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"so what are we going to do?" yeosang questioned, playing with the ends of her hair as they sat on the sofa together. yeosang's parents had gone to bed early and the two were left downstairs alone watching movies together. maira was in a pair of yeosang's sweats which hung loosely on her along with one of his sweaters. she was tucked comfortably under his arm and her head against his chest as they watched a random movie on netflix.
"i don't know." she admitted, a sigh escaping her lips as she looked up at him. "he's still my dad." she added, knowing that that should be the last thing on her mind right now. yeosang's hand came to a sudden halt as he looked down at the girl.
"maira―"
"i know, i know," she cut him off before he could continue. "i know that after everything he's done to me, that i shouldn't care about what happens to him..." she trailed off, biting down on her tongue as she hated herself for being so weak. sitting upright maira sighed, unable to meet yeosang's gaze.
"it's okay." he assured, knowing that she was struggling internally to come to terms with the situation. "you're someone's child. it's normal to feel this way." he validated her feelings, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she kept her gaze low and away from his.
"it's just not fair." she pursed her lips, doing her best to hold back her tears. "i don't get what i did wrong."
"maira..." yeosang trailed off, unable to think of the right words to say. it tore him to pieces to see her this way when he had no idea how to help. truthfully, he still didn't even know the full story of who that man was and how her father was involved in it all, but he wasn't going to start prying until she was ready to tell him first. "you haven't done anything wrong." he reassured her.
there was a moment of silence between them as yeosang watched the love his life helplessly, unable to figure out what she's even thinking about. maira suddenly sighed, lifting her gaze to meet his before a small smile made its way onto her face. "i can't keep you in the dark forever." she pointed out, taking yeosang by surprise. he was quick to shake his head.
"it's okay, you don't have to―"
"yeosang," she sternly cut him off. "we're getting married," she reminded him even though the words felt foreign to her mouth. "this is something you'll find about me either way." she reminded the boy. yeosang pursed his lips, nodding his head as he listened to her.
the next half an hour or so was spent with maira telling him her story. she struggled to meet his gaze as she spoke, being reminded of the terrible memories making her feel sick to her stomach. even yeosang was struggling to hold himself down, he just wanted to storm out and track down the asshole who did that to her and make sure he never sees daylight again. he was glad he had at least landed a few good punches on him earlier.
"both your parents did that to you?" he questioned, disbelief clear in his voice. maira slowly nodded her head, wondering how he was going to react. "seriously," he scoffed in disbelief, shaking his head. "you can't go back there, maira." he suddenly declared, taking her hand in his. "just move in here, we're already getting married. or even better, i'll buy us a place, somewhere far away from him." he continued taking the girl by surprise.
"you're not.... you know," maira seemed to be struggling to get the words out, but yeosang understood immediately.
"maira, i love you." he suddenly confessed, the girl's heart skipping a beat as she looked into his eyes. "what happened was not your fault and doesn't change you at all." he continued. "i love you and will always love you for just the way you are."
maira really did her best to hold back her tears, but the sincerity in yeosang's gaze broke her down. the boy smiled, pulling her into his hold as he allowed her to cry into his chest. "i thought you would hate to touch me." she suddenly confessed. "i was scared of how i could ever tell the person i would marry that something like that happened to me."
"it's okay." he rubbed her back soothingly, blinking back his own tears. "i'm sorry you had to go through all of this alone."
a comfortable silence blanketed the both of them as maira felt her inner child healing, finally being able to open up about the trauma of her teen years to someone. she didn't think a day would come where someone would be open to listen and she never thought that it would be yeosang of all people.
"i hope you know that i'm definitely not letting your father get away with this by the way." he added in. maira sniffled, nodding her head in agreement. she knew that no matter what her father had done for her, it was all for nothing in the end. it had always been that way for her. "does anyone else know?" he questioned as maira slowly pulled away.
"just hongjoong, but he doesn't know the full story." she confessed. yeosang nodded, reaching over and wiping away the tear stains on her cheeks. giving her a reassuring smile, yeosang pressed his lips against her forehead.
"i promise you, i'll stand by you every step of the way."
