It Takes Two People

Inside a luxurious office, the curtains were closed, the lights were turned off and only a faint glow from the table lamp highlighted the man's miserable expression. Tian Yuo sat lazily on the couch as he watched the wine in the glass swirl. He recalled the incident from earlier today and gripped the wine glass with immense strength that it cracked slightly.

"If it was before and I made even a step towards her, she would smile like an innocent girl and let me do whatever to her. Even when I lied about the mountain having a certain herb that could help improve my immune system, she was gullible enough to actually hunt the herb for me. Whenever I say something, she would be the most attentive and actually remember everything that I said. But now..."

His eyes deepened as he put down the wine and massaged his temples, "She pepper sprayed me? What went wrong? She loved me, so she should have been happy and hopped into my arms that I'm lifting a finger at her."

He noticed the multiple flashes coming from his phone, but didn't bother unlocking his phone to read the text messages. "Could it be that she is jealous because Karen is back? That would explain her actions with pulling Karen into the waters and refusing my request to remain married for my mom's health's sake... Plus, we slept together a year ago, what difference would it make if we do it again?"

Approximately thirty-five messages later, his phone began to ring. At that point, he had already stopped drinking his wine and was coming up with excuses for Susu's behavior. When the familiar ringtone caught his attention, his finger already accepted the call, "Hello?"

Perhaps it was the red wine's effect, his voice sounded extra enticing and hoarse compared to his regular self, making Karen shiver slightly, "H..hello.. Brother Yuo! Why didn't you respond to any of my texts? You got me so worried!"

He leaned back lazily and pinched his nose bridge slightly, "Sorry, I was busy so I didn't check my cell phone. So, what's up?"

Karen sounded a bit disappointed by his excuse because he didn't even try to sweet talk her or try to say things that would sound soothing to her ears anymore. She continued the conversation with a forced positive tone, "Brother Yuo~ Do you know what date is the upcoming Friday?"

"The upcoming Friday? Sorry, I'm too busy these days that I didn't keep track of what day today even is. Can you get to the point?" He impatiently furrowed his brows as if he was talking to an automated machine for an online service that takes forever to address his inquiries. He literally got tired of having to ask things step by step.

She pouted as she let her childish temper slip for the rest of the conversation, "It's my birthday! Every year we have a family dinner together, and you were always invited! How could you forget about your own girlfriend's birthday? Don't tell me this is one of those boyfriend surprises with present on the day of girlfriend's birthday?"

By hinting that she wanted a surprise, she was hoping that he would understand all the hints that she had purposely set out for him already. Since the water incident, she's been placing wedding magazines on spots in his office that has been regularly exposed to him. She also tried texting him about friend's weddings and how cute the wedding designs are for this year to make sure he is exposed to wedding stuff.

The main reason for doing all these isn't really to push him to marry her this early, but to hint how she wanted him to propose. Instead of waiting for a perfect opportunity, he could make a simple speech during the family celebration for Susu and her birthday. This would make her present extra delicate and special if it goes the way she wishes it to go.

Tian Yuo didn't hide any of his thoughts as he spoke, "Ah, right. Sorry, but this year I really forgot."

"What?! You meanie!! How could you forget such an important date?" She shouted over the call making him bring the phone a few inches away from his ears. His response was a careless tone as he said, "You left without a word and nobody celebrated anything for last year. How do you expect me to remember every little detail about the family dinner, presents, and other things?"

He continued, "Besides, I work every day and deal with business transactions. Those are huge responsibilities and even though your birthday is also important, you should understand the fact that while you were gone, things have changed. Even if a change is a slight one, it impacted my lifestyle."

"B..brother Yuo... how could you..." She started putting on her favorite crying act.

He sighed in response and said, "Karen, you're an adult now. You can't always cry over spilled milk or certain little things. If you wanted a birthday present or simply dinner with me, you could have just told me since the first line of the call about the family dinner with the location and time. I would make space in my schedule to fit that dinner."

"B..brother Yuo, are you tired of me now? Is that why? Are you blaming me for leaving you? Did you think everything was my fault?" She threw question after question, trying to drown him in guilt. Oddly, the guilt that he once had for her had dissipated. He didn't realize it and continued saying what he wanted to say.

"Karen, it takes two people's efforts to make things work out. You can't always depend or rely on the other half to respond to your needs. If you want something and it is reasonable then I will provide it. If it is something that is minor, yet you decide to cry over it for no logical reason, I won't continue comforting you. I will start pointing it out."

"If that's all you needed, then just text me the time and location for the dinner. I need to go now. I have a lot of paperwork on my desk that needs to be dealt with." He ended the call before she could say anything else. He made it so clear to her that she couldn't even fight back even once.

Right after the call, he felt physically and mentally drained. He was exhausted and even thought that his old self was pretty impressive to have dealt with Karen's crying. How did he have such patience and what made her so special that he doted on her in the past? The year that she left him without a goodbye, gave him a great opportunity to see things differently.

What he didn't know was that even though he started to see things differently, he had already lost someone who truly loved him and would soon regret his decision....