Chapter 3

POV: Jaewon

I spent the night crying… how foolish I am! I had pains in both hands and in my head, but none surpassed the pain I felt in my own heart. I couldn’t forget what Namsoo had said; I couldn’t believe that I had lost someone I considered a brother, and my wife along with my baby. My baby… I feel my heart breaking when I remember that I lived a dream that didn’t last more than one night.

I think about what went through Ji-a’s mind when she realized she was pregnant by another man and why she let me spend hours daydreaming about the baby’s room or even why she let me nurture the dream of being called daddy by a little girl. I’m sure she doesn’t know the weight of the pain she caused me, and that this will probably be marked on me forever. But laying my head on the pillow, tired of crying, I let myself fall asleep without caring that she really didn’t come back home.

I wake up with the sun hitting my face and grumble upon hearing the alarm clock. I’m not in a condition to go to work, and I’ll have to come up with some nonsense to take the day off. Maybe I can lie and say I’m sick. So sick that maybe I’ll even die. Or I can just tell the truth. I’ll be the butt of jokes, but what would that be for someone who is already completely messed up?

I feel my phone vibrating on the bedside table and huff once again. Grabbing it, I see my coworker’s name flashing on the screen. “Hi, SiHo…” I answer.

With a long sigh, I hear him ask, “Are you sick?”

“Almost dying, I’d say.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

Is a broken heart a sickness? Maybe if the answer is yes, I can get about fifteen days off and I can live my endless sadness in the deepest pit, which is my room.

“I think I have the flu or something; I can’t get out of bed, everything hurts.”

“Hmm. Do you want me to come to you? Doyoon just left; I can come by and bring you some coffee.”

“You don’t have to bother. But if Doyoon asks, please say I’m sick, and I’m taking the day off; maybe the boss will give me a break.”

“Relax, I can melt that ice-cold heart. He won’t even deduct your day, trust me.”

I smile a little, unable to deny that SiHo’s unique way makes me feel a bit better. “Thank you, SiHo.”

“No problem. Make sure to rest; tonight, I’ll send you dinner; I owe you that from the Friday football bet.”

“Me and my winning team appreciate it.”

I hear his laughter and then SiHo’s goodbye. When I put the phone back on the bedside table, I grab the blanket and wrap it around my head to shield myself from the sunlight and go back to sleep.

But the sound of the key turning in the front door makes me pay attention. I remove the blanket and hear the footsteps.

“I can’t believe she came back here,” I say softly, getting up.

Again, I feel anger, so I leave the room ready to kick her out of the house I know I have more right to than she does. But as soon as I reach the living room, I don’t find just Ji-a. She’s here, with a red nose and teary eyes, but by her side is my mother.

It’s not new since my mother also lives in Namsoo’s building, so she probably brought her to try to soften what she did.

“What are you doing here?” I decide to ignore my mother for a few seconds; I just don’t want to look at my traitorous wife anymore.

“Jaewon, I… I want to talk to you.”

“And why did you bring my mother here?”

“I brought her to help me.”

“Help? In what exactly?”

Ji-a tries to speak, but it’s my mother who answers, “She came to get her things, dear.”

I take a deep breath when I see my ex-wife looking at her hurriedly, and I assume that this wasn’t the kind of help she really wanted. But my mother smiles at me, helping and standing by my side.

I step away from the entrance to the room and say, looking at Ji-a, “Be quick; you are no longer welcome here.”

Ji-a pouts, lowering her gaze. I don’t want to feel sorry for her, but I realize that the way my mother observes her entering the room that was once ours is completely compassionate.

I walk to the sofa, sitting there, and my mother sits beside me.

“My love,” she reaches for my hand, caressing them together. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I don’t deserve what she did.”

“I know you don’t. No one does. But… she’s pregnant, Jaewon…”

“By Namsoo,” I look at her. “That baby is not mine. Unfortunately, I have no connection with it.”

“But, maybe, you and she…”

“No, mom. I’m sorry, but I’m the one who doesn’t want her anymore. I don’t like to rub anything in anyone’s face, but I was a good husband all these years. I’m a grown man now; I’m twenty-six. Ji-a always swore to love me since we were seventeen when we started dating. If she wanted someone else, why did she decide to marry me? Why did she decide to hide it and continue making mistakes with him? I was made a fool; I imagine how much they laughed at me. But now I’m tired; I don’t want her anymore.”

My mother sighed heavily, nodding, and respecting my decision. She stayed with me the whole time Ji-a was there, separating everything she wanted to take who knows where.

When she finally finished, saying that her two sisters would come to help her take everything, and that she was going to her mother’s house, I heard her ask to have the final, definitive conversation with me.