.

The text had floored him. Hyde always hoped to hear from Neela again, hoped that she would come back to town. He’d dreamed about it, prayed for it. But he hadn’t expected it. Not on this particular day. He had spent the time after replying to her text pacing the floors and, when his nerves got the best of him, taking a few shots. Ignoring the lingering realization that alcohol was becoming an unhealthy crutch. It wasn’t the time to let those skeletons out of the closet. He needed the liquid courage.

There were so many ways he had imagined her return to town. He wanted to pull her into a hug. He wanted to say how terribly he’d missed her. He wanted to laugh and say ‘took you long enough’ and pretend she’d never left. All of that was thrown out when he opened the door. She was beautiful. She’d always been beautiful, but after going so long without seeing her, only in pictures and memories — she was stunning. It was like he was face to face with a stunning stranger. And at the same time… face to face with his best friend. For a moment, he genuinely forgot how to breathe.

“Of course,” he finally managed to say, too caught up in her smile to force one of his own. He stepped back, gesturing for her to walk inside. “You look… nice, you look nice.”

Maybe she shouldn’t be smiling... it would only give Hyde ideas that she wasn’t sure she even wanted to give him in the first place. Not without talking about them properly first. But this was Neela, and Neela had grown up thinking about doing her best and being her best. Sometimes, it required her to wear a smile and act like everything was alright, when in reality, she was crumbling down on the inside. But Hyde---Hyde was probably the one person she had always managed to be herself around, which was why it was so hard for that smile to remain there once she caught a sniff of alcohol while passing by him and into their---his house. 

“Have you been drinking?” Neela let out a sigh, her gaze remaining on him for a bare second, before moving around the house as she got reacquainted with it. “Maybe we should hold off the wine, then. It’s best if we remain sober for this conversation... but Hyde---you look like a mess. Have you been eating well? Sleeping?” Of course, she couldn’t help but worrying about him. Legally, they were still married, but their bond went way beyond signatures on a paper. She cared about him... her year away hadn’t changed it, but it was hard. “But um... underneath the tired layer, you do look nice. I’m not sure if I like your hair like that, though...”

“He is pretty cute… It’s hard to argue with that.” Joon returned the smile and watched as she offered her hand towards the pup. Gizmo sniffed her hand before licking and barking a couple more times, which made Joon miss some of what she was saying. “I… think he just gets a little excited around people. Sorry—uh, name? His name is Gizmo. Usually just call him Mo or Momo though. I’m Joon.” He gave a sheepish wave, chuckling before petting his little four legged companion to try and calm him down. “We need to get out more so he can get used to others. It’s a work in progress.”

“Well, his cuteness matches his owner’s.” Neela replied with a smile, only then realizing that most men didn’t like being called cute. There was something in their fragile masculinity that caused them to dread that word. “I hope you don’t feel threatened by the word cute.” She shook her head, running her fingers through her dark hair, rolling her strands up and tying them in a loose bun, before focusing back on the puppy. “Gizmo... does that mean you can’t feed him after midnight? It’s nice to meet you both though. I’m Neela... and I should seriously consider adopting a puppy, because look at this cutie... How long have you had him? Mind if I pet him?”

“It could go either way. If you were drinking to celebrate, then I don’t think it’s such a bad thing. Drinking out of misery? Then it’s bad.” Jinah gave a small shrug. Looking Neela over, it wasn’t like the older woman appeared to be in a bad state of mind or anything. “Mine was alright. We just stayed in and had a fairly mellow night with a couple friends. It’s almost disappointing to stay home and know you could be a responsible drinker, ringing in the new year, but you can’t drink,” she joked. It wasn’t like it was a big deal; neither her or Seok were big on alcohol.

“Mm... come to think of it, it was mostly celebratory drinks. There could have been a hint of misery involved, but mostly celebration.” Neela laughed softly, waving her hand in the air before taking a sip of her green smoothie to swallow down the lump in her throat as she thought of Hyde for a moment there. “You’ve never been that much of a drinker, as far as I remember... but humor me--why can’t you drink?”

Coming back to Westwick wasn’t ideal, but Neela knew that it had to be done. Not that she had anything against the city she now considered home, but living away from her responsibilities for about a year now had made her rethink some things. One thing that she couldn’t keep postponing was talking to Hyde. They still have a few things to work on, and after spending as much time apart from him as she did, Neela finally felt confident enough to reach out to him again and try to work on their differences. She still had feelings for him, but some things had to change in order for them to survive, that was for sure.

Granted, she wasn’t going to simply show up at his place uninvited, so, she sent him a text saying she was back in Westwick and asking if he was willing to chat with her, after all, she did leave him without looking back and would completely understand if he didn’t want to see her again. Neela was glad to receive a positive answer, so after a meeting at USC and stopping by a grocery shop to get them a bottle of wine, she went to Hyde’s place---their old house---and knocked on his door. Hopefully they’d be able to come out of this in a good way.

There was a smile on her face when she saw him, although... he did look more tired than what she could remember. it was still a highly familiar face.

“Hyde.” She said, still smiling as she raised her hand to show him the bottle of wine. “Thanks for having me. I brought wine. May I come in?”

03: Do you regret anything?

I regret so many things… most of all, I regret getting married so young. I wish I had enjoyed life a little more, even if marrying Hyde wasn’t all that bad. I just feel like I haven’t lived life properly.

15: Have any pets?

Not yet, but I’ve been thinking about adopting a cat. Hopefully it’ll happen soon.

38: Is this year the best year of your life?

Not in the slightest. Despite it having started well, there are still some things here and there that need fixing and I’m currently working on them, but it’s not the worst year of my life either.

52: What makes you happy?

Food, music and being surrounded by the people I love.