Divine Enmity (Catnipz)

XLIII. I'm sorry.

She had screwed up.

God, how she had screwed up.

You deserve it.

Haerin repeated those words to herself over and over throughout the night, unable to sleep, tossing and turning in her bed. Not even the exhaustion from crying nonstop could lull her into sleep.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that look of contempt on Minji's face, a look of true hatred—one she thought she had seen before, but she had been terribly mistaken.

The next day arrived much later than she would have liked, with no rest at all, her eyes swollen and a painful tightness in her chest. She got up with great effort, later than usual, knowing her siblings were probably already busy with their respective tasks and training. She felt like a corpse, her eyes lifeless, and her hands dressed her as if her clothes weighed a ton.

As soon as she left her room, she saw Jennie in the distance, tidying up some sewing and perfume materials on the table. For a moment, she considered turning back and burying herself in her blankets, but the older girl caught her eye and greeted her with a smile.

What she needed most right now was an older sister.

Jennie smiled at her, but then her expression shifted when she saw Haerin's tired face. She frowned and quickly put down everything she was holding to walk over to her.

"Hey..." she greeted with the best smile she could manage. "Are you okay? You look awful."

Haerin let out a bitter laugh. "Thanks, that's just what I needed to hear."

Jennie ignored her comment and looked at her with concern again. "Do you want to talk?"

Part of her wanted to refuse, afraid of being judged, but another part of her couldn't hold it in any longer—she needed to let it out.

She looked Jennie in the eye and quickly embraced her, burying her face in her shoulder and sobbing. Jennie was surprised, her concern deepening as she wrapped her arms around her.

"Hey, hey..." she said, gently rubbing her back. "It's okay, it's okay."

She pulled back slightly and gave her a worried smile, wiping some of her tears with her thumb.

"Let's go sit down, okay? We can talk calmly."

Haerin nodded weakly, letting the older girl guide her to one of the secluded corners of the cabin, where they had a small room with sofas. Jennie closed the door so they wouldn't be disturbed and held Haerin's hands.

"Now take a deep breath and tell me," she said calmly.

Haerin took a deep breath and relaxed a little.

"I... I screwed up, Jen, I really messed things up with... Minji."

Jennie nodded, keeping her smile and gently stroking her hands. "What exactly happened?"

"Yesterday... we had a terrible fight. I... " Haerin stopped, pulling one of her hands away to wipe her face. "Gods, I don't even know where to start."

"From the beginning wouldn't be bad," Jennie smiled, trying to ease the tension.

"Yesterday... yesterday we ran into each other again. And things got... intense. But not in a good way. It was aggressive, without any feeling involved," she said, her gaze drifting to the wall, unable to look at her sister. "And then... we had another argument."

Jennie nodded, encouraging her to go on.

"This one was much worse. We shouted at each other, said horrible things that I... I at least didn't mean to say, that I didn't really believe..." She shook her head, closing her eyes. "And, after that... after that, I used my powers with her."