The Light of Dead Stars | KSJ

01

Love–he seemed to have missed it. Or was the love that others told about a mere fabrication of perfervid imagination, an exaggeration of the commonplace, a glorification of insipid monotonies such as made up his love life?

 ##

You sigh in relief as you enter your house, luggage in one hand and a pair of heels on the other. It's been a tiring last few days and a whirlwind of a morning. Perhaps that's what happens when you get disrupted during your business meeting by your mom, frantic on the other end of the line over a family emergency, and you spend the rest of it stressfully booking a flight and rushing back to Seoul.

But you're home now, appeased that your dad is going to be okay and that you have time to freshen up before you meet them at the hospital.

The kitchen counter is clean and the living room is devoid of the usual mess that Seokjin leaves after a night of watching movies. His car is in the driveway and you think he probably slept in; you know he's had a tough week, too.

He'd sent you voice messages last night ranting about one of the board members being a total asshole to the hotel staff during their meeting. Your husband was so angry and wanted to call for a vote of no confidence but Yoongi, his secretary, had thankfully stopped him and suggested sending you those messages instead.

Bless that man, but you really weren't prepared for a howling Jin, cursing in his high pitched voice then laughing contagiously about a dog jumping its owner that he'd seen on the street.

Your husband is a handful, that much you could say. You had sensed the charm - it's one of his weapons, after all - but you didn't expect the bursts of passion underneath his always calm and professional exterior, a subtle contrast to the perfectionist character of the man who was just your boss not long ago. Three months in and he still surprises and annoys you to no end, and with how you found yourselves in this situation, you really can't ask for anything more.

You laugh at the memory of the night you got "engaged" and proceed to your room, take a nice long bath, and dress up before you head to the kitchen to make yourself a meal. You'd just ended a call with Hoseok, your brother, when you exit the room and stop in your tracks, a familiar face meeting you at the other end of the hall.

Seri's bright eyes widen as they focus on you, her lips parting and from several feet away, you could hear her hold her breath.

"___," she stammers, finally coming around to calling you by your first name instead of Mrs. Kim, which is the most awkward thing she could say, considering who she is in your life. "I didn't know you'd be home. Jin said that you were—"

"Oh, it's okay; he didn't know either. I had to come back a day early from my trip," you smile awkwardly. "Have you and Jin had breakfast? I'm gonna make myself some pancakes and I can make some for you guys, too."

"That would be, uh, good, yeah," she says nervously. "I don't really cook so..."

"Ah, alright. No problem," you say, walking down the stairs and mentally calculating the measurements for pancakes good for 3.

Seri follows and stands on the other side of the large kitchen counter, nibbling on her lips before she offers. "I can help you, though!"

"It's fine," you say, not too keen on having someone inexperienced help you around the kitchen.

You see her smile fall and you don't really want her to feel that you're antagonistic towards her because you really aren't. "But you can slice some bananas for your pancakes if you want. Prepare some strawberries for Jin, and some kiwis, too."

"Okay," she responds, taking the kitchen tools and fruits that you pass to her and nodding when you tell her to be careful. "Sorry for not being much help, and for, uh, yeah..." she trails.