"What do you want to talk about?" she initiates this, so I gather up all my courage to begin what is about to end everything for good. "I...I need to talk about something serious with you, and I'd like you to just listen for once...So..." I clear my throat, my eyes staying at the table, the floor, but never at her. "I...I'm not...My boss fired me two days ago..."

"What?" she already interrupts me when I hoped for her to listen to me and let me finish. "I lost my job because of a fight that happened with one of my co-workers."

"And where the hell is the money going to come from now? Do you think I earn enough to pay the bills? I have a car to pay," she does not even care about anything else as I expected her to do. "Are you a damn kid? Fighting with a colleague and getting fired? Is that a joke?"

"You do not know what this was about, so stop already," I do not let the anger take over me, and I control myself. "But you don't have to worry about that anyway, I'll take care of this house and my children all by myself. You have someone there to help you anyway, don't you?" I look at her, the tension making my heart beat faster. "What?" she feigns incomprehension, and I clench my jaw. "Stop pretending. Why are you still with me if you don't love me anymore?"

She sneers and glances away. "I know what you did and still do behind my back. I know you take me for a damn fool. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Cheating on me, having a baby with him, and telling me that he's mine? Then continuing this while pretending to still give a fuck about me when all you want is to hang out, not see your children anymore and have sex with your fucking boss?"

"You're ridiculous, Jungkook," she takes this lightly, not even coming clean about it. "All right," I give up on trying, not doing this any longer to not waste my time and energy. I grab the papers and turn them to drop them and make her come face to face with everything, and I take my ring off. "It's over. I can't do this anymore."

"Excuse me?" she scoffs and glances at the piece of paper. "Sign them and put an end to it, please. That's all I'm asking for," the knot in my throat chokes me, making it impossible to even swallow without feeling any pain. "You're accusing me of something—"

"Just sign them," I cut her off, too exhausted to even hear her act like a victim. A burst of chortle full of disdain runs away from her lips. "You know what?" she grabs the pencil. "Sure. I don't give a fuck about a man like you who does not even care about his wife anymore," she signs the papers, my leg bouncing non-stop as my hands do not want to stop trembling. "You hire a young hoe to feel better about yourself, you fuck her, treat me like shit only because you found a slut who makes you feel like you're young again, but you still dare to make up some stuff to play the victim? Sure, I don't give a fuck about you anymore, I can live without you," she carries on, deepening the wound to make sure she leaves a scar inside of me.

She stands up next to me. "What are you without your money anyway? Nothing, and that girl will prove me right once she knows and leaves you because she doesn't want anything else from you," she throws her ring at me, the one I put all my savings into when we were younger. "Here. I don't need this shit either. Fucking asshole," she goes back upstairs, not crying, not sharing any sign of pain after all the things we have shared together, all the care and love I gave her.

I keep my eyes on the pieces of paper, but the tears flood my eyes despite the fight I am having against myself to not break down. I bite my inner cheek, but I drop my eyes to the ground and pick up the ring. I take mine with it, and I stand up, crying but denying it. I head towards the kitchen, and I wipe my tears away, I throw the rings out to not see them anymore, and I get into my office to put the papers on my desk. I sit down on my chair, and I let all the agonizing pain go out.

•••

9:10 am.

'YOUR P.O.V"

I check the time, playing with Hyejoon but feeling preoccupied because of my instinct. Mister Jeon left the house one hour ago to drive Hajoon to school since it only takes him around ten minutes to be there, and he should have been back at least forty minutes ago. No texts, no calls since we barely do it, but today, this just does not seem right. I can feel it. Something tells me I should worry.

I take a peek at Hyejoon as I heard him make a cute noise, and he climbs up on me, sucking on his pacifier and being curious about the toy he has in his hands.

I've never done this, but this time it is necessary, so I text Mister Jeon.

[ hey, I'm sorry if I'm being rude or annoying, but are you okay? I thought you were supposed to come home after dropping Hajoon off, so I'm a bit worried >

I send it, and I put my phone down. I pray for him to be fine. If he still hasn't answered me in ten minutes, I freak out and call him.

My eyes dart towards my phone once I hear it ring, and I hurry to check what it is.

< I'm fine, don't worry, and no you're not annoying or rude. I'm coming home in a few minutes ]

[ okay, thanks for answering. I was scared >

I cannot believe I am really starting to be like this with him.

•••

10 am.

I walk down the stairs after putting the baby to bed, and I get on the sofa but lie down, not feeling hungry because of the anxiousness. I put my bunny plush on my face and close my eyes, telling myself that there is nothing to worry about since he is alive, he answered me, he is late, but he is okay. He probably needed to do something that took longer than planned, so let's not be pessimistic like that.

My body sits up in the blink of an eye once I hear a car in the driveway. I stay where I am to not seem too excited, and I keep the plush toy on my lap, waiting for him to come. My heart is racing for no good reason, but I stay calm.

I keep my eyes on the outside to see if I can perceive him, but since he parks the car in the garage, he only appears once he comes back from the right, and in only a few seconds, he unlocks the door and steps inside.

The reaction of my body when I see him does not feel the way I thought it would. This is not what I expected.

My hand flies to my mouth once I catch sight of him, but he avoids me, he takes his shoes and jacket off, drops his keys, and I hurry to go up to him. "What happened...?" my heart gets stepped on once I see his face from closer. The black eye, the cut on his cheekbone, the blood on his lip. I cannot stand this. "Don't worry, I'm okay," he lies to me, but I do not let him say such a thing this time. "No, you're not. Your face is bruised and injured, how the hell can you say that you're okay?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now...Can you help me to take care of it, please?" his voice sounds different, broken, husky. I keep my emotions under control as much as possible, and I do not let the tears run down, I move to the kitchen to take the medical supplies, and he goes on the sofa.

I make it quick to join him, and I sit down, but I can barely look at his face. I put some sanitizer in my hands to clean them again, but he comes closer and takes the stuff he needs out, using his left hand when he is right-handed, none of us saying a word.

I peek down at this right hand to know what is the matter but see a large bruise that covers his whole wrist up to half of his hand, the blood on his knuckles, and the shakiness of it. "Here, take this and soak it with alcohol," he tells me to do in a low voice, and I grab the cotton ball, but I start to tear up without wanting to, and he quickly notices it.

"Hey, why are you crying?" he touches my knee, skimming his fingers over it. "I can't stand to see you like that...it hurts..." the sobbing becomes even heavier once I give the reason for it. "Come on...Don't cry, y/n because you know I hate when you do," he closes the space between us and passes his fingers over my cheek. "Everything is okay. The only thing that is painful right now is to see you cry because of me."

I sniffle but turn towards him with the cotton ball in my hand. "What do I do?" I take care of him and focus on that only, but he smiles at me, not helping the ache inside of me. "Just where you see some blood."

"I'm scared to hurt you," I do not go for it right away. "You won't, just do it properly and don't be scared about that," he puts his hand over my lower back, and I kindly clean the cut on his cheekbone, going slowly and delicately to make sure I do not cause any pain. He gazes while I am doing this, not flinching, he rubs his hand on my back as if I was the one who needs comfort.

"I went to her workplace after driving Hajoon to school because I received a text from her boss..." he starts to explain to me what happened, letting me know everything. "When I was there, I thought we would have a talk, even though I did not want to see him because it would remind me of that day. I still wanted to know what he would tell me, so I faced him, but the thing is that he did not even talk about anything, he just started to beat me up without any explanation or anything...probably because she said some bullshit about me...I don't know...but I defended myself, that's why I'm in this state."

"They're both pieces of shit, and I hate them," my wrath escapes me before I could even restrain it, and he still has enough strength to grin. "Hey. Don't say that. Do not curse because of them. We don't care."

"I do care. Have you seen what he did to you? If I was there, I would have used your car to run over him," I do not even realize what I am saying because of the pain, and he pinches my cheek. "Shh. You wouldn't do that. You're a sweetheart."

"Not when people hurt the ones I care about," I make it clear, and I stop what I am doing after removing the blood from his bottom lip. He smiles without saying anything, and I put the cotton soaked with blood on the table. "This," he shows me the cream, so I take it and spread some on my finger to aim the same spots of his face. I rub the antibiotic into his skin. Once this is done, I stick a band-aid on his cut, and I leave it like this. "What about your hand?"

"I'd rather not touch it, I'm just going to put some ice and wait a few days for the swelling to go and allow me to go to the doctor," he tells me, knowing better than I do. "Okay," I tidy up now that I am done, and he lies down. I throw out the trash, and I put the medical stuff back in the cabinet it always is into. I wash my hands, but I do not go back to him, I take a look in the fridge to see what I can cook for him.

Not knowing yet, I take the bottle of milk, and I grab a cup, then the cocoa powder. I pour the liquid into the container, and I put it in the microwave for two minutes, and I take a peek at Mister Jeon, not seeing him since he is lying down. Once it rings, I take the warm cup out and add some cocoa, mix it up, and I put a straw into it to go back to Mister Jeon.

He looks at me once I am near, so I place the cup on the coffee table. "Here. Drink this," my runny nose makes me sound like a baby, but he smiles at me and sits up. "Wait," his word almost leaves in a whisper, so I stay. He takes my hand in his, and he pulls me towards him to put me between his legs, and he drinks a bit of the warm chocolate, wrapping one arm around me.

I watch him from so close, no matter how much it hurts, I press a kiss on his cheek, and he reacts in one of the softest manners, keeping the cup in his hands and hugging me. "If you were not here, I would have had a glass of whiskey to take the pain away instead of this..."

"But I'm here, so I won't let you drink that," I do not joke about this since it concerns his health. "I don't want to anyway, I want to...change...and recover from this. It's going to be very difficult because...even last night...when I couldn't sleep, I wanted to drink since it's the only thing that puts me to sleep easily, but then I thought about what happened the other day when you found me drunk...and I do not want this to happen again, and I promised to Hajoon that I would be healthy, so I want to be a better person now that I'm starting a new life..."

I smile at him, glad to hear those words from him. "I'm happy that you see the future in a positive way and have some goals, but don't worry, I'll be here to help you go through that, and I'll make sure you get rid of this sort of addiction."

He gazes at me, tenderly, and he presses his lips on the tip of my nose. "I'm even more determined to do it with you by my side."

Some bliss replaces the wrath and sadness I was feeling a few seconds later, and I snuggle up against him, rest my head on his chest and stay close to him.

•••

3:10 pm.

The red polish covering my middle finger, I do it as precisely as possible to not mess it up, and I then blow on it to let it dry. The third finger now done, I wait for a few seconds. "What are you doing?" Mister Jeon startles me, waking up from a nap without warning me. "I'm painting my nails."

He smiles and sits up on the sofa as I am sitting on the floor to be at the coffee table, and he comes right behind me, spreading his legs to inch closer and bend over me. "This looks pretty," he compliments me and grabs the bottle of water next to me to drink. "You like it?" I hold my hand up and turn my head to see his features, and he nods. "Hm. I do."

"I'm satisfied with it then," I lay my hand back on the table, but the warmth of his body radiates onto the back of mine, and he presses a kiss on my ear, running his fingers over my neck since my hair is tied up, and he caresses this sensitive spot. "Do you want me to paint your nails?" I lean back on his right leg to look into his tired eyes, his bruised one darkening his face. "Do you think that would look good on me?"

"It definitely would, you'll look even hotter," I whisper the last word to not regret it to the full, but he laughs and does not mind me saying that. "Paint them once you're done with yours then."

I cannot believe he accepted. "Really? I can do it on yours?" I hold the two bottles, ready to do it. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure this will be relaxing to see you paint my nails."

"Okay, pick between red and black," I show him both of the colors. "I want you to do it like you did on yourself," he asks to match me, so I start with the black polish. I keep it in my hold but turn around to get on my knees between his legs, however, I need him to be in another position. "You should put a pillow for me to have a support," I look for one, and he leans back, pulling his legs apart, I put one pillow between his thighs, and he lays his hand full of veins on it.

"Is it okay like this?" he asks me, but the only thing that my brain can think of is the night when the context of this question was meant to be different. "Yes," I pretend to not have had this in my head, and I focus on his nails.

"Will you want me to avoid your right hand to not risk hurting you?" I glance up at him after opening the bottle, but he shakes his head. "No, you can do it. It's fine."

"Okay," I take his answer and agree to do as told, and now, I keep quiet to concentrate on my actions. "This feels good, I don't know why," he smiles, leaning forth to take a closer look and be even more attentive to what I am doing. "You make me nervous, don't look at me," I mumble, and I glance up at him, but he gazes into my eyes with his big ones that not even the bruises can ruin. These days, he has been looking at me in a way that makes me feel like a special person, like someone precious. I do not know how to explain the feeling I get when he stares into my eyes, but the deepness, the emotions I can read through them, they have an effect that none other ever had on me.

Believing that affection that comes from me brings him some delight, I move up on my knees, and I gently leave a kiss on his lips. I pull apart after having the guts to do this, but he gazes into my eyes, making my heart race, he smiles at me but looks down at my lips to kiss me again.

"Don't forget that your bottom lip is injured," I speak against his soft skin to make sure he does not get hurt.

"I did a minute ago," he chuckles. "But your kisses heal my wounds, you know..." he subtly implies that he wants more, so I give him another one. "Here, I'm your pain killer," I smile but continue what I am doing, and he stays quiet, not moving but staying still. I do not know if I should hold back from doing this. I do not know where our relationship is, but I would rather not ask him.

"Could you put makeup on my face before I go and pick Hajoon up, please...?" his question gets me to stop and look up. "I don't want him to see this..."

I nod, the pain of this tearing my heart apart. "I will, don't worry."