The restaurant was quiet, shadows from the low lights stretching across the table. Plates sat untouched, but Seung Hyun didn’t care. You were curled against his chest, asleep despite the world around you. He cradled you protectively, one arm locked around your back, his cheek resting against your hair.

His thumb brushed your shoulder gently, tracing slow, trembling circles. “You must be so tired,” he whispered, his voice breaking in the silence. “So, so tired…”

He stared at your sleeping face, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. “You cry until your voice gives out,” he murmured, his tone soft but unsteady. “You yell at me until you can’t anymore… and then you just collapse. Like this.” His breath hitched. “And I can’t even be angry, because I understand.”

He swallowed hard, looking down at your hand resting limply against his chest. “You carried them so carefully,” he said, barely audible now. “Every step you took, every bite of food, every sleepless night—you lived for them. Even when I was gone, you were protecting them all on your own.” His lips trembled as he spoke. “You gave everything. Every piece of yourself. And in the end…” His voice cracked, and he pressed his mouth tightly to your hair, shaking. “…you ended up with nothing.”

Tears slipped down his face, falling into your hair as he held you closer, afraid you’d vanish if he loosened his grip. “You don’t deserve this pain,” he whispered. “You don’t deserve any of it.”

The only sounds left were the faint hum of the lights and the quiet, broken rhythm of his breathing. He buried his face in your hair, whispering against your skin,

“I’ll carry you until you can stand again. I’ll carry you… even if I fall.”