"Today, my forest is dark. The trees are sad and all the butterflies have broken wings."
- unknown
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The boy did not care about the words her mother said about him. He was used to people who abused him mentally, and physically. Instead, he cared about Sumi at that moment seeing how much the girl was going through. Listening to the conversation with her mother, Donghyuck's heart squeezed mercilessly, feeling the pain inside. Neither of his parents had ever spoken to him like that, and having lived with his grandmother for years, even she had never acted in such a negative way.
He pushed open the door to Sumi's room, which was ajar, and saw Sumi crying by the bed. The girl wrapped herself in a cocoon, hugging her knees while hiding her face completely from the world.
Donghyuck closed the door, walking over to sit next to her shrunken figure. The sounds of her sobs broke his heart, and made him stroke her head, unable to contain all the emotions inside him.
"Sumi, look at me." He whispered, wanting to see her crying face.
Seeing her lack of reaction, Donghyuck changed his position, so that their legs were touching, and gently cupped her face in his hands. As the swollen, sad eyes from the crying came into view through her glasses, his heart clenched. At this moment, tears pooled in his eyes as well.
He decided to take her glasses off her face as carefully as he could. Also wiping her lenses, he placed her glasses on the bed above her afterwards. The tears continued to fall, but Sumi still looked into Donghyuck's eyes with her blank ones.
Tilting his head to the side, the boy began to wipe her tear-stained cheeks with the back of his palm.
"I am sorry..." She whispered, her voice still breaking.
"It is not your fault, Mi." Donghyuck said quietly.
"If I had known Dohee was here..."
"Heyㅡnothing happened. I am not mad, or anything. The only person I care about right now is you." He whispered, then moved back a little to open his arms wide.
Understanding the message, Sumi crawled up to him as he placed her in his tight hold. For a while, she clutched his shirt in her fists, but after a momentㅡ feeling completely safe in his arms, she let go. Instead, she felt like resting her head on his shoulder, still sniffing.
For a good few minutes, Donghyuck listened to the sounds of her deep breathing, and slow heartbeat, which began to be his favorite melodies.
"I have to smoke." Sumi announced quietly, breaking away from the boy's body. She got up from the ground, took her glasses from the bed, placing them back on her nose, and took a pack of cigarettes from the drawer. Donghyuck also got up from the ground, walking over to stand by her side.
