*a few weeks later*

Maya

It has been almost over three weeks since the mediation session ended with attorney Cha, and Taehyung has been managing quite well, given that the divorce would be through any day now. He has been meeting Areum and spending time with her every weekend, yet since this is all so new to all of them, she hasn't yet spent a night alone with her father.

They meet, play and spend time together during the day, and at night she goes back to Jang-Mi.

Taehyung does, of course, get extremely withdrawn sometimes when he misses Areum a lot, and I try my best not to get him out of it because I know that nothing will work when it comes to his daughter. So I just let him be until he comes out of it on his own.

Areum, however, talks to him over the phone at least once every day, and he is always at his happiest when he speaks with her.

Taehyung and I even spent a lot of time making some decisions about how and when to move in together, and the conclusion that we arrived at was that it would be best not to move in together right away.

Areum has to learn to adjust to the new life of Taehyung and Jang-Mi living apart, and understanding that she will only get time with one of her parents at a time. It is going to be really hard for her, and if I try to spread myself over that small space, then it will only make her despise me, and we don't want that at any cost.

I want to be a part of her life for a very long time, and if living together with Taehyung has to be pushed to later so that Areum gets her breathing space, then I'm all in for it.

Her emotions are foremost.

Taehyung hasn't been living in his home since he felt that it would make him miss her even more. So during these past few weeks, we have been living together at my home, making the most that we can of our time together.

Lost in my own thoughts, I curl up with my cup of coffee on the swing chair at the balcony of the guest bedroom where we slept last night.

My eyes lazily shift away from my steaming cup of coffee to look at an elderly couple that always took a morning walk down the street. The couple greet me as they walk closer to my home, and I climb out of the swing chair to greet them back by bowing my head and waving to them with a big smile.

Just then, the door to the balcony creaks open, causing my head to turn in that direction. Taehyung walks out on to the balcony, squinting hard at the morning light, his hair sticking out in all directions.

He pulls his sweatpants a little higher up his waist as he comes closer to me and pecks my lips once.

"Morning, TaeTae!" I greet him and try to tame his disheveled bedhead with one hand.

"Morning, Maya," he smiles sweetly while greeting me in his seductive morning voice as he finally manages to open his eyes wider.

Slinging an arm around my shoulder, he walks us to the railing at the edge of the balcony, and we stand there rejoicing in the warmth of the morning sun as well as each other's company.

The elderly couple has now very slowly reached the path just outside my house, and then they turn around and begin walking back in the same path that they came in.

"Taehyung, this couple has been married for over fifty years now," I speak softly as I move closer to him and pass my cup of coffee to him when he asks for it.

"Wow! Fifty years? That's amazing," he exclaims as he takes a sip of the coffee and nods his head a few times.

"Yeah. And I've seen them on their morning walks ever since I moved in here, and they have a beautiful garden too. They look so happy together, and I love them so much," I smile big, turning my head a little to look at him.

"They look so much like my grandparents. They were married for fifty-seven years when my grandfather passed away. I've always dreamed of having a life like them...they were always happy with each other and laughing at even silly things," he reminisces with a huge grin, taking another sip of coffee thereafter.

"Wow! Older couples are always such life goals. This couple doesn't have any children. They haven't missed a single morning walk in all these years, and they actually used to walk a little faster, but then that grandpa slipped and fell in the garden and broke his leg a few months ago. After that they just stroll by very slowly, and that grandma always holds on to his hand so tight and safe," I speak, keeping my eyes on the elderly couple who have now walked a few blocks away from my home.

"Those little actions are louder than all the other words. That's the kind of love that is so pure...it lasts forever. Literal life goals," Taehyung rests his elbows on the railing and leans forward, turning his head a little to look at me.

"That's true," I agree, leaning forward on the railing beside him, keeping my eyes on his ethereal face that is glowing under the warm and golden rays of the morning sunlight.

"Maya," Taehyung calls out my name in a breathy whisper. "I want us to grow old together. I want us to be like them, happily in love even in our eighties," his mesmerizing eyes search mine for an answer even though he hasn't yet asked me a question, and it suddenly makes every hair fiber in my body stand on its end.

"I want that too... for us," I chuckle softly, returning my gaze to the morning sky, and then to the old couple who are turning the corner of the street. "I want us to be together for many more years, in a home filled with lots of love and children," I add softly.

We haven't yet openly spoken about marriage or family expansion since the grief of his separation is still so raw. Yet this little moment, right now, feels like an assurance that there is a strong future that lay ahead of us.

Taehyung's hand takes hold of mine, our fingers intertwining as he laughs softly, nodding a few times.

"I want that too... Maya, all of this seems too good to be true. It feels like a dream, but it isn't, right?" He turns to look at me at the exact moment I turn to look at him.

Smiling, I lean forward and kiss him softly, allowing my hand to slowly glide down from his shoulder past his chest and to his waist.

"Does it feel real now? To me it definitely does... morning breath, coffee breath... this doesn't happen in dreams, right?" I scrunch my nose and playfully pinch his waist, making him squeal and laugh.

About thirty minutes later, Taehyung is done brushing his teeth and taking a quick shower.

"I need to bring in some more clothes. Didn't I wear this shirt to work like two days ago?" He asks me, quirking a brow at me while he wears his necktie, standing in front of the dresser mirror.

"Yeah, I wanted to tell you that too. I'm off work today, so if you want me to go pick up some of your clothes from your home, I can do that. I don't have anything else to do," I declare, sitting down cross-legged on the bed while watching him get dressed for work.

"If that's not too much, please do it, Maya. I can guide you when you get there," Taehyung smiles a little as he fishes inside his briefcase and hands me the keys to his house.

"Great. I'll do that!" I show him a thumbs-up, and then we proceed to have breakfast together.

After about fifteen minutes, Taehyung leaves for work, and I pick up my car keys and head straight to his home. I park my car in the driveway and walk towards the mailbox which is stuffed with a few letters.

Collecting all the mail, I place them inside my handbag and proceed to head inside his home. Having been uninhabited for over three weeks, the house smells a little musty and stale; a strange smell that seems like a battle between rotten fruits and dusty carpets is polluting the air, making me feel a little dizzy.

I rush to open up the windows and ventilate the house a little before I head inside the kitchen and discover that the trash is still in there, and there are also a few unwashed dishes in the sink. The fruit bowl on the dining table has a few oranges and bananas that have long gone bad and contributing to the foul smell within the house.

Filling up the kitchen sink with soapy water, I let the dried dirty dishes soak in it while I clear the fruit bowl and tie up the trash and place it outside the front door. The smell inside gets a little better in a while, and then I proceed to wash the dishes and clean out the fridge as well.

There is a wafer-thin film of dust coating all the furniture, but still the house looks and smells a lot better now, after which I call Taehyung's phone.

"Hey, have you reached?" He asks me.

"Yeah, I have. You had left the trash as is in the kitchen, and the dishes weren't washed as well. I just took care of all that and ventilated the place a little. It feels better in here now," I declare as I bend a little to look at the framed photos of Areum and her parents, placed on top of the chest of drawers, tracing my fingertip over the photoframes.

"I'm sorry, Maya. I was in a bad state when I last went there. I'm usually not such a dirty person," Taehyung apologizes quietly.

"Yeah, unless you're in bed," I chuckle when he does the same.

"Where do I find your clothes, baby?" I ask him as I turn around and look at the two closed bedroom doors ahead of me.

"The room on the left, third shelf. Just pick up whatever you want to. The bags are in the drawers under the bed," Taehyung gives me the details, and I hum in response.

"There was some mail as well. I've picked up those," I inform him as I enter the room and locate the third shelf, opening it up thereafter.

"Was there any from attorney Cha?" He quizzes me in a sudden deep and serious tone.

"Oh, I didn't check, actually. Do you want me to see if there's one from him?" I ask him as I stand rooted on the spot.

"Yeah, please do"

"Okay," I make my way back to the living room and pick up my handbag from the couch.

Holding my phone between my jaw and shoulder, I pick out the bunch of letters from my handbag and proceed to flip through them, and as he expected, there is one from attorney Cha.

"Taehyung, there's one mail from attorney Cha Eun-Ho," I pick up the cover in my hand and walk toward the dining table.

"Open it," his pitch-perfect voice drops, and he suddenly sounds a little nervous.

"Okay," I carefully insert a finger under the seal of the flap, tearing it open and pulling out the contents from inside.

I swallow thickly when I discover that the papers as expected are the final closure documents of Taehyung and Jang-Mi's divorce. There's a divorce certificate, along with a copy of the terms and conditions of their separation which is signed by them, and there's also a cover letter from attorney Cha that's enclosed with these documents.

"Uhm, the divorce certificate is here," my own voice lowers as I glance through the cover letter. It is dated two days ago, which means the mail probably arrived yesterday or earlier today, and Taehyung only says an 'okay' in response.

This mail also means that there is a possibility of many things changing very soon, and I don't know if I'm prepared for what is to come. Well, I don't even know what to hope for, and I'm also constantly reminding myself to keep my expectations low at all times.

On a side note, who is excited for Veiled?
I might have a start date for it very soon.
😉

Published on : 06/03/2022