silhouette | jhs ✓

32. Revisits of the Past

She turned over to the living room seeing the coffee table was free of the leftover wrappers she had previously left, the couch was organized, with pillows on each cushion.

Seren was already embarrassed enough by her bedraggled home, somehow, this made it worse.

She ran her fingers through her damp hair, biting her tongue to keep herself from humiliated tears.

Hoseok shut the water off, reaching over the counter for paper towels to dry off his wet hands.

"See? All clean." He chimed, tossing the used paper towels into the empty trash can.

"God, this is so embarrassing." Was all she was able to say, dropping her head into her hands.

Hoseok's smile plunged, placing his hands over her shoulders. "Seren, don't be embarrassed. You were stressed out, I completely understand that you just let these things pile up because you weren't in the right mental state." He tried prying her hands away from her face, wanting to look into her eyes as he consoled her.

She shook her head, wiping tears away with her palms. "No. I mean, yeah I let everything pile up because I was stressed. But, I'm just too scared to go outside by myself sometimes. I feel like, one day, he'll just be there waiting for me."

"It's already hard for me to get to work, I literally run to my car." She uttered, cringing at her feeble efforts. "I mean, you should see me getting home, I look like a fuckin' lunatic, looking in all directions trying to get into my house."

"You're not a lunatic. You're just being cautious, and it's only right, you're getting home at such a late hour." His voice was gentle, grabbing onto her hands. "Honestly, I would want you to just quit your job. It's too dangerous for you to be getting out so late, especially when you have someone stalking you."

She laughed, not out of humor, though. "No. I can't afford to just not work."

"I mean find another job. One with safer hours, and maybe a safer environment?" He suggested. "If not, I want you to come stay with me."

She immediately disagreed, disdain reaching her expression. "It's not that I don't want to, Hoseok. I just can't force myself into your life like that, I can't come live with you, I'll feel like a burden."

"You are not a burden." He instantly retorted, placing his hand on her cheek. "What about staying with family? How do you feel about staying with your parents?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's already a long story to try and explain."

"I have time to listen." Hoseok assured. "Come, let's go sit on the couch."

Again, she followed his instructions, allowing him to guide her to the sofa.

A sigh left her lips when her bottom hit the couch, readjusting herself to face Hoseok while she told him all about her life as a child with her parents.

"I know I told you that I don't talk to my parents as much, but I didn't tell you exactly why I don't." Seren began, watching Hoseok grab her hand for comfort. "I'll try to make this long story short. But, when I was younger, I was always treated like the odd one out. I was invalidated often and was barely even focused on. I was compared to Jimin so much, my mom used to tell me how Jimin was better behaved and how he was only six years younger than me."

"I just never felt valued as a daughter should in a family." Seren denoted, keeping her eyes low. "Since I already felt disregarded, I started doing things a teen shouldn't have. Tattoo at eighteen, piercings on areas that aren't acceptable in parents' eyes'. Literally, anything that just made me felt heard and focused on."