The night breeze slipped in through the half-closed window. The faint scent of medicine from the next room mingled with the bitter smell of alcohol from the cut on Jay's lip. He stood in the middle of the living room, a place that hadn't felt like home for a long time. The walls were cold, the floor was silent, and everything inside bore quiet witness to the imbalance that had plagued this family for years.

In that room, his younger sister lay fast asleep, wrapped in a thick blanket, her fragile body hidden beneath layers of warmth. Small medical tools sat neatly on the bedside table. Since they were children, she had always been labeled as 'fragile.' A weak heart, they said. She had to be protected. Prioritized. Given everything she wanted because her life could end at any moment. And Jay? Jay had learned early on that the only role left for him was to be the strong one. The tough one. The one who couldn't fail, couldn’t complain, and couldn't ask for anything.

He used to love his sister. Used to sit at her bedside and read her stories. But everything changed when he realized that love in their house wasn't shared, it was poured entirely into one child, and he wasn't that child. She studied at home, was surrounded by warmth, had no pressure over grades, no punishments. Meanwhile Jay... he came home late from campus one night after staying to finish an assignment, and that night, his father's hand struck his face. Again.

The blood on his lip had dried, but the ache in his chest pulsed deeper than any bruise. And what hurt the most wasn't the physical pain... but the truth that his mother simply held his sister, and never once stood between Jay and their father's rage.

Jay let out a bitter, silent laugh, staring at the slightly ajar door to his sister's room. Only her lamp glowed. Only there was there life. Only there, love.

And he muttered with a voice low, broken, and aching,

"Do I have to be sick too… just to be loved?"

**[ WELCOME TO AU ENHYPEN! PARK JONGSEONG IS HERE! HAVE A GOOD TIME<3 ]**