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"Have you ever considered that you need to learn to be comfortable alone?"
"So-so you're saying I should leave Jaehyun?"
"No," Dr Brown shook her head. "I'm telling you that you need to learn to be comfortable alone... after that, you can be with Jaehyun because you want to not because you're scared to be alone."
"I-I don't know... I just feel better when he's there..."
"It's okay to rely on your partner but being extremely codependent on them can be something unhealthy to you and the relationship. Jaehyun won't be able to rely on you as well - in a healthy relationship you support one another."
It was hard from Nair to hear from Dr Brown that she might be harming her own relationship. The idea of being independent was something that scared her.
She has hesitant at first but Boram had proposed that Nair see a therapist. Jaehyun was supportive of her whether she wanted to get therapy or not. But Nair wanted to try at least... she wanted to work on herself.
The first few sessions were brutal and Nair had cried a lot. Jaehyun almost wanted to tell her to quit but Boram had told him to trust the process. It was a lot for Nair to recount the several traumatic events in her life - a lot of sessions she just cried.
But Dr Brown wanted her to get it out. The woman didn't coddle Nair like Jaehyun did. She pushed her, she was honest with her and she was fair. Jaehyun had flown her out specifically to be Nair's therapist. She had a great reputation for working with people who went through trauma and she was a black woman.
He wanted Nair to be comfortable.
"It won't happen right away Nair," Dr Brown reminded gently. "But if you want to do the work, both me and the people around you will support you. I'm sure Jaehyun will be very proud."
"I-I do want to," Nair quietly stated. "I want to change."
"How about starting with widening your support network? You told me you were out with Boram and her friends so how about you aim to make friends of your own?"
"B-but girls d-don't like me-"
"If you go into things with a plan to fail, you definitely will. If you go in with an open mind, you can be proud no matter the results."
"A-and if they don't like me?"
"Then they don't like you. Who cares? It doesn't change the fact that you still need to go out there and make friends."
Nair nodded still feeling uncertain. She wanted to try but it was scary taking steps by herself. ...
"I'm ready to go to the next place Beom." She didn't know how to drive so Jaehyun assigned Beom to drive her when he couldn't. He trusted Beom to protect her.
Ms Brown had also told Jaehyun that he should work on detaching from Nair. She thought they were developing an unhealthy codependency and wanted them to work on it.
Nair thought Beom was a very sweet person. He was tall and muscly but had a kind face. He was very attentive towards Nair as well.
"Are you okay Miss Conceição? We-"
"It's okay Beom," she reassured. "I just want us to go to Boram now." ...
Nair breathed in deeply trying to figure out if this was a good idea. Maybe her dress was the wrong colou- was her hair all right?
"You can do this Miss Conceição," Beom cheered. "If you want to leave I'll be right here."
"Is my hair okay Beom? My nail design-"
"Just take a deep breath Miss Conceição."
Nair texted Jaehyun for a bit of encouragement before finally deciding to go into the restaurant.
It was pink. And flowery. And it seemed very elegant. It was just like Boram-
"Nair over here!"
Nair sat at the table with four different girls. Boram had brought along her sister as well as two other girls she was close to. She had saved Nair a seat in between her and her sister.
Nair found out that Boram's sister is Baerona. The other girls were Yeri and Suryeon. They were mostly Boram's friends.
"So you're the girl that bagged Jaehyun...? What is all this swirling?"
"Suryeon, don't start," Boram warned giving the girl a look. "You're always trying to be messy."
"I'm just saying... Hajoon is dating a foreigner too... maybe there's something in the water."
"It's because Nair and Neuza are stunning - Jaehyun and Hajoon just have taste," Baerona commented smiling at Nair. Nair felt relieved by her jumping in.
"You're so lucky," Yeri pouted. "Every girl wanted Jaehyun so bad and you got him. He's gorgeous, he's tall, he's got mon-"
"He's very amazing," Nair agreed cutting her off. She didn't know what came over her but she didn't want Yeri talking about Jaehyun.
He was hers.... Why were other girls noticing his qualities?
"Your claws are way more sharpened than I thought," Suryeon smiled mischievously. "I like you."
Nair didn't have people telling her that often so it made her smile.
"I'm sorry," Yeri laughed. "We all went to school together and Jaehyun was like- forget it. If you're his girlfriend, none of us had a chance. You're too gorgeous."
"I think you're gorgeous too," Nair complimented with a smile. Yeri was gorgeous to her.
The girls fell into comfortable conversation. Nair gravitated towards Baerona as they had their own private conversation.
It was different for Nair to genuinely get along with people her age. Her age mates thought she was needy and annoying whereas, older people just wanted to protect her.
For the first time, she just felt normal,
"We have to hang out without the grannies," Baerona whispered making Nair laugh. "Give me your number and we can text and stuff."
