Areum awoke with a start, her eyes fluttering open to the soft morning light filtering through the bedroom window. A sense of unease washed over her as she realized the space on the floor beside her was empty, the sheets remained on the footboard bench cold and undisturbed. Flynn was not in the room.
She sat up, her brow furrowed, her mind replaying the events of the previous night. The kiss, the slap, the raw emotion that had crackled between them. She had been unable to sleep, her thoughts a tangled mess of confusion and regret. Had he not returned at all? Had he simply slept elsewhere in the mansion? Could he have gone to Ma-Ri?
A knot of anxiety tightened in her stomach. She did not understand her own reaction, the conflicting emotions that swirled within her. She was angry, hurt, confused, but also… something else. Something she did not quite want to define.