The atmosphere inside Lu Han’s vehicle was a strange and unfamiliar one. Though the two people inside both weren’t great conversationalists, they hadn’t ever been as awkward and silent like this before. This began when Lu Han picked Jieun up from her home, telling her nothing else except: “there’s some place we have to go”. She tried to ask where that place was, but all she received as a response was “you’ll see” or “we’ll find out soon”.      After approximately an hour of driving, the car slowly came to a stop as the Chinese male parked in a wide, nearly empty lot. “This is it,” he quietly murmured as they stepped out. Walking towards the building, he added, “This is where my mother lives.”      Jieun merely nodded, biting down on her lower lip as she realized that the two were at a columbarium. As she followed Lu Han, many thoughts crowded her mind. She had suspected fragmentation in the Lu household from the moment she had stepped foot in their house. This event just turned her suspicions to confirmations. Jieun wanted to ask about the details about his family, but she refrained from doing so; she assumed that bringing her here in the first place meant Lu Han was willing to talk.      Soon enough, Lu Han and Jieun were standing in front of a glossy window panel. Beyond the transparent wall were several things: while there was the urn containing the dead’s remains, there were also photos. A couple contained only a brightly smiling, young woman. The rest had an additional figure, either a baby or a toddler.      “She’s your mother,” Jieun stated matter-of-factly. “And that’s you in the photos with her.”      He smiled lightly. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” With a frown replacing his smile, he then whispered, “She was just my age when she passed away. Twenty six was a bit too early, huh?”      Jieun wasn’t sure of what she should tell him. She contemplated whether or not she should say that she felt sorry, but couldn’t bring herself to say a word. Instead, she kept her eyes focused on the tip of her shoes.      Not knowing this, Lu Han grinned widely and pulled her closer to him by the waist. “Hey mom,” he said, facing the woman’s photo. “Meet Jieun. Sorry to say this, but she’s prettier than you—just by a little bit.” A quick moment of silence passed before he faced her. “She says hi.”      Blinking, she stuttered, “Oh, uh, h-hello…”      “I’m going to get married, mom. With Jieun. You’re happy for me, right?” He then held his fiancée by the hand tightly and intertwined his fingers with hers. “I love her, and I just know that she’s the one for me. She makes me feel like I have everything. No, she is everything.” Lu Han sighed. “Mom, Jieun’s the one that filled the void you left in my heart. She’s the only person I can trust and rely on. She’s like comfort itself to me.”      Jieun smiled bitterly. ‘You shouldn’t trust or rely on me. I shouldn’t be comfort but a threat…’ The small piece of guilt that resided in her heart had grown in the last two years. She began to hate every moment she spent with Lu Han—just as much as she enjoyed it.      While she was lost in her own thoughts, Lu Han had already finished what he wanted to say to his late mother. He bowed before turning towards the other. “Let’s go, Jieun. You must be hungry.”      “I’m fine,” she replied hoarsely. “I’m tired, though. Can we go sit somewhere else?” That wasn’t true—she wasn’t tired in the slightest. Lee Jieun just wanted to get away. She felt as if the gaze of Lu Han’s mother was piercing through her façade and through her lies.      But of course, Lu Han was oblivious. “Sure thing,” he said, grinning brightly at her. He tugged at the hand he hadn’t let go of, leading her out of the building and back into the car. Instead of starting the engines, however, he leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes. After a long silence, he finally opened his mouth. “My mom was nineteen when she met my father. She was young. Reckless, too. They say the two fell in love. But I say that it was one-sided.” He chuckled. “On my mom’s part, that is.”      “You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t feel comfortable with it,” Lee Jieun suddenly blurted out. “Don’t force yourself to—”      “No, I want to.” The response was firm and decisive. “I want to tell you everything. I don’t want to keep anything from you.” He held her delicately by the hand. “When my mom found out that she was pregnant with me, she was overjoyed. She thought that she finally had the family she had been longing for. For a while, my father was, too. Until his parents—my grandparents—found out. They were furious. As soon as I was born, they tried to take me away from her.”      “Lu Han…”      “But she escaped. She ran away with me. Of course, she was really hurt in the process. The love of her life that she had trusted so much turned out to be a weak coward. And ten years later…” He took a deep breath. “She died. She passed away. The brakes of her vehicle were broken; she sped her way into the opposite lane. I heard that the car flipped over twice—with me in it.” Unknowingly, the male’s grasp onto the other’s tightened. His lips trembled as he shut his eyes closed in an effort to wipe out the recurring memories in his head. “That’s practically how I ended up like this today: a retard and a freak. Surgeries fixed my broken bones and torn skin, but no damn doctor in the world could free me from my nightmares.”      Hearing him, Jieun brought Lu Han’s hand to her lips and gently placed her lips on it. As he sat, frozen in surprise, she shifted her body to place those same lips on his two cheeks, his nose, and finally his forehead. “You’re one of the soundest people I’ve ever met, and I’d dare to say that half the people on this planet are freaks.” With a squeeze on his right arm, she then added, “I’m sorry that I can’t free you from your nightmares. But I’d like to divide and share them to my best extent.”      Tears and a cheeky grin made their way to Lu Han’s white f