“I…I was born with wealth. This family, my family, we’ve been at the top of society for generations. The quiet force that made major decisions in our society, with major economic and political influence, that’s what my family is.” Aera fiddled with a loose string in Jiyong’s sheets. He was propped up comfortably with his pillows, and his fingers absentmindedly traced figure eights over and over in his palm. He was listening. 

“Growing up, I never thought about what life was like outside of the house, outside of the safe cocoon the power of my family name has woven. I still don’t know fully what it would be like to not have that safety, but I’m trying hard to not become just another airhead heiress who spends her time shopping and socializing,” she continued. Her heart beat painfully in her chest, instincts telling her to stop talking. But she didn’t want to. She wanted to talk. This was her time. “I, I want to be someone different. Someone who can be proud of the kind of actions they made and the meaning behind those actions. But everything about my life, screams restriction. I’m not allowed to do this, I’m not allowed to do that. I need to be this, I need to be that.”

Her fist clenched as small fragments of previous fights with her mother slipped into her mind. “I’m naive, I’m selfish, they tell me,” her voice a roaring current of emotion. “It didn’t, it wasn’t like this before. Before, no one cared about what I did. I could’ve been a nurse, I could’ve even been entertainer. No one cared before, no one but my father. Everything’s different now.”

Aera felt strong, calloused fingers wrap around her own and almost jumped. She turned to him, observed his face. She couldn’t see his eyes. He couldn’t see her. He couldn’t judge her. All she was sure of, all she could feel, was the comforting of his thumb over her knuckles. “What happened?” his voice was tender, light. “Why is everything different now?” 

Aera couldn’t concentrate on anything but his touch for a few seconds. She stumbled over her words before shaking her head and clearing her mind. God, Shin Aera you are one strange girl. “I wasn’t, I wasn’t always the eldest sister,” she said, voice cracking. “We always had Yeri before. We don’t anymore. She…” 

Jiyong could feel her sadness. It was tangible. He just continued to caress her hands. Her fingers were slim, soft. He knew the pain of losing someone. He knew not to move in haste. He knew. 

Tears slipped down her face, the first time she’s cried in front of someone in two years. Her sobs wracked her body, a painful noise that shattered the silence and his heart, all at once. “…She, Yeri, she died two years ago. It was thyroid cancer. She’d been in treatment for a long time before that, but it wasn’t enough. Yeri,” she stopped as her voice broke off in a hiccup. “Yeri was a genius. A genius in marketing, business, all of it. She… she was the unsaid heiress. Everyone thought, no, everyone knew she was going to be chairwoman after grandfather passed. But she left. She left before he did.” 

Aera sniffed, wiping her eyes with her free hand. “I was the middle child,” she spoke again after a moment of silence. “And I was grandfather’s favorite. I’d always been his favorite, ever since way back. All of a sudden, the spotlight was on me. If I was a business prodigy or not. If I was beautiful enough. If I carried the same powerful aura as my sister had. And I did.”

Jiyong pulled on her hand, and Aera fell slightly into his arms, surprised. She had never been in a man’s embrace before, outside her family. He was warm, soft. Blond hair gently tickled her forehead as he wrapped his arms loosely around her lean frame. This was the first time he had ever properly felt her. Felt her existence as more than just a ghost around him, supporting him, taking in whatever he had to say without judgment. And it was mutely