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Jake’s Extra Chapter:
After coming home from the coffee shop, I
laid on the couch, wanting to sleep, but I
couldn’t, even after taking the sleeping pills I
hadn’t taken in ages.
In that moment, I suddenly realized that I
never took medicine when I slept in Sunny’s
arms.
The couch was huge, she insisted on getting
it before the wedding.
She said she liked watching K–dramas and
falling asleep on a big couch was the
happiest thing.
L
But she didn’t really watch K–dramas, she
bought that couch just to have the space to
run across and throw herself into my arms.
while I was reading.
Every time, she smiled like she’d won and
wrapped her arms around my neck, asking,
“Jake, is the book more interesting than me?”
During the summer, she didn’t like sleeping in
the bedroom.
She said that on the couch, she could hug me
tighter.
I opened up my memories, and it felt like the
memories of Chloe were disappearing.
I barely remember how in college, I would
wake up early to buy her breakfast, even
<
But more clearly, I remember coming home.
after work and seeing my wife wearing an
apron that didn’t fit her in the kitchen, busy
with something. Then she’d bring out burnt
steak and pretend to be upset, saying, “Oh
well, it’s a shame to waste it, would you eat it
for me?”
While I’d be eating the terrible steak, I’d ask,
“What about you?”
She’d laugh proudly, “I’m getting delivery,
hahahahahaha!”
The steak in my mouth suddenly tasted bitter
and I found myself at the door, stopping her
delivery driver.
It was strange to think this was the kind of
thing I’d do.
<
But it was true, after marrying Sunny, those
dark, broken, fragmented memories slowly
faded, and all that was left was her smiling at
me, walking towards me at the altar.
In that moment, I suddenly felt like being with
her might not be a bad thing, that I really
wanted to be with her forever.
When she asked me if I had the heart, I felt
like a criminal who had been hiding for a long
time, and had just been found guilty. Her
tearful eyes felt like a thousand cuts on my
heart.
She really wanted a proposal with all the bells
and whistles, she really wanted to travel with
me, she really wanted to grow old with me.
She needed me so badly when she was giving
<
birth to Leo. And when I took Chloe home,
she almost died with our child.
How could I have been such an idiot?
I am such an idiot.
When I finally realized that, signing the
divorce papers didn’t seem so bad.
Because at that moment, I knew I didn’t
deserve her.
After signing them, I turned on my computer
and deleted everything I’d ever kept about
Chloe.
I saw at the end of one file, “Chloe is like a
blade of grass. Easily broken but resilient,
always growing back in the spring.”
く
I wanted to claw my eyes out.
Later I often wondered, why did Sunny leave
such a deep mark on my soul?
When I saw the picture on my phone, her
smiling brightly at the camera, I understood.
She was the only flame in an endless prairie,
and a spark can start a wildfire. If I could, I
wanted to spend the rest of my life protecting
her and our child.
I wrote that on a piece of paper and put it at
the front of our divorce papers. By taking the
opportunity to see Leo, I was able to have
some time with her.
She gently poked at Leo’s face, saying,
“Daddy’s here!”
<
I turned to look at her and for a moment, I
had the illusion that we would be like this
forever.
But in truth, those days were gone.
When I was leaving her house she said,
“Although I have custody of the child, I’m not
unreasonable. Leo has the right to see his father. And don’t worry, I won’t say anything
bad about you in front of him.”
She was always so straightforward.
I just said, “Sunny, I’m sorry.”
She said it was okay, it’s all in the past.
I knew, that’s what she wanted. The final bit of dignity.
<
I knew, that’s what she wanted. The final bit
of dignity.
Female Lead Extra Chapter
After Jake left, I looked at the divorce papers.
He had made some changes, transferring most of the assets to my name. I kind of guessed he would do that.
But I didn’t agree with that line he wrote, “A spark can start a wildfire.”
I wanted to be the brilliant, grand, unique sun.
Gotta go now, new case at the office!
