Love After Love...

Chapter 72: Oh, no.

~2 weeks later, next couple's therapy session~

Jieun's POV:
"Okay, so you both look a lot happier than your previous session. Anything worth sharing?" Dr. Lee said. We both smiled. We were happier.

"Your previous session worked wonders, Dr. Lee. Thank you, really," Jimin said. I agreed.

"So... if you both were able to sort out the previous dispute, what prompted therapy?" she asked.

Our smiles immediately dropped. "I sense another dispute," she said.

She was right. This was the worst one.

~1 year, two months ago~

Jimin's POV:
I wrote a page today. I couldn't believe it. I just sat at my desk, and inspiration struck. I started typing the first draft and once I started, I only stopped after three hours. It's not as good as I would want it, but its a start. I called Jieun and told her the news. She was overjoyed.

I need a new agent.

I can't go back to the agency, they're all monsters. I need some contacts. I asked Taehyung if he knew some. He did. He passed on a number of an agency. I called them and knowing who I was, they immediately agreed to set up a meet with their best agent. Her name was Kang Somi. We were to meet tomorrow for lunch.

~The next day~

Jimin's POV:
I was waiting for this agent in a nearby cafe. She arrived exactly on time. Good start. She was professional and serious about the job, and I liked that. I explained my situation to her and she sympathized. She had unique perspectives on literature and writing which matched mine, and I thought we could be great friends, even aside from business.

As we were wrapping up, she said, "I have to be honest, when I first read 'Love after Love...' - big fan of the book, by the way - I thought you'd be this lovesick geek that's, like, forty years old. I looked you up only recently. Good for me, I have a hot client."

That caught me off guard. Was she... flirting? I only giggled uncomfortably.

But her passion for books and the fact that she really was good at her job, trumped that comment. I agreed to sign her for a year. The contract was binding and well formated.

~8 months later~

Jimin's POV:
"Somi, I think you know what this is about," I said. "Uh, no," she said, smiling. "The flirting... it needs to stop," I said. "Jimin, you get so worked up about these things! It's harmless, and you know I mean nothing by it!" she defended herself. "I don't care! I have a wife and a child, and you flirting is not of interest to me," I said. She sighed. "Why are you getting so wound up about it? Is it because of Jieun? Did she say anything about it?" she asked. "No!" I said.

Yes, she did say something about it.
Just last month she had said that she gets some weird energy from her, and she's slightly uncomfortable about her being home all the time. I obviously hadn't told her about all the flirting, that would just drive her crazy. Plus, nothing happened. She would just mindlessly make some comment, and I'd laugh it off. But these days it was getting a little... touchy.

"You're lying, Jimin. I know she did," Somi said. "That doesn't matter! It makes me uncomfortable, and you need to underatand that!" I said. "Fine," she said and stormed out of the house.

As she was about to walk out of the house, she opened the door to find Jieun, Hyejin and Wheein. They were going out for the night and had probably come by to pick something up. Somi walked past them. "Why was she in such a huff?" Jieun asked, giving me a small kiss on the cheek. I smiled and said, "Oh, nothing. We just had different opinions on the recent piece that I wrote," I lied.

It felt horrible to lie to her. "Well, I'm sure my husband is right," Jieun said, making me smile.

The girls walked into our bedroom and I decided to eavesdrop.

"Who is that?" Hyejin said. "His agent," Jieun replied. "For real? That's his agent?" Wheein said. "Yeah, why?" Jieun asked. "Uh... because she's hot? Like, me-in-my-twenties hot," Hyejin said.

That's crazy, Jieun's a thousand times more attractive than Somi.

"That doesn't bother Jimin," Jieun said.

I smiled.

"Whatever. I wouldn't let her an inch close to Taehyung, let alone let him meet her everyday," Hyejin said. "Well, I don't let Jimin do or not do anything. He's perfectly free to do what he wants, hire who he hires and meet who he meets," Jieun said.

My heart swole up with pride.

"Oh, you poor kid. Fine," Wheein said, making Hyejin laugh.

I walked into the kitchen letting go of the rest of whatever their conversation was going to turn into. But were Hyejin and Wheein wrong to warn Jieun about Somi? They were partially right. She does have a certain disregard for the fact that I'm married.

I was in thought when Sungho walked up to me, rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong, buddy?" I asked him. "Can't sleep," he said. "Why?" I asked in a sing-song voice. "I don't know, I'm not feeling sleepy. Can you read me a story?" he said. "Well, you're too cute to decline and I'm too lazy to read. This is a dilemma," I said. "What's a dilemma?" he asked. "A difficult choice between two perfectly probable options. Simply put, a problem. Can you spell it?" I said, laughing. "Let's try. D-I-L-E-M-A. Was that correct?" he said. "No, but you're way too close. Fine, you dorky genius. I'll read you a story," I said.

He smiled a toothy smile. "You get that genius from your mother," I said. "I know. Kind of obvious, too," he said cheekily. "Walking on thin ice, young man," I said. He laughed wholeheartedly.

"Okay, baby, Mom's gonna head out with Aunt Hyejin and Aunt Wheein. Be a good boy, okay?" Jieun said before we walked in to his bedroom. "Okay, mom! Dad's gonna read me a story," he said. "Is that so? He's a lazy bum, so you're lucky, you know that?" she said. "Hey, c'mon, don't gang up on me like that," I said, whining.

The two laughed. The sight of a lifetime. She kissed Sungho on his forehead and stood up to give me a small kiss.

"Bye, babe. Have fun. Be home soon. I'll wait, yeah?" I said. She smilled and nodded.

I read him a story and he fell straight to sleep after about ten minutes.

I decided to write some more. I wasn't completely satisfied with my results, but it was important I kept going. I wrote for about one hour. It was almost 11pm. I decided to watch something on Netflix just to while away some time before Jieun would be in my arms. She had this one night away from home after almost 6 years. She deserved this.

I got bored binging something random pretty quick, but Jieun was going to be home soon. I decided to take a shower and head to bed. I stood under the warm water for a while till I felt someone walk behind me. My heart filling up at the thought of Jieun.

"I missed you," I said, not turning around, liking the feeling of her wrapping her arms around my waist.
"I missed you, too," a voice said, that was definitely not Jieun's. I panicked and turned.

Oh, no.

Somi.