After Dark (Prompts)

Be With You - 20

Ha Chae Yoon woke up the following morning alone in bed.

Her lower lip trembled and the tears threatened to fall again, but she recalled the last thing he told her before they went to bed the previous night. Taking deep breaths, she chanted, "Trust him. Trust him. Trust him."

The chant provided some calm but couldn't help but think back to the day before when she arrived home to find Im Cheol-Ryung packing his bags.

...

"What are you doing?"

Ha Chae Yoon was surprised that she was able to ask that question so evenly when her hands were clammy and shaking and her heart was beating wildly.

"Hey, you're home," Im Cheol-Ryung said. "I'm taking a trip for a couple of days."

"A trip? You... you didn't tell me you had plans," Ha Chae Yoon said, trying to hide the dejection she felt. Sitting down on her side of the bed, she watched as he continued to place clothes in his luggage.

Cheol-Ryung gazed at her knowingly. "I actually did but I said I wasn't sure when I would be leaving. You forgot?"

"It must have slipped my mind because of the case," she said, apologetically.

"That's alright," he said. "But I don't want to postpone this trip. There are things I have to settle. It's quite important."

Ha Chae Yoon stared at his face, trying to get clues as to what he meant, but he wasn't looking back at her. He just checked if he had all the things he needed. "Do we, uh, have time to talk about your dinner with your mother-in-law before you go?"

"Can we talk when I get back? It's late and I leave early tomorrow," he informed her.

Other people would have probably accepted that and let it go, then would spend the next few days sleepless, wondering what was going to happen to their relationship.

But she's not other people and she always preferred facing an issue head on so that she knew what her next steps would be.

Standing up to face him, she stated, "It won't take long. I just need to know if you're thinking of a break up again."

Im Cheol-Ryung stopped what he was doing and looked directly at her. "Excuse me?"

"Is this trip step one for breaking up?" she asked.

He looked confused. Shaking his head, he clarified, "Break ups have steps?"

Crossing her arms, she gave him a look that told him to stop being silly. "Don't change the topic."

"I'm not! Stop making it confusing for me," he returned. "Why are you talking about breaking up?"

"Because you're leaving me!" she said in an uncharacteristically high voice, motioning to the bag he had packed. The tears she was trying to keep at bay finally escaping. Much to her dismay, no matter how vehemently she wiped them, the tears just kept on falling.

Seeing her upset, Im Cheol-Ryung abandoned his bag, headed to her side and sat beside her. Cupping her face, he asked, "Why are you crying?"

If she weren't hurting so much, she would have laughed at the look of innocence on Im Cheol-Ryung's handsome face. He seemed thoroughly confused about what was happening. Sadly, they had stuff to discuss.

"You're leaving," she started saying.

"Yes, I told you. I'm taking a trip," he repeated. "I can't take you along because this is something I have to do on my own."

"But you're coming back?"

"Yes," he replied.

"And the break up?"