to be or not to be

FOUR

+04

namjoon stood up and gazed at the counselor in disbelief. he wasn't going to come every week. it's bad enough his marriage is so terrible that he has to get another person involved.

aaliyah glared at him and covered her face in embarrassment. mr. bowers stood up along with the couple and sighed.

"mr. kim, coming every week is not asking for much compared to coming every day. the more you come to me and learn to communicate then your marriage will flourish once more."

namjoon felt a major headache seeping in and he was totally against this from the start.

"what if coming every week doesn't solve anything? then what? we're just going to be wasting our money coming to you."

aaliyah couldn't help but agree with him on that part. what if shit doesn't turn out for the best? then what?

"i understand that but there has to be a reason why you guys got married in the first place. i can tell this marriage wasn't forced and at one point you guys loved each other. how about i give you guys a free trial."

"and this free trial will consist of?" namjoon asked.

"i will let you guys come and see me for two weeks for free and we will do exercises to rejuvenate the love that has left. nothing will be forced but natural and by the end of this program i hope to see a happy couple."

aaliyah looked at namjoon and he rolled his eyes. "alright mr. bowers, i'm putting my trust in you and i hope that you are very legit." namjoon told him.

once the session was over, the two left the building and were walking in silence to their respective cars. aaliyah hated to admit it but she missed namjoon.

things went downhill so fast and she hoped that everything will work out with this marriage counseling.

"hey," aaliyah called softly towards namjoon. she looked at him and he stopped in his tracks. "do you want to get some coffee? to umm catch up?"

honestly, namjoon didn't want to do shit. he didn't want to see her face especially. he just felt done already.

"sure, text me the address."

***
"one iced americano and one macchiato." the waitress served the two their drinks and immediately, namjoon began chugging down on his americano.

"i see that you still remembered my favorite drink." namjoon told aaliyah.

she scoffed and placed her hands down on the table. "its only been two months, not two years. why would i forget about that?"

"i was just a little surprised that's all. you suddenly forgot that you have a home and a husband for two months so i'm just checking if your brain is still intact."

the woman played with the rim of her drink. "i'm sorry that i left without a trace but i did say that i wouldn't come back."

"aaliyah we do this shit like every other week! you crossed the line for not contacting me within months! how the fuck was i supposed to know if you were okay if you blocked me?"

a huff left namjoon's body and he looked down at his fingers. "look, if you really want this marriage to work between us again, we have to argue less and communicate like that man said. im not going to waste my time paying 250 a week for bullshit."

with that, namjoon got up from his seat and left.