the taste of you | park jeongseong

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jay was feeling so tired and jet-lagged from the long flight. when he received a text saying his grandpa was hospitalized, he quickly took the earliest flight to seoul. but it was all just a lie. ahri was arranging the pillow on the bed and he notice the baby shark plushie she's hugging.

"are you a kid?" he asks and lay on the bed, ready to fall asleep. ahri rolled her eyes and slowly climb the bed, she lay at the far end of the edge hugging the baby shark that she named as hoon. it was uncomfortable for her. if this is how it will be for the rest of her life, ahri won't survive.

"was it fun? to ruin my life like this." jay suddenly spoke. he still feel the anger everytime he see her. its like a ticking bomb is set to explode anytime she is nearby. ahri was silent as she didn't have the answer for that. after a long silence, she turn away facing her back on him.

"i already explained everything to you. whether you believe it or not, its up to you sir." jay frowns at her words. after years, she still addressed him formally.  he wonder if he missed anything because ahri never explain anything to him. "nothing would change the fact that you are a scheming person."

ahri feel the stung from his words. she clearly wrote him a letter in attempt to apologize on behalf of her father and explain the situation. ahri knows jay is just another victims of his tricks. before jay left for seattle, she secretly put the letter in his luggage. jay refuse to give her face and she couldn't explain to him directly. wroted him a letter was her only choice. she don't have his phone number either.

ahri put her bag on the table and quickly run to make a morning coffee for her superior as per usual. although being the wife of park jay is something to be proud of, but everyone in the company knows jay left her right after the wedding. in return, she has been the main joke for them to find entertaintment.

it was hard and she always go home feeling exhausted from suppressing her anger, shame and sadness. but she couldn't refute them because its true. she is nothing to park jay.

"morning sir sungjin. here is your usual coffee." ahri carefully place the coffee on his table but her boss just nod his head. she take that as a sign to leave him alone.

"yah jo ahri. make twenty five copies of this for the meeting later. make sure you put it on my table before lunch." as soon as she sit down on her seat, one of the officemate put a copy of report infront of her.

she works as sungjin personal second assistant. which she rarely directly communicates with sungjin since there is gyuvin as his direct assistant. taking this chances, the other staffs use this opportunity to use ahri as a mere clerk that is easy to mess with.

everyone in the department aware of this, but no one care. not even sungjin, her superior.

she has been dealing with it for two years without any of the park family aware of this issue. if being abandoned after the wedding is shameful enough, ahri didn't want to add another reason to be mocked.  

there are a lot of pending work to be done and she got another one. however, ahri just nod and start to do her work quietly. by the time she finish the report, it already lunch hour. but she didn't make the copy of the document yet and one of her officemate send her an email to proof read the report before he submit it to the team leader. feeling so exhausted, ahri decide to skip her lunch and get work done.

by the time she reached home by bus and a ten minutes walking, jay also park his car. he look at her but decide to ignore.

"you should stop taking the bus ahri. jay can drop you off at office." grandma said when both of them enter the house. ahri quickly shake her head with a comforting smile. "its okay grandma. i enjoy the ride and didn't want to disturb his schedule." jay take a glance at ahri but he just ignore it as if she is not there.

grandma obviously feel dissatissfied with her refusal but she let it go and ask them to ready for dinner. jay was quick to take a shower and wearing only a short pants which bothers ahri as she feel uncomfortable with how he dress around her.

"you always have a way to make grandma mad at me." their conversation so far always start with jay mocking her for things she couldn't control. ahri couldn't bear another harsh comment. she was so exhausted from work. avoiding his sarcastic remarks, ahri quickly take a shower.

she thought jay has left for dinner but turns out he was waiting for her. "i didn't want another scolding from grandma. its suffocating." although ahri didn't ask but jay self explain himself.

"please tell grandma i'll pass dinner. im tired so i'll just sleep." it was partially true. but ahri don't want to be around anyone right now since she might be crying if she receives another harsh remarks. she skipped lunch and feeling so hungry. but her emotion is not in a good condition which explain why she avoid to meet people. and the incident happened in office just shatter her last bit of self control. but jay instantly snicker at her.

"you are such an annoying person jo ahri. just suck it up and eat your dinner. it wasn't that hard." his word is harsh, so does his tone. ahri look away from him and quickly wipe away the tear escape her eyes. was it so hard to leave her alone like he did for the past two years?

"im feeling unwell. im sorry, i'll tell grandma later." saying that without looking at him, ahri quickly gets under the blanket. her action trigger jay's anger. he see it as a way ahri try to make him look bad infront of his family and directly sign him that he cannot control her. he see it as a challenge.

before ahri could lie properly on the bed, she was harshly pull on her feet by him. "you are my wife and you will listen to me." his voice is above the normal tone but not loud enough to let people outside hear him.

his eyes throw a dagger at her but the sight of her face stunned him. he failed to notice the red marks on her right cheeks and a little injury at the corner of her right lips. its an obvious sign that she was hit by someone.

indeed, after the lunch hour, ahri was late to finish making copy of the reports. in return, she was slapped by her officemate for that. it was a secluded area and no one was there except the two of them. the slap was so hard that it bleed her lips.

a while ago ahri able to hide the red mark under her makeup and cover her face with her hair. but now jay could clearly see her face.

ahri quickly push him away and try to hide her face with her hair again but jay push her to the wall and take her chin in his palm, inspecting the injury while ahri try to push him away. "what happened to your face? did you get into a fight?" he was angry for some reason.

he barely knows her daily routine and how she carries her life out there "its nothing. i was hit by a ball on my way home. the kids accidently throw it my way." the lie she made sound so convincing. for ahri, this is not the first time she was physically hurt. that one officemate always lay her hand on her for any small reason.

she has been hiding it for two years without anyone knowing, but jay manage to find out not even a week after returning to seoul.

"don't lie to me." jay insist. but ahri didn't want to say the truth either. "why you care so much about me? you never contact me for two years and never mind asking my condition. just keep it that way sir."

jay was speechless from her words. indeed he never cared about her. but seeing the injury on her face, jay acted out of instinct.

"i don't want you cause trouble and messed up my life again." he look away and said it as if he really meant it. ahri quickly return to the bed and lie down.

"don't worry sir. i won't interfere with your life and causing you troubles anymore." ahri know she never messed with his life, but she always think that it was her mistake to blindly trust the sudden kind act from her father and take that drink.

jay didn't want to argue anymore and so he left for dinner. ahri snuggle hoon in her embrace and finally let herself cry.

she always feel free to cry in this room before this, but having jay around is kinda hard for her to aid her pain. only tears can ease her pain a little bit. but now she no longer alone in this room.

jay walk toward the dining room, but feeling unsatisfied with her answer, he pulled out his phone and call one of his friend. when the other line pick up the phone, jay quickly ask.

"hyung, can you help me check the cctv footage for marketing department. i want to know what jo ahri been up to at the office."