Let's Get Married || Jensoo

Chapter 2: Marry In Haste, Repent At Leisure

"Ms Kim, is it?"

"Yes?" She was bemused at the question - they surely knew her name? - then realised that he was probably asking how she preferred to be addressed. After all, the majority of married women, gay and straight, probably still took their spouse's name or went with the hyphen.

Jennie Kim-Kim. Jennie Kim-Kim. Neither sounded natural to her.

"I'm Agent Eaves and this is my partner, Agent Sorensen," the taller, younger man stated as they entered the apartment. "We're from the INS." Both men presented their ID for inspection and Jennie nodded politely.

She realised that the three of them were still standing just inside her doorway and indicated the living area with a sweep of her hand. "Please, sit down." The men took the couch, while Jennie perched on the edge of an armchair. When nothing more was said, she asked, "Is this about my wife's citizenship application?"

"In a manner of speaking." Eaves reached into his pocket and removed a hardback notebook and pen. "There has been an allegation." He clicked the button on his pen a couple of times. He was clearly not a man to come quickly to the point.

"Oh?" Her mouth was bone dry.

"Yes." He looked over her shoulder, no doubt noticing the wedding photograph. Scratch that. He had probably seen it as soon as he had entered the apartment. He didn't seem like he missed anything ever.

Jennie felt certain that he was deliberately saying little as a way of making her nervous and gauging her reactions. She was equally sure that many people fell into the trap of filling the silence with unnecessary admissions. She wasn't that easily manipulated.

Only a few seconds passed before Eaves spoke again. "My office has received an allegation questioning the validity of your marriage."

My office, he said, not our office. Jennie glanced at Sorensen. This was definitely not his show. She wondered if there had been a time when Sorensen had been the senior partner and if he had taught the younger man everything he knew, only to see himself being outpaced.

"Should my wife not be here for this conversation?" She was trying to remain composed, but her mind and heart rate were both racing.

Eaves' mouth twitched in a self-satisfied fashion and she could tell that he was relishing what he was doing. "The allegation is against you, Ms Kim."

* * *

Jisoo's apartment building did not have a doorman. And the occupant of 3C did not answer her buzzer. Jennie checked the time on the lock screen of her phone. She was early. She looked up and down the street for any sign of a coffee shop or, even better, a bar. There was a Korean convenience store on the opposite corner. Maybe she could get a bottle of Coke. A fifth of whisky also sounded good. Strychnine would probably work, too.

Her attention was caught by her wife rounding the corner by the store. Jisoo was wearing what looked like a heavy docker's coat, the collar turned up against the wind. On most people, it would have been a ridiculous attempt at downmarket chic; on her, however, it looked just right. The purple haired had her keys in her hand and she didn't even look at Jennie as she unlocked the front door. They walked upstairs in silence. Only when Jisoo had shut and bolted the door of her studio apartment behind them did she speak.

"Coffee?"

"No, you're okay."

"Sit," Jisoo commanded, as she shrugged off her heavy jacket and hung it on the back of the door.

Despite the fact that she had asked for this meeting, she judged that Jisoo deserved the first word, but she walked off into a small adjacent room, no doubt the bathroom, leaving Jennie fiddling with her wedding ring. She'd noticed that Jisoo didn't wear hers, but that was hardly surprising.