[ vie's hand slips away and jaejin feels disappointed at the loss of it, the loss of the possibilities it held, his eyes dropping to their hands instead. everything feels so jammed up, the pressure in his chest building to a steady ache, and he tries to focus on brushing the side of vie's hand with the pad of his thumb. it's one of the few times he thinks vie is wrong, really. he doesn't know that things will ever return to how they used to be. ]

Is it really so dependent on my honesty? [ quiet, but it's just the two of them and his voice doesn't need to be any louder. maybe he is responsible for it, this distance and the hurt between them. it's a lot of pressure. ] Do you think they will? Return to how they used to be between us, I mean.

[ he knows he's pessimistic at the best of times, puts too much faith in fragile things. perhaps that's why he always breaks bones in the fall. he swallows against the lump in his throat. ]

What if they don't, Vie?