Waking up to a pounding headache and a nauseous feeling in her stomach had become a normal thing for Aera. Usually, it wouldn't be this bad but the previous night she had worked extremely hard to drown herself in alcohol so today the aching in her skull was something else.
She curled up under the duvet as her stomach turned in an unfriendly way. Her throat was as dry as sandpaper. The hammering headache intensified with each breath she took and it slowly grew impossible to ignore.
Perhaps some painkillers would help with the feeling of her skull being stretched in every way possible.
This was probably the worst hangover Aera had yet. She tried to sit up which was very difficult considering that the room swirled in every direction. She squinted before opening her heavy-lidded eyes against the dimly lit room. Relieved, she thanked herself mentally for pulling the thick drapes down last night.
Flashbacks from last night resurfaced in her troubled mind as her eyesight struggled to find any type of pain relief on her night stand. Upon taking the white bottle in her unsteady hand, Aera hissed when she realized it was empty.
Suddenly the image of Jimin coming into her room replayed through her memory, making her wince. Her head swung around to look at the spot beside her on the bed.
A relieved sigh escaped her dry lips. If anything had happened, that would be rock bottom for her. Sleeping with her bodyguard, how much more pathetic could she get?
Aera shook her head. It wasn't like she had never felt attracted to him. What woman in her right mind wouldn't?
There had been a couple of occasions where their fingers would brush against each other or he would press his body tightly to hers and she would shudder. She'd ignore that immediately, considering how Jimin never broke through his stoic composure to show her any type of affection.
But last night was different, she felt something different, or was that just a figment of her imagination?
Was it the alcohol?
Aera had been drunk enough to doubt her own judgment but her feelings wouldn't lie to her. And the truth was that she still felt Jimin's arms wrapped around her, holding her in his embrace while she slept.
Her gaze cast over an almost unnoticeable dusty blond hair resting on the pillow beside her, like a reminder that she and Jimin sleeping in a bed together hadn't been just a dream.
Aera laid down again, burying her face in her palms with frustration. She could still smell his scent imprinted on the sateen sheets, the scent of safety and comfort.
She groaned, finally deciding to blame it on the liquor and the fact that she was so much more fucked up that she cared to admit. Yesterday had been tough for her.
Memories from the day before started coming to her in bits and pieces, but she still wasn't able to put them together. The first thing she remembered was how her facial muscles hurt from trying to keep a straight face all day while all she wanted to do was to curl up into a ball and cry.
Had it not been for Jimin by her side she would had lost it.
The desolate whispers and hushed words still haunted her. She would never forget how all those people at her uncle's funeral looked at her. There was evident pity in their eyes but Aera found that to be natural. What bothered her was something else she noticed in them.
Greed.
Her uncle had no children of his own. Despite being in his late forties, he was brilliant and charming and a notorious ladies' man. Women were all over him and his money but he never settled down, never created a family.
That meant the family money and business would most likely be split between Aera and her brother - the person who was supposed to be her closest but she felt all he did was make her life a living hell.
And that made them both a target for many people's cruel intentions.
Deep in her thoughts, Aera couldn't pin-point why she felt uneasy all of a sudden. All she knew was it definitely wasn't the hangover but something else. She sat up on her elbows in the bed, her eyes scanning the room. The eerie gloom of the dim-lighted room crept up in her chest, sending her mind in a slight frantic.
There was a very subtle metallic click she heard that made her freeze in her spot. Her breath stuck in her throat, her heart started hammering against her chest.
"H- Hello?" she called out, choking on the words. "Is anybody there?"
Again, the silence grew so thick that Aera could hear her own heart pounding in her ears. With a trembling hand, she reached out for the lamp on her night stand. She pressed the switch, but it didn't turn on, peaking her anxiety.
She felt a light swoosh move the air around her and a tiny gasp escaped her cracked lips.
"Jimin?" she whispered, praying to every god there was that her bodyguard would come out of the darkness and relief would wash over her. If it was him, he'd picked the wrong time to showcase his sense of humor for the first time. "Is that you?"
He was the only person who was allowed to come in but it was odd even for Jimin to visit her in her penthouse unannounced or without her calling him in.
Aera felt as though a cluster bomb had exploded in her brain. She had never believed in ghosts, but now was a good time as any for her to start considering she was in the middle of some paranormal shit. The more she squinted her eyes to look for some silhouetted figure in the dark, the more she freaked out.
Just as she was about to reach out for her phone next to her pillow and call Jimin, someone's footsteps on the soft carpet caused a horrified shriek to force its way up her throat.
"Hyukjae!" the intense silence was shattered as Aera's frustration exploded in a powerful roar. "Are you fucking kidding me? You almost gave me a heart attack, you sick fuck!"
"Wow, I came here to tell good morning to my little sister and this is how you welcome me? How impolite, always have been a spoiled brat, sis," Hyukjae's lips stretched in a smug smile.
"Fuck you," Aera was unsympathetic.
"Now that's not a nice way to speak to your family."
"You're anything but family," Aera threw one of the pillows at her brother but he successfully dodged it, the cocky grin on his face only growing wider which infuriated her even more.
Unfortunately, this wasn't just a playfully mean exchange between a brother and a sister. Aera loathed Hyukjae with her whole being. For her, he was a walking reminder of the fact that her father, the person who she always admired and looked up to, actually had an affair.
With the purity of a child, Aera had always believed her father was sinless. That was until the day a twelve-year old Hyukjae along with his mother, the mistress, appeared at the doorstep of the Lee family.
As the responsible man he was, Aera's father decided he should claim the boy as his son and help actively in raising him. All of a sudden, there was an entire other human being that Aera had to share her father's love and affection with.
The reason behind Aera's deep hatred for her half-brother wasn't some childish jealousy though. The source of that loathing was much deeper than that and it pained her to even think about it.
To say that Aera's mother was devastated at the sudden revelation would be an understatement. A single mindless mistake Lee Jiho had done brought immense pain and anguish to the whole family. Aera would never forget how her mother would drink herself to sleep every night only to avoid the reality of being so publicly humiliated. Her mother's heart-wrenching sobs into the pillow still echoed through her head.
One night when she was eight years old, Aera's parents were getting ready to go to one of the many cocktail events they attended. She remembered them arguing about not getting a driver but instead going with their own car. To this day, it was still very vivid in her mind how strongly her mother insisted on driving there herself.
Little did everybody know that she had already chugged on an entire bottle of vodka. Her body had gotten so used to the alcohol that after drinking such enormous quantity she didn't even look drunk anymore. She looked normal.
It's enough to say that after that night, Aera never saw her parents again.
Naturally, she blamed Hyukjae for her misery. Her life had gone nowhere but downhill ever since that day he appeared at their doorstep. He had broken not only her home, but also her life. Her hatred for him only grew and the day he took his place as a rightful member of the Lee family was the worst day of Aera's life.
"Ugh, go away, Hyuk, you reek of alcohol," Aera scrunched her nose in obvious disgust as the sharp smell of liquor penetrated her nostrils. "Have you been partying with Yoongi all night again?" she asked, distaste coloring her tone.
The two of them almost inseparable, Hyukjae and Yoongi were notorious party animals amongst their circle of rich spoiled brats. It wasn't uncommon for them to stay up until the morning in the club, enjoying the company of random girls and pouring shots and liquor until they couldn't walk straight anymore.
Aera was very familiar with that fact, considering this had been one of the reasons her and Yoongi had broken up.
"Even if I wass, sso what?" slurring the words, Hyukjae struggled to keep his balance as he staggered for a little bit before plopping his body on the arm chair beside Aera's bed. "I thought you two were over, are you suddenly feeling nostalgic for your ex?" a sly smirk painted over his lips. "Or have you perhaps rekindled the old flame?"
"God, no," Aera spat out. She had always hated that side of Yoongi, the things that he had done behind her back had left her with nothing but bitterness when it came to their relationship. "But given that our uncle died just the other day, I was thinking you'd stay in for at least one night."
His foggy bloodshot eyes and his face flushed, it seemed to Aera that Hyukjae was still heavily intoxicated with alcohol and god knows what else.
Hyukjae took the decorative luxury vintage clock from Aera's night stand, a precious present from her father, and started fiddling with it nonchalantly. There was a small crystal skull incrusted in it that Aera had always wondered what it meant but still, she held onto it as tight as possible as a reminder of her father.
"You know, sis, I think it's about time you started to respect me," he smirked, making Aera's blood boil with anger at the sight of him leaving greasy fingerprints all over the valuable object with his sweaty hands. The clock was very dear to her, considering her father had told her it had been in the family for centuries.
"I will, when I see something in you that deserves respect," she mumbled, eyes not darting from the clock.
"Maybe you will," Hyukjae shrugged casually as he crossed his legs, leaning closer and putting the clock back on the night stand. The harsh scent of alcohol hit her in the face harder this time, making a nauseous feeling appear in her upper abdomen. "Maybe things are about to get a little bit different around here."
"You are so wasted," Aera huffed. "And you definitely need to take a shower, I'm feeling sick just looking at you."
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Hyukjae completely ignored her rude remark, flashing her a cheeky grin before standing up. "I'm so done putting up with your mean and disrespectful attitude. You need to be taught a lesson," his voice suddenly sounded cold and laced with menace. "Uncle Dongho's not here anymore to protect you."
Totally stunned, Aera was at a loss of words. Hyukjae had always had quite the temper, especially when he was drunk, he had said some harsh words to her once or twice but had never gone as far as threatening her. Wide eyed, she just stared at him as the amusement evaporated from his face.
"What are you trying to say to me?" she stifled a gasp, her voice trailed off as she struggled to sound calm. Her hand inadvertently shot to the cupboard of the night stand where Jimin had advised her that she kept a knife just in case.
Despite still being hungover, Aera could perfectly decipher the danger the situation held. She had never thought he'd hurt her, but Hyukjae had crossed an invisible line today and all of a sudden, she didn't feel safe anymore.
"I already said it, sis," something blazed in his grey orbs, the same orbs that had always reminded Aera of ashes and smoke now looked like they wouldn't hesitate to destroy anything in their way.
"Get out," Aera breathed out, helplessness washing all over her as she unwittingly leaned backwards, pressing her back on the pillows. Her white-knuckled hands clutched on her phone, the need to call Jimin right away was the only thing on her mind.
A giggle escaped Hyukjae's lips as he took a step towards the door. "Enjoy your day, baby sister," he laughed loudly as his grey orbs darkened, making him look almost psychotic.
Aera's lungs deflated in a heavy exhale the moment her brother closed the door behind himself. She instantly jumped from the bed and scurried to the massive wood, locking it in a swift motion. She couldn't help but wonder whether she had locked it the night before. Or perhaps Jimin had left it unlocked when he was leaving in the morning? This was so unusual of him, he was always very paranoid when it came to Aera's security.
She was certain she had to tell him about her conversation with Hyukjae. It probably didn't mean anything, perhaps her brother was just blabbing nonsense as always when he was drunk. But if there was something bigger behind his words, Aera had to share it with Jimin.
But first, she had to take care of that horrible hangover.