twenty four
Hoseok Jung
Manhattan was freezing cold in the mornings, especially when it had snowed just a bit the night before. The streets are covered with thick sheets of dirty ice abused by tire marks. I could feel a ice beneath my boots as I shifted my feet around under the table to get comfortable. Choosing to not hold this meeting inside of the cafe seemed like a smart idea. I didn't know how Min Jae would chose to act today.
It amused me how she seemed so eager to hold this conversation over the phone, yet she was thirty minutes late. I should have been left. Perhaps, this was a sign to not entertain her manipulative bullshit. To pull myself away from the past before she consumed me again and continued to ruin what was left of me. But here I was. Still sitting, fingers tapping my lap as I looked around for her through my tinted glasses.
Another thing. I was risking everything by being out like this. Knowing that at any given time a fan could recognize me and I would have to move locations. A few had attempted to walk up to me already. I didn't cave in, acting as if I wasn't who they thought I was as a way to draw them back.
I bet Min Jae wasn't even thinking about that. Wasn't even thinking of the danger I was putting myself in to fulfill her needs and soothe her stress...
"I am so sorry. I got caught up in traffic and it doesn't help that the road is covered in ice."
She's here.
I rolled my eyes beneath the tinted lenses of my Ray Bands as she took the seat before me. The expensive Taxidermy snake skin bag in which she had paid well over $1,500 for is placed on the table beside an empty plate and glass of wine. She looks...the same. Normal. Not a speck of hair out of place. She is molded to perfection, solid.
"It's fine." I clear my throat, easing my way up in the chair. "Let's get down to business. Why'd you call me here?"
Min-Jae stares at me in complete silence for a second or two before she burst into unexpected laughter. Covering her mouth, whine almond shaped nails blanketing her thin red lips.
"I-I'm sorry it's just...hilarious you would ask that." Her laughter dies down into a petty ass giggle. "Considering the fact that you've been ignoring my calls and texts. I had to contact Namjoon in order to set this up."
"I've been busy." I stated. Min-Jae hummed, picking up her glass. "So I've heard. How's the fame been treating you? Meet and greets left and right. Press conferences. Book signings."
Min-Jae had always been bitter. It just took me awhile to realize how much of a bitch she was because of it. The love you held for a person made you ignore the most destructive things about them. Now as we were going through a divorce, I realized that all along she had never truly supported my career. But rather, mocked me for it. She was abusive in a sense. Mentally, emotionally draining. I was the victim. Being laughed at. I was the puppet. Being toyed with.
"I got in contact with the lawyer right before I came." I chose to not answer her early question. She sips from her wine as she listens. Finally she was shutting her mouth.
"We signed a prenup. What's mines is mines and what's yours is yours. I don't want the house either. Have it if you want it." I said. Min-Jae frowned.
"You're placing the burden of the house on me?"
"It's not a burden. The house is paid for. Renovated. In a fucking gated community for Christ sake. Don't be dramatic, Jae." I snorted. Of course, she pouts like a fucking child.
"I also set up a date for us to go in and sign the papers. I'll book my flight for Nevada tonight so we can get that done. Come back here to Manhattan afterwards and finish off my business. We don't have to keep speaking about this."
I wait for her response but it never comes. She only looks around the table with her damn eyebrows scrunched up. She seems distressed. Imagine how I felt.
"What?" She shoots me a glare.
"Are you even trying? You aren't even man enough to pretend to care. All of this, all of this is your fault!" She whisper yells.
"From the moment the incident happened all the way to this. You don't deserve to play the fucking victim Hoseok and if your parents knew...god." She pokes the inside of her cheek with her tongue.
I scoffed, falling back into the chair.
"You wanted the divorce and I was mature enough to see that this couldn't last. You don't deserve to mention that incident because my side of the story is never heard. Let's just be fucking adults about this, yeah?"
The woman scoffed, grabbing her purse in fury as she stood up from her chair. I sighed. "Min-Jae —"
"Go to hell. Go back to living it up in Manhattan. Get drunk and write your fucking stories. I realize that you don't care. And neither do I." She gritted, cutting her darkened eyes at me before storming into the cafe.
There were a few people who had heard, and therefore stopped eating just to stare daggers into my fucking face. Clenching my jaw as I ignored them, I snatched my shades off of my face before pulling out a cigarette. There was no sign stating that this was a smoke free zone so I wouldn't contain myself. This was especially needed.
I couldn't wrap my head around it. I never victimized myself in any situation. I didn't understand the point that Min Jae was trying to make. Anytime she brought up the incident , my mind only went to how I was feeling in that moment. How I felt my entire world crumble beneath my feet. The only thing I found myself being guilty for, was not leaving before things got that far.
Now that I was one step away from being free from her, I couldn't see myself feeling bad. Three long, dreadful years of marriage and I was finally beginning to feel like myself again. Smiling, writing, drinking because I wanted to and not because I needed to. I was slowly but surely becoming a new person. And I wouldn't let Min jae and our past ruin that for me.
+++
I placed my trench on the coat rack that had been standing beside the door of my hotel room. After leaving the cafe, I went on a little walk around the city to clear my head. I hadn't spoken to haven all day and honestly, I didn't want to while I was feeling like this. She didn't deserve to experience this negative side of me. I would talk to her tomorrow when I was feeling better.
Namjoon was sitting on the loveseat when I noticed him. I regretted giving him a key to my suite. He obviously enjoyed the perks that came with it.
"Please get out Namjoon I'm not in the mood." I mumbled, dragging my feet over to the table of assorted liquor. I went straight for my precious gin.
"I take it your meeting went well."
I scoffed, pouring myself a glass. "It definitely went. She caught an attitude and up and left right in the middle of it. But it's Min Jae so what did we expect?" I mumbled, bringing the glass up to my lips.
"I'm shocked she didn't stay. Especially since she was so excited to have this meeting with you." Namjoon whistled.
"Yeah well it's over now. I told her about my talk with the lawyer. Now we just wait." I sighed, walking over to the loveseat and plopping down just as Namjoon stands up.
"Well, i have some news for you and you're not gonna like it. Earlier some weirdos got a few pictures of you and Min Jae. They've begun to spread links to the photos all over your blog."
"What?" I frowned. Namjoon hummed as he typed on his phone before turning the screen in my direction. Low and behold, there were some pictures of me and Min jae at the cafe.
They had taken some of her laughing but hadn't gotten my entire reaction. So it looked as if we were having a jolly ol' time. I felt my blood boiling.
"Did you report them?"
"Of course I did but once the pictures are out then it's nothing we can do. I specifically told you to be careful. You aren't a regular author. The way you react with your fans is guaranteed to breed a few delusions. Some of your fans don't take too kindly to this which puts you in danger." Namjoon scolded.
"I wasn't thinking. It won't happen again." I said truthfully.
"It can't happen again, actually." He noted, stuffing his phone into his back pocket before going towards the door.
"I would recommend checking on that little girlfriend of yours too. Make sure she hasn't yet seen the photos."
"Haven...fuck." I raised my eyebrows, scrambling to retrieve my phone out of my pocket. No doubt she had seen it.
"Tsk tsk." Namjoon shook his head as he left the suite. I paid him no mind as I dialed her number. She was the only person whose judgement I truly cared about. If she interpreted those photos in the wrong way then I was in trouble.
The phone goes straight to voicemail. Just as I expected. She saw the blog.
-
A/n: I lowkey picture Min Jae as that bully from the glory
Excuse any mistakes <3.