@โงห k. mingue As she spoke, she could remember everything like it happened yesterday although she is now mostly over it, she still hates how it happened. She had her mother and stepfather to thank for that. Nako never thought she would see the day if she was going to be honest about it. She now also have her sunflower Aimi and of course Mingue. He really appeared in her life when she was overwhelmed by her emotions. She was dealing with work, her parents leaving on small vacation to celebrate their anniversary, and her friends tuned bully since they saw right eye by mistake.
Nako still remembers the first time they talked. She let out a rant about how people could be so cruel to judge people based on just looks and how people could show their true colors in the most unexpected ways. He sends her a message reaching out to make sure she was ok. Nako didn’t know why she decided to reply. It wasn’t only due to her fear of males- she just tends to never reply to people online period. It might had been on a whim, but that small change of act snowballed into friendship which then turned into a beautiful romantic relationship.
“It’s funny you said this before many times before you saw it. I-i was nervous once it was finally shown you...” She stopped talking for a moment before continuing with a shaky voice. “You could kick us out or even...break up.”
She could only shake her head quickly a few times, not yet able to talk for a couple of minutes. “And I appreciate you for listening to this story again. I know I told you before, but it only feels right to tell you in person to really show how much I do trust you.” She closed her eyes with a small bitter smile. “I could only hope no one else will ever go through this.” She said as she opened her eyes.
Nako without even thinking about it pulled Mingue into a hug seeing his hand shake so badly. It only lasted about a minute or so before she pulled away. She wasn’t sure why he started to shake- was it her story or was it something else? Was it a mix of things? Nako didn’t ask in worry that it will only make him worse. She instead chooses to sit down on the sofa, her eyes shining with worry, yet forever trusting.
The smaller one feeling of him acting different was now hitting her again. She pushed it to the back of her mind just thinking it might still be nervousness. How could she have ever known that the person she’s talking to be her lover older brother after all? It was true that she herself was still in shock and trying her best to adjust to everything. It was most likely he might be dealing with the same thing.
“Wood Callus? Sorry I don’t know about them.” She gets up to follow him to the door. She giggled hearing him talk happy to always listen and learn more about botany. She always wanted to just never had the time to really either find someone to teach her or to self-study. “Callus really been though a lot.” She gently traces the pattern on the door with awe. “Agree it really is beautiful, and beauty should never be hidden.”
If Mingue was trying to compare her to the beautiful tree she never connected the dots being as dense as she is when it comes to things like that. “That does remind me you said something about a greenhouse. Maybe once Aimi wakes up and we both wash up you can show up around? I-i mean if you’re not busy we don’t want to keep from your work or whatever you had plan.” It was right then and there that she heard Aimi crying so off she went to check up on her only able to say a quick sorry to him.
@โงห y. nako Mingue stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, as he watched Nako put Aimi to bed. Watching her return, he braced himself as she brought up her past, her voice steady but shadowed by pain. Her story unfurled, and he felt his heart sink under the weight of it. The scar across her right eye, the subtle change in her expression as she pulled back her hair to reveal what lay hidden. He found himself frozen, a knot of anger and sorrow twisting inside him for the girl she had been. He hadn’t known it was this bad.
It did not make any less beautiful. She was beautiful, innocent, kind– just beautiful. Like a flower, that will fall the moment he handles it.
There was something in her gaze- a mixture of trust and vulnerability, he felt an ache he couldn’t shake. Here she was, sharing something he knew she didn’t give to many people, and the heaviness of it felt like a bruise in his chest. He wanted to say something—anything—that would convey that he understood, that he respected her courage. But the words felt tangled, too weak for the moment.
His tongue tied, as he struggles to put the words. His breath hitched as he managed to spew. “Do not hide it.”
He took a breath, keeping his voice steady as he replied, “I appreciate you trusting me with your story.” There was a rawness in his tone that he couldn’t entirely mask. “It… shouldn’t have happened to you. No one should carry that.”
Mingue felt his hands shake, subtly at first, then more pronounced as he clasped them together in front of him, willing himself to calm down. This was something he should be able to handle, something he should be capable of doing. She’d entrusted him with her story, her scars, her very life and her baby sister’s. But standing here, he felt like a stranger to himself, all the walls he’d built buckling under the weight of her vulnerability.
His brother would have done this effortlessly. The thought stung, rising unbidden, reminding him of everything that had gone wrong. His brother, with his easy laugh, and his warmth, would have been the right person for her, not him—a man carved out of quiet spaces, shadows he’d rather no one touch. Mingue tried to breathe evenly, glancing at Nako as she settled into his living room, her expression still soft, trusting, hopeful. And he felt that trust like a knife, a reminder of all that he wasn’t.
What right did he have to stand here, acting as if he could love her back, as if he could ever feel what his brother must have felt? She was so fragile, clearly looking for stability, for someone steady to lean on. His heart twisted painfully at the thought of failing her, at the idea that he might break that trust and add more weight to her already heavy burdens.
Still, he forced himself to meet her eyes, the softness there both a comfort and a threat to his shaky resolve. He couldn’t let her see his doubts, the darkness that clung to him in his weakest moments. He took a shaky breath and tried to offer her something like a smile, though it felt brittle.
“But–” The words lost arrived as soon as the wood on the the door behind her came to focus. “Do you know about wood Callus?” He smiled. “These circular pattern on wood that makes a beautiful pattern?” He walked towards the door and showed it to her. “These are formed because a tree underwent harm– and through the callus, Callus can be directed by the tree to form cambium and then woundwood, shoots, roots or even flowers. It becomes these knots, that—”
His voice trailed. “They were proof that the tree has overcome a hardship. It made her stronger. And I think it’s beautiful. The tree should never hide what makes it beautiful.” He finished.
For now, that was all he could manage. He would stay, if only to be that stable presence, a kind of pillar she could lean on, even if he wasn’t sure he could ever give her the love she deserved. But the more he thought about her and Aimi, the more he wanted to try—try to be the steady presence he hadn’t had himself, even if he didn’t yet know what love was supposed to feel like.
@โงห k. mingue TRIGGER WARNINGS: abuse, fake eye, lost of eye
The moment Mingue opened the door her breathe was taken away she always knew how he looks like, but seeing it in person was a whole other thing. "It's so nice to finally see you in person after all this time." She went to give him a tight hug before entering the house with Aimi. "Look Aimi it's out new home the place you'll grow up to hopefully be a wonder beautiful lady and free from any abuse not like my own early childhood." She said while switching to carrying Aimi so both can take a good look around.
"My ai I could never thank you enough for doing this even if I told you time and time again you didn't have to do this." She grinned happily before letting it fade a bit when remembering something. "I know I promise you when we met you can see the right side, but not right now not when Aimi could also see, I really hope that's not the reason why you seem so cold." She puffed up her cheeks with a small annoy look just thinking about it. She knew how much he been wanting to see it after hearing what happen. She refused to show it in any pictures though knowing it's better for the first time to be in person.
She hummed while going to the guest room getting Aimi dress into her pjs before trying to get the baby to go to sleep. When she was in Paris Nako had help with Aimi via their mother old friend whom was born there then moved back to Paris. She taught Nako all she need to know, but now without help she was a nervous wreak fussing even over the littlest of things. When she knew Aimi was deep in her sleep she quickly and quietly left the room to head back to the main room.
"Yes did you already forgot that silly." She unconsciously took a few steps back while answering the coldness was something she never excepted. It was worrying that he was colder in person causing her to wondering for a moment what she did wrong. "I never knew you had a greenhouse." She clapped her hands together in happiness now just thinking the coldness was something to mask the other nervousness. " I will take a look later thank you so much this is most helpful indeed my ai."
She took a deep breathe before slowly letting it out. "A promise is a promise before I show you let me remind you once more how I got it. When I was eight my father got a bit drunker then normally so along with the normal name calling and punches he thought it was a good idea to break a beer bottle before smacking it in my face. The only reason why it didn't get worst was because my mother came home early right when it happen in fact." She slowly shake her hair away revealing a long scar that ran across her right eye. It also show a fake eye.
She only show it for a few seconds before covering it back up. It was honestly not something she liked to show unless it was either by mistake or it was towards someone she really trust. She even hate to remember how she got it let alone sharing the story. "You are one of the few people who know about this." She said in a shaky voice. He was her age and got alone so well. He made her feel safe when she needed to breakdown, and most importantly he was one of the few males she wasn't scared of and trusted.
@โงห y. nako Mingue's fingers paused on the edge of the door, pressing against the cool metal as he gathered himself. He knew she’d be arriving, but the reality of it—of facing her in the flesh, standing just on the other side of this door—was different. She was here, carrying the memory of his brother’s deception with her, and it churned something strange in his chest. He let out a quiet breath, squaring his shoulders before turning the handle, opening the door to face her.
The young woman before him looked small under her heavy coat, her eyes wide and bright with that same earnest expression he’d seen in photographs his brother had saved. He felt the weight of her gaze, as if she was searching for something she’d never find in him—a kindness, perhaps, or a comfort he wasn’t sure he had the strength to give. His eyes fell to the stroller beside her, where a small child clung to her finger, cooing softly in the brisk air. He hadn’t expected the baby to be so… tiny, so innocent.
He cleared his throat, his gaze drifting back to Nako’s. He could see the way she’d tried to make herself presentable, her hair carefully arranged, covering her right eye in a way that seemed almost deliberate. Mingue wondered if that was something his brother had known about her, or if she’d done it only now to prepare for this introduction. It didn’t matter, he supposed; he knew more about her than he should, thanks to his brother’s foolish lies, but that didn’t mean he understood her.
“Come in,” he murmured, stepping aside and gesturing toward the hallway. His tone was flat, the polite mask slipping only briefly as he glanced at Aimi. “Your things arrived earlier. I’ve prepared the guest room for you both.”
He watched as she stepped across the threshold, taking in the surroundings with the cautious wonder of someone embarking on something completely unfamiliar. A flicker of guilt stirred within him, but he quickly buried it. He was here to provide her with a roof and perhaps to atone, nothing more.
Once she settled Aimi into the guest room, he noted the slight tremor in her hands as she fussed over her sister. It reminded him too closely of his own younger days, tending to things he shouldn’t have had to. He wanted to ignore it, to keep his heart walled off from the pain he knew all too well. But somehow, standing in the dim light of his quiet house, that was easier said than done.
When she returned to the main room, he felt the silence grow heavy between them. He leaned back slightly, averting his eyes. “You’re a chocolatier, aren’t you?” he asked, the question coming out colder than intended. His hands drifted to his pockets as he watched her reaction, hoping it might ease this discomfort, this strange pull that he hadn’t expected to feel. “I have a greenhouse here. I… thought you might find some ingredients useful.”
@โงห k. mingue Nako who had just gotten her degree got off the boat that carry both her one year old sister Aimi and herself to Haepung. She was surprised that her long distance relationship boyfriend allow her to move in with him. She tried to tell him it was ok she could had gotten her own house especially with a baby; however he was very insistence so she gave in. The fresh nineteen year old looked at the map trying to figured out where to go before starting her walk towards the house all while humming mainly because it calms both of the sisters.
She knew that it was very and she meant very stupid of her to move in with a guy she never meet in person. She does trust she wasn't catfish however since her step father asked a friend who live in this town if someone like that was real, and if he was a good guy when they first started to date a couple years ago. It was all Nako family needed to know since all they care about was if he was a great person or not so no other information was checked. "Ah I think we're here Aimi." She said to her baby sister before ringing the doorbell. She only had a backpack with her as she had send her other things over before hand.
"Oh Aimi I really hope I can give you everything you need enough to make up for mom and dad being missing in your life. They love you a lot even if their not here anymore, but I'll do my best to take care of you. I'll give you enough love to fill up their share. This is the start of our new life." She said to Aimi that was in the stroller while Aimi played with Nako finger. Nako used her free hand to fix her hair making sure it covers her right eye. She might have a fake eye, but that doesn't mean she want to scared anyone with it.
