For the first four weeks, they stay in his apartment all times. When they need anything at the supermarket, or the drug store, or anywhere, Min-ji orders it online and have it delivered. She always answers the door.
The first days, she sleeps in the guest room, with both of their doors open, for surveillance purposes. However, after Jihyun wakes up screaming after a nightmare, she begins to sleep beside him. He is forced to admit he sleeps better with her than without, and eventually lets her cuddle him.
Her councillor sends her contacts of psychiatrists and therapists from around the country who work online. He finally gets professionals who listen to him and treat him as he needs, and not shoving expensive drugs down his throat to line their commissions.
It is not all improvements. He needs specific pills to chase the voices away, and they are full of side effects, to the point that the doctor adds another medicine to tone them down, and ends up trading it for another for when his lips and tongue begin to tremble, making it hard to eat. The new pill is considerably better, and even helps to increase his appetite.
Min-ji never stopped working, she has been able to finish a few projects while in the hospital, even, but after the second week she starts to get new clients again.
"You are not an assistant anymore." Jihyun states when she opens her computer in the living room for the fifth day straight.
"I quit the company a month after you left." She admits. "At first, I thought you were the cause. The memories were too much for me to bear. But with time I realized it just wasn't for me, you know?"
He nods. He was a firm proponent that her workforce was wasted on a company like that one, but he acknowledges his biases.
"You type a lot." The teal-haired man comments. "Are you writing a novel, then? Have you finished the one you were working on?"
She scratches her head, running her fingers through the knotted strands.
"No, I didn't finish it. I couldn't improve the plot." Min-ji turns back to the screen, feeling embarrassed for her corny writing. "I began to write new ones, but there are so many ideas to choose from, and empty pages don't pay the bills. I'm a copywriter now, a freelancer. I'm mostly on publicity and stuff."
"Oh." Jihyun says, a hint of amusement in his voice. There is the tiniest of grins of amusement underlying his expression. "May I read one of your works sometime?"
The woman smiled brightly. "Of course."
Min-ji decides to not return to college classes in the fall.
Her two-year degree in Korean is not strictly necessary for her job, nor it is too urgent. She is only doing it because she got a scholarship from the government, due to her stint working at an adult education centre, and it is more for personal growth than professional training.
The decision pains her, nevertheless. She was never able to attend college, as her parents could not afford to send her, and abandoning the course would mean losing her scholarship. Alas, there are more important things at hand, and she does not regret it, even if it so happens that she never gets the chance again.
Of course, she decides against telling Jihyun any of that. He feels guilty enough without the 'burden' of knowing she 'dropped off college' to look after him, regardless of the merit of his guilt. However, this does not stop her from nudging him to do change his life after he begins to get better, hypocritical as it is.
"Your time off is coming up." She softly reminds him. "We've been out of the house every two days, you're not hearing voices anymore... The board may want you back in the company, but I don't think you should go back. We both know you hate it, and it's contributed to your depression."
He buries his face in his hands, his voice is muffled when he replies, "But how can I? Everyone expects me to rule the company as neatly as my father did."
"You mean with as much corruption and tax fraud as he did." The woman bitterly corrects him. "Can't you sell your shares? Surely there's plenty of people who'd be more than happy to buy it off your hands."
The teal-haired man sighs. "C&R International has made a few offers in the past, but I can't do it in good conscience. Lucy is still fifteen, and Taemin is thirteen, I can't leave them hanging like this. I need to guarantee their future, it's the bare minimum that I owe them."
His children are another matter entirely, one she must bring up sooner or later, but not today. Still, she has to remind him of the truth.
"You're not even their guardian, Jihyun. You may their father by blood, and you may love them, but they're children and may not understand all this mess. I understand where you're coming from, but… Well, what good is it going to be if you erode all your mental health trying to save that sinking ship? Or even if neither Lucy or Taemin want to go into business? Don't force your guilt upon them, don't make assumptions about them." Min-ji argues. "Besides, just because you're selling your company, it doesn't mean that you're abandoning your responsibility as a father. You can always take the proceeds and set it aside for them in a trust fund. You can even place Ms. Kang in charge of it, too, if you'd like."
It takes a whole week to convince him it is possible and viable, and another two weeks to arrange everything. As soon as he is done, though, she proposes for him to move in with her in Busan.
"You can be happy there. Maybe not completely fine, but it's a change of pace, at least. You can put some distance between yourself and everything else." Min-ji smiles softly. "It done wonders for me back in the day."
It is way easier to convince Jihyun this time.
