Mr. Lee

43.

To be honest, when Jaeje thought about coming back home she thought it would be with her potential husband, she'd show him off to everyone and brag about his amazing life and then leave once again at the quickest notice.

But now sitting in her old room with the childhood drawings she had painted on the walls and the awful model of the Eiffel tower she had made for her 9th grade French class in her shelf, she felt quite ridiculous.

'What is he doing?'

'Is he keeping to what he told me?'

'Did Hyejin remember to offload the laundry?'

Shaking any thoughts of South Korea out of her mind, she got up and prepared for whatever laid ahead for her.

"Good morning" she greeted her mother as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Hm" her mother acknowledged and went back to what it was she was cooking.

"How is work?" her mum asked as Jaeje went over to help wash any remaining dishes in the sink.

"Mm, it's good" leaving out the part where she quit because she had somehow gotten involved in what most people would call a toxic situationship with boss and was now trying to reevaluate her values and way of thinking. 

"I've told you countless times not to wash plates like that!" her mother exclaimed as she showed her the 'proper' way to do it.

"Is this how you'll behave in your husbands house?!" she continued, scrubbing away at the already clean plates.

'Husband' she thought. 'Heeseung wouldn't care.'

But then again, he wasn't her husband, neither was he ever her boyfriend. 

"Why would he marry me if he disapproves of the things I do?" she rebuts, having had this same argument with her mother for years on end.

Her mother gives her a side eye but says nothing more.

"I'm going out today" Jaeje says, because no matter how old she gets she always has to let her mother know.

"Where?" her mother replies.

"Just for some shopping " Jaeje shrugs, days like this she prefers to spend a day with herself and spend a little cash.

"Hm, don't waste your money" her mother simply says, and the conversation dies there.

❣

Jaeje sits at one of the tables, waiting for her Pizza while she takes slow licks of her ice cream. She had just passed by her favorite bookstore and planned to start reading once she got back home.

Over at the Cashier, she spotted a couple who were huddled close together, discussing what they would buy. When she was younger, she always had these thoughts where she would put herself in their shoes, what it would be like if that one guy offered to buy all she wanted.

Of course, she would love to be able to do that on her own, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't like a guy who would get her all the books she wanted to read, all the food and drinks she wanted to try, all the clothes she couldn't afford.

'He would get them for me, no questions asked.'

She sighed again and shoved a rather large amount of ice cream into her mouth.

She saw on the tv screen that her pizza was ready and got up to collect it, handing over her receipt to the cashier. 

"Pretty lady, why aren't you smiling?" one of the workers making the Pizza's at the back calls out to her and she gives him a quick smile, looking down at the floor.

Would it be sad to say that she'd probably think about his compliment for the rest of the day? Maybe. When you grow up hardly ever receiving them, you tend to grasp onto the ones that you do like a kitten to its owner.

Thanking them for the food she takes her ice cream and shopping bags and heads for her mum's car she borrowed.

❣

She's sprawled on her bed, looking through outfits on Pinterest and saving the ones she likes, she'll probably never actually wear them though, just because they look good on others don't mean the same magic will automatically apply to her. 

Moving to her desktop at the corner of her room, she takes an ice cream cup from her fridge and goes to scroll through various Netflix shows and movies. 

For an app with a shit ton of things to pick from it's impossible to actually choose. 

She clicks on a random series she has no hope of finishing. 

Halfway through the first episode her eyes catch her small mirror looking back at her, letting her see the way she shoves another spoon of chocolate into her mouth.

Her skins a mess, her facial features look smaller than they are because of the fat taking all of the space, she looks charcoal black even though she's actually fair skinned from head to toe. 

She turns the mirror over; takes another bite and focuses back on the show she's already lost track of. 

❣

Heeseung wished he had worn thicker clothing; it was freezing this time of the night.

He quickly got out of his car and walked into the building, releasing a sigh of relief at the heating once he stepped through the front door. Walking up to the reception, he couldn't help but glance around him, as though someone was watching, judging. 

"Hi, I'm sorry my appointment was meant to start about 10 minutes ago" he says to the receptionist with an apologetic smile. 

"That's alright, Mr. Lee? your appointment will still hold; Doctor Kim is waiting for you." the nice woman smiled, directing him to the floor and room he would enter. 

Thanking the woman, Heeseung walked to the elevator, getting a call as soon as the doors closed. 

"Yeah Jake? what is it?" he asked once the other man had stopped speaking to Sunghoon.

"Nothing nothing, just wanted to make sure you're actually going for therapy, Doctor Ong is brilliant trust me" Jake replied.

"I am literally on the elevator to him, I'm going through with this I promise" Heeseung told him, stepping out the elevator once the doors opened, walking down to find the correct room. 

"Alright good luck!" he heard Sunghoon exclaim distantly and scoffed, cutting the call as he knocked and stepped into the office. 

A/N: ................... So yeah I started college, really sucks the life out of you, worst part is I've had this draft for months 🤦🏾‍♀️.

Anyways let's all pray the idea for my next chapter is typed out quicker than this one( ͡°з ͡°).