INTERLUDE. 5 | Lilac Wine

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There were two things that, religiously every time you woke up, you would have to thank for the rest of the year, and those were Jeju Island and Hwang Yeji.

The little trip and the time spent with Lily and Haewon were more than necessary to clear your head. Stop thinking for a while about all the trail of shit you had left in your wake for so long. So when you landed back in Seoul, putting your life back on the rails was easier. You couldn’t do it alone, of course; you required a little help from Yeji to start with the most important thing of all: convincing Rina to come to your apartment so you could apologize to her.

It was, without a doubt, the most difficult conversation you had ever had. Not because of the content of the conversation itself, but because you had no fucking idea how to start it. Yeji had told you to write a few things on your phone. Things you would like to say to her. But you refused, because you wanted to be as authentic as possible. In the end, Rina, being the complete angel that she was, managed to understand and you fixed things, but damn, that list would have come in handy. Another reason in favor of always listening to Hwang Yeji.

Although you weren’t so sure you would listen to her when she suggested going to ITZY’s house again for dinner.

Thank God, everything went well that night. Things were a bit awkward between you and Chaery, but as a couple of mature and emotionally intelligent adults, you didn’t let your situation ruin the evening. You even made enough peace to even go out together to eat or watch movies over the four months that had passed. Never alone, however; you always went with either Lia or Ryujin. But that was already a tremendous advance.

And it goes without saying that the ones who benefited the most from being welcomed back into the house were Ryujin and Yuna. Lia and Yeji had enough decency to come to your apartment when they were horny. But Beelzebub and Asmodeus didn’t give a shit about anything: they made you fuck them in the living room, the kitchen, the pool, the balconies, the garage and even the fucking basement. Chaery, being the calm girl she was, didn’t care a little about all that, but it was a little uncomfortable for you.

Work, on the other hand, was going smoothly. Gunwook, after having also apologized to him—without, understandingly, his wife having apologized back to you—, it was a great help to organize everything related to your small business after months of having it a little rusty. It was perfect, because those months after your stay in Jeju were filled with world tours within the industry, which meant more cultural advice and many more groups and companies to work with.

However, as for your additional services, those that actually paid your bills, you weren’t taking on new clients in any way. The offers came non-stop from different companies, but your goal, which was to purify your life a little, was never going to be achieved if you kept adding random chemical components. Many could be compatible with how you ran all your stuff, yes. But there was a very high risk that it would be quite the opposite. You didn’t want to take any risk.

What you did do was go back to your roots and embrace them. Living alone, there were at least two rooms that you didn’t use for anything other than carrying dust. So, one of them was completely transformed into a massage room even more sophisticated and ostentatious than your original workplace, allowing you to give sessions to all your girls like in the good old days.

Simply put, the best thing you could have done was be a jerk. It might sound a little strange to see it from that perspective, but if it hadn’t been for that time when you were an idiot, maybe you wouldn’t have made all those changes in your life for the better. The mud also nourished the roots, after all.

That day you had left the Starship offices late after a meeting with a couple of executives. It wasn’t anything special, but one of the executives was late and you had to wait for him in the building, so you got home around 6 p.m., exhausted and wanting to take a hell of a nap.

But you were surprised to find the door to your apartment half open.

All your alarms went off.

Minjeong was supposed to come over that night to have dinner with you, but the only one who had a copy of your apartment key besides you was Rina. The girls could have it from her too, but always asking you first. Could she have stolen it? You didn’t believe she was capable; Minjeong was no longer that impudent little bitch she used to be during the tour. There was no chance.

You entered cautiously—into your own apartment—completely convinced you’d left the door open when you left that morning. Anyone who saw you from outside might have thought you were training for some damn special military unit, as you went room by room checking every corner. Kitchen, master bedroom, bathrooms, your office, guest room. All empty and undisturbed. Were you being damn paranoid? Was senile dementia catching up with you so soon? For God’s sake, you weren’t ready for that shit.

Although, you still had one room left to check.

After leaving your things in your office, you went to the massage room. That was mostly just a formality, because who the hell would break into a massage room specifically to steal? Surely…

When you opened the door, your heart nearly jumped out of your chest.

There was a completely naked woman lying face down on your massage table, only her ass covered by a towel. Black hair, but it wasn’t Rina; Rina’s breasts spilled out the sides in that position; it wasn’t Chaery either, because her body wasn’t as toned; much less Ryujin, because this woman had long hair.

Who could this petite, slender woman with black hair be?

Someone came to mind, but… it couldn’t be her, could it?

This woman had gone to the trouble of lighting candles in every corner of the massage room and adjusting the lights to make them dimmer. It was clear she was completely at ease there, as if it were her own home. You stood stunned in the doorway, thinking you were hallucinating.

Then, a voice you hadn’t expected, but one you desperately wanted to hear. The voice of your platonic love.

“Damn, you really took your time, didn’t you?” Jihye said, still face down, her head resting on her crossed arms. She turned her head toward you and looked at you. That damn beautiful face again. The one you’d only seen in your dreams for months. “Are you going to get started or not?”

Your body reacted long before your brain. Still speechless, you rushed to Jihye’s side, and in a matter of seconds, your hands were covered in oil and working on her back. Jihye glanced at you every now and then, but with a jumble of conflicting emotions swirling around you, you couldn’t meet her eyes. You didn’t know whether to hate her or love her as much as you had months ago.

“What’s wrong, darling?” Jihye asked. “Cat got your tongue? I don’t blame you; I didn’t see myself here after all this time either.”

You blinked as you massaged Jihye’s shoulder blades. Then a lump formed in your throat. She was really there. She was real.

“How… how could you?” That was the first thing you managed to spit out under your breath, applying more pressure to her muscles. “You left us, Jihye. You really left me and the girls stranded.”

“Sweetheart…”

“Why?” you raised your voice slightly, speaking purely out of spite. “To run away and get a happy ending with your toxic ex-girlfriend? You did everything for that?”

Jihye sighed and closed her eyes.

“Honey, I know you must hate me right now, but you know you’re oversimplifying it,” she said. “You understand perfectly why I did what I did and why anything else would only have been worse for everyone.”

“And what about…?”

“And be careful what you say about Joohyun,” Jihye cut you off, as if she’d read your mind. “Things between her and me are much healthier now. Just please calm down and think like the rational person I know you are.”

“I… ugh,” you paused for a moment to take a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this moment to be like this. It’s just… I haven’t stopped thinking about it. I couldn’t even sleep the first few weeks. It hasn’t been easy.”

“I tried to do things differently, believe me. I’m sorry too,” Jihye said softly.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything?” you asked, your hands going back to work on her body.

“You wouldn’t have let me,” Jihye replied. “The whole plan depended on you, especially, not knowing.”

“You’re right,” you murmured. “But… you would have listened to me, though?”

“Who knows. It depends on how you would have asked me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jihye opened her eyes and stared at you until you looked at her.

“You know exactly what that means.”

You held her gaze for longer than you would have liked, considering your weakness for her. Yes, you definitely knew what that meant. Even so, you couldn’t find the right words.

“Well, there’s no point in talking about the past anymore, I guess,” Jihye said, closing her eyes. “How have you been, sweetheart? I know you had a rough time.”

“Ah, yes, well…” you sighed, grumbling. “I’m better, but it was awful. I let it all get to me and I didn’t even recognize myself.”

“You made me worried.”

“I’m sorry,” you said, massaging her waist and lower back. “Things are so much better now.”

“Hm, I’m glad, honey.”