Mi Rae had learned how to live with loneliness.
At first, she had fought it.
She had tried to make their marriage work in all the ways she knew how. She prepared dinner even when Jinyoung came home late. She asked about his day, listened when he spoke about work, and tried to find moments when they could simply be husband and wife.
But somewhere along the way, she had stopped trying.
Not because she no longer cared.
Because she was tired of reaching for a man who had already turned away from her.
Jinyoung was physically present, but his mind was always somewhere else.
Sometimes, she caught him staring at his phone with a look that made her stomach twist.
Sometimes, he sat beside her at dinner without saying a word.
And sometimes, he came home smelling of alcohol, walked past her as though she were part of the furniture, and locked himself in his study.
She had tried to understand him.
She had tried to be patient.
She had even tried to convince herself that his distance was temporary.
But the truth had become impossible to ignore.
Her husband was in love with another woman.
And no matter how beautifully she dressed, how carefully she spoke, or how much she tried to make their home feel welcoming, she could not compete with a memory.
A memory that had become more important to him than the woman sitting right in front of him.
It was a Thursday evening when Mi Rae finally broke.
She had prepared dinner herself.
Nothing elaborate.
Just the dishes Jinyoung used to enjoy before their marriage became a place where neither of them knew how to breathe.
She set the table and waited.
Seven o'clock passed.
Then eight.
At eight-thirty, she heard the front door open.
Jinyoung walked in, loosening his tie.
He looked exhausted.
"You're home," she said.
He glanced at her.
"Yes."
"Dinner is ready."
"I'm not hungry."
Mi Rae looked at the table.
"You haven't eaten."
"I said I'm not hungry, Mi Rae."
His voice wasn't loud.
That was what made it hurt.
He spoke to her as if she were an interruption.
She slowly placed the serving spoon on the table.
"Can we talk?"
Jinyoung rubbed his forehead.
"Not tonight."
"Then when?"
He looked at her.
She took a breath.
"When will you have time for your wife?"
His expression hardened.
"Mi Rae, I'm tired."
"So am I."
He looked away.
She stared at him, waiting for him to say something.
Anything.
But he simply walked toward the dining table, picked up a glass of water, and drank.
Something inside her finally gave way.
"Do you even see me anymore?"
Jinyoung stopped.
The glass remained in his hand.
He didn't turn around immediately.
Mi Rae laughed, but the sound came out broken.
"Look at me, Jinyoung."
He slowly faced her.
She stepped closer.
"Do you see me?"
He stared at her.
She searched his face, desperately hoping to find something.
Anger.
Frustration.
Even resentment.
Anything that would prove she still mattered enough to affect him.
"Am I your wife?" she whispered. "Or am I just the woman standing in the place where you wish someone else were?"
Jinyoung's jaw tightened.
"Mi Rae..."
"No. Please." Her voice trembled. "Don't say my name like that. Not unless you're going to tell me something real."
He looked down.
She waited.
One second.
Two.
Three.
And then she understood.
He had no answer.
Not because he didn't know what she was asking.
But because the truth was too ugly to say aloud.
Mi Rae's eyes filled with tears.
"That's what I thought."
Jinyoung opened his mouth.
She shook her head.
"Don't."
He fell silent.
She pressed a hand against her chest, trying to steady herself.
"I have spent so much time wondering what I did wrong."
His eyes lifted.
"I kept asking myself whether I was too demanding. Whether I wasn't affectionate enough. Whether I had failed to make this marriage feel like a home."
She wiped her cheek.
"I tried to understand why you couldn't look at me without seeming disappointed."
Jinyoung stared at her.
"I thought that if I gave you enough time, you would eventually stop comparing me to her."
His expression changed.
Mi Rae let out a painful laugh.
"But you never stopped, did you?"
He looked away.
She stepped closer.
"Tell me something, Jinyoung. When you look at me, do you see your wife?"
He didn't answer.
"Or do you see the woman you married because you were too afraid to fight for the one you actually wanted?"
His shoulders stiffened.
"That's not fair."
Mi Rae stared at him.
"Not fair?"
Her voice rose.
"Do you know what's not fair? Being married to someone who makes you feel like an obligation."
He flinched.
She continued, her voice breaking.
"Do you know what it's like to lie beside your husband and feel as though you're sleeping next to a stranger?"
Jinyoung looked down.
"Mi Rae, I never wanted to hurt you."
"Then why are you doing it?"
He had no answer.
She closed her eyes.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"I refuse to spend the rest of my life being punished for a mistake I didn't make alone."
Jinyoung looked at her.
For the first time that evening, he seemed to understand the weight of what she was saying.
Mi Rae wiped her face.
"I didn't force you to marry me, Jinyoung. I didn't hold a gun to your head. You made a choice."
He swallowed.
"And now you regret it."
She shook her head.
"You don't get to make me pay for that regret every single day."
"Mi Rae..."
"I'm tired."
Her voice was barely audible.
"I'm so tired of trying to earn the affection of a man who is still waiting for another woman to come back."
Jinyoung's eyes dropped.
Mi Rae looked at him one last time.
"I deserved a husband who wanted to be here."
Then she turned and walked away.
Jinyoung heard the bedroom door close.
He stood in the dining room, staring at the untouched dinner.
The food was getting cold.
The house was still.
And for the first time, he felt the full weight of what he had done to Mi Rae.
He had spent so much time drowning in his own regret that he had failed to notice the person drowning beside him.
He looked toward the bedroom.
He wanted to follow her.
To apologize.
To tell her that she hadn't done anything wrong.
But what could he say?
That he was sorry he had never loved her the way she deserved?
That he was sorry he had made her feel invisible?
That he was sorry he had turned their marriage into a punishment for a decision they had both made?
He pressed his fingers against his eyes.
He had hurt Kyrah.
Now he was hurting Mi Rae.
And the worst part was that he had known, somewhere inside himself, that this would happen.
He had simply refused to face it.