A year ago.
She sits there, tapping her feet on the floor anxiously as she stares at the middle-aged woman whose eyes are paced back and forth between her and Hyunjung. She recalls what had happened a few days back as she listens to whatever is coming out of the middle-aged woman's mouth.
"Jiyeon-ah, listen to me," Hyunjung says as she grabs hold of the said girl's hands, pulling her so that she's looking at her.
"No! Let go of me!" Jiyeon squirms at her touch.
"Listen to me, Jiyeon! Let's talk this out!" She says, hands gripping tightly onto Jiyeon's. Jiyeon feels the pain around her wrists and tries to wriggle out her hand. Eventually, it is starting to become unbearable, so she hits Hyunjung on the shoulder.
"Stop! You're hurting me!" She hits Hyunjung's shoulder as strong as she could, and finally, she felt the grip on her arms loosen.
"I'm sorry. But can you just listen to me?" Hyunjung says, still holding onto Jiyeon's hands as Jiyeon evens her breathing and drops her head to Hyunjung's chest, too tired to fight back.
"There's nothing for you to explain. I don't wanna hear it anymore." Tears are starting to well up in Jiyeon's eyes. She grips Hyunjung's shirt as her eyes sting and starts to get watery.
"Jiyeon, please. I'm doing this for our good." Hyunjung doesn't even know anymore. She doesn't know what to say anymore so Jiyeon would stay. Jiyeon is silent for a while, and for a second Hyunjung though they're finally okay. But of course, they're not.
"Bullshit." Jiyeon whispers head still looking down and Hyunjung doesn't catch it.
"What?" She asks.
Jiyeon raises her head, and it makes Hyunjung's heart wavers. Jiyeon, with tear-filled eyes, looked up at her with despair and anger in her eyes. Her grip on Hyunjung's shirt tightens and her hands ball up into a fist. Not only is her eyes hot, but her skin is also flushed. For a second, Jiyeon stops breathing, and she pulls herself away from Hyunjung, all the while Hyunjung's staring at her. She steps a good few centimeters away from Hyunjung and speaks slowly like it's only for Hyunjung to hear even though there's nobody there except them.
"It's bullshit. Whatever is going out of your mouth as of right now is bullshit." She says as she wipes her eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop flowing.
"You think it's ridiculous? I'm just making our life easier. A few months from now, You, me, and Yeoreum can live however we want." She tries to reason, staring at Jiyeon with hopeful eyes.
"It's not about the life we're living right now."
"Then? If it's not about that, why are you so against it? Can't you see? I'm doing this for our good!"
"It's the fact that you choose that job over me and our daughter. You hesitated when I asked you which one meant more to you."
She sighs.
"You see, I want you to appreciate the people around you more. Put us first before anything. I just want us to live a normal life, Hyunjung, I do. It's just that you're making it hard for me to cooperate with you." Jiyeon sounded like she has fully given up on this relationship, but deep inside, she still has hopes that her words will get through Hyunjung's head.
