Page 124 of Ugly Beautiful Scars

"Your parents?" I ask, leaning in for a better look.

"Yeah. They live in Seoul now. Dad retired from the U.S. military but Mom wanted to go back home, so…" He shrugs. "You can see I get my height from my Dad's side." His gaze shifts to me. "What about your family?"

The question sends a small pang through my chest. Not painful exactly, just hollow. "Oh, not much to tell. I don't have a big family. Maybe a few cousins out there somewhere, but we're not close."

Sean waits, giving me space to continue or not. That's something I've noticed about him. He never pushes when I need time.

"I didn't know my dad very well. He left when I was young." I trace circles on my thigh, remembering a man who existed mostly in the sound of slamming doors. "And Mom… when I moved to Hollywood, she made it clear she didn't approve. She thought acting was a waste of time." I shrug, but my shoulders barely move under the weight of parents that are alive but just not there. "We used to chat maybe once a year on my birthday. Christmas, if I remembered to call. We're mostly strangers."

Sean's hand covers mine. "That must be tough. Going through everything without family to fall back on."

I squeeze his hand, grateful for how he sees the spaces between my words, the unspoken histories tucked into pauses and shrugs. "I've managed."

"Well, I have a big family. Honestly, my mom was distant when I was younger, so I grew up pretty much alone. As I've gotten older, though, maybe she's had some regrets because she's trying to be more involved. She invites me home a lot more. I think she's going to absolutely obsess over you."

The comment is casual, but the assumption of a future where I meet his family makes me ache for it.

His phone buzzes again with another message from his mom. Sean responds quickly.

I notice that his mother ends several of her messages with the same characters, so I point to them on his screen. "What does that say? She uses it a lot."

Sean's cheeks color slightly, and he clears his throat. "You don't want to know."

"Now I definitely want to know," I laugh, poking his arm. "Come on. What is it?"

He sighs dramatically, but I can tell he's not truly annoyed. "Kkul-tteok," he says, the syllables rolling off his tongue in a way that makes me want to hear him speak Korean more often.

"And what does that mean in English?"

He shakes his head and tries to shift away.

I wrap my arms around him, not letting him move. "Come on."

He finally caves and his ears turn an adorable shade of red. "Honey rice cake. She's always calling me ridiculous names."

"Aww. That's actually really sweet."

"It's embarrassing as hell is what it is," he grumbles.

"Will you teach me some Korean?"

Sean takes my hand, lifting it to his lips. His eyes hold mine as he presses a kiss to my palm. "Sure." He says a long string of Korean words that I can't even begin to replicate.

The sounds wash over me, beautiful but completely foreign. I blink at him. "Uh, what?"

He repeats it, slower this time, enunciating each syllable.

I attempt to echo him, tripping over the unfamiliar sounds. "Gasham… jodige dangmin-out nome… salangham—" I stop as Sean bursts into laughter. "What? That was my first try!"

"You butchered that so hard."

"Oh, come on. My mouth doesn't wrap around those sounds. What does it mean, anyway?"

His smile turns mischievous. "Look it up."

I grab his phone and navigate to a translation site, trying my best to repeat what he said. The result appears on screen, and my breath catches in my throat.

I love you so much it makes my heart ache.

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