Weathering the Storm

A Good Night

Present day

Yejin stared at her reflection in the vanity next to her bed. Though there were a few minuscule lines that peeked out of the corners of her eyes, she still cleaned up very well.

Dragging the blazing red lipstick on her lower lip, she completed her look for the evening. Her hair was curled and pinned to the side, and the A-line dress she had on gave her a subtle 1950s debutante aura.

Bin was due to pick her up to attend the Hamilton musical, something she'd long wanted to see so she was more than excited for this date.

She walked over to the corner shelf where she kept her small trinkets of dolls, souvenirs, and tiptoed and reached over to the highest tier for the perfume that Bin always loved.

Not that she was trying to please him.
As she pulled it out, her hand swiped on a small wooden box and it fell to the ground.

The lid flew open and its contents spilled out.
She knelt down to pick up the Polaroid slides and flipped then over. The first photo was of her and Bin when they were probably in their early twenties, a few years after they got married.

They were at a local festival, taking a break from school and responsibilities to ride the carousel like children. They had popcorn and cotton candies like children. It was a wonderful day.

Smiling, she smoothed a finger over the dull slide. They had so many good times together that it was almost incomprehensible how much had changed since.

And the next photos were the exact events that led to their relationship going south.
She hitched a breath and immediately flipped them back so she couldn't see them.

Images of them as parents, of their son were on the other side of the slides. She couldn't bear to look at it.

It was why she kept it hidden in the most unreachable, forgotten area of her home.
Her nose started to clog and eyes began to sting. No, not right now. She was going to have some fun tonight. She cannot be thinking about this.

Seoul, 2013

When Yejin found the space next to her on the bed empty, she raised herself up in search of her husband. She could see from the cracks of the closed bedroom door that the living room light was on.

Another late night working session for Bin, it seemed. The clock read past midnight, which meant it was officially Christmas.

Sighing, she got out of bed and stepped outside. There he was, sitting on the dining room table with his attention and his fingers glued to his laptop.

"Are you still working?" she asked, then yawned as she walked over and took a seat next to him.

"Oh, yeah. Did I wake you?" he replied but didn't look at her. "I'm sorry. I was trying to be as quiet as possible."

Once the dust settled with her Appa and the restaurant, once they'd hired enough people that he was comfortable with, Yejin was free to move back in full time with Bin. And she finally got the chance to enroll in a masters program, so they were truly living together in true matrimony again.

But ultimately their time together was still limited because Bin was either working or sleeping.

His role and responsibilities at work changed so much since she last realized it. Suddenly everyone was depending on him in the office that she sometimes wouldn't see him before she fell asleep.

It wasn't ideal, and while she was proud of him for becoming an important asset to his company, things needed to change. Fast.

Especially in the next coming months.