ELVEN | K.TH

31

RINEI

I wake to the warmth of soft sunlight.

Cool sheets wrap around my legs. And a lean, strong pair of arms are wrapped around my waist, clothed with linen.

Taehyung.

I let out a quiet breath. He's asleep, lashed eyes closed and chest falling evenly. And my eyes lift, to the familiar, wooden ceiling.

This is...the small cottage.

The place he'd brought me a long time ago, after I'd heard Jungkook arguing with mothe—

I stop thinking.

But it's too late, for that. Waves of pain squeeze my chest, as my thoughts return to my parents. My trembling hands squeeze by my sides.

I'd tried not to think about them. Because remembering made everything worse. I'd tried to imagine that they were still—

"Rinei?"

My head jerks up.

Dark eyes stare into mine. And his gaze roams across my pale face, his fingertips grazing the line of my jaw. His voice is quiet.

"Is everything fine?"

I nod, mind cloudy.

"Don't lie."

Tears glaze my eyes at his hushed words. His gaze wanders again, before fixing on the tears glistening in the corners of my eyes.

"You have the same expression— as before." He whispers, pressing his thumb to the underside of my right eye. I blink, face scrunching as he wipes away my tears.

"When your father was sick. When I watched you, from afar. I couldn't comfort you because I couldn't understand your pain."

He doesn't know, does he?

Then it was better to keep it from him.

Nothing, I sign. My gaze downturns.

It's fine. Everything's okay.

"No, it isn't. Is it your parents? Do you miss them?" He whispers, pressing a kiss against my cheek. "I can take you to them. If it makes you happy. I—"

Tae, no.

He turns silent at my breathless signs.

And he'd always been so quick to catch on. So quick, that he'd catch things that I wasn't even aware of yet.

Realization darkens his eyes.

"They are gone?"

I nod slightly, hands fisting together.

I try to hold it in. I try so, so hard, but the moment he pulls me into his chest I break. I break so easily, like glass.

Sobs shake my figure.

I miss them. I miss them so much.