umbrella { sunjay }

13.

"i invited guests over for dinner tonight."

jongseong and heera sat together on the living room carpet as they played a card game. of course with heera being four years old and unable to understand card game rules; jay was winning.

sena paused and brought down her paperback book that she was reading peacefully on the couch.  

"it's the friends from ballet i mentioned. kim sunoo and eunjoo." jay didn't spare his wife a moment as he somehow began to lose the game that had no rules.

"eunjoo?" heera's gummy smile lit up at the mention of the other girl and her uncle took this opportunity of diversion to place down an extra card.

"hey! you cheated!" heera frowned up her face in a scowl at the man. to which jay replied teasingly with a shrug.

"are you kidding me?" suddenly the woman's irritated voice interrupted the duo's silly bickering. heera and jay both turned their attention to the woman's sudden outburst.

"what?" jongseong's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"let's go talk in private." sena got up, abandoning her book without another word. the bedroom door echoing a loud bang after shutting.

both heera and jay turned to look at each other. heera's facial expression mirrored jongseong's confused one.

"i'll be back, shuffle the cards while i'm gone." jay ruffled the little girl's pitch black hair, leaving her with a small pout.

"i don't know how, i'm four!" she called out to the man who was already closing the bedroom door behind him.

"what's wrong?" jay immediately spoke after the door was fully shut. he wanted to know the problem as soon as possible so heera wouldn't be left unattended for too long.

"why the fuck do you keep doing this, jongseong? why do you never consider your wife's feelings when you make a goddamn decision? that's what marriage is about! communication, trust. if we don't have that then what the hell do we have?!" her anger was beyond control.

she didn't like being angry. she just wanted to feel respected enough to at least be included in things that she should be included in. she was his wife. even though at the moment they felt more like roommates than anything.

"sena, it's just dinner. is that a crime? we ran into each other at the grocery store and he mentioned dinner so i offered them to come here. i didn't think it would be a problem with you, that's why i didn't ask you." 

"exactly! you didn't think! you never think about how i feel! it's always about you! always!" at this point, she was so overwhelmed with emotion that tears began to fill her onyx colored eyes. 

it wouldn't be a surprise if heera could hear everything they're saying.

"how can i tell you anything when you're always upset? you never want to talk to me! and if i do try, it's always an argument!" he was beginning to be frustrated as well.

this was far from the plan. he thought it would be a simple and comforting evening. he understood why she was upset. but he also just wanted to have a nice dinner with the two. 

"just go, jay. tell me when they arrive so i can introduce myself." she sighed defeatedly and wiped her tears with the sleeves of her pastel blue sweater.

jongseong wanted to comfort sena but he felt it wasn't right for him to do that when he was the one to upset her. so he settle for a lingering gaze before closing the entrance behind him.

"what happened?" heera turned around from her newly found seat on the sofa to look at her uncle curiously. 

"nothing's wrong, princess. what are you watching?" jay plastered on the best smile he could as he sat next to the little girl who's eyes stared at him. she obviously didn't believe him.