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A sob works its way up your tight throat and into the cold air of your room, your heart pounding as you clutch your knees to your chest. You stare through watery eyes at the phone on the floor across the room, where you had thrown it after your mother broke your heart for the hundredth time that week.
She never truly listened to you, and you always felt so empty and worthless after your conversations. You reach out and yank a blanket over your lap miserably, tears streaming down your cheeks in warm rivulets. It felt like this feeling would never leave.
The sound of the front door opening only makes your cheeks flush with embarrassment and shame. Gi-hun is never home for your conversations with your mother, and you like it that way. Normally you have time to wash your face and make it look like you weren’t dead inside from her words, but now you just curl up and back against the headboard.
“I’m home, baby!” he calls sweetly down the hall, his voice high and lilting, playful. You just fold into yourself further, face burning as you bury your nose against your knees, hugging yourself.
A small pause occurs, followed by a concerned, “Honey?” Gi-hun’s gentle footfalls make you whimper into your palms, chest squeezing and head throbbing. Your mother’s words just keep running the same track in your head, endlessly.
Your husband appears in the doorway and he stares at you, eyes wide and wondering. “Baby girl, what’s the matter?” He hurries to sit in front of you, pulling one of his long legs up onto the bed to squeeze close to you. “Sweetness?” His hand comes up to caress your hair softly, and he dares to tilt your chin up to meet his worried gaze. “Ah shit, you’re crying? Aw, my girl, no,” he whimpers, eyes sparkling with worry as you pull away from his embrace, shaking your head.
“N-nothing, it’s fine,” you cry, tears gushing from your red eyes, and you swipe at the wetness on your cheeks.
“Baby, what happened?” Gi-hun asks seriously, voice low with worry. “This is not ‘fine’, okay? Tell me what’s going on–” He sucks in a breath and grips your hands in his own. “Something at work?”
You shake your head in despair, hiccoughing hard and sniffling, fat tears welling and plopping into Gi-hun’s hands clenched around yours.
“Just… my mother,” you whisper, heart twisting roughly in your chest. “We had another fight.”
“Oh baby,” Gi-hun coos, chest rumbly and heaving as he catches his breath, relief and pain spilling across his face simultaneously, furrowing his brow. He leans forward, arms outstretched, to wrap around you and pull your slight frame against his. He’s so large and heavy and warm, he folds around you like your favorite baggy hoodie, shushing you melodically. “My sweet baby girl,” he hums, rocking you gently back and forth, and you can feel his soft heartbeat through his chest against your cheek.
You let it all out, then, sobs racking your body so harshly Gi-hun has to clench to keep you from slipping out of the embrace. His hands work up and down your back, a warm comfort pulling you closer to the heaviness of sleep.
“She doesn’t even care what I have to say,” you wail against Gi-hun’s broad chest, tears staining his immaculate tee shirt as he holds you. “And– and when I tell her that she hurts my feelings– she– she just won’t apologize and she makes me feel worthless–”
You sob, pain breaking out from the depths of your chest in a mangled cry, and Gi-hun’s shoulders bob slightly with his own tears. “You’re not worthless,” he sniffs, throat tight with emotion. “She’s a liar and you don’t need to deal with that. You shouldn’t have to.”
“I just–” You choke and start to push Gi-hun away from you. “I don’t even deserve you–”
“Shut the fuck up,” Gi-hun groans, scoffing and reaching out to pluck you from the sheets, lifting you into his strong arms as he cradles you and retreats from the room. Shocked and surprised, you grip onto his chest, fear momentarily taking over your sadness. “I mean that. Shut up if you think you don’t deserve me,” he insists, eyes angry and sharp. “Because it’s the other way around if anything.”
That alone sends you crying again, clutching at Gi-hun’s warmth, looking up at him with stinging eyes. “Where are we going?” you ask quietly. Your question is answered as Gi-hun settles himself on the couch, you still wrapped up in his grasp. “Why here?” you ask then, voice raw from so many tears shed.
Gi-hun smiles ever-so-sweetly down at you, leaning in to boop your nose with his own, planting a gentle kiss to your forehead. “I get to be closer to you this way,” he hums, and your heart swells. “Stop worrying. Stop thinking,” he reminds you, punctuating each sentence with a kiss. “Just let me love you right now, alright?”
You curl into him, tucking your legs beneath you and wrapping your hands around his middle, squeezing to keep him close to you. And you whisper, voice still lined with tears, “Alright.”
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