It was seven in the morning when Hye Won arrived at the apartment. Gary opened the door and let her in.
Hye Won walked towards the couch where Rye Il was sleeping on and gave him a soft nudge. "Oppa," she called out. His eyes fluttered slightly but it was obvious that he was barely awake.
"Stop poking me.." He mumbled, swinging one arm in the air then allowed it to drop to his side.
"It's time to leave." She pulled him up by his arms and threw a set of fresh clothes at him. Rye Il let out a groan and slowly peeled his eyes open. His head was hurting from the hangover.
Rubbed his palms over his face to make himself feel more awake, he placed his feet on the ground and got up from the couch.
"Quickly wash up. We have to leave soon." Hye Won told him.
"I get it." Rye Il grumbled and shut the door to the bathroom.
She took a seat while waiting for him to be done. Gary came out of the kitchen with a cup of water and passed it to her.
"Where's Jihyo?" She asked as she takes a sip.
"Still in bed. She had trouble falling asleep last night." Gary said as he arranged the cushion on the couch.
"Did she mention anything to you?"
"About?"
"The things that we talked about."
Gary shook his head. "No," he paused and looked at her, eyebrows raised in question. "Am I suppose to know something?" He asked.
Hye Won looked back at him, all the while wondering why Jihyo has yet to talk to him about it. She silently shook her head and answered, "nothing. Just curious," before turning away to look at Rye Il who had just return from the bathroom.
He pulled out the chair at the dining table and sat down. "Do you have any hangover drink?" He asked while rubbing the heel of his hands against his temples. Gary went over to the fridge and take out a canned drink and placed it on the table.
He pulled the tab and gulped it down.
"There's still a second round tonight." Gary reminded him.
Rye Il nodded his head. "I'll be here at 9pm."
Hye Won and Rye Il left the house soon after he had finished the rest of his drink. Gary returned to the bedroom to see Jihyo still soundly asleep. Not wanting to disturb her, he gently closed the door and went to prepare breakfast.
***
Gary had just set the food on the table when he heard the bedroom door open. He took a quick glance at Jihyo as she walked out. He return to the kitchen and pulled the refrigerator door open and reached for the opened carton of apple juice, pouring what was left into two glasses before throwing away the empty carton.
As he settled the juice on the table, he looked at her and noticed her pale face and the dark circles under her eyes.
"Are you sick?" He asked as he leaned over the table and placed his palm against her forehead.
She shook her head and took his hand down. "I just didn't sleep well." She said, fatigue in her voice.
Still wanting to be safe, Gary squat down in front of the tv console and pulled one of the drawer where they stored the first-aid kit and some other emergency items, and took out a thermometer.
Though she really didn't felt the need to take her temperature, she still did it in order to convince him that she was feeling fine, and not sick.
She pulled out the thermometer in her mouth once it beeped. "36.5," she said as she showed it to him.
He took the thermometer from her and looked at it, the serious expression on his face eased. He gave it a wash before storing it back into the drawer. He returned to his seat and as he began tucking into his breakfast, he suddenly thought about the question that Hye Won asked. The look of concern on her face wasn't something that he was able to brush it off as merely a casual question.
"What did Hye Won and you talked about last night?"
"Just some usual girl's stuff." Jihyo replied as she took a bite of her pancake.
"That's all?"
"Why? Are you expecting something else?" She asked curiously.
"Not sure if I'm supposed to." He looked at her and said, "seems like there's something that I shouldn't know. According to Hye Won."
She blinked at him. Her mind wandered off to the conversation that she had with Hye Won; the dreaded topic that she used to avoid - having children.
She tightens her grip on the fork, and scooped a small bit of scrambled egg into her mouth. She remained silent for a moment. When she finally looked up and was ready to tell him, her attention shifted to the phone vibrating on the table beside Gary's plate.
Gary glanced at the screen; it was a call from Sung Ji. He answered it. Jihyo watched as his expression change; a frown settling briefly on his face. She gave him a small smile as he looked towards her.
"I'll see to it." He said before hanging up.
"Something happened?" She asked.
"There are some issues on site. I need to head down to take a look." He told her and noticed a slight change in her expression.
"Oh.." she mumbled and stopped there.
Gary took a quick glance at his watch then at her, "what were you trying to tell me?"
She let out a half-smile and shook her head. "Sung Ji wouldn't have called you if it's not something urgent. I'll tell you at night." She said.
"Then do you want me to send you to the office? I still have some time to spare."
"It's fine. I can go by my own."
"Arasseo. Give me a text when you reach." He got up from the chair, gave her a quick kiss then hurried out of the house.
