If You

Choices

"Nearly five hundred, and that was after three rounds of editing."

He handed it back to her, but she waved it away. "I want you to have it," she insisted. "It's your story, anyway. All I did was write it down."

She sat down on the couch and he took the chair across from her. "Emily, I-"

Her phone rang in the next room and she smiled apologetically. "It's probably Lisa. Do you mind if..."

"No, go ahead," he said immediately. He watched her leave the room and he sighed loudly. Who am I kidding? She obviously can't wait to get rid of me. I shouldn't have come.

He stood up to leave and accidentally kicked over a pile of papers on the floor. He knelt down and grabbed the loose papers hurriedly, but one folded into a square caught his eye. He saw his name peeking out from under the folds and he picked it up, glancing at the door as he opened it.

It was one of the pictures from their photoshoot, taken what seemed like an eternity ago. Jiyong was smiling into the camera, while Emily looked up at him lovingly, their hands entwined. The picture was heavily creased, as if it had been refolded many times. Seeing the picture brought back a flood of memories Jiyong had been trying to suppress and he sat heavily on the floor while he stared at it.

"Jiyong?"

He folded the paper and swiped away tears before turning to look at her. "Sorry, I... I knocked your stuff over." He got up and cleared his throat. "I, uh, I should go."

He crossed the room in long strides and reached for the doorknob.

"Wait! I'm... I'm sorry."

"You said that earlier," he said, turning around. "Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Didn't I?" Emily took a step toward him. "I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry I didn't fight harder. And I'm sorry I can't move on."

Jiyong's heart started pounding.

"The truth is," she sighed, "I've been miserable ever since I left Seoul. I thought it would get easier with time, but it's like I'm bleeding out of an open wound." She bowed her head, trying to gather herself. "I don't know how to fix it," she whispered.

"I do," he said hoarsely. He crossed the room and kissed her, burying his hands in her hair, then he pulled back and looked down at her breathlessly. Everything he wanted to say trembled on his lips, but all he could manage was, "Please come back."

"I don't know how," she whispered, looking up at him through her lashes. Jiyong saw the same mixture of grief and desperate longing he felt and he embraced her tightly. "I'll do whatever it takes," he murmured, "anything it takes. All I know is everything I do is worthless without you. Just... come home."

******

Emily was on her way out of the building when she was greeted by a familiar face in the lobby. "You look like you're ambushing me," she commented. Youngbae grinned. "Maybe a little," he admitted. "I wanted to see where you lived."

"Really?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "This has nothing to do with Jiyong's visit last night?"

"Please tell me what happened," Youngbae begged. "He's been tight-lipped all morning, but he doesn't look quite as depressed. Does that mean-"

"It doesn't mean anything," she said, heading out to the street. Youngbae followed her as she fell into step with the steady stream of people flowing down the sidewalk. "I- I haven't made a decision yet," she admitted. "I wouldn't have left the first time if I'd been able to see a solution. I'm not sure anything's changed."