Hannam The Hills, Seoul
9:00PM
Roseanne's POV.
"Tae can we talk?" I asked him standing in the doorway of his study.
After cleaning myself up, I found Taejoon in the bar downstairs nursing a Rum and coke. Part of me expected him to be somewhere with Irene. Attentively listening to her blab about how she was a former gymnast and how far she could drop down into a split but finding him alone gutted me. I was officially the antagonist in our relationship. The person with the fault big enough to end our marriage. The way he looked at me had me wanting to cry. He was hurt.
Fucking Lisa the morning after was one thing but allowing it to happen again while Taejoon waited for me was cruel and low. I was the lowest of the low.
This thing with Lisa had escalated from bad to worse in a matter of hours, and I knew that if I didn't tell Taejoon the truth it would only get worse. I could see it imploding from a mile away.
"Please, Tae." I implored.
He huffed an exaggerated breath.
Taejoon looked away from his computer. "Now you want to talk?" He asked. His voice was laced with fury. "You didn't want to talk when I asked you back at the club. You didn't want to talk at dinner. Now you want to talk while I'm working. I have a deadline," he said acidly.
He had a point but I couldn't let that stop me.
"There's a lot I need to tell you. I wanted to come to you with a clear head," I explained.
He turned his attention back to his computer. "Roseanne I'm working, alright? Maybe later."
"What I have to say is important. If I don't tell you now I'm afraid I never will." My voice was a whine fear and guilt had wrapped itself around my throat.
"I don't have time." His eyes were scrolling over the text of his webpage before he finished speaking and I knew that was his way of checking out of our conversation.
"You don't have time for anything anymore! I'm knocking my head against the table begging for your attention and you just look the other way. Instead of giving me your undivided time and attention you passed me off to someone else." The fact that he hadn't looked up from his screen made me furious. "I understand that you're angry with me for changing my mind about her. I know you expected me to say no but I'm a flesh and blood woman. I feel deprived in this marriage. And you kept pushing. And Lisa and I connected...."
And she does everything you don't. She doesn't treat me like a flower. She says what she means. She pays attention to me. And she can fuck, and I needed it. I needed it more than I needed air. I don't want to hurt you but I can't control the need I have for her. Help me, please. I don't know what to do.
But I couldn't tell Taejoon any of that.
He couldn't handle it.
Tears caught in my throat.
He was silent. And then, "Can we talk about this later? I don't have time for this."
"You don't have time for this?" I mocked in a sniveling sing-song. "What does that mean? You don't have time for me? You don't have time for our marriage?" The anger crept into my voice even when I tried to will it away.
"Not right now. Not when I tried to get you to speak up earlier!" He shouted spitefully. "The entire world doesn't revolve around satisfying you. I have work to get done. We'll talk later."
I pushed his papers off the desk capturing his attention and holding it. His eyes blazed murderously. The veins in his neck were pulsing and swelling dangerously but I didn't care. I had a point and I was going to make it whether he wanted to hear it or not. I wasn't ready to throw away my marriage especially not because of Lisa.
"From my standpoint the past eight years has been all about you! College was all about you! Moving to Seoul was for you! Getting married my sophomore year in college was for you!"
His face hardened and I could've swore his eyes turned as red as blood. "That's bullshit and you know it," he gritted through his teeth.
The adrenaline was coursing through my arteries and my heart was hammering. I shut my eyes and spoke, "Taejoon, whenever you wanted something in the past you somehow managed to get it done. Don't use time and work as an excuse. You found time to go back to that club. You make time to play golf and drink with your friends."
"You want the finer things in life Roseanne. I have to work for them. You want Cartier, Chanel and fucking four thousand dollar designer shoes. This is the price I have to pay to get them; long hours and no time for you. I'm doing the best I can!" he fumed. "You always need so much fucking attention. Give me a fucking break!"
"You're not in this alone. I bring a check home too. You work all the time for yourself because you can't stand to lose at anything but keep this up Taejoon and you're going to lose your wife."
I slammed the door as I walked out.
I could feel my face burning with rage. Tears threatened to spill over but I kept them at bay.
I don't know if our fight was his fault or mine. Both parties had their own perspective but at that point I could only understand mine. I could only understand that he handed me over to another person. I stupidly accepted because I was angry with him. He tried to apologize by buying me a ridiculously expensive bracelet. Because I couldn't stop thinking about Lisa, I was too distracted to care when he was trying to talk. Then Taejoon took me back to the club hoping Lisa would tell him what happened between us but it ended in Lisa and I fucking, again. And me lying and Taejoon and I fighting.
I didn't know what to do. I was so lost. I felt so lost.
After I changed into my gym clothes, I picked up the phone and made a call.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you."
"You're fine, Sweetheart. What's going on?" Jungkook asked.
I exhaled. "Taejoon and I just had a huge fight and I basically threatened him with a divorce."
I grabbed my keys off the rack and locked the
door behind me.
"What happened?"
"I slept with Lisa again. She hasn't stopped texting or calling me."
I pressed the call button for the elevator and waited.
"I've been telling you doll. Everyone needs those slutty college years," Jungkook said making me chuckle. "You need time to discover what you want and what you need before you settle down with a nice, boring man."
I rolled my eyes. "Taejoon isn't boring. He's just Taejoon."
The doorman gestured toward the cab that was coming toward me. Silently, asking if I needed a cab.
I nodded.
"What are you doing now?" Jungkook asked.
"I'm on my way to the gym. Hopefully, sweat and overexertion will keep me from doing something stupid."
I gave the cabbie directions and he pulled off.
"Unless, of course, you run into Jaehyun.Then you're in trouble. It's late. The gym will be secluded. It's basically just going to be you and him. Your tits will be bouncing up and down on the treadmill. He's going be grunting and sweating..."
I laughed hysterically. "Kookie shut up. You're not helping."
"Who said I was trying to help. I'm trying to live vicariously through you."
"What for? You're getting more action than I am."
"Because watching you transform into a badass, and finally living for you is so fucking entertaining."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Before Taejoon, it was Chanyeol and your father dominating your life. It's no coincidence that you chose Lisa. The exact replica of your brother and father."
"First, that's disgusting. Second, you don't even know what Lisa looks like. And third, Lisa chose me. Not the other way around."
"When you were describing Lisa all I saw was Chaneyol. Minus the black hair."
I handed the driver his cab fare and climbed out of the taxi.
"Lisa was frank about wanting you but Jaehyun, Taejoon's buff clone was just as obvious in his pursuit and who did you choose?" Jungkook asked.
"I-I....he....we. Taejoon doesn't look like Jaehyun."
"You chose Lisa because you've always had a thing for that type of person. Your father wasn't having that so you settle for a nice boring guy."
"I did not settle."
There was some truth to what he was saying but I didn't want to believe it.
What Jungkook suggested was not only twisted but dysfunctional.
"Are you sure you don't want to workout with me?" I asked changing the subject.
"Positive,"
"Well, I'm here. I'll call you tomorrow."
"Bye, doll."
"Bye."
As I walked up toward the gym I noticed a black Lincoln parked outside. The man leaning against the car, smoking a cigarette looked strangely familiar but I couldn't pinpoint where we met.
"Hello, Miss," he said as I walked by.
"Hi."
Where I have seen him before? I asked myself.
Maybe he drives Taejoon's boss or something.
I made my way into the ladies locker room and pulled my hair up. I retrieved my armband for my phone from my locker and I slipped my phone inside. As Jungkook predicted, the gym was secluded. The only other person I noticed was a girl working out on the machine in front of me. I couldn't see her face because she was facing the opposite direction. I made my way to my favorite treadmill, and started briskly jogging blocking out the noise with music blasting in my ears until I inhaled a familiar scent. I didn't look up because in the back of my mind I knew who was standing before me.
But I prayed that it was just my overactive imagination.
I froze when I glanced up and she was staring back at me with those familiar blazing doe brown eyes.
~
a/n: that's it for the mass updates today! i started converting to get my mind off the whole situation but then treasure bitches were coming at me on my twitter which made me mad again. ugh, why can't us blinks have any peace within that company? anyways, taejoon is an annoying asshole, roseanne is indecisive and lisa is horny. i think the story is great so far. make sure to vote and comment your thoughts :)