The Light of Dead Stars | KSJ

24

You get a good night's sleep and wake up the next day with hangover soup that Jin prepared for you, and then spend the rest of the day in the bedroom resting again.

The days after that feel like a blur. You go back to your normal routine with Jin - going to the office together, waiting for each other if you're able and then going home to dinner that Mrs. Kang had made. You still cook him breakfast that weekend while he cooks your dinner, and you spend those 2 days together doing the grocery, going to Taehyung and Hyun-a's new apartment for a welcome dinner, and then watching a cooking documentary about Italy on Netflix.

On Monday morning, Jin leaves for a business trip to Qatar. The next 2 days feel a little lonely but he messages you photos of his meals and to talk about how the conference is going and how Doha is like, saying that it's a place you should definitely visit.

You're excited that he seems excited, but what's striking is how this time, he's expressive in how he can't wait to get home, mostly to cook you this new recipe he discovered, and partly because he says that Yoongi hasn't been the best companion. His secretary is always on his phone with Dara during post-work hours, leaving a lonely Jin to drink in the hotel bar by himself.

You choose to dwell on the fact that your best friend and Yoongi - quite an unlikely pair, if you're being honest - are hitting it off.

But you focus on your own thing while your husband is away. There are a few reports you have to review and a trip to one of the farms to make.

It's Thursday by the time you feel it.

You'd gone to the farm and then the production site last Tuesday and ate a few things there and on the way, so it was probably something spoiled or contaminated that's causing your stomach pain and severe headache.

You somewhat managed on Wednesday, going to the washroom a few times and feeling a little dehydrated. But by the next day, it had gotten too much. You decided to work at home instead and got a bit of work done, but you were too tired and dozed off instead.

The next morning, you wake up to several messages from your husband asking if you're okay. You say you're feeling under the weather after you call him, not wanting him to worry since he's got a few important meetings lined up, but you spend the rest of it walking from the bathroom to the bed, feeling like you're not improving despite the ginger tea you've been drinking and the hot pads all over your body.

It's that same Friday in the early afternoon when Jin arrives, exhausted from the trip and the flight where he still had to work while on the way back. It's the longest he's been away from you since France, and that sinking feeling of what he's feeling lays heavy on him.

There's much to analyze and assess, as he'd told Yoongi during the night he finally got his friend and colleague to join him for drinks and the younger man had stated the obvious that of course he noticed that something has changed. But Jin doesn't want to dive into it yet, afraid of making a premature assumption or decision about what he needs to do.

It's possible that those 2 weeks in France and the affection he felt towards you were meant to be fleeting, perhaps brought about by the romantic nature of the trip. It could be that you were close and Seri was far away, and maybe he was just missing affection and you were there, willing to give it to him, too. Maybe he's just a stupid guy who doesn't know shit and can't understand what he's feeling or can't own up to it, but either one is just as bad.

But when he exits the plane, waits for almost an hour for Mr. Lim, and then gets informed on why the chauffeur was late, all those things don't seem to matter as much, because all he can think of is you.

"I had to rush Mrs. Kim to the hospital," Mr. Lim had said. "She hasn't been feeling well for days and Mrs. Kang thought it would be best if she went to get checked already."