present day

Hyeri woke up a couple hours later, strangely still feeling quite exhausted, despite her long nap. It took her a couple seconds to register her unfamiliar surroundings and realise that she wasn't at her home anymore.

A slight wave of panic rolled over her, and her throat closed up in suffocation momentarily before she remembered to breathe.

She was at Soonyoung's house. She was safe.

Hyeri sighed and sat up carefully in the bed, cringing at the slight feeling of lightheadedness. She got ahold of herself before slowly making her way towards the door. Her lower body was aching as much as the wound on her head. She opened the door and slowly stumbled into the hall, where she was met with Mingyu sitting on the sofa, watching TV.

When he heard her soft footsteps, his ears perked up and he turned towards her, eyes widening. The next moment, he was by her side, supporting her.

"Why are you out of bed by yourself? Your head isn't fully healed, you need to be careful! What if you fainted or something?" He scolded her, gently leading her towards the sofa.

"I'm honestly fine, Mingyu. Seriously," Hyeri said, though she was slightly uncertain about it herself.

"You don't have to lie to me, Hyeri," he said, softly, "you know I can tell when you're not being honest."

Hyeri sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I just feel so tired and lightheaded. . ."

"The head wound must be really bad then. . ." Mingyu stared at the bandage on her head with worry and concern.

"It'll heal soon enough." Hyeri brushed it off, leaning back into the sofa and staring at the ceiling, while Mingyu stared at her face.

She had changed so much since he last saw her. She was so different from the Hyeri he knew, or had known. She was no longer the sassy and flirty Kang Hyeri he remembered from their college days. She wasn't even the cheerful and bubbly Kang Hyeri who had married one of his best friends.

She was an entirely different person; someone who had gone through a lot of hardships, both emotionally and physically, someone who had been forced to change, forced to adapt. Mingyu couldn't recognise her anymore.

"What happened to you, Hyeri?" Mingyu spoke softly, worry evident in his hushed voice.

She didn't reply, and instead just closed her eyes, shutting herself away from this particular conversation. She knew someone would eventually bring it up, it was inevitable. But she just wished it wasn't Mingyu who brought it up; something about his presence just made her extra vulnerable and fragile.

She became so weak and emotional around him.

"Do you not know?" Hyeri questioned quietly, her voice trembling.

"About. . . Seungcheol? I-I've just heard. . . things," Mingyu spoke slowly, not wanting to trigger her into a fit of tears or anger. She stayed silent, feeling her throat close up with emotion, eyes stinging with tears. "Hyeri. . .?" He called out carefully after a minute of deafening silence.

Hyeri cleared her throat softly, opening her eyes and wiping her tears away. "I don't know what you've heard, Mingyu, but it might not be all true."

Mingyu stared at her fragile expression, one he used to be all too familiar with. He almost reached out to hold her again, just like he used to once upon a time, before he caught himself. He didn't know where it came from, that intense feeling of protectiveness, that urge to just wrap an arm around Hyeri and not let anyone else harm her.

He had witnessed the girl go through a lot of shit in her life, and he'd stood by her side, supporting her through thick and thin, making sure she always emerged from the problems mostly unscathed.

This time, however, he hadn't been there for her. An unforgivable mistake on his part, he realised.

"You're fine now, Hyeri," Mingyu said, firmly, "you will be fine. Everything will be alright. Trust me."

And Hyeri wanted to trust him, she really did. But she had trusted too many people, and most of them had disappointed her. . . most of them had broken her trust.

"Yeah," she croaked out, "everything will be fine."

xx

wow hi this might have been so sudden and confusing, character wise😭😭
mingyu is also a pretty important character in the story now because he was bias wrecking while I was working on some chapters lol

the next couple chapters are kind of self indulgent and Mingyu focused, so I hope you all like the little subplot (it's steamy;))

[ May, 2023 ]