This chapter is dedicated to LotusLin. Thank you for the Magic Castle. Kung Hei Fat Choy!
Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!
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Yeongjae's POV
My chest ached as she finished her story.
Sora smiled when she spoke, but her eyes carried years of pain and loss, stitched together with stubborn strength. Sweet and bitter, all at once. Like a wound that had learned how to heal on its own, even if the scar never faded.
I didn't want to add to that pain.
But was that even possible anymore?
She was starting to trust me. That was part of the plan. Yet now that I was here, sitting beside her under the open sky, it felt wrong. Heavy. Unfair.
Maybe it would've been easier if she hated me. If she pushed me away hard enough that I wouldn't feel this pull in my chest, just like before. Then guilt wouldn't have a place to settle.
"After everything," I asked quietly, "do you still want to get married someday?"
She let out a long breath, like she'd been holding it in for years.
