He turned, seeing the one person he had hoped to avoid until his thoughts had settled.
Yuna.
The little girl with a crooked smile and tiny eyes, his best friend, stood before him looking... radiant. Her long hair pointed out her face beautifully, and beside her stood a man who looked just as striking.
"Is it really you?" she said as she clutched Miguel's sleeve, looking at him as if he could confirm to her that it was indeed Sooha in front of them.
Sooha's gaze dropped to the ground. Words failed him. And his fingers twisted together, tearing at the tender skin around his nails.
He began to turn away when suddenly a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.
"Shouldn't you greet an old friend?" Miguel said, brow furrowed.
Startled by the sudden touch and the stranger's bold voice, Sooha's eyes widened. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out, and his eyes drifted helplessly back to Yuna.
They looked at each other, tears welling in their eyes.
Shaking off Miguel's hand, Sooha walked straight to her, pulling her into a tight embrace.
They were holding tightly to each other, like a child holding its mother's hand in a crowd.
Tears fell, and to the people passing by, it looked as if someone was grieving. But these tears were not out of sadness.
There were tears of something new.
Ten years had passed during which, in the last four, Yuna had believed Sooha to be dead.
Sooha didn't even know what he still meant to her, how much she missed him, and how much she hated herself for not doing anything.
As if she could go against her father.
"Why didn't you come to me when you arrived?" Yuna whispered, tears still falling down her rosy cheeks.
"I thought you were dead... How did you survive that day in Syntrum?" Her voice trembled as worry and curiosity leaked through despite her effort to stay composed.
Sooha sniffled and raised a hand to point at the funeral home.
"He is... the reason I survived is inside," he said, his voice faint. The tears said more than he could.
"Damien has kept me in the Security Bureau ever since I arrived," he added quietly.
Yuna was confused about that; she wanted to ask more. But it was Damien, after all. And this wasn't the place nor the time to question his agendas.
"It'll be okay," she whispered as she hugged him tightly and placed a soft kiss on the crown of his head.
"I have to see my mother, Yuna... and I'm scared..." Sooha's tear-filled opal eyes looked up at her, just like they had all those years ago.
He hadn't changed. Not where it mattered.
"It wasn't her fault, Sooha. Just... keep that in mind," she said, gently rubbing his shoulders.
"I still need to figure stuff out," Sooha said, pulling away and pressing his fingers to his temples.
"All of this... It's too much right now."
He took a breath.
"Ever since they sold me off, I've just been surviving, day by day, living around strangers," he said, his face sullen.
"And now... you're not strangers, Yuna. I don't know how to handle that." his erratic behavior earned them a few side glances.
"I'll visit you once I figure things out. There's important stuff I need to tell you."
He turned away, wiping his teary eyes with his sleeve.
He met her too soon; he wasn't ready at all for it.
"Take care..." she muttered softly behind him.
The driver closed the car door behind him, and the vehicle pulled away, leaving Yuna and Miguel standing in silence.
He wondered what they were doing at the entrance of the funeral home; he felt a string of guilt wrap around him for not asking.
Sadly, the drive was over way too soon, and Sooha found himself in front of his house.
He remembered it down to the last detail, as there were not many places he could have replaced it with outside of Elysium.
The security in front of the house opened the gates and greeted him; going inside felt so wrong.
His chest tightened as he remembered the day he and Yuna were playing on those swings when a black van stopped and took him away from his home.
He knew that inside the house, his family was waiting for him, yet he could barely bring himself to take the steps towards the door.
His body felt heavy, and his breath shortened with every step until his hand was finally on the knob.
Click.
The door creaked, and he was inside the house. It still smelled the same; the scent of cinnamon and vanilla candles that his mother burned every day was filling up his nostrils, awakening old nostalgia.
He looked around, but it wasn't the same as when he had left... the furniture was new, and the white walls of the hallways were now sage green with intricate paneling.
It felt warmer somehow... maybe it was just him comparing it with the cold and sterile world he saw outside of Elysium.
Sooha walked towards the living room where the female maid was standing. Upon greeting him, she gestured for him inside the room.
His mother, Ji-Hye Kim, was standing in the middle of the room, his small sister holding her by the loose fabric of her pants, and his father, Edward Sparks, stood silently next to them.
None of them dared say a word, not even little Seoyeon, who now had her head buried in her mother's pants.
"Where is Tae?" asked Sooha softly, not meeting their gaze fully but acting as if the antique vase next to them was the most eye-catching thing in the room.
"He is in school; he will be back in about an hour, Sooha," said Edward, saying his name with way too much softness.
Sooha's eyes welled with tears, and there was something stuck in his throat; it felt like the hundredth time today that he was on the verge of tears and unable to speak up.
He was already getting sick of it.
"Just... tell me this one thing, please," Sooha sighed, mustering up the courage. "Did you two have anything to do with it?"
His mother stepped forward. "No! Sooha, no, we would never..." She walked slowly towards him, like you do towards a cat you don't want to run away.
"I was lost, Mom, and I felt betrayed." He stepped forward and embraced her. "Just tell me you had nothing to do with it!"
He looked at her with eyes full of sadness, sorrow, and hope.
"Sooha, they forced me. It was either you or all of us, and while that does not justify what we did, there was no other way, my sweet child. I wanted to run away, but you know we wouldn't get far. And baby, I understand if you hate us for betraying you, but it was my only way to protect Tae and ourselves," she said while resting her chin on his shoulder.
He knew she was right; he knew there was no other option, but he couldn't stop the piercing feeling inside his chest.
They survived, but it had cost him his everything. Then again, if she hadn't done that, Tae and his parents would've been gone, and he would've been taken away anyway.
He sniffled and said, "It's okay, Mom, I understand."
And what he understood was the fact that it was the system that was broken and needed fixing.
And oh, he would fix it.
He would fix it even if it meant tearing it apart from the inside out.