Through Her Eyes ✔

58. MEMORIES

"No... I like it like this." She whispers as she adjusts herself and hugs him a bit tighter.

There is definitely something wrong. His mind moans with so much worry. She behaves unusually, or it's just a new side to her that he didn't see yet. She is clingy tonight. The way she hugs him feels like a non-verbal plea to him. A plea of something he wants to know.

"Headache?" He inquires. His voice worried over the revelation that she has been feeling the adverse effects of the withdrawal on suppressants. The eldest had supplied the facts to them. He knows that there are possibilities for it, but since they could not see it to her, he thought she does not feel it at all. They were just so complacent. Yoongi somehow had suspected about it, pointing out the times that she would space out and excuse herself from them for a needed nap. It seems that their soulmate is so good at hiding it from them even from Yoongi with his soul hear or Jin with his soul feel or they just failed to notice her. They really need to be more mindful.

He is more baffled with how she meekly shakes her head. He swears he hears her sniffing.

He holds her by her shoulders and pushes her a little. He then gingerly cups her cheeks, peering through her down casted-eyes. Now that he can see her much clearer, he can't mistake the moist and redness of her eyes. She seemed to have cried or something.

"Baby... Tell me what's wrong?" His voice is soothing.

She bits her lips and nods. "I was in a pantry." She starts.

"Yoongi hyung told me." Jin was so sad to reiterates it himself. The eldest still blames himself for what happened. Jin might have covered his distress on it through jokes but everyone can definitely tell how he feels about it. After all, nothing can be hidden among the seven of them.

"No..." She begins to fiddle on his hair at the back of his head. "I was ten. The house was so old. It was scary."

His brows furrow in confusion. 'What does she mean by it?'

"A dream." She clarifies.

"You were having a dream." He nods, finally understanding her meaning. He cups his cheeks once again, caressing her puffed cheeks.

"Actually, it's more like a memory."

"Memory?... Do you want to talk about it?" He kindly asks. His heart aches with the assumption of the memory as part of her trauma. He wants her to talk it out. He wants her to confide on him more. He wants to know yet he doesn't want to reawaken the hurt and wounds of her past.

Her lips open and closes again. Her cherry lips has been swollen from her nervous biting. "You see... papa was not always like that. He was just drunk." She mumbles.

"Why? What did he do? Why were you in the scary pantry?" He feels he knows, yet he still asks.

"It was my birthday. I thought he was not there. I thought he was here... in Korea for a business trip. I thought it was okay to celebrate it. I had a cake and the maids brought some of their children for the occasion..."

**********

"Come on play the piano!" One of the children encouraged. And with grateful heart she happily sat on the piano and played a slow and beautiful rendition of happy birthday.

Her heart burst with so much glee. She could see the admiration from the children younger than her. The sparkle in their eyes are addicting. How wonderful if she always sees such joy.

**********

"We sang. We laughed. We were happy. It was a great day. But... "