that of mystery and . Hyosung smiled, revealing canines that were a little sharper than most. “You must be Jinli. I’ve heard a little about you from Daehyun. I’m Hyosung. We’re old friends.”

            Jongup had stood up by then and Yongguk had joined. Her cat-like eyes flickered between them and her lower lip slid into a pout. “What’s with the bodyguard entourage? I won’t hurt her.”

            Jinli smiled then and held out her hand. “Good to see you. It’s a shame I have no idea who you were. I should really ask him to tell me more about you. How rude of Daehyun to have never mentioned such a good friend.”

            Hyosung’s eyes narrowed slightly but she kept her composure. “Yes, how rude.”

            There was a small pause where both women appraised one another until the devil himself appeared. “Hyosung! I didn’t know you were here.” He stopped short when he saw Jinli and the rest of his friends around her. Youngjae came up behind them.

            Quickly seeing the situation, he coughed. “Daehyun, Mr. Cho wanted to see you and Jinli. He’s by the VIP tables.”

            Jinli smiled sweetly again at Hyosung before brushing past her. “It was nice to meet you. Let’s go, honey.” She slid her arm into Daehyun’s and almost bit her tongue saying the endearment. There was a petty satisfaction at seeing the murderous look on Hyosung’s face before she turned blank. Jinli dug her nails into Daehyun’s arm to release her anger and they walked away.

***

            Women never ceased to baffle him. Daehyun had thought that she would be meeker but the clear resentment Jinli had for Hyosung was obvious even to him. He watched Jinli, who was sitting where he had left her under the pretense of getting them drinks.

            He did feel slightly apologetic about what had happened that morning and knew that given the cause of the whole thing, he should be nice to her. From the corner of his eye, he saw his mother talking animatedly with an investor. Daehyun shuddered to think of how his mother would react if she found out Jinli had ran away from home for a week. As he got the two drinks, Hyosung materialized in front of him.

            “Tell me,” she demanded. “Tell me you don’t love her.”

            Daehyun gripped the drinks tightly. “We’re in public.”

            She grabbed his arm, making the alcohol splash onto his suit. “Come to my place after. We need to talk.”

            He looked over at Jinli and saw that Junhong had joined her. Then, firmly, he jerked his arm out of Hyosung’s grip. “I have nothing to say to you.” It only hurt him a little bit to see her face crumple with disbelief and disappointment.

***

            The event ended late and Jinli knew she would be up until two or three, preparing for her meeting. She and Daehyun barely spoke on the way back and she was glad. Meeting Hyosung had completely thrown her off, and now she understood why he is so infatuated with her. Even though she had observed Daehyun purposely avoiding Hyosung, she could see from the way he did look at her that the feelings were definitely still there.

            Rather than making her angry, Jinli only felt sadness. It was unfair for the two of them to be stuck in this unhappy marriage when clearly they both had other lives to live. She glanced at Daehyun’s profile as he drove. His mouth was tightly pressed into a thin line and his grip on the steering wheel was rigid. It was only when they pulled up to the house that he finally spoke.

            “Will you move back to the bedroom?”

            The request shocked her and she paused in getting out of the car. Daehyun wasn’t looking at her but she knew how much it took for him to ask. As she was replying, his phone lit with a call. Both of them glanced at it and saw the caller ID: Jeon Hyosung. Jinli got out of the car.

            “I think it’s better if we separated a little. Live our own lives.”

so from here, I'm going to start really having to plan how I want the story to continue

I have an idea of what I want to happen, but to avoid filler chapters and unnecessary drama, I'm going to have to regroup and really get it concrete

I hope you guys liked this~

Also this song, listen to it. It's so sad and ugh. ♥ It helps that I understand it but definitely read the translations