Vulnerable Heart

Chapter 17: What is Love

{Y.J}

The sound of the clock ticking by cut off the silence which lingered in the room. Yi Jeong was sitting on a large gray couch, in front of him his therapist sat in front of him. She was a woman around her early thirties, she wore a black women's suit, her hair was tied in a ponytail and she wore little to no makeup. Her glasses complemented her young looking heart face, and as she looked at Yi Jeong she would occasionally write down something on her notepad that rested on her lap, or asked Yi Jeong a question.

"So what did you do when you saw Ga Eul?" Emma questioned.

For a moment Yi Jeong thought back to the moment he had seen Ga Eul, shock and surprise where clearly written on her face; but it was the pain that flashed in her brown eyes that caused his heart to clench.

"Yi Jeong?" She asked once again. While at first, Yi Jeong had not been talkative, in fact, he'd spent the first session evading questions or answering using vague explanations if he was going to get better he realized he needed to put in some effort.

"I... I couldn't look at her. I know I hurt her, I've wronged her when all she did was care for me, so I walked away."

"What about your friends and school?"

"I'm working on it. My friends have forgiven me. But now the girls spend their time away from us, they seem to understand, Ga Eul-yang needs Jan Di and Jae Kyung at her side."

"At home? Your Aunt and Uncle? Your cousin Ariel?"

"It's still weird." Yi Jeong spoke smiling to himself.

"I'm still not accustomed to having people around me or having someone ask about my day or"
"Care." Yi Jeong concluded.

"It makes me think about the possibilities of the past. My Uncle is great, he feels like a father my aunt is eccentric but caring, and Ariel is Ariel" Yi Jeong spoke with a smile.

"She's kind, and she was understanding about Ga Eul and I. She's a good friend to both of us."

"It sounds like you have good friends. Great people surround you."

"What about your brother?"

"He won't return my calls."

"How does that make you feel?" Emma asked while quickly taking notes on her notepad.

"I understand him. I wouldn't want to talk to me either, I handled things all wrong and I hurt him, at the time I wanted to because I was angry at him too."

"Why?"

"He left me alone. I did not intend to hurt him the way I did. But he left me in that house with those two people and never looked back. When I met Eun Jae she was not with him, she used both of us but even after it all said and done I continued to entangle myself with that woman trying to payback what I thought I had a right to be angry about."

"And now?"

"I feel regret and sorry. I understand him more, he had to deal with them and take on me as a burden."

"Them? Your parents?"

"Yes." Yi Jeong answered.

"Have you spoken to either of your parents?" Emma questioned causing Yi Jeong to smile at her with irony.

"No."

"Why?"

"My father is never home, he's always working or out traveling, finding his next young conquest though it never lasts." Unconsciously Yi Jeong began to clench his hurt hand something Emma noted. She was aware of the circumstances in which Yi Jeong had acquired his injury as she was aware of his family details, but it was important that Yi Jeong talk all of it out.