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He opened his eyes. The light peeking out from behind the window curtain was all he could see. The crippling feeling of wooziness kicked in. Clearly, he hadn't gotten enough sleep like most nights. He stared at the ray of sunlight until his eyes couldn't stand the dryness any longer, wanting to blink.
5:58 am.
A single tear rolled down cheek as he immediately closed his eyes. He always counted how long his eyes could go on without blinking; this time wasn't a record. Only twelves second.
"Ah!"
A small shriek from downstairs set the alarm off in his head. From his perspective, he moved extremely swift, but in reality, it took him almost a minute just to even get out of bed.
It must be Jayoung. She normally cooked in the morning, the only part of the day she was sure she got to be a chef. The girl got comfortable with the kitchen very quickly and was always active. Whenever she got the chance, the ingredients would be out and ready for cooking. The moment she finished her school work, she would almost break her own door open every time and come to try out a new recipe she found online.
A sugary scent invaded his nose, and looking down at the kitchen from his room, he found the girl cleaning off a pot in the sink. He noticed the oven was open, which confirmed his theory that there would be dessert today.
Taking a deep breath, he bent forward, leaned against the railing, and watched her scurry from one thing to another. The girl didn't seem to care much about him or the marriage whatsoever, which definitely put him off. He'd expected something explosive. In his defense, the man didn't mean to assume, but her sister was without a doubt not thrilled about this as anyone would react to such old-fashioned arranged marriage.
A few days into the second month of this, he felt like he'd gotten himself a housekeeper.
"Oh, good morning, oppa! Sorry if I woke you up." Jayoung genuinely sounded apologetic, but her face bared a huge smile and bright eyes he could see shining from this far away. It was good to know that she was back to herself once more.
There really was something unique and beautiful about people when they get to do something they love – something they were passionate about.
He replied with a stuttering it's nothing. Maybe the guy woke up too early.
"Minseok-shi, you seemed a little worn out than usual." His tall co-worker, Oh Sehun, occasionally looked away from his computer and checked on his older counterpart. A good friend but he wasn't considered as close.
"Oh, do I? Ah, I'm always like that..." Minseok's eyes went back and forth from the brochure in his hands and a website on his computer. Right now, his job was to scout out the best candidates who would best organize the upcoming summer party for the company in three months.
"You got a day off and you look worse. You know what I'm talking about, hyung."
He put down the brochure and locked his eyes on the second monitor about another catering service. "Right! I um... cleaned my study yesterday."
"I thought you were taking care of someone?"
"While they were... asleep, I got restless."
Minseok could see the younger shaking his head in the corner of his eyes. As he went on about the day working, he wondered how long he could hide the fact that he was married any longer. Typing in the info of the place he chose, he stared at the finger that supposed to bear a wedding ring and bit into his cheek, taking a deep breath.
Three hours later, he had finally listed his tasks and called Sehun to come with him to check the places they had decided on. As they walked through the parking lot, Sehun was talking about how he had gotten the job working for such a huge fashion company. Having been here for a year and a half, Minseok could really see the progress and improvement Sehun had achieved compared to the first few he was here. The man was assigned to look after this one intern, and now he was working full-time alongside him. So far, he hadn't seen anything terrible about the kid. Certainly, Sehun had some weird habits, but he never had any bad intentions, and Minseok was grateful for that.
When they were finally approaching Minseok's car, another figure appeared. His hair was a brighter shade of brown than that of Sehun's and Jayoung's. The new color always brought him back to all the painful times he faced with the person.
"Jongdae-sunbaenim." Sehun bowed in the respect to the elder and senior co-worker.
"Um. Safe drive." His voice was still as tender as ever. Kindness, he could tell was still there, but he just found it hard to believe there was something different.
Minseok could only look down in shame as the familiar face passed by. Sehun's worried eyes peered over him. He knew that the kid was curious as to what happened between the two seniors, understanding that rumors were around. Maybe, when Sehun was a bit older and more perceptive about the world around him, Minseok would probably tell him.
Postponing such a story for another time, he remembered Jayoung.
How was he going to tell her?
He was driving alone back home once again. The road was empty, and the night skies were aglow with the many twinkling stars. The indie song he was listening to on the radio reminded him of the lonely times in his childhood. Once in a while, he would get the attention of his older brother. Suho was always busy. Then again, he was ten years older than him. The older was ahead of him in so many ways; it was hard to even try to compare. Being the younger one, he knew couldn't measure up to what his brother could do, but he loved him nonetheless.
Stepping out of his car, he walked to the front door he had once dreaded. The lights shone bright, and it felt nice on his face, knowing that it wasn't the darkness that usually greeted him.
Something about his emotions that was out of place. Somehow, he felt like he could get used to this, but at the same time, he was afraid that it would be taken away from him once more.
The food was on the kitchen table like usual, but Jayoung wasn't on the couch as she used to.
The light from his study drew him in and there she was snuggling up with a pillow on the windowsill with books lying around underneath. The moonlight casted a different shade of white on her while the tall lamp in the study spread its warm burning yellow glow.
Since he normally ate in the kitchen with Jayoung sleeping on the couch where he could easily see her, that night he brought the homemade seaweed soup to his desk and ate his late-night dinner as she was closely lying comfortably on the once empty windowsill.
