after spending the majority of her morning staring blankly in to space and attempting to wipe the events of the day before from her mind molly knew she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t. plus that little bruise on her knee she’d gotten ached every time she bent her leg and that was what pushed her over the edge, made her grab the keys to her nearly decade old car ( the mechanic hated her guts ) and drive to the place she knew he’d be because duh, where else would minjae be? after ignoring the many curious looks turned her way from people walking past she stood up straight when he finally deemed it late enough to leave. “did you just...shoo me?” blinking in surprise molly had forgotten this side to his personality, the one that made her want to smash her head against the side of his car. “you don’t get to do that, shoo me like a kid. not after what happened, what i’ve been through”, and because the trauma is still fresh and she hasn’t slept in almost 36 hours molly pointed to her knee, thankful she’d thrown on a sundress that morning. “you don’t get to make me feel small when i was in the middle of a fucking robbery yesterday!”
ice out the emotions. that’s how minjae had always coped, as if he was a robot with an on-and-off switch. dealing with things logically, mechanically, kept him safe. and breaking up with molly had been meant to keep her safe. eyes narrowing a minute fraction, he had to control his reaction to her display and announcement. there’s a heavy rattling in his chest, an are you okay? sitting on his tongue. the concern he allowed himself to express outwardly was more subdued, gaze flitting all across her form as if he could x-ray her just be looking and confirm that she was alright save for the discoloring that was blooming on her knee. had they found her anyway? terror momentarily seized him. no, if they had, she wouldn’t be standing in front of him, and that in it of itself is now something he considered a relief. she must’ve been in the wrong place at the wrong time, came face-to-face with elixir lackies. his people, by extension. “and what does that have to do with me?” he had to play dumb, on the chance that he was wrong. “i wasn’t there, and we’re not in a relationship anymore for you to ask me to kiss it all better for you.” though he wanted to. if only holding her close was a better way of protecting her than pushing her away.