Dead End | Jun-ho

16 | Talk to Me

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The man looked through the cupboards in the kitchen, rummaging around for some substantial food. His back was turned, Aera watching him struggle to find something decent.

"I don't have much of a gourmet selection so the best I can do is some pasta." he bent down, further looking into more cupboards,
"I've probably got some sauce around somewhere as well." his voice was muffled as shoved pots and pans out of the way.

The girl half smiled, admiring his generosity in wanting to help her. "I'm not fussy anyways." She didn't really care what the man was going to cook for her, her stomach was longing for any sort of food after such a long time - as long as it wasn't tomato soup.

Placing the ingredients onto the countertop, he poured some water into a pan. He turned one of the knobs on the oven, which made a satisfying clicking noise.

Waiting for the water to heat up, the man slowly turned around, his hands reaching to grip the bar attached to the oven. His right index finger tapped onto it a few times as he looked directly at her. "How can you go so long without eating?" he didn't hesitate. J wanted to see if she'd answer, despite the blunt question.

Aera felt like she'd just been ran over by a car, corrupting all of content emotions, leaving her feeling like it would never be the same again. Like a car would, it left a large dent. Nobody had ever asked her that. She'd prayed and prayed that she would never have to answer it.

Suddenly the inside of her cheeks were being ripped apart by her own teeth and her fingers being picked at with small cuts starting to form all over them. Her gaze abruptly turned downcast, looking down at the marble island in front of her. "I'm fine now." she rushed out, wanting the conversation to be over already. Aera bit her lip and shook her head violently, hoping he would get the hint.

"Fine from what?" He questioned, clearly noticing but not wanting to address her current state. J crossed his arms, thinking.

She looked at him before quickly shutting her eyes, "I don't want to talk about it." Aera moved her head to the side, no longer wanting her eyes to be in possible contact with his.

She couldn't see him, but he just simply nodded and turned around to pour the pasta in the boiling pan.

Aera slowly opened her eyes whilst simultaneously turning her head. She quickly realised that he wasn't looking anymore and let out a massive sigh of relief.

He started stirring the small pieces of pasta around the pan. "How about a compromise?"

She stayed silent, staring at the few wrinkles of his red jumpsuit. Aera all of a sudden wanted to flatten the very little that were there; distraction, again.

"You tell me... and I'll tell you my real name." the man suggested, bringing his stirring to a holt like he was waiting for an answer before returning.

Aera averted her eyes and internally scoffed, "I don't do bribery." She didn't want to be rude to him yet again, but it was a very sensitive topic for her.

"Darling," J placed the spoon on the counter and turned around to look at her once again. "it's not a bribe." The name hit her like a bullet, she was never going to get used to that.

"I care about you and I'd just like to know, that's all." his lips lightly curved up in the corners.

A couple of days ago - the day they met - she would have laughed in his face. But, the whole time she'd been blinded by pure confusion and wanting so badly for her questions to be answered, that she'd forgotten most likely the main reason he did it. Aera would never know whether he was telling the truth or not, but she believed him. He did care about her. Why her? She still didn't know. But he cared. He had to if he'd gone this far to protect her.

"It sounds to me that you don't talk about it much. Maybe it's time to finally let it go?" he knew exactly what it was, but he also knew that she desperately needed closure.

A single tear dropped from her left eye, the salty substance landing on her cheek, slowly beginning to fall down further and further. Aera hated that she'd cried so much, especially in front of him. She didn't think she could cry this much. It was rare the girl did, but now that had all changed. The girl felt more vulnerable than ever before. She was going to regret this, "I used to starve myself all the time."

He was fully present the moment she started speaking, not that he wasn't before, because he'd always listen to her. His mind wrapped around the whole moment, making sure that all of his attention was on her. The man gave her a small nod as an indication for her to keep talking.

Aera closed her eyes for a brief moment, feeling her eyes become heavier. "I-" she paused, thinking if this was the right thing to be doing. Her breathing became louder as she could no longer speak. She couldn't believe she'd told him what she already had. He was a complete stranger and she'd told him so easily.

J glanced behind him, quickly checking the pasta wasn't going to boil over. He walked over to the opposite end of the island, placing one elbow on it. With his other hand, it found hers, trying to give her some comfort in the heavy situation. "It's okay. I'm here." he rubbed his thumb up and down her palm.

She took in a breath, "I gained," another, "an eating disorder from it." Her eyes widened at her own words, her hand twitching from his touch.

"You're doing so well." J whispered, coming closer to her ear.

Aera has gotten the worst part over. It felt like a giant weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. A little voice in the back of her head was telling her she shouldn't have told him, of all people. But she was fighting back with it to get it to go away.

"My parents, being the lovely people they are, decided they no longer wanted such a disappointment of a child, and so they kicked me out."

His hand still hadn't detached from hers, he kept making soft movements, trying his best to understand what she'd been through.

"I moved in with my best friend and she helped me through it." she smiled to herself, wiping a tear away with her other hand and reminisced with those moments, "I don't think I ever got to express how much appreciation I had for her doing that. She was the only person I could actually rely on."

He was smiling, so widely, underneath his mask. Like usual, J thought she would have put up a fight and would have never told him what she just did. She was finally starting to trust him, and that's all he wanted.

"Jun-ho."

She'd been so brave and he couldn't let her wait any longer. He'd kept his promise.

Aera quickly looked up at him, stopping herself from fiddling with her fingers. "What?"

"That's my name, Aera. I told you I'd tell you."

The girl paused momentarily, her eyes twinkling with hope as he'd finally told her something.

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