Yeo Ri felt her stomach drop as she read the report.
Both of the DNA results between her and her brothers said the same thing—'Unrelated'.
Yeo Ri was unreconciled. She shuffled through the reports with a sense of urgency. However, no matter how many times she read the papers, the ink did not change.
As for the DNA testing between Hyuk and Gun, the results were obvious—they were siblings, with a high likelihood of sharing the same biological parents.
The final verdict was clear—she was not related to either of her brothers.
Perhaps it was a cause for celebration in regards to her romantic involvement with Hyuk, but Yeo Ri found herself to be more disappointed than happy.
Yeo Ri's body shook as a mist overtook her eyes. The walls of text and graphs explaining the results blurred into the whiteness of the paper. Her hands lost their strength, and the report scattered on the floor.
—Even though she knew it was possible, even though she had long expected such a result, even though she knew that their bonds couldn't be broken just because they had no blood connection... the revelation was still devastating.
"..."
She thought that it was impossible to break her already broken heart, but now, her heart was utterly shattered. It felt as though it had been torn apart, shredded into the smallest of particles. Nothing could ever fix it anymore; not even her beloved brothers.
—They weren't even her brothers anymore...
"..."
She eyed the documents emptily, her eyes reflecting the state of her heart.
"—!" Yeo Ri stifled a sob as her body shook.
"Miss?" Tae Yang approached her cautiously. He didn't think the news would hit her so hard.
"H-hold me," the girl's lips trembled. "Hold me!" she urgently demanded. Her voice was raw with desperation, and in that moment, Kwon Tae Yang knew that this was the true self that the girl had tried so hard to protect.
The man wasted no time to comply. He swooped her into his arms just as as she lost the strength in her legs, pressing her tightly against his body like a cocoon. Her nails dug into his chest.
"Ghh...!"
The girl produced a sound that was between a groan and a sob.
Tae Yang held her even closer as her tears drenched his shoulder.
"It-it hurts...!" she wailed, "I-I hate this!"
"I h-hate this so much...! Make it stop! Make it stop!"
No words could explain just how excruciating it was for her. The psychological pain was so intense that she felt as though the actual organ was physically injured, cruelly ripped piece-by-piece by an invisible hand.
"It's okay, Yeo Ri-ah, it's okay," Tae Yang whispered as he rocked her, hoping to soothe the poor, heartbroken girl. He'd never seen her so vulnerable.
The man took a deep breath as he held the girl. His eyes reddened, and he found himself wishing he could do something—anything—to lessen her pain.
But he was useless.
He was just an outsider, a tool, nothing more than a lapdog for her perusal. There was nothing he could do to make her feel better. Nothing he could say would sway her or put her at peace. He didn't have the rights, and no matter how much she favoured him, the favour could never amount to anything compared to how much she truly, genuinely, loved her two brothers.
He finally understood why the girl had been so reluctant to do the test. The fact that she was strangers with the very people whom she held dear made her feel as though everything had become meaningless. Her world—her truth—had been forcibly torn apart, and nothing could ever salvage it.
"Why?" the girl asked; a rhetorical question nobody had an answer for. For what reason, then, did she suffer? For what reason did she brave through her past, for it to end up like this? For what reason did she try so hard, when there was barely any foundation to their relationship at all?
Why was she alive, when she wasn't supposed to be born in the first place?
Why, why why, whywhywhywhywhywhy—
"AaaAaaaAAAaaaagh—!"
The girl's scream caused the man holding her to tremble as though he could feel the pain ravaging her veins.
A tear dropped from Tae Yang's eyes. Now he was holding her so tightly that he feared she might suffocate. The girl clawed his back as her scream scarred him, her nails digging painfully into his flesh. Yet, he voiced no complaints.
The girl needed it—needed him—to anchor her. There was nothing he could do to stop her pain, but he could at least hold her; take her brothers' place to soothe her.
Yeo Ri cried herself to unconsciousness.