Something About Ye-Jin

Just Before Present Time: A Lesson In Leaving

Bin wondered if this gnawing guilt and panic in the pit of his stomach was how cheating husbands throughout history had felt.

Had they all stood there frozen? As if time had ceased to have meaning, and every instinct to run after their women were ignored by their suddenly useless bodies as their lives passed before their eyes, and in it, stretched an eternity of emptiness that no amount of repentance could repair.

He couldn't name the place or time when his heart had recognized her as his wife, but that's what she was to him. She may have never been his bride, but he'd always known that there would be no one else but her.

Mere seconds had passed, and in the space of a single breath she'd vanished like a mirage into the crowd, taking with her the look of devastation that she'd inadvertently revealed to him.

He roughly untangled himself from the two sets of arms entangling him like suffocating vines and pushed past the protesting women. 

For the first time, he'd seen a glimpse of Ye-Jin's true emotions. It had felt like a punch in the gut. He'd thought he'd seen every expression on her face, but that raw pain of betrayal was foreign to him. She'd looked like a person who'd been run through, then stumbled in a hidden corner to die a gruesome death.

And he... He was the one who'd wielded the sword.

🚖 🚖 🚖

Hyun Bin rushed out of the building, ignoring the startled looks of the guards as he stumbled out into the streets of Gangnam in search of his woman; the woman he'd been so afraid he'd never see again.

The streets were already congested with heavy traffic, workers driving back home to spend the weekend at home alone or with their loved ones. Ride shares and taxis clogged the streets with passengers going in and out of the vehicles. Any one of them could contain Ye-Jin.

He did a 360 and half-way around, he halted in recognition of the dress that hugged her every curve like a second skin. He'd never seen her wear anything like it. He loved Ye-Jin in anything, but seeing her like this, so effortlessly beguiling, stoked the fire that burned for her even hotter.

He'd been expecting anger, perhaps even tears, but not the enticing smile - that should only be his - being aimed at another man.

His chest tightened in jealousy, that streak of possessiveness he'd always hidden from her burst out untamed. With singular purpose, his long strides ate up the distance between him and the woman that was rightfully his, and without awareness of his own strength, grabbed her by the arm and yanked her towards him.

Ye-Jin spun around in surprise at the force of his grip, eyes widening at the furious look on Bin's face. The sleeves of her dress chafed the skin being squeezed by his offending hand. His hold was so tight that it would probably leave faint bruises.

Rattled by his appearance, Ye-Jin pulled her arm from Bin's firm hold. Like a wounded animal, she instinctively backed herself towards the safety of the man suddenly holding her.

Bin noticed her reaction and looked at her as if she'd struck him. He'd never been harsh to her, she knew that he posed no physical danger, but her heart had felt trampled and her mind naturally followed. The wounds he'd inflicted may not have been apparent, but hurt all the same.

Gong Ji-Cheol had seen the flash of fear on Ye-Jin's face and he'd responded like any natural born protector, using his body to shield her. He had no idea why she was afraid of the man he had instantly recognized, all he knew was that he had a duty to protect her.

Bin had to bite back his own instinctive response at seeing another man holding his Ye-Jin. If he gave into his visceral needs, he'd already be pounding Gong Ji-Cheol to the ground with his fists, proving to Ye-Jin exactly whose arms she belonged to.