Sometime after midnight, Wooyoung’s heavy eyes opened at the sound of muffled voices and he sat up straight in his bed and listened as they steadily escalated. Memories and a flood of familiar feelings hit him, as he suddenly recalled many nights of his childhood where he’d sat up in the same bed and listened to his parents argue.

From the way his father’s words dragged, Wooyoung could tell the man was drunk. Mrs. Jang kept shushing him and it only seemed to agitate him more as his voice got louder and louder. Wooyoung heard his name and then Jieun’s hissed from his mother’s lips and Mr. Jang bellowed out a mocking laugh.

Wooyoung shut his burning eyes and gritted his teeth together. He didn’t understand why his father had to be like this. Even before his alcoholism came about, Mr. Jang had never really been a friendly man. He was brusque and stubborn, raising his children with a strict iron fist. The alcohol had taken away the unyielding practicality that Wooyoung had hated so much as a child, replacing it with a meanness that bordered on cruel when the man really went past his limit. He knew Wooyoung was bringing Jieun home and he still drank anyway.

Mr. Jang’s voice rang out through the thin walls, declaring that he didn’t care if Wooyoung brought home a hundred overrated girl idols, it was his house and he had the right to drink if he wanted to.

Hot anger engulfed Wooyoung like fire on a struck match and he quickly snatched the cover off his body, ready to head downstairs. But the door to the adjoining bathroom he’d shared with his sister opened suddenly. Wooyoung made out Jieun’s tiny frame in the moonlight shining in his room and he literally felt sick to his stomach when he realized that she probably heard his father too. The whole damn neighborhood could probably hear his belligerent, alcoholic father.

“Jieunie…”

He could see her shake her head, before she came over to the bed to sit down next to him. There were a thousand apologies on his tongue and humiliation knotting in his throat and the only thing that could get out was a choking sound. Jieun shook her head again and reached down so she could lace their fingers together.

“You don’t owe me any apologies,” she whispered, already knowing what he had been trying to say.

“But you wanted…”

“Today was amazing and everything I could have ever wanted,” Jieun interrupted him. “Your mother was sweet to me. And I won’t let any of that be soured by what’s happening now.”

It was Wooyoung’s turn to shake his head and he tightened his grip on Jieun’s hand in frustration. “I just don’t understand. One night? He couldn’t go without it for one night?”

Jieun leaned over so she could rest her chin on Wooyoung’s bare shoulder. “Oppa, your dad is sick,” she murmured, her lips brushing against the skin of his neck as she spoke. “He can’t help himself. Please try not to be angry with him for something he can’t control.”

“How can I not be angry with him? He refuses to get help, Jieunie,” Wooyoung said, still frustrated. “I volunteered to pay for it and he cursed me out and told me he didn’t want my money. He won’t even acknowledge the fact that he has a problem.” The anger started flaring up again and Jieun placed a soothing kiss on Wooyoung’s jaw to quell it. “I wish she would just leave him.”

“When you still love someone, walking away from them, especially when they’re sick, isn’t the easiest thing to do. We take a lot from the people that we love the most.”

Wooyoung shifted so he could look at her and even with only the moon lighting the room, he could see concern shining in Jieun’s eyes. But there was also love there. Always love. He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on . “You know I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you like that, right?”

Jieun gave him a gentle smile. “I know you wouldn’t,” she said, squeezing his hand.

He kissed her again and she stayed with him until the voices downstairs died down. And even after that, she still stayed, not objecting when Wooyoung pulled her down so they could go back to sleep together. And she still stayed when he whispered against her ear how much he loved her and that he wanted to spend forever with her.