A crick in the neck bothered her sleep. Rubbing her eyes, Eunyoung gained conscious. The revelation that Seunghyun was sleeping inches away caused her stomach to sink. His arm was stretched out, a makeshift cushion for her head – that explained the pain in her neck. How long had they been like this?

All she remembered was hugging Seunghyun and whispering repeatedly “You will be alright” until she lost track of time. Exhaustion took over – being emotional was a tiring affair – and the two of them ended up lying on the ground, asleep.

This arrangement wasn’t unpleasant. The brief moment when she was breaking out of a dream-like state, she actually sensed his presence near and thought she was 16 again. Quietly watching Seunghyun breathe evenly, his lashes occasionally fluttering, Eunyoung allowed herself the luxury of recalling how this man had treated her like a princess, even though she was the furthest away from the typical fragile storybook heroine types. He had loved her, she supposed in some erse way, except he had this secret, dark, insatiable, uncontrollable side.

And she had loved him. Unconditionally. When he wormed his way into her heart. She had felt like a woman around him when her friends in the small town, including the girls, had only saw her as a tomboy.

But that was then. And brooding about the past was unnecessary.

Leaving would have been the smartest thing to do, except she decided to stay in case Seunghyun freaked out, waking up alone in the dark house. Seeing the man so vulnerable earlier had shook her, like how anyone would be shaken when the most unlikely person breaks down. Liu Eunyoung may have grown up but she didn’t have the heart to leave him like this.

The woman ended up in the master bedroom, going through the wardrobe, recalling memories attached to some articles of clothing. Auntie Choi had been full of life, her vibrancy bounced off everyone she met. Maybe it was because she didn’t have children of her own, she always offered a different viewpoint that was mature but non-parent based. When everyone including her own mother and Seunghyun was against her decision to study in Busan, the older lady’s encouragement to widen her horizons helped Eunyoung insist on her choice of university. Even though Seunghyun was the apple of her eye, Auntie Choi’s advice stayed with the young girl through the course of life, “No matter how much you may love a man, you must live your own life. Never let a man hold you back in anything you want to do.”

She hadn’t realised then just how influential those words would be, in the future.

“Eunyoung.” Seunghyun’s raspy, still sleepy voice called out and before she could react, his arms s around her waist.

When the woman struggled, he pleaded, “Please, let me hold you.”

Again, Eunyoung was unable to outright reject Seunghyun. After those previous times she stood her ground, refusing to budge, he finally broke down the wobbly wall of resistance. The last Seunghyun embraced her – and kissed her – anger had her pushing him away. Now, she simply leaned into the warm body behind her, the curves fitting like a puzzle into his. Her disobedient beating heart threw her back to moments in the past when she offered to housesit when Auntie Choi went on holiday, only for