The Glory ( Freen❣️Becky)

8 🔞( I Love you )

"Oh, my," Tee said as she fanned herself. "Is it hot in here?"

Freen laughed. "You wanted to know."

"As I said earlier, this is the best first-time story I've ever heard."

"What would have happened had you gotten
caught?" Nam asked.

Freen's smile faded. "Her mother would have killed me."

"What about your mother?"

Freen's smile returned. "My mother would have killed me." She nodded at Teewho silently asked if she wanted more coffee.

"I think it's romantic," Tee said.

"Romantic? Raging hormones at sixteen? I don't know how romantic it was," Freen said. "Neither of us knew what we were doing."

"You apparently learned quickly," Nam said with a laugh. "I suppose this was before you could just Google anything you wanted to know."

"Twenty years ago? Yeah. We were on our own."

"But Nop was still in the picture. How did you reconcile that?"

"It was what it was. Nop was always in the picture. I knew my place. Despite what I may have wanted for us, I knew it could never be."

"What do you think she wanted for the two of you?"

Freen looked at Nam thoughtfully. "I thought

you said you weren't going to put me on your couch, Dr. Kang."

Nam smiled. "Sorry. I just find your story very intriguing. I'm surprised you were able to handle it as well as you did at that age."

"Like I said, I knew what my role was in her life. Yes, I was in love with her. Madly. She was in love with me too. But that was as far as it could go. We had no future. Hers was already planned out. We had stolen moments, that's all."

"That's so sad," Tee said.

"Yes. It was difficult. I tried not to think about her dates with Nop and what she was doing. I no longer asked. I didn't want to know."

"So who did she lose her virginity to? You or Nop?"

Freen remembered that night well. It was one of those special memories she would carry with her always. "Me. It was a Saturday. I was seventeen."

***

It was a rare occasion that they had the mansion to themselves. Well, except for Hyun, but he would never come up to Becky's room. Her mother was at a baby shower, and the Armstrong had left early that morning for an overnight trip to Chicago.

She and Becky hadn't had much alone time in the last two weeks, and she missed their closeness. She was looking forward to spending the day with her. When she knocked on her door all she heard was a mumbled "come in" from the other side.

"Becky?"

"In here."

She headed to the bedroom, surprised to find her curled on the bed, a tissue clutched in her hand. Freen stopped in her tracks, seeing tears in Becky's eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Becky rolled onto her back and patted the space beside her. Freen sat down, her eyes searching Becky's for a clue to explain the tears.

"I went out with Nop last night."

Freen nodded. "I know."

"He wants to have sex."

Freen looked away, knowing this day would come. She had a difficult time swallowing as her throat was choked with jealousy. "I'm surprised he's waited this long," she said honestly.