Paradise || Jeong Gu Won ✓

ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ-sᴇᴠᴇɴ

𝙶𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜'  𝙽𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

Do Hee popped off the bottle cap with a spoon. Ms. Shin passed over a couple of napkins when the alcohol sprayed. Ji Hu smiled at Do Hee. Do Hee barely looked Ji Hu in the eye. "Are you still mad at me?" Do Hee didn't asnwer as she filled the glasses up. "Seriously?" Ji Hu's mouth fell open. "I apologized. Hell, I even bought those shoes you wanted." Ji Hu looked down at Do Hee's feet, seeing the heels she bought. "You're even wearing them!"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't take bribery."

"Bribery?" Ji Hu laughed. Do Hee started smiling at her best friend's reaction. "You're hilarious when you want to be, Do Hee." Ji Hu shook her head.

"Cheers." Do Hee said. Ji Hu took her glass, tapping it against Do Hee's and Ms. Shin's. Ji Hu turned her head, downing her glass of beer without a single hesitation. Do Hee was the same. Ms. Shin looked back and forth quickly between them before taking the smallest sip known to man. Do Hee looked over at Ji Hu, "I tend forget you were no angel back during our college years." Do Hee commented.

"I still don't understand how I got the nickname of The Angel. I could have my four years exposed with how much shit I did." Ji Hu said.

"You did dance on a bar counter,"

"We don't talk about that." Ms. Shin said quickly. Ji Hu and Do Hee laughed to each other, shoulders shaking. That headline would haunt Ms. Shin and Seong Min for the rest of their lives.

Do Hee smiled, looking around. "It's so nice to be drinking in the open air." She said.

"I'm glad it's to your liking." Ms. Shin said.

"Soju, unnie?"

"Sure, why not?" Ji Hu said as Do Hee filled Ji Hu and her glasses back up with beer. She grabbed the bottle of soju, cracking the cap open. "Thanks for coming out with me tonight," Ji Hu took a deep breath. "My journey's come to an end, even if it ended in an unexpected way." Ji Hu shrugged as Do Hee poured some soju into the glass. Ji Hu took the bottle from her to pour more into the glass.

"How are you, Mrs. Noh?"

"Letting go turns out to be easier than I thought." Ji Hu said as she placed the bottle down. She picked up the glass, looking at the two alcohols mixing.

"It makes me wonder, unnie, why did you hold on so desperately?" Do Hee asked.

"Sometimes, we bet everything on something without even knowing why." Ms. Shin said. "Maybe we only find out why after the journey has ended."

Ji Hu nodded, taking a sip of her drink. "But what would be my reason, Ms. Shin?"

"I'm not sure," Ms. Shin drank more of her beer.

Do Hee leaned over, grabbing one of the foods they ordered.

"Hey, Ms. Shin,"

"Yes, Mrs. Noh?"

"How was your marriage?" Do Hee nearly choked on the food she put into her mouth. Do Hee grabbed a napkin to cover her mouth as she coughed into it. Ji Hu smirked as Ms. Shin shot her a glare. Once Do Hee was finished having her moment, the first question that came out of her mouth was the obvious, "Ms. Shin was married?!" Ji Hu snickered at Do Hee and Ms. Shin's reactions.

"Yes, Ms. Do, I was married." Ms. Shin confirmed. Before Do Hee could ask her questions, Ms. Shin answered Ji Hu, "My ex was incredibly lame. I didn't know it was possible to love and loathe someone in such a short span of time." Ji Hu busied herself with her drink. "But now that I've come out the other side, I understand myself better. Had it not been for him, I would've never known the pathetic, shameful, weak, and strong parts of myself. That's what my marriage meant to me." Ms. Shin explained before eating the noodles.