ꜱᴄᴀɴᴅᴀʟᴏᴜꜱ - ʜᴇᴇᴊᴀᴋᴇᴋɪ

✦ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ ✦

Jake - February 25th, 2026

The next few hours passed by pretty slowly. I spent most of that time thinking about how upset Minnie was this morning and how I could fix our relationship. It's hard because I've always been the one who's had to change. Anytime I have a problem with her, she manages to make it my fault. It was pretty frustrating, but I still had faith in our marriage. And besides, she's been like this since I'd met her, so I knew what I was getting into.

I finally managed to trudge to the closet, at last changing out of my old clothes and into something more casual. I was hoping that talking to Heeseung would help me to clear my mind a bit. Even just a small break would help tremendously.

I drove to the restaurant that he'd recommended. It's a place I'd been to once or twice for work meetings, but I didn't really go out all that frequently anymore. I guess if I did, that'd probably make Minnie happier.

I walked into the restaurant, immediately spotting the purple-haired male sitting at a booth. He raised his head from his phone and saw me at the same time, gesturing me over.

I quickly headed over to the table, greeting him as I sat across from him. "Hey, Heeseung."

"Hey," he smiled. He'd already ordered a cup of coffee that he took a quick sip out of. "You look so different without a suit on."

I grinned at the statement, glancing down at the table for only a moment. "I figured I could change it up for once."

Heeseung set his cup back down. "How are you?"

"Meh," I shrugged, running a hand through my hair. "Tired, I guess."

"Did something happen?" Heeseung squinted at me, clearly not accepting my excuse.

"Just...an argument. You get it," I laughed awkwardly. I mean, it certainly was true. I just wasn't sure how much I should share about my marriage to him. Or if he'd care all that much.

"Ugh, you have no idea," Heeseung rolled his eyes, the both of us getting distracted for a moment by the waitress who took our orders. Once she'd left we continued on.

"You fight a lot or something?" I raised my brows.

"Yeah, with my roommate," Heeseung shrugged, clearly hesitant to share details. "We don't really get along anymore."

"Really? Why's that?" I leaned back a little. I was already feeling more comfortable being there, talking to him. I guess he was right; taking a break from work was therapeutic. And I was becoming genuinely curious about him.

"I don't know. It just started when he started seeing this guy and they're like...being noisy nearly every night. He basically thinks that I should just deal with it," Heeseung explained, swirling a small spoon in his caramel-colored coffee. "I don't know why it bothers me so much."