Chapter 7 - Before Sunset

None of the adorable little mop tops turned to answer on the playground. Ga Eul around the playground obstacles to see if Dong-won was hiding. Yi Jeong followed, only a few paces behind. He grabbed every little boy who wore Park Dong-won's color, but none of the children were him.

"Oh god." Ga Eul was frantic, "What if we've lost him?"

"Ga Eul, he's small. He can't have gone far."

"What if someone kidnapped him?"

Yi Jeong grabbed her shoulders and peered at her face; Ga Eul's dilated pupils made her pallor even more pronounced. "Ga Eul, you try the restaurant we went to, and I'm going to try the toy stores in the area."

"Ok." Ga Eul grimaced and immediately dashed off in the direction of the restaurant.

Yi Jeong squeezed his eyes shut and tried to rework the problem. Whenever he hid as a child, he was hiding from something upsetting. Whether it was his mother crying or his father shouting, he knew that hiding could give some respite. His eyes frantically search the children's park.

From across the playground, he saw the problem. A giant kid, almost twice the size of everyone on the playground, was stalking around the jungle gum. He watched the little giant terrorize a group of girls that were sitting on their rubber tire bridge.

His phone rang.

"Yi Jeong! He's not here at the restaurant." Ga Eul's voice was strangled with panic.

"I'm coming towards you Ga Eul, I don't think he's at the playground anymore." He slide the phone back into his pocket and took off into the Eunpyung streets. Then he remembered something. Before going to the restaurant, Ga Eul had locked up their rental bikes near a petting zoo. She had promised to take Dong-won to the petting zoo right after they finished eating.

Ga Eul felt ice in the pit of her stomach. Dong-won trusted her. Dong-won's parents trusted her. If she wasn't too busy mooning over Yi Jeong, this would have never happened. Her inner voices began to rage, listing the things that had gone wrong because she was too distracted by him to pay attention to her responsibilities. She tapped her foot frantically and paced outside the restaurant. Worst case scenarios begin to flash before her eyes. Dong-won was crushed beneath a speeding automobile. Dong-won had fallen into a deep ravine, which didn't even exist in the neighborhood. Ga Eul's imagination was taking over. She sat down at the curb but couldn't stop her knees from shaking. Maybe Dong-won had been kidnapped by a shady men. Yi Jeong would have to rescue him, thereby putting himself in danger. Now her hand would be have fate of two people. She would be the Lady MacBeth of babysitters. Ga Eul groaned.

"Seonsaeng-nim!" Can you hallucinate a sound, Ga Eul grimaced. When she turned towards the source of the noise, her chest collapsed. Yi Jeong held Dong-won's hand; the two of them made unbelievably handsome father-son pair. Ga Eul surprised herself with the tears in her eyes.

"Oh my gosh! Thank god you're safe!" She ran over to Dong-won and examined the little boy thoroughly, accounting for all limbs and unscathed skin. Dong-won looked fine. He grinned up at Yi Jeong.

"Yi-Jeong sunbae knew exactly where I was!"

"Dong-won! Why did you run away?" She tried to scold him.

Dong-won dropped his gaze to the ground. "Seonsaeng-nim, I was being a coward. This big kid started chasing me, and I ran away."

"Oh Dong-won. Don't run away from your problems." She chided him before wrapping him a tight squeeze, relief and adrenaline coursing through her.

When she let go of Dong-won, her heart was still beating wildly as she looked at Yi Jeong. He smiled lopsidedly at her.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She almost sobbed in relief as she hugged him.

At the moment of contact, Yi Jeong could only react-the brush of her skin broke his resolve and overwhelmed his contained self-his hands sought the back of her neck and brought her closer, in a heartbeat, his mouth was upon her. He felt her stiffen in surprise. Kissing Ga Eul finally, after so many years and missed chances, was amazingly enough, exactly as he imagined. tasted sweet from the jajangmyeon sauce, he felt the charge between them, the electric spark that flared as he felt move in response. The tension coiling within him released and he wrapped his arms around her slender back, securely, without options. The world dissolved away, leaving only the honied softness of , he had to slow down to savored every second. His hands buried themselves deep into her hair; he held her face, finding angles that pleased her and drawing her closer with every inhale.

Suddenly, there was air between the two of them. Ga Eul shoved him and he was unsurprised.

He felt the sting the slap before he saw it. Ga Eul's eyes were bright and her breath hitched unevenly.

"No!" She seethed. "This can't happen! Not now, not ever."

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