In Seven Days

Monday; 6: 31 PM

Jin's phone rang for the third time that evening and just like the earlier ones, he dismissed the alarm with a heavy sigh.

His backpack felt heavier now than it did before as he stood in front of the guest bedroom's door. Or perhaps it was something else entirely that brought so much weight in his shoulders he thought his spine might break.

He passed by Seokmin's room. It looked unlike anything it usually does. The night bathed the room in darkness, though it didn't elicit the same comfort Jin usually felt. Lights off in this room meant Seokmin was fast asleep, dreaming about God-knows-what, forever ignorant with bliss from the turmoil of his parents.

But he wasn't there now. Byulyi dropped Seokmin off earlier at the Seo's after lunch. The two stayed there until she came knocking at his door five minutes earlier to tell him she'd drive him there.

Jin didn't even get to say goodbye—after all, who knew when would be the next time he would be able to see him once he left.

He thought about asking for a way they could communicate. Her number, her email. Fuck, he'd take her lawyer's contact details if she gave it to him.

But Byulyi's words were clear. Anything less than a yes was a no. There was no place in their home for someone who was still treading the line between his work and his family.

Jin trudged down the stairs with the speed of a snail, dragging the weight of his bag and his conscience out of Byulyi's house—out of their lives—forever.

In the middle of the dark street were bright headlights. Jin approached it even slower.

Byulyi's spine was straight as she sat on the driver's seat of her humming car. She had the kindness to at least drive him to the station. For all Jin knew, she did it for her own peace of mind, to watch him leave for good.

Not long after he closed the car door, Byulyi began to drive.

The air was suffocating. Inside the small space of her car was just the two of them and this unclimbable wall between them. Jin would frequently be at the brink of saying something but would always falter in the end.

I'm sorry.

I still love you.

I wish I was brave enough.

I still love you.

He kept his eyes to the window beside him and did not let them stay anywhere near her direction. He felt like he didn't deserve to even be so close to her after all he'd done—after all he didn't do.

But the excruciating car drive came to an end—for better or for worse—and they finally arrived at the station. There was nothing else in the parking lot except for her car and the tall lamp posts illuminating the way towards the stairs. Nearby, the train station was lit brightly. Jin could just see the head of his train peeking behind the building.

"You should get going. The train is leaving in 5 minutes," she muttered quietly, nearly whispering. Her left elbow rested on the open window beside her while her right hand clutched the wheel tightly.

He didn't want this to be her last words to him.

'Your train is leaving in five minutes.'

Cold. Distant. Unsentimental.

Like he meant nothing to her.

Jin laughed at himself in his mind. He did mean nothing to her. He chose not to himself.

Pathetic.

She still wasn't looking at him, he didn't expect her to. The lines on her face looked particularly harsh tonight.