Roori (Aurora)
A cold sweat runs down my back.
I squeeze Ava's hand tightly, fearing that, after two days of memorizing those sentences, I'll faint on the antique carpet like a fool.
My salivation stopped as soon as I entered the room.
I found them all there.
They're not memories that torment me, but lucid nightmares.
Monsters disguised as businessmen, tormentors in suits and ties.
If it weren't for Ava, they would have already confused Lawyer Jung with their coaxing and fake smiles.
I glimpse Kim Jong-Dong, my father's brother.
I shiver.
I used to call him 'Uncle,' not knowing how murky and dark his heart was.
He tried to kill me, and no court will ever be able to convince me that his bloody hand wasn't behind my father's disappearance.
He holds my gaze. For a moment, I think I sense a flash of pain. But maybe it's just the rotten reflection of his grandfather, the man who raised him.
Ava squeezes my hand. It's the only support in this family that broke me.
Sisters on my mother's side: she was born from a previous relationship and never spoke of her father. But when her mother met mine, we became family.
Ava adored her father. She always called him "Dad." She even took the last name Kim.
Until...
No. Not now. I don't want to think about it.
Today I just want to leave this poisonous last name behind.
To preserve the image of my father.
That of a man he learned to love thanks to my mother.
Only with time have I understood what he meant when he said she had awakened him from a suspended life.
Footsteps approach. Ava stiffens.
I raise my head.
It's Min-Jun.
"You're the only reason I agreed to this charade," he says, forcing me away from Ava.
He holds me tightly in his arms. Too tightly.
He's always been muscular, but now he looks like a man. I stiffen.
He notices and loosens his grip.
"Are you afraid of me too, little Aura?" he whispers.
His voice is a caress. I shake my head and hug him.
His scent hits me in the stomach. It's the same as back then.
My first crush. My first love. My refuge after Dad's death.
I missed him so much.
Tears fall. I hide my face in his chest.
Ava sighs beside me. I know he won't forgive me.
But I wasn't ready. Not to him.