𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑾𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 (𝑺𝑳𝑶𝑾 𝑼𝑷𝑫𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑺)

8

"Hi, I'm Doctor, Bae Joohyun, a head division hematologist-oncologist here in ASAN, please to meet you, Mrs. Manoban." Joohyun introduced herself and bowed.

"Hi, Doctor, Bae. I've heard so many things about you from my husband. He praises you a lot as your department is one of those that provide good services in the hospital." Mrs. Catalina Manoban praised the doctor.

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Manoban. It was an honor to receive such compliments from the owner of this hospital." Joohyun returned the compliment.

"Oh please, I am not the owner of this hospital, it was my husband who owned this and soon will inherit, Lisa." Mrs. Manoban smiled widely.

"Here, I hope you'll love it. Mom helped me to prepare that. She shared with me her new recipes." Jennie butted in and gave Lisa the paper bag.

"Uhm, I should go, I still have work to do, excuse me," Joohyun said as she excused herself from the Manobans. She gave Lisa one last look before continuing to walk away.

"Is your surgery about to start, Sweetheart?" Catalina inquired.

"No, I was just going to check my team."

"That's great, you should taste the food Jennie prepared for you while I go check on your father at his office, okay?" Catalina replies, earning a nod from the Surgeon.

----

The weight of silence

The air hung heavy with unspoken words. Jennie, her feline eyes narrowed, scrutinized the paper bag Lisa held. "Smoked salmon and cheese salad, blueberries, and... milk? I didn't know you liked salmon salad and milk. I thought you only drank chocolate?"

Lisa shrugged, her gaze distant. "I do now."

"Since when?" Jennie pressed, a flicker of suspicion in her voice.

"A year ago," Lisa replied, her voice barely a whisper.

"That long? Why haven't you mentioned it?"

Lisa's silence stretched, a chasm of unspoken truths. "I don't know," she finally murmured, her voice laced with a weariness that mirrored the exhaustion etched on her face. "Every morning when I woke up, you were gone. You'd left me food and a chocolate drink on the table. When I got home from the hospital, you were sleeping, and you always left the same foods out. Sometimes you just ordered, so I tried making my own food."

Jennie's brow furrowed. "And the milk?"

"Got fed up drinking (choco) that all the time," Lisa said, her voice flat.

"You should've told me," Jennie stated, her tone accusatory.

"You were always at your boutique, just as I was always at the hospital," Lisa countered, her voice rising. "And like I said, when I woke up, you were gone, and when I was home, you went to bed."

"Why do you sound like it was my fault?--

"What do you mean? You asked me a question and I answered you."

"But why do you make me feel like it's my fault---"

"I just answered your question!" Lisa cut her off, her voice sharp with frustration. "You blamed me for being the one who lacked in this relationship, that I was the one who didn't have time with you, but you couldn't look at yourself. I'm not the only one who has changed here, Jennie."

"I was at the boutique-----Boutique or you're with Tae?! Aren't you forgetting something, Jennie? You've been cheating on me for the past two years, right?" Lisa's voice was a venomous whisper, each word a barb aimed at the heart of her wife's betrayal.