in the quiet sanctuary of a small-town church, two souls from different worlds collide. yunjin, a gay girl with a vibrant spirit, finds herself navigating the rigid expectations of her conservative family. each sunday, she seeks solace in the church...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter twenty two ʚ ✮ ɞ
chaewon led her to the couch, gently pushing her to sit down. "i'll get you some water, okay?" she said softly, her hand lingering on yunjin's shoulder for a moment before she walked towards the kitchen.
yunjin sat there, staring at the room around her, still trying her hardest to process everything that happened. she had escaped. she was safe. but her body still felt like it was on edge, like at any moment her father might walk through that door, angry and unpredictable. she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to calm her racing heartbeat down.
chaewon returned a moment later, handing yunjin a smaller glass of water and sat gently beside her—she didn't say anything at first, she just merely sat close but not too close to scare her.
after a while, chaewon broke the silence. "you don't have to go back there. not if you don't want to."
yunjin looked down at the glass in her hand, her fingers lightly trembling against the glass. the thought of never going back, of finally breaking free from the trauma that has been built into her skin piece by piece—it seemed unreal, like it was a concept that wasn't meant for her.
"i don't think i have a choice, chae," yunjin muttered, refusing to look up at chaewon's face—because she could feel the anger bubbling, the confusion, the fear.
"what do you mean? you—you can't go back yunjin, he's never going to stop." chaewon was quick to say something, "you can't. he's going to keep hurting you—and-and it'll get to the point where he's going to hurt you so bad that..." she drew quiet, the tears setting on her bottom lash.
"he's gonna kill you yunjin."
her voice was quiet. vulnerable. on the brink of breaking down at any given point—all because yunjin thought she deserved the pain she was getting. yunjin bit down on her lip, the faint metallic taste flourishing over her tastebuds.
"i don't know what to do," she mumbled, her voice barely rising. chaewon shifted closer, and wrapped her arms around yunjin's shoulder—slightly pulling her in gently. "you don't have to have it all figured out tonight, but you don't have to do this alone you know? i'm here."
yunjin let her body lean into chaewon's embrace, letting her warmth was all over her—she was cold, so cold. she doesn't remember the last time she genuinely felt warmth. they sat there in silence for a long time, yunjin's head resting on chaewon's shoulder, her breathing finally slowing down as the exhaustion from the night settled in. for the first time in weeks, yunjin felt just a smaller glimmer of peace, a small steady yet hopeful feeling.
and for the first time, in a long long time—she allowed herself to believe that she deserved it.
they stayed like that for what felt like forever—yunjin tucked into chaewon's side, the warmth of her embrace soothing those cracked edges that she tried to hard to hide. the soft hum of the waves outside were distant, almost muted, but inside the familiar rhythm of their breathing was quiet. it was a kind of silence where yunjin felt like she could just exist without pretending, without explaining. however as the minutes passed; she knew she couldn't avoid the inevitable questions that were lingering in chaewon's mind.
