The door opened with a whisper far too soft for what it concealed.
The room was bathed in a white, pale, almost cruel light.
A fragile silence floated in the air, broken only by the discreet hum of a medical machine and the soft rustle of sheets as the woman sitting on the bed lifted her head.
Sion's mother.
Fragile.
So small in her pale blue gown.
Gray hair pulled into a clumsy bun, a few rebellious strands falling over her forehead.
Her eyes, a soft brown, lit up the very second she saw her son.
— Oh my Sion… my baby… she breathed, her voice trembling with joy.
Sion took one step.
Just one.
And she opened her arms as if she had been waiting a thousand years for this moment.
— Come here.
A crystalline, almost childlike laugh escaped her lips.
He approached, carefully, as if one wrong move could make the entire world collapse.
She cupped his face in her hands, kissed his cheeks, his forehead, his temples — quick, light kisses, a rain of tenderness one would never expect in such a cold, sterile place.
— You've lost weight, my heart… oh, look at you… you work too much… always too much…
Her voice vibrated with softness.
A rare softness.
Precious.
Too fragile.
Then her gaze slid to Nari.
It softened even more.
— And you bring me a beautiful woman, on top of that…!
Delighted, Miss Jeon. I'm so happy to meet you.
The mother placed her hands on Nari's cheeks as if blessing her.
— You're beautiful, my dear… truly.
— Thank you so much…
She straightened, proud and glowing.
— What's your name, sweetheart?
— Han Nari, ma'am, she murmured with a slight bow.
— Ah, such grace…!
You must be someone very special for my son to bring you here.
He never introduces anyone to his mom, you know…
Sion lowered his eyes, embarrassed.
A faint blush touched his cheeks.
It was soft.
Almost normal.
Almost a family.
A tightness gripped Nari's heart.
She hadn't expected this.
Not this light in the woman's gaze.
Not this laugh.
Not this tenderness.
She felt welcomed.
Truly welcomed.
Sion's mother continued speaking, telling little anecdotes, her thin hands dancing in the air, laughing at her own silliness.
— When he was little, Sion always slept with a fox plushie, you know? He said it was his best friend…
— Mom, not that… Sion sighed, a shy smile slipping out despite himself.
— Oh yes, yes! And he cried when he lost it in the garden, can you imagine? My little Sion — a total tragedy!
— Did you know that when he was five, he ran away from home to buy a chocolate cake? He scared me to death… oh dear!
— And when he was ten, he used to bring home injured animals… always trying to save everything he found on the street!
She laughed.
Nari laughed.
Even Sion let out a soft, discreet laugh.
For a brief moment, everything was fine.
Too fine.
Much too fine.
Because that was exactly when everything cracked.
A strange silence fell.
One beat.
Two.
Three.
His mother's face froze.
Her smile withered instantly, crushed under a sudden shadow.
Her eyes emptied.
Then filled.
Filled with a dark, visceral, explosive rage.
Her breath hitched.
Her features twisted.
Her fingers trembled, clawing at the sheets.
— You.
Her voice wasn't the same anymore.
Not human.
It vibrated with an ancient hatred.
— YOU!
She lunged at Sion with a speed impossible for her frail body.
Nari didn't have time to react.
Sion's mother was already on him.
Her fists crashed against his chest, his face, his shoulders.
— YOU LOCKED YOUR WIFE IN A MENTAL ASYLUM!
— MY MONSTER! YOU MONSTER!
— You want to kill me?! Like her?! Like your wife?!
The words hit harder than the blows.
Sion didn't move.
He took it.
As if it was normal.
As if he deserved it.
As if every insult tore him apart from the inside.
— You think I'm crazy?!
You want to abandon me?!
Traitor! Monster!
YOU WANT ME DEAD!
Then she grabbed his neck.
Her thin but violent fingers wrapped around his throat, squeezing with a strength born of pure insanity.
— I'LL KILL YOU! WITH MY OWN HANDS! she screamed, eyes bloodshot.
— NO! STOP!!! cried Nari, her voice cracked with panic.
She tried to pull her off — impossible.
The mother screamed even louder, her nails tearing Sion's skin, who was choking, eyes reddening, breath strangled.
— A DOCTOR! PLEASE! Nari sobbed.
— SHE'S GOING TO KILL HIM!!!
The hallway burst into chaos.
Nurses rushed in.
The struggle was violent.
Too violent.
It took three of them to restrain her.
A syringe.
A shrill scream.
Then her body fell back, trembling, her insults dissolving into heart-ripping whimpers.
Nari trembled.
Her hands trembled.
Her legs trembled.
Her heart… was exploding in her chest.
Sion stood still.
Silent.
Eyes empty.
His throat marked red.
Nari saw his eyes fill with tears — a tiny detail, nearly invisible — but it shattered her.
Her Sion.
The same man who faced the entire world without blinking.
The same man who fought against everything and everyone.
Now, here, he was crying.
Soundlessly.
Something had broken inside him.
Nari felt it.
As if the emptiness she had just seen in his eyes… wasn't new.
Sion lifted a hand to his throat, where the red marks were already beginning to turn blue.
He wasn't trembling.
He was barely breathing.
It was worse.
It was complete stillness — the kind men learn very early, when moving means dying.
Nari looked at him.
There was nothing to save in that gaze.
Nothing to soothe.
Only a massive crack, ready to split open if anyone touched it too hard.
Around them, the nurses whispered, cleaned, wrote something down on their charts.
But their voices felt worlds away.
The only thing that existed was him.
Sion.
Standing but broken,
strong but collapsed,
alive but absent.
Nari felt the air shift.
As if the room itself were breathing differently.
As if pain had a shape, a silhouette, a shadow crawling slowly up her spine.
She took one step forward, very small, her heart beating too fast, too hard.
Nari stepped closer.
Very slowly.
— Sion… she whispered, reaching out her hand.
He recoiled.
Just slightly.
But it tore her heart apart.