Dead End | Jun-ho

22 | With Love, Comes Vulnerability

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The man didn't think it would happen so quickly; for her to warm up to him so fast.
Especially with his tendency to have angry outbursts at her, a habit he'd acquired through this job.

He hesitated, questioning whether it was the right thing to do. Jun-ho put one foot closer to walking through the door, unable to make his mind up. Thinking through her words carefully, he wondered if she actually meant it. He wouldn't ignore her words anymore, in the end it always ended up hurting on her side. He could tell. And he didn't want to be the one causing that pain anymore.

The man stopped himself from walking away, going towards the bi-fold doors once again. Carefully pulling the curtains together, he secured them tightly, blinding the room of any means of light. To Aera's disappointment, the night sky had wept away in matters of a second.

She watched his actions intently, wondering if he was closing them to leave her, or he was going to listen to her abrupt words. Dissatisfied, Aera could no longer see his features intricately, only a faint shadow of a body walking around the bed again.

The man stalled, holding out from getting under the covers with her and simply just laying on top of the duvet.

Aera frowned at his actions, realising he may have taken her words the wrong way; she wanted him to stay with her, for the entirety of the night. She tugged at the space between them, trying her best to pull the duvet down. The sheets barely moved, held down by his body weight. The girl heard his head shift, seemingly to look at her struggling.

She stopped, nervously whispering the truth. "The whole night, Jun-ho."

He nodded to himself, knowing she meant that from her first indication. Not wanting to cross any boundaries between them, the man had already caused her enough upset, and he didn't want to make her feel any more uncomfortable.

Jun-ho lifted the duvet underneath him, doing as she wished. His rustling soon stopped, the silence between them a satisfying aura.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, turning on his side to find her silhouette.

She muttered a sound, indicating he was allowed to.

"I'm sorry to bring it up, and you can tell me to stop if you wish." he paused, trying to be as respectful as possible.

Aera shifted slightly, curious to know what he was about to say.

"I'm surprised at the way you acted earlier. Not in the way you were having a panic attack but, why did it sound like the cause was of his death, and not because I did it?"

Before she could think of an answer, he continued talking, "I also just wanted to let you know that I never intended on doing that, or causing you so much pain. If he'd gotten away, I don't think I could have protected you much longer."

It was strange because, she'd never needed to be 'protected' or saved from anyone. Yet, it had kept happening over and over again. Aera kept telling herself she wasn't weak, that she wasn't turning into a vulnerable mess. However, all she found herself doing was crying. She wasn't usually like this, at all.

The girl had always been strong, she had to be. Finding her own way in life was difficult, with hardly any support from anyone, but she'd managed. And now that she had this so called 'support', everything had come crashing down. She didn't want to believe it, but she had completely succumbed to her surroundings; being taken care of by Jun-ho; crying at any tense moment.

She felt that nobody was there to judge her anymore, so she could finally let out all of her pent up emotions without any consequences. Overwhelming to see death right in front of her eyes, yes. But, she cried because she could, because everything was too much and she wouldn't be told off for showing emotion. She denied up until now that it was because she couldn't bear to deal with the weight of death. But it was life itself that had affected her so much.