When Last Night Didn't End: Before Story

17

The clatter of silverware were the only sounds between them since their meal arrived. Rin focused on chewing rather than on the thickening silence between him and Hye-jin. It didn't feel like this before, and he didn't know what changed. They were still the same people, weren't they?

"You've been quiet since we got here," Hye-jin said, running her tongue over her teeth before taking a sip of wine. Clad in a maroon dress and bedecked in sparkling jewelry, she was phenomenal. "What's up?"

What would he even answer to that question? There's so many things going on between them. Where would he start? "Did I wish you a happy birthday yet?" he said instead.

Hye-jin snorted. Still, a small smile pulled at the corners of her lips. The muted crimson paint made her skin seem brighter and her eyes more radiant. "Mention that again and I might start smacking you," she said. "It's not a good reminder."

"Why not?" he cocked an eyebrow. "You didn't have bad birthdays at home, right?"

She toyed with the spoon and fork in her grip, her nails scratching against their glinting finish. "It's not that I've got some trauma about it," she said. "It's just...it's an awful wake-up call about how time just passes."

"At least it's time well spent," Rin shoved another bite of the steak into his mouth. The rich taste of the sauce blended with the meat which melted as soon as it touched his tongue. Why didn't they come here as often? The food was excellent. "How are things in the language course?"

An annoyed look passed across Hye-jin's face before vanishing in a split second—as if it didn't appear in the first place. When had she gotten so good at that? Before, Hye-jin would wear her emotions on her features, and Rin used to be able to tell what his wife was thinking even before she said it aloud. Perhaps, they weren't the same people, after all. What was he supposed to feel about that?

"I prefer it if we don't talk about that here," she said, her tone flat and even. Why was she even this pissed off? What did he do this time? It's her birthday, and Rin, despite having a ton of Ashley tasks and his actual duties to do, he had been doing his best to not think about them. He's trying so hard to be present, and here was Hye-jin giving him the negativity. It's...unbecoming.

Rin tamped down his own annoyance. "Well, what are we supposed to talk about?" he asked, not bothering to clip the sardonic edge in it. Did he free up his own schedule, risked getting Ashley's ire and threat of expulsion, and made sure he could leave his mother and brother at home for at least two hours for this? "Wanna watch a movie?"

Hye-jin smoothed her plate, even to the garnish. She wasn't known to do that either. And wait...didn't she start eating chicken down to the last strip from the bone too? Strange. "What about Ichika-san and Kaito?" she asked as she chewed. "Are they going to be good for another two hours? It's another half-an-hour drive from here to the theather."

Rin sighed. "We really can't escape life, can we?"

"Yeah," she tapped a napkin to her mouth, frowning at how her lipstick came away with it. "Might as well answer the question. The scholarship is going well, but it's hard. The syntax is confusing—bordering on nonsense—and I can't imagine using it to build something coherent. And what's more, the pitch deadline is creeping closer."

He finished his own food and gripped his goblet's stem. The deep violet wine sloshed inside. Behind Hye-jin, more elegentaly-dressed people milled past, either walking to their reservations or getting out of them. Soft violin music either played from the speakers or from the quartet stationed in the upper balcony. Could be both. There's really no way of knowing. No wonder the food here cost a fortune. It probably cost an arm and a limb to hire musicians to play for as long the restaurant was open.