Chapter 16

It slipped out simply because I genuinely believed it. The single most effective cure for bone-deep loneliness was a hug. Whenever the crushing isolation felt like too much to bear, I would just pull Seongjae into my arms and hold him incredibly tight. Within seconds, all my heavy loneliness would melt right into his small, reassuring warmth, and I could finally drift off to sleep without letting the dark thoughts consume me. In a bleak world completely devoid of dreams, my little brother was the only beautiful thing left that allowed me to keep dreaming.