🏆 THE AMBY AWARDS 2023 TOP PICK - DIVERSE LIT 🏆
It's Rin and Hye-jin against the world. Or so it should have been.
Nagara Rin and Joon Hye-jin, college sweethearts and passionate gamers, have lived a fairytale marriage. Not even a decade after did...
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The door to the room closed as he fixed his tie. His slippers scratched against the floorboards on his way to the ante. Early this morning, the sound of a vacuum cleaner ravaged around the house. Wouldn't that wake his brother? Or his mother?
"Oh, you're on your way already?" Hye-jin popped up from the living room as he was putting on his shoes. Her smile rivaled the bright sunlight streaming past their open windows, bathing the house with its warm strength. "Take some lunch with you."
He bobbed his head. Hye-jin bustled away, humming under her breath some song that's been trending these days. He followed her to the kitchen immediately. The sounds of utensils and pans clanging against each other rang inside. Damn it. The least he could do in this house was pack his own food. He started to reach out. "Hye-jin, I—"
"I put some side dishes in there so make sure you eat it, okay?" Hye-jin shoved a bag in his arms, strolling past him towards the living room where the vacuum was laid against the wall. She fired it up and started rolling it across the floor in expert swings. He should also be the one doing that. Perhaps on the weekend, when he got a bit of time.
"Make sure you share some with your colleagues too," she waved him off, talking over the sharp throng of the vacuum. "Go now. You'll be late."
"Hye-jin," he called.
She turned to him, sensing the seriousness in his tone. The vacuum quieted. "Yeah?"
"Log into Solarlume later," he said. "Let's meet in Liliode at around 9? I'll be sure to sneak in at work. Just to give you something."
Really, it was something he had planned while he was riding the subway on his way home yesterday. It wasn't special, but he'd had enough skirting around Hye-jin for the past few months. He at least wanted to have time with her through the thing they both loved.
He didn't wait for Hye-jin's answer as his request seemed to have stunned her into silence. He just reached out and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. "Gotta run," he smiled, even though it didn't quite reach his eyes, and dashed out of the house.
It was busy as usual when he got to work. The time passed swiftly, the clock ticking on the far wall from his cubicle seemed to be jumping hurdles just to get through the day. Soon, the bright sunlight turned golden, and finally, into a dark sliver from beyond the office windows. For once, no one approached him to tell him Ashley was calling. Perhaps, he'd be able to go home at a reasonable time today. He might even get to play with Hye-jin instead of doing it in his office, which was, kind of, illegal.
That's when he noticed the bag he deposited on his desk. It hasn't been touched since he arrived in the morning. One glance at the city beyond the windows told him enough. He had missed lunch. Again. And he didn't even notice it.
Hye-jin's going to kill him.
Know what? He should just go home. Now.
"Ashley's office," Andrews' voice bled in Rin's ear. It was delivered as no more than a passing remark as he literally made his way to his cubicle to the far end of the room. It was because he was sure to pass by Rin that Ashley always made him a messenger. The man's getting tired of it, as Rin could glean from the way his eyes squinted and his lips turned down at the edges whenever he said those words.
