12

"I have listed Hyosung in Shin High School starting from this Friday. I hope you can take care of her there," his step-father said, in such forceful tone after a long awkward silence between them.

As much Yongguk got surprise of that sudden announcement, he didn't expect her to speak up first at all. With her usual tough expression and knitted eyebrows, she asked for an explanation which convinced Yongguk that she didn't know about it either.

"What?" she interrupted, clearly showing her dislikeness. "You didn't tell me about it."

"Should I?" his leftside eyebrow lifted up a little. "Then now tell me about your current scores first."

Hearing that statement forced Hyosung to press her thin lips tightly, couldn't find any excuse she may offer that time. She was indeed having below average scores lately, moreover after so many things happened to her life while the fact that she was studying at one of the most popular school in town didn't really help at all. Yet she was really mad to hear it out of his mouth. Mad, not because of disappointment of her own failure but more about his cold and fake attitude which trying hard to get his "perfect father" title back when he was the one that ruined them at the first place.

She hated him. Even to death.

"Well, then everything's set up. Hyosung will go to the same school as yours and I hope you can take a good care of her," he concluded, without waiting any longer.

Yongguk could only throw a thin smile, feeling so uncomfortable of the talk. He knew how mad the girl next to him had been yet he couldn't speak against those old man as well considering he was his father now, a guy that his mother loved with the whole of her heart. Regardless he liked it or not.

And, that was the time Yongguk realized how bad the taste of those dinner was.

She didn't know what time it was, whether it would be heard or not but Hyosung finally lost herself that night.

Her thin fingers were roughly moving the new printed books from the box to her bag one by one, even without any instructions from her mind. She didn't know what to do anymore, what kind of life she currently lived in---everything just perfectly broken that way. Right in front of her eyes and she couldn't do anything to fix them.

She didn't have anyone to hold, not even her parents or siblings. She was literally alone. And no matter how many times she thought she was alright with it, she had to admit that she hated to deal with loneliness. She hated it. Too much that she couldn't spill into words.

Too much.

"Have you done?"

Hyosung quickly turned her face to the door, where she found Yongguk was standing under the threshold with one hand held onto the door's handle. She needed a short moment to process that he was indeed standing there, despite her doubts and a bunch of questions that suddenly clouded her mind, before finally speak.

"Who told you to come in?" she coldly asked, gripping into her bag's strip in nervous.

She watched him tilting his head a little, showing such ridiculing face. "I can't sleep with these noises."

She got it. He was trying to take a revenge.

"Are you five?" she hissed, annoyed.

But then, he laughed. A soft chuckle was sliding out of his lips, making them curled up into a warm smile. Something that she didn't expect to see.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, a moment after he stopped laughing and caught her silence.

Putting her signature defensive face back, she pulled her eyes to the stack of books in front of her back and began organizing them. "Even if there's something, do you really think I will tell you about that?"

Yongguk smiled, already expecting her to give such answer. "I don't think so."

She rolled her eyes, vexed up. "Then you can leave me alone now."

From the edge of her tired eyes and from the way her thin pale lips slightly opened, Yongguk knew she wasn't alright. He knew it better than anyone else. So much better. Even if they weren't close and just happened to talk once, even if he knew that she hated him as much as he hated her---or even way more, he always could read something from beneath her boldness. Something that reminds him of his ownself.

"When my father passed away, I couldn't cry at all," he said, leaning his head against the frame with both eyes fixed on her.

Slowly, her hands stopped and her head tilted up a little to look at the guy. She found him staring at her with a smile hanging on his face---a smile, but the one that looking lost somehow. And she wondered how.

"I thought it'd be so much better if I could cry, even just a little," he shrugged, just so the feelings could slip off from his shoulder before goes on, "I wish I could."

She didn't think she actually understood the meaning but hearing that causing her to look away from his eyes, quickly covered up the sudden emotions that were getting into her. Those emotions that she wanted to erase.

"Why do you have to tell me about that?" she muttered.

"Because I want to see you cry," he stated. Too bold that she turned at him in such questioning stare. "I believe you will feel a lot better if you did so."

Yes, she believed it too. But she had leave all of the feelings inside of her heart for too long that she thought she couldn't even feel them anymore. They had been a part of herself---probably something that she would bring to death.

"I forget how it works," she smirked, knowing it was useless to even try. "Guess you've already know what happened to me."

"You're my sibling now," he reasoned, without needing time to think. "That's my responsibility to take care of you."

Take care---Hyosung thought she didn't remember when was the last time she got safety and she couldn't really believe she could get one but his words worked on her somehow. She could tell he was being sincere and how she wanted to believe it.

"That's why, from now on, remember that you always have me next to you."

She had already warned him to not to talk or look for her in school, and even refused to go to school together without clearly explained why. He didn't mind about it though and would gladly do that as well but he had to swipe those warning away when he saw her alone that evening, standing on the hallway waiting for the rain to stop.

He looked at his umbrella which he held by his left hand before looked at her back. He knew she wouldn't like to share the umbrella with him since she didn't want to get in any physical contact with guy but he couldn't pretend not to see her and walked home alone instead. So, after having a short moment of thinking, he finally walked towards her.

Just as he already predicted, she glanced at him once before quickly threw her gaze to somewhere else, making him looked like not exist at all. He already knew it. She was just too predictable.

"Take this," he ed the umbrella forward, still watching her closely to know how she would react.

She looked at the umbrella for a while before switched her attention to his face. There' s no clear expression drawn on her face so he had to wait until she opened her lips and said, "I don't need it."

"Really?" he smirked, little did he knew she would not accept it. "But I believe the rain won't stop until two hours later."

She glared at him. "It won't work for me."

Yongguk smiled, swallowing the laughter that almost fell through his lips before taking another chance. "I used to do a lot of part-time job. I could read nature's signs in a weird way."

"Why do you try so hard to make me use it? Do you put a price?" she twitched her lips to the side, mocking.

"Take this and go home safely," he hit her head with the umbrella, causing her to catch it by her both hands. "Listen to my words."

Hyosung looked at him, feeling a little touched by his kindness regardless her attitude towards him. "What about you?"

"I'll go home later," he shrugged. "It's not a big problem."

Knowing it would be rude to ignore him, she finally decided to take his kindness and walked away from the hall. She wanted to thank him, to apologize about her rudeness before but nothing could really come out through at the moment. And so she walked, and walked forward, hoping he could read her thankfulness somehow.

While Yongguk just wordlessly watched her slowly disappeared between the rain.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as he looked around and found it was literally silence there, since most of the students prefer battling against the rain than waiting without any certainty. Yet, going home wasn't as good as what it seemed for him.

He needed time to be alone, to be free from everything even just in a second, to hear his father's voice inside of his head. The way them surrounding his mind, the only way for him to feel his own guilty and regrets.

"Don't leave me, Yongguk,"

Just when those voice slowly came into his mind, he heard soft footsteps were walking closer to him before he turned to see who it was.

And he felt his heartbeat quicken a little to find it was Song Jieun.

She didn't seem to notice him and slowly took out her umbrella, getting ready to open the fold. He was about to not call her and trying to be as silence as possible but she eventually lowered the umbrella a little and found him.

Yongguk, without knowing why, felt his heart was stopping for a short while the moment their eyes met.

He used to believe that he just adore her perfection but now---he thought it was way more than it.

"Hey," he awkwardly called her, later regretting why didn't he call her name instead.

As always, she didn't answer him. She just kept staring at him, causing him to quickly turned his brain to find something to say.

"Are you waiting for someone?" was the only thing that he could ask at the moment.

She shook her head, still refused to put out her voice. Soon, she turned and opened the umbrella, finally leaving this time.

Through the rain, Yongguk still could see her appearance---her small figure and dark brown hair, her slow yet enchanting steps which clearly shown her maturity---everything, everything about her was looking beautiful for him. Which he wondered how.

Suddenly, he watched her stopped for a short while before slowly turned around, aiming to get back to the building.

As much as he knew it'd be better not to stare at someone that closely, he felt like he couldn't take his eyes off from her, like she had those weird power to catch his attention only to her---to only see her.

Why, why?

He didn't know what kind of feelings that he had towards her, whether it was only adoration or something more but as soon as she held out her umbrella above his head, he finally realized something.

He wanted her to be much closer than this.