Yuna's expression changed almost instantly, the frustration that had been building finally breaking through. "So that's it?" she snapped, her voice rising. "You just keep people like this in your life and expect me to be okay with it?" Her hands clenched slightly in the blanket, her breathing uneven as everything she had been holding back rushed forward at once. "First my father, then your past, now this girl—how many things are you not telling me, Ethan?" Her voice cracked at the end, not just angry, but hurt.
Ethan stepped closer immediately, his tone lower but firm. "Yuna, calm down—"
"I am calm!" she shot back, even though her voice clearly wasn't. "Don't tell me to calm down when you're the reason—"
She stopped suddenly.
Her hand moved to her stomach, her face tightening as a sharp pain cut through her words. "Ah…" she gasped softly, her body tensing.
Ethan's expression changed instantly. "Yuna."
The anger disappeared from his face, replaced with concern as he moved closer to the bed. "Lie back," he said, his voice steady but urgent. "Don't move."
Yuna tried to breathe through it, her hand still pressed against her stomach as she leaned back slowly. "It… hurts…"
"I know," Ethan said quietly, adjusting the pillow behind her and helping her settle without causing more strain. "Just rest."
Before anything else could be said, the door suddenly opened.
Elena walked in quickly, her steps hurried, her expression tense. "Ethan—" she started, then glanced back over her shoulder toward the hallway. "That girl—Sarah—she's here. In the hospital. I just saw—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Because now she was looking at both of them.
At Ethan standing close to Yuna.
At Yuna's expression—part pain, part anger, part confusion.
Elena's eyes shifted slightly, understanding settling in almost immediately.
"…She was already here," Elena said quietly.
No one answered.
That silence confirmed it.
Elena exhaled, running a hand through her hair as she stepped further into the room. "Of course she was," she muttered under her breath.
Yuna looked at her, still trying to steady herself. "You know her?"
Elena glanced at Ethan once, then back at Yuna. "Yeah," she said. "I know enough."
Yuna waited.
Elena hesitated for only a second before continuing. "Ethan helped her once," she said. "She got caught up in something—kidnapped during one of his operations."
Yuna's brows furrowed slightly, her focus shifting despite the discomfort. "He saved her?"
Elena gave a small, almost reluctant nod. "He went there for his own deal," she clarified. "Not for her. She just… happened to be there."
Ethan didn't interrupt.
"And after that," Elena continued, "she got attached. Really attached."
Yuna's gaze slowly moved back to Ethan.
"She started following him around, trying to stay connected to his world," Elena added. "No matter how many times he pushed her away."
Yuna stayed quiet for a moment, processing that.
Then, despite everything, she said—
"So she's not someone who was… involved with you like that?"
Her voice wasn't accusing this time.
Just asking.
Ethan looked at her directly. "No."
The answer was immediate.
Clear.
Yuna held his gaze for a second longer, then leaned back slightly, exhaling a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"I thought…" she started, then stopped herself.
Elena raised an eyebrow slightly. "Thought what?"
Yuna shook her head faintly. "Nothing."
But it wasn't nothing.
She had assumed.
And now—
That assumption didn't match the truth.
Still, her expression didn't fully relax.
Because the problem wasn't gone.
It had just… changed.
"She's still here," Yuna said quietly. "And she still acts like she has a place in your life."
Elena crossed her arms lightly. "That's because she thinks she does."
Yuna looked at Ethan again. "And you?"
Ethan didn't hesitate this time.
"She doesn't."
The answer was firm.
But Yuna didn't look fully convinced.
Because actions—
Not words—
Were what mattered now.
And somewhere in the hallway outside—
Sarah was still there.
Which meant—
This wasn't over yet.
The room grew quiet again after that, but it wasn't the same kind of quiet as before. This one carried awareness—of what had just been revealed, of what still lingered outside that door, and of how fragile everything between them still was.
Yuna rested back against the pillow, her hand still lightly pressed to her stomach, her breathing steadier now but not fully calm. Her eyes moved between Elena and Ethan, trying to settle the thoughts that kept shifting inside her.
"So she just… decided to stay in your life?" Yuna asked softly, her voice no longer sharp, but still searching.
Elena let out a small breath. "More like she refused to leave it," she said. "There's a difference."
Yuna absorbed that, then glanced at Ethan again. "And you let her keep coming back?"
Ethan's expression remained composed, but there was a faint tension in his jaw. "I didn't encourage it."
"That's not the same as stopping it," Yuna replied quietly.
That landed again.
Elena glanced between them, then added, "He's not exactly good at cutting people off cleanly when they don't listen."
Ethan didn't respond to that, but his silence didn't deny it either.
Yuna looked down for a moment, her fingers curling slightly into the blanket again. "She looked like she expected something from you," she said. "Like you owed her."
Elena nodded faintly. "In her mind, he probably does. She thinks being saved means something permanent."
Yuna's brows pulled together slightly. "Does it?"
The question was directed at Ethan.
He met her gaze. "No."
Simple. Firm.
But Yuna still studied him carefully, as if measuring the weight of that answer.
"Then why is she here now?" Yuna asked. "Why show up today, of all days?"
That question hung in the air.
Elena looked at Ethan, waiting.
Ethan's eyes shifted briefly toward the door, then back. "Because she heard I was here," he said. "And she doesn't respect boundaries."
Yuna let out a slow breath, leaning her head back slightly. "That's going to be a problem," she murmured.
Elena gave a dry half-smile. "It already is."
Another silence followed, but this one felt more focused.
More real.
Yuna closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again, her gaze settling on Ethan with quiet seriousness.
"I don't want this to turn into something messy," she said.
"It won't," Ethan replied immediately.
Yuna shook her head slightly. "You don't know that."
Ethan didn't argue.
Because deep down—
He did know.
Some things don't stay simple.
Especially when the past refuses to stay where it belongs.
And now—
It was standing just outside the door.
Yuna stayed quiet for a moment after that, her gaze lowering as she tried to steady both her breathing and her thoughts. The pain in her stomach had eased slightly, but the tension inside her hadn't. It had only shifted, turning from anger into something more complicated—something heavier. She let out a slow breath and leaned back against the pillow, her eyes drifting toward the door for a brief second before returning to Ethan.
"I don't want to keep feeling like this," she said softly, her voice no longer sharp, but tired. "Like every time I start to understand something… something new comes in and changes everything again."
Elena watched her carefully, her expression softening, while Ethan remained still, his attention fixed completely on Yuna. "You won't have to deal with her," he said, his tone steady, controlled, as if he was trying to close the situation before it could grow further. But Yuna shook her head slightly.
"That's not the point," she replied. "It's not just about her being here. It's about what she represents." That made him pause. Yuna looked at him more directly now. "Your past doesn't stay in the past," she continued quietly. "It keeps showing up… and every time it does, I realize how much I still don't know."
Elena shifted slightly but didn't interrupt. Yuna's voice dropped a little. "And I don't know how to feel safe in something when I feel like there are pieces missing." The word safe lingered longer than anything else she had said. Ethan's expression tightened just slightly at that, not in anger, but in something closer to realization. "You are safe," he said.
Yuna gave a faint, almost sad shake of her head. "You keep saying that," she murmured, "but safety isn't just about being protected from danger." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "It's about knowing where I stand. Knowing what's real… and what isn't."
Silence settled again, deeper this time. Elena looked between them, understanding exactly what Yuna meant but letting Ethan respond on his own. Yuna's eyes didn't leave his. "I'm already trying to trust you again," she added softly. "Don't make that harder than it already is." That stayed in the air, clear and unavoidable.
Ethan didn't speak immediately, but this time his silence wasn't avoidance—it was thought. Real thought. And for the first time since all of this had begun, it felt like he was actually hearing not just her words, but what they meant beneath them.