"Since we are both alone, can I talk to you about last night?" he does not keep quiet for too long, to my greatest relief, and brings up an interesting matter. "Sure."

"Have I made you uncomfortable?" he holds his cigarette down, and I realize that he has not forgotten what happened. "I mean, my memories are very blurry, for some reason. I must have drunk a bit too much wine, which caused me to not recall some parts, but...I feel like I did or said something inappropriate to you...and I don't even know if it all happened in my..." he does not end his sentence when I was listening closely, and his eyes expose some nervousness, once again. "In my head..."

"You didn't make me uncomfortable at all, Mister Jeon. Don't be worried," I tell him, honestly. "I did notice that you seemed a bit tipsy, but you didn't do anything inappropriate."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to be scared to tell me the truth, okay?" he doubts my sincerity, so I assert my statement. "I'm sure. I promise," I give him the proof that I am not telling a lie. "I'm relieved," he looks down and takes a drag on his cigarette, seeming distressed or hung up on this night and what happened.

I am scared that she might have forced him to do something. What if she sexually harassed him? What if she pressured him into kissing or having sex? I am so worried about it.

"If you ask me those questions, does that mean you don't remember the hug?" I attempt to figure out what is the issue that torments him, and he looks into my eyes. "I do remember that...I was just...It felt more like a dream than reality," he clears his throat and taps the ash off. "To be honest with you, I thought this only happened in my dream..."

"What did you dream of?" I cannot hold back from being nosy, and the answer his body gives me makes me feel like he does not want to talk about it. "Too many things...I can't tell what was a dream or what was n— I mean, I can. I can definitely tell, but yeah," his sentence lacks sense the more he goes on, noticing he is lost in his thoughts. "Did we...maybe..." he touches his lips and rubs the bottom one, thinking thoroughly before finishing his question. "Like, can you tell me what happened exactly when I came home? I gave you the pill and Arnica for your bruises, then we hugged, and I went back to my room— I mean, you went back to your room first, then I went to mine, and we never saw each other after that, right?"

"Right," I confirm the events but cannot help suspecting something odd. Why did he need me to validate the fact that we did not see each other after we both went to bed?

"Alright," he inhales on the small cigarette for the last time to end it, and he stubs it out. His right hand, which is now free, slides into his pocket, and he licks his lips. "Why did it seem like you were about to cry when you left?" he mentions what I hoped for him to erase from his memory, and I pet Choco, who lied down on my lap, without saying anything at first.

"I just...appreciate and like the person you are a lot, so I care about you, and I'm worried," I tell, in the most vague manner possible, but he solicits some more explanations with a 'Why?', making it hard for me to not tell the exact reason. "Well...my mom is very manipulative and can get whatever she wants from men. If she wants something from them, she'll do literally anything to get it...and this time, I know you are a good man, I know you don't deserve it, so I want to warn you and protect you from her, but I feel like I'm powerless and that you're gonna fall for it like the others did, so I'm scared."

"Listen...I had a conversation with her last night, and she told me that she is your stepmother," his words get my head to move up quickly, wondering why she revealed that to him. "She told you?"

"Yes," he peeks down at my feet. "But she told me that you were used to not getting along in the past but that now it's alright. I just cannot understand. From what she tells me, everything's going well between you two, but from what you tell me or Joonha, nothing's okay, and you don't feel good with her or at home. I'm just wondering what is truly happening because I care about you as well."

"You don't have to worry about it, let's say that it is a typical stepmom and daughter relationship. There's a lot of tension," I drift my eyes up towards him to not cowardly flee from any contact anymore, but he comes closer and sits down by my side.

"I won't let her manipulate me, so I won't fall for her lies, don't worry about it," he avouches, but I cannot get the uncertainty away from me. "It pains me a lot to hear that she lied to me about your relationship, so—"

"Don't let her know I told you that, please," I cut him off without meaning to be rude but feel the need to absolutely tell him. "I won't. All the things you tell me will stay between us."

"Thank you," I smile, and his hand comes closer to my thighs, but only to pet the puppy. "I just want you to always tell me the truth and not lie. Even if you believe you should. It hurts me a lot when people lie to me."

The shame suddenly overwhelms me, hastening the beating of my heart, I bite on my inner cheek and feel some sort of anxiousness.

I have been lying to him and Joonha about my bruises, I have been hiding so much stuff from them, he managed to make me feel horrible with a mere sentence that hit me hard.

"But I trust you—"

"Does that mean Joonha never lied to you?" I make sure to not hear the rest of his sentence, "So far, I don't think he ever lied to me. He hides things from me though, sometimes, but it's still rare."

"You raised him well," I smile, and he does so. "I tried my best, but I am proud of who he became."

"You're a good dad, a good man, and a good person. He's lucky to have you," I gaze up at him, his features showing some delight. "Thank you. I'm glad to know you think that of me, it means a lot."

I do not add more to the compliments, and Choco leaves my lap to chase after a butterfly he caught flying near him.

"You're a good woman, and a good person as well," he returns the words I said with honesty, feeling like he does not mean it as much as I did. "Thank you."

"I'm not saying that just because you said it to me, alright? I mean it, otherwise, I wouldn't say it," he reads my mind as if I was thinking out loud, and I cannot help but chuckle. "I'm happy to hear it."

As I must have made it awkward, he remains silent, but I notice him spread his long legs and hold his hands together.

"I don't want to sound too intrusive, so tell me if I am, but I noticed that you always wear that ring," he directs attention to my favorite jewelry, and we both make eye contact. "Is that an important one?"

"It's going to be disappointing, but no, I bought it for myself and find it pretty, that's all," I answer him with the sad truth, and we both smile at each other. "Oh. Well, that's great too. It's a pretty one.."

"You think so?" I glance down at it, unconsciously fiddling with it. "Yes, I love the fact that it's transparent, and the flowers are beautiful," he looks at it, so I lift my hand up. "Do you know what flower it is?"

"Well," he leans closer to me and touches my hand. "It looks like poppies," his thumb brushes my finger. "I'm not an expert in flowers, but poppies are my favorite type of flowers, so I can recognize them."

"It's your favorite?" I look at him but feel strongly affected by the closeness between our bodies, our faces. "Yes," he smiles but takes his hand off of mine. "Oh," I toy with it, thinking about doing something but not being sure this is right. "And you love wearing rings, don't you?" I ask since he always has at least one ring on a hand. "I do," he nods and draws my attention down to his veiny hands.

"Well," I take it off and grab his left hand which is the nearest to me. "Let me check on which one it fits," I hold it in front of his fingers, his veins pulsing against my skin. He does the work for me and slides his middle finger through the hole first, but since it does not fit, he tries his index one, then his pinky. "There."

"It's yours now," I let him have it, but he shakes his head as if he did not want to. "No, you love it, and it's yours, so keep it."

"But I love it more on you," I smile and do not retrieve it, but he does not take it off either. He stares into my eyes with a soft look on his face, and he presses a kiss on my forehead. "You're a sweetheart. I'll buy you one."

"No need to," my body reacts to this gesture, and I lose my mind, I lean towards him to kiss his cheek, and I get up. "I hope you like it," I put my arms behind my back out of stress, not knowing what to do, but Joonha saves me from this by calling Choco. "Come here, baby!" he walks closer and looks in our direction after picking his puppy up from the grass, so I take one last look at Mister Jeon but go back inside the house.

I am so ashamed and embarrassed about what I did.

•••

6:40 pm.

"Y/n?" a hand softly skims my cheek, the voice putting my mind at ease and making my body fear nothing. "Hey, sweetheart. Dinner's ready," he combs my hair back, and I open my tired eyes. "Mister Jeon," I mumble and open my eyes, and his contagious smile greets me in one of the most tender ways.

"I'm scared that you might not be able to sleep tonight if I don't wake you up for dinner," he brushes my hair back, and I nod but feel my heart race. I sit up on the sofa after unwittingly taking a nap, and Mister Jeon stands before me. "Joonha is in the bathroom, so he'll be here in a few seconds. I'm going to leave and go to dine with your mother."

I gaze up at him, feeling disappointment. "You haven't changed your mind...?"

"It's only for a talk, and we'll be in a restaurant, so don't worry," he tells me one good thing, and I stand up. "Hm..." I nod, not believing she will not find a way to make him go to our house. "My ring will protect you anyway," I smile at him and step away. "I'm going to buy one so that mine can protect you then."

"I don't need to be protected," I sit down at a table while he is heading to the front door and going towards hell. "But you can't stop me from protecting you."

"You're right," I agree with him. "By the way," he turns towards me after putting his shoes on. "I left the Arnica on the coffee table, make sure to apply it every day," he brings it up right after talking about protection as if he knew. "Thank you, I will..."

•••

10:20 pm.

The sound of Joonha's game bringing back some memories, I watch him, from his bed, play Minecraft and peacefully build his house, with a lot of focus.

He is cute.

"How is our house looking?" I bother him, taking a break from my drawing. "Good, I even made a room for our kids," his comment gets me to laugh, and I stand up to leave the bed and head towards him. I take a closer look at his house but see how pretty it is. "Look, I put a flower pot next to that side of the bed because it's yours."

"So we sleep on the same bed?" I grip the armrest of his chair to bend over and look at his screen, and he turns his head towards me. "Of course we do, we're gonna have kids, but we should sleep in different beds?"

"Well, maybe we adopted them, I don't know," I smile and set my eyes on him. "I don't have sex with intoxicated girls, so how come you don't remember me pounding into you?"

"Gosh," I sigh but chuckle. "Alright, do you want your own bed?" he walks back to the double one, but I shake my head, finding it too adorable. "No. I love it like that."

"Come on my lap," he pulls one arm back to clear the way and pushes his chair back to a slight degree. I do not refuse but sit on his thighs, and once I am comfortable, he brings the chair closer to the desk and puts his hand back on his mouse.

He does not say anything, and neither do I, we both keep our eyes on the screen, and I watch him play. This is pretty soothing, and I love that feeling. "Don't you ever take a walk on the beach at night?"

"I used to, but not anymore. My dad does sometimes though. Do you like cats or bunnies more?" he asks while playing. "Both. Why don't you do it anymore? Don't you want to do it with your dad?"

"I do, but it reminds me of the past, and it's difficult," he answers, making me realize I should not have been so curious. "Oh..."

"Let's not be awkward about it," he chortles. "It just reminds me of when my mom, dad, and I would go for a walk together. I was still a child, and it used to make me so happy, I would always be eager after dinner because I knew we would have this walk and bring some new seashells. But once they started drifting apart, we stopped, and it took some time for them to really divorce because they thought about me more than themselves. So...I only went back to that beach some months after the divorce because my dad needed to go out, and I didn't want him to be alone, and I did it a few times, but he quickly understood it was painful for me..." he explains to me without fearing to give details, and for some reason, I relate to that type of feeling. "Is it still hard for you to accept the divorce?"

"Yeah..." he smiles, but only to hide some pain. This is obvious, I am used to doing this to cover up the emotions I have to keep inside. "I cannot stand to see my mom with another man. I always hope for them to look at each other the same way they used to before, to love each other...to share everything with each other...but I know this won't happen, and now..." he shrugs, his eyes remaining on his game. "I just...I don't know. I feel like love is bullshit. I don't believe in it anymore. Like, love is great for some time, but it always causes pain, so what's the point?"

"It's gonna sound cringe, but good things never last, I guess," I try to find a good answer. "Yeah, I guess so," he nods, not thinking so but still showing agreement. "But what about you?" he removes his hand from the keyboard and mouse to run his fingers through his hair, and he looks at me. "Have you already taken a walk on the beach?"

I shake my head. "Never?" he raises his eyebrows. "You missed something amazing. I'll take you there one day, or one night. My dad will come too, and we'll take a walk. Trust me, it feels amazing and chill as hell."

I smile at the thought of it, hoping he will not forget but doubting it. He will probably never do it.

"I noticed that you left your mark on my dad," he says, with no context, making me frown at him, but he goes back to playing. "That ring. I know it's yours."

"Oh..." I get what he was talking about. "It's just because he talked about it and told me it's his favorite flower, so I gave it to him."

"Sure, you gave it to him," he purses his lips to show skepticism. "You're not trying to make him your man, hm?"

I send my hand in his chest and scoff. "I'm not. Dumbass."

"Hm. You didn't. It's not like you kissed him, am I wrong?" he embarrasses me, mentioning what does not have to be talked about. "I did not see you press your lips on his cheek, right? I misunderstood because of the angle," he sets his eyes on me as I cannot hold back from grinning. "You never kissed me, but you kissed him. That breaks my heart."

I cup his face and peck his cheekbone. "Here. Are you happy?"

"It's fake, so I'm not," he still finds a reason to complain, so I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss the same spot on repeat, but he grabs my hair. "Alright! Good! Go away now," he pulls back as if he did not like it when he is the one who asked for it. "Then stop complaining, you annoying jerk."

"I love complaining," he closes the door of his house to hold me and grabs his phone. "Check up on your dad," I tell him to do, knowing how important it is. "That's what I was going to do," he types on his screen to send a text, but I tilt my head towards him to read without even trying to be discreet.

[ is everything okay? Don't tell me you went to her house or I'm going to be mad at you for at least a whole week, I'm not kidding dad >

"What is she going to do if she recognizes the ring on his finger?" he locks his phone, waiting for an answer from him. "She won't recognize it. He could be wearing one of my clothes right now that she wouldn't be able to tell it's from me."

"Seriously?" he peeks at me, doubting my words. "Yes. She doesn't pay attention to me."

"She's a bitch," he focuses down on his screen once Mister Jeon sends an answer.

< It's alright. We're still at the restaurant, but she's in the restroom ]

[ leave then and make her pay the bill >

< Of course. I'm totally that type of guy ]

[ if you do it to a monster like she is no ones gonna blame you but be on your side >

< Sure. What are you doing right now? Is y/n sleeping? ]

[ I'm playing and no she's not sleeping, why? >

< does she have her phone near her? I want to call her for a second ]

[ she does >

No time for my brain and heart to adjust to this, my phone rings, so I quickly leave Joonha's lap and pick up the call.