[ In the past, during moments like these, she's definitely been asleep. This time, though--although she's definitely quiet and still--she's awake and listening... and really, she can hear him all the better for having an ear pressed right up against his chest.

She doesn't feel strong right now. Right now, she feels--not weak, precisely, but nothing feels quite real. Being like this with him--she feels good. Warm, safe--comfortable. But this is a place that is anything but. And on the other hand, everything that he's told her--about Soo-won at least--that feels... impossible. Fuzzy and distant. To hear someone as strong as him praising her for her strength and resilience--that, too, feels as though the world has flipped itself on its head.

She curls into him a little more, pressing her face against his shoulder. ]

You never praise me this much.

[ And there's that, too. ]