Sheets | Chaelisa converted

Epilogue

Chaeyoung POV

Sitting on the floor by the coffee table, legs crammed beneath the smooth glass surface, let out a fatigued sigh. I closed my eyes to rest them for a moment, the reports spread in front of me beginning to blur. Opening them again, I stretched my weary limbs, before leaning my head back to rest against the edge of the couch behind me. Our modest apartment was a little dark, with only the copper floor lamp casting a dim glow over the coffee table. For a while now, the apartment had been quiet save for the rhythmic scratching of pen against paper.

It has been ten years since I graduated highschool, and just a little more than that since I've been with Lisa. Living together for the past four years, while our relationship was very much set in stone, like every relationship there were some bumps in the road. Sometimes our paths curved away from each other, or went over a bumpy road, but in the end they always reunited. I couldn't imagine a life without Lisa, and I knew she felt the same way.

After everything, it seemed only fitting for me to pursue a career in science, though some were surprised when I decided to not only study it, but to teach it. Now teaching biology to unruly teenagers, the events of my youth seemed so far away. It was a long time ago, but every now and then, something would remind me about those times and everything would come back with a startling clarity that always made me lose my train of thought.

Looking at the papers below me, I couldn't help but smile, the curve of my lips full of nostalgia.

**⏳**

"So, when are you free so we can do this experiment?"

"Huh? One second," Jackson muttered, not looking up, fingers clicking on his phone as his friend peered over his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, no problem," Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, words drawn out sarcastically as she hefted her books onto her other arm, already tired. "It's not like I have anywhere to be."

"I'm free this weekend," Lisa's deep voice suddenly spoke from behind Chaeyoung, who froze in place. Jackson's head snapping up from his phone, fingers poised mid-text as he blinked.

"What?" both Jackson and Chaeyoung said in unison, Lisa just looking up at Chaeyoung, a hidden smile dancing on her lips.

Picking up the useless piece of paper from the table in front of her and unfurling it, Lisa waved it in front of Chaeyoung's face.

"We're swapping partners," Lisa said coolly, not even looking at Jackson as she got up from her chair, hands in her pockets. As she walked past Chaeyoung, her shoulder bumped with her own, Lisa's head tilting downwards to look at Chaeyoung. "Let's go."

**⏳**

Shaking my head at the memory, I couldn't help but find that the apartment was a little empty without Lisa's presence. Even after living with each other for so long, I still missed her whenever she wasn't beside me. Lately, she had been even busier than usual; after years of hard work, Lisa had just managed to open her own restaurant. Sure, it was small, and the plot of land that she bought needed a lot of work, but it was hers. But, because of the work that she needed to put into it to get it up and running, she had been spending less and less time at home.

Slapping my cheeks at my self-apparent loneliness, I pushed away some of the papers I was grading, checking my laptop for any emails. As I opened up my email, a new message popped up, and my stomach flipped like it always did.

My Father.

I had rarely spoken to my father since he decided to leave us for another man. Since that day when I was 17, the only connection we had was on my birth certificate. We went for six years without contacting each other, and it was only four years ago that Lisa asked me to contact him. I was reluctant at first, still bitter at what he did to Mum, Jisoo and I back then, but Lisa had given me a sullen, knowing look that made me think twice.