Jihyo inserted her key into the apartment door's lock, listening to the clicks until it reached the perfect position, and she pushed the door, creaking on its hinges, open. her senses immediately processed what was going on.
the smell of alcohol reached her nose, she almost stepped on a soju bottle, and she saw her boyfriend on the couch, gulping down the alcohol as if he had been in a desert for months and had found a source of water.
the glass bottle seemed to sparkle in jihyo's view, and jung hyunsik turned around, a bottle in hand.
"babe." he slurred. jihyo nodded in greeting. she slowly set herself down on the couch, shrugging off her jacket and purse.
her dark eyebrows creased in worry. "i-i thought you stopped." she stuttered, glancing warily at the multitude of bottle littering the coffee table.
hyungsik grinned at jihyo, his charming golden-boy smile. he kissed her cheek and silently took another swig of alcohol. the stench made jihyo want to retch. when he removed the bottle's rim from his plump lips, jihyo grabbed it from his fingers.
hyungsik tried to grab it back but jihyo held firm. she looked him dead in the eye, fearless. "i was told that you stopped." jihyo stared hyungsik down. he gave one last tug, and then released the bottle and sat back.
a sharp sting.
another.
taking advantage of her shock, hyungsik pried the bottle from jihyo's hand. tears prickled the corners of her vision and jihyo put a hand up to her burning cheek.
hyungsik drank from the bottle, and as jihyo tried to stand up from the couch, he pushed her back against it with his free hand. after what seemed like an eternity, he set the bottle on the table, and leaned in towards jihyo.
in a moment his lips were on hers. after a surprised first couple of seconds, jihyo responded and wrapped her hands around his neck. he lowered himself on the couch, and jihyo leaned back on the armrest, both still kissing the other. with his lips now on her neck, hyungsik leaned into jihyo, and she let him do so because she loved him.
and he loved her.
right?
later, jihyo was restless on her pillow, tossing and turning. usually, she would be lulled to sleep by the fan or hyungsik's breathing, but this night his breathing made her nervous and a bit agitated.
she untangled her legs from the blanket they shared, and slowly got up from the bed, careful not to make the bed creak. her chest grew heavy as she remembered what had happened the last time she had accidentaly woken up hyungsik.
jihyo grabbed her phone from the nightstand and made her way to their shared bathroom. with a single night lamp illuminating her face, she turned the handle and splashed frigid water on her face. with the dim light as her guide, jihyo looked at her face for lingering signs of hyungsik's actions, and found none.
she thanked god that she wouldn't have to empty out her concealer bottle the next day before work.
jihyo brought out her phone and pushed the home button with her thumb, unlocking the phone. she clicked on the messages app, and created a new conversation. jihyo's fingers furiously typed in the contact name and sent out a quick text.
Wednesday, 3:24 AM
Jihyo Park
since you're not free fri,
r u free for coffee tmrw?
- jihyo :))
the next morning, jihyo's fingers flew to her phone as soon as she woke. with her heart racing for no reason she could thing of, she opened the messages app.
Wednesday, 5:57 AM
minarii ballerina
sure! it'd have to be
during lunch bc im practicin
in the evening and this morning.
this is mina, btw.
jihyo set the phone back on the nightstand and cuddled her sheets one last time. then she sat up and rubbed her face, more than ready to face the mundane if it meant she could talk to mina.
