June exhaled slowly, fingers unconsciously brushing the fabric of her skirt as though she could still feel that scar beneath. Her voice was quiet, heavy, but laced with a strange softness.
"Normally..." She began, eyes distant. "When people see my leg, there are only two reactions."
"Either they look away, quick, sharp, like it’s too ugly to even look at...or worse, they stare with pity. That look, that sympathy in their eyes, like I was sothing fragile, broken, soone to be pitied and handled with care."
"...That’s been my whole life, Olivia. Always those two reactions."
She gave a faint, bitter laugh, though it dissolved quickly. Then, with a sudden warmth breaking through, she added,
"But Kafka...he was different."
Her gaze lifted, finding Olivia’s eyes with quiet weight.
"He didn’t look away. He didn’t give that hollow sympathy. Instead..."
She paused, and a soft, almost disbelieving smile curved her lips.
"...He cried."
Olivia blinked, her mouth parting in shock.
"Wait, he...cried? As in, actual tears?"
She leaned forward with an incredulous look on her face.
"Kafi cried? That sa Kafi who always seems so unshakable, so...dominant? You an, real tears down his face?"
"Yes. Exactly that. I couldn’t believe it either." June chuckled, nodding slowly, her eyes shimring with the mory. "I thought he was the type of man who would never cry, no matter the situation. Soone who’d rather swallow glass than shed a tear in front of soone else."
"...But in that mont...I was utterly stunned. Because right there, in front of , he cried."
Olivia gasped softly, shaking her head as if she couldn’t quite picture it.
June’s hand then drifted to her leg again, caressing it absently as though replaying the mont.
"And the most shocking thing wasn’t even that he cried, it was why. He looked at , Olivia, and between his tears he said...’It must have hurt so much. Back then, you must have been just a little girl. A little girl in that kind of pain...how much it must have hurt you.’"
Her voice trembled slightly, but there was a light in her expression, a glow that softened every edge of her face.
"He wasn’t crying for now. He was crying for that child I once was. The little girl who suffered, who endured burns so deep they scarred more than just my skin. He wept because he imagined her pain, her fear, her loneliness."
Olivia’s throat tightened; she didn’t know what to say, her eyes wide and glossy with awe.
"And you know, Olivia, in this world...it’s rare enough to find soone who shows even basic empathy anymore." June laughed again, this ti softer, gentler. "Especially n. So many of them don’t see won as equals, don’t care for our struggles at all."
"But here he was, this man, this smooth-talking, cocky, teasing young man, and all he could do was cry for . For my suffering. For sothing no one else had ever thought to mourn on my behalf."
Her tone slowed, tender, each word full of weight.
"And in that mont, Olivia, it felt like a burden I’d carried my entire life was finally lifted. Like soone saw , not the scar, not the disability, not the pity or the disgust, but . And he held that pain as if it mattered to him."
She smiled faintly, her eyes misty with mory.
"It was a kindness no one had ever given before. And it made feel sothing I’d never felt. Like I was cherished...even loved. All from just that one, genuine reaction."
As Olivia listened, she felt her own heart tighten. It wasn’t just gratitude reflected in June’s eyes now, it was sothing fonder, warr.
A gaze steeped in mory, in attachnt.
A gaze that betrayed how deeply that single mont had etched itself into June’s heart, how it had tied her to Kafka in a way words couldn’t easily untangle.
June didn’t notice the flicker of unease crossing Olivia’s face; she was far too lost in the thread of mory. Her eyes were bright, almost sparkling, as she leaned back against the sofa, hands resting gently on her lap.
"You know..." She began softly. "...from that mont on, after he cried for , I felt closer to Kafka than I had ever felt to anyone in my entire life. It was like..." She paused, trying to find the words. "...like he had cracked sothing open in that I thought was sealed forever. And since then, I couldn’t help but treat him as soone precious. My dearest friend."
She chuckled lightly, the sound warm but tinged with irony.
"And sotis, honestly...almost like a little brother. With the age gap, it only made sense. I thought I should coddle him, cherish him, return even a fraction of the kindness he had shown ."
Olivia tilted her head slightly, watching her with quiet curiosity.
"But you know what happened instead?" June’s smile turned wry, almost self-mocking. "It wasn’t who ended up coddling him. It was him."
"He’s the one who kept saving , again and again. Lifting up. Reminding of my worth when I forgot it."
"...He made my life brighter in ways I didn’t think possible."
Olivia leaned forward, her brows knitting as she asked gently. "How? What did he do...for you to feel that way?"
June inhaled, leaning back against the sofa as if weighing where to even begin.
"Ah...there’s too much, really. I can’t recount it all. But..." She lifted one finger. "For one, he never stopped complinting . Always pestering , telling how pretty I looked, how strong I was. I used to push him away, thinking it was just aningless flattery."
"But little by little...it sunk in. I stopped bowing my head at mirrors. I walked taller. I actually believed him."
Olivia’s lips parted in surprise, her eyes softening as she imagined it.
"And then..." June continued, a fond look tugging at her face. "When this shop was in trouble, when they wanted to replace with another tenant, I thought I’d lose everything I had built...But sohow, he handled it."
"I don’t know what he said to the landlord, but after one single visit from him, the whole issue vanished. Just like that. He settled it in a matter of seconds, like it was nothing."
Olivia blinked, stunned. "Kafi...did that?"
"Yes." June gave a little laugh. "And another ti, when I complained offhandedly about sales being bad, I thought he’d just tease or nod."
"But instead...he organized a fashion party right here. Invited won from all over town. Showcased my designs. And it was such a success, the store was overflowing with people, I could hardly believe it."
"...It was like he’d handed a second chance."
"Oh, and let you this." She added with a teasing smile on her face. " He’s quite popular in town. One word from him, and half the older ladies practically stord my store. You can imagine the chaos."
Olivia’s cheeks ward. She already knew how popular he was with won, but hearing this only confird it further.
"But the thing he helped with the most...was my marriage."
June suddenly said with a wistful look on her face to which Olivia’s expression shifted to one of intent focus.
"With my husband...it wasn’t going well." She said with a lonely look in her eyes. "Like I told you. It was in shambles. Kafka, he told outright to just leave him, to find soone better. He said I deserved more. But I...I wasn’t ready then. My self-esteem was still too low. I thought I had to try again, to rekindle what was left."
Her fingers twisted slightly in her lap.
"So I asked Kafka for help with my relationship."
Olivia’s voice dropped. "And...did he?"
"Yes. Against his own judgnt, he still helped . He taught how to make a man fall for her, how to rekindle romance. He even set up a date for and my husband. Planned every detail. He wanted to have a fresh start."
"So...did it work?" Olivia’s breath caught. "Did you two...get back together?"
But June only shook her head, her lips curving into a sad, ironic smile.
"No. The exact opposite happened."
"...The night of the date, I waited...and waited. He never ca..."
"...Later, I found out he was with another woman."
Olivia gasped, her hand rising to cover her lips.
"That’s...horrible." She whispered, her voice trembling with sympathy. "You must have been so hurt, June...to wait like that, only to find out he was with soone else."
But to her surprise, June shook her head, her expression calm, almost serene.
"Oh, not at all." She said with a small smile. "Please don’t worry about . In the end, it turned out to be the best case scenario for ."
Olivia blinked in confusion. "The...best case scenario?"
"Yes." June said, a faint laugh slipping through as if the mory itself still baffled her. "Because after Kafka found out what had happened, since I told him everything, he didn’t show it on his face at all. Not then...But I could see it."
"He was furious. Absolutely furious. He just walked away without saying a single word. I didn’t know what he planned to do...and to be honest, I thought maybe he would just let it go. But the very next day..."
She leaned forward, her eyes bright with the mory.
"The very next day, to my shock, I saw my husband, my proud, arrogant husband, prostrating on the floor before , clutching my leg, crying, begging."
"Begging to forgive him, swearing that from that day forward he’d love with every fiber of his being. That he’d be my perfect servant. That he’d do anything I asked."
Olivia’s eyes widened, her mouth parting in disbelief.
"What, what?! He...He begged you? He cried like that? But...how? What did Kafi do to him?"
June slowly shook her head, still smiling with that sa baffled fondness.
"I don’t know. That’s the truth...He looked perfectly fine. No bruises, no punch marks, nothing. So it wasn’t as though Kafka had beaten him into submission."
"But sohow...sohow he broke him. Made him cry at my feet. To this day, I don’t know what words he used, or how he did it. But whatever it was...it worked."
Olivia shivered, stunned at the thought. Kafka, her son, the smooth-tongued charr who teased his mother endlessly, had reduced another man to tears and begging without even lifting a hand, making her realise that there was so much to him that she didn’t know...
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