Haejin's room.
He lay on his bed. Staring at the ceiling.
Jiwon's words replaying on loop.
'Every time we fucked. Every time he came inside me. Every time he whispered that he loved me.'
He wanted to vomit.
Wanted to scream.
Wanted to disappear.
But he did none of those things.
Just lay there.
Numb.
His phone buzzed. He ignored it.
Buzzed again.
Again.
Finally he looked.
Messages from the members. From Manager Park. From Soorin.
All asking if he was okay.
He wasn't okay.
Would never be okay.
But he couldn't say that.
Couldn't admit that Jiwon's words had shattered something fundamental inside him.
That learning the details of his father's relationship with her had broken him in ways he couldn't articulate.
That he felt dirty. Tainted. Like Sejin's sins had transferred to him through blood alone.
He set his phone aside. Closed his eyes.
And suddenly he understood.
His mother's coldness. Her hatred of that name. Her desperate warnings.
