He's Home. | ss

Episode 10

"min-ssi, are you still awake?" 

just like the robot he is, instead of getting startled or getting frightened that jeshua's husky and deep voice suddenly can be heard all over seokmin's quite and solemn room where he stays at night to sleep, seokmin turned his body around to where his door was and there.. he saw jeshua was standing beside the hedges of the door, with eyes a bit puffy probably was already sleepy, wearing her paired pink bunny pajamas along with her bunny stuff toy that she always have whenever she's going to sleep at night. hairs disheveled and was pouting while staring at seokmin waiting for the maid to response. 

seokmin smiled. "yes baby, why? you can't sleep?" and his smile faded when jeshua nodded as she rubbed her left eye using her left hand, as seokmin's lips turned into pout one. "did you have it again? did they came?" 

and without any second thought, jeshua nodded, making seokmin's heart shattered. "yes, min-ssi, they're inside my room again. i can't sleep." 

umayos nang upo si seokmin, "come here baby, ill help you sleep." then he spread his both arms, wide enough to signal jeshua that he can come to him. 

the kid never doubted seokmin's words as she went inside the maid's room but before that, she shuts the door yet she didn't lock it since hindi nya abot yung lock-an nang pinto and seokmin didn't mind whether his room was locked or not, wala naman syang tinatago sa pamilya na to. when jeshua finally came closer to where seokmin was, she threw her body to him like as if she could rely her life to seokmin, as the older made sure jeshua was in a comfortable position before she starts helping her fall asleep. 

he laid her on the very soft side of his bed so jeshua could feel comfy then seokmin positioned himself with how he always does when he's tucking the kid to bed. jeshua was hugging her bunny stuff toy on her right side, eyes was shutting on its own probably was really sleepy already but has to fight it because she could feel some strange things.. and when she say strange things that often came inside her room to make her hard to fall asleep, which means it was them, her trauma. her trauma due to the past tragedies that happened within her own parents. 

she witness all of it, as being daddy's girl, the way joshua suffered it, jeshua suffered it too. it affects her too much since she was a kid, she doesn't know how to handle it on her own so even if joshua was finally recovering and was finally on his healing stage, but jeshua stayed there.. it stayed with her. 

joshua informed seokmin that enough. the medications. the things he needs to do whenever it was night, the things he have to know just to take care of jeshua when night comes. everything. and even in the daylight.. mostly in the kitchen, seokmin are prohibited to let jeshua alone in the kitchen.. because that area of their house holds a lot of tragedies to jeshua. because that's where the kid saw everything. the fights. the throwing of plates and other utensils. the shouts, and all. including what madison did behind her own family's back. she witnessed everything despite of her young age. 

"i remember tears streaming down your face when i said i'll never let you go," seokmin's heart almost shattered into tiny pieces when he witness how jeshua opened her eyes again even though she's really sleepy, as she smiled. the kid smiled at him, it was sweet yet seokmin could feel it was painful. "when all those shadows almost killed your light. i remember you said, dont leave me here alone. but all that's dead and gone and past, tonight."