The question hung in the air.
Brutal. Direct.
Soorin swallowed hard.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
Soorin sniffled.
Wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
Her mother waited patiently.
Not judging. Just there.
"I haven't been completely honest," Soorin said quietly. "Not with you. Not even with myself."
"About what happened with Haejin?"
"Yeah."
She took a shaky breath.
"I felt used. Even though we both enjoyed it. The physical stuff, I mean. It was good. Really good. But I got so caught up in everything. In the passion. In the way he looked at me when we were alone."
Her voice cracked.
"I thought it meant something. So I told him how I felt."
"You confessed?"
"Yeah. Like an idiot. I laid it all out. Said I had feelings for him. Real ones."
"And what did he say?"
"Thank you."
The words came out flat.
Bitter.
"Just thank you. Like I'd complimented his shirt. Like I'd provided a service and he was being polite about it."
