"Good evening, Mrs. Hwang! It's been a while."
"Good evening to you too, Yuna-ya. Just about three years.. Anyway, I am here meeting with a friend, her name is —" She greeted back.
"Hold on, I think I saw your name on the list earlier... Hmmm. Here it is, a table for two for "Mrs. Hwang." Follow me."
Mrs. Hwang, huh? Lia thought as she followed Yuna to their table.
"It seems like your friend had already arrived Mrs. Hwa—"
"Thank you, Yuna." Lia replied and smiled politely at the waitress as she sat down.
"Long time, no see, Chaeryeong-ah." She stated as she directed her gaze at the woman across the table.
"I know unnie.." The younger replied with a small smile and proceeded to take sip from the wine at the glass in front her which she ordered while waiting for the older.
"How are you liking the service here so far? You know, apart from their friendly and attentive staff, they do have the best drinks, at least for Yeji and I since we often go here during our date nights." Lia shared very fondly. "Our date nights, of course, where we always end our days sharing a passionate evening... you know what I mean." Lia then smirked.
The last line prompted Chaeryeong to place her glass down and let out a sigh. "Is this the reason why you asked me to make a reservation here? To try and make me insecure about your relationship with Yeji?"
Yeji? "Wow, she already let you drop the unnie, huh? Things must be getting serious between you two." Lia scoffed.
Chaeryeong fought back her desire to roll her eyes as she fiddled with a metal band in her left hand.
Suddenly, she was startled by a sound of a clap coming from Lia. "Okay, let's make this simple. We both know that Yeji was very happy being with me, and I want her back. Please be a dear and help me get the two of us back together. You've seen the spark between the two of us since college didn't you?" She argued which made Chaeryeong mad.
"Yeah, I was among the people who really thought that you two were made for each other but as much as I witnessed the spark over the years, I was also there when it had been extinguished — by you. You had your chance unnie, you chose to leave her." Chaeryeong replied, gazing sharply at the older.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
"Lia-ya, come on, open the door. Let's talk about this please. I forgive you okay? Just don't leave me like this."
Yeji stated as she continuously bangs the door, hoping for a chance for the door to be opened. She doesn't care if she's soaking wet from the rain.
"Yeji, come on, I-I can't do this. I-I'm getting confused with my feelings with Ryujin. I wouldn't want to be unfair to you by continuing this relationship." Lia answered from the other side.
"You can choose to stay with me, Lia-ya. You can choose me." Yeji continued to beg as she now rested her head against the door.
Lia thinks of the moments she shared with her co-worker. Having lunch together, watching sunset together, having fun attending baking classes together....
" B-but I can't lose Ryujin...I don't want her out of my life." Lia blurted out, and Yeji swore she felt like daggers stabbed her heart.
"S-so, losing me is a better option." Lia knew it was not a question but a confirmation for Yeji. This was Yeji's last words as she used up all the strength she has left and finally moved away from Lia's door and out of her life.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
"But here I am now, I've learned my lesson. All I needed was enough time to sort out my feelings. Now I know that I love Yeji."
Chaeryeong has her jaw clenched already. "So what? Yeji-unnie should come back running to you because after three dreadful years, you finally realized that you messed up in breaking with her? Do you not understand what you did to her? You pretended for months that you were both okay before you admitted that you were having feelings for your coworker? That day, I was with her, I saw her eyes sparked as she told me how grateful she was of you, how sure she was that you were the one for her. Still, she chased after you, as if, it was her fault. For a long time, she thought that she was not worthy of being loved, of being chosen."
"Look, Chaeryeong. I regret all of it, please you want Yeji to be happy right? I can make her happy again, please, I need her." Lia had tears streaming down her face.
"She needed you too, but you took too long. She's happy now."
"Please, Chaeryeong, I'm so—."
"Mommy!!!" There conversation was cut off when both turned around to a young child who suddenly ran up to Chaeryeong.
"Mommy, I missed you! Look, thanks to you teaching me, I've got a star from doing well in my tests today!" She stated as she buried her head at Chaeryeong's chest. "Oh, A-Auntie Lia? Is that you? I haven't seen you in a while!" the kid continued.
You used to call me mommy too. "Hi, baby." Lia was glad she was able to wipe her tears quickly and forced a smile for the kid. But soon her smile vanished from the next words coming from the kid's mouth.
"Mom! Look Mommy Chaeryeong and Aunt Lia is here!" Lia froze as she didn't expect Yeji to be here, she did not intend for Yeji to know about this meet-up.
"Kiddo, do you want to get an ice cream?" Yeji leaned down to carry her child as she briefly shared a look with her wife, Chaeryeong.
"Come on baby, let's get you an ice cream. First one to get out the door will get double scoop." And then she was off running.
"I'll see you later, Love." Chaeryeong said and hugged Yeji. As she was letting go, Yeji pulled her for a peck on her lips. "You two be careful, I love you." Chaeryeong blushed and smiled as she followed their daughter out.
Lia could only avert her gaze to the floor after the scene before her unfolded. An uncomfortable silence continue to engulf them until Yeji decided to speak up.
"So how are you and Ryujin?" She started while still looking towards the door as she watches her wife and daughter giggle with each other as both mischievously try to bite from the other's cone.
"We continued dating but broke up after a few months, I- I realize the mistake I did by leaving you and I want you ba —"
Yeji cut her of with a chuckle and continued, still not looking Lia eye-to-eye. "After you left me, I went into a spiral. I could not take care of our-- my daughter properly. I couldn't be bothered getting off my bed to eat, let alone to work." She then finally looked at Lia and shot her a cold look. "What you did, destroyed me. You choose someone you knew recently over me, over our years of relationship. You let me chase after you, making me feel like an option while you prioritize your budding relationship with her, sending me mixed signals -- You didn't want to get back together even when I asked you several times, yet you also hated when I tried to move on from you. That day, when I was banging at your door, I reached my limit. I don't deserve being treated like that."
"Yeji, I'm really sorry for treating you like that, please, come back." Lia said as she grabbed Yeji's hand.
Pulling back her arms away, Yeji once again averted her gaze from the younger, and proceeded to meet her wife's worried eyes outside. Letting out a small smile, Yeji continued. "When you left me, Chaeryeong stayed. She always visited me and forced me into eating my meals, just so I wouldn't be starving. She always took care of my daughter when I was gone, and I was gone a lot. The reason why the kid does not hate me was because Chaeryeong did not let it happen. She would make sure that we spend time with each other, and that slowly made me feel better over time. Now, look at them, Chaeryeong is really a great mom to my daughter."
As painful as it is, Lia couldn't disagree if she wanted to. Watching the two have a chat outside while leaning against their car, really made her see how great Yeji's family now.
"The day you received the divorce papers, I was there." Yeji once again continued.
"W-what?" Lia tried to remember the day. S-she couldn't have. That day was---
"I saw Ryujin get out of a moving truck, carrying boxes after boxes in our house. I saw her suddenly put down the boxes that she was holding and received the papers for you." Yeji recalled and then looked at Lia again. "I was there when you both happily opened the envelope as Ryujin hurriedly ran inside our house to get a pen for you. I was there when she lifted you up and twirled you around our porch in happiness because, you were finally free from me. That day, I dropped of my daughter at my parent's house and proceeded to confine myself inside my apartment."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeji said her goodbyes to her parents and her daughter.
"Take care on your trip, Yeji." Her parents stated.
"Mom, when will I see Mommy Lia? I missed her already. Will she be in your trip too?" Her daughter asked. Crouching down, Yeji couldn't find the right words.
"Baby, didn't Aunt Chaeryeong explained it to you before? Lia and Yeji has decided to part their ways, and you may not see Lia as often as before now." Yeji's mother decided to speak up making the child frown but soon it was replaced by a huge smile.
"How about Aunt Chaeryeong? Can she be my mommy now?" The kid asked.
"Well that's up to your Mom. Right, Yeji?" Yeji's father chimed in with a slight smile.
Yeji felt like she did not deserve to be loved. She knew that Chaeryeong, everyone, is better off without someone like her. "Uhh, we'll see about that, huh? Now make sure you behave here and take care of each other." She then kissed and hugged them and finally went her way.
Yeji drank for hours, losing track of the time. Only going out from her apartment to just buy more alcohol. This went on for days and the days turned to weeks. She told her parents that the trip will only last for a week but she didn't care anymore. One stormy day, when Yeji was about to grab a hold of another drink, she accidentally stepped on the bottles lying on the floor and slipped on the shattered bottles. She was bleeding all over the place, but she could not care less.
"So this is it, huh? Finally." Yeji bitterly chuckled as she lied on the floor, listening to the sound of rain pouring down outside, as she closed her eyes and wait for her draining blood to take all the pain away.
Suddenly, a banging was heard from the direction of the front door. "YEJI-UNNIE! please, open the door. We can talk about this please. I am here okay? Please, don't leave me like this."
"C-chaeryeong?" Yeji whispered. "There is nothing I can do now." She continued.
"Unnie please, You can choose to stay with me. I'll take care of you. You can choose me." Chaeryeong replied as if she heard her unnie's whispers.
"Please unnie, open the door! I don't want to lose you. I - I can't live without you... Yeji, please, I love you." Chaeryeong continued to sob under the pouring rain as she rested her head on the door, hoping that Yeji is still okay on the other side of the door.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It's amusing really. The very words that you used to kill me were the ones she used to save me. All you had to do was stay with me, Lia but you didn't. Chaeryeong stayed for me even when I did not want to stay myself." Yeji finally flashed a genuine smile at Lia. "Where else will I be able to find someone like that in my life?" She finally ended and made her way towards the door.
"Y-yeji, wait I--" Lia grabbed her arm.
Without turning back, Yeji said "Thank you for showing me that I deserved so much more. You made me happy, but she made me better. This is good bye, Lia."
With tears streaming down her face, Lia sat there frozen drowning in guilt and regret as she watched her greatest love in the arms of someone that was not her.
A/N: I am just loving Chaerji these days hehehe