•••

4:50 pm.

< tell me when you are ready to talk. I just want the tension to leave, but you can take a nap if you need<3 ]

[ I'm coming, I just needed to sit down a little<3 >

< okay, take the time you need ]

Now that my hair is dry, I tie it in a bun to feel more comfortable and stand up to leave my room. I do not want to wait for much longer, I need to know, no matter how scared I am.

I open the door to get out, and I already make eye contact with Joonha, who is sitting at the dining table, but who turned around at the sound I made. He smiles at me, and I do so while heading up towards him.

"Does it feel better in dry clothes?" he asks me when I sit next to him, and I nod. "Yes, but your hoodie felt more comfortable."

"Do you want this one? I already got into my pajama," he softly laughs, and I let him wear his pretty white hoodie. "I'm okay. Keep it."

Despite what I told him, he takes it off. "Here, put it on," he holds it above my head, so I let him put it on me but feel incredibly great in it. "You're cute," he fixes some strands of hair that got in my face, and I notice Mister Jeon join us at the table.

I set my eyes on him, but the sight of him wearing the ring and bracelet heals some invisible wounds.

"Did you clean them?" Joonha does not pretend to not have seen anything, and he nods. "Yeah, but it was with the bottles and all, so there was nothing dirty. I just washed them and used some sanitizer to feel more comfortable," he answers but looks up at me, and I glance away.

"Can we...talk about it now?" Joonha initiates it, with gentleness, and I make him understand I am okay with it. "Alright, I'm going to explain it myself since I'm the one who remembers and saw everything. You haven't forgotten what I told you about what I saw, right?" he reminds me of those words I wish I could have erased from my mind, and I confirm I do. "Well...This morning, we had a little argument, I mean, not an argument, but I thought he was acting like nothing happened or pretending to not know what was happening, so I asked him if he remembered what happened last night," he gives him a look, and Mister Jeon continues to speak for himself. "Y/n, the only thing I remember from last night is the time I spent with you in your room, then the small talk I had with Harin when we ate and drank some grape juice that she brought. The only thing I remember after that is going to sleep. Nothing else. I can't even tell what time it was. I just know I woke up and felt terribly sick, weird, and dizzy this morning, just like I did when I first went to her house and that you and I both talked when I came home."

I listen to him carefully and recall that night.

"And...I'm going to be honest with you—"

"Wait," Joonha cuts him off. "I'm leaving you both alone so that you can talk in private. I'll wait for you in my room to put the band-aid on, okay?" he smiles at me with a soft look in his eyes, and I return it, nod, but feel anxious.

As if Mister Jeon did want us to be alone, he waits for him to have walked up the stairs, then he looks at me. "I'm sorry for not listening to you and Joonha. I ignored all the warnings because I thought I was doing the right thing, but I was wrong, and I apologize for hurting you."

"Don't apologize," I refuse to hear him say that. "I want to. I know that what I've done led to this. I should have listened when you both told me not to let her stay here, so I apologize."

"I could have done something too. If I had exposed her in front of you, we would have gone back home, and she would never have drugged you and done those things to you," I see it from my side and the wrongs I have done as well, but he shakes his head. "Joonha or I would never have wanted you to go back to your house with her, especially if you had exposed the fact that she lied to me, we would have done everything to keep you with us because we knew what would have happened if you didn't."

I do not care about myself, that is what he does not understand.

"I just..." he lowers his gaze to the table for a brief second. "I feel horrible for what happened this morning. I don't know what you thought when you saw the jewelry in the bin, but I can assure you that I would never have done such a thing. I would never have kissed her or done anything with her either if I was conscious because you're the one I'm attracted to. I never felt anything romantic for her."

The beating of my heart suddenly hastened so much. Did he just admit his feelings?

"When I saw them I was really hurt because it meant a lot to me, and after the night we had...it broke my heart even more because I thought you lied to me and played with my feelings...so...I thought I didn't mean anything to you either...or that you didn't care," I do not keep those feelings to myself, feeling like it is better to talk it out. "Y/n. I meant all the things that I told you until now. You mean so much to me, and you know how much I care about you. Maybe I haven't shown you enough, but it's been hard for me to show or express my feelings lately, and I tend to hide them a lot so people mistake it for indifference, but that is the complete opposite."

"It's okay," I do not judge him for that. "It makes me feel so much better to hear all that."

Silently, we both make eye contact, and all the pain I felt throughout these previous hours disappears, but knowing that he was drugged and taken advantage of upsets and aches me a lot. "I'm sorry about last night...I hope you're okay..."

"I'm okay, don't worry. I know that you're safe and fine now, so that's all that matters to me," he stands up from his chair and heads towards the kitchen, so I stay where I am to check the text I saw popping on my screen.

< you might not see this, but if you feel like talking about your feelings for him, do it. Okay? You can trust me, this isn't one-sided love, so don't be scared or nervous to confess. I shouldn't be telling you this, but since he doesn't show it and that I want to make you feel better, I'm telling you, he feels the same way. He's just taking it slow ]

[ thank you so much for telling me this >

< ♡ ]

I put my phone down at the sound of Mister Jeon coming back, and he sits down right next to me instead of going back where he was. He places a glass of grape juice right before me. "It's a bottle I bought myself, so don't be worried about drinking it," he takes a sip of water, and I grab it, feeling thirsty as ever. "Thank you."

He brings the empty glass down, meaning he drank the whole thing in one go, and he rubs his fingers over his neck, holding the side of it, but then turns his head towards me and catches me staring. We look at each other into the eyes, and I feel the comfort and love spread through me again.

"Joonha told me about what she put you through and what happened some days ago," he broaches this topic. "I'm sincerely sorry. I should have taken action much earlier. You were in my house, and I should have protected you—"

"Stop saying sorry and thinking you're at fault, please," I ask him not to do it, hating those words. His hand reaches out for mine, and he holds it, making my skin shiver under his touch. "I won't let her hurt you again. I'll make sure you're safe with us, I'll never let her approach you or Joonha, and I'll never be in contact with her again."

I turn my hand upside down to intertwine our fingers, and he brushes his thumb over my skin but leans in and presses a kiss on my temple. "Are you still mad at me?"

"I'm not," I shake my head and move up to get on his lap and hug him, and he holds me. "I had such a wonderful time with you last night, I regret this had to end that way."

"I'll invite you again, and we'll forget about this," I speak in the crook of his neck, and he rubs my back while cupping my waist. "What do you mean? I'm the one inviting you this time."

"Does that mean you'll refuse to come if I invite you?" I dare him to answer me and move back to look in his eyes, and his hands slide down my sides. "Hm. I won't, but I'm planning on inviting you next week, so since we have no other opportunity, that means I'm the one  organizing our second date."

I smile at the sound of this last word, and I go forward to kiss his cheek, and he embraces me as if it was the last time.

"I don't want to bring this back up again because I don't know if you don't want to hear about it, but if you need to talk about how you feel after what happened to you, I want you to do it," I make sure he does not keep anything to himself, knowing that it will be hard for him to not think about it all the time. "I'm okay. Don't worry about me."

"I do," I play with his hair in the back of his head, and he remains silent for a few seconds, so I pull away and gaze into his eyes. "How do you feel?"

"I feel good with you," he ignores the meaning of this question, so I make it clearer. "Not right now. I mean, it makes me happy to know that, but I was talking about what happened."

He heavily exhales and holds his hands together behind my back, his eyes never leaving mine. "I feel disgusting...I don't know...I'm hurt as well...I feel uncomfortable in my own body, I can't explain this feeling I have..."

"You're not disgusting..." I give him another hug and make it as warm and comforting as I can. "You don't deserve this. I hate to think that it happened to you, I'd do anything to help you feel better..."

"Having you in my arms is enough to make me feel good, don't worry. You have enough to deal with, don't add this to all that pain, I'm fine," he tells me words that I am not sure I can trust and which I do not agree with. "Just because I dealt with some things doesn't mean I cannot help you, and I've said 'I'm fine' so many times when I was actually hurt that it's hard to believe you...especially in this case."

"I'm fine," he says in my ear. "I mean it, and I don't ever want you to lie to me about this in the future. I want you to be honest about whether you are fine or not. Okay?"

"Okay," I tell him. "Promise?"

"I promise if you do it too," I establish a condition to do so, and he smiles against the side of my face. "I promise I'll tell you the truth."

"I promise too then," I give my word, and I earn a soft kiss on the ear.

•••

5 pm.

[ is everything alright? >

I send Joonha a text to know how it is going at the hospital with Mister Jeon since they decided to go to the police about what happened last night and that they told him to do a medical forensic examination.

< yes, they're doing the exam for drugging, then we'll have to go back to the police. What about you? How are you doing with my babyboy? ]

[ I'm doing fine, but I want to be with you >

< no, you've dealt with enough today, and we're gonna have to do the report for abuse tomorrow, so we want you to relax and stay home ]

[ I'm scared about doing it tho. What if she fakes something really bad and that everything goes wrong? >

< we won't let that happen. We are four against her, she has no one to defend her, so don't worry about anything. You're our baby, and we won't let anyone do anything to you anymore ]

[ I love you :c >

< I know you do, we both love you too:> ]

< tell my babyboy that I love him too btw ]

[ I will, but he's fighting his toy rn >

< my good boy:3 ]

I smile but stand up from his gaming chair, still wearing his big hoodie, I open the door and call Choco so that he does not stay here all alone, and this adorable puppy follows me downstairs, with his toy in his mouth.

Knowing they will not be back soon, I get in the kitchen and look for what I could cook for dinner so that I can surprise them with something good. I know how to cook good meals, but not as good as the ones Mister Jeon cooks, so I hope they will not be disappointed.

•••

7:40 pm.

The sound of the front door opening finally fills the house, and I run out of the room to go downstairs and see how they are both doing. Mister Jeon did not even look at me, after leaving his shoes at the door, he puts his slippers on and moves forth, so I get right beside Joonha but see him go in the backyard.

"What's wrong...?" I set my eyes on Joonha, and his facial expression does not predict anything good. "We went back to the police station for the report and statement after the exam," he looks in the direction of his dad. "But I was not allowed inside the room, and once he came out...He didn't tell me anything, but I could see that he wasn't alright, so I asked him what happened, and he told me that those bastards didn't take him seriously but scoffed when he told them he was sexually harassed by a woman..."

"Why would they do that?!" some anger and grief overcome me, hating what I am hearing. "Because he's a fucking man and society doesn't give a fuck about men who get sexually assaulted. They think that we low-key like it or that we could fight back because women are weaker," he tears up, sounding extremely mad. "I saw that he was hurt, and this got me so fucking pissed, I wanted to go back there and beat those assholes up..."

Witnessing this breaks my heart so badly. They both do not deserve to go through all that.

"I can tell he's pretending to be okay. I know him, and I know that he keeps quiet because he feels ashamed and that he thinks it's his fault for not listening to us..." he tells me what I knew was on his mind this whole time. "Do you think he'll be okay if I talk to him?"

He nods to me. "It might be easier for him to talk about this type of stuff with you and not his son," he combs his hair back. "You think so?"

"Yeah...I know I'd be less uncomfortable talking about it with you than with him, even if we talk about literally anything together, it's hard, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way, especially since I saw them both..." he gives a good explanation, which I understand.

"You're right, I'm going to try..." I head towards the sliding doors, but after a few steps, I turn around. "Are you doing alright?" I ask him. "I'm just worried about you two."

"Focus on yourself too, alright?" I ask him to not take care of himself and not forget his health is important too, and he smiles at me. "I will. I just care about you two a lot."

"We care about you too," I remind him in case he forgot. "You're gonna give me diabetes with all this sweetness," he chuckles but walks to the stairs, and I smile then move towards Mister Jeon, who I am deeply concerned about.

I slide the door open, and I step out but see him on the swinging bench, smoking a cigarette. I am not surprised, he must be so stressed out.

Because of the sound I made, he peeks up at me, so I stand where I am. "Do you need to stay alone?" I make sure I am not disturbing, knowing that sometimes we want no one around. He shakes his head without saying a word, so I inch closer and sit by his side.

This is silent, and this time, it is awkward.

"Joonha told me..." I let him know, but he still remains quiet. "You remember when you promised you'd tell me if you're not okay, right?" I try my best, not knowing what to say or do since it is the first he shows this kind of emotion. He pulls his cigarette out of his mouth and turns his head to look at me. "I just need some time...I'll be okay."

"You will, but you're not," I shorten it with better words. "Sometimes you cannot do anything about it, you just have to wait," he taps the ash off the stick, and the pain this sentence provokes bruises my heart. "You're right," I do not find the words, feeling useless. "But talking about it can help too...Like, telling someone what upsets you, how you feel about this...I don't know..." I mumble and gaze at him. "Just because you're a man doesn't mean you don't need comfort or help. You cannot be there for others all the time, you also need someone to listen to you, to let you get your worries, sadness, or pain off your chest...You're a human..." I speak as smartly as I can, having no idea whether I am making it better or worse.

Not getting any answers, I decide to not say a single word anymore and keep my eyes fixed on him.

"I don't think anything can help," he does not look up from the ground. "They made me feel so much more dumb, weak, and ashamed of myself...I should have listened, I wish Joonha didn't see any of that, at least he wouldn't have seen me in such a..." he shakes his head and glances away. "A humiliating position."

"Why would you think that? I know for sure that Joonha would never have wanted to stay asleep and not stop her from going any further," I clarify this. "He and I are relieved that he woke up and saw that, of course, we would have wanted one of us to wake up earlier and prevent that from happening, but we didn't know, and if we start saying 'If I had done that' or 'If I had said that', we'll never find a way to solve any problem or heal," I talk but see him lean back and set his eyes on me. "You should never feel ashamed, dumb, or weak because you're not any of that. You're a strong, smart, and too kind to people who don't deserve it because your heart is too big, and you just try your best for everyone," I do not allow him to believe that of himself, and he finishes his cigarette to stub it out, and he takes my hand. "You're an amazing person. You truly deserve the world."

"I just care about you a lot," I hold his hand with both of mine. "You're my..." I think about a great nickname or way to call him. "My strong man. My strong and good man."

My words manage to make him smile. "And you're still my little girl," he strokes my skin with his warm one, and I do not conceal the delight he brings me. "I want you to tell me if some touches make you uncomfortable though."

"No, it comforts me a lot to feel you against me. Your touch is soothing," he tells me the ones of the most meaningful words ever, relieving me. Now that I know he is not uncomfortable with physical contact, I lean towards him and wrap my arms around him. "I'll give you a hug every morning and night."

"I can't wait for this to happen," he hugs me back and drops a kiss on the crown of my head. "I'll give you a hug and kiss in return."

"Oh, I'll give you a kiss too," I smile, hoping to be helpful. "I'd love that too."

"Oh, by the way," I look up at him. "I cooked dinner. It just has to be warmed up a little."

"You're so sweet, you didn't even have to," he runs his hand over the back of my head to pat it, seeming touched. "I wanted to surprise you, so I hope you'll like it."

"Of course, we will, don't worry about that," he kisses my forehead, and I rest my head on his chest.

•••

11 pm.

"Gosh, I can't keep my eyes open anymore, I'm gonna go to bed," Joonha straightens his back to stretch as we were watching a movie all together. "Sleep tight," Mister Jeon tells him, and I do so. "You're not going to work tomorrow, right?"

"I have to, but it's okay. I need to take my mind off, and it will help a lot," he reassures him, and I believe this is a good decision too. Staying home and doing nothing will not help at all. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," he affirms, and Joonha understands. "Alright, I'll text you at every break anyway," he smiles and stands up, and he comes closer to me. He bends over and presses a kiss on my forehead. "Have a good night," he does not let me enough time to respond and moves to the side to drop a kiss on his dad's forehead as well. "Have a good night too, I love you," he smiles as Mister Jeon giggles and said the same words, both having the most precious relationship. "And I love you too," he pinches my cheek on which there is not the band-aid right when he passes behind us. "And I love Choco, I love everyone in this house."

"We all love you too," I lean my head back to look at him go. "Show love to each other too," he acts like a cupid again, and I nervously laugh but glance at Mister Jeon to see his reaction. We both make eye contact, and he smiles. "Tell me if you're tired and want to go to bed too, okay?"

"Same goes for you. You need sleep for tomorrow," I watch him lift one arm up to hold it behind his head, and he drifts his eyes towards the TV. "I do..." he agrees, and for some reason, he clears his throat and goes forward to grab hold of his cup to drink the rest of his tea.

"Where are you going to sleep tonight?" he turns around and catches me off guard, and I nibble on my inner lip. "I don't know. Why?"

"Well, you always seem to love to have someone to cuddle while sleeping, and I love being that someone, so if you want..."