When Bomi began to shiver, Chorong went into motion, twisting over on the bed to wrap her arms around her. Bomi moved right into her as she did, sobs muffling into her shoulder, pressing them close for security like she never had wanted to cry.

Like it had surprised her too.

It struck a cold feeling through Chorong despite the overwhelming warmth of their bodies. The present moment was scaring her, or maybe it was unnerved concern for the burst of tears. Battling between her confusion and realising that she needed to understand the situation, Chorong tried to pull back to see Bomi's face. The girl in her arms only held her tighter, Chorong restrained into dark hair and the whiff of dull shampoo. She held back a groan.

"Bbom-ah? Are you here with me?" Chorong tried verbally. Her voice sounded abnormally soft even to herself. Bomi wracked in sobs where she her back, and it died on her tongue to know what was going on. "Answer me, baby... please..."

"Here," Bomi croaked without pulling away from her. Chorong squeezed back gratefully to acknowledge it. A whimper returned and gripped the lower back of her shirt tighter.

Nodding beside her head, she didn't ask for anything more and just held her.

It was in that moment, something painful, a phantom feeling of something heavy with sorrow sank in her chest. Chorong became plagued with anxious thoughts she couldn't run away from. Doubts and worries all swirled up in her head for this girl to become the new centre of it all.

Bomi was crying from an upset at what she said.

Chorong brushed her fingers through Bomi's hair, careful to miss any knots that might snag. And she kept doing that, counting the sobs till they might even out.

She didn't know how long could've passed. Minutes, half an hour, maybe an hour. She didn't think Bomi could possibly be crying for that long, but at some point, Chorong's eyes slipped closed with the residue of tears on her own cheeks.

The next her eyes opened, Bomi had just rolled Chorong onto her back. Darkness continued to cloud the edges of the room, though the dim light from the lamp still felt comfortable in her vision. She could feel the warmth of blankets and slight sweat and wetness on her shoulder.

She could feel before seeing that Bomi was awake and moving and near. Or nearer than she thought.

The weight pressed against her side told her Bomi was half curled up on top of her. Breaths hollowed out. Chorong gazed over to make out her form when it startled her. From the shapes in the dull darkness, she had been staring past Bomi's eyes all along.

They were murky distant eyes with a curve forming under them, maybe even a glint in the light. A startling crimson blotted the edges; what you would call blood-shotted.

Bomi shied away with a snivel, a curve forming under her small mouth. It was a grumpy pout.

"Ah, hey," Chorong said carefully, matching the movement by giving her a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been crying," Bomi said rather sadly, then cleared . "But I think I'm done. Did you sleep?"

"Just a little."

Chorong had answered without checking the time. She didn't need to when Bomi hadn't exactly answered her question. "Are you at least feeling better?"

"I've stopped crying, so that's something right?" Bomi let out a chuckle, teary face breaking out into a small smile in spite of herself. "Wow, you really fell asleep."

Chorong blinked.

It hit her that Bomi was trying to break out of whatever it was by chuckling at her. Somewhere it tingled light in her chest, but Chorong just gave her head a shake, rising to better wakefulness.

"If I knew you fall asleep faster when you hug something, we could've done this earlier."

Bomi was even teasing her. Chorong sighed, sitting up against the headboard and she tried not to let it bother her; how Bomi shifted away slightly to hug her own arms. But she could feel that the woman stayed looking at her, appearing smaller in her bed than Chorong's ever realised.

Chorong sensed the need to apologise to that grumpy pout. Why did Bomi look so... Not only small, but unhappy from what transpired. Oh god. Unhappy with her.

Because it was her fault. Chorong's fault. It all was.

It was Chorong's fault that Bomi had cried. And it's not like sleeping a little had made her forget that.

In fact, she only fell asleep because it had made her cry too.

But while Bomi most definitely cried for a legitimate thing, the onset of Chorong's tears had just felt sick and sorry for herself. The reminder made her swallow it down.

"I was supposed to be comforting you today," Bomi let out softly and suddenly, making Chorong snap back to her. "I don't know how it came to this. I'm sorry I ruined it."

"No! You didn't ruin anything..."

She avoided the frown that spread on Bomi's face.

Bomi missed home and she disagreed. She disagreed.

She didn't want Bomi to go home and Bomi's tears fought against that. The woman didn't even need to say the words. Chorong knew.

Chorong knew how uncomfortable it made them. But she also knew how uncomfortable it felt to herself, right down in her gut, because what she had said was the calm, ugly truth. Her truth. Straight-up. She was scared and it felt terrible.

Biting a hesitation, Chorong let herself peer into those eyes once more; red-rimmed with tired lids, but a part of her was awed how Bomi seemed to pick herself up with grace and beauty even after breaking down. She wondered if she should address what that was... Chorong's concern must have poured into the look, as a twitch came to Bomi's lips and she sheepishly averted Chorong's gaze. Worry overwhelmed Chorong suddenly and she started to stumble on her words.

"I uh... I mean, hey, if... Did you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Bomi said slowly, her voice scratching low, shuffling to lie down properly. Her head went back to leaning on her pillow and she bounced her hands a little in front of her. "Just feeling tired... Sleeping would be nice."

Chorong just pres