Rin tapped his spoon against the sloppy mess of rice glazed over with orange sauce. He didn't even know what this dish's name was. It shouldn't matter, though. After a long day at work, complaining about food was the last thing on his mind.

Someone's not tired of complaining though. Sitting across from him at the dining table, with her back to the kitchen sink was Hye-jin. Her fingers were slick with the oil from the take-out chicken she ordered on her way back. It wasn't like her to share any to Rin, and just made him settle with the orange goop he had.

"So, this customer at work," Hye-jin was saying, licking her teeth as she pried another spoonful of rice from her own take-out box. "Kept on hollering at me with issues about his console, saying it's faulty and can't run the latest build. Do you know what's wrong? What his problem really was?"

Rin glanced at the rice cooker they had bought two years ago standing forgotten among other things under the cupboards. How many of those appliances had fallen out of favor without them noticing?

"Are you even listening?" Hye-jin's voice cut through his thoughts. He snapped back to his wife, hoping his face didn't let off how clueless he was about everything she had said from the past hour. Didn't work. Hye-jin clicked her tongue. "What's the point of going home when you can't even stay in it?"

Rin averted his eyes. For sure, Hye-jin didn't mean to be that scathing whenever she honed in on something he did or didn't do. He speared the disposable spoon into the soggy goop masquerading as a rice meal. "Sorry," he said. "I shouldn't even be thinking about work. What about the guy's issues?"

Hye-jin frowned and set her spoon down. "He isn't connected to the internet," she sniffed as she fished the last piece of fried chicken from the box. "That's why his console can't install the game he wanted."

Rin nodded. "How did you resolve it, then?"

"Had to explain to this man who's nearer to his grave than he was to the internet's invention how the internet works," she tore through the meat with a solid crunch. Her thumb pressed against the corners of her lips as she chewed. "And I had to do it through a call. How horrible."

He opened his mouth to say something along the lines of maybe it wasn't so bad? So long as it pays, when Hye-jin prowled on. "When I took this job, I was like, wow, they're taking me in. How amazing is this!. Then I got stuck into customer service," she laid her palm out in Rin's direction. "It's not like customer service is a dumb job; it's just not for me. I wanted to be inside the pitch room, where they spend their time building the games that hit the market and get paid for it."

Well, leave it to Hye-jin to insult more than one group of the population in a few sentences. That's how she was though, and if Rin went as far as to correct her, she'd flip the table on him and it'd be a conversation about his flaws rather than her own. The growing and throbbing pain in his shoulders told him today's not the day for that. Not now or ever. He still had to report to work early tomorrow.

He just wanted to finish dinner so he could sleep.

"If you're feeling useless there," Rin let himself speak whatever he thought this time. "Why not just quit?"

The word wouldn't have sat well with Hye-jin under any circumstances, but this was a different, and apparently unique one. Instead of getting red in the face like she drank a whole bottle of soju, she scoffed. The bones of the last piece of chicken went into the pile she already made inside the box. That's what told Rin she wasn't willing to share her spoils when she first started eating.

"It's not that easy to jump ship, especially with my age and my current experience," Hye-jin answered, to some degree of weariness. "I just need to figure out how to sneak inside the brainstorming and developing team. I mean, I'm sure they'd see my background in software engineering eventually. I didn't just spend four years of my youth for nothing."

Rin tapped a finger against the table. "This is just a proposal, but..." he sighed. "How about becoming an independent game writer? You can quit your job and, at the same time, shop around various companies with your pitches. At least, you won't be bogged down with work you don't want. That and..."

"And?" Hye-jin arched an eyebrow—the most basic proof that she's listening.

Rin pushed his hair out of his forehead. He kept forgetting to have it sheared, of course, until he received some note from HR about it. "You'll be able to help around the house more," he said. He stole a glance towards the bedroom where his mother, brother, and the hired housekeeper were probably sleeping now. "I was thinking of letting Meryl go."

Silence. It was never good when she was silent.

"She's putting a strain on our finances?" Hye-jin said. The last bite of her rice was now forgotten inside the box. She also had finished chewing ages ago. "Is that it?"

Rin pursed his lips. As much as he didn't want to tell Hye-jin, he'd have to one of these days. Now's just an unlucky time. "You and I aren't earning enough to even live on this floor," he said. "I have to get Meryl when Mom and Kaito moved in, but now that we've more or less settled with everything, I think we can manage. But I can't...you know."

Hye-jin's eyes narrowed. She's either going to burst out on him or she's going to say she's about to need some time. Instead, she leaned back against the chair. "Fine," she said. "I'll help around the house while you're out. I expect you to take your half when you get home, though. Don't leave it all to me."

Relief washed over his system. "Thanks," he said. "I'll try to get you a decent laptop for your pitches...but not this month. Or the next."

Hye-jin bobbed her head. The one she's using now was her clunky slab from uni, but she's always insisted old was always better than new. "What are you going to do with your job?"

Rin's gut twisted with dread but he forced himself to spit it out. Anything but the truth. "There's a promotion around the corner with an increase included," he said. "It would not be enough to keep Meryl, but it should be okay to let us live on this floor and provide for everyone without you having to have a monthly paycheck. It's a big leap."

"It is," she said. "Would we still have enough for savings? We do need to start thinking about that."

He clenched his jaw. "Should be."

All he had to do now was to rise up in the ranks and get it. He'd work hard, get along with everyone, and be the best candidate that company has ever seen. Then, he'd be able to make Hye-jin happy, as well as take care of his family the best way he could. Maybe he'd be able to get a downpayment for a good house too—one that didn't require going through so many flights of stairs just to enter. Maybe he could also get Hye-jin a new car, since her old one had been breaking down more often these days.

There were so many things one could do, if only they had the money. As much as Rin hated it, he had no choice but to accept that. It's the only truth this world had held on to since the beginning of civilization. And it wouldn't change soon.

Hye-jin rose from her seat, her long, dark hair spilling from her shoulders. "Well, let's clean up now, shall we?"

Rin gave her a small smile. Everything would be alright soon. He'd just have to get that promotion and more promotions after that.

Whatever it would take.