Hye Jin’s POV

When I get to our apartment I can already hear the yelling. I open the door and quickly slip inside, letting as little noise out as possible. Tae Jin stirs in my arms and I hold his head in place while I rush to the bedroom. I lay him down in the bed and tuck him in, turning on my stereo to drown out the noise of our parents arguing again. 

I go back out once I’m sure he isn’t going to wake up. I go into the living room to see my parents standing yelling at each other. They both see me but they don’t stop. 

“Omma! Appa!” I yell. They finally stop for a second to turn and look at me, both breathing hard. “What’s the problem now? You know I could hear you from outside.” 

“You know what the problem is Kim Hye Jin, don’t even try to deny it.” Dad says through gritted teeth. 

“If you aren’t happy then take it out on me. Not each other.” I say, blinking back tears that are forming in my eyes. 

“Let me ask you this Kim Hye Jin. If the same thing happens are you going to ask us to move again?” I freeze. What the hell does that mean? 

“Appa, do you know something?” I ask, unable to hide the tremble in my voice. He looks away.

“No.” 

“Honey, she deserves to know.” Mum says to him. He glares at her and she flinches.

“Appa, tell me. Please?” I say, stepping towards him. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. 

“I’ve received messages.” he says and I have to hold on to the back of the couch to stop my legs from giving way. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I say, barely a whisper. But they still heard me.

“We didn’t want you to worry.” Mum says, coming around to put an arm around me. 

“Appa, change your number. I told you to do that before-“

“Enough! Unlike you, I have a network of acquaintances I must uphold and if I change my number every time, I will lose those contacts fast. I need those to be able to survive in my workplace.” 

“Appa…”

“It’s not that I don’t care about you Hye Jin-ah, but this family doesn’t revolve around you. If anything else happens, then we’ll have to take it head on. No more running away.” I can’t believe I’m hearing this. Dad turns to walk away from me and I lose it.

“Why did you let it get to this? Why didn’t you help me when it first happened? Then maybe we wouldn’t have had to move.” I say, tears streaming down my face. “I know you’re busy, Appa. But I’m your daughter. Why didn’t you even try to protect me? Moving was my idea, but you didn’t have to give in to me. You could have put an end to that problem for me.” 

I feel a hand hit my face but it doesn’t hurt. I feel numb. Everywhere. 

“Don’t you dare speak to your father like that Kim Hye Jin. It is not his fault we had to move. If you had a better eye for people then none of this would have happened.” I turn to stare at my Mum, who five minutes ago was comforting me. 

I turn around, running into my room. I grab my phone and am about to leave again when a voice stops me. 

“Noona?” I quickly wipe my face and turn to Tae Jin. “What’s wrong? Where are you going?” 

“Noona needs to go out for a while. I’ll be back soon.” Tae Jin grips the hem of my shirt.

“Take me with you.” 

“Tae, I don’t know where I’m going yet.” I say to him. I know he understands what’s going on, even if he is so young. 

“Still, I don’t want you to be by yourself.” he says. He sits up and wraps his arms around my neck. I stand up, lifting him with me. 

I go out of the room and find my parents have retreated to their own bedroom. I leave the house, Tae Jin resting on my shoulder. It’s starting to get dark out and I have no idea where to go. I really just wanna sit on a bench somewhere and bawl my eyes out but I can’t, not with Tae Jin here. I make my way to a nearby park and sit on a bench near the playground. I pat Tae Jin’s back gently until I feel that he’s fallen asleep again. 

I pull out my phone and dial a number.

“Hello?”

“Jae…” I sob. 

“Jin-nie? What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Where are you?”

 I tell him where I am and he hangs up before saying anything else. Minutes later he’s running up to me. 

“Hye Jin-ah!” I stand up, unbelievably glad to see him. “What’s wrong?”

“Thanks for coming, Jae.” I say as he sits beside me. He puts an arm around my shoulder and pushes my head to lean on his shoulder. 

“It’s fine. I told you I’m here for you.” he says. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

“I had a fight with my parents.” I say and I feel him nodding. “That’s why I don’t let you come in, in case they’re arguing when we get there.” 

“It’s okay, Jin-nie. Everything’s going to be okay.” he says, soothingly. “Do you want to hand him to me?” 

It takes me a while to realise he’s talking about Tae Jin and I shake my head.

“It’s okay. He keeps me warm.” 

We sit in silence for what seems like hours when I hear a voice that sends a chill down my spine. 

“Well, well, well. Moved on, have we?” I slowly sit up and look in the direction of the voice. I slowly stand up, staring at the figure in front of me. No. God, please no. 

Young Jae’s POV

“Well, well, well. Moved on, have we?” I look up to see this guy standing in front of us. Hye Jin slowly sits up and I feel cold where she was just laying. She slowly stands up and I look at her face. She looks scared. That’s when I stand up, looking between this random guy and Hye Jin. 

“Jin-Jin. My sweet Jin-Jin. How have you been?” he steps forward and Hye Jin shuffles back, her knees hitting the bench and I put my hand on her back, stopping her from falling back with Tae Jin still in her arms. She looks up to me, eyes b with tears. It was like a silent plea for help. Instinctively I step in front of her, shielding her from this guy. I feel her grip the back of my shirt with one hand and she shuffles closer to me. 

“Who are you?” I ask the guy. 

“Me? Hasn’t Jin Jin told you?” I raise an eyebrow at this guy. He’s so creepy, but I need to stand my ground because Hye Jin is clearly scared of this guy. “Hmm, I feel offended. I thought if she had a new boyfriend she’d tell him about me.” 

“Jae, can we leave? Please?” I turn my head to look at her over my shoulder. She’s straight out pleading now. “Please, get me away from here.” 

I nod before turning back to the guy. I’ve never seen her like this. The way she stands up to Na Ri I didn’t think she was afraid of anything.

“Look, I don’t know what is going on with you, but I think you need to leave.” I say, shifting when he takes a step forward. 

“Why? This is a public park. I’m allowed to be here just as much as the next person.” he says, smirking. 

“Fine. Then we’ll leave. I hope to never see you again.” 

“Oh, but you will.” he says, eerily. I hear Hye Jin whimper behind me and I turn around. I keep my back to the guy and put an arm around Hye Jin, leading her out of the park. I keep turning to make sure that this guy isn’t following us but he doesn’t. He just stands in his place, staring at us as we walk away. 

I take Hye Jin towards my house, leaving my arm around her the whole way there. It’s not until we reach my driveway that she notices where we are. 

“I-Is this your house?” she’s still shaking and I nod. 

“I didn’t think you’d want to go home yet.” I say to her. “It’s okay, you can come in.” 

I see her hesitate for a second before looking up at me and nodding. I walk her up to the door and go inside. 

“Son, is that you?” my Mum calls, coming out from the kitchen. She looks at the three of us, eyes wide. I send her a look and she nods, understanding. “Hi, I’m Young Jae’s mother. Why don’t you go on up to Young Jae’s room and I’ll make you something warm to drink?” 

“Thanks, Omma.” I say to her as I lead Hye Jin to the stairs. She does a small bow towards Mum before walking up the stairs behind me. 

I hold my door open for her and she walks in, eyes wandering around my room. 

“Put Tae down on my bed and have a seat. I’ll be right back.” I say, heading back downstairs to explain the situation to my Mum. 

I make my way downstairs and into the kitchen where Mum is making hot chocolate. 

“Omma.” I say, getting her attention. 

“What’s the matter, Young Jae?” she asks, turning to look at me. 

“That is Hye Jin. She called me earlier and was crying so I went to see her and something else happened and I couldn’t just leave her outside in the cold like that.” I explain. Mum nods. 

“That’s the Hye Jin. The one you told me about?” I nod. “She’s beautiful.” 

I blush slightly as I watch Mum pour the hot chocolate into two cups. She hands them both to me and pats my cheek before retreating to the living room to watch one of her dramas. 

I go back upstairs and find Hye Jin staring down at her little brother who is still fast asleep. She turns around when she hears me come in and she smiles a little. I hand her one of the mugs and I place mine on the bedside table before sitting down on the floor in front of her. She makes her way to sit on the floor too, crossing her legs. 

“Jin-ah. I’m not going to force you to tell me what happened back there but I want you to remember that I’m here for you.” I say to her and she looks into my eyes. 

“I want to tell you.” she says, very quietly. I have to lean forward a bit to be able to hear her. 

“Noona…” we both look up to see Tae Jin waking up. He sits up and rubs his eyes. When he stops he looks around him, trying to figure out where he is. Hye Jin puts her hot chocolate on the table beside mine before sitting on the bed and running her hand through Tae Jin’s hair. 

“Hey baby. Are you awake now?” Tae Jin nods, still looking confused.

“Weren’t we at the park?” he asks. Hye Jin nods. I can see she’s struggling to find a way to explain to him what happened but before she can say anything his gaze lands on me. “Hyung!” 

I smile as he practically jumps off of the bed and climbs into my lap, hugging me. 

“Hey, little guy.” I say, ruffling his hair. He turns around and plops himself in my lap. 

“Is this hyungs house?” he asks and Hye Jin nods. She takes her hot chocolate off of the table and offers it to Tae Jin. 

“Young Jae’s mum made us hot chocolate, do you want some?” he nods eagerly, stretching his hands out. I take it from her and hold it up to Tae Jin’s lips in case he drops it. He his lips clean of the chocolate moustache he made himself and I hold the mug for him. I smile at his cuteness and I look up to see Hye Jin smiling too. She looks up and her eyes meet mine. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.” I nod in understanding. 

For a while I show Tae Jin my toys, as promised. I offer them to him to play with but he refuses, afraid to break them. While I go through my collection Hye Jin’s phone rings. 

“Hello? Yes, we’ll be home soon. Okay.” I hear her say. I look up at her and she smiles. “Tae, it’s time to go.”

He looks up at his sister and pouts a little before nodding. “Okay. Thank you for showing me your toys hyung. Can I come and look at them another time?” 

“Of course you can. You come anytime you want. Just get your Noona to call me first to make sure I’m at home.” he nods eagerly and gives me a hug. I stand up and lead them to the door. 

On the way past the living room Hye Jin stops, seeing my Mum on the couch. 

“Aunty, we’ll be leaving now. Thank you so much for letting us in and for the hot chocolate.” she says. My Mum turns and smiles at her. 

“You’re very welcome, dear. Please do come again.” she says. 

“Bye Aunty!” Tae Jin says, bowing 90 degrees. 

“Goodbye, sweety.” she says before turning back to the TV. 

“Omma, I’ll just walk them home.” I say to her and she just waves me away. Nice. 

We step out of the door and Hye Jin turns around to face me. 

“You don’t have to walk us, you know?” she says. 

“I want to. I need to make sure you get home safely.” she nods and we start walking, each holding one of Tae Jin’s hands as he walks between us. Half way there I have an idea.

“Let’s make a deal.” I say, making Hye Jin look at me. “Let’s be each others bodyguards.” 

“Bodyguards?” she asks, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. 

“Yeah. You protect me from Na Ri and I’ll protect you from that guy we saw earlier.” I see her gaze flicker at the mention of the other guy. She thinks for a second before nodding. 

“Deal. I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend in front of Na Ri to see if she will back off.” she says. What? I wasn’t expecting that. I was just hoping she’d save me every time Na Ri tries to ask me out. “And you pretend to be my boyfriend in front of that guy.” 

I blink a few times before nodding slowly. 

“Deal.” I say. I look up and we’ve arrived at her building. “Go on in. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Tae Jin tugs on the bottom of my shirt and I lean down to give him a hug. 

“See you tomorrow hyung.” he says. 

“See you tomorrow, buddy.” I stand up after letting him go and look at Hye Jin. She steps forward and hugs me. I freeze with my arms out for a few seconds before lightly hugging her back. 

“Thanks for everything, Jae.” she says. She pulls away from me and I feel cold. “See you tomorrow.” 

I watch and wave as they walk into their building. I can’t help but smile to myself as they disappear from my sight. I go back home, smiling the whole way. 

The next morning I decide I should go get Hye Jin from in front of her building instead of waiting down the street, just in case. I leave a little earlier than usual and arrive at their building just as they are coming out. 

“Hyung!” Tae Jin runs up to me and I bend down, catching him as he jumps on me. 

“Tae! You promised me you would walk today.” Hye Jin says as she comes over to us. Tae Jin pouts and unwraps his legs from around me and slides down to the floor. I offer him my hand and he smiles as he takes it. 

“What are you doing here?” Hye Jin asks as we start walking. 

“I didn’t want to risk you going through any unwanted encounters on the way to my street, so I decided to come and get you from here.” I say and she smiles. I love that smile. Wait. What? 

“Thanks, Jae.” she says quietly, but I hear her. 

We make our way to school with no dramas, dropping Tae Jin off as per usual. We make it to class and sit down, earning glares from Na Ri. We both ignore her and classes for the day start. Our English teacher talks to us about a role-play project he wants us to do in pairs. He pairs us off with whoever we’re sitting with to make it easier to work together without having to move around too much, which is great for me. I’d rather work with Hye Jin more than anyone else. When the bell rings for the end of the day Hye Jin groans and places her head on the desk, turning sideways to glance at me. I laugh at her as I put my books away in my bag. 

“What’s the matter?” I ask, looking down at her. 

“My English and we have to talk in front of the class.” she says. I pat her on the back. 

“Don’t worry. My English is pretty good.” that makes her sit up. 

“Really?” I clear my throat. 

“Hello ev-rybo-ddy. My name iz Choi Young Jae.” I look at her expectantly, waiting for a response. She lays her head back down on the desk, groaning again. “What?” 

“I can do that much too!” she says, glancing sideways at me. 

“Don’t worry. I have friends that can help us. Let’s go, we don’t want Tae Jin to be waiting now do we?” I say, pulling her back pack off of her chair and handing it to her so that she can pack her things inside. She does so and then we leave the class room. 

As we walk out of the school I remember the events of the night before. 

“Hey, Jin-nie.” I say, carefully.

“Hmm?” 

“I just remembered that you said you would tell me about that guy we ran into last night.” I say, looking at her. She glances at me before looking straight ahead again. “You don’t have to tell me. I just thought if I at least know a little bit about him I’d be able to stand up to him better.” 

“He’s the reason I transferred and moved here.” she says. 

“Was he bullying you or something?” I ask. She shakes her head. 

“He’s my ex-boyfriend.” 

A/N: This is a long one.. sorry. Do you guys prefer longer chapters or shorter chapters? 

For some reason these days my chapters have been really long but still not a lot happens hehe. 

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