@ahn jiho ⁹⁶ what was wrong? how could she tell him the truth of what her greatest fear was when he barely knew what her favourite food was. they never shared things like this to each other and she wasn’t sure if she could. no, this was something she would keep to herself, no one could know, not even dohyun, her best friend. even if she couldn’t bring herself to say those words she buried deep in her heart, she wanted her husband by her side. even if they were only a couple in name, they were a family through and through. there were moments like this, where all she needed were the arms of a man.
ahn jiho was the perfect man for her, she had once thought. when they got married, they made no vows to each other. instead they promised each other a marriage where they could maintain their own freedoms and not question each other on what they did or who they did unless it affected the bigger picture, their bigger picture. all he cared was his work, his legacy and reaching his goals. hyori thought she could love a man like that, who matched her in status and wealth. he was eager to get married too, and even more eager to raise a child with her- all the things her ex of seven years never wanted.
but sometimes she catches herself wondering what would have happened if she put down her stupid fantasies about marriage and her obsession with becoming the perfect high society woman. would she be happier? how different would her life be? hyori doesn’t have the answer to that but she does know that last night would have never happened.
“can you just stay with me tonight? it’s really quiet in the bedroom.” her voice is gentle, she always had a soothing lilt to her words, but tonight, her voice is laced with exhaustion and almost a hint of fear. she brings her arms around herself, eyes fixed on the man she called husband. he’s an attractive man, she knows he’s popular with the ladies too, but she was never drawn to him when they were classmates, partly because he was dating her best friend back in highschool.
now she wants him to hold her, just for the night. until the sun comes up and the bad dreams fade away.
@go hyori ⁹⁶ He couldn’t call it the most tiring day.
he have seen worse, working over time staying the whole night in his office or even not being able to sleep for days, he definitely have seen worse, he have risen the company his father built once again in all its glory at such a young age on his own pouring his blood and soul in what he did but tonight he couldn’t care less about all those, none of them has ever engaged his mind like this one did.
He was worried, that beautiful harmless princess of Go family was gone, maybe the only innocent person in that building and no one knew who did it, is there going to be another one?
he hated it when he wasn’t the one controlling the situation, when he “had” to lie, call him control freak, the image of seol and hyori constantly floated in his mind.
The ride back home from the station was quiet, not that they used be all chitty chattery with each other during car rides, they barely got in the same car, and if they talked it was mostly talking about seol, that little snowflake jiho adored with every living cell of his body, nothing about them, nothing for them.
He watched hyori carrying their half asleep babygirl in her arms walking to her room
he twisted the door knob, straight to his home-office without even changing his work shirt or loosening his tie he walked pass the executive desk slumping on his leather chair rubbing his temple for a few seconds before pulling out the documents under the table.
Drowning in the pile of documents he didn’t even realize the door getting opened, although hearing his name passing hyori’s lips made him jerk his head up, it was an usual sight, usually she would’ve been asleep after tucking seol into her bed.
watching her movements toward the couch in front of him lounging comfortably in her oh so beautiful silk dress, her glowing skin matching with the color of the dress, he pushed his chair a little backward.
“What’s wrong? Why are you still awake?”
Despite asking the question he already knew the answer he pushed the chair further standing up, walking to her.
there was something about today that drove hyori insane. maybe it was waking up with the worst hangover she ever had, or bumping into mio and esther on her way home, or the fact that she had to come home to an empty house, one that reminded her of a memory so foggy, so unclear yet so unsettling and seeing the news about jihyun. perhaps it was having to go to a police station and lie unblinkingly or now, at this very hour, at this very building, reminding her of how her niece had just been murdered, and tossed off the building like she wasn’t worth anything. the perfect princess go jihyun met her end and she could be next.
this uneasiness had sat on her shoulders all day and now she was exhausted.
“goodnight baby.” she gave her sleepy daughter a kiss on the cheek before pulling the covers over the two year old and turning off the lights. it was evident that her baby was tired too with how quickly she had drifted off to sleep.
her nights were lonely. though they shared a life, a home, a bed, hyori was more of an early sleeper, early riser and went fell asleep before her husband came to bed and got up before he woke, or whenever the baby monitor would sound. they slept on separate ends of the mattress, despite their physical relationship with each other.
it wasn’t always like this. when they had agreed to get married, hyori tried, she really did. when she found out she was going to have seol, she was genuinely excited to have a family- even if the person she started one with wasn’t who she has in mind. and for a while, the really felt like a family. he was good to her, but on hindsight, he was simply doting on his daughter, she was merely the vessel that carried his true love.
when seol was born, all the problems started. hyori wanted to focus on work, jiho wanted her to focus on seol. hyori wanted nannies, jiho hated them. hyori wanted jiho’s care and support but jiho wasn’t dohyun. jiho never loved her.
but tonight, tonight she couldn’t go to bed lonely again. stepping out of the bathroom with freshly dried hair, she looked at the king sized bed she hadn’t been in in a week and all of a sudden it dawned on her how empty it would feel.
“jiho?” she lets herself into his study, making herself comfortable on his couch. hyori wasn’t one to follow any house rules, she made that clear from the start. she was the only house rule she’d follow. lounging on her side in her silk slip and her /usual/ unreadable countenance, she announces, “i’m tired”.
