𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮 & 𝐌𝐞 || 𝐒𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

Smile, Aera (1/3) || 17

⚠️ W A R N I N G ⚠️

this series of three chapters will mention:-

!! sexual assault !!
!! child abuse !!
!! suicidal tendancies !!
!! ignorant parents !!
!! psychotherapy !!
!! panic attacks !!
!! post traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) !!
!! depression !!
!! anxeity !!
!! sexism !!

__

"let's go aera,"  eunmi smiles at the daughter, fixing the collar of her coat and takes her hand, happy about something that aera couldn't understand. her eyes then travel to her father who's on his phone as usual, only putting it down when eunmi nags him about it.

very normal sight that makes aera sigh softly, confirming that it's nothing special happening in the family. stuffing her hands in the front pockets of her long beige coat to protect herself from the cold environment outside, she follows her parents quietly, forcing herself to stay calm and it's just a rare outing at an even weirder time of the day in chilly mid-january.

as they make it out of the house, just to front lane, a heat wave makes her body shiver slightly, pulling her beanie down and hair a little ahead to reassure herself that she's not showing much of her face. the sweaty palms then hide back in their safe place: inside the pockets, and as she steps in the backseat of the car without wasting a second, away from the eyes of the otherwise deserted snowy street.

heaving out a sigh, she glances at her mother who's fixing her hair again using the mirror, getting a hiss from jaehyun. though he never says anything and just keeps his focus on driving. passing the streets that felt little familiar and more strange to aera, she still managed to notice the change in route their car took, making her frown and snap her head forward.

"where are we going?"

"relax honey, just to your uncle's place. after that we'll go for the appointment," eunmi smiles as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

aera nods slowly, feeling her throat tightening with the dryness and a familiar lump burning inside, even preventing her from speaking. the parents keep chatting occasionally to which aera feels deaf, what rings in her ears instead is her own voice, her own desperate breathings.

time flies in a blink and they're already in front of that big, luxurious mansion where her father's brother lives with his family that includes his second wife,— the first died due to a heart condition— his almost married son, and his daughter from his second marriage, who is still just ten years old. what aera hates the most about this place is the tremendous amount of empty space it has and the thick walls.

"what's with that face aera? smile," eunmi sighs, patting her back and aera snaps back to reality, realising that she's been staring at the door blankly for a while now.

she pulls up a smile, tugging a strand of hair behind her ear and gulps, flinching as the door is opened by a maid, letting them in to be welcomed by the man of the house himself. jeon jaemin, jaehyun's elder brother. his lips stretch into a warm smile for the guests, quickly stepping forward to hug jaehyun, eunmi and then aera too. patting her back when he pulls away and leans closer to kiss her forehead like always.

"ah you guys it's been so long," he says, glancing at jaehyun and eunmi as he gestures his hand for them to have a seat, while leading aera to the couch himself, his hand rested on her back like it owned the place. "how are you? especially our riri, you've grown up huh? does seoul feel the same as america?"

"no," aera mumbles, shifting away from him as her eyes search for her mother, but she just smiles at her, completely ignoring her restless face.

it broke aera's heart at times, seeing her acting like everything is okay all the damn time without a break, which often made aera question her own sanity, asking herself if maybe she was just being too paranoid. but eunmi or even jaehyun never compromised with their smiles and the frank enthusiastic shimmers in their eyes whenever they had to come here, making it hard for aera too say anything against that happy look of ignorance.