Ahyun grabbed the edge of the counter, trying to stabilise her wobbling legs. She was everywhere in her heart and mind, scattered and shuffled in the carcass of her soul.

She almost gave in to his touch, his little affection was all it took to break her own worth. But it was not only that. She loved Seojin, but she could not be so soft, no, not before she knew what happened yesternight.

She loved Seojin with a fierceness that consumed her, but now doubts crept in like tendrils of ivy, wrapping around her thoughts. Was he cheating? Was Tobias, with his sly insinuations, right all along? No, she refused to believe it. Yet the seed of suspicion had been planted, and it grew like a poisonous weed in the garden of her mind.

Even if it was in her mind she needed his consolation, she needed him to say how much she meant to him, a little love, that's all.

With the breakfast laden onto the tray, she led her way to the table, she was sure of talking to Seojin later in the morning once Hana would have left for her college. Alone, they would have sorted out all the insecurities built up for days and maybe the happy home would look happy, again.

With a few steps into the hall, the little world of hers came crumbling down; Hana had her arms tightly wrapped around her man's torso in a desperate attempt to never let go and Seojin had his right palm entangled in her locks as he muttered the poisonous vocables burning down her entirety like acid.

"That's the bare minimum I could do for you, Hana."

In that momentum of free fall, the feldspar tray hit the ground first, and then the plates with the glasses shattered soon after. The morning sunlight illuminated the scene, accentuating the shards of porcelain scattered across the floor like pieces of a broken mosaic. As the long shadows danced around her, Ahyun felt a wave of despair wash over her.

As Ahyun landed amidst the messy wreckage, she was met by two pairs of concerned feet running towards her. Their faces filled with worry, but Ahyun couldn't focus on their expressions. Her eyes were drawn to the horror unfolding before her.

They say, too many spilt flavours leave nasty aftermath on the palate, but the messed breakfast was better than the horror she had just come to see.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled, pushing away the caring arms that reached out to her. She backed away from her husband, her heart pounding with anger and betrayal. As she retreated, she unknowingly dragged her hand across the surface and the bits of shattered glass found a home across her palm.

"Ahyun, your hands-"

"Keep your fake care to yourself! Cheater! You are nothing but a cheater!" She accused, her voice filled with pain and anger. In that moment, she felt the weight of all the insecurity and fears that had been building up inside her.

She pushed herself back a little more, and one of those kaolin shards pierced across her palm.

Insecurity and fears, misunderstandings and miscommunication, they were like fires to polyester relationships. Two people bound in love, tagging their soiled intimacy with a name, were often in a polyester bounded string. It would be shiny and beautiful, but often suffocating for the people tied with it, and fire was polyester's bosom friend.

And those polyesters that wrapped around the hearts, melt and stuck upon the pericardium, over the time burning and bleaching, until they are tarnished.

Flabbergasted at the sudden distortion, Jin stepped closer to her, "Jagiya, what are you saying?" His eyes closely watched her wound, as the blood dripped down upon the floor, making a small pool.

Ahyun was a mess, her eyes, her face, even her heart. Deep red eyes with brimming tears that felt burning on her skin kept rolling down as she eyed the man she had always loved.

"Why J-Jin?"

He eyed at her in confusion, what did his wife mean? Pretty conceivable that something had led her to all these mishaps, but he was barely hugging Hana with the little love he had for her as his sister. It never had been an issue then, why now?

Slowly dropping to her level, he placed his palm upon her bloody hand, "Ahyun, baby... You know Hana is like a little sister to me, you know what she is going through love, please..."

And these polyesters take up a little spark of the dimmed fire, one strand, then two, then the whole at once. Starting at the middle, it burns till the edges, one step at a time leaping at the wooden embodiment, burning them down here are there until it has left nothing of them.

"Then tell me why was she wrapped around you yesterday night? Tell me why was she chanting innumerable love words to you, Jin?"

"Baby, she was in trance and sh-"

Siding her glance at the younger woman, she lifted her hand to hold the palm in front of his face indicating for him to shut off his incessant lies. Ahyun pulled up her body limping and whimpering as she approached Hana, "I gave you shelter, I gave you love, I gave an orphan like you a family, and it didn't even take you minutes to burn down my house?"

"Ahyun-"

"How many days has it been? Two? Five? Ten? You forgot Chiwon and started lusting upon your so-called brother, as you say? How low of you!" Ahyun had lost the track of her words and sentiments, her demeanour tumbling down. She had lost each humane sense, what mattered was she was alone, deceived, cheated upon.

And she didn't stop, "Now I understand everything, Chiwon left you because he knew of your and your brother's scandalous affair. You slept with Seojin irrespective of the fact that he was married and had a child, you just couldn't put a stop to that slu-"

Her words came to a halt with a stinging slap across her face. It was Seojin.

Ahyun's cheek throbbed with pain as she stared back, the shock numbing her momentarily. Her words had crossed a line, and now she had incurred the wrath of another victim in this tangled web of deceit.

While others sought solace in the warmth of love, Ahyun found solace in the icy embrace of hatred. Wasn't it intriguing, she pondered, how hatred could be a powerful force if wielded correctly? Love, in all its unpredictability, paled in comparison to the controlled precision of hatred. Hence, for a slap, a smile was all she had to offer. It wasn't a mere slap, but humiliation, and she still smiled.

"Ahyun!" Jin squealed, high-pitched enough to break the glass. "I'm, like, so sorry, I-I didn't mean to, oh God! I haven't talked to you all night and all this..."

"It doesn't matter Jin, you had someone to talk to, already..." She whispered, her gaze averting his face. Jin was quick, he held her hands and pulled away the shard, "Let's get this wrapped and then f-fix this, oh God!"

He left an apologetic smile to Hana and with a pull on her arm, Seojin took Ahyun to their kitchen letting the blood wash away under the flowing water, "Must be hurting, I-I will bring the medicines and th-"

"Nothing hurts Seojin, nothing."

She took away her hand staring at the wound in pity, why would it hurt when she was already dead?
As the water ran over Ahyun's delicate wrists, memories flooded back. They were so happy once, their laughter like music that filled their cozy little home. But lately, everything had changed.

And Seojin was guilty, devastated-he hadn't even got a chance to explain it to his wife. He knew it was his fault that he had been distant for a few days, trying to keep his emotions at bay, trying to help Hana, but that led to this, and he had even slapped her in rage.

How would he even fix it? For the more he would leave out, the more he would highlight what he had to live in.

Pulling out of his trance, he looked up to see Ahyun trailing out of their kitchen, "Jagiya, you need medication, please baby-" But the doorbell cut his words short.

Hana who was seated on the sofa sprinted to the door, unshackling the lock and opening it wide.

"Yes?"

A tall man with a flexed reading Rayban on the nose stood at the door, smiling.

"The Kim's House, right?"

Hana nodded, "Are Mr. And Mrs. Kim in there?" The man muttered. She stole a peek inside to find Ahyun's hand wrapped and Jin standing a bit far with his gaze fixed in her direction. Things seemed okay.

"Yes, please come in."

She couldn't shake off the feeling of unease as she led him inside. Hana spoke up once they were near the sofas, "Seojin, Ahyun, this man here wants to meet you both."

Seojin's gaze lifted, his expression etched with bewilderment. He had no recollection of the man in front of him.

"Good morning, Mr. Kim," greeted the stranger, his smile revealing a set of charming dimples.

"Morning," Seojin replied cautiously, "Forgive my bluntness, but who are you? Have I met you before?"

At the sound of that voice, Ahyun's world stilled. Her heart raced with a mix of fear and hope that it belonged to anyone but him. She had stood there all this time, with her back facing them but she had turned to the voice, eyes wide.

"I go by Norton Anvis."

"And I am Kim Seojin."

"So does the people say," Norton's words hung in the air, laced with hidden meanings.

Laughter briefly filled the room, a light moment amidst the tension as Seojin glanced at Ahyun.
Ahyun stood caught in a silent storm, her eyes flickering between Norton and Seojin. She inhaled deeply, bracing herself for what was to come.

Truth was a rare commodity; full disclosure was seldom met without shadows of secrets or errors.

"Ahyun, who is he?" Seojin's question sliced through the silence.

Ahyun felt a chill run down her spine. She knew this encounter was a prelude to chaos.

Norton was a secret whose worth was banked on the people from whom it must be kept.

_________

The intense story starts from the next chapter :)
These were all build - up for the emotional roller-coaster :)

WC: 1768