Aeri sat in the oppressive silence, her eyes locked onto him as he knelt before her, meticulously gathering the scattered items from the floor. Her mind was a whirlwind of confusion and fear, unable to grasp the reality of the situation.

"You see him," he began after a lengthy pause, pointing to the picture of her father on the wall. "Who is he?" His voice was cold, and he still refused to meet her gaze.

Aeri remained silent, her body rigid with tension.

"If you remember, he's your father," he continued, his fingers tracing the outline of her father's picture.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" she finally asked,

"From you?" He scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing," he shrugged dismissively.

A heavy silence settled over them. "Do you want to know what will happen to him in the future?" he asked, settling beside Aeri on the floor.

Aeri's mind raced, each thought colliding with the next, leaving her paralyzed with fear and uncertainty.

"A gunshot? No, that won't be painful enough. What if I harm someone dear to him?" He glanced at Aeri. "Does he even have anyone dear to him?" He gently grasped her arm, his touch icy.

Aeri met his gaze, tears brimming in her eyes. But she wasn't afraid. The tears were of frustration, of anger. She had never imagined she would fall for someone like him, a man shrouded in secrets and darkness. She had always been wary of love, fearing its potential to entrap and betray. Yet here she was, deeply in love with a man she barely understood.
Her nights had been filled with thoughts of him, of the way he always cooked for her, his gentleness, the subtle teases that felt serious coming from him. All these moments had drawn her in, deeper and deeper, until she could no longer deny her feelings.

Aeri was still lost in thought when he abruptly stood up. He marched towards the wall covered with pictures, his movements swift and angry. He snatched her father's picture from the wall and crumpled it in his hands.

"Or I can just drown him. What do you think, sweetheart?" he asked, his voice dripping with malice, as he crushed the picture with such force his knuckles turned white.

"Taesan—" Aeri's voice quivered with fear as she witnessed his transformation. The calm and gentle Taesan she had known was gone, replaced by a man consumed by rage.

"Will he suffer the same way I did? Will he?" Taesan shouted, throwing everything within reach to the floor in a fit of rage.

Aeri stood up, her heart pounding in her chest. She took hesitant steps towards him, her mind screaming at her to stop, to leave him. But her heart wouldn't listen.

She gently grabbed his arm, her voice soft and pleading, "Look at me, look at me, Taesan."

But he didn't. He kept his gaze averted, his body tense.

"Aeri, you need to leave!" he declared, his voice raw with emotion.

"What?"

"Leave!" He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, "Go away and never come back. I'm no good for you."

He stepped forward and carefully removed Aeri's picture from the wall, setting it aside with a tenderness that contrasted sharply with his previous actions. "I'm no good for you. Stay away."

Aeri took a few more tentative steps toward him. His back was facing her, but before she could reach out and touch his shoulder, he shouted, "Stay away!"

Comment your thoughts guys, I wanna know what y'all think ᯓ ᡣ𐭩