Thanks For The Help

You wake in the morning tired from last night. You start to get your clothes on when your phone goes off. “Hey, It’s Jihyo. How are you feeling after last night?”

“I’m feeling good. Really good, what about you? Was it everything you wished for?”

“Hm, I’m not sure I’d say that,” Jihyo says teasingly. You can imagine her smiling on the other end. “I would’ve liked to continue into the night, like before. Are you heading to work?” You tell her that you are heading to work. “Oh, that’s too bad. I was hoping you could come over today and help me out. I could use someone to help me relax.” You know what she means and tell her she’s free to visit you whenever she wants. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer. Are you busy tonight?”

“At the moment, no.”

“Good, then I’ll see you tonight.” Jihyo ends the call, and you finish getting ready before leaving for the office. Along the way, you get another call; this time, it was from Dahyun.

“Hello, Dahyun?”

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but is there any way you could pick me up? The bus is late, and I don’t want to be late for work. I know it’s sudden and a bother, but-”

“It’s fine, Dahyun; I’ll come pick you up right now.” Dahyun thanks you for taking the time out of your day to pick her up and hangs up. It takes you a few extra minutes, but you can figure out where she lives; you had only briefly come by to drop her off the time you had been to her place. As you roll into the front of the building, you see Dahyun sitting on the steps, tending to her baby in her carrier. “Dahyun!” You yell from your car. You notice Dahyun shaking a little as she hears her name being yelled. You thought it was cute; the moment she saw you, she broke into a huge smile, and her cheeks turned rosy. Stepping out of the car, you take Eunsoo’s carrier in hand and help Dahyun settle her into the back seat. “Little Eunsoo is growing.” You comment. Dahyun glances at you with a smile.

“She’s getting too big; I want her to stay tiny.” Dahyun moves the hair out of Eunsoo’s eyes before closing the door and making her way into the passenger seat. “Do you remember where the daycare is?”

“I’m going to be honest. I barely remembered where you lived; you’ll need to put it into the GPS.” Dahyun puts in the directions, and you begin your drive to the daycare.

“I’m sorry about this. I usually get the bus; it was so late today and-”

“I said it’s fine, Dahyun. It’s really not a problem.” You rub Dahyun’s hair, making a mess of it. You hear her whine and glance over at her. She’s feigning anger; you can tell as much. When you look back at the road, Dahyun turns the other way, her face becoming bright red for a moment. “The office is going to think we’re a couple when we come in together.” You tease.

Dahyun flails her arms into your shoulder, “Don’t say that!” As much as Dahyun liked the idea of being seen as your girlfriend, the idea of her coworkers talking about it made her embarrassed.

“I don’t know, you’re pretty cute, Dahyun.” Dahyun is stunned for a moment, unable to conjure any words. She places her head against the car’s window and stays silent in defeat until you reach the daycare. She quickly handed Eunsoo off to the daycare worker, along with all the things Eunsoo would need, before hopping back in the car.

“All set, let’s get going.” You and Dahyun talk a little more during your ride to the office. You get to know her a little better, and she tells you that you’re free to come by her house if you ever need something.

You park the car and step out, going over to Dahyun’s side, and you open the door for her. “It’s nice of you to invite me to your home. I’ll take you up on that someday.” You start walking with Dahyun when you both spot Jeongyeon.

“Jeongyeon! Over here!” She turns her head and spots you quickly. Dahyun jogs herself over to her friend as you walk over. Jeongyeon gives you a weak smile. She’s still struggling with her thoughts after she argued with Sana. Seeing you with Dahyun, she felt a little jealousy bubble up deep within her.

“O-oh, what are you two doing together?” She said, stuttering as she spoke.

“He picked me up. The bus wouldn’t be on time, so I asked if he could come for me.” Dahyun says as she wraps her arm around Jeongyeon’s. “Come on, let’s go. We have a busy day.” Jeongyeon nods her head and walks with Dahyun. You follow behind them, shaking your head as you see how happy Dahyun is, and Jeongyeon is just going along with it. The workday goes on as usual, the only difference being you chose to go out to eat today. Dahyun and Jeongyeon sat together in the lunch room, eating their meal.

“Is something wrong, Jeongyeon? I noticed that you don’t seem to be your usual self.” Dahyun says as she stuffs her mouth, her cheeks full of food.

“It’s nothing, Dahyun. I’ve had a lot on my mind the past few days.”

“Anything I can help with? If you want to talk, I’m a good listener.” Dahyun says, pointing to her ears. The gag makes Jeongyeon break out a smile.

She takes a deep breath and looks around. “Dahyun, you have to promise you won’t tell anyone. Promise me.”

“I promise,” Dahyun says hesitantly, seeing the seriousness on Jeongyeon’s face.

“I-um. You know how I’m married. I haven’t been happy with my husband for a long time. I-I, Dahyun, I’ve started having an affair.”

Dahyun is stunned by Jeongyeon’s confession. “With who?” She responds. Jeongyeon glances at Dahyun before casting her eyes downward to the table. It took Dahyun a moment, but she connected the dots. “You’re…having an affair with him.” Dahyun’s breathing quickens, and she purses her lips. Her mind fills with thoughts. Since the day you and Dahyun got together, she had thought about asking you out and dreamt of what it might be like to be with you. To find out that you were Jeongyeon’s affair partner hurt her.

“Dahyun?”

“I slept with him too!” Dahyun blurts out. She didn’t know why she said it. She should have kept it to herself, but something inside her snapped at that moment. She felt threatened. The man she had Eunsoo with abandoned her, and now she thought she had a chance at having a happy family. Dahyun felt that it was being taken away. The women stared at each other, shocked and unable to speak. Dahyun balled her fists under the table; she didn’t want to back down.

“You slept with him? When?” Jeongyeon asks, finally breaking the silence.

In a low voice, Dahyun responds, “It was when we went shopping. When did you start your affair?”

“It was a few months ago. My friend Jihyo brought me in, and we sort of connected. I thought that was the end of things, but he got transferred here.” Dahyun nods along.

She gulps and looks straight at Jeongyeon. “I-I want to be with him.”

“So do I,” Jeongyeon says quietly.

“Y-you’re already married.”

“I know.” The women were at an impasse.

At that time, another worker passed through the halls, “Hey! You two! Lunch is over, so let’s get back to work. When they come back from lunch, you’re sitting at your desk talking to other coworkers. You wave to them, and they both give you a nod before heading to their desks. Jeongyeon was right beside you, while Dahyun was far away.

“Do you want to spend the night together?” Jeongyeon asks as soon as she sits down.

“What’s with the sudden change?” Jeongyeon huffs. “Something wrong, Jeongyeon?”

“I just want to spend the night with you.”

“What about your husband?” You say quietly. “I mean, we spent the other day together, so I’m not sure you could get away with it.” Jeongyeon looks annoyed. It was true that spending too many days away from home would give her away. For now, she had to back down. “Oh, that reminds me. I saw Jihyo yesterday. You didn’t tell me she lived in the city.” Jeongyeon curses herself internally. Jihyo being in the mix made things more difficult. Jeongyeon knew she had more freedom than her. “She said she wanted to come over to my place today.”

“Is that so?” Jeongyeon says, trying to keep calm. She leans in and pinches your cheek, “I’ll make time for you. We’ll be together soon.” You think it’s strange how Jeongyeon’s acting, but push it into the back of your mind. You finish the day and get ready to pack things up. When the office is empty, Jeongyeon stands up and kisses you. “Next time, I’ll let you do whatever you want,” she whispers in your ear. You’re still confused by Jeongyeon’s sudden change; her willingness to engage in your relationship is welcome but odd to you. She pats your chest and leaves.

Soon after, Dahyun pops up beside you. “Sorry to bother you again, but could you take me to pick up Eunsoo?”

“Sure, it’s no problem.” You and Dahyun quickly head out of the office and pick up Eunsoo. When you arrive, Dahyun quickly picks her up and sits in the back, seeing that Eunsoo is a little fussy. You get to Dahyun’s home, and Eunsoo begins to cry, Dahyun struggling to calm her. “Dahyun, could I try to calm her down? You can take her stuff inside.” Dahyun is hesitant but agrees. You pick up Eunsoo and rock her gently, bouncing as you move from side to side. You and Dahyun walk inside together. She lays her stuff down and reaches out for Eunsoo. You hand her back, nearly asleep. Eunsoo rests her head on Dahyun’s chest as she rocks her.

“Wow, how did you do that?”

“I don’t know; that always worked with my little brothers and sisters. So I tried it with Eunsoo.”

“Do you think you could give me some pointers? If you have time, that is.” You check your watch and decide to help Dahyun. You spend time giving Dahyun tips on things she could try with Eunsoo. You’re both sitting on her couch when she places her hand on your thigh. “I want to thank you for today. I took a lot of your time. Do you want to go out sometime? So I can repay you, that is.”

“You don’t need to do anything, Dahyun. I’m more than happy to help.”

“Um, what if we did something?” Dahyun says shyly. She squeezes your thigh, “Please?”

“But Eunsoo is sleeping in her room.”

“I can be quiet.” She says, moving to straddle you.