UNCHANGEABLE - TIAOM

04

"will you be all right?" jane asks.

kim glances at jane before closing the door to the backseat of her car where conan is lying comfortably.

"yeah. this isn't the first time i've done this," she says, walking over to the other side of the car. "conan loves getting wasted from time to time. sometimes hongyok will call me to pick her up if she's not available and i will let conan crash into my place for the night."

"you called her up already?"

"i did. she's also having her party with her mates and i think she plans on getting wasted too."

"i hope not in bed with a stranger." jane folds her arms. "anyway, pie and i will be going."

kim looks at pie who is sleeping on the shotgun seat of jane's car.

"is she okay? i've never seen her touch a wine bottle before. but tonight she was like thirsty for it," she says.

jane sighs. "i don't know. she's... she's going through something..."

"a-are they having a problem?"

"a bit. but i'm not in the position to tell you about it. and i'm sure it's something they can still fix since this isn't the first time it happened."

kim asks herself if that's what she wants to happen, for pie and her husband to fix whatever issue they are having now.

"i hope he's not cheating on her, or abusing her or katie. because if he does, i'll kill him," she says.

jane chuckles and turns away. "peter's a kind person. but i'll be the first one to kill him if he does anything to hurt pie or my goddaughter."

kim watches the doctor walk back to her car. "i hope it's not about me."

jane stops and opens the door to the driver's seat. "do you really hope it's not about you? because it's always about you, kim. since day one, it's always been about you."

kim opens and closes her mouth, not sure how to respond.

should she apologise? but for what? as far as she is concerned, she did nothing wrong.

jane leans an elbow on the roof of her car and smiles. "don't think about it too much. you take care. we'll see you at the wedding next week."

jane goes inside the car and drives away from there, living kim still rooted to the ground.

---

"jeez. i'm sorry. i have no control over my mouth when i'm drunk." conan shakes her head, embarrassed. "guess i messed up last night, huh?"

kim leans on her kitchen counter, smelling the aroma of the coffee in front of her.

"well, you made it a little awkward for me and pie but it's your party and you had a blast. that's the important part," she says.

"i invited her and jane only because you said you weren't coming," admits conan. "i don't want to stir some tension between the two of you knowing you're hanging out with suzy. and her, well, she is married."

kim looks down at her coffee and stares at her reflection while she drums her fingers on the rim of the cup.

"did something happen after my blowup last night, kim?"

kim looks back up. "well, she tasted the wines... then drank more after that. then she danced along with the others. then she came back to me..."

---

"can we talk?" pie asks, pulling kim along by her necktie.

kim hesitates.

"c'mon. don't be awkward. they already know about us, anyway," says pie.