DISGRACE ──── ʰⁱᵉʳᵃʳᶜʰʸ ✔️

52 ─── ᵗʰᵉ ʰᵉᵃʳᵗ ʷᵃⁿᵗˢ ʷʰᵃᵗ ⁱᵗ ʷᵃⁿᵗˢ

ʰⁱᵉʳᵃʳᶜʰʸ
ʰⁱᵉʳᵃʳᶜʰʸ
ʰⁱᵉʳᵃʳᶜʰʸ

Mi-hee sat curled up on her bed, her knees pulled tightly to her chest. The glow of her phone screen lit up the dark room every few seconds, each ping pulling her heartstrings tighter. She didn’t have to look to know who it was. Rian. The one person she desperately wanted to run to, yet the one she felt she should stay farthest away from.

Her hands trembled as she wiped away tears that kept falling no matter how much she told herself to stop. The weight of the day—her father’s arrest, her confrontation with Hera, and now this flood of emotions—felt unbearable. She buried her face in her knees, trying to drown out the sound of her phone vibrating on the bedside table.

A knock at the door broke her spiral. She didn’t answer, hoping whoever it was would leave. But the door opened quietly, and Minjun stepped inside. He didn’t say anything at first, just sat down beside her on the bed, his presence steady and calm.

“Mi-hee,” he said softly, his voice a soothing contrast to the chaos in her mind. “What’s going on?”

She didn’t answer immediately, her throat thick with unshed sobs. But Minjun’s patience was infinite. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.

“I don’t know what to do, Minjun. It’s like… I’m stuck. I’ve tried so hard to be better, to fix things, to make things right. But now… I don’t even know who I’m doing it for anymore.” Her voice cracked, and fresh tears spilled over.

Minjun reached out, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You’ve been carrying so much, Mi-hee. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. But tell me—what is it that’s really troubling you?”

She hesitated, the words clawing at her throat. Finally, she admitted, “Rian keeps calling and texting. I keep ignoring him, but… I don’t know if I should. I’m scared, Minjun. Scared that if I let him in, it’ll hurt more. But scared that if I don’t, I’ll regret it forever.”

Minjun sighed, his gaze softening. “Mi-hee, people don’t always understand the depth of what you’re feeling until you tell them. You’ve been selfless, trying to put everyone else first, trying to fix everything for others. But sometimes, people need comfort too—comfort that only the right person can give them.”

Mi-hee looked at him, her eyes wide and searching. He continued, “You’ve spent so much time being a better person for everyone else. But what about you, Mi-hee? Just this once, when you’re hurting, you deserve to listen to your heart. Cut yourself some slack. If he’s the one you want, if he’s the person your heart keeps going back to, why are you punishing yourself for it?”

His words hit her like a wave, washing over her and breaking down the walls she had built to protect herself. Her chest ached with the weight of unspoken feelings.

Minjun leaned closer, his voice a gentle nudge. “Go to him, Mi-hee. Not because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’ll fix everything—but because you want to. You deserve to want something for yourself.”

She stared at him, her vision blurred with tears. His words hung in the air, heavy but liberating. For the first time in what felt like forever, she allowed herself to consider the possibility of doing something just for her own happiness.

ʰⁱᵉʳᵃʳᶜʰʸ
ʰⁱᵉʳᵃʳᶜʰʸ
ʰⁱᵉʳᵃʳᶜʰʸ