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It was all so much to take in.
Chenle can't find the words to express what he's feeling after the biggest family secret has been revealed to him.
Jisung is looking worriedly at him and Sungchan—still unable to wrap his head around what happened at the ball and then this day adds up and it's all still a blur.
Maeri had nothing else to say as she sits there with her heart heavy upon the silence— all the guilt and shock washing over like a wave that's hard to surf on.
"You're telling me, you went behind my back to piece all of this together..." Jisung finally breaks the silence. Slowly processing it all at once with the information weighing heavy in his chest and the words heavy on the tip of his tongue; unable to form it and say it aloud.
Maeri slowly nods, intertwining her fingers together and places her hands over her lips. "I just had to put an end to it all so we would break free from whatever curse it was that our parents put us in." she nearly chokes up on the words she had said— heart breaking and shattering into pieces all over again.
Thankfully, Chenle finally gains his composure and takes a deep breath before parting his lips to say "You don't have to blame yourself for everything that happened, Maeri." although he sounded weak, he still tries to make it sound as comforting the way he meant it. "We're all victims here under a scheme bigger than we thought it was and at that our parents had even laid it out before we were born."
Just when Maeri thought she had no tears left to cry, her vision starts getting blurry, eyes getting glassy and her hand clenching into fists as she finds it painful to break into sobs.
So many words they think should be left unsaid are hung in the air as Maeri just lets her tears cascade down her pretty face— eyes already worn out and heart already shattered and unrepaired.
Sungchan finally gains his composure this time and joins in on the conversation. "How could you say that?" the disbelief and disappointment evident in his tone. "Your parents died because of mine and Maeri's parents. We knew and we were trained for this our whole lives. How can you say we aren't to blame here?"
And he was right. Maeri was not going to deny it. They were trained to want power over people who are slaves of the government and she is somewhat an accomplice of a huge murder even though she was a child and a victim of the manipulation.
Sungchan had so much to say. Every detail ready to spill and reaching out from the tip of his tongue, but ut just so happened that Chenle beat him to it when he steps up to talk again.
"May I talk to Maeri alone for a bit?" Chenle leaves his place and goes to gently hold onto Maeri's wrist to pull her up from where she was seated and she obliges; her tears come to a halt and she looks up at Chenle with a glint of plea.
