Yuna stood still after his words, the playful warmth from moments ago fading slightly from her face. The sharpness in his voice cut through the room, leaving only tension behind. She crossed her arms slowly, trying to steady herself while looking directly at him.
"My little world?" she repeated quietly.
Ethan's jaw tightened, frustration still visible in the way his shoulders remained tense. He looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped himself halfway.
Yuna took a slow step toward him instead of backing away this time.
"You think I'm running because I'm weak?" she asked softly. "Because things became difficult?"
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
That silence irritated her more.
"You don't understand what it feels like," she continued, her voice trembling slightly now, "to lose everything familiar all at once and still be expected to stand calmly like nothing happened."
Ethan exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his hair again. "That's not what I said."
"It's what you meant."
"No," he said firmly, stepping closer again. "What I meant is that you keep trying to escape before facing anything fully."
His grey eyes stayed locked onto hers intensely now.
"You want to disappear every time pain reaches you," he continued. "You think going back will somehow return things to what they were before."
Yuna's expression faltered slightly because part of her knew he wasn't completely wrong.
But hearing it aloud still hurt.
"My father is dead," she whispered. "My baby is gone. Everything I believed about my family collapsed in front of me. So forgive me if I don't know how to act perfectly through all this."
Ethan's face shifted slightly at the crack in her voice.
Yuna looked away briefly before continuing more quietly. "Sometimes I just want one place that still feels familiar."
The anger in Ethan's expression dimmed slightly after hearing that.
But his frustration remained.
"And after that?" he asked. "What then?"
Yuna blinked. "What?"
"You go home. You hide there for a few weeks. Maybe months." His voice lowered again. "Then what?"
She stayed silent.
"Because the truth will still exist," Ethan continued. "Your father's crimes won't disappear. The grief won't disappear. Neither will I."
The last words came quieter.
He stepped closer again until barely any distance remained between them.
"You think I'm angry because you want space?" he murmured. "I'm angry because every time things become real between us, you start looking for an exit."
Yuna stared at him, caught between hurt and confusion.
Ethan's eyes softened slightly then, though the intensity remained.
"And I'm starting to realize," he admitted quietly, "that the thought of you actually leaving bothers me more than it should."
Yuna looked at him quietly after his words, her chest still rising unevenly from emotion. The tension between them remained heavy, but now there was something softer hidden beneath it too—fear neither of them wanted to admit fully.
Ethan's gaze stayed fixed on her, intense and searching, like he was trying to read every thought behind her silence before she could speak them aloud.
Then finally, Yuna stepped closer.
Not away.
Closer.
"Ethan," she said softly, "I will never leave you."
The words immediately stilled something inside him.
Yuna looked directly into his eyes as she continued, her voice calmer now, more honest than defensive.
"I'm not trying to run away from you."
Ethan's jaw tightened slightly, but he stayed silent this time, listening.
Yuna took another small step toward him until only a short distance remained between them. "I just…" she paused briefly, searching for the right words. "I want to go back to my career."
The moment she said it, her expression changed slightly.
Softer.
Warmer.
Like the thought itself brought something alive inside her again.
"I miss it," she admitted quietly. "I miss filming. I miss being on set early in the morning and reading scripts and hearing directors complain at everyone." A faint smile touched her lips briefly. "I even miss the exhausting schedules."
Ethan watched her carefully.
"This work…" Yuna looked down at her hands before continuing softly, "it was mine. Before everything became complicated, before my father controlled my life, acting was the only thing that felt like it truly belonged to me."
The honesty in her voice slowly pulled the anger out of Ethan's expression.
Yuna looked back at him again. "When I'm working, I don't feel trapped inside my thoughts all the time."
Ethan exhaled quietly through his nose.
"And you think going back will help?" he asked.
"Yes."
The answer came immediately.
Not emotional.
Not uncertain.
Certain.
That surprised him slightly.
Yuna nodded faintly. "I think if I stay here doing nothing every day, I'll keep replaying everything that happened over and over until I lose myself completely."
Ethan looked away briefly at that.
Because he understood exactly what she meant.
Yuna slowly reached for his hand then, her fingers carefully sliding against his. "I'm not asking to leave you behind," she whispered. "I'm asking to find myself again."
The words hit harder than he expected.
For so long Ethan had only focused on keeping her close, protecting her, stopping her from falling apart completely. But somewhere during all that, he forgot that Yuna had a life outside pain.
Outside him.
She wasn't meant to stay locked inside grief forever.
Yuna noticed his silence and stepped even closer. "You know what scares me the most?" she asked quietly.
Ethan looked back at her.
"That one day I'll wake up and realize I forgot who I was before all this happened."
The vulnerability in her voice made something twist painfully inside his chest.
"I don't want to become only someone who lost things," she continued softly. "I don't want my whole life to be about grief."
Ethan's eyes lowered briefly.
Then finally, quietly, he asked, "And where do I fit into that life?"
Yuna blinked slightly at the question.
Ethan's expression remained calm, but there was something unusually exposed beneath it now.
"If you go back," he murmured, "your world changes again. Your schedules. Your people. Your career." His grey eyes locked onto hers. "Where do I fit into that?"
Yuna's heart softened instantly hearing that.
Because beneath all his frustration—
He sounded afraid.
Not angry.
Afraid.
Slowly, Yuna lifted her free hand and touched the side of his face gently. Ethan instinctively leaned slightly into the warmth before realizing it.
"You fit everywhere," she whispered.
Ethan looked at her silently.
"I'm not trying to escape from us," she continued. "I just want to breathe again."
The room grew quiet after that.
Yuna's thumb brushed softly against his cheek as she looked up at him carefully. "I love acting, Ethan."
There was genuine passion in her voice now.
"It makes me feel alive," she admitted. "When I'm filming, I become different people for a while. I stop carrying my own pain every second." A small laugh escaped her softly. "Sometimes it's the only time I stop overthinking."
Ethan's gaze softened slightly watching the way her eyes lit up while talking about it.
He realized then—
This was the most alive she had sounded in days.
Maybe weeks.
"You really miss it," he murmured.
Yuna nodded immediately. "So much."
A small silence followed before Ethan finally asked, "And what if people start talking about your father again once you return publicly?"
The light in Yuna's eyes dimmed slightly.
"I know they will," she admitted quietly. "People always talk."
"Then why go back now?"
Yuna swallowed softly before answering.
"Because if I wait until life stops hurting," she whispered, "I might never go back at all."
That answer stayed between them heavily.
Ethan stared at her for a long moment after that, realizing how much stronger she was trying to become despite everything.
Not because the pain disappeared.
But because she refused to let it erase her completely.
Slowly, Ethan lifted a hand and rested it carefully against her waist, pulling her slightly closer.
"You really thought all this through already, didn't you?"
Yuna gave a tiny smile. "I had all night."
"That explains the dangerous amount of confidence."
She laughed softly at that, and the sound immediately eased something tense inside him again.
Ethan looked down at her quietly before speaking once more.
"If you go back to acting," he said slowly, "your life becomes public again."
"I know."
"You'll have people around you constantly."
"I know."
"You'll barely sleep."
Yuna smiled faintly. "That part sounds accurate."
Ethan shook his head slightly before finally saying the thing she'd been waiting to hear.
"…Fine."
Yuna blinked in surprise. "Fine?"
"I said fine."
A brighter smile instantly appeared on her face.
"You're agreeing?"
"Don't make me regret it already."
Before Ethan could say anything else, Yuna suddenly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
The force of it caught him off guard enough that he almost stumbled back slightly.
"You're crushing me," he muttered.
"You said yes."
"You're still crushing me."
Yuna laughed softly against him, happier now than he had seen her in days.
Ethan's arms slowly settled around her waist again automatically, holding her close while she continued smiling against his shoulder.
And despite himself—
Seeing her excited again felt strangely relieving.
Because maybe this was what healing actually looked like.
Not forgetting pain.
Not pretending nothing happened.
But slowly choosing life again anyway.