— If you want me to be your safe harbor, then let me be strong enough to receive you. Do not apologize to me for giving me the chance to fight.
Silence reigned between us after my words. Jun-ho's black eyes, still red and watery, absorbed the weight of everything I had said. The reverence was there, but raw fear still refused to leave his body.
— I didn't learn how to love, Sali... — his voice failed, dragging and raspy. — All of this... it's new to me. I don't know how to handle it.
He looked up again, and the vulnerability there was so exposed it caused a physical tightening in my chest. My heart completely melted.
