~Six Years Ago~

"Why do you dislike your birthday so much, Kali? You never want to celebrate it and it's really sad to see." Tae asked curiously, roughly two weeks after her twelfth birthday.

"...Because my sixth birthday is the day my mother abandoned me. She threw me away from her life to pursue her own goals and happiness, never once bothering to ask me what I want. NOBODY...has ever asked me what I want beyond shallow things such as a birthday present or in which way I want to do the task they've assigned me. I'm-"

Kali heaved out a sigh when she turned her head to see a disheartened Tae staring back at her.

This was the first time in her life that she had ever vented to anyone. Usually, she bottles everything up because it's nobody else's business.

"...forget it." She turned away and moved to leave the room.

"N-No! Wait!" Tae grabbed her upper arm in a panic.

"Please, stay, I...I want to hear what else you have to say." He sounded so desperate as he fumbled over simple words.

"You deserve to be heard as much as anyone else, so...I want to know how you feel. You never tell me anything like this, even though we're friends, so...please-"

His eyebrows knitted together, showing his frustrated sorrow, in his desire to understand her better. That's all he's ever wanted from her, after all, to just honestly be able to understand her better.

"Won't you trust me...Kali?" Her name escaped his lips as a strained plea.

Kali wouldn't admit it to herself, but hearing him speak her name like that stung a little bit somehow. She chalked it up to annoyance at his persistence, because this was all his fault, after all; him and his ruthlessly greedy father - King B.H.Entertainmen - were to blame for the lack of genuine love shown to her from her mother.

She had to blame them, she needed to, because the alternative would be blaming herself.

"Fine."

She let out an exaggerated sigh.

"...I'm so tired, Tae. What's the point of being here, of being ANYWHERE, if nobody cares enough to ask something as simple as what I want, for a change. All I am is a tool or a nuisance, I've never felt like anything else."

A bitter laugh escaped her lips, a sound no other soul had heard before this moment.

"Even the woman who gave birth to me didn't hesitate to cast me from her life. If even she can't love me, then perhaps I was just born unlovable. Maybe she was disgusted by what she saw in me and so cast me out to be somebody else's problem. Sometimes I just-"

She paused, not wanting to hurt Tae.

But the moment she realized she felt this way, she felt disgusted with herself and continued, anyway.

"...I constantly wonder why I was born at all and, sometimes, I wish that I had died a long time ago. At least, then, I wouldn't be in this stupidly impossible position. I've even thought of running away...but I don't want you to waste your time worrying and searching for me because your heart is cursedly pure."

The last part was unnecessary, in hindsight, but what was already said could not be retracted. So, she just shook her head and abruptly turned to face the opposite direction.

Before she'd turned completely around, however, Kali had gotten a glimpse of Tae's heart-wrenchingly sorrowful features and ignored the pain in her chest that followed.

"I-I had no idea, I-" Tae drew in a shaky breath, filled with regret.

"I'm so sorry...a-and you're right, you have every reason to be upset. I didn't realize I had been ignoring your desires and making you feel so un-" he awkwardly glanced away.

"I know it's unfair of me, after having neglected you for so long, but...please don't leave me."

He dropped to his knees by her side and looked up at her with pleading eyes. "You've been here with us for a while now a-and I need you, Kali."

The beautiful female dared not peek at his gaze in that moment; even his voice was intense.

"I am so so sorry for not realizing how you felt sooner and I'm super sorry for being so selfish as to not even ask something so simple before, but I promise I'll do better from now on. I'll try harder." His breathing was unsteady, clearly in a panic.

"I'm glad you were born and, no matter the reason, I'm glad I met you and got to bring you back here. You definitely do not deserve whatever happened to you to make that happen, but I refuse to regret meeting you. Kali...you are my best friend, and not just because you're the only one I have around here besides our three caretakers. Even if we lived in the heart of the nearest kingdom, surrounded by hundreds or even thousands of people...I would still choose to come back home here with you when it was all settled. Nobody can ever replace you, please believe me." He sniffled, sounding as though he were trying to hold back tears.

...Did he honestly feel that bad?

Kali hadn't realized that he would be this affected by her words, or she may have opted to keep them to herself.

Goodness, what will she do now? If the three women come back and see him crying she will be in a lot of trouble: they can't possibly care for her, after all.

...What a pain this all is.

"Alright, that's enough now" she soothed, gracefully sliding from the couch to kneel beside him.

"I'm not going anywhere just yet, alright? There's no need to worry...I have nowhere to go, anyway, remember? So, calm down and...you're free to forget this conversation even happened" she smiled gracefully, despite the pain she felt inside, as she gently brushed her fingers through his hair, a trick she knows to help put people at ease.

"...Is that what you want?" Tae mumbled sadly, looking at her with slightly pouted lips that only stopped trembling moments ago.

He noticed Kali freeze when he asked her that.

"I don't want to forget this and, honestly, I don't think I ever will. Knowing the pain I didn't help save you from saddens me greatly and emotions this raw are not ones that people should forget, if they ever even can. But, we have all been unfair to you for so long, so-" he took a deep breath "...whatever you want from me out of this interaction, I will do my very best to uphold. On that, you have my word. Just name it, Kali, anything at all, and I'll try my absolute hardest." He held her hands in his as he swore this to her, determination slowly replacing some of the sadness in his eyes as he looked at her for an answer.

Any answer at all.

Kali cleared her throat to combat the lump she felt starting to form there. This was the most precious thing anyone had ever said to her to date and she didn't know how to react other than pushing down what would have otherwise been a very vulnerable state to show on the outside.

"Well...honestly, Tae, what I want from this is-"