Broken Ties

As YongHwa reached the edge of the house, staring down your attacker with eyes full of determination, a small cry came from the house in which this man was residing. YongHwa's gaze spun from his target, to the front door as two young children with scruffy hair and clothes burst through it. "Appa! Appa! Appa!" they ran towards the man with their arms outstretched, and he bent low on one knee to embrace them. YongHwa started. The determination in his eyes faltered as his gaze swept over the loving scene. Little arms were thrown around the thief's neck, as an older child came through the door solemnly and turned to face YongHwa with a surprisingly cold face. The child was possibly about nine or ten years old, scrawny and gaunt, that hungry kind of look only seen in extremely poor folk covered him in head to toe. As YongHwa met the eyes of the solemn hungry youth, something hit him at the back of his head and he whirled around to see what had happened. Rubbing the back of his head YongHwa looked left and right and straight ahead, but there was nobody there. Wondering then if something had fallen from the tree somehow, or that a bird had dropped a rock on his head he turned back to the house dismissively.

The thief still hadn't bothered to acknowledge YongHwa's presence as he tended to his children. The little girl of around two years old seemed to have a bloody scrape over her brow. Thunk. YongHwa's head dipped forward as again something hard hit him square in the back of his head. This time he turned around with a vengeance, determined to find the culprit but again nobody was behind him. Then he saw him, a mere babe sitting in the grass, covered in muck with dirt all over his face. He was glowering up at YongHwa, and had a pile of rocks sitting in the middle of his crossed legs. As YongHwa peered down at him in surprise, the little one raised another rock back over his shoulder ready to launch it for a third time at YongHwa's head. Just as the rock whizzed towards him YongHwa ducked to the side, and wagged his finger at the baby to try and convince him to stop. The baby glared. Clearly he knew YongHwa was not a friend of his father's. YongHwa turned back to the house, realising he had now come into the home ground of the enemy and it was now five against one, he was outnumbered, even if it was half by babies.

"You there!" YongHwa called up to the top of the steps, as he stood his ground at the bottom of them. He wasn't stupid enough to get any closer than he was now, but he had to keep an eye on that annoying baby behind him. He side-stepped another rock which whizzed his way and landed at his feet.

The ten year old child's eyes moved from his father to the baby and widened, "JiWon, hajima! (stop that)." He bounded down the stairs past YongHwa and scooped the baby up in his arms, then turning back to watch YongHwa like a hawk. "What do you want? Why did you chase our father here?" the youth quizzed rather rudely.

YongHwa ignored the child, but was glad he had at least put a stop to the baby's irritating missiles. He looked back up to the panting back of their father, who now raised himself up from his crouching position, withdrawing from his children and telling them to hurry inside. It wasn't until all the children were safely inside that he turned to face YongHwa. "You followed me all the way here," he commented, stating the obvious. He had regained most of his breath back, and placed his hands on his hips now, stretching his back. "So what are you planning on doing next?"

"That depends on you," YongHwa replied with caution. He wasn't completely sure how to approach the situation now that it had changed. He didn't really have a great feeling about taking a swing at this guy in front of his children. Those children had their noses pressed up against the door and windows, he could see them from the corner of his eye. YongHwa still had his morals. "Are you going to give me back what you stole?"

"I didn't steal anything from you," the man spat at his feet.

YongHwa's jaw muscle flexed, and his eyes flashed. His sympathy for the man was rapidly depleting. If he was going to behave like this... then he didn't deserve the mercy YongHwa was thinking of showing him after all. If he was a poor and humble man, that might have been a different story. But if he was going to act like an arrogant pig, he was slipping back into the lowlife loser status he had first been sitting in while YongHwa had chased him all this way. YongHwa ground his teeth together. "You stole from my girlfriend, that means you stole from me. Don't start playing dumb now."

The man raised his eyebrows passive aggressively. "And what are you going to do about it? Are you going to beat me to a pulp in front of my family? Is that what you're planning to do, huh, tough guy down there? You think you could give that a try, do you?"

YongHwa couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. Obviously he had read YongHwa's mind, and so he expected YongHwa to be the bigger man and just walk away. His head spun as he tried to decipher the best way to deal with this situation. If he walked away... it wasn't like it was just something he could decide to do without. This was for you, it was your purse and your phone. Your personal things. He couldn't just walk away from that. His eyes flickered towards the children in the window, they stared back, transfixed by the standoff outside their house. What was he going to do?

The man grumbled and half turned his back on YongHwa as the idol stood where he was, hesitating. "Yeah, I didn't think so. So just be a good boy and run along to your girlfriend and buy her a new phone, you look like someone who's got a bit of money. I wish I had that luxury. I've just got seven mouths to feed each night." And with that he made towards the door, his back turned, and put his hand on the handle.

"Wait!" YongHwa called from the bottom of the steps, and hurriedly made his way up them. The man flinched when he turned around and saw that YongHwa was directly behind him, face to face. His mouth was open and YongHwa smelled a terrible stench coming off his breath and his clothes. This guy hadn't washed for days. He may have been rude, arrogant and low, but it seemed he didn't have much choice in his daily life. He had to be disconnected, he had to be tough and do risky things. He had to feed his family. YongHwa's eyes moved over the rotting house, at the paint peeling and at the state of the brick and window sills which where inches thick in dirt with grubby window panes. Something heavy lay over his chest as he took it all in, took in the faces of the children, so hungry looking and unkempt.

"What do you think you are doing?" The man spat at YongHwa, spittle flying from his mouth and landing in the idol's face.

YongHwa calmly wiped the spittle from his face, and reached into his back pocket. "How much do you think you will get from the phone and the purse?" he asked seriously.

The man glared at him for a moment, then he looked taken aback. "Well I- I don't really know I haven't gone over them yet."

"I'd say about 500,000 Won for the phone, and maybe about 25,000 Won for the purse. I don't think she had much money in there, but let's say there was about 10,000 Won in the purse. Do you agree that sounds reasonable?" asked YongHwa calmly.

The man stared at him. "Maybe, maybe about that much." He cleared his throat. "Or maybe, maybe in the purse your girlfriend had a bit more than you thought. Maybe there was about 20,000 Won in there you didn't know about..." He trailed off meaningfully.

YongHwa smiled. He brought his backup wallet out from the slim fit pocket at the back of his jeans and his fingers, counting his money. "Let's say it was about that, and I double it for you."

The man's mouth fell open. "M-Moh? You'll give me the worth and more? Double the worth?"

"Neh."

The man hurriedly reached into his jacket and brought out your phone and your purse. "Cha, take it. Take it back, sir. Please, have it. Is the lady alright? She didn't get hurt did she?" Suddenly the man seemed to have taken on a whole different personality, his hands open gratefully as YongHwa passed over the money he had promised in exchange for your personals.

"She's fine," YongHwa replied kindly, slipping your phone and your purse into his pocket. It felt like rather than some plastic and leather sitting in his pocket, it were actually gold and diamonds entrusted to him to protect. "She's probably just waiting quite impatiently for me to get back. Kurom..." YongHwa made to turn around, the man bowing and thanking him profusely. Just as YongHwa began to descend the steps, a hand reached out and grabbed his finger. YongHwa looked down. It was the same baby from before who had been throwing rocks at him when he had arrived. The baby held onto his finger tightly, looking up into his eyes, the hostility gone.

YongHwa smiled down at the baby and patted his head before continuing on his way. He hoped you were sitting tight, waiting, however impatiently, for him. He suspected he might be in for it when he got back, just taking off like that and making you worry. But he hoped the return of your items would make up for it... He checked the front and back of his hands and sighed, no bruises or scrapes to show for it. He wondered if he should tell you what really happened, or make up a more exciting story. How boring that he gave the guy some money because he felt sorry for him and his family. He'd have to tell you that instead of a family, it was a gang. And he took them all on, like Lee Min Ho in City Hunter. Jumping and round-house kicks and all. Someone even tried planting a bomb on him, but just in the nick of  time he noticed it, wriggled it free and defused the bomb so no harm came to the city.... Hmm... maybe not. You'd surely see through that one.

YongHwa attempted a side kick as he walked, stumbling backwards, and looking around to make sure nobody had seen him. Nobody looking, good. He then reached into his pocket to check exactly how much was actually in your purse out of curiosity. He flicked it open. Nothing. Just a few cards and a picture of you and YongHwa being silly in a sticker booth. YongHwa laughed out loud. That crafty man... that clever crafty man... He shook his head as he walked to the end of the street, hailing a bus that came up in good timing so he could get back to the main street quicker and find you. He hoped you were alright, he hoped you weren't panicking.

...............................................

You were panicking. You had been waiting for YongHwa for almost an hour and had still seen no sign of him or the pick pocket. Deciding you didn't like this situation at all, and fuming that YongHwa had taken off without a word to you, not even a "I'll be back" or even a "Wait here." Now you were worried sick about his welfare, and you were totally lost as well. You had gotten sick of waiting on the bench, in hope that he would pass by, looking for you. You hoped he would just abandon the chase and come back to you. Don't most people give up after dashing a few yards? You cursed YongHwa's athleticism this time, sure he was strong, sure he was fast, but right now you hated those things. It meant he thought he was invincible at a time like this, couple that with his determination and refusal to give up, and you got a guy that would run from one side of Busan to the other just for a goddamn purse and phone.

You stood up like a bolt of lightning from the bench. The only thing you could do now was go and find help. This probably wasn't a problem big enough for a police officer, not unless YongHwa had been missing for more than 24 or even 48 hours. But you had to do something, you had to alert someone. Hopefully they could offer you some advise, or even give you some directions. So the next police officer you saw patrolling the street, you hurried up to him with a desperate "Chogiyo! (Excuse me)."

The officer was an older man with a very round face and some grey hairs on his chin. "Ah, a foreigner. What seems to be the trouble?"

"Someone stole my purse and my phone near the fruit stalls and now my boyfriend has gone after him... they've been gone for over an hour," you explained as best you could to the officer.

The officer scratched his chin. "Hmm, your boyfriend should have come and made a report to me, not go off and try to solve things himself." The officer had a scolding tone but he did not seem angry. "Which direction did they go off to?"

You pointed up the street and beyond the alleyways. "I saw them go up there but then lost sight of them. I have no way to contact my boyfriend since my phone is stolen."

"Would you like to come with me to the station and make a report against the thief? After that I can take you home and hopefully you boyfriend will have made his way back. I daresay he wouldn't have caught up to your offender, so he should be backtracking soon. If he's a smart boy he would have figured you would have made your way home. Is your boyfriend Korean?" asked the officer.

"Neh, he comes from Busan but we are only here on holiday," you said.

The officer looked thoughtful. "Hmm, then he will at least know his way around well enough. You needn't worry about him. I'm sure he wouldn't have pursued the thief unless he had the confidence. Why he chose to leave his beautiful girlfriend behind I don't know."

You tried to smile and the officer lead you to his patrol car. With that, you filed the report at the station, giving every detail to the police so that they could get a good picture of the guy. They let you know that they would keep an eye out, and otherwise send you home. A different officer drove you home as the one you came with was reasonably high up and was given more work to do.

"Take care, agashi (young miss)," said the younger officer who had driven you home to the Jungs house. "I hope your boyfriend will be home soon."

You waved the police officer away after thanking him, took a deep breath and hurried to the front door in hope that YongHwa had already made his way home. When you reached the front door you barely had your hand out ready to knock when it swung open and KyungHo appeared, you opened your mouth to greet him when he reached forward and grabbed you by the wrist. "Shh, keep quiet," he  whispered urgently, putting his hand over your mouth and leading you stealthily to the back of the house. You could hear loud voices in the kitchen, it sounded like YongHwa's mother and grandmother were arguing but you couldn't make out any words. What was going on? Why was KyungHo behaving like this?

When the two of you reached the room which you recognised to be YongHwa's room from your brief encounter the night before, KyungHo let go of you and slid the door quietly shut behind him. He turned around to face you, his eyes wider than usual. He seemed quite restless. "Where's YongHwa?" he asked you immediately.

"W-we got separated," you stammered, suddenly nervous. You had a bad feeling about coming to the house without YongHwa now, the tension was in the very atmosphere of the house.

KyungHo noticed your expression and put both his hands on your shoulders, bending to your level. "What do you mean you got separated? Did you lose him in town? What happened?"

You took a deep breath. "We were pricing the fruits when a guy stole my purse and my phone and YongHwa ran after him. I haven't seen him since, so a police officer brought me home."

"Aiiiish." KyungHo looked away from you distractedly. "No, this can't be happening right now. Of all times!" He reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone. "I'll see if I can get through to him this time."

"Have you been trying to call him?" you asked weakly.

"Neh, but he won't pick up." KyungHo dialled YongHwa's number and you waited in silence as he listened to the phone. After several rings it went to message bank. "Aiiiish...."

"Is something else going on?" you asked timidly. You could still hear the row in the kitchen, and it made you anxious. There must be a reason KyungHo didn't want anyone else in the house to see you arrive.

KyungHo's eyes came to yours, and he held your eyes a while. He seemed to be in deep thought about what he should or shouldn't say to you. The intensity in his eyes reminded you of YongHwa, and you felt a stab in your chest at his absence. "It's just Halmonni and Omma. They've gotten into a bit of an argument."

"What about?" you asked hurriedly, fearing the worst, that it was about you.

KyungHo's eyes shifted away from you. "Just about... I think we should wait for YongHwa." He tapped his phone again, waited for the rings, still no reply came.

A heavy weight had been placed within your chest. You were still panicking as to YongHwa's whereabouts, and now you were panicking about the argument in the kitchen. You knew it was about you now, KyungHo's eyes gave it away, he just didn't want to say it with his own mouth. Feeling at a total loss you collapsed onto YongHwa's bed. The motion had stirred his scent from the sheets and you could smell him as it reached your nostrils, as if he was here in the room now. It comforted you slightly, but not enough. Where was he? Why couldn't he pick up his phone? You hoped against all hopes that he hadn't landed himself in trouble.

"KyungHo-ah!" The boys' mother's voice rang down the hallway and suddenly KyungHo froze, his head snapping to you. "KyungHo! Yah! Odiyeh? (Where are you?)" Her voice was getting closer as she seemed to be making her way down the hallway to the bedroom. KyungHo's eyes scanned the room quickly, they went from under the desk to the wardrobe and back again as obviously he assessed those as the best places to hide you. Making his mind up, he moved towards you and started pushing you towards the wardrobe.

The door flew open as soon as KyungHo made towards it. His hand froze against thin air where the door had been as his mother had opened it and looked at him suspiciously. "Mohae? (What are you doing?)" she demanded, her eyes moving over the room and back to him as if she suspected he was hiding something. "Have you been in here the whole time?"

"Neh, Omma. You know I don't like confrontation," KyungHo stated, moving forwards and bowing his head in hope of leaving the room and drawing his mother's attention away from it.

He wasn't so lucky. "Is he there?" Halmonni came blustering down the hallway and came to stand behind his Omma. Now there was no way of pushing past the two ladies without looking guilty. His grandmother looked at him sharply, "Have you heard from those two? Why aren't they back yet?"

KyungHo puffed out his cheeks. "Ani, I don't know where they are."

A hand whacked him at the back of his head, and he looked in surprise at his grandmother as she snapped, "Don't forget to use honorifics when talking to your elders."

"Neh, mianheyo, Halmonni."

You listened with bated breath as you remained crouched inside the wardrobe, your ear pressed against the wood. Wondering what exactly had gone down between the family while you and YongHwa were out, you racked your brain for reasons, ways around the problem. Could it really be true  that they were arguing about you? What could you have possibly done to cause such hostility? Nothing came to mind... It just seemed like YongHwa's grandmother couldn't take to you, no matter what you did.

Your muscles were cramping up in the uncomfortable position you were in and you itched to move your legs so they could stretch out to the side of the inner wardrobe. You poked your toe out into the darkness slowly, checking for objects and hoping there was nothing inside that would make any noise. All clear for one foot, you relaxed and brought the other foot beside it when... PLOP. Something knocked from the bottom and caused whatever was resting on top of it to fall. You gritted your teeth and cursed in your head. The noise was unmistakable. You clapped a hand over your mouth in distress.

"What was that?" the Jung's grandmother demanded.

KyungHo sounded stressed. "Mula, I didn't hear anything. Maybe it was the wind."

"Is there wind inside this room, KyungHo?" Halmonni sounded angry now, angry that her grandson had even tried lying to her, and angry that someone was definitely hiding in this room. "Step aside KyungHo."

You heard shuffling. "Omma, please calm your nerves. It probably wasn't anything." YongHwa's mother seemed to be making an attempt at covering for you. Your heart almost warmed at the thought, but it was short-lived as suddenly the wardrobe door opened and you were thrown into brightness, and YongHwa's grandmother peering down her nose at you with an expression of contempt.

"Mohae? What do you think you are doing hiding in my grandson's wardrobe?" hissed the old woman, her face livid. "Get out right now."

"I hid her there, Halmonni." KyungHo put in urgently. He came to stand beside the wardrobe, trying to get in the way of his grandmother and you as you clumsily found your way out. Your whole body was shaking. All eyes were on you, all except KyungHo who's back was turned to you as he tried shielding you from the women.

"Weh?" hissed the elder.

"Because I know you have something against her, you and Omma were arguing about it, and she happened to arrive in bad timing so I ushered her out of the way." KyungHo turned sideways to make sure you had climbed out safely, saw how panicked you looked and put a hand on your arm. "It's not fair for her to have to listen to that."

The old woman's nostrils flared as her grandson spoke against her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The disrespect was astronomical.

"Omma," pleaded their mother. "Please, let's come out and have a nice drink of iced tea and talk about this a little more calmly."

Her own mother ignored her. "And where is YongHwa?"

You found it hard to swallow your own saliva. "H-he... We got separated..." You didn't want to say the word "lost" for fear of this old woman lashing out at you, because it certainly looked like she was within inches of doing so. Her temper was dangerous. However, even at these words her eyes seemed to be popping out of her head.

"You lost him? You dared to come back here without my grandson?" her voice was quickly rising. "Where is he?"

You gulped, but there was nothing to gulp.

"Omma please..."

The older lady raised her hand but KyungHo moved in front of you. "Hajima, Halmonni. Listen to the story, someone pick-pocketed __________ and then YongHwa went after the thief. She couldn't stop him. I'm sure he'll be making his way back home. He's a man, not a boy."

YongHwa's mother looked worried. "Have you tried calling him?"

"Neh. He's not picking up. Maybe his battery is flat," replied KyungHo.

YongHwa's grandmother turned back to you, her eyes as small and leering as they could get. "This is all because of you. I knew you were bad news for my grandson."

Your mouth fell open and you felt like you had been smacked in the face, and stabbed in the heart at the same time. "M-mianhae I-"

"Why did you come back here without my grandson?" the older woman boomed over your timid apologies.

"Omma! You can't say such things!" YongHwa's mother grabbed her fuming mother by the arm but the older lady pushed her off. Her daughter's face contorted, hurt by the gesture.

Suddenly YongHwa's father appeared behind the women, gazing around at everyone in confusion. "What's going on in here? Ah, _________ you made it back, well done girl. Where's YongHwa?"

You went to open your mouth, relieved for his comforting presence and eager to explain before anyone else but you were cut off before you had managed even a word.

"This wretch decided to abandon him to a thief," spat their grandmother, pointing her finger at you as she turned to glare at Mr Jung.

"Yeh?" YongHwa's father stared at the older woman, flabbergasted.

"Ani, that's not true!" called out KyungHo at the same time as his mother shouting something too.

You felt like the world was spinning and any minute you were going to collapse. This was all too much. Where was YongHwa? You started to doubt yourself, whether you had done the wrong thing. But there was nothing you could have done. He had been gone in a flash, even the Police couldn't do anything. They didn't even seem too worried. If YongHwa would just either pick up his phone or hurry up and appear here... this would all be okay... But it wouldn't be okay still. Because the damage had already been done. You would forever be frightened of looking YongHwa's grandmother in the face again. It was obvious. She hated you. That could never be undone. Hate dripped from every word she said now.

"Get her out of the house!" the old woman was screaming shrilly, over everyone else. "Why doesn't anyone here do as I say? I said to get her out of the house!" And like that she grabbed you by the arm and pulled you through the rest of the family, slapping everyone else away. KyungHo grabbed onto your other hand and tried pulling you back towards him but at your shout of pain he withdrew. YongHwa's father pried Halmonni's fingers from your arm firmly as she progressed up the end of the hallway but the old woman still wouldn't calm down and made towards you repeatedly as the male Jungs stood in her way and didn't let her through to you. Your face was streaming with tears. Red marks from the older woman's fingers were all down your arms but it was your feelings which were hurting the most. Hot tears splashed down your red cheeks as you sobbed uncontrollably, backing away from the din into the wall and feeling like the walls were closing in on you.

Then there was a pair of arms around you. You didn't know which of the family had decided to come and comfort you but you buried your face into their chest and sobbed even harder. A warm hand rubbed your back and whoever it was rested their head against yours, your hair. You could feel the physique of the family member and realised that it was a man, a very fit man. His muscled chest was good to touch and when you realised you had your hands on his chest, he kissed you on the top of your head making you falter. Your sobbing stopped abruptly and you quickly looked up into big brown eyes, blinking the blurriness away in surprise as you realised it wasn't just any of the Jungs. It was your man.

"Kwenchana?" asked YongHwa quietly as he wiped a tear from your face with his thumb. "What happened? Did you get hurt?" he slid his hands down to your arms, taking in the red fingermarks put there by his grandmother. Recognising what they were, his eyes hardened and he put two and two together as his eyes landed on his uncontrollable grandmother. Their eyes met.

YongHwa's grandmother stopped struggling, staring wide eyed at her grandson who had somehow appeared out of nowhere. "YongHwa-ah! You're safe!" The rest of the family relaxed, glancing back at YongHwa and yet keeping weary eyes on the old woman in case she still had some fight in her system and managed to get past them in their distraction.

"And where have you been? We've been worried sick!" YongHwa's mother came forward and made to throw her arms around him but he barely noticed. He was still staring straight at his grandmother. You could feel the tension in his body as he kept you pinned to him. His tension made you nervous, you wondered what was running through his mind.

"Never mind where I've been, what's going on?" YongHwa demanded. "Why does __________ have these marks on her arms? Has it got something to do with you, Halmonni? Did you freak out and hurt my girlfriend while I was gone?" This last statement was full of buried anger, his voice went coarse with emotion.

"Yong Yong, honey... be careful how you speak to your grandmother," piped up YongHwa's mother, mortified at the tone he was taking with her mother. Nobody dared speak to her like that, not even her own daughter. She started biting her nails, something she hadn't done in years. Everything was becoming all too stressful, although she knew her mother was the root of all this. It was still difficult to watch her son's respect slipping.

"He's got a right to speak up for his girl," came the calm voice of YongHwa's father. He was looking tired, perhaps, at the ordeal. For such a usually calm and collected man, even this situation was biting at his bubble. He dragged a hand down his face now that he was given a breather, not having to hold onto his mother-in-law at the present moment. Suddenly, he looked so haggard and old.

__________________________________________________________________________

YONGHWA P.O.V.

YongHwa was breathing hard now. The more he stared down his grandmother, the more his mother pleaded with him to take a deep breath and speak to her properly, the more he felt himself losing control. How could she be saying such things to him right now? Did she really not care about you? Couldn't she see what you were going through because of this mad old woman, he once respected and adored so deeply? He knew it must be hard for his mother too, but he didn't care about that right now. His priority was you, and right now it seemed like your safety, your wellbeing was being seriously compromised. Things had changed drastically over the past twenty-four hours. So much for this wonderful family barbeque he was promised. He could say goodbye to that happy family gathering with all his loved ones at his side today, and he felt in his bones, he was never going to see that day. Not if Halmonni had something to do with it. Well he was sick of it. Whatever Halmonni says goes, well not this time thank you very much.

YongHwa felt you trembling against him and his fury became too much for him anymore. "Damn right I've got a right. I said I loved this woman, I said I would protect her, and then while I'm gone Halmonni just ignores everything I've said, ignores all my feelings and goes ahead and attacks her?" his voice was filled with venom.

The old woman looked taken aback at his words. He had never dared speak to her like that. The rest of the family shrunk back, giving up on holding either of them back. This was their fight now. Nobody wanted get into this line of fire.

"I wasn't attacking her!" screamed the elder. "I was putting her back in her place! She's no good for you, I already knew that and then she goes and leaves you for dead and runs back here with her tail between her legs?" She pointed a finger at KyungHo. "And you had the gall to hide her!"

"YongHwa... I wish you just answered your phone." KyungHo said quietly with a sigh, resting his fingers on his temples.

"It went dead, but thanks for trying to protect _________..." replied YongHwa regretfully, then turned back to his grandmother again with eyes flashing. "Why have you got it in your head that she's no good or me? She's perfect for me! I've never loved anyone more than her in my life! I'm sorry to say, Halmonni, even you! You've just lost all my respect. That's the only thing you've achieved here."

"She left you for dead! How can you forgive her for being so cowardly! She mustn't even love you!" shrieked the old woman, getting desperate now for her grandson to turn around and see her point of view. YongHwa didn't seem to hear this point the first time, but now he became incredulous.

YongHwa shook his head. "What do you mean she left me for dead? Are you talking about the pick-pocket I chased? Do you really expect her to fight thieves for me, Halmonni?" YongHwa looked long and hard at his grandmother for a few moments as she spluttered and huffed, repeating statements she had already made. "I'm finished with this... I'm sorry I ever brought _________ here. I guess I was delusional, I thought my family would respect what I cherish. But I guess I was wrong..." He gripped your hand and turned his back on them, pulling you towards the front door. You were too frightened to even look back at them as you were pulled away, but YongHwa was grateful you remained quiet and easily followed his lead. He just wanted to get you out of there, he felt so rotten.

"Yong Yong, honey! Please don't leave like this!" called his mother behind the two of you. She followed behind uncertainly through the landing but stopped at the threshold of the front door when neither YongHwa nor you replied to her, already making your way to the roadside. "This could be the last time you see your Halmonni for a long time!"

Those words sounded so eerie to you, as if you felt that it was near the old woman's end of time. A cold chill ran up your spine. You tugged on YongHwa uncertainly as he gritted his teeth and ignored his mother. "YongHwa... are you sure you want to leave like this? It's not your mother's fault... And your grandmother is old..."

"She's not my grandmother anymore," he said harshly. "And my mother should have done better to protect you. Don't make excuses for them." His words were blunt and angry, and you knew not to push him further. In his raging mood right now you were surprised there wasn't steam coming off from his body. It was best not to push him when he was in this mood, he might suddenly turn on you without realising what he was doing because he was so overcome with emotion. YongHwa cringed inwards at himself as he realised he had you on edge, as you suddenly went quiet.

Despite his mood, he gripped your hand tighter to let you know that he just cared about you so much. He felt your hand squeeze his back, and he knew then that you understood. You were giving him space to cool off, and he was grateful. The last thing he wanted was to say something he might regret to you. His anger was directed back there at the house, not here with you. And he remained in this careful stoic mood, his anger subsidising into pain and betrayal, flaring and burning in his every fibre, as he called a taxi and brought the two of you back to the hotel you had first stayed in upon your arrival in Busan. He called KyungHo to get yours and his bags for you, and his brother was there in under two hours. After having dinner all together in the hotel restaurant and a walk along the foreshore, YongHwa's mood began to improve and his brother said farewell.

At the car, KyungHo pulled YongHwa into a firm brotherly hug. YongHwa felt his tension and his feeling of loss stifled for that moment, as if someone had put a bandaid over his wounds. But then when he released him again, the same feelings were still there, only slightly dimmed.

"You did the right thing, little brother." KyungHo ruffled YongHwa's hair, something he always used to do when the two of them were young. "Halmonni needed telling. She really lost it back there, and it wasn't fair on ____________. I would have done the same. So would Appa."

"Thanks for being there, hyung."

YongHwa watched as his brother stepped into the car and drove up the road and out of sight. He stood there for a long while, even after he could no longer see his brother's car. His last family member gone from his grasp. Suddenly he felt so alone. He knew you were behind him, watching his back attentively. But this was something you couldn't help him with. He had to straighten himself out as soon as possible, and go back to being a good man to you. So eventually he wiped his eyes, took a deep breath and turned around to see you standing there. You looked so worried. That beautiful, innocent girl standing there with those marks on her arms. You looked so delicate, why would anyone want to hurt you? Why couldn't everyone see you for how special you were? And thinking that, he walked up to you and silently put his arms around you. You said nothing, like you knew all he needed right now was the quiet of the night, and your warmth in his arms.

End Chapter Twenty Seven