comes in waves ↠ kim sunwoo

chapter fifty nine

Third Person POV

The woman stared at the paper before her, her eyes prickling with tears as she looked over her shoulder at Haknyeon.

"Why did I even consider this?" She sighs, letting the tears fall casually.

"Sooner or later you would have considered it, Heiji," Haknyeon gives her a sad smile. "Because you have the papers, it doesn't make anything official."

Divorce papers. Heiji had before her a set of divorce documents that the police had given to her, just as an option.

She didn't know just quite why they had given her these papers, but they explained that fees for a divorce could be paid by the courts given her circumstances.

"I didn't ask for them," she shakes her head. "But here I am, with even the faintest consideration when I look at them."

"It's only natural, Heiji," the man sits beside her at the table. "Do you think you've fallen out of love, perhaps?"

His question triggered the woman, since her birthday a few months ago when she had first took off her ring, she had a complicated answer.

"I'm not sure," she says truthfully. "I love him for what we had, what we were, for who he is despite his flaws. However, I'm here and now I'm suffering because of him. I've suffered too long."

"I agree," he nods. "And this isn't the first time either, Heiji. But you know this."

"I guess time will tell," she shrugs, turning to give the man a smile as her phone rang from the table, startling the two at the loud noise. "Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs Kim," the familiar voice rings through her ears. "Are you available to talk?"

"Yes sure," she nods, giving Haknyeon a look. "Would you prefer to talk over the phone, or I could come down to the station?"

The word 'station' makes Haknyeon's eyes widen, looking at her intensely as he didn't know what to expect.

"Over the phone is fine," he speaks. "I have some news, regarding your husband."

"Yes?" She gulps, finding it uneasy to breathe all of a sudden. Haknyeon notices, his hand coming up to rub her back.

"We have linked him to a location," he explains as Heiji holds her breath. "We have worked with authorities in Austria, who have given us details of a patient registered to their hospital under his name."

"A-Austria?" She chokes, as Haknyeon gasps beside her. "Why Austria?"

"We're not sure, mam," the man continues. "We however have checked footage from within the vicinity and can confirm a likeliness to your husband."

Heiji simply nods, as though the man could see her. She looks up at Haknyeon, who has an expression which she cannot read, but she was sure her expression, too, was a mixture of emotions.

"And what now?" She asks quietly, as the man sighs, making her feel uneasy.

"He cannot leave the country for a certain period of time," he says. "Due to procedures he is undertaking for his illness, he won't be able to leave just yet. However, after talking with the authorities, there isn't an easy way to say thi-"

"You can say it," she blurts. "I'm sorry, sir, but after these last few years, I don't think there is anything that can upset me."

"Well," he coughs. "They contacted your husband, to which he insisted he would not be coming back to Korea. He has resided there."

"Couldn't I go there?" She asks quickly. "His residence, couldn't I visit the address?"

"For privacy reasons, the authorities will not provide such information based on his answers," the man says as Heiji's heart dropped. "I'm sorry to deliver such news, mam."