Hwa-young: ''I kicked Do-yun, out of the house. I guess when trust is gone, then is no reason to stay anymore. He came home pretending like nothing happened. You know, in the beginning of our marriage I truly felt chosen by him to be his wife. And, now all that I have from our marriage is this pain that kills me''
Her hair is a tangled mess, and her .... face and her wide brown eyes, all are indicating that this man managed to hide all the happiness from her.
Hwa-young: ''I got blamed for everything. The rice is cold, the soup is too spicy, you look like trash, and you should get a new manicure. All this time I was a culprit in his eyes. And the sad part is that I believed this lie too, Dae-Seong. You may wonder what possessed me to stay. I don't know either. Maybe lust, maybe codependency, maybe the 10 years of marriage, or maybe I though that I have a chance to be accepted''
She seized my hand and started to kiss it.
Hwa-young: ''Thank you for being here with me. You are the only friend that I have left in this life..''
Dae-Seong: ''Don't say that. You have your family by your side. I'm sure they are worried for you''
Hwa-young: ''I don't want to talk about them right now. I know that they are expecting some explanation from me. I'm not in the right state of mind where I can respond to Why? How? How. What should I tell them Dae-Seong? That my husband shamelessly cheated and exploited me? That all this time I was the fixer? That I've begged for his love? I was always the one who gave everything and eventually got mocked for it''.
As she is staying in my arms I start to walk my fingers through her soft black hair and her back. I try to empathize with her without getting angry. I need to calm her down. She know that I would kill for her. I look at my hand and I see all of the sudden blood all over my hand. Where is this coming from? I look at the back of the shirt and I see... Did he beat her before leaving? Did she got injured after falling?
Dae-Seong: ''Hwa-young, your back...''
She quickly gets up from my arms and rushes to the bathroom and locks it.
She is bleeding....Why she is running from me? Why doesn't let me help her?
Hwa-young: ''I don't want you to see me like this. You have seen enough''. Talking to me from the bathroom.
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Hwa-young: ''You can go now, I can deal with this myself. No need to worry''.
Dae-Seong: ''Ok, then I will see you tomorrow morning. Is that alright?''
Hwa-young, hesitates.. a little before she gives me an answers and tells me that...
Hwa-young: ''AA....yes, all right, tomorrow morning. We will have some coffee and we will catch up. What do you say?''
Dae-Seong: ''Ok, I going now. Goodnight, Hwa-young!''.
I hear the front door closing and I can finally stop holding my breath and my tears. If he sees me like this he will go crazy. I need to wash and put some medicine before seeing him again tomorrow. I go in the shower and blood starts to flow freely. The cuts are opened now like my heart. I bleed. Before I apply any medicine I need to call my mother. I unlock the bathroom door. He is standing right in front of me. Crying. Did he stay here all the time? He heard me weeping?
Dae-Seong: ''We need to talk''.
Hwa-young:''I thought that you left. Why are you still here? I need something?''
I turn her back to me, to see with my eyes what is happening, and to convince myself that what I've seen isn't in my imagination.
He wants to see my back. I let him. There is no turning back from this. As I stay with my back naked he is walking with his fingers on all my wounds, bruises, and cuts. What would my explanation be right now? ''Dae-Seong, I punished myself for every fight, for every time I felt that I was not doing enough in my relationship, please forgive me?''
Dae-Seong: ''That bastard!!!''
Hwa-young: ''He didn't do anything to me. I did it''
Dae-Seong: ''You??? But, why?''
Hwa-young: ''You want to know why I did, how I managed to do this for so many years, why I didn't seek help. I know, you want to fix me as I tried to fix my husband. There is no remedy for me or him. We are deeply broken''.
Dae-Seong: ''I need the emergency kit. Tell me where is it''.
Hwa-young': ''Is in the bathroom...''
Quickly starts to take care of my wounds like they are his. I stay like a child in silence and I wait for him to finish and to start with his questions. But, instead of scolding me, he hugs me again. I can feel the warmth of his embrace. Why he is making this so hard? I'm not the old Hwa-young who can fall for his lips and soft voice.
Dae-Seong: ''Please let me stay with you. Don't push me away as you did when we were together. I want to be right here''.
Hwa-young: ''Dae-Seong, you are just my lawyer. You did enough for me today..''
Dae-Seong: ''I'm not only your lawyer and you know that. I'm ... still in love with you Hwa-young''.
I don't think I understand the words that he is saying to me right now. Maybe this is a dream..He is saying this to me to feel better or he wants something from me? I look at him and I see the genuine look on his face. He truly loves me, after all these years. But, why now is he telling me this? This words.....are genuine and he looks so deeply hurt of what happened to me. How can he love me after I left him and married his best friend , Do-yun? Is this my chance to get back with the love of my life? Will you have me after all this time or not?